"Tanjo!"
His sight was blurry, overwhelmed by a white light that encompassed seemingly everything around him. His ears rang deafeningly, with the faint sounds of someone calling his name appearing every few seconds.
"Tanjo!"
The voice became more apparent, growing in volume. It felt like he was in a comatose state, unable to manipulate his body physically. Only his thoughts coursed through his mind normally. He felt vulnerable and had not yet discovered what came from his surroundings—had Regashi won? Or had the colossal hand that ripped through the Ectoverse also subdued him?
*SMACK!*
With a brief stinging sensation washing over his face, Tanjo finally blinked as his head was thrashed to the side. Rubbing his face with his left hand, he realized that Yuso was standing beside him with his right hand slightly raised. He had slapped the teenager to break him out of his unexplainable stupor.
"What happened?" Tanjo queried, shifting his gaze to the white realm he currently resided in.
The cosmos truly was a strange assortment of different universes and dimensions. The moment Tanjo or Yuso began to feel acclimated to the space around them, they were abruptly transported elsewhere, taken aback by an arbitrary and incomprehensible location.
Yuso exhaled weakly, racking his brains for potential words as he said, "I know no more than you, except for the fact that our wings and abilities are gone again."
"Of course," Tanjo clicked his tongue, tilting his head down to survey his ruined clothing. "And of Regashi?"
"Regashi's also gone." Yuso added, looking out into the distance and failing to spot the brown-haired menace.
Cautiously, Tanjo tapped his right foot against the invisible layer he was standing on before taking a slow step forward. Why were they alone? Regashi was prepared to kill them both, and the hand did not appear to be another one of his cruel stunts. Regashi had also mumbled something before the giant hand had captured them all.
"Did he say Big Daddy's here?"
*HRMMM!*
A myriad of colors were expelled outward as a shape proceeded to take form. Peering through his fingers to shield his eyes from the light, Tanjo spotted the vague form of a humanoid figure hovering in space, with four arms stretching out from their torso. The being's legs were crossed over one another as if they were sitting on an invisible chair.
"He had been referring to me." A mighty voice echoed throughout the white abyss.
Even as the fractured lights dimmed, the humanoid being still lacked definite features. He was simply light that had the silhouette of a human. Was he human?
"What is to come of this!?" Tanjo immediately questioned, keeping his distance from the floating silhouette.
Moments of silence were all that came of that question, instilling anxiety into Tanjo's bones. Perhaps his demand was too demanding.
The silhouette gradually clasped its four hands together as its voice rang out, "A restart for everyone."
Yuso steeled himself and inched closer, unable to tear his Shirugeto eyes away from the floating being before him. It could be assumed that the silhouette was the reason behind his and Tanjo's presence in the white realm and the owner of the massive hand that abducted them. If such were truly the case, then Yuso would do well not to underestimate the being's power.
"Care to be more detailed?" The redhead requested, his elbows angled slightly in the event of potential combat.
The silhouette tilted its bleak head. "I'm giving you the reality you strive for. A world denuded of the Abnormal Regashi, as few dubbed him, and all of his involvements."
Tanjo's shoulders sagged slightly. "As in… erase him? Revert everything to before Nyx first took over my brother's body?"
The silhouette nodded. "Your brother will be a man of his own, while Nyx will remain where she was directed to stay."
"And that'd be?" Yuso interjected, staring at the floating being curiously.
"Incarcerated in the realm of gods, otherwise simply titled as the Realm or Heaven." The silhouette informed.
Yuso hummed before speaking, "How do you know these things? Who are you?"
"For mortal convenience, you will know me as Imperium. I started everything as you know it, including the gods." The silhouette, now known as Imperium, declared absolutely.
Tanjo raised his right hand, processing the information. "You're like… the god compared to the rest? The biggest guy? Overarching power? Your name suggests such."
"I would not claim to be a guy, but I formed everything outside of the multiverse, while I created the gods with the sole intention to create realms of their own. I created the soul, while they utilized it." Imperium stated, floating to the side and gesturing back.
Behind where Imperium once hovered was the Abnormal Regashi, who thrashed around while being restrained by tendrils of light. The brown-haired menace was completely immobile, unable to break free from the restraints that encircled him.
"You worthless prick! Let me go!" Regashi screamed, glaring at Imperium.
Imperium looked back at Tanjo and Yuso. "Nyx, the goddess that represented the night, took it upon herself to capture a soul to break her limitations as a deity. The gods are bound to their multiversal walls, but with the assistance of a human soul, amplifying her powers greatly, she was able to transcend everything."
XXX
{THE NIGHT BEFORE REGASHI'S ELEVENTH BIRTHDAY}
In the center of the village of Furusato, tucked in his bed inside the village's castle, ten-year-old Regashi Ketsueki was lying on his back while he gazed at the ceiling. He had a silly grin on his face as he kicked his feet up and down under the blankets in excitement.
"I'm going to be eleven…" Regashi murmured, glee shimmering in his green eyes. Pure, childish, innocent glee. "Then I can head out to the pet store and see the animals whenever I want! I miss the dogs…"
Many thoughts surged through his head, fueled by childish antics and fantasies.
"Then, when I'm really old, I can be king! Make everyone proud of me!" The brown-haired child giggled to himself, rolling in his bed excitedly.
Inevitably, the weariness that had slowly built up within his body started to become more present, with his eyes becoming half-lidded. A yawn escaped his mouth, prompting him to stretch and pull the blanket up to his neck, wriggling into a comfortable position.
*KRSHH!*
Purple rifts ripped across the center of the bedroom, bending space itself. A hand emerged from the hole in space, clawing into the foot of the bed, followed by the rest of a person's body creeping up the length of the covers, slowly closing in on Regashi.
Regashi lifted his head from his pillow, startled by the loud noise and purple light at the end of his bed, only to see a woman with dark purple hair reaching out to grab him. Before he could let out a high-pitched scream, the woman clamped her hands around the boy's mouth, staring at him with a malevolent gaze. Her eyes were a vibrant violet color, her pupils dilated.
"You! You irritate me the most… so you'll work just fine…" The woman's hoarse voice scratched Regashi's ears, his eyes watering.
*KRSHH!*
Not a moment later, the woman let her purple rifts cover the child's body as he squirmed in pain. Her frame began to turn into the purple rifts themselves, and she removed her hands from the child as she began to float into Regashi's mouth in the form of the crackling fissures.
*SWISH!*
The sound of the bedroom door swinging open could be heard as Hana Ketsueki rushed inside, sprinting to the bed. There were no visible signs of forced entry and not an ounce of light illuminating the room.
"Regashi, baby! Are you okay?" The Queen of Furusato anxiously queried, grabbing the child by his shoulders and lifting him softly.
Eventually, Regashi's eyes began to crack open, his green eyes shining through the darkness. His gaze landed on the queen, his hands instinctively balling up into fists.
"I'm… trying to sleep." Regashi's voice was weak, but his tone was sharp.
Hana felt relieved that there were no present issues with her son, but the rude attitude put her at a loss. She decided to chalk it up to him getting older and developing a snobby attitude—she could always work on that with him; however, for now, letting Regashi sleep was the best option.
She left the bedroom, slowly shutting the door as Regashi was left comfortably in his bed.
Regashi's eyes never shut that night.
XXX
{PRESENT TIME}
"That was before I was even born…" Tanjo spoke quietly, looking at his feet.
Imperium had shown both Tanjo and Yuso what had occurred the night before Regashi Ketsueki's eleventh birthday, finding themselves disturbed by the event.
"From there, she sought out Derrien, a god that was handing out divine powers to humans. By intertwining the human soul she captured and the additional godly powers she would later receive from Derrien, she became a nightmare to anyone that came across her—or Abnormal Regashi, I should say." Imperium spoke smoothly, unraveling the tragedy even further.
"Boo-hoo! Release me!" Regashi shouted from afar, grinding his teeth together.
A tendril of light wrapped around the man's mouth, silencing him.
"You said Nyx should have been incarcerated. I'm assuming she's built a bad reputation with other deities?" Tanjo queried, his voice low.
Imperium nodded. "She desired a more notable status and wanted less of the gods around. Then, with the arrival of humans and other creatures, Nyx got more demented. She blamed everything and everyone in the multiverse for her alleged misfortune."
Yuso grunted, exhaling. "You'll properly ensure her permanent containment, yes?"
Tanjo gently tapped the redhead on the shoulders, ushering him to be a bit gentler toward an entity that could wipe them out without a second thought. Yuso's bitter demeanor was quite justified in a sense, with his life flashing before his eyes a million times before their current moment.
"Oh, yes." Imperium started, holding its four hands close together while leaving a small gap between his palms. "I'll erase her memories and decrease her potential."
"Wait!" Tanjo hollered abruptly, "You're omnipotent, no? Why don't you just make her kind? Purge any of her bad intentions?"
*BRMM!*
A sphere of light materialized between Imperium's four hands, growing brighter by the second—or what felt like seconds. Regashi continued to wriggle his body while restrained by the tendrils, watching the three with malice.
"Then I would be no better than her. Nyx's plan was to make people into a puppet, change them from who they were, foregoing persuasion and second chances. I know that's not what you want, either." Imperium declared wisely, allowing the sphere to grow in size.
Yuso adopted a pensive expression, his muscles relaxing slightly. "Will I be returned to before I killed my family?"
Tanjo gazed at Yuso sympathetically, understanding the urge to know. Truthfully, Tanjo wanted to know if he, too, would be potentially brought back to the time before his family was killed. He would get his elder brother back, right?
Imperium nodded. "As if Nyx never intervened."
The rogue duo paused to think before nodding with a concurring stare at one another.
"We're ready," Tanjo asserted, standing tall. "Make everything balanced again."
*BRRMMM!*
The bright sphere pulsed intensely, growing closer to discharging its overwhelming power. This was it—the end to it all. No more Nyx, more death, and Tanjo could live out his teenage years normally. Perhaps finding a profession outside of being a warrior would be a nice change.
Yuso had so much to say to his family if he could recall all of his previous actions. His beloved elder siblings, Katashi and Hina, cared deeply for their little brother. Hopefully, he could resolve the problem with his father and end the Takuetsu family's terrible tyranny
"Goodbye, Tanjo, Yuso. I'll be watching—!"
*CRACK!*
A hand brutally tore through Imperium's torso, grabbing the glowing sphere and crushing it swiftly. Tanjo and Yuso's eyes widened as they witnessed Imperium twitch and fluctuate in color, the entity's silhouette of an appearance becoming distorted.
"I can't believe you guys actually wanted me gone! I'm hurt!"
Tanjo and Yuso's blood ran cold, and they felt dread brim within them as they heard a nightmarishly familiar voice ring in their ears. Imperium continued to shake erratically, unable to move.
"My own creation… exceeding me…" Imperium muttered, confounded by the unexpected attack.
Regashi was grinning ear-to-ear as he stood behind Imperium, his right hand punching a clean hole through the omnipotent entity. Off to the side, where he was thought to be restrained, was a clone of the brown-haired menace, which proceeded to turn to dust as the tendrils of light faded.
"Don't worry, big thing, I'll take care of them!" Regashi laughed, his tone sinister.
*SWISH!*
With one swift motion, Regashi straightened his hand and cut through Imperium's torso horizontally, slicing the entity in half.
"No!" Tanjo screamed, sprinting forward.
Imperium watched as the jet-black-haired teenager dashed to its rescue, with Yuso following along after him. Just as everything was about to be fixed, leading to Nyx being locked away and properly distanced from every living thing in the multiverse, the Abnormal Regashi had managed to catch Imperium—an all-powerful and all-knowing being—off-guard, with impeccable ease.
"It was never my place to balance my mistakes…" Imperium murmured, aiming his remaining two hands at the two rogues rushing toward him.
*SHRRRVV!*
*CRASH!*
Before Tanjo or Yuso could get too close, they were blasted away by a light that Imperium had discharged from his remaining two hands, sending the duo far away and out of the white abyss they once resided in. Moments later, Imperium's light dimmed as his silhouette-like figure dissipated, vanishing without a trace.
Regashi chuckled, cracking his right hand's fingers. "You slick, old fart. I saw what you did there! You gave them a boost!"
The brown-haired menace crept closer to the hole in the white abyss, leading to the new dimension that Tanjo and Yuso had been expelled into. His black cloak swayed despite there being no wind, his grin deepening greatly.
Sadistically, Regashi bit down on his index finger, his emerald-green eyes shining with glee.
"I'm going to love this!"
XXX
So close to the end! I hope you guys realize that there was no possible way for Imperium to stick around for any longer than that. I mean, he's an omnipotent being; he was either in Regashi's way or just not going to intervene at all. We witnessed which of the two it happened to be and then what resulted from it. Stay tuned for more!
Have a Great Day!
Peace - Cr1ticalz_