MIAB

23: Rise Above The Storm

"Tell them what they did to me and my brother." Ouranos smiled, "Or are you disgusted and appalled at how brutal the sacred spirits were to us when they sealed us away?"

"Nami, what does he mean?" Tyson questioned, the younger girl looking terrified as she stared at Ouranos. Her legs buckled and she fell to her knees, Mariam kneeling down and asking her what was wrong.

"Ouranos and Tartarus were talking in the woods over Chaos's ideals," Nami spoke, her voice wavering, "Ouranos wanted to keep the righteous people alive while Tartarus wanted all the humans dead. Dranzer, Dragoon, Driger and Draciel appear before them, ready to seal them away. They trick the twins into a meadow where Strata Dragoon, Apollyon, Venus, Poseidon and Griffolyon have laid a trap to seal them away. Ouranos is able to see the ruse and attempts to escape while they attempt to seal Tartarus away. So Driger-. So Driger-."

"Say it." Ouranos spoke, looking Ray right in the eye as he spoke, his only visible eye looking miserable, "Enlighten Ray-kun," Nami and Ray flinched at the way he made himself sound like Shun, "about what his beloved Driger did. Or do you want me to describe it in detail?"

'Driger? What does he mean?'

'There are things I regret, Ray. This is a thing I wish I could take back.'

When Nami did not continue, Ouranos continued for her, "So Driger cut off my arms. I couldn't even register the pain before he ripped off my legs, hacking me into tiny little pieces." Ray's blood ran cold while Ouranos spoke, "Just like what Dranzer did to the wings of his other half, Driger did to my body. The pain was so bad that I eventually went numb and went into shock. I couldn't even scream because it probably would have pained me more. I was torn into small pieces, the way it's described in Greek mythology, before my spirit was sealed away. It was a shame that I couldn't die then. It would have ended my suffering, you see. But the sacred spirits are so cruel, you know."

"Be quiet." Nami covered her ears, the images of that scene running through her mind while the others were completely horrified, not having expected this to have been done.

"In my prison, I continued to feel that pain. It was even worse because I was reminded that I would never have a physical body again. My entire imprisonment in the darkness was filled with constant pain to the point that I cannot feel it now," Ouranos said with a sigh, "Nothing hurts me. So when I was looking for my tamer, I picked out the children that I was sure would not buckle under the pain."

"You monster." Julia hissed.

"Rin, Shun, Tyson, Hikaru and Ann were the only children that were able to survive my test. The other twenty died of the pain." He said, almost as if that was not an important fact, "How boring, don't you think?"

"That's why Tyson never seemed to succumb to his wounds when he sustained major ones," Kai muttered, Ouranos turning to him and was surprised at the anger in the phoenix blader's eyes, "He had gone through worse pain. And when Rin was hit by that bat to the head, he said that it didn't hurt at all. You made them be practically immune to pain."

"I did them a favor." Ouranos answered, "Otherwise, they would have died in Nemesis's training."

"You're a bastard." Kai retorted, "No matter what happened to you in the past, that doesn't justify your actions towards the innocent."

"Perhaps. Then again, who are you to lecture me?" Ouranos shot back and Kai flinched, as if wounded. Tyson frowned at Ouranos, angry that he had compared himself to Kai.

"Enough talk. We're ready to battle." Garland snarled.

Ouranos nodded, "As you wish."

~~~MIAB~~~