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Sustained Reality

Minutes passed...

Things seemed to freeze, as if time itself stopped. No one dared to know what happened, as everyone seemed to close or shield their eyes. Lunera, however, was curious. Surely, but sure, he opened his reptilian eyes, and as it opened completely, he saw that the ships were gone, and they were intact. The stars were not there, and everything was dark.

"Don't worry, people," said Lunera. "We're safe."

Everyone slowly opened their eyes, including Atho, who started clicking his mandibles. Everyone was confused of what just happened. A moment ago they were being shot from all sides, and now, they were all alone, in empty space.

A garbled voice came out from the comm. The officer near it was startled and froze in place, not knowing what to do. As the garble became clear, it quickly became apparent that it was Palesa's voice.

"Hello, St. Vincent! Can you hear me? It's Palesa!"

"Yes!" exclaimed Lunera as he ran to the console. "Yes, I can hear you, Palesa. Report."

"It's horrible! Horrible, I say. Oh, by Leviathan, is this the Abyss?"

"With the darkness all around us, I have a feeling we are."

"No, you don't understand! They are gone! Everyone is gone!"

"Will you please stop the unnecessary panic, Palesa?!" said Kalesa's voice.

"But it is!"

"Context, Palesa, context! Hello, Lunera? Everyone on the Sha'kren is still there, but..."

"But what?"

"Everything else is gone. The others are no longer there. We are the only one left."

"And the Culax?"

"We're here," said Selis's voice. "Like you said. Everything's gone except us, the lead ship. Not only us, however. Look at your port side."

Everyone turned the scanner towards the direction he was referring to. To their surprise, the patchwork planet was there, and it was even more unsettling now that the space was no longer covered with exploding stars. It was even more unsettling with the darkness around them. There were no stars, or even space objects, just the planets and the three ships.

The situation was made worse by Atho's sudden link, without permission. Everyone knew it was urgent, but Lunera could sense a distress in him. Something troubled him, at least to them. It was hard to determine the insectoid's feelings.

"What is it? Are you alright?"

"Gone," murmured Atho's mind. "They are all gone. Oh no..."

"What gone? Who..."

He turned towards Lunera and grabbed him with one of his hands. His head was quite scary to look at, like an ant under a microscope. It was even scarier given his distress and how the mandibles were snapping as if trying to eat something.

"All of them are gone! They are massacred without warning. They, they..."

"Calm down, Atho, please. You're not making any sense!"

"Don't you see, Lunera? We are surrounded by darkness, and the stars are gone. The four objects in space are the only ones that are alive. I can sense brain activity on this ship, the other ships, and the planet itself, but nothing else! Do you realize what happened? We are the only ones left on this universe!"

This revelation was disconcerting, and was clearly farfetched, but the distress and the tone, also his struggle to control his mind link, were clearly indication that he found out something horrible, and Lunera had just made sense of it. He, too, was horrified, and slumped to a nearby chair, which was the captain's.

"You mean...the universe, everyone we knew out there..."

"Are gone. Wiped out. This universe...has ended. We are what's left of that universe. We are waiting for our own deaths."

"But that is impossible!" said a nearby officer. "The universe ends billions of years from now! Theoretically, at least, but still!"

"There is an outside force that hastened the process," said Atho. "That tear with white light, Lunera. I sensed a powerful being beyond that tear. It's as if...the warnings are true. Everything will end, and we are the only ones that will see the finale."

"Something doesn't add up. Why us?"

"Because you're safe," said a voice. "We ensured that."

A white wolf apparition then came out of nowhere, walking towards an astonished Lunera.

"Right now, your existence is maintained within our reality bubble," said the wolf. "We tried to save more of you, to give you a better chance, but alas, even we cannot fight the universe. We will be lost forever as the universe ends."

"Tell me. Is this the work of one of yours?"

"We're afraid so, unfortunately. Individualism is a strong and dangerous belief, and as you can see, disastrous."

"How do we reverse it? Undo the whole thing?"

The wolf did not immediately reply.

"Oh, don't give me that crap!" exclaimed Lunera, losing his cool. "Are you telling me that we are the only ones left in this universe? We might as well die! We have families, wolf! Fucking families! Tell us how to reverse this catastrophe, now!"

"And risk resetting the whole universe? This universe has ended, Lunera Tsukihara! If you try and reverse the process, there won't be your friends, families, lovers, or even enemies! You will simply be given a version of them, one created by the new universe to fill the gap! They may be who you know, but at the same time, they are completely different people! Whole new branches of realities will form from the one cut down, and reversing it is not going to help!"

"We must at least try! Let us go and get this son of a bitch and be done with it! There is a reason why that patchwork planet is there, full of improbable individuals from different realities and alternate universes. Or is it your machinations to bring us here, to witness the end of everything?"

"I suppose this is what they warned. You are so easy to panic," said the wolf with a sigh. "Especially when you cannot believe what's true. I will tell you once again. Everything else is gone. You and the rest are the survivors of a dead universe, including us."

The blunt remark clearly did not bode well with everyone, but Atho. The wolf may had shut off its mental link (for a good reason, of course), but it was clear that, whatever it was trying to say, it did not come through. He knew he had to risk it, so he tried to get a mental link with the being.

"I'd stop if I were you," said the wolf's voice (a female). Its mouth was not moving, so it was speaking telepathically. "You may be a telepath, but you will still burn out your head if you try to pry into my mind. I will tell you, given that you're the only one who can think clearly."

"What will happen?"

"I suggest you open your link to everyone present in this room. It's easier to explain with projection than trying to convince them with something that has clearly failed. Please, Rendlok. It is important."

Atho quickly contacted the others and link them with his mind. The wolf then sent a mind projection of sorts so the bridge crew could see what it was. They saw stars going out, and planets disintegrating into dust. People disintegrating without warning. They simply saw themselves turning into dust.

Atho could see the horror, and the worst of it was where he saw his friends. They did not join the group to the center of the galaxy. He saw Amhyr playing with his sons while Let chuckled beside him when they saw the day abruptly turned into darkness. They looked out, but then, in horror, Amhyr saw his eldest son looking at himself, calling him, before vanishing into dust. His brother became scared, running towards his father, but as he ran, tears flowing behind him, he started to disintegrate, too. He managed to reach his father before turning to dust, saying "Dad..." for the last time.

Amhyr was in shock, unable to say anything or even do anything except seeing his son die in front of him. He had never felt a loss like this. Even if it was just a nightmare, it felt so real. Let, who was also helpless, tried to comfort the draconian, softly calling Amhyr's name.

The draconian turned towards him, but he quickly realized that he, too, was disintegrating. His final words were, "Let...they failed" before he turned to dust and blew away. Let wanted to let out a roar, but his duty as a Kaf'rak was still his top priority. He put his anguish and sadness in him and ran out, meeting with a wasp Rendlok along the way.

As Rendloks were telepathic, he could hear what the wasp had to say. He reported seeing his colony slowly vanishing and he pointed Let towards the Scyllan colony. He could see the mayhem unfolding as people disintegrating into nothing. He wanted to know what happened, but he had his own priorities. Let turned towards the wasp, but he vanished. Just as he wanted to fly to his castle, Let felt his body become lighter, and he soon realized that he was going to go, too. He managed to reach a console and turned it on, and he gave a message, towards somewhere, but from what he said next, he was going to the Wind of Change.

"Calventis, I hope you're still alive out there," he said. "If not, well...I hope this message is not for naught. To anyone still listening, do not lose hope. Fight until you all drop dead. We are not the playthings of omnipotent beings. It may seem impossible, but show it that we are not toys. Goodbye, everyone. I'll see you later. Dairyu...thank you."

He then turned to dust, but with a smile on his reptilian face. The console was also disintegrating, as did the fortress, before the projection 'zoomed' out to show the whole of Adonis III turning into space dust and was gone, without trace. The sector became dark, then there was no more.

"I see you have chosen a gruesome event," said the wolf. "But I hope this is sufficient for the explanation."

"But...what can we do? Let may be encouraging us, but we have no idea to fight back!"

"You can't fight a being like that, not without causing the whole universe to begin anew," said the wolf. "Unless that's your intention? To sacrifice yourselves? I suggest you don't."

"What's the point? Even if we do succeed, we're the only ones left of all realities."

"What if I told you that there is yet a way to return everything to its rightful place. A phenomenon cancel, if I say?"

"Phenomenon...cancel?"

"It's an omnipotent power, but it's the only thing you have left. With it, not only will the damage be undone, but the whole universe will return to the point before its destruction. You will find it fixed, along with everything in it."

"And you intend to trust it to us 'mortals'?"

"Yes. In fact, I already have someone in mind. You know who she is." The wolf then turned to Atho. "And prepare yourselves. That stunt of summoning ships of all realities was impressive, but it took too much of the being's power to sustain it. Now that the universe has ended, it will destroy you, wiping you out of existence. I suggest you keep yourself alert, for the final battle has just begun."

The wolf then vanished, confusing and terrifying everyone for the revelation they just say. They all showed a variety of emotions. It was understandable. They just lost everyone they ever knew.

Atho tried to stay calm, too, but he, too, was overwhelmed by the death of two of his best friends and most of his people. Still, he had to be strong. If there was hope, he needed to cling to it even more.

Lunera overcame his emotions and turned to Atho. "What did she mean?" he asked.

"She's going to ask her, Lunera," said Atho. "Rose will be the receiver of this power."

***

The situation down on the planet was the same, in which they realized that the sky had gone dark and light vanished from that world. The stars were gone, and the sky looked like a dark veil covering them. Temperature also dropped, but it was nothing serious as they managed to hold on.

The planet did not understand the real trouble until command post received urgent call from St. Vincent. They explained everything, and this horrified everyone in that post. The universe was gone, and they were the only ones left. As everyone tried their best to take in all those, a group of people converged around a fireplace.

They were all somehow the least affected, but still shaken by the fact that they were the only ones left of everything, all realities, and the universe itself. A vast, almost infinite expanse, gone in a blink of an eye. A normal person would certainly go mad, but not these people. They seemed to have experienced threatening situation that could mean the end of everything. They were Seraphor and Avila, in their draconian form. Ifrit, Anarim, and Anubis of two realities, with the addition of demon hunter Albreich. Richard and Raithorakh of the Draconian World, with Richard returning to his human form and Raithorakh returning to his dragon form. Pritchard, the captain of St. Vincent, and finally, the crews of both the Wind of Change and the Azure Dragon.

They sat in silence around the firepit for a while, until Pritchard spoke.

"I know," he started. "That it's not a dream. It's a fact. We are what's left. We all gathered here...because we all know what's at stake."

"World-ending threats are a thing, but universe-ending one? That's the scariest shit I've ever known," said Seraphor. "And it's real. It's not a story. It's real."

Avila was shaken, knowing that her friends and family no longer existed. Seraphor felt this uneasiness and comforted her. Ifrit, sitting beside the two, could only watch and sympathize. He, too, lost his love, Lilac, when the universe ended. Unlike them, however, he still had his friends, but his love was still gone. This was the threat from the deepest bowels of hell, one that had succeeded. He finally realized that it was beyond the comprehension of anyone, even a demon.

"You've seen how everyone reacts to this," said Albreich. "So, why you still look calm?"

"Believe me, Albreich. I am scared, but I'm also holding back my anger and sadness," said Pritchard. "Yes, I don't lose my crew, but we lost everything. I can no longer see the stars and planets. This place is the only terrestrial object left in the whole universe, and I have one being to blame."

"We all are," said Raithorakh. "But you must be aware that we are fighting against a being of supreme power. A power-hungry dragon is one thing, but we are fighting a being that can basically destroy this universe on a whim. A snap of its finger and we're dead."

"We need a plan," said Pritchard. "But not just any plan. It will be an input from everyone present. We need to do anything to preserve our way of life."

"We're as confused as you are. How do you think we can give you a better opinion?" asked Ifrit.

"We are put together like this for a reason," said alt. Dairyu. "There is always an explanation, but this business of the universe being destroyed isn't gonna work well if we don't know what is, and how to reverse it."

"Can it be reversed, though?" asked Anubis.

"It can," said a female voice. "But only Rose can."

Dairyu turned towards the voice, which was owned by a white-furred wolf that looked out of place and time, meaning that it was not in a normal field of reality. Seraphor, who had a good observation skill, quickly realized that she was not a normal wolf, but extra-dimensional.

"You're one of those who destroyed this universe aren't you?" said Seraphor. "Why help us?"

"He's but one, and we are many," said the wolf.

"Like Legion?"

"No, not Legion. I have my own individuality, as do the one responsible for this. But enough of this. I have no time to explain or to be involved in a conflict of trivial matters. I must find Rose."

"I'm here," said Rose, while her counterpart, Rosa, walked beside her. A werewolf and its hunter walking side by side were quite peculiar, but they seemed to be good friends already.

"Ah, and the one rejected by the Hunting Grounds herself," said the wolf, but her tone did not indicate spite or disgust, simply an acknowledgement of fact. Rosa did not feel like she was insulted, but she felt like she was unneeded by this entity she knew as the goddess of the hunt.

"I may be rejected in the Hunting Grounds, Artemis, but I am still a hunter," said Rosa.

"Artemis? Like the Greek goddess of the hunt?" said Seraphor.

The wolf turned towards him. "So, you're a reality hopper, too. Your world does not have the term 'Artemis', but it has a goddess of the hunt in ancient times. Alas, it is lost. But no matter. You may call me Artemis if you desire it so, but I have little time, and you will provide me the time necessary for it."

She turned towards Rose. "Rose, I will be blunt, for time is a precious thing, especially now. I want to bestow upon you an ability to cancel events, a reality warping ability that's too dangerous to be wielded by a mortal being like you."

She did not immediately answer, but this caused a surprise to everyone, including the werewolf.

"Why me?" she said. "I don't have anything to do with stuffs. I'm just a scientist!"

"Do you remember the dreams back on your planet, of a white wolf with bloodied maw menacing you? It was me, trying my best to test you whether you can contact me or not. You are a werewolf descended from the Van Helsing line. Your forefather was contacted by me, and that imprint lasted throughout your bloodline."

"But why me? I have brothers on Terra."

"As does your children and Amhyr, the draconian, but they're gone now," said Artemis. "You are the only link I have, one that I can bestow such ability to. You must help me, Rose. It's the only chance this universe had. And choose carefully. If not, then they will reset, and your family is no longer the one you knew."

Rose clearly hesitated with this decision, yet the other made the decision for her. They all agreed on this, despite of Rose not trying to.

"Forgive me, but it's her choice alone," said Artemis. "Even if you are making the choice, you must be able to convince her."

"How could I take the bloody power?" said Rose. "Nobody in this whole bloody universe must have that power! We'll go mad with power, and I can't even trust myself to not! Even one of your kind fall into the worst bloody kind of insanity that destroyed everything apart from us!"

"Desperate times come desperate measures, Rose," said Dairyu, approaching her. "Do you have any other way to save everything we ever loved and knew? That wolf is offering us a chance, and we need to take it! This is beyond our powers now!"

"I am well aware of that! But...but I can't. I just can't!"

"What are you afraid of?"

"What if I can't control it? I might cause Big Bang Two! We'll all cease to exist, the universe begins anew, and..."

"Don't think of anything else," said Dairyu. "Think of everything. Think of your existence. Think of Amhyr and the kids. Focus on them and you'll be fine."

"But what if I slip? This is not some bloody lab work! This is an omnipotent power we are talking about. The power to cancel all events!"

"Look, lady, we know what she's offering is dangerous, but this is not the time to be hesitant!" said Seraphor. "It's a one-time offer to save all realities!"

"But..."

"Trust yourself, Rose, and trust your friends," said Rosa, holding her hand. "If you are not certain, I will be with you. Just like what Dairyu said. Remember your children. Remember your husband."

"Amhyr...the kids," said Rose as she reminded herself that they were gone, and this was the only chance to return them back. They did not have anything to do with this chaos, but they ended up caught in it, anyway. Rosa and Dairyu were right. She had a purpose, and it was not a selfish one. She had to save her family.

Steeling herself, she turned towards Artemis, who had been waiting for the decision. Rose approached her silently, nodding.

"Good, and I hope the rest of you are. Your delay has caused a considerable time for our enemy to find out my plans. They are coming."

Just as she said that, armies from different era and place materialized around them, intent of causing harm. Artemis stood in front of Rose and said, "Now, go, champions of all realities. Go! Protect us as the transfer is being done."

"Why can't you just give it to her now!"

"She can't manage the sudden transfer of energy! She'll die instantly!"

"Point taken!" Dairyu then turned towards the others. "Now, everyone, you heard what she said! Hold them off as long as you can! Don't hold back."

Dairyu could see a mischievous grin forming on Seraphor's face. "Don't hold back, eh? Well, I suppose I'll thin out the herd in no time!"

Seraphor then stood in front of the soldiers. "The sun may be out, and I'm a draconian, but that doesn't mean I am useless!"

The ground started to crack before it became cracks that swallowed many of the armies whole. It was a horrific, yet magnificent, display of power. The rest were trying to ambush him, but Avila somehow opened a dark portal in front of them, and closed it when they were through.

"Well, that settles things," said alt. Dairyu. "Those two are fucking monsters."

"Not quite," said Avila. "I suggest you help. We may be able to deal with the grunts, but we are not fighting one enemy! Come on, let's do what we must do!"

"Alright." Anarim turned to Ifrit. "Ifrit, I suppose it is time to test the full extent of your Infernal powers."

"Way ahead of you, old hound."

Ifrit had started conjuring flames and burned many of the armies, but was baffled when more of them started materializing out of nowhere. He did so again, but failed to wipe out most of them.

"This place's molten core is almost non-existent!" said Ifrit. "I can't draw much power from it! I need more time to pull out the flame."

"Will 4 seconds be enough?"

"Yes, please, Anarim. Oh, and before that, Al. A little help?"

"You can count on us," said Albreich. "Hunters!"

The demon hunters stood ready on their place while Anarim concentrated. He then unleashed a powerful time stop ability that stopped everything except for the hunters and Ifrit. The helpless army was killed both by the hunter's magical projectiles, then by Ifrit when time resumed. They were burned to crisp, leaving only their skeletons.

"Hey, your fire's neat. Hellfire?" asked Seraphor beside him.

"Hellfire," said Ifrit with a smile appropriate for a satisfied, blood lust demon. "And my enemies torn apart."

Meanwhile, Dairyu and the rest of the crew returned to the Wind of Change. They quickly saw the sky and, with the planet in permanent nighttime, they saw the attack on the remaining ships as sparks similar to a small, but far, firework. The alternate Anubis, with his blind counterpart and the rest of the Osiris crew also sensed the danger and walked into their ships. Dairyu then contacted them.

"Hello, Osiris. Do you read me?" he asked.

"Loud and clear, Wind of Change," said Bastet's voice.

"Now, listen to me. We are going up there and help the three remaining spaceships. The ships will keep materializing, but we must give Rose time. Are you ready?"

"Let's go."

Osiris and the Wind of Change lifted off almost the same time, and they broke the ionosphere of the planet, just as the space battle intensified. Osiris fared far better than Wind of Change in term of direct offensive attack with their circular blade-like slicing edges of the flying saucer that could cut a spaceship into two, but it had a big flaw when a shield was more powerful than theirs, in which it bounced off and caused severe shield damage. Wind of Change took over with their own weapons, though it wasn't much. It was only Capisa's daring maneuver and Seiryu's strategic attack that could help them get through.

"Capisa, I wished I met you back when I was alive," said Seiryu with a big grin on his face. "You're one hell of a pilot!"

"I wasn't even born then," replied Capisa while inputting commands to the ship. "Or is it another of those Terran analogies I am not aware of?"

"It is," said Dairyu, just sitting behind them. "You and him would make one hell of a rival."

"Not rival, friends," corrected Seiryu. "It's a shame, but let's enjoy it while we can!"

And so, the ship resumed its aggressive attack, destroying one ship after another, with the help of the rest of the other ships that remained of all realities. On the patchwork planet, survivors of the destroyed realities battled the hordes of increasingly destructive attackers, mostly bend to decimate the remaining survivors of a universe that had ended. Their conflict spilled to many other towns and cities on the planet, with each trying their best to fight them back.

It was, however, not enough. Despite the destructive capabilities of many of the survivors, and the pile of bodies they had gathered, their powers were not infinite. Slowly but sure, they became exhausted. As the towns and cities were quickly overran by soldiers, the last defense was the command post of the space travelers, as they contained some of the strongest magic users of the whole planet.

They fought valiantly, for they knew this was nothing more than what they had experienced back on their own places in time and space. The fight went on and on for hours, with no apparent piles of bodies, and the only noticeable damage was the destruction of the lush green field and forest, turning all of it into a no man's land, with them defending the only chance of returning home to the ones they knew and love. Rose herself knew the stakes, and tried to speed up the process, despite of knowing the damage for her body.

Then, as if knowing the situation and the final fight, the entity summoned more being, and these beings were the dangerous bunch. They came down with a surprise, and with that surprise, came horror for everyone involved.

Seraphor and Avila could recognize Ceroz, the long-dead light-based dragon that caused them great hardships. Avila herself recognized the Nightmare Roots, a demonic being that almost destroyed the world of the awake, plunging it into eternal Nightmare. It was a horror she wanted to forget.

Ifrit, Anarim, and Albreich saw the Forever Damned, a group of demons too dangerous to be left roaming and ruling hell, signified by their bound state. They were not as scary as it should be, for they had defeated them once, but for them, fighting these Forever Damned once were enough.

Then, there was a demon, one that Seraphor and Avila had fought in their youths. He was an Infernal, with most of his body covered with flames and he was carrying a whip made of fire. One lash of it could deal great pain unimaginable, except maybe a fellow Infernal like Ifrit. He wasn't as concerned, for he fought one and easily defeated it with his friends.

Knowing that their greatest fears and threat came back to fight them, they all realized that it was practically the final battle they would ever participate in. While they knew how to defeat each one, there was no guarantee that these threats would not reappear after their deaths.

Despite all that, they tried clinging to one hope: Rose. She was their only chance of survival. It's do or die, and either way, it was going to be their end, anyway. If Rose failed, then they die. If they failed, Rose die, and they all die. All the same. They need a game-changer, one to tip the balance of the game towards them, and one person was the only chance the universe may continue.

"Hey," said Seraphor to the rest of them. "When we're finished here, we'll have the biggest party we ever have, for every one of us."

"Where do you get the stuffs, though?" asked Richard.

"We got replicators for your needs," said Pritchard. "And I dare say it will drain a lot of our ship's energy, but who cares? If we win this, I consider this the victory of a lifetime."

"Let's not talk about celebrations before we finish the job," said Albreich, turning towards Rose. "And that Lycan girl...she reminds me of her."

"Uncanny resemblance, huh?" said Ifrit with a smile. "Except maybe the brown fur and eyes. They are similar. Well...let's not think about that. Let's fight, and let it be remembered forever."

They all shouted and roared, knowing that they were ready to sacrifice themselves. They all charged towards their enemies, facing doom and oblivion like the hero they were.

It was do or die, or both.