The master spy or Puss in the boot adventures

Lyra, the Goddess of Dreams 52, Part 182

As Elysia wove her visions of possible futures, her form began to flicker and waver, the radiant energy that surrounded her dimming like a candle flame caught in a sudden breeze. The shimmering orb that held the images of hope and despair sputtered and shrank, its surface cracking like delicate porcelain.

The Goddess of Infinite Possibility gasped, her eyes widening in shock and confusion as she felt her cosmic power draining away, siphoned off by an unseen force.

The assembled gods watched in horror as Elysia staggered, her luminous aura dimming to a faint, sputtering glow. The air around her crackled with dark, malevolent energy, a palpable sense of wrongness that set the divine hairs on the back of their necks standing on end.

The goddess stumbled, her hand flying to her brow as if stricken by a sudden, searing pain. Her luminous eyes, once filled with the light of infinite wisdom, dulled and unfocused, staring blankly into the distance. The very air around her seemed to grow heavy and oppressive, weighed down by an unseen force that sought to smother her essence.

"What's happening?" Athena cried out, her voice edged with alarm as she rushed to Elysia's side. The other gods looked on in shock and confusion, their faces etched with a growing sense of dread.

Elysia shook her head weakly, her lips moving soundlessly as she struggled to form words. Her skin, once radiant with the glow of celestial power, had turned ashen and pale, like marble kissed by moonlight. The intricate patterns of energy that had danced across her form faded and unraveled, leaving her looking strangely diminished and mortal.

"What... what is happening?" Elysia whispered, her voice strained and tremulous. She reached out a hand, as if to steady herself, but her fingers passed through the shimmering portal like mist, unable to find purchase.

"Someone... do something, " cried out desperately Athena." Who is doing this..."  

"The traitor..." Elysia managed at last, her voice a strained whisper that echoed through the sudden, unnatural silence. "They are here, among us... Their power... grows..."

A cruel laugh echoed through the chamber, a sound that chilled the ichor in the gods' veins. From the shadows stepped a figure clad in armor of deepest obsidian, a helm in the shape of a snarling beast concealing their features. In their hand, they held a staff of twisted, dark metal, its surface pulsing with the same sickly, mesmerizing light as the Super Void itself.

"Fool," the figure hissed, their voice dripping with malice and contempt. "Did you truly believe that your pitiful powers could stand against the might of the Super Void? That your feeble visions and prophecies could sway the course of destiny?"

The traitor raised their staff, and a bolt of inky darkness lanced forth, striking Elysia in the chest. The Goddess cried out in agony, her form convulsing as the malevolent energy ripped through her essence, tearing at the very fabric of her being.

Around the chamber, the gods cried out in shock and rage, their weapons and powers flaring to life as they moved to defend their fallen sister. But the traitor merely laughed, a sound that echoed with the discordant harmonies of madness and despair.

"Pathetic," they sneered, their voice distorted and indistinct beneath their helm. "You cling to your outdated notions of balance and harmony, blind to the true nature of the multiverse. The Super Void is not a threat to be defeated, but a force of change and transformation, a cleansing fire that will burn away the dross of the old order and usher in a new age of darkness and chaos."

As the gods charged forward, the traitor raised their staff once more, and a shimmering barrier of force sprang into existence around them, repelling the divine onslaught. At the same time, the sickly light emanating from the staff intensified, washing over Elysia's prone form in waves of cloying, corrupting energy.

"I saw it in my visions... Please bring Lyra..." whispered Elysia.

The gods were moved, swiftly working to fulfill Elysia's last request.

"The traitor escaped with... the Celestial shard, Ares frowned. Should we pursue him?"

"Let it be... ". Elysia was near her last breath. "Lyra..."

Lyra finally stood before the dying goddess, still and enveloped by the shadows of Neverborn.

"Lord Seth, Elysia whispered... "Please release her from the shadows of Neverborn. In my vision, Lyra is the one destined to defeat the Super Void..."

"And what do I gain from this?" asked Lord Seth grimly. First, you took my Shadow Soul, and now Lyra..."

"Lyra was never yours," shouted Alric.  " Neverborn and you have clouded her mind. As for the Shadow Soul... we took it from Kronos of the Shadow Realm..."

"Release Lyra," commanded Ares, raising his sword " or  face my blade."

Other gods glared at Lord Seth, and he hissed..."All against one. Fine, I'll free her... But you'll pay... One day..."

He waved his hand, and the shadows that had coiled like a veil around Lyra's head dispersed...

"Where am I?" she asked, collapsing to the ground... "And who are these people?"

"These people," laughed Alric, "are gods... Come, I'll explain everything..."

"And where are mom, dad... my sister?" Lyra asked eagerly...

Meanwhile, in the clearing, the gods clustered around the dying goddess.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" asked Athena...

"Let Solaris and Nyx come..."

The deities urged Solaris and Nyx to approach the ailing goddess. "Solaris, Nyx, once you stood with Asraea, your sister, as the Triad," the goddess managed to say, her celestial form nearly vanished.

 Asraea bent over her, tears flowing. "I remember... in my early days as a goddess," Asraea recalled, "...when you choose me and my brothers to guard the Nexus..."

"You continue to be the nexus's protector across realms and the guardian of cosmic balance," Elysia reassured with a soft smile. "My visions show you with your brothers, defending the Nexus from the Super Void..."

 Solaris and Nyx stood shamefully, like reprimanded children. "Solaris, Nyx, reunite as the Triad with your sister. Gather the Nexus's fragments and mend it at the Celestial Forge. You will need the divine flame, the Spark of Creation. Ares..." 

 The warrior god knelt before the goddess, turning his face to hide a tear. For the first time, the god of war wept. "Yes... Elysia..." he said, embracing her. "Don't leave us... I will..."

 His voice broke, and he wept like a child. 

 "Ares," Elysia comforted him softly. "We've shared our moments. Those memories will remain with you..."

 "No..." Ares shouted, rising with clenched fists. "I will retrieve you from the Realm of the Dead if I must... I'll rescue you from the Super Void itself..." 

 "It's too late now," Elysia, the Goddess of Infinite Possibilities, replied with a smile. "Seek the Astral Sword. Only Krenos knows its location. Find the sword and halt the Super Void before it consumes the Multiverse and Cosmos."

"I won't let you go, my love," Ares murmured fiercely, pressing his lips to hers with a desperate fervor.

"Don't cry..." the goddess implored, her voice trembling with an unshakable sadness. "One day we will be together... again..."The heavens echoed with the mournful sobs of all the gods and goddesses, their tears cascading like torrential rain. Only Oro, the Weaver of Fate, stifled a giddy giggle, eyes gleaming with unrestrained excitement."Now my hands are untied," Oro declared with a wicked grin, "and I will be able to write the story as I wish..."