Bey City, Japan
"Hey, Night?" Hilary asked as she sat down next to the holy beast that had control over Max's body at the moment. Hiro, Ray, Kai and Kenny were contacting the other bladers like Night had requested while Rin, Riku, Aya, Nami, Shun and Hikaru were discussing something in the corner of the room. Judging by their serious faces, Hilary guessed it had something to do with the Forsaken Fallen.
"You are Hilary. . . Ah, she is, is she not, Max?" Max-Night said. The last part seemed to have been directed at Max, not at her, though.
"Wait . . . is Max conscious right now?" Hilary asked in awe. From what Aya and Nami had told her, the Forsaken Fallen took complete control over your body and you were forced to watch yourself do horrible things and knowing you could do nothing about it. Riku said that he fell into a deep slumber whenever Dark Driger took over him and was always scared whenever he saw the damage the dark bit-beast had done while Riku was 'asleep'.
Max-Night nodded, "Unlike my siblings, I am not yet in 'full capacity'. Max is acting as my host as I regain my power and corporal body but he is aware of what he is doing and has the ability to control this body. He is doing me a favor, after all. Now, you had a question for me?"
"Why?"
"I beg your pardon?" Max-Night asked, blinking in surprise. It seemed so odd to see Max like this, especially because of the bicolored gaze of the teenager. Despite being so ancient, despite being the 'little brother' of Chaos, Night's eyes still shone with innocence that Hilary couldn't understand. He had a very soothing voice as well, nothing like that voice that haunted her nightmares. The voice that she guessed belonged to Chaos.
"Why did Chaos turn evil? Why does he want to destroy the human race?"
Max-Night's eyes turned soft at that point. He sighed and looked up, "Max asked something similar to that and I had no choice but to tell him the truth of the holy beasts. It is a very long story so it would be better if I told all of you."
"Then do start." Rin's voice entered the conversation and Max-Night and Hilary turned around to see him sit down next to them, the others following suit. His eyes darkened, "I want to know why all of this happened. I want to know why we suffered. I want to know why so many people had to die."
"Understandable."
"So, tell us." Aya said, staring at the bicolored gaze of Max-Night with an intensity Hilary hadn't ever seen her use, "Tell us the story of the beasts known as the Forsaken Fallen."
~~~MIAB~~~
Brooklyn looked at the room that Chaos had taken him and noticed that, like the others, it was bare. The Forsaken Fallen didn't seem to like sunlight or furniture, seeing as they had no windows and there were no furniture. In fact . . . there was nothing. Not even a beystadium.
"Do you even know the rules of beyblade?" Brooklyn questioned the deity and stayed silent when he could feel waves of hatred coming from Chaos. He turned to look at him and saw that Chaos was pissed, glaring at the black beyblade in his hands. He scoffed and placed the bit-chip that always hung around his neck on the blade. The bit-chip, Brooklyn realized with a jolt, that was Chaos. If it was destroyed, would Chaos disappear? Would Takao come back?
"Of course I do," Chaos grumbled, "A degrading sport where humans use holy beasts, or bit-beasts as you decided to call them, instead of us using humans. Did my brothers and sisters really betray me, seal me away for millenniums and abandon me for this? Being used by humans for such a useless game when they would've been treated like deities if they had allowed me to kill the human race."
He had a lot of pent-up anger for humans, Brooklyn noted as he readied his own blade. Even if it was just for a moment, he was glad to have Zeus in his hands again. He felt more confident with the aid of his dark bit-beast. He definitely needed the confidence boost, as he was going up against a bit-beast who had a personal grudge with the humans. A bit-beast that claimed to be the strongest and most ancient out of all the holy beasts.
Chaos placed his blade on his launcher and Brooklyn did the same. Before he could start, though, Brooklyn asked, "Where's the stadium, Chaos?"
Chaos smirked, his eyes flashing with a dangerous glint, "In your conditions, you never mentioned a stadium or any solid rules. You only said it was a beybattle. I'm afraid that you'll have to go all out to beat me. I don't play by your rules, mortal. You're going to be playing by mine."
Brooklyn grimaced at the wicked look in the other's eyes but refused to allow his fear to show. He was never going to give Chaos the satisfaction. This was going to be one hell of a battle that he might not win. Hell, maybe Chaos could kill him in this battle. But . . .
Tyson, Kaori, Julia, Takao . . . I'm definitely going to win. You can count on it.
"Three . . . two . . . one!" Brooklyn shouted before launching his black beyblade, "Let's go, Zeus!"
Chaos merely launched the black beyblade that now held his bit-chip and stared at the two clashing blades with pure boredom. He sighed and Brooklyn scowled at him. How dare he look so relaxed in battle? He didn't even look like he was trying to fight back! It reminded him . . . of himself. And he hated that.
Let's see if you can keep looking so bored and calm by the time this battle is over, Brooklyn thought as he winced when Zeus was attacked harshly by Chaos's blade. I lost my cool eventually. How long will your façade last, Chaos?
~~~MIAB~~~
"I do not think I need to start from the actual beginning so I will skip details from our past before we arrived in Earth. I would need to tell you about the Seventeen Elders and our creation and you will get bored by it." Max-Night said. Max internally glared at Night, as he had to listen to the whole story. And man, had that been really boring. Informative, but boring.
By now, the others had finished contacting the other bladers and had decided to listen to the story as well and were now staring at him intently. Rin and Aya's gazes were piercing, reminding Night of the gaze of a certain hungry wolf.
'Max, they are terrifying, are they not? How can you stand it?'
'They're not that bad, Night. If you're scared of their gazes now, I think you're going to pass out in fear when you see Kai's death glare.'
'Oh dear, that does not sound good.'
"You did not know this but the Forsaken Fallen and the other holy beasts were very close to each other. We were like siblings, all of us being created by the Seventeen Elders and we were the only people we had that we cared about. Chaos, having been locked away by the Elders because of his unstable power, clung to each and every one of us. You can imagine how angry and hurt he was when his precious 'little brothers' Dragoon, Driger, Draciel and Dranzer stopped being with him to be with humans, especially Daisuke."
Max-Night stopped talking and Max was bewildered when he saw that Night was looking at Daichi, looking thoughtful. The red-head didn't seem to notice, though, so Max wondered why Night seemed so interested in Daichi. He could hear some of Night's thoughts – Daisuke . . . red hair . . . Gaea Dragoon – but they hardly made sense.
'Hey, what are you thinking about?'
The image of a small boy that looked practically identical to Daichi appeared in his mind. He had the same red hair and skin tone but his eyes, instead of being green, were golden. He was dressed in a very simple brown kimono and he was smiling brightly, one of his hands outstretched as if he wanted someone to take it. That was Daisuke?
"With a little of my help and Erebus's, Chaos was not as upset and even allowed us to go and interact with the humans if we wanted to. My twin Erebus and I outright refused to abandon him, seeing how he was scared of being alone. Two years later, however, everything changed when Chaos met Sasha."
~~~MIAB~~~
"Come on, Zeus! Take him down!" Brooklyn shouted as his blade continued its assault on Chaos's own blade. Chaos was frowning, staring at the blades but not doing anything. Chaos rolled his eyes as his blade dodged Zeus's attack and launched its own attack.
"Your tactics have changed." Chaos replied as Zeus began chasing the other black blade through the room. He didn't even flinch when the two blades nearly hit his foot. "I remember that you weren't one that tended to go into the offensive so quickly." Chaos's blade stopped fleeing Zeus and slammed into the other blade. Brooklyn grunted a bit in pain.
"How do you know how I used to blade?" Brooklyn questioned the other as Zeus went to the defensive, Chaos's blade hitting it using speed that rivaled Driger's and strength that rivaled Dragoon's. He still couldn't tell what type of blade Chaos was using. It was powerful in attack, speed and defense and seemed to have a lot of stamina as well.
Chaos smirked, "Let's just say that I couldn't sleep in my sealed state and I had nothing to do but observe this pitiful planet and its corrupted inhabitants." He yawned before smiling at Brooklyn, "As fun as it is to toy with you, you're boring me. So, let's end this, yeah?"
Chaos's blade stopped moving and began to spin in place. Around it, black smoke began to form and Brooklyn tensed, readying himself for the incoming attack. Chaos closed his eyes and Brooklyn's eyes widened when he saw that the smoke surrounding the blade had formed what looked like a spiral galaxy. The bit of the blade was glowing as well so it looked like Chaos had created a mini galaxy with his blade.
Chaos opened his eyes and, instead of being its usual fiery red color, they were black but filled with shining lights like stars. Brooklyn gasped and took a step back in surprise. This didn't look good.
"Chaotic Galaxy Destruction."
~~~MIAB~~~
"Sasha was an ordinary human who had been chosen by the villagers to become a priestess and serve us. To this day, I have no idea why Chaos decided to stay by her side. I know he did not care about being worshipped by the humans. But I did not mind that he had found a human to cherish. Eventually, Chaos began to see her as a friend. He probably loved her, too."
"Chaos? Capable of love?" Rin scoffed and Kai felt the same way. How could someone like Chaos love someone, considering how wicked and twisted he was now and how he scoffed at the notion of love. How could he ever love a human?
"Seems hard to believe, right? I could hardly believe it myself. I outright laughed at Night because it seemed hard to believe." Max-Night laughed before turning serious, "Think what you want but my brother was not always the cold-hearted, cruel and wicked person that he is now. He was gentle and caring, if a bit cynical, loud and sadistic. But he never willingly hurt anyone, even if they had the right to be punished."
"That sounds really crazy. Are you sure your memory isn't failing you?" Aya questioned. Even if she liked the idea that Chaos had a good heart within his fiendish nature, her past experiences with the holy beast didn't allow her to imagine that. Not when she bore the scars that proved Chaos was a merciless person. Not when everyone she cared for bore similar scars.
"No, my memory does not fail me, young Aya. Chaos probably loved Sasha and even we all began to love her as much as we loved Daisuke. Then, that dreaded day came. The day that ruined our lives and led us down this terrible path of death and destruction."
~~~MIAB~~~
Brooklyn was on the ground, panting loudly. There were several cuts on his body and he could feel blood coming out of his wounds. His blade was wobbling but it hadn't been destroyed by the powerful attack, nor had it stopped spinning. He didn't know if that was good or bad.
"Down so easily, Brooklyn?" Chaos chuckled, his eyes now back to normal. He grunted slightly and Brooklyn noticed that blood trickled down the side of his mouth. Chaos frowned and wiped it away, "I expected more from you, considering how badly you injured Kai and Tyson. I suppose that was just luck because you're a so-called prodigy at this game."
Brooklyn stood up, glaring defiantly at him, "You're putting too much strain on Takao's body. You're going to end up killing him!" Did Takao feel the pain that Chaos felt? Or did he feel more pain because Chaos was using so much of his power? Power that Takao probably couldn't handle.
Chaos stared at his hands, "I suppose you're right. I could end up killing him. But my little doll will not mind. He has lost his mind and humanity. He only considers himself a tool for the members of the Forsaken Fallen."
"You're all sick. How did you do that to a kid?" Brooklyn challenged as his blade slammed Chaos's with incredible speed that made Chaos grunt slightly in pain, "Why would you cause them all to suffer like this? What do you gain from it?"
Chaos's eyes were now hidden by his bangs and his body slumped slightly. Brooklyn was shocked by the sudden demeanor change. When Chaos raised his head, he could see tears forming on the corners of his eyes. What in the world . . .?
"Why would we do this to them?" Chaos's voice was low, almost a whisper. It sounded angry, sad and lonely at the same time. "Simple. So they can feel the same pain we lived through."
~~~MIAB~~~
"I do not know when Erebus fell to the darkness that corrupted the hearts of men. If I had known, perhaps I would have been able to stop him," Night-Max mumbled, "He hated Sasha with all his might because he was jealous that Chaos was giving her the love that Chaos gave only to us. He was selfish, wanting Chaos to only love him and no one else."
Aya raised a small hand, looking rather awkward by something. "Hey . . . are you implying that this Erebus guy liked Chaos the way Chaos might have liked Sasha?" All of them blinked and turned to Night, wanting confirmation over that statement. The bit-beast turned his head to the side, looking at them with a confused look in his eyes.
"I am not implying anything, Aya. I am stating that my brother was in love with Chaos." Night-Max said bluntly. Rin spat out the tea that he had been drinking and Nami blushed. The twins covered their mouths in surprise.
"Why are you so shocked?" Night asked as all the pairs in the room stared at him with incredulous looks. He huffed, an annoyed expression now present on his face, and Max could hear him mentally counting down to ten. He supposed that even patient spirits have their limits.
"I know it is not common to hear that a man loved a man but we holy beasts do not have specific genders. We are neither male nor female but we can chose to appear as either a male or female. Dark Dranzer took the form of a female when we first appeared in Earth but Rin claimed that Dark Dranzer came to him in the form of a male."
That would explain a lot, Rin thought. He recalled moments where Dark Dranzer would appear to him in the form of a fourteen year old girl but sometimes appearing to him in the form of a ten year old boy. The beasts have no true gender and could choose to be one or the other. Interesting.
"Alright, we get it," Hilary said, seeing how shocked Aya still looked like, "Erebus liked Chaos and was jealous of Sasha because Chaos loved her. And? What happened that made Chaos become evil?"
Night's eyes became soft before averting his eyes, "Erebus's jealousy was so grand that, one day, he finally gave up and listened to the wicked thoughts in his mind. On the day she and Chaos would meet again in their meadow, Erebus found Sasha and took her life."
Silence. Hilary gasped and Nami covered her mouth, eyes wide. Rin, Riku and Kai's eyes widened but didn't show other signs of shock. Shun squeezed his brother's hand and Aya looked at the floor. Hiro, Kenny, Daichi and Ray looked shocked but hadn't gasped like Hilary had.
'I remember that day, Night.' Dizzi spoke for the first time since Night began telling the tale of the Forsaken Fallen, 'We all arrived at that place because Chaos's screams of despair had led us there. It was awful.'
Night-Max nodded, "A very horrific and tragic sight. Chaos crying as Sasha laid limp in his arms. She was covered in so much blood. . ." Night trailed off and Max peeked into Night's thoughts. He began to wish that he hadn't once he saw what Night had been reliving.
A perfectly blue sky. A meadow filled with beautiful white flowers that ranged from roses to lilies. A clear blue lake in the distance. Chaos holding a bloodied corpse as he cried towards the heavens, shiny tears landing on the corpse's face. The flowers surrounding Chaos and the corpse that had once been Sasha were blood-red. White petals danced in the air. Someone was singing a bittersweet melody. A perfectly blue sky. . .
"How awful." Shun muttered, leaning on Hikaru's shoulder, who wrapped an arm around his twin. Hikaru's lips tightened, remembering the dead children he had once seen during that time. The three dead children that Rin had killed when Dark Dranzer had taken over him.
"What happened after her death? I mean, what did Chaos do after Sasha was killed?" Hilary asked and Kai noticed that Night-Max flinched at the question and his eyes looked sad, as if he didn't want to relive the experiences of his past anymore.
"What did my brother do? After three days and three nights of mourning Sasha's death, Chaos called upon Hecate, Hades, Nemesis, Gaea, Tartarus, Ouranos, Dark Driger, Dark Draciel, Dark Dragoon and Dark Dranzer and went to war against Erebus and the holy beasts that had joined him."
~~~MIAB~~~
"What do you mean by that?" Brooklyn asked as the two blades circled each other but none made a move to hit each other. Brooklyn decided to make Chaos lower his guard before unleashing the King of Darkness attack and perhaps making him talk about the past would help. It might be a dirty trick but Chaos said that there were no rules and Brooklyn was not going to lose this important battle because of his nonexistent morals.
Chaos closed his eyes and his blade stopped circling and spun in place. Brooklyn braced himself for the incoming Chaotic Galaxy Destruction but it never came. Chaos opened his crimson-red eyes, "Every torture that you've gone through since you came here . . . has been a way I've been tortured in the past."
"No way. I don't believe you." Brooklyn said as Zeus hit Chaos's blade, making Chaos cringe as his blade hit the wall.
"Believe what you want but my brothers, sisters and I suffered through the same things we've put you through. For centuries, I was trapped in a godforsaken tower that only had one barricaded window so I didn't know how the world was like. Whenever I disobeyed the Elders, I was beaten. Solitary confinement and nightmares were their favorite torture methods to use on me. It screwed with my mind, that's for sure. And they always told me that I was nothing but a tool for them to use. As you can imagine, I despise the Sixteen Elders the same way you hate us."
Chaos's blade practically flew towards Zeus, hitting it twice before retreating, forcing Zeus to start chasing it. Brooklyn lifted his foot as the two blades had been about to crash onto his leg and he knew that he would receive more injuries if that had happened.
Brooklyn frowned because he heard someone whispering that there were seventeen elders, not sixteen. But how would he know that? Then, did that mean it had been Zeus who had told him that? Zeus? Did you just speak to me?
Brooklyn was suddenly in a meadow where a small child that couldn't have been older than six was smiling widely at the young teenager that was cradling him in his arms. The child was Chaos and the girl was . . . Lizbeth, the Seventeenth.
"You say you hate the Elders . . . does that include Lizbeth?" He asked and he noticed, to his surprise, that Chaos stiffened and turned pale. He clenched his fingers and looked away. His defenses were down. Now was the time to strike!
"You're not worthy enough to speak her name, mortal!" Chaos yelled and was about to attack but he had not been quick enough.
"King of Darkness Attack!"
~~~MIAB~~~
"The Forsaken Fallen fought against Erebus? Was that the first time they banded together as an official group?" Ray questioned as everyone else remained silent, merely staring at Night-Max.
'It was,' Dizzi answered, 'They had been the only ones that had the courage to fight our other brothers and sisters. Who would want to do such a thing? Chaos took it upon himself to do so.'
"The holy beasts that had joined Erebus had been Phobus, Mars, Vulcan, Juno, Nike, Persephone, Hypnos, Thanatos, Notus, Asteria, Morpheus, Deimos, Asclepius, Hemera, Aether, Moros, Ker, Momus, Oizys, Apate, Philotes, Geras and Eris. The odds were not in the favor of Chaos and the others and the others refused to interfere. Chaos called them all cowards, including me. But how could I choose between my twin brother and my dear older brother? I guess that decision wouldn't be so hard for Hiro-." Max-Night covered his mouth and frowned.
'Was that necessary, Max?'
'He deserves it.'
Hiro looked away, the words echoing inside his mind. He hardly ever took Tyson's side and that made him the worst older brother in history. That was the reason Tyson was so angry at him. Hell, even psychotic and sadistic Chaos cared for his younger siblings. If he had been in Night's place, would he have preferred Chaos or Erebus? Would he have been able to stay neutral? No, he probably wouldn't have.
"Max, that wasn't very nice." Aya replied. At the questioning glances from the others, Aya shrugged, "Night wouldn't say something like that. He doesn't seem like the type, considering he's a big brother himself."
"Ignoring that rude comment made about Hiro-nii," Nami muttered, "How did that battle go down? I mean, I know that the Forsaken Fallen beat the others but . . . what happened to them?"
Night-Max bit his lower lip before answering, "Besides Sasha, they had annihilated twenty villages and were planning to destroy every single living being in this world. Chaos and the rest of my siblings had no other choice . . . they killed all the members of Eden's Rapture."
~~~MIAB~~~
Chaos screamed in pain and Brooklyn's eyes widened when he saw a transparent figure appear next to him. It was a boy with crimson-red eyes and long black hair dressed in the same clothes Chaos had made Takao wear. The boy glared and Chaos fell to his knees, gasping for breath.
"How did you enjoy that?" Brooklyn asked.
Chaos growled and the figure that had appeared next to him vanished. Had that been Chaos's true form? If so, it seemed he had sustained more damage than Takao's body had. This was something he could use to his advantage.
"Enough." Chaos hissed out, "I've toyed with you for too long. It's time to end this." His bit-chip began to glow and something black emerged from it. Brooklyn gasped and Chaos smirked, "Be honored that you were able to see my true self, the self I don't like people to see."
"What the hell . . .?" Brooklyn stared at the . . . thing that was in front of him. It was something that could only be described as an unformed mass that held no shape and was just a shapeless heap. Was this what Chaos really was?
"Big Bang Universe Eruption!" Chaos yelled as the shapeless heap that was Chaos's true form shaped itself in the form of a serpentine-like dragon and made its way to attack Brooklyn.
Brooklyn braced himself and then yelled, "Zeus! Shadows of Dusk Attack!" Zeus leapt out of the blade and gave out an ear-splitting roar before launching itself at Chaos's true form.
The two beasts clashed together, Chaos and Brooklyn gritting their teeth as Zeus and Chaos fought to defeat the other, twisting around each other. The stakes were too high and neither side refused to lose. Chaos began to bleed from one of his nostrils but didn't stop the attack that was straining Takao's already weakened body. Brooklyn felt blood run down from the side of his mouth but didn't wipe it away. He couldn't afford the distraction.
Just when it seemed that the battle would end with a draw, Zeus screamed and the black beyblade that belonged to Brooklyn shattered. Brooklyn's eyes widened and Chaos yelled loudly. The serpentine creature hit Brooklyn right on the chest and he screamed as he felt as if his whole body had exploded. The ceiling of the room was destroyed, revealing a bright blue sky that was littered with several white clouds. What a beautiful sky, Brooklyn thought as he crashed into the wall. The battle was over. He had lost.
I'm so sorry . . . I tried my best . . .
Chaos's true form vanished and his blade stopped spinning before it broke, leaving behind only the bit-chip. Chaos fell to his knees, gasping for breath. He wiped away the blood from his nose and stood up, retrieving his bit-chip. He huffed, "That was close. If I had continued, this body could've been destroyed."
He turned to look at Brooklyn. The red head was laying down in a pile of rubble, his blue eyes staring at the sky but not moving. He wasn't dead, as Chaos could see his chest rising and falling with each ragged breath he took. He was practically covered in blood and Chaos knew that he probably looked like that too.
"Well, well . . . looks like I win this game." He laughed before falling to the ground. He groaned, "Damn. I did work this body to its limit . . ."
"You're such an idiot, Chaos." Chaos looked up to see Ann looking down at him, a disappointed look in her eyes. She shook her head and helped him sit up, looking at him with narrowed eyes, "You could've ended this quickly but you preferred toying with him. Look what happened because of that."
"You know how I am." Chaos replied with a slight grin before frowning, "Where's Hecate and Nemesis?" He hadn't noticed it right away before but he could only hear about nine voices rather than eleven. It took him a bit longer to realize it had been Nemesis and Hecate's voice that had been missing.
"While you were busy playing with Zeus's tamer," Ann spared a glance at Brooklyn's unmoving body before turning to look at Chaos again, "we decided to play with Julia and Kaori. Mental and emotional pain works better than physical, I'm afraid. It's so simple to strip away their identities than to break their bones."
"What the hell do you mean by that?" Chaos asked as he stood on his trembling legs.
Ann smiled eerily, "Hecate and Nemesis are currently in the bodies of their tamers, tearing their minds apart, as we speak. If this torture succeeds the way we want it to, Julia and Kaori will be no more."
"I see," Chaos smirked as the two made their way towards Brooklyn, Ann picking up the broken pieces of Zeus, "How's my tamer?"
"Sleeping again, I think."
Chaos frowned, "That's all he ever does. Do you think that's normal?" They were now standing in front of Brooklyn, who stared at them with unfocused eyes. Ann crouched down and placed a hand on Brooklyn's forehead. His eyes fluttered shut against his will, falling into the darkness of sleep. Chaos's eyes began to glow and he smiled gently, "Zeus . . . it's time to wake up."
~~~MIAB~~~
"The Forsaken Fallen killed them? They didn't seal them away?" Kenny questioned as he fixed his glasses. Night-Max flinched and that was all the confirmation that they needed to realize that Eden's Rapture had been killed by the Forsaken Fallen. Max was horrified by the images running through Night's mind and withdrew from them. Daichi's eyes widened when he saw a single tear run down the white eye that belonged to Night.
"They had broken the rules that we had been given when we arrived on earth. They had massacred humans and called themselves gods of the universe, claiming themselves to be above the Elders that had created us. A grave offense that could only be solved through their deaths." He replied calmly, wiping away the stray tear, "So the Forsaken Fallen were forced to play the role of executioners. A role that Chaos did not seem to mind, as it would satisfy his vengeance. The battle lasted for twenty-eight days and it ended when Chaos ran the Dagger of the Elders through Erebus's heart."
Max tried to keep away Night's memories but he saw it. Several corpses laid on the ground, some of them charred beyond recognition and others torn apart. Ten warriors were watching something, all of them on their knees and covered in blood. Chaos was holding the limp body of another – Erebus – in his arm while one hand was plunging a golden dagger into the heart of Erebus. Shiny tears were running down Chaos's cheeks as the dark, lifeless eyes of Erebus stared at the dark sky.
"Losing Sasha and killing Erebus was too big of an emotional strain on Chaos's confused and erratic mind and he was slowly losing his sanity. He started blaming the humans because they had been the ones to start whispering those dark to Erebus.
"His hatred started growing when the other holy beasts started avoiding him and spent their days with the humans. I saw Chaos turn from a gentle and kind spirit to the malicious and vindictive person he is now. Word must have reached the Elders that Chaos was 'defecting' and ordered that Chaos and the ones that had helped Chaos kill Eden's Rapture – the Forsaken Fallen – were to be sealed away. The sacred spirits had no choice but to comply. One by one, the members of the Forsaken Fallen were forced into deep slumbers by the ones that they considered siblings."
Nami looked at Aya and then at Rin before looking at her clenched hands. If she had been ordered to kill or seal away the people she considered her brothers and sisters, would she have had the strength? No. Would she have felt betrayed if Aya, Hikaru, Riku, Shun and Rin abandoned her? Yes. Would she hate them? . . . Probably.
Is that why the Forsaken Fallen resented the bit-beasts so much?
"Chaos and I were visiting Sasha and Erebus's grave when we were ambushed. As Griffolyon, Amphilyon, Salamalyon and Unicolyon held me down, I was sealed away and Chaos could only watch as I vanished and then he was sealed too. I slumbered for centuries and it was only recently that the power of Zeus and Dragoon resonated through my prison, allowing me to open my eyes for the first time in so long. That is my tale and the tragic tale of the Forsaken Fallen."
"Tragic?" Rin snorted as he stood up to leave.
Night-Max raised an eyebrow, "Do you not sympathize with what Chaos lived through, Rin?" That made Rin pause and turn around to the ancient spirit and Night internally squeaked at the death glare he was shooting at him.
Rin's eyes narrowed as he scowled, "No matter the pain you feel, you have to have the strength to continue living. If you do nothing but regret and hold such a petty grudge, you're nothing but an unnecessary part in this cruel world. He clung to the past and that was his downfall. This story will not make me sympathize with them. Why do you justify their actions? In the end, all the acts they did were done-." Rin stopped talking and screamed in pain, immediately grabbing his left wrist.
"What's wrong?" Hilary asked as Rin fell, Ray standing up immediately and catching him before he fell.
"Rin-san, what happened to-aggh!" Shun cried out and Hikaru let out a scream too. Hiro gave out a small cry but immediately stopped, even though pain was evident in his eyes. Nami and Aya both cried out in pain as well and Riku whimpered. All of them grabbed their left wrists as they screamed.
Ray rolled up Rin's left sleeve and his eyes widened, "What? What is this?" A single mark was there but it looked as if it had been branded into the skin rather than tattooed. It was a symbol that had eight arrows organized in a radial pattern, all of the arrows pointing outward. The ancient mark of Chaos.
"How the hell did he do this?" Aya asked as she leaned on Hilary, looking at the brand mark that had appeared from thin air, "There has to be an explanation for this. What do you think, Night?"
Night-Max was about to speak when suddenly he gasped and fell forward. Daichi caught him before he face-planted, "Hey, are you alright? Max? Night?" Max-Night looked up, looking a little tired. They were a little surprised when they were met by two blue eyes rather than the bi-colored eyes.
"Did you feel that?" Max asked before closing his eyes, "Chaos . . . showed his true form."
"His true form?" Kai asked before frowning when he felt Dranzer shaking in his pocket. He took out the shaking blade and then looked at Max, "How powerful are the Forsaken Fallen? Do we have the strength to defeat them?"
Max opened his eyes and his left eye was white once again, meaning that Night was back, "At your current power, I doubt that you would be able to defeat them. Which is where I come in." He stood up and the others followed suit, "Max, Ray, Kai, Daichi . . . I'm going to help you achieve the next level."