-Chapter Two-

Inescapable

The story of mankind was one of betrayal. Before humankind had come to be, the Great Three-Way War left behind remains and ruins of the ancient races. Through all the destruction, only six individuals survived. From those six individuals, Magic originated, passed on to the later generations. All Magicians descended from one of the Six ancestors, whom created the original complex system via which Magic is cast. In current times, application of Magic has evolved, but the power the Ancients possessed was incomparably stronger than the powers of the average modern day Magician. Modern day Magicians have not even touched on the true epitome of what Magic is capable of.

It had been another two weeks since Jason activated the portal. One month since Mercy and the rest committed suicide to break the shackles holding Taylor and his dearest friends down. In those two weeks, it was evident Jason had not succeeded. The remaining three friends had much to dread. Not only Jason’s failure, and if he still existed or not, but also thoughts about how to exactly combine their different powers to defeat the Six. It would easily be a feat no one in history even thought of. Completely uncharted terrority.

To wield multiple theses to the point of Mastery was something… no human would be capable of.

That meant the only possible solution remaining would be to… give up their humanity. As they thought about such things, they realised, perhaps that’s what the Six had done?

Maybe someday, to finish this fight properly once and for all, they’d have to turn into the same monsters, defeat them, and then wither away, so they themselves did not turn into the same threat. They’d have to become those odd embodiments of shadows, as well.

The Six were completely shrouded in enigma. Their origins and identities, but most peculiarly their aim. They wanted to save the world by destroying it. What they meant by saving was obscure, and also what they meant by destroying, was obscure. But what was very transparent, and easily understood, was the lengths they would be willing to go to in order to reach their goal. Jason’s words sent fear through Taylor’s heart. As beings outside of existence, they can freely return to the past each time they fail and retry again, and Taylor and his friends would have no memory of such a future ever having taken place. If he’s killed himself in the past, millions of times, like he was going to, who’s to say Mercy hasn’t met worse fates? In some other timeline out there, perhaps they were not even lovers. Perhaps, her body had been gruesomely mauled at death? Perhaps, she had been enslaved by the Six instead of him?

If that were the case, what were they even fighting for? It felt completely hopeless.

As Diana and Andrew realised this entirely, they, like Tayor, grew restless.

Until finally, on the fourteenth day, Andrew returned to the Magic Seal Jason had left behind.

Taylor and Diana stood a few metres back, to see him off.

Andrew briefly inspected the circle, before scratching his head.

“So, we’re supposed to all reach the point of Mastery in this area of Magic?” he snarled. “Fine, bring it on.” He looked over his shoulder briefly. “After me, it’s Diana. And if she fails, it’s you, Taylor. And you better succeed, if it comes to it.”

“Will you be alright?” Diana asked. Andrew narrowed his eyes at her, before shaking his head.

“I’ve never been alright. Not since the first day this all started. And I won’t be alright until this is all over, how many years longer I have to live in order to reach that point. But if we fail, at least we tried. And if we succeed, if Aira can just be happy…” he clenched his fists. “Then it’ll all be worth this suffering. I’ll be content with that.”

Andrew’s words reminded Taylor of Mercy’s, and he chuckled to himself.

“Ha…” They all felt the same way, yet here they were, on different sides of the wall, unable to cross it.

“She was right. One of us has to die. But I refuse that it be her. I’ll take that fate instead,” Taylor said to himself.

“Idiot,” Andrew answered him. “What are you, only realising this just now? I thought we made up our resolve years ago. To walk the path of hell, remember?” Andrew clicked his fingers, and a similar portal to Jason’s opened up overhead.

Only, its accents glowed an aqua blue instead of golden, and as Andrew rose up to fly to the portal, a blue halo formed on his back.

“Well, off I go to walk that path!” he shouted. “I’ll see you there soon enough! Catch you two on the other side!”

Diana and Taylor watched on as the portal disappeared, leaving dead silence and stillness in what had once been lively. Like that, two of their friends were gone, and only the two of them remained.

Another two weeks passed. Taylor spent the time hiding in his pocket dimension, which he had taken the liberty to restore. He still didn’t want to bury Mercy’s body, like Diana had. It just felt like he was saying goodbye for good. And he didn’t have the strength to do that.

Diana didn’t either. What she did only drove it home harder that he was gone. She couldn’t even see Percy’s sleeping face anymore. But she bore it. She made the grief turn into conviction. It broke her, but she reformed anew.

Taylor felt like the same was happening to him, as he gazed at Mercy’s peaceful slumber.

It broke him, but he would turn the grief into conviction as well. And he’ll reform anew, piece by piece, after being shattered into countless fragments.

Each day, his fear for the Six blossomed into a deeper hatred instead.

During the two weeks, Diana and Taylor would often check on Aira and Piper together. Though Jason and Andrew had left this world, their Magic was autonomous, capable of operating independently. Without outside interference, their dimensions will remain strong an eternity.

At this point, it was clear Andrew had also failed. Or maybe the two of them had made it through, but couldn’t pull Diana and Taylor with them.

Once again, they found themselves returning to the Magic Seal Jason had left. As Diana inspected it, she let out a groan.

“I honestly could never relate to Jason’s thesis. Mine is all about destruction and erosion. How exactly does that relate to transcendence? Honestly, Andrew probably had an easier time than me,” she sighed.

Taylor chuckled.

“As long as you can successfully cast this spell, that’s more than anyone can ask for.”

She smiled to him.

“We’ll just have to try it and see. I’m sorry I have to leave you alone here. As hard as this life has been, we’ve always had each other’s shoulders to lean on. I won’t ask if you’ll be alright, or ask that you’ll be. But, don’t give up.”

Taylor chuckled.

“Thanks, Diana. I could say the same to you. You’ll be alone once you go in there, but don’t give up.”

“Hmph,” she gave him a beam. “Then, I’ll be off I guess. Wish me luck.”

“Good luck, Diana.”

“Thanks. I’ll see you on the other side. You absolutely have to make it, okay?” She clicked her fingers and a black portal opened up overhead. Not golden nor light blue, it glowed a dark, ominous purple, the attestment to Diana’s power of destruction.

Taylor only watched on silently, though he smiled and waved to her as she rose into the sky, merged with the portal and left this plane of existence.

Now, Taylor was completely alone in this world.

He turned around, kicked a pebble to the side before he returned to his pocket dimension, to stay by Mercy.

As he had expected, Diana had also failed to pull him. It had become something of a trend. The two weeks were the loneliest he had ever felt. Apprehensive, Taylor returned to the Magic Seal Jason had left behind, and began to decipher it.

Out of the four of them, Taylor probably had the biggest advantage. As someone with a hybrid thesis, he was both like a blank canvas that could be painted on with anything, adopting any Magic, but he could also combine that foreign Magic with his own thesis. It meant he could combine two different elements, and perhaps through doing so, could make up for the inadequacies present in both.

After some time, he nodded to himself with confidence that he was ready. He gazed briefly one final time at the world he was about to leave behind, and sighed a breath of relief. In this world without Mercy, it could all burn into oblivion for all he could care. If only it wasn’t for the Six.

The air was still and unmoving, as Taylor slowly raised his hand before him, and then clicked his fingers.

Immediately, he felt all the Magic circuits he had cast line up, sucking Mana from him and flowing into the spell.

A portal coloured black came to life from nothingness in the sky, ethereal and otherworldly - literally.

Taylor gazed at it, thinking to himself, only one thing. That his friends… can’t lose now. Not after they came this far.

With a deep breath in, he jumped up from the ground and into the portal. As his body came into contact with it, he felt every single cell in his body melt away into itself, like he was just a code that was getting compressed onto a single line.

Taylor tried to scream but no sound would come out. He tried to breathe but there was no air. His eyes darted around his surroundings, but he had no eyes. And he had no surroundings.

He was a speck of nothingness in the deep, endless nothingness. Not even time had power over this plane.

Completely at the mercy of this new world, Taylor could only let himself float about the endless pitch black darkness. He could only hope the spell worked.

Or, he might end up stuck here forever, he realised. Was that what happened to the others?

Taylor couldn’t tell how much time had passed. It felt like no time at all yet an eternity all at once. But he didn’t let go of his hope, adamant with his entire being that his will be answered.

And alas, as he continued to float, a golden light gradually came into his view ahead of him. It was like a ray of sunshine, a pure yellow that lit up in the eyes.

Taylor immediately tried to make his way to it, and as he drew closer, he felt the endless stillness he had been trapped within begin to quake, shake, like one space was bridging into another space, unstable and chaotic. However, despite that, Taylor made it to the light and it sucked him through, blinding him for a moment, before his vision suddenly began to return him.

There was a throbbing pain in his head, the light was blinding for a long moment and ringing in his ears wouldn’t settle, but he could feel his hands, his skin on his body. As his eyes finally came into focus, he found himself staring up at a familiar ceiling. A roof he hadn’t seen in many years. He looked down at his hands in shock and awe, finding himself lying down in a bed. His bed.

He threw himself off the king-sized double but found his legs shaky and his strength feeble. Stumbling on his feet for a moment, the thought that it’s hard to walk after such a long time crossed his mind. But he disregarded it.

Limping, and unable to exert any power in his body, he made his way slowly to the mirror to look at himself, before gasping in shock.

The scar on his chiseled chest was gone. His hair was far shorter than before, but most of all, his face was incredibly young.

He had returned to the time of when he was eighteen. Before it all began!

Taylor immediately tried to rush to the door, pushing it open. The more steps he took, the more he felt his strength return, and his mind adapt to this new yet familiar environment. Perhaps he was still experiencing after-effects of the jump?

Taylor ran down the stairs, stole a glance at the clock, and gave a breath of relief that it was still early morning.

He could hear the familiar sound of the stove running, a soft voice humming. The smell of breakfast food wafting through the air, a familiar smell he hadn’t sensed in so long flooded his nose.

As he rounded the corner through the lounge to the kitchen, he found her, wearing her apron over her work clothes, her long black hair still as bright as always somehow, in his eyes.

He felt tears well up, and he couldn’t stop his choked cries from leaving his throat, as she turned to him with her beam, the sweetest smile in the world.

“Morning…?” When she saw he was crying, she raised an eyebrow, before putting the spatula down and stepping up to him.

“Taylor? Are you okay?” she asked him, putting a hand on his shoulder in concern.

Her touch, the soft, delicateness behind it set his world back into colour again, and he began to cry at the top of his lungs. The hellish nightmare of his past life, he had finally escaped. Even if only temporary.

Taylor sat on a garden chair in their green, grassy garden beside the front porch, overlooking the world that had yet to be destroyed - the world he had yet to destroy.

After he recollected himself, he realised he can’t be complacent. He can’t get caught up in his present. Because it was all just a temporary dream that would be whisked away from him if he didn’t annihilate the cause of this mess.

The colour that had been restored, can still be easily taken away. Would he be able to bear it a second time, if it came to it?

His thoughts suddenly went to the others. Had they made it? Did he pull them? Or was he alone?

Taylor grunted, before rising to his feet. He could walk now. His mind had completely re-adjusted to this stable world after the turbulent jump.

It was simple. If he had made it back, so must have they.

There was no substantial differences in the spell he had cast, compared to theirs. So they must have made it. Perhaps they entered a different timeline, instead of this specific one. But Taylor was certain they would be out there somewhere. And that they’d meet again.

It was hopeless.

The city was collapsing around Taylor, being engulfed by a sea of flames. What was once a metropolis, bustling with people was now a plane of hell.

Skyscrapers barely stood with chunks out of them missing from the onslaught of battles. Cars laid overturned and scorched from explosions.

Bodies littered the red streets in the thousands.

Even after all this destruction, even after tossing away his humanity and bringing humankind down to its knees like they wanted, Taylor still failed. Again.

Mercy’s mangled corpse laid on the ground in front of him. In the chaos of the battle, she had been stabbed from behind. Afterward, her killers disfigured her body into a horrid mound of flesh.

They were gone now. Taylor made sure to give them a fate more agonising than death. With his very own two hands, he hunted them down in the middle of the War and tossed them into the Chaos Realm. There, they could stay for an eternity, to be tortured by the energy fluctuations.

The first time, Mercy committed suicide.

The second time, Andrew and Diana ended up dying.

The fifth time, Mercy was crushed to death by a Sky Ship.

The tenth time, she gave her life holding up the barrier of defence for the Holy City.

The twentieth time, she was betrayed and killed by inside agents.

No matter how hard Taylor and his friends resisted, the Six always found a way to reach their aim, as if they could control the law of Causality itself.

They would whisper in his ears that they were inescapable. And they were right.

What hurt Taylor the most was now, he stood before her body, yet he did not shed a single tear.

He knew a time like this would come, ever since his first jump. That one day, she’ll die and it won’t even faze him.

It was time to jump again.

Taylor cast a glare a few dozen metres down the road.

There, the cause of this mess simply floated tranquilly.

A small black ball that was gradually growing had manifested from all the bloodshed.

Taylor approached it broodingly, shooting daggers at it with his purple eyes.

Andrew and Jason already stood there, their fists clenched while they watched on.

“It’s all because of this…” Andrew spat. “It’s all this thing’s fault.”

Taylor looked around the streets for Diana, but couldn’t find her.

“Looking for Diana?” Jason asked without taking his eyes off the gate. “She’s still off hunting the bastards that did this,” he said.

Taylor nodded.

“In the twenty loops we’ve lived, this is the first time this thing’s appeared,” Taylor thought aloud, referring to the black ball.

“We let it get to this point. This is the first time we’ve jumped this late. If we had waited in the past, it would’ve come to this eventually. We know how inevitable the Six are, first-hand, now,” Jason replied.

“What is this thing, anyway? Is this the thing the Six are so desperate to make happen?” Andrew asked.

“The Seventh Gate of Diablo,” Taylor answered.

“Oh, that’s what this is?”

“It connects to the Provenance space,” Jason added.

“Provenance space… gah,” Andrew grunted. “Yet another dimension to add to the notebook.”

“This one is significant. It’s not like the Abyss, the Astral realm or the Chaos realm,” Jason took a step forward toward it.

Even as they spoke, the ominous black ball morphed and shook within itself violently.

“It’s not gonna explode, is it?” Andrew asked skeptically.

“It will. With hellish monsters, that will overrun this entire universe. It’s derived from a codex that will convert any element it touches into… well, something horrible,” Jason chuckled. “Taylor. If I’m gone, take care of the others for me. Including Piper. Please.”

“Huh? What?” Taylor asked.

Before anyone could make a move, Jason dove into the ball.

There was a large zap and flash of light, before force erupted from the ball, sending Andrew and Taylor shooting into the nearby skyscrapers, which then finally collapsed from the impact, on the two young men.

Something like that wasn’t enough to kill them. A dark blue barrier shot out from Taylor’s body, pushing the debris away from him, and he quickly ran to where Jason and the Gate had been.

No traces of either remained.

“Did that crazy bastard really just…!?” Andrew exclaimed.

“Fuck! He didn’t even tell us he was gonna do something so crazy!” Taylor cursed.

“Probably because we would’ve stopped him. Cause he’s probably dead! For good!” Andrew answered, kicking a pebble to the side.

“No. I don’t think so. Knowing him, he was probably smart enough to duplicate his consciousness and send it back to the past using the refined Astral travel cast,” Taylor said with certainty.

“Now, I am dumb when it comes to this type of stuff, but I’m smart enough to know, if he alone went back to the past, what are we doing standing here? Wouldn’t the past have changed, and this scene would be shifting?” Andrew asked.

“You’re right… hmm…” Taylor wondered. “There’s only two possibilities then. He used a cast that sent him to another dimension separate from our timeline, or… that was the past him we just saw, and we just don’t remember the future that was changed because he went back.”

“That sounds like a paradox,” Taylor’s friend responded with raised eyebrows.

“Isn’t even our birth one, at this point?” Taylor jested.

They were interrupted when Diana landed next to them, from the sky. She was visibly upset, seething with anger. Blood was splattered over her black cloak and her blonde hair, turning it red but she paid it no attention. But she soon took a few breaths and regained her composure.

“Hmm? Where’s Jason?” Diana wondered, looking around them. “He was here when I left.”

“Uh… he jumped into the Gate,” Taylor answered, scratching his head.

“He… what?” Diana answered in dismay. “Fuck off! No way! Even for us, that’s too crazy. Even if you somehow survive the trip through the bridge, and somehow make it into the Provenance realm, it’s not somewhere where our being can persist. Shit!” Diana began to panic. “I know we’ve been getting nowhere these past twenty lives, but it didn’t mean he had to go do this in search of a breakthrough…”

“Hold on, hold on,” Andrew rubbed his forehead. “So… the Seventh Gate connects to the Provenance realm. Why does the Six want that thing here? Jason said it turns whatever it touches into… he didn’t say what, exactly.”

“Mmm,” Diana gave an uncomfortable look. “Our realm has Mana. In the trees, the air, the people. The Chaos Realm has Predominal Chaos, which actively negates Mana by converting it from the inside and tearing it apart, like a container that explodes from the inside. The Provenance realm is a plane with… an energy without a name. That’s how little we know about that place. But that energy, whatever it’s called, when connected to anything in this space, immediately anchors itself here and corrupts it. If say, that energy were to touch a person… they would turn into a monstrous being, alive from the organic material but converted into that energy type. I don’t know what that’d look like,” Diana explained.

“So why exactly did the Six want this ticking time-bomb here? It was growing by the second before Jason jumped into it.”

“By jumping into it, Jason was able to seal it, like a plug in a sink,” Taylor answered. “If it had been left to fester, it would’ve eventually sucked in enough Mana to erupt. When that eruption happens… everything we see in this Universe, like Jason said, goes bye-bye. I think… it’s the Six’s golden ticket to wiping out all of existence, like they’ve been trying to do this whole time.”

“Will Jason make it back? Goddamn it. Please…” Diana wasn’t praying to anything in paticuliar, but still she pleaded, nonetheless.

“What an idiot…” Andrew sighed. “Fark. What do we do now?”

“We go back. We rendezvous. See if we can meet up with him or not. Plan from there,” Taylor looked up to the sky and clicked his fingers.

A familiar, dark blue portal opened up, and Taylor took a step toward it. “Well? Let’s go,” Taylor said over his shoulder to his two remaining comrades.

They both sighed, before nodding, and followed after him into the light.