"If I can live without breaking a heart, my soul shall find splendour in the heavens."
The cosmic synagogue quaked with a battle.
Caesar, smiling and joyful, battled the two agents of death. The large skeletal monster used its size to its advantage, swaying its large spinal cord, stomping with its gargantuan phalanges, and breathing unquenchable dark flames.
But the real battle lay in the strikes of the smaller skeleton, an undead soldier swinging its banner of pure flames, its mane of black fire speaking the language of the dead- Nothingness.
Caesar and the Skeleton exchanged blows, dancing through the seemingly endless church as their attacks shattered benches, the murals, and the tinted glasses.
"Yes, battle me." Caesar spread his hands as the large skeletal beast appeared behind him, charging a sphere of dark flames.
As the beast fired, Caesar narrowly dodged it, and the skeleton warrior impaled him with his spear. Caesar leapt backwards, but the two death angels kept up with his pace, sending a flurry of strikes and fire.
"They are too fast and strong," Caesar deduced as the large skeletal beast rolled into a ball and charged at Caesar.
"Their spear isn't drawing out blood," Caesar continued. "But it feels like it's drawing out my existence. It's like my soul is being... sheared away!!."
The skeleton warrior swung its banner, as the flag turned into a whip of flames. Caesar expertly dodged it, but some of them managed to connect. He tried to leap away, but the large beast fired a ball of dark flames.
"Damn!!"
The flames exploded... but Caesar was unhurt.
The flames surrounded him, flowing like an untapped stream of dead souls. The flames felt warm, but they also felt controllable. This meant one thing...
"My divinity... works here." Caesar smiled.
The skeletal warrior also deduced Caesar's advantage and left no gap for recovery. It sprinted at the young lad, as the banner of flames grew larger and hotter. Before it could land a strike, Caesar countered it with his own whip of undead fire.
The two exchanged their fiery fury, but the skeletal warrior was just too much for Caesar. Even though his clothes were fine, he felt his existence slipping away, as if drawn to the true afterlife.
The skeleton kicked him in his guts, used his body as a wall, and delivered a devastating axe kick, shattering the ground below. The beast appeared behind Caesar, its halo-like sphere crackling with soulless lighting.
The arcs rushed to Caesar, who couldn't dodge them in time as the sparks blasted him away.
"They have perfect chemistry," Caesar thought. "I can't die like this..."
The memory of the sinister face of the figure flashed through Caesar's dead.
"Not until I kill that bastard!!!"
Caesar harnessed the power of the black flames, commanding it to shape as a chain rather than a whip. The dark fire heeded to his command, taking the shape of a long, deadly chain of the underworld.
Caesar leapt up, and the large skeleton joined him.
"Gotcha!!" Caesar screamed as he wrapped the chain around the monster's neck.
The beast was enraged.
It rampaged through the eerie church walls, trying desperately to loose Caesar, but the young lad proved determined.
The skeleton warrior flew rapidly at Caesar, who could only dodge it slightly. The warrior swung his banner, but Caesar held out his hands.
"Please work."
Unexpectedly, the warrior got blasted back with an invincible force, sending him flying far.
"Man, I love my powers."
The beast roared, and the sphere above its head crackled again with undead lightning. The arcs rushed towards Caesar and shocked him away from the beast's back, sending him to smash into a pillar.
Before Caesar could recover, the skeleton warrior flew into him, destroying the pillar. As Caesar tried to escape, the warrior blocked him with his banner, which turned into a scythe born of pure flames.
"Hey, no fair," Caesar said.
Caesar managed to struggle out of the warrior's grip, but as he sprinted down the hall, the beast appeared above him and blasted him with volleys of black flames.
Caesar felt tired and hollow, as every attack the death angels landed shaved a part of his soul. He looked at his form and a strand of smoke.
"Let me see how much of my Divinity still remains." Caesar thought.
He remembered Ms. Fiah's lesson about how his divinity ties the 4 forces of the 3rd heaven, not controlling them independently.
"Let's put that to the test, shall we?"
The Beast and the soldier rushed towards Caesar, their mane of flames burning brighter, and several rubbles raining from above.
Caesar's divinity was hailed as unique and powerful, able to control:
"Gravity."
All the rubble ceased mid-air, as gravity held them in place before they hit the ground.
"Kinetic."
The motion of the rubble resumed, but they rapidly flew at the two undead angels; the once-useless trash turned into a hypersonic weapon.
"Thermal."
The rubble caught fire, white hot flames enveloping them, the temperature of the expanse increasing dramatically.
"Nuclear."
As the rubble reached the position near the two skeletons, their atomos smashed together, and they detonated like small nuclear weapons, all at the command of Caesar.
As Caesar covered his face due to the intense heat, the two skeletal figures still endured, pushing through the explosion.
The warrior punched Caesar away, the Beast fired flames, the warriors threw him around, the Beast whipped him with lightning, and Caesar's soul was at the brink of annihilation.
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no..."
Caesar thought as he was being demolished by the undead angels, their combat and raw power exceeding all he had seen.
"I have to defeat them, I have to defeat them, " Caesar thought. "But how can you defeat the agents of death?"
"If I don't defeat them, the villain will kill everyone..."
The two death angels showed no sign of stopping, as they slashed, punched, fired, and whipped.
"Izobel, Zeus, Fenrir, Loe," Caesar's eye welled up with tears. "Chalybe."
Caesar fired a rubble at the skeleton warrior, but the agent split it in half and continued its assault.
"But...am dead, right?" Caesar thought. "Why am I fighting death if I am dead? Why do I fear death if death fears my life?"
The beast stomped Caesar with its phalanges.
"No, they do not fear me," Caesar thought. "They are furious with me."
The skeleton figure kicked Caesar in the face.
"Yes, they hate me because I am blind. I am dead, so why do I battle what I am? Shouldn't I..."
The skeleton beast turned into a ball of death, and the Skeleton warrior hefted his banner for one final strike.
"Death is not evil," Caesar soliloquized. "Death is... fair. Why do I expect death to give me favour, while I seek to bring death to the Figure?
Caesar laughed, his charming smile radiating through the hall.
The two death angels launched at Caesar, their last counter.
But Caesar suddenly hugged the skeleton warrior.
"I do not hate you," Caesar whispered. "I embrace you."
The two skeletons stopped mid-air, wondering if the mortal was foolish or brave. Maybe, both.
Suddenly, the two skeletons violently convulsed, as Caesar dropped to the cool floor. The skeleton warrior's body vibrated, its flames morphing into another ornament, and its bones taking the form... of a woman.
The banner turned into a flowing black dress, the mane of fire morphed into silky black hair, and the skeleton's face took the form of a breathtakingly beautiful woman.
The woman had deep black eyes, purple hair, and lustrious dark skin. The once destructive skeleton beast turned into a large black raven, which didn't sit well with Caesar.
"Had to rub it in," Caesar murmured.
The two angels of death stared down at Caesar, who was still glued to the floor. The woman gave him a warm smile, which made Caesar blush. A large gate opened, grand and fiery, and the two agents of death flew inside. The woman looked back once again, her perfect stare lost behind the gates of another realm.
"Where are they heading?" Caesar thought. "Probably the underworld or maybe heaven."
The soft giggle of Pandorica was heard, and Caesar suddenly stood up.
He looked back to see her smiling at him, and the synagogue looked good as new, as if nothing had happened.
"You...death...foolish...why...lost...me?" Pandorica said.
Caesar sighed, wondering why he had to deal with this. But he had bigger things to deal with.
"I need to get back to the land of the living," Caesar knelt on one knee. "Can you send me back?"
Pandorica looked like she was thinking, then her smile returned.
"...Today...fools...humans...Shawnforth...Harbinger...me." Pandorica looked frustrated. It was comforting to Caesar to know he was not the only one suffering from the godly language lag.
But then, Pandorica's smile widened.
"Battle...you...toady."
"Fight...for...are...me."
"Fight...for...me."
Pandorica did a little dance, happy to finally make use of her words.
"Fight...for...me," Pandorica repeated, more ambitious.
Caesar saw his closest companion die, his class murdered, felt death, fought death, embraced death, saw planets and stars dance, and now a godlike being wants him to fight for her.
Caesar was indeed curious. His brain fired with a million thoughts;
Why was the death angel interested in him? Who was Pandorica? Who was the figure? Who is truly The Almighty? And how many more questions could his brain take?
Caesar knew the answer to the last question - Endless.
"Fight...for...me."
A throne bigger than Caesar appeared in front of Pandorica. It was pure gloydon with crimson cushions and had three large, metal wings floating behind it. The throne seemed to hum with divine energy as it changed form in a brief interval, from slaver-plated to yellow cushions to a large shield floating behind the back.
It looked like it was fracturing reality to choose a form it wished, but was unable to decide what to remain as.
As Caesar made his way to the throne, several hands emerged from the floor, like the hands of faithful subjects welcoming their king. Caesar lifted himself to the throne, feeling the overwhelming power coursing through the metal and seams.
The hands rested on Caesar's body.
"For my kingdom, my companions, my family..."
The hands brought a crown, fracturing and changing form.
"For my curiosity..."
The boxes around Pandorica quivered, her cross glowed brighter, and the crown was placed gently on Caesar's head.
"I will fight for you?"
The stars and moons danced, the glasses sang hymns, and the Synagogue was bathed in a blinding, gold light.
The gods awaken, the realms are fractured, the divine has risen, and the world below has received its saviour
........
Fenrir struggled to breathe, Zeus shivered, Martha limped, Leo crawled, Jacques' body ached, Escanor bled, Abyss coughed up blood, and Chalybe's divinity wavered.
But their souls remained powerful.
"Lunar's roar!!!"
"Jupiter's Cleave!!!"
"Mjolnir's Gluttony!!!"
"Trajectory 5!!!"
"Machine Gun Volley!!!!"
"Sunless Sky Split!!!!"
"Curse of the Immortal!!!!"
"Infinity Blue!!!"
Waves of attacks were sent, but none hit.
The Figure blitzed through the compound and finally grabbed Abyss by the neck, strangling her.
The figure looked exhausted and furious, as his blood streaks grew redder and redder.
Abyss laughed. "Is the untouchable Villain tired, already?"
Abyss' wounds healed immediately, but her form flickered.
"What are you?" The Figure asked. "Why do you bear the mark of the Abyss?
"What's that?" Abyss said and laughed in his face.
The figure raised his hand, and a swarm of ravens gathered above him, each bird of prey merging into a larger, deadlier raven.
"Let's see how much you can regenerate from." The Figure's green eyes grew darker. "Then I shall find the chosen..."
Before the Figure could finish, the paranormal happened. The event they all prayed for occurred.
A large spear penetrated behind The Figure and cut through his chest.
The Figure has been damaged.
Abyss couldn't read The Figure's face - Confusion? Worry? Fury? - or all?
The Figure's lips quivered, his eyes darkened further, and his pale skin grew more paler.
"W-what?"
The Figure looked back and saw the impossible.
Caesar Nova Percival stood there, bloody, battered, and alive.
Abyss's eyes were suddenly filled with tears.
"Yes," Caesar smiled, his body bleeding and screaming with pain. "I will fight for you!!!"
Caesar grinned widely as his right eye flared crimson.