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ALANA

Two women sat side by side, perched on top of a platform in the high-skies surrounded by nothing but clear, even dull, cyan. The platform rose up into a gardened gazebo, domed roof adorned with hand-carved lines of gold. The windows were covered up in slits of perfumed wood, the benches inside cushioned, with the steps outside leading up from the platform to the gazebo cast out of white, smooth marble.

Gaia and A’yor sat in silence for a long while, gazing off beyond the orbit of Noterra, into the empty cosmos. Their minds were heavy, plagued by the reality that had transpired not too long ago -- the Empyrean had won. The Descent was gone. The Primes were dead. The Holy Army itself routed back onto the Holy Continent where, no doubt, they would soon be pursued and executed. The entirety of Noterra now belonged to the prime agent of Chaos and was his to command.

Gaia’s emotions were akin to a whirling pandemonium; a sensation of regret, a trace of awe, a pulsation of longing. She still had trouble reconciling everything, how he went from the boy she met in the Umbra Kingdom decades ago, to the undisputed Emperor of the whole world. He seemed so innocent, naive, unlikely to ever ascend, back then. Yet, their realities now stood uprooted. Perchance, in his eyes, she hardly even registered anymore; only as a stain of the past he will eventually cleanse.

"... do you think Dangwe can fight him?" A’yor asked, her red hair trailing back like small threads as she turned toward silver-eyed Gaia.

"... no," Gaia shook her head, sighing and tearing her gaze away from the cosmos. "If anything, Dan is probably looking for the deepest hole to hide in right now."

"... this can’t be it, can it?" A’yor asked with bitterness in her voice. "After so many years... after getting so close... just for it all to... vanish?"

"--I should have listened to my heart all those years ago," Gaia said. "Had I, we would be down there, celebrating in the gloom. Rather than here, just being... gloomy."

"Nobody could have predicted this," A’yor said. "Perhaps not even Ataxia. At least not for all of this to happen so quickly. In less than a century... hah. If the others who tried to conquer the world heard of this, they might just go absolutely mad."

"...hm?" Gaia arched her brow, turning her eyes in front of her whereupon space there trembled and shook, a faint ripple exploding out followed by a crimson-shaded black swirl emerging. His heart thundered, though her limbs refused to move. He’s here!

Though her thoughts were screaming that, the ripple vanished without him churning through -- only the crimson-black swirl of chaotic energy. A’yor shot up to her feet and pulled Gaia back, standing in front of the latter, pulling out a shimmering sword.

"... rest your arms, child," Ataxia said, his robotic voice cracking slowly. "I haven’t come to fight."

"Then why did you come? To mock us?" A’yor asked, baring her teeth.

"No, I’ve come to prepare you for the next battle," the black swirl glazed over onto the platform, his voice turning eerily human, that of an old man’s. It slowly began bending and sheering, extruding upward and shaping up into a figure -- a figure of an old, dreary-looking man with a wrinkled face and a pair of abyss-like black eyes. He towered tall, over four meters in total, and seemed large enough to pound a mountain into mincemeat with his bare hands.

The look in his eyes, however, was strange, as they never left Gaia, not looking at A’yor even once.

"--what... the hell?" A’yor stumbled over her words, uncertain as to what was happening.

"You’ve spent countless lifetimes looking to peer through the doors," Ataxia said, sighing lowly. "To see what’s inside."

"..."

"Do you really want to know that badly?"

"--I do." Gaia replied, her emotions strange; she didn’t feel fear or anything even remotely like it. Rather, she felt an odd sense of peace. Calmness.

"... very well." Ataxia said after a short pause, sighing. "Let’s go then."

The space around the three rippled and tore as they found themselves shuffled from one reality into another, bounding countless miles of their journey within a few blinks of an eye. They found themselves standing in front of the massive gates embedded into the side of a mountain, sloped at a steep angle, all-around countless protective arrays shimmering in brilliant hues.

Ataxia walked up slowly, with heavy steps, and gently touched the door’s cool surface. His brows trembled, a deep sigh escaping his lips. Turning back toward Gaia and A’yor who still remained somewhat wary of him, his lips curled up into a faint smile.

"I’ve never had the intention of opening these doors again," he said, turning back toward them. "They held... too many memories, after all. Too much pain. I eventually intended on leaving them here, locked for all eternity. But... the state of affairs has changed."

"--does Lino know you are here?" Gaia asked, frowning.

"No," Ataxia replied, shaking his head. "Ah... Lino," he chuckled bitterly, looking down. "That lad... changed everything. I... I don’t think I can fulfill my promise from that day, Alana. I’ve given him too much, and he gorged on it greedily. What’s worse... the Edifice seems to have settled entirely on him. No matter how I try, it won’t even respond to me anymore. Though, I suppose... it had given up on me the day I have given up on it... for you."

"--w-what are you talking about?!" Gaia frowned, taking a step back. "Speak sensibly, Ataxia!"

"... come." he said, touching the gates gently and forming a ripple on their surface, stepping through as his voice vanished. "Follow me."

Though still wary, both A’yor and Gaia couldn’t resist the temptation; after all, this was something they were pursuing virtually since the day of the Holy Union. Something they failed to do through so many eons, Ataxia did with a simple touch.

He was still as unfathomable as always, Gaia mused. Though she could always easily read other Writs, she was never able to understand the enigmatic Writ o Chaos. Ever-fading. Ever-changing. Ever-eluding.

As the two stepped through the doors, they were thrust into a strange world -- they found themselves afloat in a boundless void, blackness all around them as far as the eye could see. Gaia shook, her mind churning thoughts madly; she was reminded of the days before-the-beginning. This place looked exactly like that. No... no... it was that place. The cold, apathetic, dissevered piece of the world she spent her early years, or decades, or even centuries, in. Where she learned of everything.

In the far-off distance, she saw a speck of light, one so warm, so familiar. It seemed to call out to her, dragging her body along. A’yor followed after rapidly, confused and uncertain.

Ataxia was waiting for them by the sole source of light in the entire reality around them. The source of light was a translucent, amnesty coffin, crafted beautifully, lined with silver threads. It was angled, much like the gates to this place, spinning in place, shimmering in warm silver. As it slowly spun a full circle and turned toward Gaia, both her and A’yor froze, unable to move, speak or understand -- what was staring back was her spitting image. Silver-haired, fair-skinned girl in her early thirties draped in silken dress, her hands crossed on her chest. A bejeweled crown rested on her head, the superimposed gem upfront holding inside it a swirl of white-crimson, two threads interlocked, dancing the eternal waltz.

Her thoughts came to a standstill; though some differences existed, namely in their ages and clothing, that girl was her. There was no doubt about it. But... how? One of her clones? No. The connection was far deeper than that. Far more profound. Far more primeval.

"--w-what... what is the meaning... of this?" she asked in a shaky voice, turning toward Ataxia who was staring at the girl in the coffin with a faint, warm smile. She could see something base in that smile, something so ordinary she for a moment thought she was dreaming the entire thing up -- love. Pure, unconditional love.

"... though I knew it would be like that," Ataxia said. "You really haven’t changed... at all. Haah... to think so many years have passed since the last time I stepped in here..."

"...w-what... answer me!" Gaia exclaimed. "What’s all this, Ataxia?! Who is that girl?!"

"... it’s you," he turned back toward her, his expression mellow, warm. "They cheated me, Alana. I was cheated so harshly, I nearly abandoned all reason and raced to war them. They promised me they’d save you... yet, is this really saving you?" he pointed at the girl in the coffin. "Locked in a coffin, stuck in the perpetual state of mindless sleep... yet... I could never... release you. I thought about it. Plenty of times, actually. But, I couldn’t. So, instead, I made another deal -- they would clone you, in pure likeness, in pure capacity. And you would live, so long as your fragile body lived."

"..."

"Ah, how joyful I was when I saw you rising in this place, learning, absorbing, growing. But... I couldn’t attend to you. I could only hope you were just like before, Alana. And use it to try and regain a small resemblance of standing with the Edifice. Nothing worked... however. It ignored me. No matter what I tried, how much Chaos I sowed, how much I defied the Creator... it never answered my call. And then... Lino came along. Rash, unbridled, hotheaded... as there was little left for me to do here, I decided to make him my last Bearer for now. Sow chaos, and eventually leave once all Qi is gone. I never understood," he continued, seemingly more so to himself than the two women who have long since lost the grip with reality. "Why the Edifice chose him and not me. What was it about him that drew it out from the hiding, risking early exposure? What did he have that I didn’t? That none before me did?"

"..."

"It wasn’t until a few days ago, actually, that I realized," Ataxia chuckled, shaking his head. "It had nothing to do with him, not really. He just happened to know one of the Agents of Creation... by pure, cosmically-unlikely chance. And thus, the Edifice chose him. Ah, how fickle... the nature of everything is. He won’t wait for long, I don’t think," he finally turned toward the two women and smiled. "He’s too settled in his ways to listen to me again. Though, I suppose, it’s partially my fault. I was never a good paragon. Perchance, had I just been honest with him from the start... but, alas, the time for regrets has long since passed. There is no doubt that, by now, the Edifice was sensed. The deal still stands, Alana. They will protect you. So, when all hell breaks loose, and the world is collapsing... take who you wish, and hide here. They will come for you. I’ve done all I could, butterfly," he walked over to the frozen Gaia and suddenly wrapped his arms around her, the corners of his eyes growing teary, his body trembling. "I’m sorry... I’m sorry I failed you. Both in the past, and this life. Elta was right, after all. I was not a proper father, not to any of you..."

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