POV—Isabella
The first thing my gaze fell on was the towering individual whose pitch-black hair seemed a piece of tenebrous darkness as it cascaded down his nape. His black, regal robe swept the ground, adding an ominous air to his sinister presence.
Then I saw Andrew. He wore a strange smile as the towering man stared down at him. He didn't seem afraid in the slightest. In fact, it looked as though that smile was there to taunt the sinister-looking man.
My gaze moved quickly, perception sweeping the entire space as I began making deductions from what I saw: the large bloodstain on the ground, the scattered pieces of something unnatural–human parts, I concluded.
The space was dimly lit despite the absence of any clear light source, but I couldn't dwell on that; it was of no importance now.
It had been less than a second since I rifted into this place. Talen was already blabbering, something I had no intention of paying attention to. A bigger problem was at hand–a terrible problem.
I couldn't see Mira, who had to be wherever Andrew was. The bloodstains and those fragments of human remains already made me imagine a horrible scenario. Whatever had happened before we arrived wasn't something I wished to picture.
Andrew was acting strange. That smile, that nonchalance, wasn't the Andrew I knew. I was already sure the man wearing Andrew's face wasn't Andrew.
It was an entirely different person… just like Valor. I only hoped it wasn't Valor.
He didn't look like Valor. He lacked the incandescent radiance that suffused the world with his immutable will, those pair of infernal embers that could scorch the soul of a person, and the head full of gold.
But this time I wasn't as terrified. I had a solution that might work… I hoped it might work.
So I shifted all the effects of my Enhancement to Talen the instant my feet touched the marble floor of this strange place that resembled a cathedral yet felt more eccentric in design.
If we wanted a shot at stopping whatever was going on here, it was necessary that I didn't hold much of Enhancement back. Though, I still had to hold back because I knew Talen couldn't bear the full brunt of Enhancement, no one could.
It was at this moment Andrew's gaze turned toward me, as if only just noticing my presence–which made sense, since only my Enhanced perception let me register so much of what had happened and what was happening in such a short span. To an outside observer, not even a second had passed since we appeared in this peculiar cathedral.
But there was a problem… The look in Andrew's eyes made something else clear. Something too different from what I had thought.
That wasn't Andrew. Though identical in every outward way, he simply wasn't. I knew it because the presence of the sinister man I kept trying to ignore was far more oppressive… like Valor's, yet different.
"Now, you idiot!" I urged when I understood everything was spiraling out of control. This was the worst possible outcome. Potentially the worst possible scenario that could come into play.
I wanted badly to strangle Talen, but I kept my rationality. Right now he was my best resort, if not the last, then certainly the best.
*****
In a frozen instant between unfolding events, when chaos accepted tranquility for a heartbeat, a muted field of cancellation spread from Talen's body like a supreme will of serenity.
It suffused the entire cathedral and beyond in an eye-blink. There was no moment of build; from the very instant Talen activated his Nullification, an entire section of the city fell beneath a force of absolute order: a decree that no otherworldly power could function, a command that stilled every hostile intention.
Silence reigned.
"Did it work?" Talen asked, arms stretched toward Zenith and Morgur, though the gesture meant nothing; his Nullification radiated in every direction, yet habit made him aim even though it was a needless action.
"Most likely." Isabella exhaled as the two other figures turned their attention toward them. The dreadful presence of the dark-haired man remained undiminished.
Thank fuckin' God, She thought.
Isabella felt her powers leaving–no, not leaving. They were still there, simply out of reach, like a half-formed thought. Obviously the same held true for everyone else. Within the confines of this cathedral, they were powerless. Every single person was now mortal.
Or so she believed.
The towering man slowly turned his entire body to face them, his black, abyssal gaze locking on Isabella's. He gave no sign of caring about the doppelgänger of Andrew as his huge frame pivoted fully, leaving his broad back exposed to the Andrew look-alike–who, it wasn't hard to guess, was almost certainly Alex Warren. There were only four Chosens in Fragr, after all, and all four were here.
"You desire to silence my will?" The powerful voice of the sinister man rolled out like the command of a cold general waging an endless war.
A single step from Zenith devoured nearly half the distance between them, a stretch that should have taken many strides. In that instant Isabella realized that, even if the Nullification touched him at all, its effect was negligible.
They were at an absolute disadvantage. Like cattle waiting to be slaughtered. No one else could use their powers, and that man moved as though untouched by any constraint.
"Turn off your Nullification, now!" Isabella hissed at Talen, panic sharp in her voice.
Talen's eyes were wide with shock as he watched the dark figure defy logic, crossing that absurd distance in a single step. Zenith was already lifting his foot again.
Though stunned, Talen reacted to her command, turning off his Nullification while punching himself backward to gain space from the giant. Isabella did the same, her exceptional speed–for a normal person–carrying her faster.
The moment the field of Nullification dissipated, Zenith's foot came down on the marble floor, detonating an explosion of force. Innumerable cracks webbed outward as the cathedral's foundation groaned. Then Zenith simply vanished, his mirage fading where he had stood.
"Have the children of this age grown so audacious? Have they forgotten the immutable decree of the House of Paragons?"
His body bent slightly, bringing his mouth close to her ear. His immense, regal cloak draped over her face, plunging her into darkness as the scent of lavender filled her senses. His breath, cold as winter, brushed the side of her face.
Isabella's body locked. Her heart hammered so violently she thought it might burst from her chest.
She had only ever felt terror like this once before–the time with her father…
Her thoughts splintered as old memories surged, churning like a devil's brew. Her limbs turned cold and limp. Maybe it was the icy breath, maybe the suffocating darkness of his cloak, or maybe that overwhelming lavender dragging her toward memories she had sworn to bury forever. Maybe…
"Have you forgotten Zenith?" he whispered, the words slithering directly into her mind.
To Isabella, it didn't sound like what Zenith had uttered. It sounded like: Have you forgotten Daddy, little Isabella? The phrase hurled her down a memory lane she had deserted, one she had prayed never to revisit. Her mind buckled under the onslaught.
"No, Father!" Isabella cried, tears streaking her cheeks as she tried to wrench free of Zenith's hold. She wanted nothing more than to escape.
"Seriously, you're ignoring my presence?" Morgur's voice cut through, no longer wearing Andrew's face. He had shifted into the Primordial Form of Adrac, his body launching toward Zenith.
Zenith didn't flinch as Morgur slammed into him, the collision hurling the giant backward through multiple support pillars before smashing him against the cathedral wall.
Dust billowed, shrouding the scene where Zenith still held the trembling Isabella close.
"Aren't you being too insolent now?" The serene murmur carried through the cracking cathedral as the dust cleared, revealing Zenith once more.
Isabella remained pressed against him–one massive hand at her waist, the other cradling the back of her head–with a gentleness at odds with the devastation around them. Calmly, he stepped out of the cratered wall.
"My presence seems to have faded. I merely wished to remind you. I trust I've interrupted nothing?" Morgur gave a fiendish smile, tilting his head slightly as his gaze shifted between Zenith and the girl cradled in his arms.
"Really? I like your nerve, child," Zenith said, gently lowering Isabella to the floor. She had fallen unconscious from the shock of the collision with the wall, despite Zenith shielding her.
"I haven't forgotten," Zenith replied, standing tall, his back straight and his presence vast. "I was merely choosing a fitting judgment for you. But it seems you've already chosen one yourself."
"And what would that be?" Morgur's form began to ripple, swelling until his size nearly matched Zenith's, though he still wore his Primordial shape.
Zenith offered no answer. In the next instant, the cathedral was drowned in a world of absolute black; a darkness so pure it devoured even the deepest shadows. And just as swiftly as it arrived, it vanished.
And so… it began.
*****
POV — Talen
They had forgotten I was even there. To them, I had ceased to exist–an insignificant pawn in a game I was never meant to play. Their eyes no longer sought me. Their wills simply passed through me as if I were smoke.
I knelt on the cold marble, knees pressed hard against the floor, body locked beneath the weight of their presence. Breath caught in my throat; thought itself felt dangerous. I was a Chosen, yes, but at that moment the title was ash. Whatever power I carried had fled with my courage.
I could only watch.
Isabella, who had always unnerved me with her ferocity, was lifted effortlessly from the ground, her comparatively slight frame dangling like a child's doll in the grasp of that towering abomination wearing the face of a man. Her struggles were pitiful against the sheer enormity of him. Tears streamed down her face, silent and glinting in the dim light.
Had she forgotten her own strength, just as I had forgotten mine? Or had the same terror that hollowed me out already poisoned her thoughts, stripping her down to nothing but panic and the primal need to flee?
Then the second abomination demanded my attention for itself–a living sculpture of raw force, a figure carved from nightmare and inevitability. It struck first, hurling itself at the towering man with a violence that rattled the marrow of my bones. The blow was so absolute that for a breathless instant I believed it would end them both–Isabella crushed, the black titan undone.
But I was wrong. My belief didn't matter. I was going to be wrong about everything. I just couldn't comprehend what was going on.
What followed was something I hadn't imagined surviving.
The world went utterly dark, perfectly dark. For a heartbeat I thought I had lost consciousness, my senses severed. Relief flickered. But no. I was awake. My heart pounded against the cage of my ribs as the blackness itself seemed to breathe.
Then, normalcy returned… but just for a short moment.
Within the interval when the darkness was clearing up, the towering man was already moving. So also was the living statue.
And then, they collided.
I felt the air convulse as their forces collided, reality buckling beneath the weight of them. Sound became a low, endless roar, a pressure that clawed at my ears and skull. I could do nothing but witness.
The cathedral groaned like a dying beast, stone cracking and splintering under stresses it was never meant to endure. It was doomed, just as I was doomed, kneeling in the shadow of gods who did not care if I lived or vanished.
I remained, trembling and unmade, a silent witness to ruin.