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.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdaNHFRZD6f
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.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuJLMMyBtaj
She never watched it happen, but she remembered the image her mind crafted of seeing her mother in Zeus’ place.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUFcdbr6X7M
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.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEbl1gWxbI3
Kronos’ voice snapped Achlys back to reality.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6086yaJeoQ
“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?”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi9yrnp7PHe
“I remember,” Achlys choked out.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm6Ke1qT1o3
“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.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEWzLPIvAoZ
Achlys was trembling and tears stung her eyes. “He... he’s not yours.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnR05UgKyEw
“What?” Kronos stood up taller, towering over Achlys, nearly twice her size.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhIp3VnaE92
“A-and I’m not either.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ78NdCGgar8
Kronos clenched his teeth and growled in frustration, lifting his hand to strike Achlys across her already injured face.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSKB7UEIY5F
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.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz3G9z6AhIp
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.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq3Sx90UvM4
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.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa7yNxIjsej
She was staring down death.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCYg5HICj7u
He finally caught up to her.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0exGhLkUyK
The moment she dreaded facing every day over the last decade.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLuPbreNt6G
Kronos slowly approached Achlys again. “Get up.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTOnmCi3jF2
Achlys closed her fists around a handful of ash and shook. Tears soaked the ground below her. “Please...” Achlys whispered her plea.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlFRKTyRsVQ
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?21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1TUpmS3Wy6
“I said get up!” Kronos demanded, kicking her curled up from across the ashes and dirt.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfkWSKhK5DR
It took all her strength to finally obey. She saw no point in sitting around to be killed.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4x69P5kWQZ
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.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkY2nsyWKuK
“No- no-” she meekly protested.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm2nH7oI2JS
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.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvdSe2Z3v4r
Every muscle in her body seized up, desperate to flee but too afraid that they restricted their own movement.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWU2GAVoZqF
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.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmegMg0BbrO
Abyssal’s eyes stopped sparking and settled on the pure black color that signified his power at work.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHw1s8ZaF6m
“Abyss?... What are you doing?”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAu4PNBnPLw
“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.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2gs36joARB
“How come you were able to be electrocuted multiple times without any powers and live, but he has to be gone?”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0jws0qBhsR
Achlys’s eyes travelled to Abyss sitting at the bedside with his back turned to her.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtlBPzvh2cD
“How did you know I was awake?”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIG1Owq0cPu
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.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp5UBBsxIjG
There was a long moment of silence before Achlys spoke again.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ97aLbDXQ8t
“Why did you save me?”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvSuAbzTzkG
“Sometimes people just save other people, even when they shouldn’t.” 21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9hYGbrXB8L
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.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAQvY2njNmn
“Thank you.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNYqztFBDYp
No response.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMPHtr3zkig
Achlys felt clamps lock around her heart.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPLBbALWMAV
“And...” she added, “I know it doesn’t help anything... but I’m sorry. I didn’t plan to kill him.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ZZu5VPICg
“But you did. Twice.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIMxVzPP5C5
Achlys winced. She deserved that. She knew she did.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡidaGR1KmNO
“I saved you because you happened to be there. Enemy of the enemy. Kronos had to be stopped, whether you were involved.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNHizNwsVFz
“How did you stop him yourself?”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTS9Csp4pVn
“I had a head start. Not much you can do once you’re locked down by devour.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7vjZmTFQlP
“You can say that again.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVVKUDiqD6c
Achlys saw Abyss’ shoulders tense.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRqhmS7oeAK
His tone was quieter when he spoke again. “How did it feel?”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEuZcPulNmG
Achlys’ eyes widened and she grabbed her right arm. “It... was worse than I ever imagined.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFgYEirE98h
“You’ve imagined yourself in that position?”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwPdi77BHxy
“...More times than I can count.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJw3GWMtakT
Abyss turned around at last and looked at Achlys in the hospital sheets.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPMBIFN3ens
“Why?”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrCom3JJ0ZS
“Kronos was the famil patriarch. I was in the line destined to kill him.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnraZcXd5JI
Abyssal’s eyes fell to the corner of the bed. It was obvious he felt awkward looking at her. Achlys wished he didn’t.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh6GrhmsvGf
“Why do you ask?”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPXDihtyr57
“I... It was my power. It hurt others, but I never knew how bad it was.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl6s6JJf47t
“We’ve both hurt people with our powers. I just wish I could undo it. I wish I could bring him back for you.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNBTMdJD3bx
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.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa2CVKembrM
“Achlys? Achlys?” Abyss said, growing worried.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0cWq6WzZrj
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.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq5jfMydKxB
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.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdWKQKiwhQQ
“What was that?” Abyss asked, sitting on the ground at staring at the space where he literally saw a ghost.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeqhJ6oEGtl
“I- I don’t know,” Achlys stammered. “I think... it was my father’s power.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm75vpWwrC6
“Hades?”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRXhp0bBXxL
“Abyss,” Achlys said astonished, “I think we could bring them back.”
THE END
-To Be Continued-
ns216.73.216.154da2
