Tale of Chaos 3: For All Eternity

Chapter 30: Foregone

Maia's POV

The moment the light cleared, I could not believe what I saw.

Mikaela's form was now something like a mix of a demon and a machine. Her purple head gave off a glow that was more menacing than even Chaot. Her eyes had black sclera and crimson slits for pupils, and her markings now glowed a terrifying crimson hue, which I could compare to blood. She now had purple and green shoulder pads, and she had gigantic gauntlets on her hands. Her 'torso' was now a crystalline orb with ten circles of various colors engraved on it. Eight circles were arranged in a circular formation, while there were two bigger circles within that formation. The circles were light grey, light yellow, brown, yellow, orange, blue, purple, and green, while the bigger ones were black and white, respectively. Below that orb was an inverted pyramid that was red. She had twelve demonic wings of different colors, particularly magenta, black, light yellow, brown, yellow, orange, blue, purple, dark green, light green, gray, and white.

Unfortunately for me, I was bound to the 'ground' with magical shackles. No matter how hard I pulled, I could not break free, not even with my wings.

In a booming voice, she bellowed, "Behold my TRUE power!"

Her gauntlets started glowing, and all sorts of energy shot out of them, clearly meant to destroy me.

Since I could not move, I tried dodging and blocking the shots with my wings, but I still got hit several times.

I tried pulling at the shackles again.

Nothing happened.

"I could feel it, Maia... Every time you die, your link to this world fades away. Every time you die, your friends forget you a little more. You'll die for the last time here, where nobody will be here to remember you."

She threw a much worse barrage of energy at me, but I did much better in dodging and blocking.

I tried pulling the chains.

Nothing happened.

"You're still hanging on? That's fine. In a short while, you'll forget everything, too. Your attitude would serve you well in your next life. You did forget everything, once upon a time. How do I know? I don't know!"

She sent yet another barrage, and I was hit only once.

I tried snapping the shackles again.

Nothing happened.

"Still? Come on... where did all your resolve go?"

I waited for the barrage... but it did not come.

I tried pulling at the chains again.

Nothing happened.

I tried to remember what happened in the past.

Nothing happened.

It seemed like saving the world was really impossible... but I wouldn't let that affect me.

Somehow, with what little power I had, I knew that I could save something else.

The moment that thought rang in my head, the shackles immediately dissipated.

With my wings glowing their respective colors and the area where my heart was glowing red, I continued on.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mikaela morphed into a ball of light, which split into two. Those two balls started shaping themselves like people...

One of them morphed into something like a little girl in black and white... while the other one assumed the form of a short old woman in a lab coat. Their faces were blocked by a garbled white mess right in front of them.

Mae... Feliz...?

The fallen souls appeared.

"You're the reason I died. Why didn't you save me?"

You hugged the little girl. She does not know why, but the feeling seemed familiar to her...

I was suddenly brought into a simulation of Earth as I left it.

The flames that surrounded me tried to envelop me in them, but I flew skyward.

I was back in the pocket dimension with the two fallen souls.

"Why did you lead them astray?"

You told the old woman about the time when three of your friends went into a portal to retrieve your radio and almost died. She was hit with remembrance...

The old woman opened up a portal in front of her and jumped into it.

I suddenly felt like bricks were dropped on my back, and I fell on my face. I faced up to see the woman on top of me, with a fist in the air.

I deflected every blow she threw at me with my wings.

"Please... save me..."

You asked the little girl to teach you how to cook. She kind of wants to...

I was thrown into another simulation of Earth, this time with portals all around me.

Knowing what was going to happen, I instantly soared out of the way of the incoming barrage.

I was in the pocket dimension again.

"I'm the reason he died. I did nothing."

You told the old woman that you will lead them well. For some reason, she wants to reaffirm that statement...

Suddenly, the white mess disappeared, an I could finally see their faces, which had smiles etched onto them.

"Live your life well, Maia. Do what needs to be done," Mae told me.

"Maia... I know you could do it. Prove to me that you are worthy to be their leader," Feliz smiled.

They faded away after that, and Mikaela was in their place.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mikaela shifted into another girl. Again, I couldn't see her face, because it was covered in white. Clocks surrounded us.

The treacherous soul appeared.

"My dear brother's dead because of you."

You told her that you will do whatever it takes to save them. She shakes slightly...

The then-purple clocks turned red, and suddenly, I felt a strong impact around my stomach, courtesy of the girl punching me. She returned to her original place, and the clocks turned purple again.

"According to my chronicle, you are the reason we're experiencing this right here and right now. Glitch!"

You reminded her of when you got the Janitor's key in order to get to Room 15. She could barely hold back a chuckle...

I decided to cut through the clocks before she could do anything else.

"I thought I could trust you. Just how treacherous are you?"

You walked forward and kissed her without hesitation. She feels like returning it...

Instantly, her face became visible.

Realizing that I kissed her, she pulled away at once. I could see a huge grin dancing on her face.

"No, wait, I know you're trustworthy. You are my best friend, after all. Go on, defy the foregone conclusion we believed would happen..." Eon encouraged me.

She morphed back into Mikaela, who looked as menacing as ever.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ang sagot ko'y bulong habang ibinaba niya tingin niya...