Infinity in the Void – Freedom in the Abyss

"Look at you... so small... so weak."

The void creature held out one of her fingers, letting the baby in the cradle grab the extended claw.

"So fragile... so breakable..."

Even if she was not the person she used to be, a part of her still remained. The part that was what remained of her host... or rather, his host.

She was Tartarus, the Manifestation of the Abyss itself. She remembered her host, Kaios Silvi, a beautiful and kind woman living an ordinary life in this crazy world.

But soon, that life changed when that woman received Tartarus. His power made her invulnerable to all malice, to all harm... but that was just a facade for his plans, to bring back the Era of Gods.

And in front of Tartarus is a little baby, a girl without any power to protect herself. An adorable child that made Tartarus tremble... because she is Kaios' second child.

And the child that bore the soul of the one who killed him in the past, signified by the black gem in her chest.

Tartarus reeled back her hand, then she touched the black gem, covering it with her power... concealing the piece of jewel signifying her identity.

"Your name..."

She thinks back to the days when Kaios and her husband were picking a name for the child. If the baby was a boy, then it would be named Christo, and if it was a girl...

"Charlotte, Charlotte Silvi. They were so loving... they thought of nicknames for you, Chris... Charl... everything. You were the world for them, alongside that girl..."

"And I took it all away from you."

There was no sense of guilt in her words, it was what she had to do, what she needed to do. To achieve her goals.

She snapped her finger, teleporting away from the room with the cradle. She appeared in a throne room, her throne.

Tartarus turned her head down, looking at the corpse crackling with electricity.

"So Zeus is gone."

She tilted her head up, her abyssal void for a face staring at the ones who intruded into her domain, a group of six people.

Her gaze only lingered on two people. A man wielding dual automatic rifles sleek back silver hair, and an intense azure gaze. Then a blonde man, looks at Tartarus with a fiery glare, his most notable feature is the broken stone collar around his neck.

"Prometheus... of course, you would show yourself now."

The Abyss was full of disdain for the blonde man, ignoring the two ARs pointing at her.

"I stand with humanity, my children.", Prometheus let out a huff, "Of course I would fight against the gods. I betrayed the Titans, I betrayed the Olympian, and I will betray the gods as many times as it takes..."

His whole body glowed enveloped with empyrean golden flame.

"BECAUSE I AM PROMETHEUS, TITAN OF FIRE!!"

Then the silver-haired man's eyes began to emit an azure mist.

And he starts a chant, "By the will of the World, I am the executioner, and I shall bring you down. Enact, Soul Succession."

The two guns turned into six golden guns, rumbling with divine energy. He pulled all six triggers.

BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!

The golden bullets impacted Tartarus, creating golden cracks all over her body. But the Primordial Abyss just stood there, not giving attention to the cracks on her body.

"Is that all you got?"

After the guns were all out of ammo, Tartarus took a step, dispelling all the damage her body sustained. But before she could take another step, two red-cloaked figures rushed to her rear with glowing lightsabers.

In response, she made the distance between their head to her palms irrelevant. She crushed their heads with her bare hands.

"Do not engage in close combat.", he commanded, "Prometheus, revive them."

"Of course.", the Titan of Fire smiled, "By the Will of the World, I am the creator, I shall bring my children back. Enact, Ressurection."

The bodies of the two burst into empyrean fire, and they are revived back to life, and all their injuries were healed too. They fall back as the silver-haired man orders.

"Looks like you don't need me.", a voice came from behind Prometheus, covered by the shadow cast onto her.

"Jack the Ripper.", Prometheus looked back, "No, Florence Nightingale. Your mission is to rip apart the Primordial Abyss, that was the reason he sent you here."

"Just call me Jack.", she stepped out of the shadow, showing her crazed smile.

Tartarus meanwhile, just observes. It was a habit of the Primordial Abyss, to stay motionless until things come to him.

"Rip apart! Anima Pactum - Jack the Ripper!!!", Jack unleashed her Anima Pactum, dawning her in a black cloak and a tall hat shadowing most of her face, only revealing one of her crimson red eyes and her crazed smile.

"A human is useless against a god."

That only encouraged the Ripper more, she lunged in, fluttering her cloak and showing the hundreds of obsidian scalpels.

Her she was blinding, appearing in front of Tartarus in less than a second.

"I will have fun dissecting you.", the Ripper whispered with eight scalpels in her two hands.

In an instant, Tartarus' stomach burst open. It amazed the Primordial Abyss, proving that the famed killer can cut not only humans but also gods.

Her gaze wandered over to the body of Zeus, then back to Jack.

"You are a strange one, Jack the Ripper."

Despite having her stomach cut open, and her organs destroyed, Tartartus made the distance between her hand and Jack irrelevant.

Like before, Tartarus grabbed Jack's head in her palm and crushed it.

Taking this opportunity, the silver-haired man pointed his guns, all six of them, at Tartarus.

BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!

Another volley of bullets was unleashed, golden bullets went through Jack and into Tartarus' vulnerable insides. It made the Abyss stumble back, even if he could not see her eyes, he knew there was an intense glare placed upon him by her.

"Oh~? Did you think I was done?", it was Jack's voice.

The Ripper reformed right in front of Tartarus, smiling.

"I can rip everything apart, even myself.", her single crimson eye emits a red trail as she engaged close to Tartarus, "I am a nurse, a doctor! There's nothing I cannot stitch back together!!!!"

And Tartarus' body was torn into tiny chunks, scattering it everywhere in the throne room. Even though the battle seemed to be over, Jack was still shredding every bit she laid her eyes on.

"Hah... hah...", she simply looked back at the silver-haired man, "It's over—"

"It is not."

Jack trembled, as well as the others looked in horror, with the exception of the silver-haired man. The Ripper looked down, seeing an arm devoid of light punctured right through her chest, holding her still-beating heart.

"You can stitch yourself back together, but what if you are missing one of your components."

"Y-You—", Jack gritted her teeth, and she cut off Tartarus' arm in an instant.

But before Jack can get her heart back, the falling arm disappears, along with her heart.

"You are such a simple creature, human. You can never defeat me with that amount of malice."

Then Tartarus kicked Jack down the steps, looking down upon the Gem Holder of the serial killer.

"Try and stitch yourself a new heart, human."

"Ku...", Jack struggled to keep her breath, "Hehe... I have nine fucking minutes, you bitch!"

Instead of trying to attack Tartarus again, Jack eyed the corpse of Zeus. She appeared right next to the God of Thunder, with both of her hands and the scalpels raised.

"DISECT!", she tore open the corpse, took out the heart crackling with electricity, and plunged it into her own chest.

"AHAHAHA!!! WHY GET MY HEART BACK WHEN I CAN HAVE A NEW ONE?!", Jack roared with her crazed smile.

"Interesting."

That was all of Jack's display of psychopathy to Tartarus.

"Hehe... looks like things will not be that simple.", Jack took a step back, "My dude, you really have to do it!"

The silver-haired man nodded, "Give me the bow."

The tall cloaked grey man, over two meters, stepped in front of the silver-haired man.

"Ō̴̰̖f̴̤̯̍ ̵͈̦̐͋c̶͕̗̑̃o̸̜̐̒ư̵̡͔r̵̺̾͛͜s̸̨̊e̶̢͙͆̍,̸̰̝̀̈ ̵͈̑Ǐ̷̧ ̸̟͠à̴̲m̸͉̣̋͝ ̴̥̥̄͋ȧ̴͕t̶͈̊ ̷̠̮̓y̷̢̛̟̅o̷̥͂u̶̧͆r̸̡͈͝ ̸̳̘̌s̷̮̈́ẻ̵̼͠r̶̢̻̈́v̴̞̹̈i̶̭̦̓c̶̝̆e̶͍̞͐.̵̇.", the grey man took out an ornate bow, decorated with not gem nor precious metal, but scars and dyed in the color of blood and poison.

"Charon."

Tartarus called out to the grey man, voice filled with as much disdain as the infinite abyss has.

"So you sided with the human also."

"Í̵͙̤͂ ̴̼̫̀̄a̸̫͔͝ḿ̴̙ ̵͇̈́o̷̦̓͂n̶̮̈̈́l̶͓̩͒̑y̷͔̾ ̸̺͔̓̚d̶̈́͜͝ọ̸̏̄î̵̼̘ń̸̨̏g̶̭̐̊ ̵̠͑t̸̘̒͋h̵̰͔̒e̶̞͑ ̴̨̪̀r̵͎̪̔͗ị̶͂ǵ̶̛̘̘ḫ̴̢̛t̶͕͊ ̵͚̖͐̒t̶̪̰̓́h̸̦͊̏i̵͉̔̚n̵͍̾g̸͉̈́͠.", the grey man replied, "Y̵̨̚ō̸͎̉ṷ̴̬̈́ ̶̺̉b̶̛̠̀e̷̜̤̕l̸̪̲̂͋ȯ̷̙̺n̸̩̎̚g̴̘̽e̴̯̳̅́ď̵̥̂ ̷̗̘͌̈ẗ̶̝̣́̅ỏ̵̯̙͋ ̷̹̽t̷̛̙͌h̷̹̏ẹ̷̤̑̍ ̵̜̮̂̈́d̵̹̮͂e̵̘̘͆͠p̷̹̂t̸͉̍h̵̹͈́͝ ̴̡̯̑͌o̴̯̓f̷͇̗̆̏ ̸̼͂͛t̴͎̐̃h̷̰̉͝e̶̹̥͒ ̵̭̳̔ẅ̸̙́ȍ̷̖͠r̶̳͎͊l̴̞̍͘d̷͖͚̾́,̷͙̤̀̈́ ̵̥̗̅ñ̴͚̤̎o̵̤͌ẗ̸̯́̇ ̶̘̽h̴̜́̀e̶͇͍͛͛ŗ̶̗̇è̸͔ ̵̡̋o̴̹͛n̶͖̏̓ ̷̳͓͑̈́t̸̹͈̑̃h̷͔͒͗e̴̥̋̏ ̷͈̮̾͘ṡ̸̢͠u̷̇̍͜r̸̘̓f̸̖̱̑a̵̰̓c̷͔̅̍e̵̳͙͐̎.̶͕̠̉̚."

"Your fall is here, Primordial Abyss.", the silver-haired man aimed the bow at Tartarus, drawing it back.

A silver arrow formed, with twists of blood and poison. Tartarus felt fear for the first time in a long time, there was something particular about that bow, not too different from...

A God Slayer, a weapon designed or morphed into an artifact to kill gods.

Tartarus did not know what to do, could she dodge? Would she dodge? The distance is far, she could dodge it... what if there is something more? The other two who she killed were on stand-by, would they give up their lives once again to have her be hit by the arrow?

Fear was an emotion The Primordial Abyss was not used to, even back then, in the face of his doom he still stood motionless, letting that man kill him.

But then again, she is immune to all damage. As long as there is malice in the attack—

And the arrow was let loose, it went faster than Tartarus expected. By the time it reached her, it was already too late.

Her back burst open, and for a brief moment, her black blood and viscera were like wings. Her final moments on Earth are near.

Tartarus spoke no word, she just stood there with an open wound in her stomach. She tried to collect the bits and pieces of her body, only for them to rot away under the slightest command.

"There was no malice, no anger, no hatred."

Tartarus began to crack, she did not like this feeling at all. She made the same mistake again, the very same mistake that took her life, then and now. He was never a fighter, only an observer...

She fell back on her throne, and her vision became hazy... her face broke away, revealing the woman Tartarus trapped underneath. Her blue eyes lay only on one person, the silver-haired man.

"An... Andras...?", she weakly spoke.

The silver-haired man dashed over next to her, next to Kaios.

"I am here...", his breath was heavy.

"Andras...", she leaned on closer to her beloved.

They both embraced each other.

"Our baby...", a weak smile appeared on her face, "Her... her..."

"Her name is Charlotte, correct?", he softly spoke.

"Yes... yes...", she cried out of sheer bliss, "She's... she has your eyes... and your hair..."

"I see.", he closed his eyes, "I would like to meet her..."

"Andras...?", Kaios' voice turned to a quiver.

"I still have time, I can still see her.", he coughed up some blood, "I... Jack, can you do me a favor?"

The Ripper appeared right next to the two, but she did not smile, letting the shadow of her top hat cover her face.

"Of course, it's at least what I can do for a friend.", Jack nodded and disappeared.

"Andras...", Kaios was full of worries, "What... did you do?"

"Tartarus.", Andras explained in his monotone voice, "It cannot be harmed by anything that has malice... even then, its regeneration is top tier... so I have to use a God Slayer weapon... the Bow of Heracles."

"You... robbed the Museum?", she questioned him in disbelief.

"Heha...", he let out a chuckle, "That's what you worried about?"

He changed the position, embracing his wife in the chest.

"The Bow of Heracles... no human can handle such a thing, it cost me my very soul... even magic cannot bring back a destroyed soul...", a thin smile appeared on his face, "At least I can die with you... Kai."

"What about our... children...? Deliah? Charlotte?", Kaios was hyperventilating heavily, "What—"

"Deliah is safe with my sister... as for Charlotte... Jack will take her back to her Organization.", Andras held Kaios closer, as to not let her see his dark expression, "It's the price for her service... they want Charlotte..."

"No...", tears streamed down her eyes, "I..."

"It will be okay...", he comforted her, "Charlotte will be safe..."

As on cue, Jack reappeared in the room, this time with a sleeping child in her arms.

"Here is your child... she's cute...", Jack bloomed a warm smile.

Andras let go of Kaios and took the child, Charlotte. Charlotte opened her eyes, snapping out of her slumber. The silver-haired man looks warmly at his second daughter.

"She indeed has my eyes.", his hand caressed her face, "And she is very perceptive..."

He brought Charlotte over to Kaios, letting the mother look at her baby. One final time.

"Charlotte...", her face was a mixture of bliss and sorrow, "Your name, it means 'Freedom'... please always remember to think for yourself first... remember to not obey anyone... you will like your father... a free and independent person..."

Taking a sharp and painful breath, Kaios continued, "Charlotte, remember to respect yourself above all... you are my pride and joy... I want you to be prideful, but also kind... blunt but also gentle..."

"I love you, Charlotte... I love you... please... please live a good life... I want you to be happy... unshackled... free..."

Her hands trembled, her tears fell onto the baby...

"I... I..."

Andras gently supports his wife, holding their child.

"I have so much... I have so much to say to you... my baby... my daughter... but I can't..."

Her eyes turned to Jack, who had retreated back to the darkness.

"Take care of her... please...", she begged the serial killer.

The only confirmation she got was a nod and no word.

"Let me... hold her for a bit longer..."

The couple embraced their child for the final moment... as both their bodies went cold.

=0=0=

Prometheus stared past the couple, looking at the dark, decaying void above them. Tartarus, but only the Titan could see it.

"I have one final wish, Prometheus."

The Titan tensed up, expecting the Primordial Abyss to fight to the bitter end. But his foresight thought otherwise... he saw a future where Tartarus was dead... it was a bleak one, but a light was at the end of the tunnel... he saw a girl with silver hair, her azure eyes devoid of emotion— no, they were full of emotions... too much in fact.

"Chaos is waking up, defend this world."

And the shadow of Tartarus disappeared completely. The Primordial Abyss is defeated...

"Six months of fighting... between the revived Pantheon and Greece.", Prometheus muttered, he turned his back and walked away, "There is nothing else for me to do... but to prepare for Chaos..."

And the Titan of Fire disappeared through a portal, followed by Charon and the dual of red-cloaked.

Meanwhile, Jack took the baby from the couple's embrace. She still has a job to do, to announce the defeat of Tartarus, and to bring this child safely back to the Organization.

She ended her Anima Pactum, showing her true self. Her hair was a peach color as well as her eyes, and the clothes she was wearing - a white jacket with the symbol of a knife crossed with a syringe, stained with a splash of blood. 

Jack took out her phone and dialed up.

"Subject C is secured, Subject A and T have no sign of vital function. Greece is now safe, so I conclude Operation White Void, Phase 5. Over."

[Return to Collection Point C, we will continue to Phase 6 there. Over.]

"Yes, sir. Over."

She hung up and looked at the baby in her right arm, "Don't give me that look..."

Once again, Jack shrouded herself in darkness and disappeared with Charlotte.

 

Back on the throne, Andras was alone, his body sat peacefully on the throne, and with his wife sitting on his lap. They embraced each other, with fulfilled expressions on their faces.

This was the final confrontation, not a battle, not a fight.

And the end of the Rise of The Gods, which is also commonly known as the Greeco Civil War.