The Voyager

<OFC>

Greeaaaaattt.... why didn't I expect this? Lol.

I would prefer not to go down that path... but, alright. You guys have fun...

(SPOILER ALERT)

Archon is going to die after all, and then I'm going to make a couple new characters... everyone's personalities conflict BIGTIME with his anyway.

We still need the Alteriians to fend off the Flesher attacks though, so maybe not ANYTHING you want to.

Archon deflated a little at Lurinia's answer. Her sentences were too short, and too direct.
She was playing with him, obviously still underestimating his powers...
That didn't matter. Let her think that she was controlling him... in only put him in a more powerful position then he already was. It was irrelevant in the long run in any case, and not worth thinking about.

Archon sighed to himself mostly, letting his annoyance show, which was easy considering how annoyed he was.

"Somehow, whatever you are... I doubt that."

Archon spun 170 degrees, and shot to the portion of the ship that Verax resided, according to Lurinia. Archon twisted the fibers of time, and launched himself carefully at the place he wanted to go...

It took him about twenty seconds to reach his destination.


In a shower of sparks, flames, mist, and ice Archon exploded through the wall beside Verax, and stopped suddenly, just as suddenly as he had unexpectedly entered the room.

Archon paused, the object of his mission standing directly in front of him.

"Krajelia! Tandaka Trious mul'kan. Sey tras, eil. Thelas." (Translated roughly, "Betrayer! You have given up the light. Prepare to die minion-of-the-evil-one. You are doomed.")

Archon summoned the crushing weight of the ocean into his hands, and launched at Verax, whose armor could not protect him against the Elements of Creation themselves. Synthetic materials and pure... both hastened to Archon's will.
Using his orbs, Archon tore one side of Verax's armor like a paper bag, and had knocked him over onto the ground.

"Thelas! Eiol gil'ga meshnu!" (You are doomed! Embrace Death!) Archon whispered, as he drew back one limb, now entirley constructed of tendrils of ice and lightning, and prepared to strike Verax's vital organs.

((Um... John. Caz is not in love with Ma'at. That's not how it works. And anyways... I don't know if Archelaus is even still alive, or whatever, but if you kill off Archon and have Archelaus die, Tam is going to die too. That's just how it is.))

Caz turned back, a little surprised that someone had spoken. And that... it was a man's voice. His eyes found the one that had spoken quickly, a man leaning against the bars of one of the cells. Caz frowned. He felt a connection, somehow, but for him it wasn't one of love. It wasn't like what he imagined Tam and Archelaus to have, and it wasn't what he had with Zyria. He simply felt... attached. And powerful.

He approached the cell, looking Ma'at over skeptically. "I'm... Drel-Caz." Well, I can't argue now, and I don't have time. I guess... oh, I don't know. But I have to get back to Verax and Archelau--Archon, to try and stop them. Caz shook his head, and then without thinking he walked through the bars and held his hand out to Ma'at. "Come on, take my hand. Someone needs us, we have to go."

Ma'at took the stranger's hand without a second thought. He somehow trusted Caz, even though they hadn't know each other for more than a minute. And he felt strong. Strong and protected and powerful. Was this... it couldn't be, could it? His parents had always talked about the bond, but he had never actually met someone who had actually found their Neide. But what else could it be?
Ma'at smiled to himself- actually grinned would be more accurate. His world had turned upside down, and he loved it. "What are you going to do?" he asked. Surely Caz couldn't break the bars, even with this new strength. Somehow, he couldn't bring himself to actually care about the answer, though. His heart was singing- Ma'at was in love.

((Oh, and another thing: even if Caz did love Ma'at back, it's not homosexual. The Kazesqui are an asexual race; what need would they have for genders? They have no genitalia, and so what "gender" they are is entirely their own preference. They can be male, female, both, or neither simply because they have no gender. Caz thinks male fits him best, Tam thinks female fits her best, but it's a personal preference. You could call them monogendered. Which is something that really exists.))

Caz looked at Ma'at, putting up a mental wall between the two of them so as to keep his distance. As their hands touched, he and his Neiede simply vanished into thin air, like Eris-Tam had done many times. They appeared again in front of Archon and Verax, and Caz immediately let go of Ma'at's hand. Then he threw himself in front of Archon, actually... protecting Verax.

"Archelaus! Er--Archon, whoever you are! STOP!" Caz yelled before taking a few deep breaths. "Archelaus, you need to stop. Verax was trying to help me. He's not... as bad as everyone seems to think." He glanced back at the Dreadlord, with a little mix of encouragement and a glare thrown in. You better thank me for this, Verax. This could be a suicide attempt. Caz remembered full well the last time he had gotten in Archelaus' way when he was in a rage, and that rage seemed to be all that Archon was. Stopping him... could be completely impossible. "Please, listen! It was Lurinia! She's the one causing this destruction, and I wouldn't doubt that she had something to do with Verax's madness!" Caz summoned what knowledge he had of the Alteriia to the surface. "Does he not deserve a second chance?! Or--maybe a third, a fourth. But aren't your people supposed to be forgiving, give more chances? Tam was able to redeem herself, can't he too? Maybe not in the same way, but doesn't everyone and anyone deserve that chance?"

On the outside, Caz looked passionate and confident.

But in the inside, his mind was whirling.

He was probably powerful enough to stop Archon, right at this moment, but... he didn't... want to hurt Tam. He knew what... what his death would do to her.

"Archelaus..." Caz's shoulders sagged. "If you won't... stop for Verax, or for me, or for your people's beliefs... If you won't stop at all then... I'll have to fight you. I don't want to do that, Archelaus. A--Are... are you still in there, Archelaus? If you are... I don't want to kill you. If you can't stop for any of those things... will you stop for Tam? For Aurora?

"She needs you. She needs you alive, with her. But... I'll have to stop you if you won't do it on your own. Please... Archelaus... if you're in there. Do it for her."

Ma'at gasped as the world dissolved around him and he re-materialized. He blinked, trying to readjust his vision, as Caz let go of his hand and-

What was he doing? That was Verax, didn't this man know anything? The bleary happiness overwhelming his brain vanished, replaced by rage. He leapt to his feet, ignoring the conversation as he fumbled for something to use as a weapon. Finding nothing, he decided to forgo direct conflict and grabbed Caz's arm. "Caz, what are you doing? This- this bastard is Dreadlord Verax!" his voice trembled with rage, "This is the monster who murdered my-" he shook his head, unable to complete the sentence. "Get out of the way and let this man give him what the bastard has coming, or I'll do it for him!"

Caz threw Ma'at off him. "Look, I barely know you! Don't get in the way. Verax saved my life, and I'm not about to stand by and watch him be killed. Yeah, he's done a lot of horrible things, but it's too late for me to care about that. I already owe this to him. And I will fight you too if I need to." He reaverted his attention to Archon. "Archelaus, please. Make your decision."

Ma'at staggered back, surprised and hurt. It wasn't supposed to be like this. Caz was supposed to feel the same way... to trust him... to love him. Perhaps he was wrong and Caz wasn't his Neide, but... he had been so sure.

It didn't matter, he decided. Ma'at wouldn't fight him, no matter what Caz said. He backed away, slowly. It was too late now to do anything but watch...

(Also, Arch, Verax's armor cannot be destroyed, which you would all understand IF YOU HAD READ AWAKENINGS IN THE NEGA6TH.)

Verax had enough of this, fueled by rage, and revenge, his strength surged. The power of nothingness filled him, and repaired his armor, and in a mighty explosion of void, launched Archon into and through a wall, and Caz off and away from him. Now standing, and regaining posture, the demon Verax bellowed, "Grathyu! Teh muk n'shliatch! Chrodnmier et, Verax, m'ensatu ne oot non idoe, cran shelth azaul! (Translated literally from the Myrionith language, 'AWAY! It is time for our finale! Witness now, VERAX, defiler of time and space, master of the universe!')

He turned to Caz,"Caz... forgive me.... but Archon is nothing but hatred for me. I thank you... for your attempt to help me, but this will only end one way. I will not kill Archon, but........" Reaching deep inside himself, he pushed all the memories of torture and pain he blamed Archelaus for forth, and consumed himself in rage and power, the very black-gray aura of nothingness exploding into a pillar of power around him, until it quelled, revealing the floating hulking, faceless bestial Void consumed Verax.

"TREMBLE IN FEAR, SONS OF MORTALITY! QUIVER WITH FEAR AT THIS! PERFECTION! DESTRUCTION! I AM CHAOS INCARNATE!" He lowered his demonic head, a pair of two ruby read glowing eyes on a gray-black bat-eared featureless face. "This.... is our grand battle Archelaus. Make it one to remember... for which ever one of us can remember." And he vanished, teleporting in front of Archon, stabbing his claw hand into is body, transforming it to be the inverse of whatever element he changed to, and threw him back into the hanger.

Wasting no more time on monologuing, he bombarded Archon from every angle, punching and kicking, and slashing and warping in a blinding barrage of blows, until he finished off his move with teleporting a distance away from Archon. He held his arms out in front of him as a massive orb of this power he used began to grow in between his palms and fingers, expanding, pushing his hands apart, until Verax's very being began to flicker in and out of existence. "WELCOME TO OBLIVION!" and a meteor shower of many power shards began to rain down on the High Druid, until he was hidden in a storm of explosions, flaring domes of this hellish power unleashed.

Caz recovered quickly from having been tossed aside, and dashed after the pair. "NO!" His form quickly grew and changed, solidifying into a tremendous creature, something so strange that it was indescribable. It effectively formed a wall between the two combatants. "Stop!" Caz's voice was so deep and rumbling it seemed to shake the whole ship. "Stop. You intend to kill Archon, and I will not let you do that unless there is no other way. I will kill both of you, if it is necessary, but only then. Archelaus, stand and tell me. I will defend you if you say you can abandon this fight. But otherwise, I have no choice but to leave you to Verax. Answer me, damn you! Is this what you want?"

Verax responded calmly. "I have no intention of killing Archelaus. I merely wanted to render him unconscious. I made you a promise, didn't I? I would not kill your friends. I merely acted in self defense. I will not kill Archon. No.... this is not... what I want. But... if he attacks me again, I will do what is needed, and if you get in my way, I cannot promisse you will not be harmed. I appologize.... but... this is the way... it was meant to be....." He paused, and a roar was heard, and the flapping of wings. "Fluffy is almost here. When she gets here, leave. I must stay. I will take back my ship, I will restrain Lurinia, and if Archon, or Archelaus, gets in my way, you will find him, alive, beamed down to the surface."

Caz looked down, his emotions unreadable on the huge creature's face. Archelaus... hurry. Please tell me you're still in there. I don't want to leave you here...

A massive explosion rocked the hanger, as Fluffy entered. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" Verax roared. The ship lit up red with lights and sirens.
"Warning. Warning. Incoming hostile army. Warning. Warning. Incoming hostile army. Approximated size of 300,000, 200,000 fighter and infantry class hostiles. 50,000 interplanetary capable battlecruisers and warships. 49,999 Special Op units. 1 Martian, Plutonian, and Alteriian mixed compository mega Assault Super-captial heavy Battle/Flag cruiser. Code Scarlet. This is not a drill. Automated defense protocols initiated. This is not a drill. All 19,456,391 remaining active drones and droids, along with all 50,000,000 hibernating auxiliary troopers are to immediately prepare for intense combat. Code Scarlet. This is not a drill." Then the automated message began to repeat. Verax threw his arms up in exasperation.
"LURINIA! Stop being a bitch for a minute and tell me whose leading this assault? What kind of idiot would DARE, even CONSIDER the POSSIBILITY of attacking me-" He was cut off by Lurinia's voice answering with a single name.
"Dragijh A'Lecto."

<OFC>

<Archie is still in there. We need him to open up Olympus Mons.

Yes, I understand that you said Caz doesn't have a gender before. When I thought up the Neiede attachment originally, it was not something that merely gave people power, but it was the two minds of the people themselves that fit together. A bond that had more purpose then power. It was like...
Adam and Eve in my mind. Adam wasn't complete without Eve... Adam was lonely without Eve. Sort of the same emotional deal. That was the original parameters of what I was thinking.

But, this is an RP and you can feel free to do whatever you want to with the bond, and it certainly works to interpret it that way. It's just not what I originally had in mind.>

<IC>

Archon paused, his wrath calmed for a moment, like the eye of a hurricane. His gaze shifted to Caz...
"Caz.... Caz.... Caz..." He thought, trying to remember through the honor-bound fire coursing through his mind, who this 'Caz' was. Then he remembered.
His arm's intensity weakened.
His doubts came.

Perhaps he was wrong... Lurinia was trying to trick him after-all...
Verax might be insane, but he is still alive. He can be reasoned with, unlike Lurinia.

"NO!" He thoughts. The twelve thousand on Vertrus, dead, for no reason other than this monster thought it was amusing! His fleet commanders brutally torn apart! His friends almost murdered! The worlds destroyed... The lives lost...

Billions. Trillions.
How could this one life not be guilty?
How can his honor stand tall, with the weight of millions of bodies weighted upon his soul?

These questions and doubts played through Archon, despite his form being that of one bent to revenge.
He still was under the law of the honor code. He WAS the honor code.
And the honor code was clear.

There was mystery surrounding Lady Somnis, previously known as Lady Xecks... she was respected. She already had a place in the honor code.

But this thing...Verax... that stood before him was not even truly alive. It was mindless. Possessed only of itself. That is not life. Not true life.
Verax existed only to destroy... only to kill, to shed the blood of the guilty and innocent alike.
He was a monster.
And yet... Archon's fist would not fall...

But that didn't matter, because Verax pounded a crushing blow using his still armored right hand into Archon's side, sending his elemental body cascading several feet back, and heavily bruised along one side.

In the space of time it took Archon to reform to challenge Verax again, the heavily armored adversary had already risen to his feet, and was preparing for some kind attack, with the tear in his armor replaced by a strange black substance that Archon could not sense.

Archon hesitated... nothing had ever been able to even touch him before, and yet Verax wields a blow on his first attack?

Archon prepared himself for an epic dual, and darted to the left, evaporating his body into a swirling mist, which spearheaded toward Verax from several directions at once, glowing a sinister yellow, white and red.... a powerful and murderous lightning and fire.
But Verax somehow evaded Archon, and slammed a wave of black energy into his now more vulnerable position.

Archon was smashed heavily as the black energy seemed to somehow eat through him... but he re-condensed, entirely surprised by the turn of events.
Archon immediately re condensed, taking on his Lutrana, (or "Light") form. Archon now appeared to be a glowing blue and white angle of honor, as he hefted the power of the Sun and Earth in his left and right hands.

Verax however, seemed prepared for this as well, and even before Archon had made his first move, Verax had shifted positions, and prepared some kind of net-fracture in time, catching some of his transforming matter in The-Place-Inbetween, where he was even more vulnerable than when he had transformed into a vaporous-plasma form.

Archon swore a brief Alteriian curse.... how did Verax know what he was going to do... and how? How did he combat him? Archon knew that Verax possed chaos powers, but he had never possesed the powers of The-Inbetween.

Archon mentally prepared himself for the rest of the duel... which may not be as easy as he had hoped.
Despite the impressive display of Verax's talent, Archon was barely hurt at all. Archon could afterall, simply recharge his energies with whatever happened to be near him.

Archon, now back in the normal fracture of time, stood across the room from a motionless Verax, who had gritted teeth, and was obviously awaiting Archon's next move.

Archon feinted to the right, calling metal shards out of the wall, and then struck left and down with beams of the Holy Light, which should be able to cut through any Chaos-sheild Verax had erected, but Verax merely jumped upwards through the ceiling and forwards, pulling out a massive sword made out of...
Archon paused ever so slightly...
A sword made of nothing. Archon could not control Verax's weapon, as he could control the weapons of so many other adversaries he had faced.

No matter, Archon thought. It is time I show him the Strength of the Rolxan.
Archon gripped Verax in his mind, delayed his descent using the air Verax was passing though,, calculated his rate of arrival, dashed around Verax much faster then the eye can see and struck with the weight of the Earth into Verax's back, sending him careening across the room, unable to right himself immediately.

Verax took a second to leap back to his feet, but Archon was upon him before Verax could raise his arms... And Archon held Verax in a vicious mental grip, pouring every ounce of wrath and indignant honor he could into holding Verax in a mental strangle-hold, while Archon's physical being closed the distance between them...
Hopefully, Archon could end the duel here.

Time seemed to slow, as his grip tightened, and a worried Verax thrased violently, trying to displace Archon, but Archon held anyway, calling upon raging emotion of fire to aide his burning vice.

But this had left Archon's back to a much more powerful Ma'at and Caz...

Caz's heart fell as Archon continued his attack. Was there no way that Caz could stop him?

Apparently not.

Caz had shifted back into normal form, and then had been left with no choice other than to watch as the two sparred, back and forth across the room. But then Archon had caught Verax with the Rolxan, and there was nothing more Verax could do to fend him off. Could Archon not see that fending him off was all that Verax had done? Every one of his strikes had only been to counteract the moves that Archon had made. But somehow, Archon had missed it. Still...

The Verax that Caz had seen while they'd been trying to escape together... may have been one fueled only by necessity. But somehow... Caz thought that maybe there was a chance that he could change. Yes, he believed that the man deserved to pay for his crimes, but there had to be a better way that this.

And so it was with all of these things in mind that Caz launched himself at Archon. It didn't matter whether he was hurt. It didn't matter whether he died. It just mattered that he didn't fail. He flung Archon to the ground, transforming midair into one of his favorite forms, the Calterran plains wolf. He planted a paw on each of Archon's shoulders, holding him down. He knew it wouldn't really stop Archon if that wasn't what he wanted, but it was worth a shot.

"That's enough." He growled. "Verax will stay with us. He will be judged fairly, and he will be punished accordingly." Caz met Verax's eyes, silently saying, 'Don't argue.' Then he said, "There are thousands of ships surrounding this one, and they intend to destroy it. We need to get out of here if we have any hope of living or any hope of saving Eris-Tam. Archelaus, please. That's all you want. Verax will be brought to justice, a fair justice. Please, Archelaus. This is the last time I'm going to ask. Stop this. We need you. Really you, not Archon."

"ARCH. I SHALL-" The booming voice of Verax beginning to awaken the true power of chaos, and Arch could feel it. Seeping into him, tainting his power, weakening him. "NEVER" The world began to dent, and Fluffy roared, their mental bond strengthening each other. "I..... I....." He began to collapse under Archon's power, until... a glimmer of darkness... a glimmer of shadow, expanded. EXPLODED within Verax, resulting in a massive storm of power, with a roar, a mighty, deafening, floor cratering roar, Archon, despite his admirable power, could not hold on to the raging storm of power that was Verax, and was sent sailing away.

Archon did not go flying, but he did slide a distance away from Verax, before witnessing another horrifying change. Verax covered his head with his arms, and almost looked like he was hugging himself when..... The blackness pulsed. The nothingness.... it began to beat and pulse like a heart, growing blacker and blacker until it was darker than death. "I REFUSE TO LOSE!" And he reared back his arms, a massive flare frenzy of the void storming around the Dreadlord.

"ARCHON, I GIVE THIS TO YOU.... A GIFT... TO COMMEMORATE.... MY VICTORY!" A bolt of pure black nothingness arched from Verax to Arch, and as Archon with some difficulty dodged, Verax, with every inch, every fiber, every last essence, until he was blinking in and out of visibility, using up his very being, struck Archon's mind with the force and fury worthy of legend. He pushed EVERY pain he had ever felt, every second of pain, and abandonment, and any kind of pain into this. He put ALL the fury, the flaming inferno of insanity and rage into this, a fire hot enough to melt the stars with, he struck. He put everything he lost, everything he gained, everything that had been, everything that was to be, everything that was and was not, everything that had and could be felt, or remembered, or forgotten... he put everything into this. He struck the High Druid's mind with the force of a meteor, and fell to one knee upon this. He would fight even further if he had to, but not if he didn't. He had but one trick left. One last resort......

Utter Chaos.

((AGHHHH! Why does Caz NEVER get the chance to solve things peacefully?! HUH?!))

(Hopefuly he will later, but the appearent hatred for Verax runs too deep for Arch. We've already come to the agreement that Verax does triumph, and both live, but it makes more sense for two honorable warriors, who are blood-bound enemies for life, to fight like this.)

((Well, Caz is leaving as soon as I'm not too busy to post. So. Yeah. They'll just have to fight it out because Caz is about to give up.))

Caz stood. He let off Archon, and let the two launch back into their fight, falling back into his humanoid form.

I give up.

The two were in such a blind rage that they could not see, could not hear.

And so there was nothing more that Caz could do.

He turned, with a stone cold, hard expression, and approached Ma'at.

"Let's go." He took Ma'at's hand, and the two vanished.


And then they appeared. On the other ship, the one where Robless and the others were. Of course, Zyria wasn't there. But he knew from the conversations he'd been able to intercept with his implant that Zyria and Cassus were safe on the little synthetic's ship. He walked to Robless, leaving Ma'at a short distance behind. His tone was as cold as his expression.

"They're not coming down any time soon. We need to get to Olympus Mons, maybe Archelaus will catch up with us. Maybe not."

((Also people: answer this on the other thread. Aka Robless and anyone else aboard that ship just answer on Mars Mission.))

<sorry about my failure in being online when I am needed... busy busy I am...>

Archon held tighter, tighter, strained against Verax... pushed against Verax, didn't let him stand up and get a hold of himself...
WRATH. His being demanded it. He was Archon! Leit Triumvaate Isei Compranask!! (Or, Harbinger Incarnate)

It was Archelaus' decision to bring him here, and he would have to deal with it later. For now... the only thing that mattered was Verax, crushed on one knee, thrashing as much as ---

Archon's body, on it's way to strike down Verax forever was suddenly affronted by a strange power. Not Verax's, his was busy trying to fling Archon off of him, like a bull and a cowboy.
It was an unexpected strength... Not so dissimilar to his own... It managed to knock Archon's body to it's feet, screaming words at him that Archon did not take the time to hear... although what-ever-it-was had been brushed aside like a fly... he had lost considerable time.

"@$%&!" Archon cursed silently, he had been distracted! Verax had gained a hold to catch his breath! Curse whoever this thing was! Curse it's miserable being!
Now the battle field was level...
Or so Archon thought.

Then Verax gained some kind of power... it was darkness, except it was nothing. It was evil, but it was light. There was no way to describe it other than pure and utter chaos.
Archon attempted to holster his power against it, but the Universe always relied on order of some kind.... the order of creation, of life... The Laws of the universe that could not be broken...

But this was not of the universe. This was something else entirely.
Archon could not hope to withstand the initial assault, and he pulled away before his mind was overwhelmed by rage and pain... by hurt and regret, of insanity and formlessness... but chaos....
Some kind of chaotic bolt streamed toward him, and Archon had to dodge or risk being knocked unconscious by the energy. Archon would not absorb Chaos like he could natural elements... but then he had a bigger problem to deal with.
But the second assault was stronger than the first! Archon attempted to set his defenses around his mind, nearly completely ignoring his physical body and tried to focus on fending off the essence of directed mindlessness.

And Archon was strong. So strong in fact, that since the beginning days, when the Reisotana Praulva (Or, Magical Beings) still roamed the original homeland of the Alteriians, Archon had not been defeated. He had been created to safeguard Alterria, peace, and life, to fight the demons that were spread across the lands with a Light of Naru that no Alteriian could weild. He was a weapon of Honor Incarnate. The Harbinger. He was the reason that the Alteriians had lived to develop the Rolxan, to develop their empathy and their technology...
Because the Harbinger had safeguarded life against the evil.

He was Archon.

But he was no match for Verax.

One by one the walls of his mind feel beneath the unending onslought, until his being was similar to Atlas... only he was holding insanity away from his mind, instead of the sky away from the Earth.
If it landed, it would undoubtedly crush him.
So he fought the epic battle, like a single man with pail trying to bail out the Titantic...
It was hopeless.
Hopeless....

Archon suddenly realized something. He would not win. Throughout tens of thousands of years he lost less then four battles, and yet... he was going to lose to Verax.

Darkness and Chaos would win this day, and Archon would retreat into the void.

The realization was the last pebble on top of the world sitting on Archon's back, and at last he fell into a mindless oblivion of sorrow, tears, lead and blood...

The Light seeped from Archon's body, his gleaming eyes dulling to their previous Jade green, the first signs that an Harbinger had been defeated. (There are several different types, with varying amounts of power. Archon was the strongest, right alongside the Son of Thunder)

Slowly, lightning seeped away from his limbs into the void, the Earth crawled away, the plasma dissipated... The Fire disappeared in a small puff of smoke, which was sucked away into the void as well... The mists and the metals deteriorated, and followed the path of the rest of Archon, back into the void from whence he was called...

In this phantasmagoria of flash and flare, there settled but Charcoal and Ash, the signatures of defeat.
And amidst the grey, there lied the battered and bruised body of Archelaus. Drained of his power to control the Rolxan, drained of his will to fight, drained of his sense of others, he lay there in the scratching tar, as Verax fought to regain control over the Chaos he had unleashed.

Archelaus could see every action taken by Archon, he could hear every word thought and spoken. They were not his, but the body was his. The tool used. He was the one who tried to furfull the law, but ended up hurting everything instead.
He had been wrong... it was Luxinia that had done all this evil.... surely Verax was guilty, but that was not for him to decide... He had failed the universe. He had failed his love, Aurora, he had failed his people the Alteriians, he had failed himself, and he had failed the Light.

The High Druid called to Verax across the room, his body cold and pale, his voice flat and nondescript, so different from its normal deep and charismatic qualities.
"Kill me Verax, Destroyer of Life. Do what you are, for I have failed to universe. There is nothing more I can do, no more I can give, no actions to take or words to speak for me to live.
The light will have judgement on you eventually, betrayer, even if I am not its instrument."

Verax struggled, but after a few minutes he regained control. The black aura vanished, his humanoid face returned, and his cape, in a regal billow, settled up and out behind him. He strode over to Archelaus, and surprised him. He held out his hand to help him up.

"Know this, Archelaus. You live today only because I allow it. Know this. That while I am a murderous and villanous being, I am honorable and sometimes merciful. I relinquish to you two things, to compensate for your loss in battle. I shall give you hope, know that it was not I who harmed Caz, nor influenced me to appear here, know that I shall not take away your life." When Archelaus did not take the outstretched hand, Verax began to pace.

"Second, I shall give to you Archelaus.... but one last gift. Know that after Eris-Tam has been freed, I shall suffer any punishment short of death that you'll enjoin me to. Also..... Arch..... I'm sorry. I'm sorry we could not live as friends. I am so sorry. BUT! I will have to be sad later. I AM UNDER ATTACK! I have to go delete Lurinia's upper-tier functions and defend my fortress! THE VOYAGER..." He boomed. "WILL NEVER KNOW DEFEAT!" He turned to Archelaus. "Now.... I ask you but one more favor. After you return to Mars and open the Cave of Shattered Suns...... would you return? To enter the Voyager's data mainframe and dispose of Lurinia?"

The newly freed Archelaus would have been stunned, had he the capacity. He didn't. So he ended up blankly staring up at the face of the victor.... Verax.... he thought the name with contempt, spitting out each syllable with venom and disdain in his mind, though his face stayed as blank as a newly purchased chalkboard.

Words played through Archelaus' head that he barely listened too... like a TV glowing softly in an empty room.
"... Shattered Suns..." Archelaus thought... "Olympus... I have to get to Olympus Mons..."
A memory flashed through his mind like a an ember burning in the night.
Mars. The memory zoomed in... The desert.
Hidden underneath the maze... Sands blowing about in tiny dervishes.
A Cave. Dripping water.
Traps.
Danger. Creatures. Fear that kept your ears sharp and your mind sharper.
No escape once you enter. The end or death.
Sceams.
Closer. The door. The memory zoomed though the cavern, slowly panning closer to a huge door constructed from ceramics, metals, and energy.
The Door. The unexpected memory zoomed in closer on the imposing construction, increasing in intensity.
THE DOOR. It was nearly unbearable now...
THE DOOR OF THE SHATTERED SUNS.
THE DOOR TO ALL OF TH---

The memory stopped abruptly, and flowed into another one, as if a river had spun 180 on a dime.

It was Aurora her face tilted to the heavens, many years ago on the original homeworld of the Alteriians... it was beautiful. The skies were their unique collage of sunsets of different colors. Greens, blues, and purples... another sun shot oranges, reds, and yellows into the sky.
It was the universe in tandem above their heads, and all the beauty of the scene was replayed onto the already beautiful face of Aurora.
Not because she was aesthetically beautiful, (although she was, strikingly so) but because she was so perfect that it felt like a dream. She was caring... considerate, highly intelligent, she knew him inside and out. When to comfort him, when to try to give him space... when hugs were needed and when tears should be shed, and when to lighted the day with one of her radiant smiles. Every day was radiant with her...
She made every trip, no matter how mundane, an adventure. She made every moment, no matter what the circumstances, one that he was glad to live. It was a mystery with her everyday... there was no telling what mischievous act they would perform together in the next ten seconds.
That is why she was beautiful.

But the image didn't last.

It was replaced with Aurora's face convulsed with pain and suffering, like a torture victim who knows that he isn't escaping.
It was vile.
The picture in his mind made Archelaus sick.
Archelaus nearly started at his next revelation...
This was no memory.
This was the present.

"Olympus Mons..." Archelaus intoned again...

Finally, Archelaus spoke to Verax, unsure of how much time had passed as him mind bounced from moment to moment to moment...
Arch's ashen voice transformed into a sound as clear as the clarion bell, returning to its normal hues and volumes with each word spoken.

"Verax..." he began, without the hatred. "Teryilos, braedai sh'nou." (Or, "I hear your words, victor") "If it is within your power would ask of you to send me to The Cave of the Shattered Suns, where undoubtedly Emerik, Robless, and the others are waiting for me..." His voice was not a question or a plead, but a summation. It was as if Verax and Arch were friends of many years and there was no reason that Verax would not fulfill Archelaus' request. "Aurora... she... I don' t know if you understand... I must go to The Cave of the Shattered Sun. For me at least, Lurinia will have to wait."

Archelaus' voice became tempered and raw, "Reygrammon, delfa'morn." (Or, "The Ground Falls". The idiom's intent deals with obstacles in life, but in the sense that Archelaus' uses it here, it signifies that Verax has gained a certain amount of respect, as if he was not merely the refuse of a demon, but a being, even though he may still be a being of evil.)

"Perhaps..." Arch continued, "When I have saved her... We shall see." Archelaus' somber and serious face suddenly lit up with an unexpected smile. "Can this vessel do anything but destroy...?"

Verax laughed. "Why.... yes! Of course. Arch.... I do understand why you MUST save Aurora, and I will do my part to help. Even if it does not redeem me, which is not what I seek..... but no matter! What do you wish for me to do? In this manner, The Voyager is a tool at your disposal. All you have to do is ask! HAHAHAAA! OOOOOH I haven't felt so alive in a looooong time! But I digress. If you simply wish to leave, I will LEND you Fluffy. LEND. I will expect her back when you are done! But I get ahead of myself.... what is with me and tangents today? I guess it has to doing good..... STILL, what do you seek my castle to do?"