DIVA: End of an Era #3

[deucexm]

Working on Act 4 of this, and an epilogue after that.  Rewriting large chunks of
the DiVerse's history is heavy lifting, but it is not only necessary but
rewarding too.  A difficult, yet not burdensome task.

End of an Era: A DiVerse Alpha Chronicle 
by Felix 

======== 

ACT 3

The Goddess of Destruction stepped out into space, savoring her final moments.

The absolute power in her arm, almost painful to bear.  The sullen weight of the
Enemy in her chest, still yearning for the freedom she denied it.  The deep,
dark near-emptiness wrapping around her - for not all was lost; not everything
had leaned so heavily on the Dream that its removal meant collapse.  The handful
of stars glittering ever so faintly off in the distance, solar furnaces that
still burned hot enough to be seen across the vast reaches of space.

It was no Dream vista, but it had a raw kind of beauty all its own.

The Temple of Fortune's golden exterior gleamed as if polished, growing smaller
behind her as she picked up speed.  Dio followed close behind, his face a mask
even more solemn than usual as he matched her pace.  She had asked him to
accompany her and act as a witness, and so he had; though it would have been
good to be with her beloved one last time, Parvait knew the risk was too great
for both of them.

The mere thought of Eris brought memories flooding back in an instant, memories
that made her chest smolder as the Enemy tried to use the distraction to break
free.  Gritting her teeth and clenching her fists, she forced the parasite back
inside the walls she had built for it - and continued onward, faster and faster,
streaking through space like a furious little comet.

The Temple had long since shrunk to a golden pinpoint and then disappeared by
the time Parvait arrived at her journey's terminus: a monstrous, seething black
hole, completely hidden from sight now that it had nothing more to shred and
swallow.  It would have been a fitting end, had she trusted things to end there;
but she knew better.

She paused just long enough to take a steady, measured breath, then made her way
forward at a more stately pace; past the event horizon (not that such things
posed any problem for a Deity), and came to a stop in front of the singularity,
Dio pulling up beside her with his expression unchanged.

"I rather doubt we'll talk again," Parvait murmured softly.  "Have you anything
to say?"

Dio let out a quiet sigh.  "What good would words do now?  You are set on this
course, after all, and it is not for me to gainsay your decision.  I should ask
/you/ a question, instead."  His face clouded, the God of Time's solemn
expression darkening into sorrow.  "After all of this - what would you have me
do?  What must I do to make things /right/?"

"Three things come to mind," Parvait returned evenly, placing her right hand on
her chest and feeling the burning heat starting to grow.  "First, the Pantheon
must rebuild the universe - but /without/ twisting its laws and giving the Enemy
a way inside, as was done before."  The Dream was no more, of course, but she
was sure someone would find a way to rewrite reality once again if given a
chance.

Dio just nodded, watching as fiery red lines started to spread across Parvait's
body, burning off her toga in the process.

"Second, the Pantheon must counter the designs of the Enemy - this Devourer - in
my place," she continued.  "This gravity well may imprison it for a time -
perhaps long enough for you to return All Creation to at least a semblance of
what it once was - but not permanently; and when the parasite is free, it will
most assuredly seek to tear everything down again out of spite."

Dio nodded again, his brow furrowing deeply as he considered the implications of
this.

Parvait let out a hissing breath as her own furious power started to eat into
her, the searing red lines covering her starting to dig into her body, into her
divinity - what the Enemy wanted, what she would not suffer it to possess,
though it cost her everything.  "And last of all," she half-whispered, "forgive
my beloved.  Do not stop her, but forgive her, for she does it out of loneliness
and need."

"Does /what/?  What is Chaos doing?" Dio murmured, immediately worried.

"Nothing - yet," Parvait returned, with a faint little smile.  "It is what she
/will/ do that I see."

A moment passed, then Dio opened his mouth to say something - but Parvait shook
her head.  "We are both out of time.  Go and do what you must; gather the
Pantheon and return life to All Creation, and keep it safe.  And I - I will do
what I must, as ever I have."

"... so be it."  And with a heavy sigh, Dio turned.  For a moment he paused, as
if to say something more; but then the God of Time shouldered his way out of the
gravity well and accelerated, heading back toward the Temple of Fortune like a
lightning bolt.

And the Goddess of Destruction closed her eyes, and surged the unquenchable fury
in her arm to an intensity only a Deity could bear.  Then, a level of magnitude
above that.

She poured it into herself; and for an instant, in the depths of the massive
black hole, there was a searing flash of light and a ravenous shriek - that of a
beast denied its prey.

But only for an instant.