The Grand Battle [Game Over!]

Originally posted on MSPA by Aryogaton.

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SpoilerAnd that's my cue.

Aeon led Nathan through the plains, following past-Nathan's path. Nathan himself was still on his throne, looking sufficiently uninterested. The throne floated, following Aeon's footsteps. The demon followed, showing absolutely no indication of emotion or feeling.

The group watched the boy as he passed by the contestants around him. He was mocked by Lutherion, offered some advice by Alcarith, then by Emily. It was clear that they felt an innate pity for the boy.

“This is what you wanted to show me?” Nathan said, clearly seeing no value of this excursion. “All you are doing is proving to me how miserably weak I was.”

Aeon thought for a moment. “Look at Emily and Alcarith. They wanted to help you; they cared for you. What would they think if they saw you right now, submitting yourself to the will of a demon lord?”

They followed past-Nathan, running through the mansion in a crazed fear. Soon, past-Nathan was cowering behind a door, looking at the scene unfold in the plains.

Aeon paused, and looked at Nathan. The boy had a distinct look of disgust on his face. I need to work faster…

Soon, Lutherion woke from his trance and was thrashed into the trees. Dorukomets interrupted, and was subsequently killed and assimilated into the Wightmaw. The plains melted into a calm blue sky that extended from zenith to nadir, and the elements of a small village appeared among the trio and began falling.

Their first sight was past-Nathan, entirely panicked at the sudden change in scene. They saw the boy feebly make his way to the restaurant, meeting Emily. They searched the restaurant and found a pinball machine, which past-Nathan began experimenting with. Soon, Amethyst joined them and discussed escape from this infinite freefall. Lutherion interrupted, and Nathan returned his attack with one of his own, severely mangling his arm.

“I tire of this. So far you have had no compelling argument. You want me to revert to… to this?” Nathan motioned to his past self with disgust.

“You didn't understand the power of the knife then. Do you see how powerful that attack was? If you had the will to control it, then there would be no need for this chaos.”

After the battle, past-Nathan talked with Emily, and Nathan's father was brought into the conversation. Aeon had an idea.

“Nathan, who was your father?”

Nathan's look of disgust faded, and was replaced with a look of innate anger. “He was a demon hunter, nothing else.”

“Nothing else? Not even a loving father? Was his occupation that important, or was your relationship with him that weak?”

“He is dead, and matters nothing to me.”

“Your father was a demon hunter. What would he have thought if he knew his son surrendered himself to the control of a demon?” Nathan said nothing.

Aeon turned back to the scene. After a brief fight with Lutherion, past-Aeon, Alcarith, and past-Nathan were flying on strange machines in different directions. Nathan headed to the restaurant, and they followed. Inside, past-Nathan began playing the pinball machine, controlling the restaurant's descent.

“Do you remember this scene? Do you remember that everyone went to a building to avoid collisions? You were in charge of the restaurant, and you handled it well.”

“And what does this prove? Only that I play pinball well.” Nathan said the word ‘pinball' with a grimace.

“It proves that you are not as useless as you make yourself to be. Without you, that explosion Amethyst mentioned might have occurred, leading to the death of every contestant, including yourself.”

They watched three buildings collide, and they watched past-Aeon set the bomb on Alcarith. Nathan murmured, and Aeon attempted to show nothing. Soon, the bomb detonated, sending the buildings crash into the abandoned village. The contestants crawled out, and Aeon and Nathan floated down.

Immediately Lutherion began harassing past-Nathan, who returned with an attack that subsequently re-mangled his arm. Emily came to aid and began healing him. Past-Aeon also arrived, giving Nathan a normal knife as a less self-destructing substitute.

“Do you see how everyone comes to help as soon as you are attacked? Do you see Emily's need to aid you? You had more than you think. Even I came to help… and that is still my purpose here.”

“I don't care for her—she's dead. And I don't care for you, either—you're going to die soon too. So enough with this nonsense about compassion. I don't need it now that I have the demon and its power.”

“There is more to this than the capacity to win this game, Nathan. You will realize that soon enough.”

A few minutes later, the familiar scene appeared. Past-Aeon and past-Nathan were talking of their weapons, and how to use them.

Nathan laughed. “And yet, you're the one who gave me this idea. You're the one who caused all this to happen, and now you're trying to undo that wrong.”

“Is that so? Did I truly tell you do make a pact with the demon?” Aeon turned and looked at Nathan. “This is about control. Willpower. I never told you to submit yourself to the demon. I told you to control the demon.” Aeon turned back. “But, perhaps I was wrong, then. Maybe you just don't have the willpower to do what I ask of you. Maybe you don't deserve me trying to free you. Maybe you didn't deserve Emily's compassion.”

They saw past-Aeon hand Nathan a bowl of soup.

“You had a powerful position, and that was the compassion of the others.”

The battle began to unfold. Aeon left, confronted a werewolf, and returned wielding a silver dagger. Lutherion summoned his biggest minion, and caused enough chaos to absorb every contestant in the fray. Nathan made the pact with the demon, and began showing his newfound abilities.

“Maybe you don't deserve any of that.”

They watched. As Emily was mortally wounded, Aeon looked at Nathan, whose face was all but unreadable. Soon, Emily gave past-Aeon her last energies and her final will, and the village disappeared into a white mist. The mist dissipated, and was replaced with perfect cubes. Lutherion made clones, and Nathan took care of them. Past-Aeon followed past-Nathan, and was subsequently spat at. Eventually, Lutherion triggered the scene change, and the cubes were replaced with grass and sky. It is here that Nathan began to truly show his demon-augmented abilities as well as his hatred of Lutherion. The crystal in the centre was shattered, and the blue sky was replaced with chaos. Lutherion regained his insanity, and began to direct the island of sand. Soon, Lutherion was finally killed by past-Nathan in the midst of a sandstorm.

Neither Aeon nor Nathan said anything during this round.

As the current round progressed, Aeon could tell that Nathan's stubbornness was weakening. Even viewing his own actions, the innocent boy inside of him began to take precedent, and he no longer began to show disgust at his previous self, but disgust at his current self. The current round made it even clearer—the demon's control began to take on a new form, one that had a significant impact on Nathan.

Soon, the flashback dawned on the current situation. Aeon and Nathan watched the bone web appear and disappear, leaving their own corporeal bodies in mental conflict. The flashback became a real-time view into reality, and Aeon began to speak.

“Amethyst, Eximo, you, me. And the demon lord. These are the remaining contestants. Amethyst and Eximo are fighting to protect our bodies, and I am fighting to free you from the demon's grip. The dead contestants—ones that you contributed to the death of—are revived and are attacking you, controlled by the demon. This, above all, is the ultimate situation that you chose. Is there any more doubt that we are trying to help you? Is there anymore doubt of the demon's control over you?”

Nathan attempted to remain stubborn. “The demon is here to protect me, nothing more. He is not telling them to attack me; he is telling them to attack the others and you, because he knows that you are trying to rob me of my power. He is simply doing his best in allowing me to win this rotten game.”

Aeon turned to face Nathan. “Is that so? Look behind you.”

Nathan did so, and saw no one. “There is no one there. What are you trying to prove?”

“Where is the demon, Nathan? There.” Aeon pointed at the demon, standing on the rooftop. “He has betrayed you. He has left your mind a long time ago, and only now you have noticed it. And yet, you remained stubborn and supportive of him. This is the extent of which he has made a fool of you.”

Nathan said nothing, his face frozen in a confused mix of anger and fear. The flashback faded, and Aeon and Nathan were back in the throne room. Nathan faded away, leaving the demon's domain. Aeon remained, closed his eyes, and began concentrating.

“Amethyst.”

In reality, Amethyst flew back to Aeon's position. He had spoken, and Nathan began to look around frantically. Aeon was still in the motionless position, aside from his mouth.

“Amethyst, tell Nathan to give me his knife.”

“You heard him. Give him the knife.”

Nathan looked at Amethyst, and then at Aeon, who slowly extended his hand, still covered by the metal glove. Nathan placed the knife in his hand.

“Done.” Amethyst said simply, and returned to the fight.

In the demon's domain, a door opened in the back of the throne room. Nothing could be seen behind it. Aeon stepped down the stairs, and walked through the doorway.

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Spoiler1615 words. Holy shit, I need a break.