Shadows of Atlas

18- The Final Bow of Eto

Eto opened his eyes only to find that he was in the same place where he had recieved his cosmic magic. A world where stars were all that the eye could see and there he stood. The Odd Eyed... no, Eon stood mesmerized by the millions of stars that surrounded them. Once they saw each other, they knew exactly what they needed to do. "Eon... we need to bring him back. Do not under any circumstances hold back. I am not scared of you anymore!," Eto said as he transformed.

Eon roared in acceptance of the challenge and brought out two giant glass-like shards and wielded them like swords. Eto lunged at him and tried to slice at him, but Eon was too quick and blocked his attack. He then retaliated with a cross slash in which Eto skillfully blocked. "Star Storm!," Eto chanted as he was surrounded by millions of stars and they shot towards Eon. Eon proceeded to shoot a beam of pure energy that incinerated most of the stars and toughed out the remaining ones. He then lunged at Eto in an attempt to slash his chest, but Eto saw through the move and skillfuly delivered a punch that broke part of Eon's mask, revealing a boy with white hair and with one blue eye while the other one was red.

"You're just like me...," Eto dropped his guard as he saw his mirror image to which Eon took advantage of and hit him hard with his tail. It sent Eto flying until he collided with a meteorite. Eto remembered Giselle's words: 'should you fail, the prince shall not bear a human heart'.

"I have to win this, many people are depending on me, Chaos Star Power! Rank 2!, " Eto yelled as the images of his friends came into view and was imbued with a power surge that changed his appearance. His new outfit comprised of a large light-blue robe that flowed with the energy of the cosmos and was surrounded by stars like if they were satellites orbiting their respective celestial body. "Licel, Raisa, Zai, Kevin, Yoma, Fern, Wes, Brian, Andrew, Ernie, Abner... and Christian, thank you," Eto said with a tear falling out of his sapphire colored eyes. He then took his sword and ran towards Eon. Eon knew what he was going to do and jumped high, but Eto anticipated the move and jumped on a meteor and gained even more height than Eon. "Starcalibur!," Eto yelled at the top of his lungs as his sword absorbed all the cosmic energy it could. He then took his sword and plunged it straight into Eon's heart. He used the gravity to smash Eon's body through as many meteors as he could. Every time they crashed through a meteor, the sound of glass breaking was heard as the reality around them crumbled with each collision and eventually both of them plummeted to the ground with Eon letting out one final roar as the light escaped his heterochromatic eyes.

"I did it... what now?," Eto asked himself. "We wait until we fade away...," a voice said. "Who's there?," Eto said as he put his guard up. "Calm down E-two, you've already won," a white haired boy who looked exactly like him said as he suddenly materialized. "Eon?," Eto asked. "Correct, I am the persona of the Odd Eyed Phantom. I only have one question... What is your greatest desire?," Eon asked Eto. "My greatest desire...," Eto thought as he suddenly remembered his performance at the magic competition arena. "Is to bring back the smiles of the people of Atlas! No wait... the world!," Eto replied with sincere emotion and Eon nodded in approval. "You've always been the better part of him. I only carried feelings of sadness and rage, but you... you always brought happiness and wonder to those you've met. I wish it didn't have to end this way...," Eon said in sadness. "Don't be sad, remember the friends you made!," Eto said cheerfully. "I don't have any...," Eon said with a tear forming in his blue eye. "Then I'll be your friend!," Eto said with a huge smile as he hugged Eon. "You'd do that for me? Even if I traumatized you the first time we met? ," Eon said in an intrigued tone. "Of course! You had no choice but to live a life of rage and sorrow while I lived a cheerful one, but we are both destined to cease our existence so that Atlas may smile once more... I guess we both got dealt a bad hand in this life," Eto said with a sad chuckle for he knew that his time amongst this world was nearing his end.

"A friend huh? Sounds nice," Eon said. Eto then noticed that the world in which they stood was starting to crumble and they began to fade away. "Well then friend, shall we fade together?," Eto asked as he held out his hand and smiled. "Yes," Eon said as he accepted Eto's hand and they both faded away into nothingness. "You've all been a wonderful audience!," Eto exclaimed as he and Eon took a final bow as they disappeared.

Back in the temple the Corans were getting ready for the fight of their lives when Christian somehow heard Eto's final words and tears started to form in his eyes. Then, Giselle started to glow. "Are you okay?," Andrew asked. "It's okay, it means that Eto succeeded in fulfilling his role and my time hear is up," Giselle said with a sad smile. "Damn it not you too!," Christian cursed. "Summoning the veil of light required the life of its caster and I would gladly do it again if it meant to bring back peace to Atlas. Before I go, there's something I must reveal. I received a vision of the future from the Chaos force, a wicked sorceress shall try to open the door for the Mother of All should she succeed, all will be lost. Do not resent the prince... it wasn't his fault," Giselle said as she faded away and a giant red crystal formed where the veil once stood. "Who the hell is this mother?," Raisa asked in shock. "No time for thinking right now here they come!," Zai replied as she braced herself for the incoming wave of enemies.