Galia: Tale Of The End

Chapter 16: Betrayal

Upon entering the torn walls of Opus, Galia found herself alone. For now. She looked at the work done when she first came through the city. It appeared as though every possible natural disaster had occurred and tore almost all of city into heaps of debris. Only a few structures, like the capital and storage surplus buildings, still stood. Galia left the storage building to give the Moon an excuse to specifically come to Opus because it would be odd to visit a completely decimated town for no reason. She would have preferred to meet with the Sun, but he was too far away and working on enacting the end. The Moon was a stick in the mud and showed little emotion. It seemed she was trying too hard to be formal and it annoyed Galia more than it pleased her to have a loyal subject. The Sun was entertaining and did not care that Galia was going to kill him in the near future. He could see all futures, so perhaps he simply knew how to accept the inevitable.

Galia was in what used to be the town square. Its crude fountain no longer worked and lay in pieces on the stone road. She sat on a chunk of rock and admired the archaic designs of the remaining structures. This was a labor district, so the architecture was more practical than beautiful.

"Rose and the Moon shoüld be here by now." She noted the position of the sun. "Maybe they jüst can't find me. Güess I shoüld make my presence more obvioüs." With a sickening grin, she rose off the ground. A small whirlwind danced in her palm before she let it grow and consume the city center. The sound of glass, metal and rock grinding together was defining, but Galia had a sense of pride in destroying the Creator's art. 

A small colored speck ran towards her through the storm. Once she saw them, her powers died down. She fell and landed in front of them gracefully. "At last yoü came, dear friend."

"We are not friends anymore, DD." Rose scowled. She was very tense and ready to fight the dark figure need be.

" 'DD'," She air quoted, "Never existed. 'DD' is what yoü continüe to call me while I am in this vessel. Süre, Daisy is now dark, büt she is also dead. Obsolete. I am in control and my name is Galia."

"What? Dead! No! Daisy can't be dead! She would never give up her life to host a vile creature such as yourself."

"Daisy willingly gave herself to me. I cannot inhabit another's body withoüt their approval."

"Daisy was a happy person! She would never give herself up to something like you!"

"Büt she did!"

"Why?"

"Yoü coüldn't see it. None of yoü did. Her cheeriness was a façade. On the inside she was dying. Drowned in emotion, she wanted it to stop. Air was her escape. It's cold and strong. Emotionless." Galia paused. "Hüman."

"Nothing about you is human."

"Yoü are wrong. I am hümanity. In the end, everybody succumbs to the darkness."

"I would never!"

"Büt yoü will." Galia was becoming annoyed by this back and forth banter. Her soulless eyes narrowed. "Watch who yoü are talking to, hüman girl. I might jüst kill yoü for fün."

The Moon, panting, caught up with her. "Dear, you mußt underßtand that thiß iß what iß meant to happen. It alwayß haß and alwayß will." The Moon attempted to comfort her.

"What? You're okay with this." Rose was outraged and immensely disappointed. "What happened to stopping the 'great evil'?"

The Moon was speechless. She lied to Rose and the guilt made her heart ache. "Roße, you need to ßee that no matter what we do, ßhe will alwayß win. After many time loopß, my brother and I decided jußt to go along with it inßtead of prolonging the end by fighting."

"So you betrayed your people for a quick ending?"

"Yeß, but not quite."

Galia sat on the edge of the fountain and pulled out a bag of popcorn. "This is gettin' good!" She threw a piece in her mouth and chewed obnoxiously loud. "Majik Pop. Always there to appear oüt of thin air."

"You betrayed me too, Miss Moon."

"I am trying to help you!"

"How is quickening our doom helpful?"

"In previouß loopß ßhe haß tortured people. For fun. If we go along and help her, my people will have a quick death."

"You just gave up. Flora are still being tortured to death. You didn't want to fight anymore."

"That iß true, but the majority die quickly."

"Hmm! Jüicy!"

"Roße, I know a lot about you. Not ßpecifically you you, but all paßt versionß of you and you're my greateßt friend. Perhapß my only friend."

"Don't play that card, Moon. It's cheap."

"But it'ß the truth!"

"I think you might be a little late for the truth. Maybe you should have told me earlier that you worked for her. When we had our existential conversations. I looked up to you for being so wise."

"You would have reacted the ßame."

"How do you know? Maybe you should have hinted at it. Anything! Anything, but finding out this way."

"I'm ßorry Roße. I waß doing what I thought waß beßt."

"What is the best? Fighting and knowing you tried or giving up because the fight is too hard?"

"I'm not the archetypal hero who ßaveß everybody and getß the girl, but I will fight for what I think iß right. And thiß iß what I believe in."

"Alright, friends! Play time's over!" Galia hopped down and walked up to them. "We are here for a meeting, Moon."

"This was planned?" Rose hissed looking like she was going to strangle one of the two. "You know what? I'm not surprised anymore."

"Is the Sün almost ready yet? I'm assüming no if he was too büsy to meet me here."

"Yeß, he iß ßtill preparing."

"HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO PREPARE THE SPELL? HOW MANY POWERFÜL FLORA DOES HE NEED? I HAVE DESTROYED THIS ÜNIVERSE MANY TIMES ON MY OWN!"

"The ßtormß are making it difficult for them to travel."

"THE STORMS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN THERE!"

"We are going to need another week."

"A WEEK? WHAT AM I SÜPPOSED TO DO FOR A WEEK?"

"Enjoy the scenery before you destroy it." Rose quipped. Galia threw her hand back and sent Rose into a crumbling wall.

"NO ONE WAS ASKING FOR YOÜR COMMENTARY, ROSE."

"Mißß, there are other townß and placeß to deßtroy. There iß more than the Euraßian continent."

"Büt I'm bored! I have destroyed and killed everybody an infinite number of times. Their pain is no longer satisfying. I want this time loop to end. I want to see my friends."

"Haha! You have friends?" Rose laughed as she limped back, broken and bloody. "Who could love you?"

Galia smiled again, offended, but amused by the spectacle. "Püny hüman, do yoü pürposely disrespect the strongest being in yoür üniverse?"

"Yes, Galia, I do, because you are killing my friends and the innocent people of this land."

"Roße, don't!"

"Quiet traitor."

"Yoür friends woüld have died anyways. In some loops, the story leading üp to the end has been completely different. Yoü existed, büt led a different life in sübürbia. Yoü never came here. And güess what happened?"

"What?"

"Yoü still died. Sometimes yoü woüld die of old age, or died a prolonged, painful death. Whether yoü were aware or not, I was there, always there."

"And why am I here now in this loop?"

"The Creator and I agreed on the way that the loops shoüld work. The best possible story and in that version, yoü are here."

"The Creator planned this with you?"

"We müst balance each other."

"Everybody betrays everybody." Rose gives the Moon a side glance. Ashamed, she looks down at her shoes.

"Hümanity."

The Moon wrapped an arm around Rose in an attempt to comfort her."Can you ßee now? Rose nodded with her vision glued to the dusty cobblestone. The fire of her passion and anger had been doused by her understanding of cruel reality. Reality, facts and truth, was an unchangeable force of nature. Not even the Creator could eliminate the need for balance between light and dark. The rules had been set by another, more omnipresent being.

"So I will see yoü all in Flos, next week and we'll have a party? Soünd fün? End of the world parties are nice like that." She received only depressed silence as a reply. Galia pouted and joined the huddle. "IT WILL GET BETTER FRIENDS! SOON YOÜ'LL DIE AND FEEL THE SWEET EMBRACE OF PEACE." Still no response. She detaches herself from the two and shrugs. With the movement of one hand, the Moon was sent into another, weaker building which crumbled around her.

With the other hand, Galia lifted herself and Rose off of the ground. "What are you doing!" Rose panicked.

"YOÜ GÜYS ARE NO FÜN! IF YOÜ WON'T PLAY ALONG WITH ME, I WILL MOVE MY DOLLS ON MY OWN." She flung her arm causing Rose to fly above the rooftops and over the edge of the cliff that set the boundary between the city and the ocean. Galia giggled at her shrill scream. She looked over her shoulder towards the Moon. "K.O. GOOD. I CAN PLAY WITH MY TOY WITHOÜT DISTRACTIONS."

Galia took the time to walk through the alleyways until she was peering over the rocky ledge. Normally, a person, even Flora, would have been destroyed by the forceful impact between their falling bodies and the surface of the water, but Rose was not ordinary. The dark being floated down and landed in the soft sand.

Unlike many of the citizen of Opus, Rose was not bloody and floating on the rough ocean. Instead she hovered a foot above it in a cradle of seaweed. She was hyperventilating and curled into a ball as she tried to catch her breath.

"COME ON ROSE I GAVE YOÜ TIME! NOW I WANT TO PLAY!"

With tears running down her face, Rose propped herself up and looked at Galia. Malice crawled through her body and contorted her face into a hateful expression. Rose sprung out of the seaweed and tumbled onto the beach.

"What am I too you? A toy?"

"YOÜ ARE MY PÜPPET, CONNECTED TO ME BY INVISIBLE STRINGS."

"A puppet?" Suddenly, Rose was infuriated. She could except her fate, but she hated being taunted. " Is that how you see us?"

"WHAT ELSE WOÜLD YOÜ BE?"

"If you say that you are going to kills us and destroy this world to 'see your friends', why do you play petty games with us?" Rose seethed.

"BECAÜSE I'VE GOT A LOT OF TIME AND PEOPLE TO KILL."

Rose walked up to Galia and leaned toward her closely. "I except my destiny, but I will not tolerate being treated like a fool."

"AH, ROSE KORDESII, THE SCRIBE OF THIS ÜNIVERSE." The blue girl rested her head against the other's. "TO ME YOÜ ARE BÜT A JEST."

In a sudden movement, Rose whipped out a sharpened bamboo stick and shoved in into Galia's gut. She gasped as blood leaked from the new wound and stained teal cloth. It dribbled from her mouth and puddled into the sand. Rose retracted and sheathed her blade. "I have some tricks under my cloak, 'friend.' " Shaking, Galia sank into the ground. She was huddled over herself and clutching her stomach. "What have you to say?"

She shuddered and barely lifted her head up to crack a smile. She was laughing so violently that more blood was forced out of her pores. Rose was stunned by the scene and nervously stepped back. "SEE MY DEAR?" Galia stood and wiped a joyous tear. "YOÜ ARE THE MOST AMÜSING FOOL."

"How are you not dying?"

"ROSE. DAISY IS ALREADY DEAD. HER BODY IS ONLY A MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION. DID YOÜ REALLY THINK YOÜ COÜLD KILL DARKNESS?" Galia looms over Rose and grabs her by the throat. She struggles but cannot get the pale hand off. "YOÜ WANTED TO BE THE PROTECTOR OF YOÜ FRIENDS BÜT YOÜ FAILED. YOÜ TALK ABOÜT HEROISM, BÜT YOÜ ARE A COWARD. DAISY IS DEAD. HELIAN IS DEAD. LILY IS DEAD. YOU WATCHED AS I STOMPED BELLIS INTO THE GROÜND. YOÜ WANT TO BE A HERO, BÜT YOÜ CANNOT ENACT YOÜR MORALS."

She released Rose and tossed her into the water. "YOÜ ARE DEAD TOO, ROSE, AND YOÜ KNOW IT. YOÜ ALWAYS THOÜGHT YOÜ WERE ALONE, BÜT YOÜ HAD THEM. EVEN LILY. EVEN THE MOON WHOM YOU'VE SHÜNNED FOR BEING JÜST AS COWARDLY AS YOÜRSELF." Galia grabbed her hair and slammed her face into the salty sea. Bubbles surrounded Rose as she struggled for a breath. "YOÜR POWERS ARE ÜSELESS AGAINST ME. I AM AIR, THE MOVEMENT OF PARTICLES, AND THAT IS STRONGER THAN YOÜR PLANTS. I CONTROL THEM TOO." Rose stopped writhing under Galia's grasp. The wind pick up her limp body and threw it onto the beach. Water lapped at her cold, extended arm.

"WHAT WILL YOÜ DO ROSE? THROW AWAY YOÜR ONLY REMAINING FRIEND OR FORGIVE HER? YOÜ WILL BE ALONE ROSE. AND THAT TO YOÜ, IS DEATH."