Achlys looked up at her grandfather with terrified eyes. Every muscle in her body was tense as she slowly got to her feet. Her muscles were still shaky from being electrocuted. She took her hand away from her face to show a large, scorched scar like a spider’s web next to her left eye.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv1GBQ0oIqE
Memories of being exposed to dangerous chemicals for her to reproduce as a child flashed in her mind’s eye. Remembering waking up the day night her mother died from a nightmare, only to find it real. Her mother a clammy corpse in her bed, father beaten and sobbing next to her.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTilja0YvWa
She never watched it happen, but she remembered the image her mind crafted of seeing her mother in Zeus’ place.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxjGWW6gXSL
Achlys remembered her father telling her she’d be next if they didn’t run from her grandfather, only to be called together for a family meeting. Her grandfather’s cold, alien eyes glaring down at her like she was a curse.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmdTeOL7zJp
Kronos’ voice snapped Achlys back to reality.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9MGmZ76gEE
“All the effort I put into taming you and you attempt to destroy my energy reserves. You’re a traitor, Achlys. You’re so disloyal to your own family. Don’t you remember what I told you would happen if you ever turned against me?”51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsBYqzKwnoT
“I remember,” Achlys choked out.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHN4z1ujqGs
“You did cause anarchy at the palace and cause the fall of PISTOL, so at least you fulfilled your purpose before you scarred my creation and began to burn my fuel.” He gestured to Abyss and the land around them. “But now, I have no reason to keep you around.”51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ33DkrRwJLg
Achlys was trembling and tears stung her eyes. “He... he’s not yours.”51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq0EW514MtE
“What?” Kronos stood up taller, towering over Achlys, nearly twice her size.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡic27vGMv88
“A-and I’m not either.”51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHaBQAbBDZT
Kronos clenched his teeth and growled in frustration, lifting his hand to strike Achlys across her already injured face.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkg6muxBDqV
She was blown a yard away from the blow and a small line of neon green steam came up from her cheek, flowing steadily to Kronos’ face. He breathed in deeply, eyes turning from a cold grey to a menacing black.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh4LXDI7Aci
Coughing, Achlys choked back a sob. Her past had finally come for her before she could finish her destiny, before she could ensure the safety of the universe. She thought the hardest part of everything was over multiple times over now.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbKOJ2309Af
She thought Abyss was okay, but then he disappeared and left her behind. She thought she’d found him and be able to reason with him, but Volt came back and turned him against her. She thought she’d dealt with the one coming between her and her plans, but it just made Abyss come after her. She thought she’d dealt with Abyss and done away with any barriers or emotion that would keep her from global devastation. Instead, she was faced with an indestructible wall.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKVWWA60zOW
She was staring down death.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI1IrIswiSn
He finally caught up to her.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvabuLH8Hms
The moment she dreaded facing every day over the last decade.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAhoVMD3kdr
Kronos slowly approached Achlys again. “Get up.”51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoauwvwBdKM
Achlys closed her fists around a handful of ash and shook. Tears soaked the ground below her. “Please...” Achlys whispered her plea.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVqJ3usyChO
What am I doing? Please what? Please spare me? You were planning to turn the planet into a wasteland where you’d rot away slowly. You planned your own death. What makes this any different?51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4knianYt5t
“I said get up!” Kronos demanded, kicking her curled up from across the ashes and dirt.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpOWvVYbSgN
It took all her strength to finally obey. She saw no point in sitting around to be killed.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHOh5OGsUYk
Kronos sneered mockingly, alien features communicating a sense of superiority. He again began to approach her. He reached down and grabbed her neck, lifting her with two fingers as she gasped for breath.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ORMxCeYTG
“No- no-” she meekly protested.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRF5n09YLFF
She felt her breath begin to be drawn from her body. The neon color seemed to flake away from her hair and the green streak began to turn white, shortly after the black hair followed. He lungs strained for breath and her vision blurred as the red fire in her eyes faded back to a deep green before it began to fade to an empty white.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0mNCjash00
Every muscle in her body seized up, desperate to flee but too afraid that they restricted their own movement.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOQt0y7qZex
But then electricity surged through Kronos and Achlys respectively. The two let out cries of pain. The draining stopped and as the shock faded, Achlys was dropped to the ground where she saw Abyss grasping Kronos’ ankle.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS8nTNfka9s
Abyssal’s eyes stopped sparking and settled on the pure black color that signified his power at work.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh4iDLLvRau
“Abyss?... What are you doing?”51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡux1EPR1d50
“Saving you,” he answered firmly just as Achlys faded into unconsciousness.
* * *
Achlys woke up in a hospital, the steady beeping pulse of a heart monitor sounded behind her.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTPlVTPtbKe
“How come you were able to be electrocuted multiple times without any powers and live, but he has to be gone?”51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEZJrFj7Nkw
Achlys’s eyes travelled to Abyss sitting at the bedside with his back turned to her.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7m9DjSkPSO
“How did you know I was awake?”51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnrieLrSMPc
He just shrugged. “I can sense everyone’s lifeforce now... and I can’t feel others. I don’t know how or why.” He still wouldn’t look at her.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9N3PcHwYTE
There was a long moment of silence before Achlys spoke again.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZnBHbAb5ay
“Why did you save me?”51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ54tqSQSF09
“Sometimes people just save other people, even when they shouldn’t.” 51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIM3jT3361d
Achlys didn’t know what to think of that. She knew she didn’t deserve to be saved. She thought she was dead. She thought she’d killed Abyss, and she did kill his brother. But it still didn’t make sense why. She stared at the plain, grey floor.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrQjMCNtt4e
“Thank you.”51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvGSsLVh8gV
No response.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1hsh8NDne2
Achlys felt clamps lock around her heart.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKSCEN0Nfwo
“And...” she added, “I know it doesn’t help anything... but I’m sorry. I didn’t plan to kill him.”51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjdDQKCjq1n
“But you did. Twice.”51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJSFvU6QLqI
Achlys winced. She deserved that. She knew she did.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNW6lpIzQaf
“I saved you because you happened to be there. Enemy of the enemy. Kronos had to be stopped, whether you were involved.”51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXlvANfboVj
“How did you stop him yourself?”51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ44mIyoIaN7
“I had a head start. Not much you can do once you’re locked down by devour.”51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGnYm24viKr
“You can say that again.”51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ZLM7fXYOF
Achlys saw Abyss’ shoulders tense.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAszrwK7xyl
His tone was quieter when he spoke again. “How did it feel?”51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk0QjXEutDl
Achlys’ eyes widened and she grabbed her right arm. “It... was worse than I ever imagined.”51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf9pCIVSrua
“You’ve imagined yourself in that position?”51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeWI52Q2UDr
“...More times than I can count.”51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5CwwTwWFS1
Abyss turned around at last and looked at Achlys in the hospital sheets.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTFvQ9XTBK3
“Why?”51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2sP6YKsNds
“Kronos was the famil patriarch. I was in the line destined to kill him.”51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdkuQy4sMz1
Abyssal’s eyes fell to the corner of the bed. It was obvious he felt awkward looking at her. Achlys wished he didn’t.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoiGPR7Pwlh
“Why do you ask?”51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoZm8IKvMwX
“I... It was my power. It hurt others, but I never knew how bad it was.”51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs0wHQsVKLZ
“We’ve both hurt people with our powers. I just wish I could undo it. I wish I could bring him back for you.”51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡohJGtvGeTl
Suddenly, the lights flickered and the monitor flatlined before everything powered on again. But for Achlys, the strange occurrence only became worse. The echoes of Volt’s dying screams repeated on an overlapping loop in her mind. She gripped her head and stared at the sheets, curling up into the fetal position.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeXLYoYFD2V
“Achlys? Achlys?” Abyss said, growing worried.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLkEiFGhUWO
Achlys didn’t hear him. The sound was growing to a crescendo. It was deafening. The screams pierced her ears and began to melt her brain. The world around her continued to flicker the way it did as the electricity fried Volt’s nervous system.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIVsJEBkAtK
Abyss touched her shoulder, and she jumped away as the earth split below them. A green light rose up and the ghost of Volt appeared. He was still tied to the chair screaming. Abyss leapt away in terror as he stared up, helpless at his brother for just a moment before the earth sealed itself again and he vanished.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdH7W2IL7Sy
“What was that?” Abyss asked, sitting on the ground at staring at the space where he literally saw a ghost.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Pvy3zaqAd
“I- I don’t know,” Achlys stammered. “I think... it was my father’s power.”51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3EaXYzURsH
“Hades?”51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbiaD113ydD
“Abyss,” Achlys said astonished, “I think we could bring them back.”
THE END
-To Be Continued-
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