The Fall of the Society

Chapter 68: Unknown Heritage

     Rose gasped, but Sid continued to smile with his hands in his pockets, unperturbed. She looked between the two men waiting to see what happened, their eyes locked in a stare. "I have to say, if that is true, I have never found anything to support it," Sid said tranquilly.

     "Oh, believe me, it is definitely true. When father found out that mother was the last of our kind that was still able to produce fully fledged Ascended. He was overwhelmed with the obsession of having another heir, another son to continue our bloodline," Scion told him excitedly. "You were supposed to join us, to help further our hold on the humans. We could have reigned eternally if it were not for that fool Ethatoleas, his shortsightedness has driven the most advanced beings on the planet to the brink of extinction. All that is left is you and I."

     Sid continued his relaxed manner, as if he was completely untroubled by Scion's words. "If your words are true, that means father lied to me when we met. He told me that mother was half human."

     Scion smiled even more widely, giving him a look of mania. "He was unsure whether you would join us, he did not want to reveal the whole truth to you until you were accepted into the fold, especially when he realized what your power was!"

     "He did not seem at all impressed with my ability to heal when we faced off," Sid replied casually.

      At these words, Scion laughed heartily. "Of course, because he had seen your healing ability before, in our mother. When he found her, she was completely powerless and told him that you died during birth. Father was very "persuasive" and eventually got her to admit that you were alive, but that she did not know anything beyond that." Scion paced slightly, watching for a reaction from Sid. "When you were born, she willingly transferred her powers to you. She had become so dejected at what she was, so disdainful that she no longer wanted to be alive. You should feel loved though, her final act in life was trying to protect you from father. Kind of funny that it was father that needed protection from you, but he was foolhardy and arrogant. He should have realized that you would not be so easy to kill. His failure to listen to my advice is why you killed him. I told him to regroup, get more allies, then attack you, but he believed he could do it himself."

     "Is there a point to this?" Sid asked coolly. "It has been a rather long couple of days, and I am in need of some rest, the ordeal has been trying," he finished with a smile.

     "You are something else," Scion laughed. "The Reaper, standing in my home, talking about being tired. The hunter that searches relentlessly, unforgivingly, eternally!" He stepped down from his dais, walking toward the two of them. Rose stepped back a few steps, but Sid stood his ground, unflinching. "How many of our kind have you killed? How many humans have you murdered in your attempt to get here?"

      "A lot, but I have not kept count. I can say that I did not kill any humans that took the option of not fighting me. I let it be their choice," Sid replied casually. "What is your excuse for the trail of lives you have destroyed?"

     Scion laughed, a maniacal cackle that reverberated off the stone walls of the chamber, sending chills down Rose's spine. "You know very well that I do not care about any of those!" he shouted at Sid. "They are pawns in a world of gods! Simply put, they are our playthings, to do with as we please!"

     "You are wrong," Sid said flatly, masking the anger that was now rising inside of him. "This train of thought is exactly what turned Ethatoleas against his own people. It was the sole reason the Ascended race will become extinct."

     The maniacal cackle rended the air once more as he ceased his pacing. "That is where you are wrong little bother," madness in his eyes. "Once you are dead, I will set into effect my long set goal of reestablishing our race. In fact, I will do so with your blood, you are the final piece I need to ensure the process goes properly."

     Sid smirked. "How do you figure that?" he asked casually, as though his life had not just been threatened. Rose could see a glint of deceit in Sid's blue eyes. If she was not wrong, he already knew what Scion was hoping to do, but wanted to keep him talking for some reason.

     Narrowing his eyes, and ceasing his laughter, Scion responded. "Mother's power is what I need to ensure that the clones are created properly. Her healing ability will be the catalyst that puts their minds back together. I would offer to spare your life if you help me in my mission, but I think that would be a fruitless request."

     "Naturally I would refuse, but like you said, you already knew that. If you needed me, why did you not seek me out? Why wait for me to come?" Sid asked mockingly.

     Scion resumed his methodical back and forth motion. "I knew you would eventually find me, and I recently put the finishing touches on my research to ensure the resurrection of our people. Why else would I finally annihilate your pathetic group of do-gooders?"

     Anger visibly spread across Sid's face at these words, the assault on his people had upset him greatly. "They were good people; you should not have targeted them."

     "You prove my point for me! They are people, humans! Their only purpose is to serve us or die at our whimsy!" Scion shouted gleefully.

     Sid glared, "You are wrong once again. Also stop lumping me in with you, I am not, or will I ever be one of you."

     This declaration made Scion laugh even harder. "Denial will not change the truth; it will do nothing about the fact that you are indeed an Ascended!" He stopped and stared intently at Sid. "Why do you wish to deny what you are? Up until this point you were easily the most powerful creature on the planet, you should be worshipped just as I will be!"

     "I do not wish to be worshipped, and you will not leave this room alive, so you will not be worshipped either," Sid said flatly as he worked to calm himself.

      Scion continued to stare at him. "I will admit, until recently, you would have dispatched me easily. It is not something I am proud of, but my powers were not suited for combat with someone such as you. Granted I have studied many different forms of martial arts and military strategies over the ages, mastering everything I set my mind too, but you had the powers set to counter what I was able to do. No longer is that true, and I stand before you as the god I was meant to be!" He held his arms out to the side in a grand gesture, as his feet slowly lifted from the ground. The air inside the room began to spin as lightning arced between his fingers. Scion glowed red hot as the air around Sid and Rose plummeted into freezing temperatures. Scion laughed even more maniacally as he pushed more energy into the room, and it began to shake. Debris fell from the ceiling as Rose cast a shield of fire around her and Sid to prevent them from freezing and having something fall on them. "This is the power you have failed to accumulate, and it is what you have failed to stop me from obtaining!"

     The room fell silent as Scion floated back to the ground and they were cast into darkness, the only light coming from the shield that Rose was producing. Scion waved his hand and the power in the room came back on, light bursting from each of the lanterns around them. Rose finally dropped her shield as she looked at Sid with great concern.

     "So, you have learned a few new tricks," Sid said sardonically, a smile on his face. "All I see is a leach, that is latching onto the power of others. None of that is yours, you are just standing on the backs of the humans you have robbed." Rose's concern grew greater as anger appeared behind the eyes of Scion, though he continued to glare at them without moving. "I see a child before me, holding onto something powerful that he should have never been allowed to have in the first place."

      A wave of cold shot over the room once more as Scion's glare became more sinister. "I have a theory; do you want to hear it?" he said gravely. When no one answered, he continued. "Your power to absorb the power of other Ascended will backfire on you upon your death! When I kill you, I will obtain all the power you have been hording for centuries! It will be mine and I will reach even more insurmountable levels of power! Want to see a little more?" Sid said nothing but stared at Scion with a smirk. There was a flash, a huge gust of wind rushed past Rose and Sid, and Scion was standing on his dais, holding Sid's sword. "Checkmate," Scion said with a maniacal grin. Another flash and he was standing directly in front of Sid, the sword buried up to the hilt in his stomach.