Chapter Fallen Utopia
Roisin and her friends stood at the border of the fallen city of Utopia, surrounded by the ruins of a long dead city, they gazed into the middle of the city, where the old Academy stood, now encased in nanomachines.
"All I feel when I look around is sadness, so much lost potential..." Ariel sighed. "The sorrow Lumina must have once felt, seeing this city turned to ruin" She shook her head.
"It doesn't excuse what she did" Roisin frowned.
"I know" Ariel nodded. "I just..." She continued.
"I feel it too, the immense sadness" Roisin interrupted. "It may not excuse what she did, but... it helps me understand why" She sighed. Dex walked ahead and looked at an item on the ground, it was a child's toy.
"Apathera was right" Dex shook his head. "This cycle will never stop, even after we finish this fight, there will be someone else waiting in the wings" He sighed. Ashe walked over to Dex and looked to the Academy in the distance.
"He was wrong" She stated. "There is a reason that it is a cycle, yes, evil may always rise up, but every single time it will be defeated, it never wins, not for long" Ashe smiled. Dex smiled and nodded.
"It's up to us, to fight for our future" Dex nodded.
Footsteps approached from behind, Roisin turned to see the others had all arrived.
"See, Ruby, told you they'd make it" Keegan smiled. Ruby flew over to Roisin and hugged her as everyone else walked inside the city and began chatting between themselves.
Atlas walked over to Roisin and hugged her.
"Good to see you made it in one piece" Atlas smiled.
"It'd take more than a crash to keep me down" Roisin joked.
"I'd recommend we rest, before proceeding" Aran butted in, as she looked around at everyone. The crowd fell silent. "This is it, our final goal sits in the fallen Academy in the centre of this city. Tartarus and Infernus will likely try to stop us from closing the rift, but we will have to do our best" She explained.
"Tartarus will" Ariel smirked. Aran raised her eyebrow.
"Infernus has fallen?" Aran asked.
"Yeah" Dex nodded. "He didn't have much fight left in him, he seemed like he was already worn down" He explained.
"That is no surprise" Aran replied. "He was running on fumes, I imagine, unlike Tartarus, he had no real conviction, it was in his original name - Apathara, or Apathy" She explained.
"Tartarus will be much harder, I imagine?" Mizu asked.
"No doubt about it, he siphons his energy from his home world, he's nigh on invincible, which is why we have no choice but to perform the ritual while those without the power of the Crystalla will have to focus on fighting him" Aran commanded.
"He's unbeatable?" Seb frowned.
"Once he sees the rift starting to close, he will no doubt retreat back to his planet, so closing the rift must be our primary focus" Aran explained. Roisin gazed at Aran and pondered something.
"To close the rift, you must be..." Roisin began.
"Aran Luna, yes" Aran nodded. "Your ancestor, just as Treleva was" She added. Roisin's eyes widened in surprise.
"That explains why Abyssia felt the way she did about Roisin, I guess" Ariel pondered.
"Indeed, Roisin reminded her of me, the human version of me that she encountered all those millennia ago" Aran nodded. "I was the one who stopped the Harbinger from killing humanity, I was the one who split Celestia's soul into Abyssia and Lumina. So much of what happened is on me, and I will make things right... I promise" Aran bowed her head. Roisin walked over to Aran.
"I believe you" Roisin smiled, as she put her hand on Aran's shoulder.