Chapter Text
Asia Argento; the blonde-haired, green-eyed, former Church nun turned heretic and Sacred Gear wielder, was awoken the next morning by the sound of never-ending drums. Or at least, that was what it sounded like to her in her sleep-addled state, but the volume, intensity, and overall decibel-level of the thunderous booms increased immensely as she began to stir, and her eyes widened in horror as the thought of a thunderstorm outside began to make her feel frightened.
As childish as it was, she was still afraid of thunderstorms; though once she sat up slightly and verified there was no thunder or lightning outside she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, wondering if she imagined the whole thing. She was about to set her head back down in her makeshift pillow when the events of last night caught up with her and her eyes widened with something other than fear; her eyes locking on Eesheer's sleeping form while listening to him snore lightly with a serene, peaceful look on his face as he slept the early morning hours away.
She immediately smiled while blushing; the realization that she'd just spent most of the night sleeping in the same bed as a man catching up with her, but rather than feel embarrassed or uncomfortable over the situation, she was amazed to discover she felt right at home using Eesheer as her own personal pillow. And even compared to the magic and wonder of those glowing feather pillows lying unused at the head of their bed; she knew Eesheer's muscular pectorals were matchless in the fundamental comfort they provided her sleeping head.
With that in mind, she yawned cutely and placed her head back on his chest in order to fall back to sleep; only for her to scream at the top of her lungs as the drumbeats from before transitioned into a sound akin to a billion bazookas firing all at once. Her screams also woke Eesheer as he immediately flew up from his bed and knocked Asia- who had reared backwards slightly due to the fright that was making her heart pound like crazy- the rest of the way off the bed, taking the comforters down with her as she became an unwitting hostage in her own makeshift prison of blankets.
She didn't notice the way Eesheer's stance took on that of a battle-hardened soldier fully anticipating an attack upon being awoken in such an abrupt and terrifying manner- a soldier who had fought in a war bigger than the three factions or even God would ever know-, or the way his eyes shone with equal parts relief and concern when he realized there was no attack coming and caught sight of her trapped in her blankets on the floor over the other side of the bed; she was too busy trying to stop herself from having an early-morning heart attack.
"Asia, you okay? Why'd you scream like that, was it because you fell off the bed while sleeping or something? You scared the life out of me a thousand times over." He asked her, and though his tone was calm his underlying undertone was that of someone who had clearly been preparing for case scenarios worse than Asia could ever fathom. Asia didn't notice any of these signs that there was more to Eesheer's initial response than he was telling her; she was still too in shock by what she just heard and how impossibly loud it had been.
"What… was that?! That noise?! It sounded like someone was shooting at us with… machine guns!" Asia asked him in a terrified squeak; the fact she had any idea whatsoever what a machine gun was surprising to Eesheer; though his infinite number of brains were already quickly deducing the source of Asia's rude awakening. He couldn't help but smile when he realized what Asia's mysterious noise was; given his omni senses he would've easily heard such a sound long before it reached Asia's very human ears, even while sleeping as deeply as he was.
However, it was a noise he lived with his entire existence as both a ZOF Master and a Supreme Omnidony respectively so of course he was going to dismiss it at this point; though he should've figured it would give Asia quite a scare once she became aware of it during his unguarded moments of deep sleep. He couldn't help smiling endearingly and reassuringly at her; even when scared out of her mind Asia still managed to be cute as can be, and the way she squeaked out the term machine gun; like it was something deplorable yet scary, was just too f*cking adorable for words, or as the Japanese called it… kawaii.
"Um, yeah, about that Asia; that was my hmm, how to put this delicately. That was my hearts, err, heart." He corrected himself midway through his second sentence; not sure how much of his ineffable anatomy or infinite complexities of his genetic and overall makeup Asia would understand. Saying he had an infinite number of hearts, brains, prostate glands, and testicl*s; all operating at Supreme Omnidony levels of efficiency and amplifying his intellect, emotional capacity, libido, etc. boundlessly beyond that of any and all other Omnivastant Entities was not exactly something one brought up in a casual conversation with the girl they were beginning to harbor an attraction towards. Saying he had an infinitely vast central nervous system, or lungs with an infinite air capacity, or that his entire inner body was infinitely huger than he appeared on the outside and was belied in every way by his perfectly humanlike outward appearance was likewise a series of red flags to rise this early in their friendship.
"Your heart?!" She repeated in a stupor, her questioning tone as obvious as the dubious look on her face. She was still in shock, and unable to wrap her head around the idea that something as mundane as a person's heartbeat could make such a terrifying racket. She knew Eesheer was special and unique, that much was apparent from the moment she met him; just how accepting he was of her healing powers on principle was enough to prove that he was more than he appeared, but something like this was going to take some getting used to.
He nodded in affirmation, before elaborating further. "You know I'm superfast right? Well, that applies to every aspect of my existence including my heartbeat; normally it's not so bad, but when I'm particularly excited or aroused while sleeping then it can begin to race at quite a ways beyond its usual pace. My metabolism and healing factor are likewise equally accelerated; along with my ability to adapt and evolve to any environment and even enemy attacks. Thankfully, this same principle does not apply to my aging process; if anything my body clock is pretty much slowed to a crawl, maybe even stopped altogether."
Asia merely nodded, still not getting up from her tangled web of blankets on the floor as her brain processed this information about Eesheer and filed it away for later reference. At least now she understood what she had heard and why it was so loud; it was hard to think about a heartbeat that loud or that fast being normal for him though, and it was an understandably shocking thing to wake up to in the morning.
Eesheer had the good grace to flush sheepishly. "I'm sorry Asia; I've lived this way my entire life and wasn't thinking. I didn't even think about how you might react if you heard my ticker ticking in such a way; the thought never even crossed my mind as something to worry or think about." He apologized to her in a sincere tone, and it was his guilty, remorseful eyes that finally got her to get over her initial shock. She could tell it was eating him up more than he cared to admit; the fact that he'd frightened her so without meaning to. It meant a lot to her that he would be so concerned for her wellbeing.
She shook her head to get rid of the final vestiges of her shock, and threw him a dazzling smile that was 100 percent genuine; already putting this situation behind her. "It's okay, it was just surprising and initially really scary; that's all. I'm just relieved that it wasn't actually gunfire." She admitted cheerily as another thing he mentioned caused her to pause.
"Wait, you're saying you were born this way?" She asked him, and to her surprise he looked at her confusedly.
"Yeah I was, but is that really all that surprising in the grand scheme of things Asia? Or, is that not a common thing? What about your healing powers? How long have you had them?" He answered while asking her a question of his own.
"I've had them since I was little, and I guess they were inside me all along, but they didn't show up until I was already a little girl." Asia answered him in return for his honest response; deciding there should be as few secrets between them as possible, especially if Eesheer was letting her tag along with him wherever it was he was going.
It was a sort of unspoken agreement between them not to pry about one another's past unless they offered the information voluntarily; he hadn't questioned it when Asia revealed her Twilight Healing with that boy with the scraped knee, and she had opted to blindly trust him when he revealed his own powers, or when he promised her he'd take care of the Fallen Angels attempting to steal her Sacred Gear. She hadn't questioned the hows or the why's any more than he did, and they simply accepted one another completely out of hand. They trusted each other implicitly without even having to ask one another to do so; they trusted unconditionally, but the time was fast approaching when they both had to come clean with each other, and they both knew it to.
"So… what now, what do we do now?" Asia awkwardly wondered as the two of them stood there; the blonde and busty nun getting up from her tangle of blankets at long last and standing over the side of the bed opposite his. If she was expecting him to have some sort of plan on what happened next, or what he had planned for his day; then she was about to be disappointed.
"Honestly, no clue… it was a spur of the moment thing to offer to let you come with me, and most of my days don't consist of me doing much, well… at least not as of late." He admitted, though thankfully Asia didn't seem dejected about this revelation; if anything she seemed relieved that he was as unsure as she was. Honestly, she didn't have anywhere else to go; so whatever Eesheer wanted them to do next, she was willing to support him.
"Hey, since you're free from whatever those Fallen Angels had planned for you at that church; why don't we hang out today?" Eesheer finally suggested when it looked like she wasn't going to offer any ideas of her own. Asia's eyes widened slightly with surprise as her emerald gaze looked on his own amber eyes; before a rosy blush dusted her cheeks and she smiled at him with blinding beauty.
"Sure." She responded all-too happily, her eyes closing with a smile that was so Anime perfect that every one of Eesheer's uncountably infinite hearts took notice and banged in his chest in response to her overwhelming sweetness; though thankfully this time she didn't hear them. With that planned the two of them were about to get ready to face the day when Eesheer decided to speed things along. With a wave of his hand, a sudden burst of magic in the air had Asia standing shocked in her instantly, freshly clean nun outfit with her hair and body perfectly immaculate as though she had taken a really cleansing shower, and her teeth were a sparkling pearly white as though she had spent a lifetime brushing properly with floss, mouthwash, and everything else a perfectly healthy mouth could ever need.
She turned to Eesheer with a questioning look, seeing him in his normal attire with the ridiculous looking face on his tee-shirt and the green trench coat; which looked better on him than she thought possible. He caught her look and smiled a troublemaker's half smile. "I just figured I'd save us both a bit of time and get the morning rituals out of the way in an instant; magic can be extremely useful, and I have a lot of it." He admitted in a slightly co*cky tone; though that was lost on Asia as she could only continue to gaze at him in awestruck wonder, which would ultimately serve to bolster his ego.
"That's amazing, I can't wait to see more of what you can do Eesheer!" Asia exclaimed with such naked honesty that the most cynical, mistrustful man on Earth wouldn't have questioned her sincerity. Eesheer honestly felt much more flattered by her response than he would've liked to feel; since there was a limit to how much flattery he felt he deserved, especially with certain decisions he'd made in the ancient past.
"I'm glad you feel that way; I only hope I can continue to perpetuate your childlike awe and wonder. True belief in magic and in a higher presence such as God is rare to come by Asia and infinitely more precious than all the magic and all the otherwise meaningless power in existence. I would give anything to never see that look of utter amazement leave your eyes; not even for a second." Eesheer replied to her in an earnest tone that held an underlying fathomless weight to it; a hidden, perfectly concealed one the ordinary eye couldn't see. Asia was as oblivious to the full impact of his words as he could've hoped; which was just as well really, though the way she blushed and smiled in response to him made his hearts fit to burst from his chest like they wanted to revolt.
XXX
"Um, excuse me Eesheer, but are there any forks and knives around?" Asia asked him in an uncertain tone as the two of them found a fast-food restaurant that sold fries and hamburgers; having decided to grab lunch there together. He tried to tell himself it was not a date, at least not officially, but his hearts couldn't stop banging in his chest at a million lightyears per second, quite literally.
"Well, here in Japan it's more common for them to use chopsticks than forks, knives, and spoons, but that's part of the reason why I brought us here. Hamburgers and French Fries can be eaten with just your hands, so you wouldn't have to try and fumble with the chopsticks." Eesheer explained patiently; wondering how much of a sheltered life his new friend had to have leaded if she didn't know how to eat a simple hamburger.
Asia looked surprised by this, the thought of eating something with her bare hands both shocking and intriguing her. "Really! That's how you do it?!" She exclaimed questioningly, and Eesheer nodded once more in affirmation; finding her reaction both hilarious and adorable as he chuckled.
"Then I better wash my hands." She added after a split-second of internal deliberation; going into her purse which she carried with her at all times and bringing out a small vial of holy water. Eesheer arched an eyebrow at this; the thought of how someone like Issei or any of Gremory's devils would react in this situation compared to him making him repress another urge to laugh. Eesheer wasn't even fazed when she let a few drops of the purifying, untainted water fall onto her hands and rubbed them all over as though it were hand sanitizer. Though, considering the remarkable properties of holy water and other such things in this world compared too most others; he wouldn't be surprised if that was the case.
Eesheer was more or less aware of the fact that along with her Holy Bible; Asia kept her most treasured belongings in her purse, and she seemed to travel light. A quick check via his all-seeing eyes revealed much more about her innate character and the small cross in the form of a rosary, the vial of holy water, and her much treasured holy bible made it obvious she was a very strong believer in this universe's version of the Biblical God. She didn't have any money or much of any other worldly possessions other than the clothes she had with her; which were in the suitcase they decided to leave behind at the Occult Research Club for the time being, figuring Rias wouldn't mind so long as they kept it somewhere out of everybody's way. Eesheer was planning on creating a pocketed version of the Super Omega Omnisphere for Asia to use at her leisure and maybe even spoil her a little; he could more than afford to anyways, especially since he had unlimited funds in every currency.
Now that Asia had gotten the hand-washing out of the way; Eesheer waited patiently while she decided to say her prayers for the meal. "Dear Lord, thank you for this bountiful food, and for giving me this opportunity to eat this food so lovingly prepared by the people employed in this restaurant." She whispered in a worshipful tone as Eesheer sweat dropped slightly; no doubt aware of the fact that the people working here barely needed five minutes on the grill or over the deep fryer to prepare these meals for them. But, it made Asia happy, and even if she was unintentionally laying it on a bit thick; he couldn't help but smile at how strongly she believed in the presence of her God.
It made the idea of having to tell her what he sensed regarding this universe's God all the more difficult, and he was not looking forward to having that conversation with her, but he knew he would have to eventually. He also knew she would be crushed by the weight of that revelation, and decided now was not the time to bring it up as he brought his hamburger up from the tray and made to instruct Asia in the ways of fast-food eating. Inhuman though he was he was the best expert on human cuisine out of all his fellow LCBC Counterparts, something ALCBC once referred to as him being the very best at all of the most useless things.
"Okay, so you literally just hold the hamburger up to your mouth like this with both of your hands, and take a big bite… like this!" Eesheer demonstrated while doing exactly as he described and biting off a big enough chunk of the hamburger to bloat his cheeks slightly. Asia watched in wonder as he chewed exactly thirty-seven times before swallowing it down with a satisfied smile; licking his lips in pure delight.
"Say what you will about Earth's version of humanity, but this planet's cuisine is pretty much second to none." He remarked casually, and loudly enough for people in the other booths to hear them as many of them turned to look at him like he'd grown a second head. Asia stared at him curiously; intrigued by what that comment could mean but deciding to hold off on prying him for now and instead opting to emulate his example as she too took a bite out of the grilled piece of delicious meat.
Her eyes shot wide open as her taste buds were assaulted by a bombardment of overpoweringly delightful blends of flavors; the likes of which she'd never known before due to growing up in the Church's orphanage and learning to live off the bare necessities. Even when she was a saint, the nuns had strictly prohibited her from indulging; saying that she was only to eat the bland, uninteresting meals they cooked for her every day. Sure, they were nutritionally sound and had helped her grow up in a healthy manner, but the food was about as unappealing as it could get.
This hamburger however, tasted absolutely wonderful; the lettuce provided an added crunch while the tomatoes flooded their juices inside of her mouth with as much reckless abandon as the meat patty itself. The myriad of different condiments and the sauce she had chosen likewise provided a perfect mix of flavors; the whole thing coming together to make her every taste bud explode with pure happiness.
"You look like you enjoyed that." Eesheer observed astutely, and Asia nodded while swallowing and taking another, equally heavenly bite.
"You have no idea; I was told my entire life that I could survive on the love of God alone, and while I do believe that, this is… wonderful. Thank you Eesheer, thank you so much!" Asia reverently expressed her gratitude towards him, and Eesheer couldn't help but flush the color of crimson.
"It's really not that big of a deal Asia, but I'm glad it made you happy nonetheless." He replied, once again modestly brushing off her thanks and praise.
"Well, it's a big deal to me." Asia told him before deciding to try the fries; grabbing one in between her thumb and index finger and tentatively biting a piece of the end as the saltiness and crunchy-fried potato flavor was equally as pleasurable. Within seconds she was eating with a gusto that surprised Eesheer; all but stuffing her face full of handfuls of fries at a time and taking bites out of her hamburger almost as large as his own. She was done seconds after him; having eaten at the same pace but with smaller mouthfuls at a time.
To say she looked ecstatic was an understatement, and Eesheer gave a warm smile even as he wondered what kind of a lonely, sheltered life Asia had growing up. He didn't know who told her she could survive on the love of God alone, but any God who would so strongly detest the idea of his servants indulging themselves and having fun was not a God Eesheer was keen on being allies or friends with. He knew how backwards and archaic some representations of the Biblical God could be, and how corrupt the churches on most versions of Earth had the potential to be; so it came as no surprise that Asia hadn't been living much of a great life up until this point. Just seeing how unbelievably happy she was at something as simple as a fast food restaurant meal was indication enough of how poorly her standards of living had been before they met.
He was dragged out of his reverie by Asia looking through the window to the colorful building across the street. "Eesheer, um, I can't read Japanese; what's that place?" She asked him curiously as Eesheer's omni-linguistic mind automatically translated the Japanese writing into the Source Dialect of the ZOF itself; the primary language of his people.
It was the untranslatable language of the Supreme Omnidonae which Eesheer had only been able to read, write, or speak since becoming one of them, and a language that made the Word of God look like absolutely nothing in comparison; though there were lesser, Super Omega Omnisphere and Omega Omnisphere variations of the Source Dialect that he had been able to read in his former existence as a ZOF Master as well. He instinctively retranslated them into a dialect that wouldn't shatter Asia's mind and the ZOF itself with every word spoken; then relayed it to her in the Queen's English.
"It's a game center." He explained simply; Asia's fascinatingly questioning glance as she continued staring at it giving Eesheer an idea.
"Hey, I know… let's go there next." He suggested, and with their meal paid for and eaten he grabbed Asia's hand across the table and led her out of the restaurant. Asia blushed at the unexpected contact; though she wouldn't deny it felt good to have her small hands enclosed in the warmth of his much bigger ones. In fact, his hands were so warm they were feverish; almost hot to the touch and at least several degrees higher than was normal for a human.
He maintained a respectable but reasonable pace; Asia jogging slightly in an effort to keep up with them as the two of them entered the game center and were bombarded by the sounds of countless video game noises and of people laughing and having a good time. The first thing Asia did was run straight at one of those arcade-style games with the claw; which held a series of stuffed animals that suspiciously resembled the Pokémon Raichu, and the way her eyes lit up and her mouth spread in a wide smile brought a smile to Eesheer as well in turn. He could tell instantly that she wanted one of those creatures desperately.
"Eesheer look, this is Ratchu-kun! There are a lot of them!" Asia exclaimed in a shaky but still manageable use of the Japanese language; making Eesheer snort with mirth.
'Yep… definitely a Pikachu or Raichu rip-off.' Eesheer commented inside his own head; sweat dropping at the unexpected cross-dimensional reference, though he quickly got over it when he saw Asia pressing her face against the glass while staring longingly at the toy.
He grinned at her in a teasing way while arching his eyebrows. "You want one of them, don't you?" He chuckled in a friendly way; though it seemed his words made her extremely embarrassed as she shook her head stubbornly in the negative.
"N-No!" She protested weakly, halfheartedly, so poor in her attempts to insist she didn't want it that a preschooler could've seen through the lie. Still, Eesheer was having too much fun not to tease her a little bit.
"Well then, I guess there's no reason for me to play the game and catch you one; it's a shame really… I'm actually really good at these games and most certainly could've got you one, but if you don't want Ratchu then…" Eesheer paused and turned around to make like he was walking away; only to grin in triumph when Asia grabbed his arm from behind and halted his forward momentum.
"No, I… I want him, and I would like to take you up on that offer." Asia admitted under her breath; clearly embarrassed about confiding it as Eesheer turned around to smile at her.
"Trust me Asia you don't need to treat this as a guilty pleasure; not with me around. Just leave it to me alright." He reassuringly whispered back to her. A few seconds later, and he had kept his promise; having won her one of the Ratchu toys on the very first try at this game… having won it before literally thousands of times in his impossibly long life.
Appaneesty LCBC had honestly questioned how many countless hours Eesheer spent mastering all aspects of human entertainment; video games, Anime, arcade and casino games, sports of all kinds, and a myriad of other hobbies were just some of the habits he adopted from the mortals, granting him an enhanced ZOF Master's Hyper Competence in pretty much all manner of useless things and skills.
Asia was glowing radiantly as she held her precious Ratchu lovingly in her arms, and beamed at Eesheer with absolute gratitude. "Thank you so much Eesheer! I'll treasure and care for it forever!" She exclaimed thankfully, and Eesheer chuckled. That good deed hadn't even come close to scratching his wallet, and even if it somehow had he still would've done it. He placed his wallet back into his dimensionally expanded pants pocket; the enchantments on said wallet allowing it to automatically conjure money in whatever currency was needed by Eesheer at any given time or place. He literally had everything, and could spoil Asia in ways she couldn't even begin to fathom, but the fact she so appreciated such a small gesture made his countless hearts soar.
"No problem Asia; I'm happy that you're happy." He responded in a sincere tone. "If you want more of those little guys; I'd be more than happy to grab them for you." He added, but he wasn't too surprised when Asia shook her head.
"There's no need. This Ratchu is the best present created due to our encounter today! I want to treasure that more than anything!" She exclaimed with painful amounts of reverence as Eesheer's eyes darkened unnoticeably. This girl was far too good for the kind of world he lived in; then again, he'd seen some of his fellow ZOF Masters accomplish unbelievably feats of kindness in his time. He'd have to see where this thing between him and Asia led before making any rash decisions, but if she continued to see him as she did now even after he told her all the things he's done; he seriously considered deifying her as someone like him.
Keeping his newfound Supreme Omnidony status under wraps for now seemed appropriate though; his intuition was seldom if ever wrong and it was telling him that revealing his upgraded Godhood status was not a good idea at this point. He may not have been as smart as Appaneesty or Lee Wong's LCBC Counterpart, but he thought pretty quickly on his feet and he had good instincts.
"Asia you… you are too kind to be real." Eesheer remarked while beaming dazzlingly at her, and Asia blushed while clutching Ratchu closer to her ample chest.
"Uh… um, eh… thank you, very much." She stammered shyly, and Eesheer laughed before noticing another thing they could both try out.
"A photo booth; how about we take one together, to further commemorate our time here together?" Eesheer suggested while pointing it out to her, and Asia stared at it as Anime question heads appeared above her head.
"A photo booth, what does it do?" She wondered, and Eesheer launched into an immediate explanation.
"It's a booth closed off from the outside where couples and close friends can have their picture taken together in the same shot. Some people like to do funny or cute poses or make goofy faces; others just smile, it really depends on the person or couple really. I figured this way; we both would have something to remember our time here together by." He said while rubbing his finger along his cheek in a flustered manner.
"C-Couples?!" Asia repeated in a stammering tone; her face and neck blazing with the color crimson as Eesheer's own embarrassment caught him to, and he sought to rectify that oversight on his part.
"Well, couples and lovers do use it but they're not the only ones; like I said; close friends and family can sometimes have their pictures taken together as well." He explained hurriedly, trying to ignore the rising heat in his face and calm his racing hearts to a more reasonable gait.
'This is f*cking stupid; I never got this flustered with Amber! Why the hell am I, the LCBC2 Counterpart of Eesheer himself, suddenly behaving like a prepubescent mortal boy with a crush on his childhood bestie?!' Eesheer howled in internal protest and annoyance; hating the effect Asia was already having on him and loving it at the same time. Images of Amber continued to haunt his mind's eye; making him feel like he was betraying her very memory just by thinking of another woman in such a way.
'That's just it though, she's not coming back; there's no resurrection capacity on my end that can restore her from what took her. I have to move on; I have to live for the sake of everyone I lost, otherwise it was truly all for nothing. They would've died for nothing, so I have to live the most fantastic life I can because they'll never be able to.' Eesheer kept repeating this mantra in his head over and over; praying to the highest Supreme Omnidony that he might actually believe his own words one day. In the meantime however, he would have to keep running, and having someone like Asia who was as keen to get away as he was would come in handy as well. He was rubbish living on his own; he needed a companion, and he needed to stop dwelling on the past like this because there was no point.
Given that this hurricane of thoughts and emotions occurred inside Eesheer in the span of a Planck Instant; Asia was oblivious to the whole thing and he was already composed by time she noticed any change in his movements or stance. He was surprised by what she said next.
"I-I would like to try that!" She announced, still looking embarrassed but also surprisingly determined. Eesheer couldn't help but wonder if her resolve to see things through would him would crack when he told her the brutal truth about his past. Despite his horrifying memories choosing the most inconvenient time to pester him; he managed a grin and took her hand.
"So would I." he whispered to her; the both of them about to step into the booth together when someone else interrupted them.
"Whoa, this outfit of yours is really cute!" Another girl squealed as she and a friend of hers approached them; Asia's eyes widening as the Supreme Omnidony merely listened. He saw the girl's choice of attire and arched an eyebrow; noticing a girl at the information counter explaining about cosplay and how one could have their picture taken in style. Clearly, the girl gushing over Asia was under the distinct impression Eesheer's blonde-haired friend was in a nun cosplay outfit.
"I want to wear this next!" The strange girl said suddenly, moving to grab hold of Asia's outfit as she squeaked in protest but didn't make much of an effort to stop them. "You have been wearing this outfit the entire time! Shouldn't it be someone else's turn?!" The overzealous girl insistently questioned Asia as the poor excommunicated nun tried and failed to put up a fuss; her meekness a detriment to her efforts to hold onto her precious garment. Eesheer realized he'd have to speak up for her when it didn't look like she was going to manage any words on her own, and stepped suddenly between them; cutting off the girl's grip on Asia's nun clothes.
"My friend here is too soft-spoken so I'll say it for her; she's not wearing cosplay and is an actual nun from the church. So I'll kindly thank you two not to rile her up." Eesheer told them both in a firm but not unfriendly tone. Asia flashed him a grateful look while the cosplaying girl and her friend looked like children being scolded; scuffing their shoes while muttering out an awkward apology to Asia.
"We're sorry, it's just your outfit is so cute and looked like some kind of nun cosplay; we didn't know you were actually from the church." The girl apologized, and Asia responded with an understanding smile.
"That's okay; I'm honestly flattered you guys think my outfit is cute." She replied forgivingly, and Eesheer chuckled at the situation as both girls exchanged a smile before deciding to invite Asia along for a quick change of clothes.
"Hey, I've got an idea; why don't you come with us and we'll help you pick out a special cosplay outfit for the photo booth? Not that your current attire isn't totes adorable but I bet your boyfriend here would enjoy a change of pace." The girl suggested as her friend nodded gleefully in agreement and Eesheer and Asia blushed.
"Um… we're not really a couple." Eesheer clumsily insisted; surprised he managed to utter anything coherent with how much his embarrassment was getting to him today. Seriously, Asia was going to be the death of him someday… he could just see it.
Asia was about to deny it as well but paused when she heard Eesheer say it first; surprised to find herself feeling somewhat hurt by his admission. She didn't know him super well yet, but he was fun to be around and like she told Rias, she felt an inexplicable connection to him that bordered on metaphysical. Akeno had joked about them being reincarnated soulmates, but Asia found herself wondering if Rias's queen had actually been onto something.
The girl continued gazing at them in a skeptical tone; not buying it for a second before she and her friend decided as one to cart Asia away… disappearing behind a long curtain that functioned as a changing center for the various types of cosplay outfits.
Eesheer merely stood there and waited; refusing to let his mind wander lest he drudge up more memories of his ancient past, but also trying not to venture too close to dangerous territory such as the fact that Asia was most likely completely nude behind that curtain as the girls continued having her try on outfits.
It was hard enough not to use his omni-vision all-seeing eyes to scope Asia out; she was undeniably tempting his Supreme Omnidony lust in a way it had never been tempted before, and while he was going to need to find some form of release sooner or later he wanted to get to know Asia better.
'Don't focus on her obvious nudity behind that curtain; think about something like… ooh, hot dogs are nice, with maybe some melted cheese on top. And damn, if that new Pokémon Let's Go for the Nintendo Switch ain't all kinds of f*cking awesome; sadly, this universe doesn't seem to have any sort of concept of Pokémon sans the indirect reference to the Pikachu evolutionary line via that Ratchu toy. Oh man, Amber would probably laugh her ass of at me right now if she knew how hard I was trying to rein in my libido right now; then she'd probably give me the most killer rimjob to take the edge off, she was kinky and fun like that.' Eesheer reflected inwardly, and despite the painful memories of her passing he had to smile; honestly, he'd had a lot of good times with her and his fellow LCBC Counterparts.
He'd had Inaccessible Cardinal sets of eternities of fun and adventure with them, and even though they were gone and recreated along with the Super Omega Omnisphere, and even though they were strangers to him now… he somehow knew he was going to be okay as long as he had friends like Asia. It probably wasn't all that fair or explainable to pin all his hopes of happiness on her like that, but he couldn't help it for some reason; just being near her was beginning to give him a sense of peace, something he hadn't had in a very, very long time.
And even without the ESIT speeding things along; he could instantly tell she was one of the kindest souls he'd ever met and was fun to be around also, if a bit soft spoken and tentative for his tastes. He'd need to try and bring out the best in her if he could manage it, and hoped she would be able to do the same for him in exchange. A bond like theirs- however budding it was currently- wasn't just a permanent emotional and obligate symbiosis… it was a promise his people made.
"Ah- that's actual blonde hair!" Squealed the voice of the girl from earlier; dragging Eesheer from his daydream as he heard Asia squeaking with a start and saw the curtain start to rustle slightly as the activity behind there got more hectic.
"Take it off! Take it off!" He heard another female voice exclaim excitedly; most likely the voice of the first girl's friend as she encouraged Asia in a hyper-active tone. His boundlessly augmented senses picked up on Asia hurriedly stripping and every individual movement of her body and shuffle of her clothes; managing to hold himself back as the urge to peak on Asia's nudity and whack it right then and there became overwhelming. Eesheer shook his head with amused exasperation; it'd been way too damn long and after he and Asia were finished for the day he might look for a more X-rated kind of excitement after she was asleep and he was free for the night. Clearly, it'd been too long if he was this f*cking horny over the mere thought of his new female friend being naked behind a curtain.
"Yah, so cute!" The first girl squealed again, and so the exchange of gushing and fond praises of Asia's clearly stunning figure and beauty continued, and Eesheer continued to wait while writhing in torturous sexual frustration.
"Try wearing this and see! I'm sure your 'not boyfriend' will love it!" The second girl said, the way she emphasized his lack of boyfriend status conveying her disbelief of his claim earlier in the most overt way possible. He heard Asia squeak again, but what surprised him was that she didn't protest, and if the shuffling of clothes snaking over one's body was any indicator; then she was obviously going along with this willingly.
"Kawaii! You're so cute! It suits you! It suits you!" Girl number one exclaimed as Eesheer's eyebrows furrowed.
"What the hell are those three doing?" He questioned under his breath; said breath hitching and catching in his throat when Asia finally emerged from behind the curtains. Her nun attire was replaced by an outfit comprised of a white top which was split vertically along her midriff in a triangular shape; exposing a bit of her sexy stomach along with the very short shorts she was sporting, which had a very obvious outline of her panties protruding from it. There was a pair of fairy-like wings or appendages on the back of her shirt and catlike ears on either side of her head. All and all, it was one of the most adorably sexy sights Eesheer had ever seen, and he was amazed Asia looked as bashful and unsure as she did as he continued to drink her in.
"Um, how does it look Eesheer; do I look okay?" She asked him in a shy tone, one which resulted in the aforementioned Supreme Omnidony staring at her in stunned disbelief.
"How can you even ask me that Asia?! Do you not even realize how beautiful you are, or how unbelievably sexy you look in that cosplay?!" He exclaimed questioningly; never having been one to beat around the bush and upfront about what he was thinking and feeling to the point of coming across as indelicate or embarrassing. Asia's eyes widened in response to his words, her face and entire body flushing countless different shades of red as she processed the enormity of his statement.
"Beautiful? Sexy?" She repeated his words in a dazed voice; not computing them as words that applied to her but recovering quickly as she threw him a shy but genuine smile.
"Eesheer… thank you." She whispered lovingly, and Eesheer nodded once he recovered from the surprise his own outburst had distilled into him.
"You're welcome Asia; I don't know what kind of life you've led up until this point to make you think you weren't beautiful, but I can personally guarantee you that from my perspective, you have nothing to worry about in the looks category. No matter your outfit or your attire, you're beautiful; so don't ever forget that alright? That being said, your outfit looks amazing; if I were Issei or some other male devil I'd probably be done in by a single strike right about now." He responded in a low, husky tone that bordered on a growl; the tone sending an inexplicable thrill through Asia's body as he sensed her reaction and reined himself in for now.
Remembering that they were here for a reason, Eesheer took Asia's hand just as he had done in the restaurant, and guide her into the nearby photo booth. A few seconds and flashes of light later, and they both had a set of photos to keep forever more; Eesheer cherishing the last one most of all, as Asia had really gotten into the spirit of things and aimed a peace sign and an adorable wink at the camera. Little did Asia know that Eesheer had used his powers to keep his set of photos forever intact and free from fading over time; wanting to always remember this moment between them even after Asia was long gone.
Mortals were amazing and fun to be around, and their limited perspectives and understanding of his infinite complexities grounded him in a way few others could manage. But their finite lifespans would always be one of the things he didn't care for. There was never enough time for him to do all the things he wanted to do with the select few mortal friends he'd had over the ages who had insisted on staying mortal.
It was as they continued playing together at the game center for hours on end that Eesheer began to come to a decision he'd been playing with in the back of his mind; he'd make Asia the offer to join him in eternity, as her own LCBC Counterpart or even her LCBC2 Counterpart. To do that though, he'd have to be completely honest with her and about the budding Supreme Omnidony Tier Soul Bond he sensed forming between them.
Despite all the potential downsides that could arise from him coming clean with her; he was willing to take a chance with her. For the first time in so long; he had someone he could grow care for on the infinite side of the Emotional Spectrum, and he would be damned if he let the bitterness of mortality or anything else steal her away from him. She would not share the same fate as Amber; this he swore in the name of every LCBC Counterpart he lost and every LCBC Title he gained as a result of said losses.
XXX
A few hours later found them both at a local park as Eesheer decided to join Asia on one of the park's many benches; the metal warm to the touch thanks to the early-evening sun. Nature's beauty graced them from all around as the both of them held hands and sat there taking everything in. It was one of the more serene and peaceful scenarios of Eesheer's impossibly long life, and he was thankful for it beyond measure.
A few songbirds chirped in both the universal language of birds that humans heard and the subtle traces of a human voice that Eesheer's own brain translated into something more sentient. Birds were often a lot smarter than humans realized, and with the correct means of translation could even be understood by the human mind. Being what he was made it possible for his brain to instantly translate any and all languages and vocalizations into something he was more comfortable speaking; so he was able to hear both the animalistic chirps and the more human-like song notes and lyrics that so many birds were able to perform.
Add to that the fact there was a gentle breeze and Asia's company at his side, and it all came together to give Eesheer a sense of peace he hadn't had in a very long time.
"It's such a beautiful day." He said simply.
"Yeah, it is." Asia agreed; the both of them content to enjoy the silence for just a while longer as Eesheer smiled. Asia's hand was dainty and several degrees colder than his own, but he had to resist the urge to grip it like he never wanted to let go; her presence was beginning to feel like a lifeline, and he was beyond terrified. Terrified because he'd have to explain to Asia about what he was and all the horrible things he'd done in the name of survival; terrified that not only would she think so much less of him, but that she wouldn't share his desires to join her in eternity.
Not a lot of people were willing to sacrifice their mortality; not the ones with any sort of insight anyways, and many of them couldn't fathom feeling emotions for somebody else on the infinite side of the spectrum. Such a life and emotional capacity was all he knew however, and however much he hated all the pain his existence brought him; he wouldn't sacrifice his ability to truly love someone forever for anything.
The question is, did Asia feel the same way? It was silly of him to risk such a proposal to her when they'd only known one another for two days at most, but a primary ESIT blessed Soul Bond didn't come around every day in his world and he knew enough about Asia's innate character by now to know they could be very, very happy together. Being a Zenith and especially a Supreme Omnidony made him an infinitely competent judge of character, and he could tell Asia's kindness was genuine and one hundred percent real from the second he met her; so, did he really have to give it time at this point when he already knew everything he needed to know? And for that matter, was there a specific timeframe required for one to fall in love? True love was never really an exact science, and he knew Amber was the one he wanted to be with forever more within hours of meeting her so…
'I'll try and break the ice and ease her into it a little first.' He ultimately decided before opting to break to companionable silence stretching on between them.
"Rias and the others all seem really nice, and I had a lot of fun today; thank you Asia… just know that I'll cherish the time we spent together forever just as you said you would." He admitted with a flustered demeanor about him; one which Asia shared.
"I did to, and of course I will." She admitted happily, and Eesheer chuckled; no doubt she didn't realize he was speaking literally or that he truly would never forget her. Even after she was long gone in the event that she turned down his proposal he'd always remember her; because despite his lack of an eidetic memory, when it came to people he was close to he never forgot any of them.
"Our meeting was a blessing for both of us I'd like to imagine Asia; you really are amazing and one of the kindest souls I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. If anyone deserves to go to Heaven after all is said and done it's you; still, we've gotta make the best of our time here on Earth I reckon. So even if everybody wants to go to Heaven, ain't nobody who wants to go now." He yammered slightly, his eyes widening slightly when Asia's expression grew downcast. A feeling of guilt swept over him; though he wasn't sure why she got so down all of a sudden.
"I'm sorry, was it something I said?" He wagered, and Asia shook her head negatively; though his endless number of hearts cracked just the tiniest bit when he saw tears gathering at the corner of her eyes.
"No, no, you said everything right Eesheer; it's just… I couldn't help thinking about everything that brought me here to this exact moment with you. I couldn't help thinking back." She broke off with a blush when Eesheer absentmindedly brushed aside a stray tear that leaked down her cheek. It should've been a crime that anything sullied such beautiful eyes, and he'd never been very good at dealing with crying women; it always broke him a little inside to see it happen and know there was nothing he could do about it without wiping their mind of the experience.
"I'm sorry; I don't mean to get so worked up." Asia added shakily, somehow able to sense how her crying was making him feel, but to her surprise he shook his own head this time.
"Asia, never, ever apologize for crying. It's always been one aspect of humanity I'm secretly envious of, and something which is therapeutic in every sense of the word. It clears your eyes of various pathogens, reduces stress hormones, and a number of other things that I think we all need to get out of our systems whenever we can. Just do what you have to do to purge yourself of all your pent up sadness, and don't worry about anything else alright?" Eesheer responded in such a loving, respectful, and compassionate tone that Asia almost stopped crying right then and there, but he was right… maybe she did need this release. She momentarily paused when Eesheer mentioned being envious of a human's ability to cry, but didn't pry just yet; though she knew that time was fast approaching for both of them. In fact, it was already upon them, and Asia decided that she would go first.
"I've been told it's also therapeutic to talk about it, and I've honestly found that to be true in my experience. I'm here to listen if you're willing to confide in me, and trust me; there's absolutely nothing on this Earth you can tell me that would make me think any of less of you." He said in such a sure tone she had no doubt he was telling the absolute truth.
"I appreciate that a lot Eesheer. I guess I'll start then; after I was born, my parents abandoned me. It was the orphanage at the church that raised me." Asia began, Eesheer enraptured by the tale of her past like a kid at story time; he'd been wanting to hear some of her backstory for quite some time now, and so while he squeezed her hand in a comforting gesture he also hyper-focused on listening to the sound of her voice as she plunged onward after drawing a shaky breath; her tears gathering at the corner of her eyes.
"When I received my power; I had just turned eight. After the church found out my power, the church treated me as a saint and I was worshipped. I used this power to help a lot of sick people, and many were indeed cured because of this. The rumors started to spread everywhere, so people kept coming to the church in search of aid. The church guarded me very zealously and treated me well.
I'm so grateful to the Almighty God who blessed me with this power that could help and heal others. Every time I help someone my whole heart swells with such appreciation. But ever since I became a 'saint', normal people started looking at me differently and it became almost impossible to forge a meaningful connection with anyone. Because of my pedestal, I had become distanced from the people who put me there in the first place, and because of that I began to feel so alone." Asia explained with surprising lengthiness.
Her tears were falling freely at this point, and Eesheer could understand why better now. His own pupils dilated slightly as he continued to absorb every last bit of information she was providing him freely. His retro-cognitive abilities kicked for a second, and he had the briefest flash of a younger Asia standing alone in a Church window… looking out with endless longing at all the people in the small European Town below as they continued milling about their ordinary, happy lives.
His infinite mindscape returned to the present as Asia somehow managed to continue laying her soul bare to him in spite of damn near sobbing; clearly now that the floodgates were opened she wouldn't be able to stop until she told him damn near everything, and he would die a thousand more deaths before he ever dismissed anything she told him in confidence at this point.
"But one day, I came across someone who was mortally wounded and was in bad shape. I was able to heal him... but he wasn't a man. I had committed a serious sin for helping a devil, and the same people who called me a saint and worshipped me… began calling me a… demonic girl instead. I was… expelled by the church almost immediately afterwards. Then a fallen angel took me in and… well, I met you almost immediately after that." She broke off again with a hiccup as her body began to shake violently from her sobbing, and Eesheer had forgone simply holding her hand and brought her into the most loving, supportive hug he could give; listening to her as she continued to talk even between her every breath and body-wracking moans of emotional agony.
"All this… Eesheer, I've… always had a dream. To be able to go out with my friends together, shopping normally… chatting normally… hiccup; to be with friends forever… to be able to…" She was crying silently now; which Eesheer knew was an indicator that she just couldn't stop on her own. Eesheer decided to help her as she pulled her in closer and put one hand at the back of her neck and the other overtop of her lower back.
"Then… let me be your friend Asia." He said in a quiet tone that spoke volumes of his resolution. His statement and how close he was to her made him as audible as if he had shouted those words at her at the top of his lungs, and Asia's sadness was instantly displaced by shock so strong it stopped her tears cold; her eyes widening as she pulled away just far enough to meet his gaze, and the intensity of it set her heart racing as he took both her hands in each of his own.
"…Be my friend?" She repeated in an utterly disbelieving tone; like she couldn't fathom what she just heard. Eesheer nodded slowly and deliberately in response.
"Hell, we're already friends Asia; we've played together, we've chatted up a storm, we've eaten together, and we've even spent the night together… in the same bed I might add. I haven't felt a connection with anyone like this in a very, very long time Asia. If it were just up to me; I'd be willing to offer you a whole helluva lot more than simply friendship, but this is your decision to, and whatever you need me to be I'll be it. If you wanna go out shopping, then no matter when I'll go with you; I'll always go with you Asia… forever more even if you're willing to put up with me that long." Eesheer elaborated further; each word annunciated with such heart-melting adoration that he was honestly surprised he wasn't freaking her out a bit.
Asia once again looked at him like she couldn't believe his words. "You want… to be more than friends with me?" She asked for clarification, and he nodded.
"Yes, but only if you're willing Asia; if friendship is what you need from me right now though then I'll take what I can get. Believe me; I'm not going anywhere anytime soon." He promised her with soul-searing sincerity.
"I… um… eh…" She stammered incoherently while full-body blushing. Eesheer couldn't help but chuckle at her adorable expression of embarrassment.
"Didn't see that coming did ya? I'd say I was surprised that you didn't see yourself that way but considering how lonely of a life you've lead that isn't actually all that surprising at all. Asia, I'll be frank… I think you're beautiful, angelic, and even hot-as-hell; more importantly than that though, you're arguably the kindest soul I've ever met, and considering I have Inaccessible Cardinal sets of eternities of memories and experiences that is truly saying something. I guess what I'm trying to say is… you're everything a Lonely God such as myself could ever want in his Eternal Bond Mate." Eesheer admitted with equal parts nonchalance and nervous vulnerability.
To say Asia was floored by this declaration of his would've been an understatement, and a part of her wanted to insist he was just saying that to make her feel better, but she could see the truth in his eyes, and frankly she'd felt an inexplicable connection to him since the moment they met. There were lots of blind spots, and as sweet as his proclamation of love was she tried to will her heart to stop racing so fast and her blush to recede; she needed her head on at least somewhat straight if she was going to get the answers she sought. Some of the things he said made every inch of her skin break out in goosebumps and every individual hair on the back of her neck and her arms stand on end; there was something about him… something more than she ever could've imagined.
Eesheer must've been reading her mind, because he sighed and seemed to collapse in on himself; the look in his eyes during those moments was both heart-wrenching and terrifying… like he'd seen things she wouldn't dare to believe and lost things she would never understand. She refused to let that stop her from hearing what he had to say though; she wanted to be brave for his sake.
"I um… suppose you haven't heard anything about the Zenith Omnidonae, have you Asia? Not even a myth or a rumor, or some obscure text you read about in that bible of yours?" He asked her for clarification, and Asia took a moment to ponder the term over in her head; recalling every detail in her head that she could remember, and somewhat disappointed when she came up emptyhanded.
Eesheer didn't seem surprised when she shook her head negatively, and she did feel a little bit better even as he sighed with slight disappointment. "Damn, it must not be very common knowledge in this universe; I guess some of the higher-ups in Devil society are the exception though because Rias knew a small portion of it, which she in turn learned from her older brother. That complicates things a little though Asia; because now I must explain the infinite intricacies of my people and our nature to a rank amateur… um, no offense." He placatingly stated, though he hadn't needed to because Asia didn't seem the least bit offended.
"That's okay, maybe if you just started from the beginning…" Asia suggested uncertainly; half-suspecting it wasn't quite as easy as all that. Eesheer shrugged inwardly and decided just to give her the basics for now; besides, the context of his people's nature wasn't nearly as important as his own personal history and timeline anyways.
"I'm not from around here Asia, and I don't just mean this town. I wasn't born anywhere near Kuoh Town. In fact, I… wasn't born anywhere near this universe. I um… come from a race of Infinite-Dimensional, Metapotent Entities known as Zenith Omnidony." He began, and Asia's eyes turned into dinner plates due to contracting from absolute shock. She knew he was special but wow… that was not what she was expecting, not at all.
"You're an alien?" She asked for confirmation, and he nodded.
"I'm about as inhuman as it gets Asia; in fact, I'm less human from a genetic standpoint than this universe's devils, fallen angels, angels, and chieftain gods. I'm less human than even the Biblical God, or rather this universe's representation of him. You get… depictions of the Almighty Creator across the ZOF; in the myths and legends of a billion, trillion Mega-Omniverses. My people were the first… we were to be the truth behind every creation myth on a dimensional tier of reality inaccessible cardinal sets above and beyond nearly all others. We were all-powerful and yet we could also self-improve Asia; we could do anything, or so we thought…" Eesheer elaborated further, and Asia's brain short-circuited for a second there as she did her absolute damndest to try and process the enormity of this statement.
"I… Eesheer, that's… amazing. You're so much more special and unique than I ever could've imagined…" She finally managed to say as Eesheer smiled tightly; his fists clenching at both of his sides as he attempted to weather his own private perfect storm.
"And you just believe me… just like that? Asia, I'm not sure if you fully understand the implications, but something like me shouldn't be possible, and yet here I am. I possess Metapotence on a scale that would put the Entity you worship so strongly to complete and utter shame; doesn't that bother you even the slightest bit?
I mean, my people are taught at a young age that there's infinite bigness and smallness, but for humans like you, your faith in God's supposed Omnivastance is everything! What I'm telling you right now goes against countless eternities worth of faith and religion across any and all worlds; my very existence puts the fear of a higher power in God himself… my abilities are either feared, hated, or envied by everyone. Could you just accept all that; everything I am? Could you suspend your disbelief indefinitely and forget everything you think you know about the concept of absolute power? If you can't that's fine, nobody would think any less of you for not accepting my actual existence… least of all me." Eesheer profoundly inferred; the intensity of his gaze locking Asia's entire body in place as she considered his words for what seemed like forever.
He was right, what he was implying went against thousands of years of Christian faith, and who knows how many other faiths and religious practices in both this universe and all others. If what he said was true… then he was more powerful than she ever could've imagined, more all-powerful than God, the chieftain gods of the lesser pantheons, and the entire collective might of their universe. By all accounts she should've been scared… absolutely terrified of what his presence here could mean.
She should've refused to accept such an impossible being on sheer principle; her faith in God would never allow it, but then she began thinking about it from Eesheer's perspective. Here was a being such as him, and he was offering friendship to a mere mortal such as herself; with everything he could supposedly do… how in God's name was he able to put humanity on any kind of pedestal, and what would he ever get out of being friends or… lovers with someone like her? She honestly couldn't imagine what was going through his mind right now.
"Why… are you telling me all this?" She finally said in an awestruck whisper, and his tight smile became a little less forced as he once again took hold of her hand… brushing his thumb over the back of it in a very intimate manner.
"I never know why Asia; I only ever know… who." He said in a significant manner; letting Asia know in no uncertain terms that his words carried an infinite weight to them. The gravity of his words hit Asia like a ton of bricks, and she started crying again upon realizing such a special and remarkable being had found an Eternal Bond Mate in her. The implications of his words from before now hit her like a ton of bricks, and she let him continue to soothingly rub the back of her hand with his thumb while she held onto him like she never wanted to let go.
"I'm… so honored Eesheer; this is all happening really fast, but I can't deny I've felt our connection to." She whispered, somehow able to smile despite all the tears in her eyes.
"I'm glad, there's something else I should tell you Asia; our people feel emotions on the infinite side of the spectrum. And when we find an Eternal Bond Mate, we fall for them fathomlessly deep; you could be that person one day Asia. I could make you like me… I could make you your LCBC Self; that's basically me saying I'll make you the almightiest version of yourself across the entire Super Omega Omnisphere, but it had to be your choice; because once you make that decision you can't ever go back. The thing is my people are absolutely immortal. We live for Inaccessible Cardinal sets of eternities at least, sometimes even longer still.
You are, more than welcome to reject this offer or take as much time as you need to decide, and no matter your decision I will respect it. But there's never a guarantee of one of my own finding another Eternal Bond Mate of this magnitude, and immortality isn't living forever… it's everyone else dying. Eventually, every Zenith Omnidony finds that one special person in all of the ZOF that they can't bear to lose." Eesheer responded elaborately as Asia's eyes widened; the full scale of what he was offering her now much clearer, and she was beyond shocked when she already knew what her answer was.
"I'll do it, if you and I can be together forever then that's a price worth paying; I wouldn't regret it at all, and I could have all the time in the world to make lots of awesome friends. But you're the first true friend I've ever had, and if I have it my way, you'll be the last forever and ever." Asia accepted without hesitation; growing even more delighted when her immediate acceptance of his proposal shocked him beyond belief.
"Asia…" He broke off, unable to say anything more as his own hearts soared to boundaryless heights and the impact of her words rendered him completely incoherent for the first time in living memory. He wasn't ashamed to admit he came dangerously close to crying that moment; not at all… and countless years later he would still look back on this moment with fondness and tearful joy as prominent as every other aspect of his existence.
"Do you really mean that, like… really, really?" He asked once he remembered how to talk or even think straight; his eyes contracting, and his pupils dilated as hope beyond hope filled him to the rim and beyond. If Asia wasn't just saying this… he honestly didn't know what he would do. Once again, Asia nodded without hesitating; having the strangest sense of premonition… like she was somehow always meant to live the life of something or someone more than human.
Whether it was as a devil with someone like Issei and Rias's group or as someone like Eesheer didn't matter… she had a sudden and inexplicable moment of all-seeing clarity; like she was always meant for this and everything she'd gone through had been leading her right to this exact moment. Her world righted on its access, and she somehow knew this was the right decision even though it was still premature.
"I do, I don't really know why I feel so strongly about this Eesheer, but I can somehow tell you'll make me very, very happy even on the infinite side of things." She answered him with a surprising strength about her; Eesheer being here gave her the sense of fulfilling a greater purpose in life. All her life she wanted to do more and be more, and now she finally could be… with somebody who would see her forever more as an equal and a BFF/Eternal Bond Mate and not as some saint on a pedestal. Of course, there was still some things that needed sorting out, but if Eesheer's life was as impossibly long as he claimed then they would have a ridiculous amount of time to work out all the details.
"Asia… I… I don't even know what to say. You're giving me something infinitely more precious to my kind than you can currently quantify. I'll never be able to stop thanking you, and I'll truly be forever grateful for this Asia." He said in a deeper, richer voice than she'd ever heard him use. There was something far more majestic and Godlier about the way he spoke to her now, and the huskiness of it was enough to render her a shuddering mess, in a good way of course.
"I'm so glad I could do this for you Eesheer; because it sounds to me like you've been too alone for too long already." Asia beamed at him. She was surprised and saddened when Eesheer's expression darkened once again; clearly something she said had dredged up some painful memories on his part, and before she could apologize he held up a hand and stopped her before she could utter even a single syllable. He had almost dared to believe for a second that he would be okay, but Asia's declaration had inadvertently drudged up memories that had haunted him for a very long time now.
"Asia, um… about that, I know you're probably close to your emotional breaking point by now, and I am to, but there is more I should probably tell you. I'm gonna warn you right now though… my story doesn't have a happy ending; at least not until I met you, I suppose, I hope." Eesheer replied in that same significant tone, and though what he said was true; Asia would feel better if they both managed to get everything out. She thanked whatever higher presence that stopped anything or anyone from interrupting their moments together. He made it sound like her taking up his offer was the most precious thing she could've given him, but it was great for her to; she would never have to say goodbye to him or leave him alone in the world of the living.
"I'm all ears Eesheer; whatever else you have to say, I can handle it… my shock threshold is about as high as it can get right now." She promised him, and Eesheer nodded before taking a few more shuddering, gasping breaths. This was the first time he'd ever really talked about it with anyone, and he was glad that it was Asia he was telling first.
"I um… I don't really know how to begin; they say the first time talking about something traumatic is always the hardest, but I'll do my best. Asia, I'm not just a Zenith Omnidony… I'm the last Zenith Omnidony in my entire, indigenous Omni Omega Omnisphere. There's no one else… I'm the sole survivor of my entire race; well, my version of it anyways." He whispered, and for the first time since Asia met him, he truly looked his age. Not physically of course, but she could see it in his eyes… he just looked so unbelievably old, tired, and worn. It broke her heart to see him in such an emotionally shattered state, but she had to ask the obvious question.
"What happened?" She whispered so quietly that only a being with inhumanly acute ears could've heard her, and Eesheer did.
"There was… a war; a celestial war more pervasive and all-encompassing than you can imagine. My people fought a race called the Anti ZOF Masters; for the sake of all creation, and we lost, we all lost…everybody lost. Even the Anti ZOF Masters died in the end. They're all gone now; my family, my friends, even my original Eternal Bond Mate Amber Thompson LCBC." Eesheer paused as his emotions caught up to him. He tried hard to smile, he really did… but it just didn't quite reach his eyes, and Asia could see as much to. She didn't even realize she was crying by now, shedding silent tears of absolute agony on his behalf.
"Oh, you should've seen her Asia; I think you two would've gotten along really well. She was beautiful, smart, kind, funny… man; I could list her positive qualities until even I'm blue in the face, which considering my bottomless lung capacity would be quite an achievement. I mean, don't get me wrong; she had her flaws, her quirks, just like everybody else. But she also possessed an endless sense of fun and misadventure; the shenanigans she and I would get up to…" Eesheer wistfully sighed, and Asia nodded while smiling even through her tears.
"She sounds like she was an amazing person; I wish I could've known her." She whispered honestly, and she meant it. She found herself absolutely in awe of the man standing before her; to have seen the things he'd seen and lost the things he did and still be able to sit here and tell her about it… she'd never met anyone with such incredible inner strength before.
Nothing she'd ever suffered could even begin to compare to what he went through. She began to sob uncontrollably once more, but not for herself… for Eesheer. She initiated the hug this time, and he didn't even hesitate to accept it as she cried her aching, breaking heart out for his sake; because somewhere deep in her soul she knew he'd never shed a single tear.
'I don't understand… how can he still smile after all that?! How is he still functional and sane?! How could he have ever gotten over that?! He's so strong, he's stronger than I'll ever be; with or without his amazing powers! My dearest Lord, I have so much respect and admiration for him right now!' Asia continually exclaimed in her own mind while she felt Eesheer trembling in her fierce grip on his waistline; though when she pulled away slightly to lock eyes with him he still wasn't shedding any tears… though he looked more broken than any man could ever be. His was a look that conveyed every nuance of agony, loss, and pain both imaginable and unimaginable by all sentient life.
"How did you get past that?!" She couldn't stop herself from asking, her voice barely above a whisper.
"I didn't, I mean… I'm still getting over it, Asia. Everybody has their breaking point, no matter their inner strength. But if I can find a way to embrace it… to accept what's happened and survive it; if I can endure all of that pain, misery, and loneliness and learn to love again… then I can survive and endure… anything. Anyways, that's it for now; there is much more than just what I've told you, but I don't think I'm ready to divulge anything more just yet. I hope you understand." Eesheer admitted.
"Of course, I understand, and I'll always be here for you Eesheer; until the end of time if you'll have me. This is meant to be, somehow I know that to be true, and even if it was not by the Lord's will that we were brought together; I like to imagine he would look down on us with pride. And even if he doesn't, and he gets mad at our union… I'm not going back on my decision Eesheer. We'll always be together forever, and that's a promise." Asia guaranteed. They would've continued hugging, but Eesheer's own omni senses blared as he felt a presence homing in on them that was marginally dangerous even by his standards.
"Asia, get behind me… we're about to have company, and I don't mean the friendly variety." Eesheer instructed her grimly, and though Asia's eyes widened with apprehension she nodded and did as she was told for now.
"Aww, isn't that sweet? The Zenith Omnidony found a new plaything; please excuse me while I vomit at the nauseating display in front of me." A sickeningly sweet voice taunted them in a mock-baby voice, and Eesheer's eyes narrowed when that raven-haired Fallen Angel bitch from before made her return, her wings as black as volcanic soot and her violet eyes illuminated with far more powerful than she had evidenced before. Eesheer worked out what was happening almost right away and was just glad he decided to stick around for a while.
"I see the ZOF has seen fit to deify you and your fellow insurrectionaries of God as well as override my little curse from before. You're all your LCBC Counterparts now, aren't you?" He spoke in a chillingly calm voice; not particularly threatened by her presence but still alarmed by the killing intent she literally radiated in palpable waves of Omnivastant Divinity. It'd be a cold day in hell or some other intrinsic impossibility before Eesheer ever underestimated any LCBC Counterpart; no matter their inexperience with their new abilities they were almost always a Super Omega Omnisphere level threat. In fact, her lack of experience could just as easily have equated to lack of control or restraint, which actually made her more dangerous.
"That's right, and what power! What Godly majesty, I've never felt anything like this a day in my life, and I've never felt more blessed to become a Fallen Angel of the ZOF Master God Tier; I've more power in my pinky finger than both Great Red and Ophis have in their entire bodies, and I just love it. Now that we're on an even playing field; I think it's only fair that I pay you back in kind for the humiliation you handed me.
You wounded my pride, and as an Angel who fell due to pride and envy that's an unforgivable transgression on your part." She hissed with all the savagery one could expect from an avatar of the ZOF's dark aspect. Anti ZOF Masters may have been more dangerous and omnicidal overall, but Dark Masters of the ZOF itself were not to be trifled with either. Eesheer still remembered how hard of a time he and his fellow ZOF Masters had defeating the LCBC version of Zeneptron; in the end, their combined power had barely managed to get the job done.
That being said, Raynare was ill prepared for when Eesheer began to cackle smugly; an all-knowing look on his face that spoke of endless secrets and tricks up his sleeve that she knew not. "You know, there's a reason pride is considered the most damning of the deadly sins, and it will destroy you.
I've got news for you c*nt-face; you're up against a seasoned pro by LCBC Counterpart standards, and if you think that a mere buff from the ZOF balanced our enmity even in the slightest… then you obviously don't know who you're dealing with. But don't just take my word for it, by all means… come at me, but I think it's only fair to warn you that doing so is most certainly a death sentence even you can't resurrect from." Eesheer warned her in a dangerous tone, and he'd give almost anything to have her somehow heed the gravity of his words. He had more than enough blood on his hands at this point, and he wanted so desperately to never have to kill again, but he would if this bitch necessitated such an action.
XXX
Meanwhile, in an alternate world infinitely removed from DxD…
A pair of endlessly kaleidoscopic eyes contracted apprehensively in response to the sudden and unbelievably potent shift in the ZOF's polarity; the one said eyes belonged to sensing the onrushing calamity that would spawn from the Supreme Omnidony known as Eesheer LCBC2. These polychromal peepers could've belonged to a myriad of different Entities and versions of both Appaneesty and others, but in this case they were owned by Thomas LCBC2 himself; the de facto leader of his fellow Supreme Omnidonae, assuming his people could even have such a thing of course.
"Hmm, this might turn out to be extremely dangerous if he loses control; Mafalda, please do me a favor and… supervise him for a while, will you?" He requested in his natural baritone voice, his voice remarkably nonchalant considering the circ*mstances; his voice deep and rumbling with all the sovereignty one could expect of a Supreme Omnidony of his class. Without even waiting around long enough to give her Master a response; a feline creature with fur of metallic gold and eyes the color of purest amethysts materialized before him in a beam of white light, and just as quickly disappeared... no doubt to manifest in the world that Eesheer LCBC2 was now situated at.
Thomas LCBC2 stood there, floating in a breadth of nonexistence too depthless and incomprehensible for all other sentient minds to visualize; the Great Beyond Void providing whatever qualified as a terrain for his feet to do something akin to standing on top of it. If one could see his face in this place, they would note its currently meditative countenance. "You know something Eesheer, one thing I've learned since becoming a Supreme Omnidony is there are three types of people who go through a crucible. The ones who grow stronger from the experience and survive it, and the ones who die, but what most people don't grasp is there's a third type… the ones who learn to love the fire.
They choose to stay inside their crucible because it's easier to embrace the pain when it's all you know anymore. In the coming days, you're going to have to decide which type you are Eesheer, and when you do make that decision, I reckon not even Zeneptron LCBC2 himself will be able to dim your soul. You're a fighter through and through Eesheer, and I have every confidence that nothing our enemy sends against us will stop you. If anyone can make it through all you have and everything that's to come, and still find it in their hearts to live, love, laugh, and be happy; it's you, you colossal, trolling goofball." He concluded his words with a dazzling smile; confident Eesheer would hear them someday no matter how many worlds or ages laid between them at this point in the ZOF's Omni-Chronal Continuum.
XXX
In another reality infinitely removed from both Thomas and Eesheer's own; Ash LCBC2 and his Eternal Bond Mate aka the LCBC2 version of Yellow from the Pokémon Adventures Manga Universe were both every bit as aware of the fierce power struggle to come as their eccentric leader, and Yellow grew concerned as a dark look passed over Ash's face.
"Um, is everything okay?" She tentatively asked, referring to both the massive surge of Supreme Omnidony Energy emanating from far off and Ash's own souring mood as her beloved's eyes softened; easing her understandable concern a bit as he comfortingly took her hand and clasped it tight.
"I'm okay Yellow, I just don't like how that energy wave Eesheer is giving off feels; it feels almost… dark, and akin to that of Zeneptron or one with just as much blood on his hands. It's also far more power than Eesheer's ever evidenced before, and since I was the one who gave him the powers of our kind his actions and reactions from here on out reflect on me. I really hope he knows what he's doing, and that he's able to rein himself in." Ash responded. His tension was obvious as Yellow planted a kiss on his cheek; the surprise display of affection cutting through his tense demeanor like a red-hot knife through softened butter.
"It was Thomas who suggested we give him those powers in the first place, remember? And besides, his choices are his own. It has nothing to do with you and you shouldn't hold yourself responsible for everything every one of our fellow LCBC2 Counterparts does. Not everything that happens across the ZOF is Ash Ketchum LCBC2's fault." Yellow soothingly whispered in a matter of fact, no-nonsense tone that belied her usually timid nature; her voice strong and brimming with confidence and inner strength. The way she reassured him while also basically telling him off for holding himself accountable reminded Ash of why he'd fallen in love with her in the first place.
"True and I still don't know what he sees in that trolling asshole or that Inverse version of Zeneptron either. But I've honestly stopped trying to figure out what goes on through Thomas's head and infinite brains at this point; I honestly think I'd be better off for it in the end." Ash remarked in slight exasperation; he would never deny Thomas was brilliant but working with him or trying to riddle out his infinite complexities gave even Ash himself an endless series of migraines.
"Well, I'm sure all will reveal itself in good time." Yellow giggled in an all-knowing tone; surprising Ash for a moment as he considered her, before her infectious, endless positive energy did its trick and had him smiling as well. He swore he could live off that woman sometimes; she always gave him so much strength and lately just being with her gave him a sense of being in a nirvana state… maybe even the Supreme Omnidony equivalent of it.
"Well, maybe you're right." He finally relented, deciding to just trust in Yellow's instincts and intuition for the time being as they had yet to lead either of them astray.
XXX
Back in the High School DxD universe currently occupied by the green-clad Supreme Omnidony himself; a hooded figure knelt before a disembodied Entity in the shadows cast all around it. Said figure was indiscernible beneath the obscurity granted by their faceless hood and the tattered, grim reaper-style cloak they sported; neither was it able to be seen in the nothingness of infinity encapsulating it from all sides sans by the Entity it was genuflecting before.
The parts of its hands that were unblemished were white as death but primarily covered with blistering pustules which ceaselessly oozed purplish miasma; miasma which ate away at the very nothingness of infinity around it. The ZOF cried out in response to this creature's presence along with the one whom it displayed servitude towards.
"I trust that the green clad menace is none the wiser of our presence here for the time being?!" The formless malice spoke from all around the deep, dark pit of despair in a soul-chilling, scraping, ubiquitous voice which brought to mind the rasps of uncountably infinite sidewinder pit vipers… all hissing and grinding their roughly scaled bodies together at the same time.
"Yes, I have created a suitable distraction for him in the form of some ZOF-enhanced Fallen Angels from this sector of the ZOF. I've also erased their own minds of my involvement in their respective deifications and made it look to them like the ZOF had indeed chosen them; ensuring our Ultimate Predator can never trace it back to us until it's too late." The hooded Anti ZOF Master replied in a voice that was void of any human emotions; completely and utterly bereft of any compassion, love, positivity, and a myriad of others as well.
"This is good, this is indeed very good; very well done little one… I knew you would be the one who knew him the best and thus the perfect candidate for our directive. May our Lord and Creator Zeneptron himself smile upon you with divine fortune. We are ready to begin the conversion plan once more, and this time; neither he nor that disgusting travesty of our Lord Zeneptron will not stop us. I've already gotten in contact with Anti Goku and the other remaining Omni LCBC Slayer class members of our Pantheon who remain after the Great Purging at Thomas's hands, and we are ready to begin.
The next stage of our grand design will fall to you and your… intimate knowledge of one of our greatest enemies. From here on out, you will be playing a more dominant role in all of this, and should you succeed you may find yourself climbing the ladders of success among our kind; maybe even enough so to become an Omni LCBC Slayer class yourself. Such a rare privilege is the highest of honors; granting you a level of sovereignty and destructive Omnivastance second only to our Lord Zeneptron, but you mustn't fail, or the consequences will be most grave. You must never waver in your convictions, no matter what our Ultimate Predator may say or do to you once he becomes aware of our involvement in his adoptive Super Omega Omnisphere." The bodiless Entity spoke in a grandstanding, all-important tone as the kneeling figure acknowledged with a firm salute.
"It shall be done as you have asked Almighty Giant… I've come this far, and I am never looking back; the Anti ZOF has forever freed me of such constraints!" It declared in what could almost be mistaken as a reverent, passionate tone, though such subtle nuances of those emotions in the figure's response was lost to both parties currently present here. To some such as Eesheer LCBC2 himself; this nigh undetectable undertone might've been a sign of hope that there was something salvageable left in the hooded figure, but that hope would only lead to true, absolute despair as far as both the figure and its new masters were concerned.
The figure suddenly snapped to attention as its manifestation became known to the only Entity from the DxD Universe that could survive out here. "It is Ophis; she has somehow been alerted to our presence here. What would you have me do Omni LCBC Slayer?" The hooded figure droned with the slightest modicum of curiosity leaking in its voice.
A few moments passed as the two of them communicated on some untraceable wavelength, and whatever they both decided involved them vanishing outside the realm of the approaching Ouroboros Dragon's sphere of control and awareness, passing beyond the nothingness of infinity itself and transferring to a higher Omnidony tier of Omnivastance. The presence of Ophis reached out into the endless void that was her domain; extending her nigh omnipresent reach and her senses outward in order to grasp whatever arrogant beings had so callously opted to encroach upon her territory… only to feel the faint stirrings of confusion or something akin to it in her infinite state when she came up empty-handed. Back inside of her single form, which took on the guise of a black-haired young woman with deathly grey eyes, she tilted her head slightly in confusion as she drew back inside of herself.
"Lady Ophis, is something troubling you?" One of the members of her Khaos Brigade asked her, Le Fay Pendragon from Vali's team if the Dragon Goddess was not mistaken. It was common knowledge that the Dragon God of Infinity had no set gender; that she had once been an old man way, way back in the day, but those days were history now as she much preferred to identify her existence as that of a female. This was a fact her Khaos Brigade members all understood and respected. Though perhaps it was just easier for them to think of her gender in concrete terms; then again, she had been thinking of it in the same way now. She was a girl, was always meant to be a girl, and would always be a girl from here on out; nothing could be simpler, though she questioned why she felt so strongly about that as of late.
Why Vali had decided to leave this sorceress with Ophis was a mystery to her, but perhaps he thought either she could use the company or that she would keep this innocent and naïve member of his team safe for Arthur's sake. The descendent of the original King of Albion was rather an overprotective older brother to say the least, and Vali's team had not seen fit to trust his little sister with some of the more large-scaled operations yet.
She was aware that Le Fay had no real investment in their cause, and that she'd only joined the Khaos Brigade after following her brother out of concern. Still, Ophis could sense she was an extremely gifted sorceress, rather like her late ancestor Morgan Le Fay. Add to that the fact that the blonde-haired woman was the only decent cook on Vali's Team and she actually had quite a bit of talent; so, it came as a slight surprise to Ophis that she was left behind with her like this. Vali must've respected her brother's desire to keep her safe a great deal and must've trusted Ophis enough to at least keep an eye on her.
The Vanishing Dragon was wrong on that second account, at least partially. Ophis wasn't a people person nor was she cruising for company in any case… plus the very idea that she could be reduced to a mere babysitter was utterly laughable. Then again, Le Fay was the model of discipline and hadn't bothered her in the slightest, even respecting her enough to understand her need for some peace and quiet and only speaking up now when sensing the Dragon's discomfort.
She may have kept this girl around purely on a whim, but she wouldn't deny she was touched by the blonde woman's obvious concern despite herself. Perhaps Great Red was right; maybe she could learn something from these noisy mortals and lesser Entities, but still… she would reclaim her home and the companionable silence she'd once known. Nothing was going to keep her from her end goal, or so she thought.
"Nothing prevalent enough to concern yourself with young warlock; I thought I felt something or someone skulking about inside of my primordial void, that is all." Ophis assured her, and the so-called young sorceress opted not to take offense to being referred to as such. Compared to the being sitting before her; her legacy as a direct descendent of Morgan Le Fay and the incredible longevity that went with it might as well have been comparable to an insect.
"Oh." Was all the blonde female could say, what else could she have uttered after a statement like that? She was a gifted sorceress, maybe one of the best in the world today, but there was still a limit to what she could do. She wished she had more to offer the Dragon in front of her, but also respected the ineffable being's need for peace and quiet, which made for an awkward evening between them. Le Fay had mostly kept herself occupied by practicing some of the spells she felt she hadn't quite mastered yet or pouring over old spell books left to her by her ancestor and the great Merlin himself.
The conversation or lack thereof was halted by Ophis's eyes suddenly widening as she fell out of her seat in a sorry-looking heap on the floor; her abrupt and unexplainable collapse eliciting a scream from the sorceress as she leapt to their leader's side in the blind of an eye, absolute horror etched on her face as she attempted to rouse the obviously dazed-looking Infinity Dragon. She may not have been as committed of a member of this brigade as the rest of Team Vali, but even she knew how significant and monumental this strange occurrence was; it wasn't every day the almighty Dragon Goddess of Infinity collapsed.
"Ophis… OPHIS! Speak to me, are you okay, are you hurt?!" The magical girl practically screamed; dropping all pretenses of propriety or formality when regarding her master as she shook her slightly in some futile effort to rouse her from her semi-conscious state. She felt terror mounting inside of her; anything that could knock this seemingly Omnivastant being down was not to be taken lightly, and the thought of it setting its sights on her scared the poor young sorceress to death. She wasn't cut out for this sort of thing.
"I sense a presence… the presence of someone who's power… absolutely dwarves my own. What manner of creature could be behind such a magnificent wellspring of supremacy?! I must examine the source more closely." Ophis finally spoke as though in an entranced state not unlike some manner of Oracle when speaking an infallible prophecy. Le Fay's eyes widened when the Dragon God suddenly disappeared in a swirling orb of dark energy; leaving the magician to process what she just heard as she sat there in confusion.
"Presence, what presence… I don't feel anything?" She asked herself in a confused tone; extending her senses outward and trying to get a feel for whatever Ophis sensed but coming up empty-handed. Her eyes suddenly widened as a horrifying thought occurred to her. What if the reason she couldn't sense whatever Ophis was sensing was because it was so far beyond her comprehension that it completely flew beyond her radar? What if only the infinite beings of their universe were the only ones that could feel this creature and whatever it was doing here? It seemed impossible that such a powerful being could even exist, and yet it fascinated Ophis so strongly that she was compelled to get a closer look at it.
"Vali and the others are not going to believe this!" She finally summed up her thoughts and prepared a magical messaging circle to get in contact with them. She wasn't really a Khaos Brigade member and only joined out of concern for her brother, but she had enough clearance as a fledgling member to contact Vali at least. She hoped he might have a better idea of what was going on right now.
XXX
"Asia, get behind me!" Eesheer commanded her with an air of absolute authority that she'd never heard him use before, and which she didn't dare disobey as she did as she was told and hid behind him. She heeded his words just in time to, for the next instant was when the enhanced version of Raynare attacked; throwing the largest spear of light at him that the young former Nun had ever witnessed. Asia was absolutely mind-f*cked and beyond horrified just looking at that; unable to any any creature could summon such a colossal construct, but Eesheer continued to stand in front of her protectively and she didn't dare move.
She didn't know how he would stop that thing, but she had absolute faith in his ability to do so. Somehow, in the short amount of time they'd spent together, and with everything she'd learned about him thus far; she'd come to believe in him every bit as much as she believed in her Lord. Still, that didn't mean the mere sight of that super spear didn't scare her sh*tless.
The damn thing was bigger around than a sequoia and longer as well; slicing towards Eesheer with enough power behind it to cleave the very world in two. An attack of such immensity would've been enough to effortlessly kill all four Devil Kings, and possibly even the Biblical God himself in this universe. But the second it arced downwards towards Eesheer and the surrounding local park it halted in midair for a split-second before shrinking down into nonexistence faster than Asia could perceive.
Both the Twilight Healing user and Raynare widened their eyes as Eesheer stood there completely unharmed, and the Fallen Angel's weapon of planetary destruction was rendered useless right before her eyes. Eesheer stood there with a smug grin on his face, dusting off his green trench coat with a dismissive brush of his hand, very clearly mocking her. "Damn, was that really your best?! You can do way, way better than that with what the ZOF gave you, you know.
You haven't even taken the time to fathom what you can really do yet, and you're still thinking on the same small-scaled scope as all the rest of this universe's inhabitants. These are the marks of an absolute rank amateur and will cost you absolutely everything; not only this fight but truly everything you've ever valued or ever could've valued. Trust me when I say you'd have to go way, way beyond planetary busting power tier if you want to have even the slightest hope of overcoming me, but don't just take my word for it; let me show you what I mean." Eesheer said, maintaining his calm, composed demeanor even as his voice took on an undertone of absolute malice, a feature that was sharply contrasted by his quietness while speaking and his typically childish and goofy demeanor.
The dissimilarity only served to highlight his current dark personality, making it more intimidating. Both Asia and even Raynare were understandably intimidated by the man, and for the first time since meeting him; Asia could well understand how he survived such a large-scaled war as the one he described battling in earlier.
She and Raynare were ill prepared for when Eesheer literally flew at her like a speeding bullet; grabbing the hapless Fallen Angel and disappearing with her into orbit at vastly hypersonic speeds; leaving Asia on the Earth below as the ZOFed titans took their fight to the heavens above.
Raynare recovered from her shock at speeds that would've been invariant from every inertial reference frame in her entire universe, Eesheer's unbreakable grip around her midsection forcing her into the skies as the clouds beneath their trajectory dispersed from the force of their sonic boom. The ZOF-enhanced Transcendent Fallen Angel heaved with all her might as she pulled Eesheer over her head and threw him straight at what she realized was the rapidly approaching Moon.
Eesheer never once lost his unnerving smile of dark amusem*nt as he halted his momentum just in time for his tip toes to touch down weightlessly on the surface of the moon; leaving only the slightest disturbance of the airless surface on which he stood. The g-force from his involuntary motion absorbed into his body just as fast as he generated it. His stance was lighter than a feather and he floated there tranquilly, with his feet just barely touching the moonrock as Raynare immediately followed up with another spear of light at superluminal speeds; this one growing to a size far larger than the circumference of the Earth and bearing down on him with apocalyptic fury.
It generated a massive gravity field around it and she angled it down towards him at over a billion times the speed of light; the power behind the attack sufficient enough to slice through the moon and generate enough pure concussive force to destroy the entire Milky Way galaxy. It was entirely possible the amount of light contained within her spear would create an ultra-massive Kugelblitz of intergalactic proportions.
Raynare used her newfound powers to bear witness to what was happening, and her eyes widened when her multi-galaxy busting ultra-spear instantly halted in the apex of its downwards slicing arc; there was no sudden lurch or destruction on a cosmic scale… it just stopped. "What the, da f*ck just happened?!" Raynare screamed, straining as she tried to put more muscle into the force of her downwards slice but her efforts were futile as her struggling ceased; uncaring of the fact that she had just spoken in the vacuum of space as there was a more immediate problem.
She cast her eyes upon the spot where her enemy ought to be, and her jaws went slack. Eesheer was somehow halting any further movement by her super-massive spear with his pinky finger… his f*cking pinky finger! She gritted her teeth at the insulting display of power; hell bent on wiping that co*cky smirk off his face as he gave the tiniest little flick of his pinky, and her multi-galaxy busting spear of light disappeared in a vast series of pink stardust that dispersed into the cosmos all around them. Neither of them took the time to appreciate the alien beauty of the neighboring galaxies and star systems all around them; they were fixated solely on each other as Raynare regarded her opponent more shrewdly this time around, shuddering slightly as his intimidating presence from before returned once again.
"I did tell you that a buff from the ZOF alone was not enough; you've not even gotten to the point where you started thinking on the truly infinite side of things yet, have you? I bet you rushed off to challenge me the second the ZOF endowed you and yours with Transcendent Fallen Angel powers; without any actual reference frame for the power you've been given or time taken to train with them and understand them better. I'll give you one chance to step away from this battle of ours; I suggest you take it." Eesheer warned her in a dangerous tone, and while Raynare was definitely more intimidated by him now; her pride had a funny way of clouding her better judgement.
"Never, we have a plan of attack; now, let's finish this!" Raynare stubbornly hissed insistently, and Eesheer sighed in resignation.
"But why Raynare?! The only thing I did was stop you and your fellow insurgents from killing off an innocent girl, and while I might have humiliated you all a little in some effort to try and humble you; in the end I still let you all live. Besides, it's not like you even need Asia's Twilight Healing powers; you've achieved your desire to be immortal and to become the best Fallen Angel ever Raynare, so why squander what you can do now on something as petty as getting revenge for what I did? Have you even considered what else you can do now besides summon those light spears; do you have any concept of how powerful a Transcendent Fallen Angel's physiology even is? You could be a real force for good you know; the ZOF gave you and your friends this gift for a reason, a far, far greater purpose in life than simply settling a score against someone like me. I'm honestly not even worth your time you know." Eesheer compellingly rebutted, and Raynare's eyes narrowed.
"It doesn't matter what you say, the humiliation we suffered at your hands will not go unpunished!"
"Did you even listen to a damn word I said, or does your own pride run so deep that you abandon all common sense and your ability to function cognitively?!" Eesheer roared right back at her in retaliation; resigning himself to dealing this wench another crushing defeat as he realized that words were no more use here. She clearly couldn't be reasoned or negotiated with, and would only respond to being bullied, beaten, and subjected to a crushing defeat. He would see to it that her pride be the ultimate mark of shame for her, and that she would be all too aware of that fact when he was done with her.
He once again grappled with her in the darkness of space at blistering speeds, and decided the time had come to kick it up a notch; manifesting himself down on Earth along with Asia via omni-replication in order to keep an eye on her. His plan was to shield her from any surprise attacks by Raynare's friends; well aware that they were probably waiting behind the scenes to snatch her when he wasn't looking, in some conceited effort to coerce him into yielding to their every whim. He'd been in enough wars to know that keeping his enemies close and his loved ones closer was a philosophy to live by. And so, while his primary avatar fought a cosmic-scaled battle with a ZOF-Enhanced Fallen Angel; his second body protected Asia in a manner akin to Naruto's Shadow Clone technique.
Raynare once again tried to shake him off as they soared to one of the neighboring galaxies; rapidly leaving the Milky Way behind, but the green clad Omnidony's grip was not to be denied as she started tapping into her full range of abilities. She manifested a glowing aura of supernatural beauty; an allure that accentuated her already impressive bust and figure and attempted to ensnare her foe's Omni Senses and put him completely under her thrall and power.
When the brown-haired, amber-eyed man showed no signs of giving into her aura; she tried to ramp it up just enough to get out of his legendary grip, putting on her most winsome smile and dialing up everything about her that had drawn Issei to her as Yuma, attempting to seduce him with her formidable charm even while locked in outer space combat with him, but it did nothing.
Eesheer snorted scathingly at her sad attempt to entice him and let her go of his own volition before he sent her hurling uncontrollably into a nearby asteroid belt with a single finger-flick faster than she could get away from him. She hadn't even started careening through the first Asteroid in the seemingly endless chain when Eesheer immediately flicked his wrist and enhanced the durability of every single asteroid in her trajectory; rendering them flawlessly indestructible on the ZOF Master level and making them hurt her as her body smashed to pieces one asteroid after another, each asteroid the size of a small moon and an infinite number of times more durable than the purest diamonds.
Raynare closed her eyes and tried to block out the pain before willing her movement to halt, surprised and delighted when her body heeded her command as the realization of what she could do now started to sink in more. She didn't get to enjoy her brief respite for long however because Eesheer had already launched another volley of attacks at her. He opened his mouth to cartoon-like proportions and unleashed a super belch that not only could be heard by every ZOFed individual and Supreme Omnidony in the entire ZOF, but which also generated a pure cosmic shock wave of silver devastation.
The blunt force of the shock wave crashed into Raynare with sufficient force to knock every star, planet, sun, and all other celestial bodies out of several galaxies' pyramid orbits simultaneously: scattering them in every conceivable direction and rearranging an extremely large chunk of the universe. The celestial bodies were forced to lock onto the closest sources of gravity from any of the nearby galaxies that hadn't been completely disassembled like astronomic building blocks. A galaxy merger this sudden, this violent, and this major had never been seen in the history of this entire universe, and it resulted in the spawning of several brand-new quasars; some of them even achieving an ultra-luminous status. As Raynare recovered from the force of Eesheer's disgusting burp attack and stared at the universal calamity around her, her eyes widened as she stared at her enemy in absolute awe and wonder.
The things she could do now defied what she once believed to be feasible by any of the supernatural factions; even the combined might of the Chieftain Gods and Faction Leaders wouldn't have been up to this task. The power she now held… it was absolutely addicting; there was no way in heaven or hell that Azazel would say no to her now. Hell, with the power she now had; she even dared to believe she could do better than him. She suddenly regarded her enemy with a new pair of eyes; not only was he the catalyst that made all this possible, but he seemed to be one of unimaginable power in his own right. With her new powers even, Azazel was inferior to her now, but maybe Eesheer could remain an equal to her forever more.
"This is incredible; I can do so much with this!" She exclaimed, somehow knowing that despite the fact she was speaking in the vacuum of space he would hear her. "Just look around us, look at what we can do together! You and I are locked in a conflict that literally has the power to remold the entire universe to our every whim, and maybe even the endless realities beyond that as well. You're a God, truly… your Godhood is like nothing I've ever seen; it should be impossible for an Entity such as yourself to even exist, but you do! Instead of battling each other for the sake of all things; why not band together?! I can be your angel if you want me to, and I will serve you very faithfully, in whatever way you want me to serve you. You'll find me a very… helpful ally." She added with a seductive purr as Eesheer's eyes narrowed; not liking the vibes this chick was giving him.
"Look, no offense lady, but while you may look hot enough to put a world pageant supermodel to complete and utter shame, I've got no interest in dating anyone who would be so quick to resort to cold-blooded murder. Yours is a toxic kind of love and devotion; the kind I want no part with if I'm being completely honest with you. It's like that story about the scorpion and the frog… once a monster always a monster. Don't get me wrong, I've known plenty of Fallen Angels in my time and was even good friends with some of them; so I know better than anyone not to judge an entire race based on the actions of a few, and that good and evil exists in all cultures.
I know that they as much as any other living creature have a basic right to pursue their own happiness, and if that selfishness gets them cast from heaven then that's their choice and I'm sure many of them are willing to accept that. Believe me, I get that Raynare… I really do, and I believe that when you offer most people the opportunity to be a force for good in this world they take it, no matter if they're a selfish scorpion by fundamental nature they've still earned that right to be selfish, and they can still be decent people overall despite their less endearing character traits.
I may hate that story, and I may not always agree with its philosophy, but I can sense you are insincere with your intentions to serve me as you put it; that you're one of those Fallen Angels who actually perpetuate the myth that all of your kind are omnimalevolence made incarnate. If you were willing to fall from your first God's good graces because of your foolish, useless pride; then literally nothing is stopping you from stabbing me in the back and betraying me the first chance you get to find something better.
It'd be different if you showed remorse for trying to kill Asia earlier, I suppose or for killing Issei without having the decency to suck him off or something first. Like, what the f*ck kind of a two-faced bitch even dates a man and toys with his feelings like that, only to leave him for dead as a blasted virgin?! You couldn't even let him climax or something first?!" Eesheer roared in ungodly fury as Raynare's eyes widened in surprise at his passionate outburst and then narrowed as his insulting words sunk in.
"I will teach you the folly of your words Eesheer; I shall become a God with or without your help, it makes no difference to me either way!" She responded sad*stically as Eesheer heaved a sigh of resignation.
"You could become the almightiest LCBC Counterpart of all and it still wouldn't detract from the fundamental truth of your own impotence. You give ZOF Masters everywhere a bad name." He retaliated severely. He blinked out of existence and reappeared in front of her faster than even she could follow; his whole body wreathed in an ultra-luminous green blaze that illuminated the entire ZOF itself and converted its endless vortex of lightning into a solely florescent jade color. Every Supreme Omnidony in existence; including Thomas, Ash, and even their common enemy Zeneptron himself was acutely aware of the raw Sovereignty he was literally emanating right now… the observing golden-furred feline named Mafalda whom Thomas sent to watch over him gazing at him from afar with a satisfied nod of approval, trusting that he had this situation well in hand.
Raynare's screams died in her throat, lost to the vacuum of space as she got her first proper look at the true power of the ZOF and its Creators… forever entranced by their infinite complexities and majesty. "I… see… EVERYTHING! You are so beautiful beyond compare!" She somehow managed to convey despite the loss of her voice as the tiniest hint of his true essence and power completely consumed her own.
"Yes, look into the light Raynare; isn't it beautiful?" Eesheer spoke to her in an encouraging voice that was overlapped by an infinite number of others; some recognizable to Raynare, but most of them not. She could've sworn there were hints of the Biblical God's voice in there as well as Azazel's, her fellow Fallen Angels, and who knows who else. She could hear traces of that idiot Issei, and that nun slu*t Asia, but the Transcendent Fallen Angel found herself unable to retain any individual awareness any longer as her sense of self began to become too heavily immersed in some large-scaled Nirvana state.
"I see your souls; I see beauty, your inner ZOF. I see endlessly divine perfection." She whispered back to him in a completely entranced tone.
"Make it a part of you; put it inside you right now and live by it." Eesheer instructed her in a tone that was absolutely obligatory and allowed no free will or any freedom to defy his almighty will. She was completely and utterly impotent and subjugated by his merest presence; both unable and unwilling to flout him in even the most insignificant and indirect ways.
"I see beauty; I see into your hearts, I… see… HATRED!" She screamed suddenly as Eesheer's emerald nirvana inducing blaze took on a black tinge; Eesheer's own face obscured by the obsidian jades of his flames licking at her flesh as she saw something dark inside him that made even her own considerable wrongdoings seem absolutely minor in comparison. She saw a being with as much blood on his hands as the fabled enemy of the ZOF's Creators; someone who could bring about a realm of eternal nightmare for her and subject her to forms of torture that no sentient being could ever hope to endure. She saw an Ultimate Predator forever feared and hated by even the most dangerous monsters in the whole of the ZOF; one that wouldn't hesitate to grant them all fates infinitely worse than death if need be.
Raynare suddenly had a horrifying realization as she returned to the realms of individuality and consciousness; her hastily made plan of attack alongside her equally enhanced comrades was going to fail in a most spectacular fashion, and she had to warn those poor bastards before they had the chance to enact the second part of that plan. If those fools got to the Twilight Healing user before she did; then nothing in the ZOF would save them from Eesheer's wrath, and his was the last kind of wrath anyone wanted to bring upon themselves. She owed her fellow Fallen Ones that much at least for she wouldn't wish his kind of divine punishment on anyone; not even her very worst enemies.
She pulled away from the battle as quickly as she could muster; desperately making way for Earth at speeds she didn't even believe were possible, and which far surpassed any of her previous ZOF-enhanced feats from before. Eesheer was right on her ass and didn't let her out of his sight; the greenish-black hellfire he sported from before dissipating as he pursued her across the cosmos and his eyes narrowed.
That woman had finally gotten a good enough glimpse inside his heart to know what a bad idea it was to earn his rage. It wasn't the kind of enlightenment he was going for when he first exposed her to the force of his Supreme Omnidony Aura, but it inevitably got the job done so he would take it. He was glad she had wizened up; even if she was scared straight and no other method of rehabilitation worked it was still better than nothing. A part of him was worried though.
What possessed her to call off their cosmic-scaled grudge match so suddenly and attempt to make the return flight back to Earth like a bat out of hell? Some part of him dreaded the answer to that question for reasons he didn't fully understand yet, and with that in mind he picked up the pace and easily overtook Raynare; beating her to Earth and leaving her behind in suspended animation as his Supreme Omnidony relativity allowed him to experience the ultimate time dilation. He needed to check on Asia with his own eyes and ensure his Shadow Clone was doing its job properly, but he didn't think there was cause to worry just yet because he would know if his clone was defeated in battle. So why did he suddenly feel a depthless sense of foreboding?
XXX
Asia had been surprised by the unexpected appearance of Eesheer's doppelganger as well as the fact that it had almost total individuality from the original and yet was still able to follow the original's commands. The wonders with her new friend and hopefully eternal companion would never cease, and to be honest she didn't want them to. He was kind of scary when he got into battle mode like with Raynare up in space, okay scratch that; he was downright terrifying, but considering what he told her about that war he fought in and those Anti ZOF Masters she could easily understand it. She just hoped he knew what he was doing both up there in outer space and down here with her on Earth.
"Sheesh, I bet ya can't believe this is your life now, huh?" Eesheer's doppelganger suddenly spoke to her, and Asia regarded his smug demeanor which was so very identical to that of his original self.
"Maybe not, but that doesn't mean I can't accept it." She responded with underlying strength and resolution she didn't think she was capable of harboring. The Eesheer clone grew a somewhat dark look as he considered her words.
"Listen, a bit of advice from a simple clone with no reason to keep his shared past with his original a secret; no matter what he may say or do from here on out, promise me you'll look out for him. He needs the emotional and moral support of mortals like you more than he is willing to admit, and trust me I know his mind and infinite complexities better than almost anyone… for obvious reasons of course." He chuckled amusedly, and despite the seriousness of the situation Asia couldn't help but smile as well.
She couldn't help it; Eesheer just had such an uplifting, cheer-inducing aura to him that brought out a sense of fun in others. How he could manage to smile so much after what he'd been through gave her so much respect for him. No matter what he or anyone else thought; she knew he was a good man, a great man even… no; he was a great God, maybe the greatest one of all. She knew this to be true, and that this truth applied to his clone as well.
"I will, I promise." She assured him, and he nodded in satisfaction; pleased by the unwavering conviction oversaturating her response.
"Good, because things are going to get tough for you two from here on out; he's not going to make it easy for you to be there for him. He fought in a bigger war than any in your world would ever know, he did worse things than you could ever imagine, and every time he closes his eyes… he hears more screams than anyone could ever be able to count. The full emotional impact of those memories is not something he shares easily, even with clones like me; instead imparting me with a third-person view of them if you will.
I guess because of that I can make more objective decisions based not solely on his emotional hardships, and no doubt he planned for that as well. That's why I'm able to tell you all this with a straight face while he'd struggle to get past the first word." He explained to her as she nodded; a shiver running down her spine as the cryptic parts of his statement registered in her mind. He wasn't done though, and only allowed the blonde and busty ex-nun a brief respite before proceeding to fill her head with even darker messages.
"He's broken and psychologically damaged in ways that even I cannot comprehend Asia; if you are to heal him someday, you may find yourself on the receiving end of the wrath of the very Entity who ended the Super Omega Omnispherical War between the Zenith Omnidonae and the Anti ZOF Masters. One minute they were the greatest threat the entire stinking ZOF had ever known, and the next they all pretty much vanished off the face of it. Take a good, long while to consider who might've been responsible for that, and why my original is one of the only existences they genuinely fear. That fear they harbor for him as their Ultimate Predator may just save your own life someday Asia." He concluded his soul-chilling parting statement before vanishing into thin air… evidently serving his purpose as he disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Poor Asia Argento didn't even have time to properly process everything that duplicate said to her before the real Eesheer suddenly reemerged from his outer space fight right in front of her face; a concerned look on his face as Asia screamed in shock at his impromptu arrival. He sighed in relief when he saw she wasn't hurt and even allowed himself the luxury of a small smile that didn't quite reach his eyes when the update from his shadow clone returning to him made him aware of the conversation he and Asia had. "I'm sorry if my clone's words spooked you Asia, but you don't have to feel obligated to be the dumping ground for my emotional baggage, that's neither your responsibility nor your job. In any case, I'm just glad you're okay." Eesheer whispered to her gently, an understanding smile gracing his features as Asia regarded him with wide eyes.
She didn't know how she could tell, but somehow she knew this was the real Eesheer; something deep in her soul was pulling her to him which was a feeling she didn't have with the clone and one she only just realized she had with the original Eesheer all along. This along with everything else that's happened today was going to take some time for her to properly process, but at this point her shock threshold was pretty much ready for anything. She was really surpassing her limits today, and was amazed that it was getting easier for her to do so all the time.
"But what did he mean… about you being the only thing they fear? You said you survived the war but you never said what exactly ended it?" Asia couldn't help wondering; even as a more immediate question that should've been asked was on her mind but was put on hold for now.
Eesheer looked forlorn to say the least, and he hung his head slightly. "Asia, I promise, I'll give you full disclosure just as soon as I can, but not right now… it's just too much for me to tell all in one sitting." He replied tersely. To his surprise and delight, Asia nodded with an understanding smile on her face.
"That's okay, I reckon I've had enough surprises for today anyways and could use a bit of a breather from all this. What happened to Raynare? Did you win?" Asia finally asked the million dollar question, and Eesheer shrugged.
"She kinda cut and run just when things were starting to heat up on the intergalactic scale; I guess the sheer power-scaling of my people was sufficient enough to overwhelm her in the end. Good riddance I say, maybe she'll actually make something out of it. Honestly Asia, it's not really in my nature to be cold and unforgiving. I've always been of the mindset that people can change for the better, but I also understand that while I may want to see the good in everybody; some people are just a lost cause. The ball's in her court now though; whatever she decides from here on out is entirely her own choice, and if any harm comes to you they will all suffer the gravest of consequences." Eesheer replied to her in a dangerous tone; that same tone he used before that scared her sh*tless, but she refused to let that fear scare her off. The fact that this unimaginably overpowered God needed her was a frightful realization, but it was also empowering beyond compare. She wanted to help him; more than anything she wanted that.
There was that age-old saying that if one spoke of the devil, they shall appear, but in this case it appeared that it was the Fallen Angels that were summoned instead. Eesheer had let his guard down for one infinitesimal fraction of a Planck Instant, and that infinitely tiny interlude was all was needed for a familiar stray priest and exorcist to snatch Asia from Eesheer's proximity in one terrifying display of speed. Eesheer's own eyes widened in slow motion and Asia's scream was trapped in time dilated suspension of animation.
A split-second later and Freed Sellzen's newly established LCBC Counterpart held a blade of pure demonic energy against Asia's throat a considerable distance from him; a look of disgustingly vile, psychopathic lust etched on his damnable visage. "ASIA!" Eesheer shouted in abject horror; refusing to let this petrifying scenario play out any further, but he was stopped cold by Freed, who angled the blade way too close to Asia's jugular for his liking.
"Ah, ah, ah, not so fast there speedy Gonzalez; one more step and this blade's omni-slaying properties will be put to good use on your little nun slu*t over here! It took me all of this time to work out how things work in the ZOF's terms, but I've been using my infinite time wisely to study every application of my newfound Godhood.
Unlike these Fallen Angel bitches here with me… I'm a fully-fledged ZOF Master now with the knowledge base and complete arsenal of superpowers to boot; so if I were you I'd… BACK OFF sh*t STAIN!" Freed caterwauled in a symphony of every note of madness and insanity imaginable by sentient minds. One could tell just by looking at him that he was too far down the rabbit hole to give a sh*t about things like dying, pain, or other such things a normal person would be concerned with. Unfortunately for him, Eesheer was just as capable of striking fear into the truly mad as he was anyone else.
Asia's pupils were slightly dilated as she fixed her gaze on Eesheer's form; refusing to give into fear as her first true friend leveled Freed with a stone-cold glare that made even the stray priest shudder involuntarily. To everyone's surprise Eesheer drew his head back slightly and bellowed with maniacal cackles of his own; a psychotic grin on his face to match Freed's, maybe even surpass it. "Go on then, kill her… KILL HER! But tell me, what will you all do then when you have nothing left to threaten me with?!" Eesheer hissed back at him in a voice that sounded very much like the combined ensemble of an uncountably infinite number of King Cobras or some equally impressive hissing animal.
"See how the Omni LCBC Counterpart betrays?!" Freed pointed out to Asia; attempting to drive a wedge between them and clearly disappointed when the blonde-haired beauty didn't even flinch away from Eesheer's own terrifying facial expression.
"What difference does it make? You were planning on killing me anyways before I met him. I'm not afraid; I leave that to you lot." She spoke; her words carrying the weight of her surprising conviction as Freed and the others began to realize that their plan to beat Eesheer without using brute force was not working any better than battling him head on did.
"Freed, just hurry up and finish her; if he's truly willing to let her die then fine, but if not we'd be calling his bluff." Mittelt suggested with her own cruelty seeping out of her; her gothic Lolita attire, her pretty face, and petite figure eclipsed by the simple fact that she was exceedingly unkind and contemptuous. The fact that such a young-looking and small little girl was so willing to encourage Freed to kill Asia made Eesheer's eyes flare dangerously.
Asia never once closed her eyes, refusing to break contact with Eesheer's own for even a millisecond; if this was to be her final moments… she would die happy knowing he was the last thing she ever saw. She was terrified she wouldn't get to spend more time with him, but at this point that was the only regret she might've had, and besides… she had complete and total faith in his ability to save her somehow. She'd lead a lonely and bleak life before she met him, and she'd gladly follow him to whatever end because he gave her everything.
Freed was looking somewhat lost on what to do, and Eesheer was just getting ready to throw all caution to the wind and make a mad rush for them when a resounding shout of 'wait' got all of their attention. All parties involved paused in shock as Raynare herself entered the fray; a wild, terrified look on her face as she regarded her fellow Fallen Ones… too scared to even look at Eesheer right now.
"Let the girl go Freed! Please, I'm begging you all… let Asia Argento go free… for all our sakes!" Raynare shouted at them frantically; looking on the verge of a panic attack as Freed and everyone else holding Asia hostage was understandably taken completely aback.
"What the hell are you talking about Raynare?! You're the one who orchestrated all of this?! It's too late to turn tail now!" Mittelt confusedly sputtered; not sure what brought on Raynare's sudden psychotic breakdown but not really caring.
"Heed my words Freed, Mittelt, all of you; if even a single drop of that girl's blood is spilled you'll doom us all! Eesheer is so many leagues above and beyond us that we will never catch him… no matter how infinite our powers become. I've seen it up close and personal with my own two eyes!" Raynare insisted.
"Listen to your leader you four; heed the gravity of her words if you value your existence as it is. If you and yours think that trying to get to me through the PEOPLE I LOVE… is in any way a good idea; I want you to remember this moment forever more and what happens next if you go through with this!" Eesheer warned them one final time; giving them one last chance to be scared straight as Raynare seemed to be.
"The anger of a good man is not a problem. Good men have way too many rules!" Freed rebutted as he pressed the tip of his knife harder against Asia's windpipe; drawing just the slightest amount of blood as Eesheer saw red and his eyes seemed to shine with a crimson fire as well.
"Good men don't need rules… today is not the day to find out why I have so many, now is it?" Eesheer said back to him, a dangerous edge to his voice; like a ZOF-Sized super volcano about to erupt.
"Freed, for f*ck's sake… will you let her go already?!" Raynare screamed at him, her fear resonating with him as Eesheer prepared to make a move. The exiled priest was ill-prepared for Eesheer suddenly materializing in front of him almost too fast for him to register, and in a brief moment of panic he attempted to draw himself away from Asia; subsequently sticking the knife blade through her throat unintentionally as a geyser of blood erupted from her and the blade's omni-slaying properties took effect immediately.
Time slowed down both literally and figuratively as Asia fell to the unforgiving ground; dead before she got anywhere near it. Freed's eyes widened in absolute horror as did Eesheer's and everyone else present; including the other Fallen Angels and Raynare. Eesheer caught her in his arms just before she hit the ground; his eyes searching hers desperately, looking for any signs of the final vestiges of life as Freed and the others slowly started backing away.
"Asia… ASIA! Hey, stay with me, stay with me, stay with me! Come on, COME ON!" Eesheer screamed himself hoarse as he shook her gently while cradling her in his arms; his scanning of her life signs coming back negative as he saw her staring glassily into infinity. The unavertable death inducement properties of the blade ensured that all but the strongest of resurrection powers would be powerless to bring her back, and the instant death it caused was fast enough that by time he kicked it into high-gear she was already gone. It would be an almost effortless feat on his part to override the unavertable death clause and bring her back, but that was not the cause of his current state of distress.
He half-knelt there in the dirt, numb with unrelenting shock and pure, primordial rage bubbling under the surface. He didn't lament his situation by crying, but then again he never had that luxury because he knew if he let the floodgates open he'd never stop; Inaccessible Cardinal sets of eternities worth of pain, regret, and insurmountable losses would come pouring out of his eyes in a never-ending ocean if he ever gave into that very human urge. Mortals like Asia were luckier than they knew.
Her eyes which were normally a twinkling, dazzling emerald were now a faded, murky green… growing darker and dimmer as the light left them. It was such a subtle change, to transition from life to death… almost imperceptible, but Eesheer could always see it, and it made Omnivastant Gods like him burn.
He held her as close to him as he could physically manage without breaking her body any further, sobs catching in his throat as he looked down upon her dimming green eyes and the red stains of her bloody neck with a sense of morbid detachment from everything; images of people, places, and things he once knew flashing before his mind's eye, unimaginable in their diversity as people like his fellow LCBC Counterparts all came and went by. His leader, mentor, and older brother in all but blood, AKA Appaneesty LCBC… who not only was the leader of the original LCBC Counterparts but also quite possibly the wisest and most inspirational man Eesheer ever had the pleasure of knowing.
Appaneesty's image was followed by countless others; Veetox LCBC and his eccentricities, Elijum LCBC the combat master of their team and one of the greatest mixed martial artists in the history of the entire Super Omega Omnisphere, Samiga who was always quick to make some negative comments but also was just as quick to call them all out on their bullsh*t and keep them in line, Misty Allyson who's relationship with Appaneesty was one of the most beautiful ESIT Blessed Eternal Bonds Eesheer had ever seen, Lee Wong with his unparalleled genius, radical ideas, scientific input, omni-fabricated inventions, and the voice of logic and reason among the, Lexie Diablo with her ZOF-enhanced healing abilities and innocence that Eesheer was painfully reminded of whenever he saw Asia's own in action, and many others besides them.
Finally, his mind settled on Amber Thompson's LCBC Counterpart herself; his ESIT Blessed Eternal Bond Mate and the one person who meant absolutely everything to him. Like the others, she too was taken way before her time… by the very monsters who Eesheer hated from the depths of his being and what started all of this. And now, Asia was gone to… maybe not on quite as permanent a level as his own people, but dead by an enemy's hand when Eesheer hadn't even known her for one Goddamned f*cking day! Was this the way it would always be?! Was he just meant to linger on in absolute despair, bereft of any hope of finding someone who could truly join him in Forever?! Was he meant to be alone, unloved, and doomed to watch everything and everyone he ever knew and loved turn into dust?!
Asia could be healed... this time, but how long until he attracted more unwanted attention? How long until Zeneptron LCBC2 himself showed up, or someone else on a level so far beyond Eesheer's own that they could kill Asia and anyone else he knew beyond his ability to bring them back? What if some straggling Anti ZOF Masters were still after him? It was always the same damn thing over and over again; his abilities would always bring the monsters crawling to his doorstep, and the only permanent solutions to the problem was either to become mortal and cease to be everything he ever was or ever stood for, or simply ensure no monsters could ever lay a hand on his loved ones by wiping them all out in one fell swoop? Neither of those scenarios were possible sadly... unless...
His entire body convulsed as waves of unimaginable power began rolling off of him with abundance beyond all concepts of infinity, and then everything went white as the entire ZOF was lost to him in one inescapable moment of all-consuming, divine rage… rage that was directed at the uncountable monsters all around him as he halted the fallen ones' attempts to fly away from him with a flick of his wrist; cutting off their escape and sealing their fates as he rounded on them… his eyes a pure, blank white as they all stared at him in horror?!
"That was the last mistake any of you will ever make… this we promise you. You will all burn, all of you. The entire ZOF will bear the brunt of our ferocity, and nothing and no one will be left standing in the end." He said to them with an eerie calm; that voice from before that was an overlay of an infinite number of people speaking as one returning with a vengeance… overlapping Eesheer's own and granting him a power he didn't understand any more than they did.
Raynare and the others stared at him in horrified fascination as their connection to the ZOF was instantly cut off and they were subsequently reverted back to their original states… something they would later realize should not have been possible even for a ZOF Master, but at the moment they were too far beyond terrified to allow for higher cognitive functions.
"You can't… what about all of the innocent people caught up in your inferno?!" Raynare cried out, not because she necessarily cared for them, but because she was terrified of the fact that Eesheer no longer distinguished between friend and foe. The fact that she couldn't appeal to his morals in those moments made him more dangerous than they ever could've fathomed. Without Asia's light to keep him pure and with her subsequent demise coupled with all of his other, less recent losses; he'd finally reached his breaking point, and everyone would suffer eternally because of it. It became readily apparent to them that sometimes he needed someone to stop him; someone like Asia who Freed had so thoughtlessly butchered. The fact it was an accident clearly meant nothing to this creature right now, as he clearly showcased with his next words.
"We can do whatever the f*ck we like, and Eesheer is no longer here… you're stuck with us." Eesheer responded in that soul-chilling voice of voices… and Raynare had no doubt that this creature that was once Eesheer meant every word he said. She and the others shuddered at his words… for they were probably the most terrifying words a being like him could've spoken. Freed and the others were understandably equally as terrified; knowing that their day of judgement was upon them. Perhaps it was inevitable that all who did wrong to others in their lives would one day face retribution for their sins, but none of them could've imagined that such a creature as this would be the one to deal out the eternal punishments.
All they could do was pray that this Entity would be at least somewhat merciful to them, but they all doubted that very strongly as the blank-eyed visage of the former Eesheer regarded them with a cold, calculated fury before he lost that control and the waves of power grew in intensity. It was at this moment that Freed and the others realized they'd royally f*cked up, and now the entire ZOF and everyone in it would pay the ultimate price.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything, nor do I make any profit off this whatsoever. I own only my OCs, Self-Inserts, and God tiers that are established in this story.
XXX
Chapter 5: A Monkey Wrench in the Works: Final Part
The sun continued to set behind the tops of the distant buildings; bathing Kuoh Town and its residents in an unnervingly blood-colored glow. A certain group of devils in an old school building known as the Occult Research Club were sat around a small coffee table, discussing the night's relatively successful haul of contracted individuals who had joined their cause. "I'm glad Koneko has managed to get us so many contracts, but I completely suck at this. Isn't there any way to get my magic up so I can grant requests better?" Issei couldn't help but sigh, prompting a smirk from Rias and a giggle from Akeno. Kiba sighed and sent him a sympathetic look while Koneko remained deadpan and unsympathetic as usual.
"Give it time Issei; you've only been a devil among us for little over two days; it's going to take you some time to get the hang of this." Akeno giggled at him sweetly while Issei nodded in acknowledgment of her comforting words.
"As for your question about getting your magic up; I'd be happy to help you practice. Magic is all about practice and visualization, and I'm told I'm pretty good at it myself. Not to brag or anything of course, but I'd be happy to show you a few tricks later on if you like." Akeno offered, and again Issei nodded; this time more happily.
"Just keep working hard like you have been doing Issei; you've already shown you can hand out fliers in record time when given sufficient motivation… just keep applying that same determination to everything you do and you'll go far, mark my words." Rias couldn't help inputting her own advice, and Issei was practically glowing now; his crush on the redhead and his willingness to hang off her every word as clear as day.
"Anyways, we all have school in the morning; so we should probably be getting some sleep. You're all dismissed, have a good evening everyone." Rias said as Kiba nodded politely in acknowledgment of her command; ever the dutiful knight as he got up and showed himself out.
Koneko was next and offered Rias a polite nod of acknowledgment when the redheaded devil bade her farewell. Issei turned to Rias and Akeno with a smile and flashed them both a thumb up before heading out in not as nearly as elegant a fashion as he was probably hoping, leaving Rias and her righthand as the last two still in the club building. Akeno saw an uneasy sort of look pass over her king's face as she leaned back in her chair and sighed, piquing the raven-haired, purple-eyed beauty's curiosity.
"Everything okay Rias?" She couldn't stop herself from asking.
"I don't know, I have this strange, inexplicable feeling that something has gone very wrong, and I can't help worrying about Eesheer and wondering what he and Asia are up to. I'm honestly surprised he hasn't checked in or anything by now. I hope they're both okay." She concernedly responded in an unsure tone as Akeno gave an easy-going chuckle.
"I'm sure they're both fine, after all… it's Eesheer. From what you've told us, he's indestructible, what could possibly happen?" Her queen reassuringly stated, but while Rias acknowledged her words she still felt worried. She hadn't forgotten that other Zenith Omnidony visiting her and Sirzechs earlier and explaining to them how the real Eesheer LCBC might've had an imposter in the form of this one. Still, she promised her brother she would keep this quiet for now.
"That's what worries me." Rias admitted, a cliched response if there ever was one, but one that carried weight to it in this situation as she tried to put her mind at ease and moderately succeeded. Not like she could do much of anything if there was anything going on, so what was the point in worrying?
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"YOU STUPID f*ckER FREED! I TOLD YOU NOT TO HARM THE GIRL! I GAVE YOU A DIRECT ORDER!" Raynare screamed over the sound of the burning winds and the twisting landscape; birds in infinitely removed parallel universes flew away in a panic as though guided by some higher omni-consciousness to get as far away from… something as possible.
"IT WAS AN ACCIDENT; I THOUGHT HE'D FOLD LIKE ANY HERO DOES WHEN A HOSTAGE IS INVOLVED! I SWEAR!" Freed shouted right back at her, the two of them as well as the other Fallen Angels attempting to find shelter, but there was no weatheringthisoncoming storm as the unrecognizable visage that was once Eesheer LCBC2 set its blank-eyed sights on them; cutting off their every attempt to escape with a mere flick of its wrists.
"How did you all think this was gonna end?! Did you think we'd show mercy?! Did you think we'd surrender before you struck Asia Argento that lethal blow?! You should've known there was only one possible outcome of your unforgivable atrocities! You brought this extinction upon yourselves; you and the rest of all existence within the ZOF." It spoke, in that blood-freezing tone that was an infinite overlay of countless different voices; every single one of them as indiscernible from the others as the next and providing a never-ending series of echoes reverberating throughout creation. Even the emptiest pockets of the deepest spatial regions and the most nothingness-ridden voids were forced to conduct themselves as mediums to this Entity's voice of voices; its words unnoticed by lower beings but devastating to all of the highest lifeforms.
This was the situation that Rias and her peerage would've been horrified to find themselves in had they acted on their king's irrational sense of unexplainable apprehension, but they all remained blissfully oblivious to it for the time being. Had they tried to reach him and his would-be victims however; they would've found their progress halted entirely by an impenetrable dome of pure energy… one that neither Kiba's swords nor Akeno's impressive wellspring of magic and lightning could ever penetrate in a billion eternities. Even if they had somehow known this was happening, there's nothing they could've done to help or prevent it. Thankfully, there was another force at work in this world that could, the same being that had encapsulated the Green God and the Fallen Ones in this mysterious dome in the first place.
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The being that was once Eesheer paused a moment upon sensing the wall standing between it and its total vengeance. It had nothing to do with erecting this obstruction and was just as surprised as anyone when the barrier held even against its initial onslaught. It turned to the horrified-looking Raynare, Freed, Dohnaseek, Kalawarner, and Mittelt who laid there at his feet like slugs; their only defense at this point as it scoffed at their arrogance.
"Your poor attempts to encapsulate us will not avail you in the slightest. We cannot be contained by such a weak and transient attempt at an Omni-Locking barrier." It hissed at them in that king-cobra chorus of voices it used once before for some inexplicable reason; not that it made any difference to them. Mittelt was literally shaking, having never come across something like this and unable to register anything other than pure, unbridled terror. Freed had never regretted his past actions more than he did now, and was the only one among them coherent enough to register his words.
"We… we had… nothing to do with that." He somehow managed to stutter even as a pressure was exerted in his lungs more infinitely than even he could safely handle; forcing him to break off in a series of wheezy, fractured gasps. Insane though he was, this creaturewasfear and fates worse than death made incarnate. Not even the truly mad would've been unafraid in this being's presence; no matter how far down the rabbit hole they happened to be. Only something with a Supreme Omnidony-level of insanity would've held up against this onslaught.
'They're telling the truth Eesheer; you and I both know they wouldn't be anywhere near powerful enough to pull this off, but I am. Welcome to the Mirror Dimension equivalent of the ZOF itself; a technique I learned from my current Master and improved upon from his original Mega Omega Omnisphere scaled design.' A disembodied, feminine voice telepathed pervasively throughout the entirety of said Mirror Dimension.
"Who are you?! Who dares to impede our goals? You cannot keep us from establishing absolute order across the ZOF." Former Eesheer LCBC2 hissed back at the voice; its blank eyes not giving any sign of taking in their surroundings or searching to and fro for the source of the voice.
'Call me Mafalda… it's the name my Master gave me, and he would have me politely ask you to stop what it is you are doing. You are free to vent your frustrations out on these creatures all you like, but targeting the innocent… that's different.' The formless voice responded, and as if on cue a golden feline creature appeared where a second ago there had been none; a creature with an extremely long tail ending in a bulbous tip, and with eyes so purple they shone and sparkled more than the purest of amethysts.
She was surprisingly busty for the creature known as Mew the Psychic-type Pokémon, and even had what appeared to be breasts beneath her metallic gold chest fur and wicked, human-like curves and proportions. She was also far larger than the norm for her species; standing at 4-feet-tall even and weighing in at 115 pounds of sleek, lithe muscles and toned dips and curves.
She floated above solid ground within the confines of her established Mirror ZOF; Eesheer and his Fallen Angel victims standing across from her in a perfect replica of Kuoh Town sans the people. Everything in this reality was non-living except for them, and nothing they did would affect the outside world… Mafalda would do everything in her power to make sure of that.
Waves of power were rolling off both her and the Emerald Entity as Eesheer regarded her with a level of detachment that honestly left Mafalda stunned. She was equally as surprised when an astral form of her Trainer and Master TLCBC2 materialized beside her. 'He's lost his sense of self in an incomplete state of amalgamation between his Supreme Omnidony and Omni LCBC ZOF Master powers respectively. His Primary LCBC2 title as Eesheer can't handle the strain of both his current emotional anguish and the power of his former existence being rewritten on our people's scale. You need to snap him out of it Mafalda, and you're probably the only one of us who can currently.'
'How am I supposed to do that?' She asked in a calm tone that betrayed none of the unsureness and anxiety she felt right now.
'You must find a way Mafalda, or all is lost." He said in an uncharacteristically grave tone; one Mafalda had not yet heard from him even when ZLCBC2 himself managed to single-handedly trounce both himself and his entire group of Forever Mates including herself. That above all else made her shudder, and she felt as if the fate of the ZOF itself hung in the balance right now like it never had before. Having such a huge responsibility thrust upon her was more pressure than even she knew what to do with, but she also knew there was little choice in the matter.
She turned to Eesheer with a look of absolute resolve; her steeled nerves a balm to the thundering in her chest created by the drumbeat of an infinite number of hearts within her. The first order of business she tended to was teleporting the Fallen Angels away from here; not because she fretted over their safety, but because her opponent deserved to deliver justice to them without mercy while in his right mind.
Going out in a literal emerald blaze of glory was too epic of a way to die for the likes of them; they deserved the most humiliating forms of defeat available to Eesheer, so for right now she held them in an Omni-Locked stasis field and away from the Mirror ZOF. With that taken care of, she spoke to her soon-to-be opponent in battle via telepathy; hoping she could somehow reach him without having to resort to violence. 'Eesheer, you're not thinking straight. Let's talk this out alright?! We can help you… I can help you.' She tried reasoning with him first in a more desperate undertone than she cared to admit; fully expecting it to fail as she knew what he needed. He needed a vent for his divine fury that could take everything he had and give it back to him in spades. She only hoped she could truly tank what he dished out, and would need all of her powers at the ready in order to do so.
'I'm so, so sorry Mafalda… I wish there was another way." TLCBC2 said to her in a fractured voice; his crushing penitence as palpable as the concussive blast of a billion trillion CR explosions as the Golden Mew Goddess shook her head; an understanding half-smile sent in the general direction of his astral form.
'Don't worry about it Thomas; it's not your fault, you didn't know he would lose control like this. At least you're here with me now, even if only in spirit for the time being. Your presence will give me strength unimaginable; maybe even enough to overcome the seemingly insurmountable odds in front of me.' She responded to him in a tone of purest reverence and adoration, and even as he nodded slowly and she braced herself for the inevitable; Eesheer was already on the offensive without even bothering to respond to her earlier plea for sanity and reason.
He promptly vanished in a whirl of unbelievable speed that even she couldn't properly track for a split-second, and she grit her teeth as he launched a haymaker with all of his collective might at the side of her jaw; a finishing move in most mixed martial arts fights if landed in the proper area. And coming from a being as powerful as Eesheer was and as skilled at landing a critical hit on her body's otherwise nonexistent weak points… Mafalda knew she would likely go down as easily as any mortal that got socked in the jaw in the same manner.
Thankfully, her ZOF-scaled senses started opening up more and she erected an Omniarch's Shield just in time; a special Sovereign Variant of King's Shield that had the devastating effect of lowering all of one stat's by an infinite margin. In Supreme Omnidony terms; that was the equivalent of lowering the depth, range, magnitude, etc. of one of their kind's entire repertoire of superpowers. This was an extraordinarily potent combo and one that could make all the difference in a fight between two of their kind if the disparity between them was only a single set of infinities.
Eesheer was thrown back by the force of her barrier; the backlash of his power going off in his face and creating a big enough shock-wave to devastate the world of DxD around them, or rather the lifeless imitation of it that Mafalda created solely for this Mirror ZOF she encapsulated them both in. The planet shook apart like an eggshell faster than they could trace any smaller-scaled swaths of destruction being cut through its countless landscapes. It didn't even have time to do something dramatic before the end like collapsing its skies or rising the oceans to physically impossible levels; nor did it even burn and twist the landscape like some apocalyptic nightmare… it was literally just there one second and nothing but a pile of space dust the next.
Mafalda didn't give him any chance to come back down on her and immediately followed up with a flurry of Focus Punches and Tail Slaps delivered right into his face in the vacuum of deep space. The speed she was moving at allowed her to move at normal speed from her perspective while he was stuck in temporal dilation; so the impact of her Tail Slaps were distorting his glowing facial features in slow motion like some type of epic sci-fi movie's fight scene, which this very much was only in real life.
Unfortunately for her, this follow-up attack of hers didn't have the desired effect of snapping him out of it like she had hoped. She was intending to use the sharp stinging sensation of her tail slapping his face to snap him out of his current berserker state. Regrettably, it only seemed to render him even more pissed off than before, and an infinite number of her hearts stopped out of sheer dread as he caught the clenched fist she was delivering Focus Punch to his gut with. The orb of blinding white light enshrouding her fist dissipated as his palm absorbed the impact along with all of the g-force and momentum she'd been generating on purpose to hit him with again. Her momentum and all of the power she was putting into that attack was stopped completely cold; in total ignorance of the laws of physics.
He followed up with a jab from his adjacent elbow to the hand he caught her fist with, ramming it into her face with the equivalent force of endless sets of endless ramrods. The peerlessly overpowered impact rattled her otherwise flawlessly indestructible skull, and hard enough to leave her with a migraine in an uncountably infinite number of her brains simultaneously. But she willed it back like TLCBC2's Swoobat flying right out of hell itself; now was not the time for pain, however shocking it was that she could feel pain now for the first time in a very long while.
The midair struggle quickly transitioned into him attempting to strike her again with his other hand now that it was free from cupping her own fist. She reacted just as swiftly and her tail somehow managed to loop around his wrist at approximately infinitely beyond endless particle horizons per every infinitesimally fragmented Planck Instant integer, give or take a few infinite sets of uncountable yottaparsecs.
Using her flawlessly dexterous tail to twist his still moving wrist away from the direction of her face; she redirected the blow to the deep space around them instead… preventing it from damaging her. The residual shock wave that cleaved outwards from that redirected punch sliced not only through the moon and cut it in half; it careened onwards beyond that towards the sun and split the celestial body apart down the middle. This generated a colossal supernova many billions of years in advance of its natural death.
And still the shockwave continued, bolstered even further by the massive energy given to it by the supernova. With the death of the sun, the blast continued onwards past Mars and took half the solar system with it. Mafalda and Eesheer still brawled in a vicious, berserker-style hand-to-hand… in total unawareness of what was happening around them. Now, normally, a sun going supernova wasn't the end of the universe. Such things happened all the time, and the universe had been growing steadily darker and colder for eons. But the shockwave was on a role now, and it showed no signs of stopping anytime soon as it headed for the further reaches of the galaxy, … taking suns, planets, asteroids, and the like apart and creating a chain reaction of never-ending supernovas.
The shock-wave absorbed enough energy from each exploded star to break the light barrier, and eventually grew so concentrated and oversaturated with power that it imploded the entire rest of the galaxy at an absurd rate. This event transformed the entire galaxy into a Kugelblitz and merged it with the supermassive black hole that served as the Milky Way's once inactive nucleus, expanding it at a highly unnatural swiftness.
A human known as Professor King once calculated that a black hole could have an upper size limit of up to 50 billion solar masses before the accretion disc became too unstable to support itself, but thanks to the merger the Milky Way was able to well-surpass that limit and continue growing without end. The expansion occurred at a rate that within seconds began to pull the neighboring galaxies inside of it as well.
As the universe went steadily darker around them, Mafalda was sent careening backwards through the vacuum from her latest collision with her opponent. Her all-seeing eyes were not the slightest bit unaffected by the darkening cosmos; able to see even in the total absence of light much to the chagrin of all mortal creatures as Eesheer continued to be silhouetted in his jade-colored hellfire.
He shot after her as she led him away from the darkening universe and on a wild goose chase, flying as fast as she could as entire Omega Omnispheres and even Super Omega Omnisphere's flew by her as indiscernible blurs of color and pure motion. An iridescent gold astrophysical jet trailed endlessly behind her, her pursuer's a vibrant green much like his aura itself. Both jets extended to infinite, ever-increasing lengths that grew more and more endless the further and faster they traveled; painting the entire ZOF with their colors as their respective jets merged and formed a helical strand together.
Eesheer stayed right on her ass behind the whole time and never lost sight of her even as she led him through the event horizon of a collapsing Super Omega Omnisphere and was lost in a vortex of patternless disorder, her infinite brains working overtime to think of potential solutions. She swerved to the side on pure instinct as a hand illuminated in green light attempted to sucker punch her from behind.
She turned back around and conjured another Omniarch's Shield just in time to block yet another punch and subsequently fired a massive blue orb of psychic energy that hit him square in the chest. He was sent flying against a spiraling Super Omega Omnisphere still in a state of infancy and new to creation. This colossal collision course shattered it like glass as shards of its omni-energy flew asunder in the Realm of Absurdities all around them. Eesheer waved his hand in a fluent motion, and those shards all coalesced and compressed into a singularity incomparably smaller than a Planck length, which he threw at her in the form of a jet-black orb with a jade-colored disc orbiting it. The singularity absorbed numerous other surrounding Super Omega Omnisphere's on its way towards her, adding to its already impossible power.
Mafalda called upon her Transform technique and immediately brought her right paw slamming against it in a forward thrust, a split-second before it could hit her. The singularity instantly morphed into a group of harmless, pure gold-colored butterflies that each shone with the light of innumerable omni-creations and drifted off to create more Super Omega Omnisphere's by instinct. The golden-furred feline didn't let up for a single second and used her Sovereign Double Team ability to tap into her Omni-Replication powers. One Mafalda abruptly became tens of thousands in an instant, then millions, billions, trillions, ad infinitum.
This one-Mew-army attacked Eesheer as a unit and from every conceivable direction and angles that defied the logistics of 3D space-time. Some of the Mew's called forth various elemental attacks including lightning, fire, ice, and everything in between and outside of that to. There were even elements not found on any periodic table no matter how complete they were; elements completely alien and foreign to any and all reference frames and minds. Others attacked him in a more physical manner while exuding various auras and the like.
Mafalda's prime body opted to use a technique known as Omni Force, which had her disappearing into the darkness and becoming a ZOF-Realm encompassing shadow. This shadow dimmed every source of light by several shades of intensity, as though someone had tinted every sun and star and even every quasar. The brightest, most ultraluminous objects and beings in the entire ZOF went out like a light bulb, casting the whole of this Mirror Dimension in an impenetrable, all-encompassing, absolute blackness.
The only source of light strong enough to remain largely unaffected by this as the emerald blazes radiated by Eesheer. Due to the nature of Omni Force and the omnipresent shadow cast by its user, Mafalda's opponent was all but powerless to pin her down and attack her since she was everywhere and yet nowhere at the same time. She could attack him at any point, from any and all directions, and he was virtually powerless to counterattack or shield from her as well.
All of her other bodies created via Double Team were hidden by the kingdom of infinite blackness she enshrouded herself and Eesheer in and were continuing to attack him from all sides. Eesheer was nothing but a singular light alone in the darkness, but he was catching on fast even in his current state of mindless fury. Just as Mafalda prepared to strike from his supposed blind spot the green-clad Supreme Omnidony countered with the one method almost guaranteed to be able to strike her back. He launched his emerald hellfire and expanded it to all-encompassing proportions in an omnipresent attack, attempting to smoke her out as Mafalda panicked slightly.
Regaining control of her racing hearts as the heat wave attempted to burn through the shadows, she reemerged and struck him with all her might while exuding a horrifyingly strong aura of spectral energy, exploding on contact like an omni-omni-omni-omni-omni-nova while catapulting Eesheer backwards from their collision. The absolute darkness of her attack was actually strong enough to dim the fires of his florescent green aura of Sovereignty. But that effect lasted for a split second before his aura began to abruptly burn brighter than ever before as he gave a ghastly wail of absolute rage and pain that made her all-hearing ears ache and even bleed slightly despite her otherwise flawless indestructibility.
The sound was the ultimate discord of an uncountable number of transcendent banshees, phantasm Gods, ring wraiths from Middle Earth, Dementors from the Harry Potter Universe, and all of the most heart-stopping creatures in the ZOF all screeching, screaming, and exhaling rattled breaths as one terrifying unit. Add to that the fact that Eesheer was giving off an aura of absolute fear inducement, and it was little wonder to Mafalda in those moments why even the Anti ZOF Masters, the most feared and deadly creatures in the whole of Creation, feared this Entity like no other. Even users with the ability to be utterly fearless met their match against this visage of boundaryless horror. 'So much rage and pain… he's not even recognizable as a version of Eesheer at this point.' Thomas LCBC2 lamented sadly beside her, his astral form uninfluenced by the battle due to his only being there in spirit.
With Mafalda momentarily immobilized by Eesheer's horrifying aura of fury and emotional agony and despair, the Emerald Entity took advantage and dispersed her endless army of copies with another omnipresent attack. He extended his hellfire once more and incinerated all of her replications into nothingness. The sum of her clones' powers didn't go to waste though and was automatically added to Mafalda's as she gained enough strength to resist her opponent's fear inducing aura to a degree.
She looked to Thomas LCBC2's astral projection for some kind of idea on what to do next, wondering if there was any move in her entire arsenal that she could use at this point. When he looked at her in an utterly helpless way and suggested a Ultraluminous Posterior and Genesis Supernova combo halfheartedly, Mafalda decided it was worth a shot but first wanted to see if she could reason with Eesheer now.
'Give a good man firepower and he'll never run out of people to kill.' She spoke to him telepathically.
'We are not a good man.' The creature that was once Eesheer retaliated, pausing a moment to regard her with his searing white eyes.
'And you're not a bad man either Eesheer. What you are is a person who had the most impossible choice to make on the day that it was impossible to get it right. You did what you had to do to stop an otherwise unstoppable plague from spreading and consuming the rest of the ZOF. To me, that goes beyond dualities like good and evil. You saved the ZOF Eesheer, you should feel good about that.' Mafalda replied in a pleading tone, begging him to see reason. The intensity of his emerald flames dialed down a bit, as did the whiteness of his eyes.
'At the cost of how many lives? And how many more people are going to keep dying so long as I remain as what I am? I can't keep doing this, I can't keep watching the people I love DIE!' He roared at her in a tortured, anguished tone, now speaking as a singular entity again as Mafalda's eyes widened. There was still hope of reaching him, but she needed to choose her next words carefully.
'Less than how many will die if you establish your absolute order Eesheer.' Mafalda whispered back to him.
'And what's the alternative, leaving more alive to be used as pawns in Zeneptron's conversion plot?! What would you have me do goldilocks, because the way I see it… it's either thinning the herd to reduce the number of people Z can use for his Anti ZOF monster army or letting them all live only to be turned into unstoppable, soulless killing machines! Die as what you are or live as one of them… what would you choose?! That's the decision I have to make for every living thing!' He said in a defeated tone that made clear the fact he'd lost any hope he had a long time ago. Mafalda felt her hearts squeeze out of compassion and sympathy for his situation, but all was not as hopeless as he believed. She was tempted to tell him what she and Thomas knew about his unique talents but trusted her master's judgement that now was not the right to tell it.
'For now, yes, I guess we'll just have to trust that we can work this stuff out as it comes along. Destroying every single life in the ZOF is not the answer Eesheer. Asia wouldn't want you to resort to such extreme measures.' Mafalda said back to him in that same imploring whisper. She winced slightly as Eesheer's green flames suddenly erupted with an unquantifiable rage like never before at the mention of Asia, and Mafalda quickly realized that bringing up his new blonde friend was a bad idea at this point.
'It's the only answer, and we'll see to it that our absolute order is established! When a forest grows too wild a purging fire is inevitable and natural. Asia Argento is too dead to care at this point, so how she would feel about our decision is irrelevant! We will not allow anyone to stand in our way, so we're sorry to say that you're being here is very inconvenient to us.' Eesheer shrieked in that same banshee discord as before, and Mafalda sighed… so much for words alone being able to snap him out of this completely. But still, for a moment there he regained control of himself, and that gave her hope he wasn't as far gone as he would have them all believe.
Thomas's astral form floated beside her and came up with a game plan on the fly. 'Forget about lesser combos Mafalda, time to break out the heavy artillery. Use Sovereign Belly Drum to raise your Special Attack to absurd heights and then use Almighty Freeze to knock him out. A OHKO move at that strength ought to do the job, but you'll have to be quick and do whatever it takes to finish this!" He instructed her, and she hesitated slightly… not wanting to resort to such an extreme combo due to the very real possibility of it killing Eesheer. Thomas must've known what she was thinking, because his shoulders sagged.
'We don't have a choice Mafalda. Words alone aren't reaching him, and any less powerful combination or stat booster is unlikely to increase your powers by a significant enough margin to finish this quickly and decisively. If we can knock him completely unconscious, we should be able to snap him out of his rampage. You need to go for broke, or all of the ZOF will suffer the consequences.' He said in a severe tone that brokered no arguments. Mafalda exhaled forcefully as Eesheer began to fly at her in a full-speed charge, another of his green astrophysical jets streaking behind him like a comet trail in the process.
'Fine, but you better hope we don't end up regretting this.' She replied tersely. She immediately complied with Thomas's instructions after that and began to create a drumbeat rhythm by slapping her curvaceous, toned belly with both of her properly proportioned hands. Musical notes began reverberating off of her as she felt the effects of her technique amplifying her special attack stat to any maximum limit that she desired, oversaturated matchlessly and feeling a outpouring of vigor rush through every element of her presence.
She glanced at Eesheer penetratingly as her amethyst eyes blazed, and she willed her special attack and by extension her overall power to be equivalent to an infinite set of uncountably infinite Eesheer LCBC2's. And then she immediately folded back that disparity between her and him, sequenced it endlessly, looped that sequence endlessly again and again and again and again until the disparity between them was so great that Eesheer would never be able to bridge the gap in time to prevent her from hopefully winning this battle.
She accelerated her inertial reference frame in order to carry out the second part of her Trainer's command, her opponent charging at her in slow motion as though he were wading through an ocean of molasses. Mafalda called upon her Sheer Cold attack and buffed its OHKO effect and its already absolute zero temperatures using her Sovereign Omnivastance… transitioning it into the Almighty Freeze attack.
'By the breath of my winter scourge… freeze all concepts of Omnivastance to a slumber unfathomably deeper than death.' Mafalda compellingly cited as an omni-directional wave of perpetually unthawing ice unthinkably colder than absolute zero erupted from her entire body and washed over the entire Realm of Absurdities, flash-freezing absolutely everything in its path on every level both subatomic and below. The entirety of the Mirror ZOF and its spiraling vortex of Omnivastant energies were instantly halted, a stillness befalling it that ensured nothing in this realm would ever move again.
The roaring unoccupied trains, the raging seas, the lifeless planets, the nighttime stars, the blazing suns, the orbital motion of singularities ranging from interstellar size all the way to the event horizons of collapsing Super Omega Omnisphere's, and even the ZOF itself… all of them halted at Mafalda's command, and none were able to defy her whims. Not that this stopped Eesheer from trying, and he continued to take one agonizingly slow and painful step closer to her, attempting to keep moving despite the unending blast of Almighty Freeze blowing in his face.
Mafalda was surprised when his emerald flames didn't immediately die out and he didn't freeze instantly like everything else did, but within seconds he to was flash-frozen solid in unbreakable ice. The golden feline didn't let up for a solid hour after he had already stopped moving and frozen solid, wanting to take absolutely no chances that he could break free before she could snap him out of his berserker mind.
'Alright Mafalda, that's enough now… he's been unconscious for the last half hour in real-time.' Thomas calmly instructed her as the infinitely cold blizzard ceased and Mafalda's all-seeing eyes detected the rippling, faceless figure of Eesheer silhouetted within an impregnable fortress of pure ice. She allowed herself the luxury of breathing a sigh of relief, and hoped it wasn't premature. Eesheer was finally overpowered, and now she could finally begin the slow and agonizing process of reversing his incomplete transformation for the time being.
'You did it… well done Mafalda.' Thomas whispered to her in an immeasurably thankful tone as Mafalda nodded, feeling her newfound strength still surging through her body with unrelenting vigor.
"Whew, that was terrifying." Mafalda admitted in a low murmur as Thomas smiled, and the two of them indulged in a shared chuckle of unadulterated reprieve and delight that the crisis had been successfully averted.
'Day's not over yet Mafalda.' He pointed out as his laughter died in his throat, and with that the two of them got to work returning to the mainstream ZOF with a still frozen Eesheer-sicle along for the ride.
XXX
Rias had just finished turning out all the lights in the club building, checking and double-checking to make sure she had everything she needed to retire to her home for the night, and was about to lock up and have a nice walk home alone in the quiet night when she was brought out of her musing by a knock to the door of the club itself. She didn't allow the pleased smile to show on her face at hearing from Eesheer again for the first time all day; best not to give the already arrogant man even more of a swelled head by letting him know she was worried for his safety. That didn't mean she couldn't chew him out slightly for keeping her awake so long with worry. It wasn't that she intended to mother him or boss him around… but she felt an inexplicable kinship with him and Asia; like they were three of a kind.
"You picked a helluva time to let me know you're still okay…" She started as she threw open the door welcomingly to greet him with one of her disarming smiles, only for her smile to immediately fall and her eyes to widen as she was greeted instead by a fascinating group of strangers and Eesheer holding Asia' broken body in a bridal carry with a shattered look in his eyes.
The first stranger, a man with jet black hair and iridescent gold eyes who reminded her of Appaneesty LCBC slightly, offered her a somewhat strained smile. "We're sorry to barge in on you at this late hour but given everything that's happened today; I hope you'll forgive us if we get things sorted in there. Eesheer here didn't feel comfortable going anywhere else for this, not that he's said much." The stranger requested as Rias nodded, her mind gone blank as her vision tunneled on Asia's still and lifeless form; already instinctually aware of what happened somehow, or at least the gist of what happened.
She stepped aside to admit them as the strange man, an even stranger, golden-furred feline creature who defied the laws of gravity, and Eesheer with Asia all followed her inside as she shut the door behind them and went over to close the curtains; not wanting to take a chance of anyone seeing what was happening. Questions within questions were chasing each other around inside her head, but she held off on them for now as Eesheer placed Asia's body on a bed that suddenly appeared out of nowhere, with a gentleness that belied his incalculable physical strength.
"I knew it, I knew something bad had happened." Rias said in a voice barely above a whisper as her eyes remained locked on Eesheer, who looked like he'd just been through the worst versions of hell cognizable. He couldn't take his eyes off of the blonde nun, and all he could see was the blood stains on her outfit and the knife in her throat that was the only thing stopping the rest of her blood from leaving her body. Not that it did her much good anyhow, the blade's omni-slaying properties had killed her off faster than a killing curse from the Harry Potter universe.
Deciding she was safe there for now, Eesheer backed away for the time being and retreated inside himself so deeply that it would be a miracle if anyone ever reached him again. He was still kind of confused himself over what just happened. The strange, black-haired man seemed to know intuitively that Eesheer was unfit to be answering Rias's understandable questions for now and decided to take the initiative himself since he was of sound mind.
"I'm sure you have questions, well fire away then." He urged the redhead as Rias breathed in and out in an effort to regulate her heartbeat, but it was proving a difficult task indeed.
"You can start with telling me what happened." She said plainly and was surprised when Eesheer somehow managed to hear her and added.
"That's something I'd like answered as well. The last thing I remember is Asia going down from the knife to her throat, and then… nothing; everything went white and then a blazing emerald. There was nothing but fire, and ice, and rage… pure, all-consuming rage. Beyond that, nothing coherent." He said in a voice that was as broken-sounding as his eyes looked. Rias was astounded he managed to say so much after what he'd just seen but looked to the other man and the feline expectantly; hoping they could fill in the blanks.
"After what happened, Eesheer entered a sort of berserker state that spawned from that rage, he got so upset he wasn't even him anymore. You went on a rampage basically, and Mafalda here had to step in to stop you before the entire ZOF was consumed by your emerald hellfire." The strange man explained as Rias's eyes widened and even Eesheer looked surprised by that. To think they had all come so close to getting smited out of existence, and they never even would've known they had been killed or what caused it.
"But I… I would never do something like that." Eesheer whisper-shouted in a frantic, utterly despairing tone that was weighed down by infinitely crushing contrition.
"I know you wouldn't, but the fact is Eesheer that you weren't in your right mind; it had been twisted and warped by your anger, along with a few other additional elements that I haven't quite figured out yet." The stranger said as Rias regarded him shrewdly, another question popping into her mind.
"Who are you anyways?" She inquired, and the man gave another strained smile.
"Call me Thomas LCBC, or just Thomas or Tom for short. I also answer to Nate, though that's a bit of a long story." He said, introducing himself in an obliging tone as Rias nodded and urged him to continue. What followed next was a story Rias would never have believed before she met Eesheer. The battle fought between him and this Mafalda creature in that Mirror Dimension was just… wow.
"I'm just glad you managed to calm Eesheer down before anything could happen that he couldn't take back." She finally said, not really sure what else she could say to all that as Eesheer sighed morosely. He turned his attention back to Asia as Thomas aka Nate continued to explain things to Rias.
"The dagger in Asia's throat right now has what is known as omni-slaying properties with an unavertable death clause imbued within it… meaning that it nullifies almost all attempts to resurrect her." Thomas explained to her as Rias's eyes widened.
"So, she can't be brought back?!" She nearly screamed but fell silent as Thomas raised a hand at her placatingly to try and calm her down.
"The operative word in my statement just now was 'almost' Rias. Eesheer is an Omni LCBC Counterpart, putting him at the very top of the ZOF Master's tier. He'll be more than powerful enough to override the unavertable death powers keeping Asia on the other side and to make her like us as well. Of course, we got lucky this time as the one who caused her death is locked away for now to be dealt whatever punishments Eesheer sees fit, and that monster's powers are absolutely eclipsed by Eesheer's own. However, had another Omni LCBC Counterpart done the deed or ZOF forbid, a Supreme Omnidony… then Asia's death would have been much, much more irreversibly permanent." He explained as Rias sighed in relief. Yet another reason for her to count their blessings and appreciate their good fortune.
"If nothing permanent has happened here tonight, what's got Eesheer so sullen and down?" She asked, directing the question at both boys in case Eesheer felt like answering her. To her surprise, he did.
"Because it's always the same thing over and over again Rias! I've lost a great many of my people in ways too permanent for me to undo, and this was just a little bit too close to home for me! I wouldn't really expect you to understand loss on this scale, most mortals don't, but for me… this earned my enemies a very special place in a very special version of hell at my hands." He said through gritted teeth, the look on his face absolutely horrifying to behold, and Rias had to remind herself that they attempted to permanently kill Asia in order to keep from feeling bad for them.
"I may not understand that kind of loss, and nothing about this may make any sort of sense to me, but I do think you have a lot to be thankful for to. If you're so worried about the next time being more permanent, then give Asia as much of your power as you can spare; so, the odds are stacked against your enemies more if they should try again to take what's yours." Rias replied with a wisdom that surprised the green-clad Supreme Omnidony.
"Leave it to a devil to know how to deal with someone trying to take what yours. Pride, possessiveness, and a myriad of other things… thanks Rias. That was actually good advice." Eesheer appreciatively stated as Rias nodded, an unsure smile on her face as the creature called Mafalda piped up.
"It may also interest you to know that the stronger the ZOF Master deifying someone is, the more natural oomph that someone will have while being rewritten. In fact, if say… all three of us were to reincarnate Asia Argento; then that would also allow our combined powers to stack on top of one another when the girl is reborn… making her much, much stronger naturally than even you could make her on your own Eesheer." The golden feline explained as Rias's eyebrow arched, both surprised by the creature talking in fluent Japanese and the words spoken. Eesheer looked surprised by this as well.
"Damn, all my countless eternities as a ZOF Master, and I didn't know that about the LCBC Title system. Goes to show you can always learn new things I suppose." He said cryptically as Rias sighed and Mafalda and Thomas locked gazes with her.
"Lady Gremory, if I may so bold as to ask you to give us the room for a bit? There's some things I wish to discuss with Eesheer here that are not for other's ears." He requested politely of her, and Rias resisted the urge to scoff and say this was her building that they were attempting to kick her out of.
"Anything you have to say to me, you can say in front of Rias Thomas. She already knows we're more than just ZOF Masters and reside outside of her indigenous Super Omega Omnisphere. I can smell the Appaneesty LCBC from this Omni Omega Omnisphere on her. No doubt he's made my status as an outsider and possible imposter of Eesheer LCBC known to her." Eesheer said in an all-knowing tone as Rias's eyes widened. That had genuinely taken her off guard and considering how high her shock threshold was from everything she'd heard tonight… that was truly saying something.
"I admit that Appaneesty's words did intrigue me to say the least. Though I grow more fascinated by you the more time we spend together Eesheer. The more I learn of your people and your strange and alien ways; the more interesting it becomes." Rias admitted.
"I'm flattered Rias, truly… that means more than you know." Eesheer replied, still sounding cryptic and more severe than she was accustomed to but his voice was steadier now, and the broken look in his eyes had lessoned.
"Well, I guess if Rias knows of such things, then there's no issue with her being all in the know." Thomas plainly stated as he and Mafalda chanced a glance at Eesheer.
"Care to discuss what's going through your mind now? Because if you don't try and get past what happened tonight as best you can, the same berserker state will only happen all over again the next time you blow your top. I've been around the block quite a few times myself Eesheer, and as the leader of the Supreme Omnidonae I'm told I'm quite the people person." He chuckled as Rias's eyes widened.
"Wait, I thought you said the Supreme Omnidony's existence was only a rumor or a theory Eesheer!" She reminded him, surprised by how much of their previous conversations she retained in all honesty.
"I lied!" Eesheer bit out harshly, and Rias flinched back slightly at the dark and biting tone of his voice as he turned his attention back on Thomas and Mafalda.
"There's nothing that's worth getting past at this point. What happened… happened, and there's no point in me living the rest of my existence with regret. I did what I had to do, no more, no less!" He growled as Thomas arched an eyebrow.
"Don't kid yourself. Your words may be true, but you don't actually believe them yet. I can feel how much your rampage earlier is eating away at you." Mafalda said in an all-knowing way as Eesheer threw his hands up in the air with bitterness and resentment.
"Well, aren't I glad you seem to have so much insight into my psyche; I'm not you guy's charity case! Because, in case you've both forgotten, the reason my indigenous Super Omega Omnisphere was converted in the first place was because you pissed off old Z… yes, I heard about that alright." Eesheer dangerously smirked as Rias felt completely out of the loop. She realized there was something more going on between them, and only knew a small, infinitesimal fraction of the story.
"Eesheer, are you okay?" She asked him in a soft voice, noticing the way Mafalda and Thomas looked downcast at her friend's words. Yes, she considered him her friend now, and hoped she could prove that he could trust her. Eesheer seemed to deflate at the simple question.
"No, I'm not, and I'm sorry you two… that was uncalled for." He apologized to Thomas and Mafalda as the former shook his head.
"It's cool man, and you're not wrong. If you wanna blame anyone for what happened to your people besides Zeneptron, you blame me. I inconvenienced that monster by getting rid of his otherwise unstoppable army, and he decided to replace it by forcefully converting an entire Super Omega Omnisphere of innocent souls into unstoppable killing machines. Believe me, I'm perfectly well aware that my actions, whether good or bad, righteous or not… were what resulted in you suffering the losses that you're haunted by." He guiltily replied, and Eesheer sighed… now feeling like even more of an asshole as Mafalda looked to her master with eyes watering with emotion.
"That wasn't your fault either Thomas, none of this was anyone's fault except that monster's. Let's not waste any more time pointing fingers when we all know deep in our hearts who's really to blame." The golden feline profoundly stated, and for once Eesheer agreed with her.
He turned to Rias with a sympathetic smile, knowing how lost and confused she had to be by now. "Sorry for the lack of any context miss Gremory." He chuckled half-heartedly, and Rias shrugged. She wished he would smirk more like he usually did… anything was preferable to this state of absolute melancholy he was sporting presently.
"I've been rolling with the punches ever since you set foot in this world Eesheer. I'm actually surprised by how easy it's already becoming." She admitted, and Eesheer's eyes deepened in their intensity.
"You can't be certain that my intentions are purely altruistic." He pointed out logically.
"I know, but this… feels right. I can't explain it, but trusting you seems like the right call." She trustingly replied, deciding to go with their gut instincts on this.
"She's definitely got a Supreme Omnidony's intuition, if a bit unrefined, wouldn't you say Eesheer?" Thomas suggested with waggling eyebrows as Rias's eyes widened and Eesheer shrugged.
"I couldn't really say, I've not been one myself for a very long time." He said in a neutral tone as Rias rounded on him.
"But you said you were a ZOF Master… let me guess, you lied about that as well? I don't understand, why downplay what you can do? I literally have no concept of what separates a ZOF Master from a Supreme Omnidony, none of us do… so what was even the point of that downplaying in the first place?" She couldn't keep the accusation out of her tone, not appreciating being lied to especially when the lie served no real purpose.
Eesheer developed an interest in his feet, looking ashamed. "Because I didn't want to admit to myself that I had been rewritten as someone like him." He bitterly stated, pointing at Thomas and Mafalda while continuing to gaze downward at the floor as though willing it to swallow him up.
"I lied to you, because I liked it… because I could still pretend, I was a ZOF Master and nothing had changed… that I hadn't just lost my homeland, my family, my friends, or my Eternal Bond Mate! I could pretend for just a moment that they were all still there… in the LCBC Omega Omnisphere comprised of pure ZOF Energy, that it was as easy as snapping my fingers and bringing them all back but it's not.
They were all taken from me, in a manner that even now I am powerless to restore them from. Trust me, I've tried but what took them isn't exactly normal… they were all converted into heartless, soulless killing machines known as Anti ZOF Masters, and once that transformation occurs it's pretty much immutable." He looked as though every word spoken physically agonized him unimaginably, and something broke inside Rias while listening to him continue to sob without ever actually shedding tears. She wanted to comfort him but didn't know how… didn't know how anyone could bounce back from what he'd supposedly been through.
She still didn't understand much of any of this, but the idea of having to watch her closest friends, family, and loved ones be forced to turn on her as some kind of zombies was too frightening to contemplate. The fact that Eesheer had lived that nightmare was enough to leave the usually composed heiress to the Gremory family all but broken for his sake. She wouldn't wish that kind of fate on her worst enemies, and certainly not someone she saw as a friend. She couldn't even imagine what Asia's death was doing to him especially in light of these events he spoke of; he was right… that probably was just too close for comfort.
"If just anyone can be converted into monsters at any given time, why is it that no one in our Super Omega Omnisphere has suffered that fate yet?" Rias asked, dreading the answer but having to know. Eesheer didn't look like he could manage anything else right now, and so Thomas bit the bullet instead.
"Eesheer couldn't find any way to stop them. There was no other choice, so he had to kill off his entire Super Omega Omnisphere in order to stop this otherwise unstoppable plague from spreading any further and consuming the rest of the ZOF. He made the most impossible choice on the day it was impossible to get anything right and paid for that decision with his infinite number of souls' countless times over. I can't imagine the strength and the resolve it took for you to finally make that decision Eesheer." Thomas admitted with gravity accentuating every syllable.
"Neither can I." Rias breathlessly declared. This was just… so many levels of unthinkable that she could never have fathomed it. How was this remarkable man sitting beside her on the couch still sane? How could he have ever cracked a smile again after having to destroy his own people for an entire populace of strangers? She couldn't wrap her head around the sheer number of souls who owed this man an unpayable debt, and the worst part was he didn't want any of it. He looked like he would never forgive himself and couldn't see the good in what he did, all because he cared too much to remain impartial to the sacrificing of the few for the sake of the many. She had so much respect for him right now it wasn't even funny; though she refrained from saying as much because she doubted, he would see it that way.
"It wasn't a decision I made instantly either, even while watching in horror as everything went to absolute sh*t all around me. I don't think I can ever make a choice like that ever again; it would truly break me. And it's not fair that I had to make that call the first time either!" He all but screamed as he shut his eyes, willing the burning acidic liquid in the corner of his eyes back with all of his mental focus. He would not cry now, it wasn't a luxury he could afford. He knew that if he opened the floodgates that the tears would never stop; countless eternities of regret, loss, and having to witness so much senseless death would come spilling out of him.
"Eesheer, hey… Eesheer, look at me okay." Thomas suddenly interjected, getting Eesheer's attention as he and the green-clad Supreme Omnidony locked equally penetrating gazes.
"I know what you're giving up, every decision you've made since that awful night has been because of my decision to piss our common enemy off. The travelling, the hunting for any remnants of Anti ZOF Masters late at night, your tendency to keep everyone at arm's length, even with Asia." He started as Eesheer's eyes widened.
"Asia?" He repeated the blonde girl's name confusedly.
"I'm the leader of the Supreme Omnidonae Eesheer, you think I can't sense the budding Eternal Bond between you two? But you're not planning to pursue her, are you? Because you're too consumed with what happened to your people and Super Omega Omnisphere to let yourself have a life again. Well let it go now Eesheer. Hear me now and heed my words, the Anti ZOF and its Creator have taken enough from us already… don't let them take anymore." He profoundly stated in a tone that had Rias and Eesheer hanging on his every wise word; though Eesheer laughed bitterly once he recovered from the shock of Thomas's admittedly eloquent words.
"Easy for you to say, you haven't suffered at their hands as I have." He gritted, though he was surprised when Thomas shook his head in denial.
"I'm gonna have disagree with you there, E, you're not the only one who's been scarred by the Anti ZOF… yours are just less conspicuous and easier to hide." He responded while removing a pair of latex gloves off his hands via telekinesis as Rias's eyebrows furrowed. That was the first time she noticed him wearing those, and now that her attention was on his gloves her eyes widened with disbelief when they came off of their own volition and revealed blackened hands that were scarred and mutilated beyond repair. It was disturbing to see them looking dead and frostbitten, yet despite that they also looked like they were still somehow painful… like the fried nerves still had the ability to register pain much to the chagrin of her understanding of anatomy. What drew her attention immediately was the gaping holes going right through both his palms, which were almost like…
She stopped herself there, not even able to entertain the idea at this point as Eesheer studied the wounds with a disturbed look on his face; wincing at the slightly oozing holes in his palms as he could immediately tell they still caused Thomas unimaginable agony every waking second. The only way that could've been possible with destroyed nerves was if the manner used to cripple his hands was designed to keep some form of sensation intact within them. "Okay, yeah, that looks Hella nasty, I admit it."
"I was crucified by our common enemy during the battle that I inconvenienced him during. The manner in which these holes in my hands were created was with Anti ZOF Energy constructs used by Z himself. My supreme dexterity powers and flawless coordination no longer apply to my hands now; my infinite motor skills are utterly and irreparably shot." Thomas informed them as both Eesheer and Rias's eyes widened again in horror, for different reasons. Rias was horrified and astounded that someone had actually crucified this man in such a manner… remembering one of the most famous bible stories as featuring an aspect of God who took on flesh and died on the cross. Crucifixion was said to be one of the most painful ways for a person to die, and considering it was designed to torture a person literally to death that was understandable.
"Still, what's the significance of this being done by this Anti ZOF compared to the normal way? All crucifixions are indescribably painful." Rias wondered aloud, and Eesheer looked at her like he couldn't believe she asked that question before remembering she genuinely didn't know.
"Because Anti ZOF Energy is the most infinitely destructive substance in the whole of Reality, but more than that it's also the most agonizing substance to be exposed to. Anyone who dies via this state of energy dies screaming blue bloody murder Rias, and while enduring the worst pain they've ever felt in their entire lives multiplied by an uncountably infinite sum. And no, that's not a hyperbole.”
“Put it this way… our omni-fabricator Lee Wong LCBC is one of the top minds in Zenith Omnidonae terms, and he developed a pain-scale tailored specifically to my people's inhuman pain thresholds, with 11 being ranked as pain past even Appaneesty's Omnivastant endurance, and that man had the most unquantifiable pain threshold of us all. Basically, the Anti ZOF broke this scale entirely and beyond Lee's considerable ability to repair the device the second any of us were exposed to it. So yes, being crucified with it is agony the likes of which that makes even me shudder a little." Eesheer explained to her as Rias nodded numbly, her face looking green with sickliness as the emerald Supreme Omnidony turned to Thomas with a softer countenance.
"I'm sorry for what I said earlier, I didn't realize you had suffered such a grievous injury for your actions. I'll try not to be presumptuous from here on out." He apologetically stated, not so set in his ways that he couldn't appreciate the breadth of Thomas's suffering.
Thomas chuckled understandingly. "It's no big deal dude, the pain is tolerable most days and I've got some really capable healers on my team/Harem. I actually have my own LCBC2 Version of Asia Argento as my Primary ESIT Eternal Bond Mate, though she doesn't know about my hands yet to be honest. And if what I know of your innate character is true then you and this version of her will get along swimmingly, but you have to let go and start living a little. Live the kind of life your people can no longer share with you; because otherwise they really did die for nothing." He whispered in a serious voice as Eesheer nodded.
"I'll try my damnedest Thomas, believe me… I'll try, but it's not going to be easy or an overnight process so bear with me a while, you guys." Eesheer said to everyone at large as Rias finally found her voice.
"No one's expecting it to be an overnight process Eesheer, and you can stay in our world as long as you want. After everything I've just heard today, I can honestly say you've done everything you could've possibly done to deserve a happy life filled with love. I can also say that from here on out, I've got your back. I hope you don't mind if I retire for the night now though boys. It's very late and I'm suffering from both sleep deprivation and information overload… not a good combo." Rias chuckled dryly as all three of these Supreme Omnidonae nodded at her and she got up to show herself out… but not before she allowed herself one last look at Asia. It was kind of disconcerting to see her with her eyes open and staring glassily into infinity… most people died with their eyes closed but it was like she refused to take her eyes off Eesheer in her final moments.
"No problem, thanks for everything Rias. I know my brand of crazy is in a league of its own, and that you no doubt had some semblance of normalcy in your life before you met me. Most beings do actually." Eesheer whispered with more gratitude than Rias had ever heard in his voice before, and she allowed herself the luxury of a winsome smile.
"You're welcome. And honestly, it's been a real pleasure. Sure, it's been a crazy, wild ride so far like you said, but it's alluring to me also in a way I can't really put my finger on. I like that there's more to reality than I could ever have imagined, and as a devil it is my very nature to covet the unattainable and the unknowable I suppose. I think I'm done for tonight though… this has been a bit much in one sitting even for me. Also, I'm assuming you're bringing Asia back. I hope you are… it'd be kind of creepy if you just carted her body around everywhere to be honest." Rias suggested tentatively as Eesheer quirked an eyebrow in what could almost be mistaken as an amused gesture.
"You're right, that would be creepy, and trust me, I have every intention of bringing her back to life. Have a good night Rias… I'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning." Eesheer said his farewells to her for the night as Rias nodded and showed herself out; closing the door behind her and managing to resist the urge to eavesdrop on them from behind it. Her brother would be interested in learning all this no doubt, but for some reason she found the idea of getting one up on the mighty Sirzechs to mouth-watering an opportunity to pass up. It wasn't often she got to learn exclusive knowledge that he didn't already know, and she would need some time to process all this anyways before she could manage a coherent conversation with him anyways.
And she still had a certain flaming bird to worry about as well… but for the first time she had enough excitement going on in her life that her arranged marriage proposal was stuck at the back of her mind. She welcomed any distractions she could get her hands on from that bullsh*t and chuckled quietly to herself as she made her way home… happy to lend the coach out to Eesheer and Asia again. One thing did bother her though… that man, Thomas… he made an offhanded comment about her having the natural intuition of a Supreme Omnidony like him, Eesheer, and Mafalda… and she couldn't help fixating on it slightly.
Thomas didn't strike her as a man to say something without some deeper meaning being connected to that statement… the man's secrets had secrets within secrets looped a thousand times over… that much was obvious just by getting a read on his somewhat shifty demeanor. It helped that he wasn't good at being deceitful or unforthcoming, the man couldn't lie or withhold information to save his life. Still, she reckoned it'd be a cold day in hell when Eesheer underestimated anyone who claimed to be the leader of the most powerful Pantheon of Gods this ZOF concept of theirs had ever seen. She had been focused on Eesheer lying about his Supreme Omnidonae powers at the time, but now she had to wonder if there was more to Thomas's comment about her intuition than met the eye also.
Meanwhile, back in the main room of the ORC, Eesheer and Thomas continued to sit across from each other as Mafalda made herself comfortable in her master's lap. "So… you have an LCBC2 version of Asia to?" Eesheer conversationally inquired as Thomas nodded, having put his latex gloves back on over his destroyed hands to hide them once more. Eesheer didn't bother asking him why he kept his injuries a secret, as that was not really any of his business and didn't affect him personally. He was just glad Thomas had been forthcoming enough to share that vulnerability with him, and to actually take time out of his busy and hectic lifestyle as a Supreme Omnidony to give a damn about him.
"I do, and she's… wonderful. Admittedly, our relationship started off a little rocky… especially since she was further along in her unaltered timeline than the one you met, and in deeper with her canon relationships as well." Thomas sighed as Eesheer's eyes widened in mock horror.
"Tell me her canon self doesn't end up with Issei!" He groaned.
"I wish I could, but sadly I would be lying if I said that." Thomas cackled, and Eesheer smacked his head against the back of the couch with deliberate melodrama.
"Of all the boys, it had to be that pervert… not that there's anything wrong with being a pervert per say, but…" Eesheer paused, trying to think how best to put it.
"But there's a time and a place for everything, and Issei takes it too far." Thomas supplied helpfully, and Eesheer nodded in affirmation as the both of them shared another laugh; easing into a significantly less tense and downcast atmosphere. "Still, Asia was absolutely taken with him, and wouldn't hear a word against him or his foibles.
"I guess my presence here has really changed things for their personal timelines, huh? Canon deviations for the win I suppose." Eesheer half-smiled.
"Indeed, but it's for the better I daresay. You forget Eesheer, I'm also known by the title The Author, and for good reason. I was the one who conceptualized and imagined your existence back in the nonfictional Earth Prime I originated from; you were always one of my favorite OCs." He sighed in fond remembrance as Eesheer snorted.
"You know you would sound insane if you were telling this to anyone else but being a Supreme and/or Zenith Omnidony means I'm well aware of my seemingly fictional existence in Prime Worlds. Ironic that one of my story's authors would become an LCBC2 representation of Thomas Currie. I guess you have superpowers like Author Authority and Reader Embodiment mastered to a degree rivalled by few of our people." Eesheer was pleased to find he was rather enjoying this conversation despite everything that happened. Sad and pathetic as it no doubt sounded, it was the most normal conversation he'd had in quite some time. Thomas LCBC2 shrugged.
"I do have sufficient mastery over the latter to pull myself out of my own story if I need to recover or gain Omnivastant defenses from an ongoing attack. The foreknowledge is also not to be denied, though I can't use that knowledge to effect real change in my own story without exiting my state of Reader Embodiment Omnivastance. And given how in flux the stories of the Supreme Omnidonae all are my foreknowledge could very well become completely useless within seconds of exiting that state." He replied.
"And the former?" Eesheer wondered.
"I do my best, but Author Authority is not an easy Omnivastant power to use when the characters are as unmanipulable as the likes of my Eternal Bond Mates and our respective teams of Pokémon. Of course, I wouldn't want to ever be that kind of puppet master; it's not in my nature to be controlling." Thomas admitted sincerely, and Eesheer believed him as the two of them sighed heavily and decided to address the blonde elephant in the room.
"You do realize you can't keep denying yourself the opportunity to have a good life, right? Asia can give you that… but you have to be willing to forgive yourself first." Thomas sagely stated as Eesheer nodded slowly.
"It won't be easy, but I understand what you're trying to say. I think I'm ready to let someone else in and take a chance with Asia. She's proven that she can be loyal, trustworthy, devoted, and fun to have around to. I just hope I don't end up regretting this… I can't lose anyone else Thomas, I just can't…" Eesheer answered back as Thomas smiled.
"You won't, not as long as I can help it anyways. I promise, I'll do everything in my power to help you secure your own future and the life you deserve." He resolutely proclaimed as Eesheer couldn't help but smile. He hadn't exactly been fair to this remarkable man by any stretch of the imagination, but now he felt like he was finally starting to give Thomas the respect and admirationhedeserved. Not just anyone would go to the amount of trouble he was going to in order to help Eesheer out… that alone warranted respect.
"If you want to help, maybe get miss Goldilocks here to do the deed and bring Asia back as one of us… after all, as you said… the stronger the deifier the greater the natural oomph wielded by the one deified. The not so, itty-bitty, pretty kitty committee member can help, after all… she kicked my ass good and proper if what you told me was true." Eesheer stated in a teasing tone as Mafalda huffed at being referred to as a kitty as though she were nothing more than Thomas's pet house cat. Though, she was also happy Eesheer had recovered enough of himself to crack jokes… even if they were at her expense.
Getting up and from their seat to where Asia was laid gently on the bed that Thomas had conjured for her at the back of the room, Eesheer looked away from the knife in her neck and focused solely on her eyes. There was an infinitely tender expression in his own all-seeing peepers as he brushed a strand of hair aside from her face, seeing within her the endless possibilities of the life he could still have… the life they could share together if he played his cards right. After all this time and everything he'd been through, he needed this… and he knew the ZOF owed him an unpayable debt as well and would do everything it could to support him.
He supposed being the Omni LCBC Counterpart who saved its very existence came with a few perks but being a Supreme Omnidony was even more so a blessing. He realized that now, and while he hated the likes of ZLCBC2 from the fathomless depths of his being for what he did; he realized the Supreme and Zenith Omnidonae were more alike than he thought. There were good and bad characters amongst both God Tiers alike. He allowed himself the luxury of a true smile at the thought; he was owed… he was so unbelievably owed it wasn't even funny. He felt no remorse from thinking for himself for once and would never regret this decision for as long as he lived.
"I can do you one better Eesheer. Mafalda, you, and I are all going to pitch in and Deify her… along with all of my other Pokémon and the rest of my Forever Mates. I'd imagine that the more naturally all-powerful your Asia is, the more at ease you'll feel." Thomas said in a knowing tone as Eesheer's eyes widened in astonishment.
"Jeez, she's going to be so many levels of broken it's not even funny! Has that many of the Supreme Omnidonae ever participated in the deification of another all at once before?" He couldn't help but wonder, not surprised when Thomas shook his head.
"The closest we've ever come to this many is when I deified my LCBC2 Counterpart of Yancy from the Pokémon Game Verse in Unova, but even she didn't have as many as your Asia is going to have vouching for her." Thomas informed him as he sent a telepathic shout resounding throughout the shared omni-empathic wavelength that he and his Eternal Bond Mates resonated on. He also made sure his latex gloves were secure and his perception filter over his hands was in full effect.
With a waving gesture, the interior of Rias's club building was stretched and expanded to seemingly infinite proportions. The walls and the ceiling extended away from them without limit like some kind of cartoon where the buildings were made of rubber. Eesheer was undisturbed by this blatant feat of dimensional transcendence however, having seen it so many thousands of times before that it was normalized by the time he was only 3500-years-old. With that accomplished, a series of cracks began to echo in the room as the smell of ozone and displaced air molecules permeated the area, along with the new arrivals that were no doubt Thomas LCBC2's aforementioned Eternal Bond Mates. Team TLCBC2 had materialized within the Occult Research Club, and Eesheer found himself momentarily starstruck by the gathering of infinitely beautiful women all gathered here at their shared Eternal Bond Mate's request.
There were no less than three blondes, two of whom were Serena and Yellow from the Pokémon Anime and Manga universe respectively if Eesheer's memory served him… though he hadn't watched the XY and XY&Z Anime in so long that this could've been a Game Verse Serena or Y from the Manga Verse for all he knew. The third blonde made his eyes bug out, for standing there was another, LCBC2 Version of Asia Argento… one who looked timid and unsure about the prospect of being here among all these other Supreme Omnidonae.
She looked so much like the girl he'd grown to be close friends with in such a short time, but he could instantly tell she had many more and different experiences compared to his Asia before canon deviations decided to rear their ugly heads in the form of Thomas and his other Eternal Bond Mates. He was happy to see her all the same… for any version of Asia was a friend of his at this point. He also noticed her bust size was significantly greater than that of his Asia, but merely noted that as an objective observation and little else.
She saw him smiling at her in recognition and offered him a shy smile back; which made his infinite hearts soar. This was to be expected of course, the ES of the ZOF was a bit strange in how it worked. If there was more than one LCBC or LCBC2 Version of someone, then they had a connection to their counterparts' Eternal Bond Mates as well as their own… sometimes that connection could even become a joining of both Counterpart's respective Eternal Bonds. Hell, he wouldn't be surprised if his Asia and Thomas's ended up being the best of friends, or potentially archenemies depending…
The other girls consisted of a brunette he recognized as Rosa, or was she Whitley from the Manga Universe? A damn good-looking brown-haired girl if he ever saw one, though to be honest brunettes weren't really his type in most cases. Even Amber's auburn hair only got a pass because it had more red mixed in it than brown. Not that hair alone was ever the sole source of his lust for a girl as undeniably beautiful as Amber Thompson LCBC had been.
The second brunette surprised him, as she was Yume; a character from a rare gem Harem and romance Anime known as Sekirei. Yes, Eesheer had watched a lot of Anime in his downtime… which made it more surprising for him that he hadn't happened across whatever Anime series Asia Argento was depicted in, or maybe it was just some kind of Supreme Omnidony version of fate. Yume was known as the Sekirei of Fate, Number 8 if he remembered correctly. And considering she pretty much died in Canon, that left her LCBC2 Self much more room to grow and develop as a separate entity from Musubi as Thomas had no doubt realized as well.
And finally, his eyes settled on someone he didn't recognize… a pink-haired girl with cornflower blue eyes and with Absolute Moe Charms and adorability so flawless Eesheer wouldn't have been surprised if it was one of her highlighted superpowers as a Supreme Omnidony. He never personally much favored Absolute Cuteness as a superpower except when people wanted to not be taken seriously or be underestimated; because typically it was very hard to take such an ability seriously… not that his preferred style of combat was much better. Still, it would be a cold day in hell when he underestimated her, because something about her seemed different compared to Thomas's other Eternal Bond Mates.
For starters, he couldn't get a read on the part of her personal ZOFES signature or Thomas's that let him quantify the strength of their Eternal Bonding. And secondly… there was a Pokémon she possessed in one of those Master Balls that gave off a similar aura as Mafalda. Considering Mafalda managed to beat him in his literal berserker state, this girl and her Pokémon were immediately registered as possible threats or useful allies in his mind depending…
She offered him a dazzling smile that practically lit up the room, and he stopped looking at her for now lest it come across as somewhat creepy. Granted, he was only making observations of each person on Thomas's team, but the fact that he was surrounded on all sides by such beautiful women and his libido remained unsatisfied for a long time now and you had a recipe for a possible disaster. The Supreme and Zenith Omnidonae who couldn't find sexual gratification without using their powers or stripping people of their free will often were reduced to the most unstoppable serial rapists the Super Omega Omnisphere's and larger dimensions had ever seen. Granted, it was very rare that any of their kind went without sexual gratification for that long, and even then, a lot of them were moral enough to keep from resorting to such atrocities.
"Let me introduce my Eternal Bond Mates and the members of my faction of the Supreme Omnidony race. No doubt you recognize most if not all of them, but these are Serena, Yellow, my team's LCBC2 version of Asia Argento, Yume, Rosa, and finally… Yancy. And of course, you've already met Mafalda, who is my main Pokémon mating partner and thus equal in Eternal Bonding tiers to a ZOFES-blessed Primary Eternal Bond Mate. Say hello everyone." Thomas introduced them as Rosa and Yume nodded at him in acknowledgment, Serena and Yellow both gave shy smiles and a wave each, and Asia practically beamed at him while her eyes widened at seeing her doppelganger lying dead on the bed Eesheer had conjured for her.
"Um, I'm assuming my doppelganger's death has something to do with why we're all here." She astutely stated, and Thomas nodded in affirmation.
"Yes, she was unfortunate to have been killed in a manner not entirely unlike how you died at Raynare's hands when she stole your Twilight Healing. But Eesheer and I plan to bring her back as one of us, and we were hoping you'd be willing to help us." Thomas replied as she half-smiled.
"Of course, I am, but…" She turned to Eesheer with some unreadable emotion in her eyes.
"I'm guessing you're taking Issei's place in my counterpart's life entirely?" She asked him as he nodded in affirmation.
"Yes, I'm afraid that the second I arrived in this universe; I altered the path everyone was already on and changed the course of history. Take heart though, I'm sure there are many versions of you who do end up with their canon mate; my version of you and you are just exceptions that's all. I'll do my best to be someone worthy of her love." Eesheer replied as she nodded slowly.
"I admit, a part of me feels like you and Thomas both manipulated certain things… certain events to your advantage, but I also know how much my Eternal Bond Mate here has sacrificed and given up, to be with us all here together. And, if he thinks you can be trusted with my other self's happiness and love her as much as Issei can, then I see little reason to doubt him. Just, promise me you'll look after her, and that you'll make her feel like her decision to be with you instead of her canon love was the best decision that version of me could ever have made. I mean, if you don't mind?" Asia pleaded with him in a sweet, imploring tone as Eesheer nodded without hesitation. She may not have been his Asia, but they were a lot alike.
"I will, I promise." He said simply as Asia beamed at him dazzlingly again and fell silent as his eyes once again fell on the mysterious pinkette.
"So, you're Yancy then? Thomas mentioned you earlier but I'm sorry to say I don't know who you are or which universe you come from." Eesheer admitted as the pink-haired girl smiled winsomely at him.
"Same universe as Rosa actually. Thomas calls it the Pokémon Game Universe, or a real-life version of it anyways. I'm from Unova as well." She informed him as Eesheer's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"Strange, I've played Pokémon Black, White, Black 2, and White 2 and I never once came across any sort of reference to you." He confusedly replied as Yancy giggled so sweetly that Eesheer couldn't help but blush despite her not being his Eternal Bond Mate. She was just too damn cute, and her voice was more musical and beautiful sounding than the most ZOF-enhanced Sirens he'd ever happened across, and he'd seen a lot of them in his time.
"Thomas said the same thing and explained to me how in the games I was only able to be met by the player Nate or Rosa if they found my lost X-Transceiver in Nimbasa City's amusem*nt park. Considering I've played these games now thanks to Thomas introducing them to me and that my lost item is part of a side quest; it's little surprise you didn’t explore the side quest further when and if you obtained the item." Yancy explained as Eesheer shrugged and smiled at her.
"Well, better to know you late instead of never. You and the rest of Thomas's girls seem like a bunch of total sweethearts, and Mafalda here saved me from doing something I'd regret forever just now. As far as I'm concerned, you're all in my good graces. Just make sure you take care of this big old lug, will ya?" Eesheer requested while jabbing a thumb in Thomas's general direction. They all smiled and agreed with that sentiment, and with that out of the way they all turned as a unit to Eesheer's version of Asia as the green clad Supreme Omnidony himself moved over to her location first.
"Yancy, release Maximus, will you? I want him to be involved in this resurrection as well." Thomas instructed her politely as Yancy's eyes widened and Eesheer confusedly wondered who or what Maximus was. He didn't have to wonder for long though as the pink-haired Goddess of absolute adorability released a Pokémon Eesheer recognized from the Sinnoh Region as the mythical Pokémon Arceus. This one was its shiny color of gold instead of the usual white coloration and gave a radiant series of sparkles as it appeared on the dimensionally expanded floor with a clip-clop of its hooves.
"Damn, that's the Pokémon I sensed with a similar Super ZOF Energy output as Mafalda. This Arceus has definitely been eating its Supreme Omnidony Wheaties." Eesheer whistled appreciatively as both Mafalda and Maximus seemed surprised by his ability to sense their presence. The girls looked surprised by this as well, but Thomas however… did not, and kept his face in the form of an unreadable mask.
Eesheer wasn't done yet though and decided to ask another question that was bugging him. "Also, why am I not able to get a quantification read on the Eternal Bond tier of your love connection with Yancy? Don't tell me it's something beyond the power of the Emotional Spectrum of the ZOF. I thought Eternal Bonds blessed by that bitch were the Limit Club Berkeley Cardinal of all everlasting connections or some sh*t!" He exclaimed in genuine surprise as Yancy and Thomas exchanged a look while the other girls looked somewhat uncomfortable.
The incalculable level of closeness between the pinkette and their shared male Eternal Bond Mate was a source of envy and longing on their part, and they sought to be that close to him as well for varying reasons. The only one who seemed okay with what she had currently with Thomas was Mafalda, and surprisingly Asia. The rest were either jealous, envious, or even slightly uncertain of their lover's closeness with them.
"We… don't really know why our bond is like that or what it's called even. Supreme Omnidonae have the strongest tiers of Eternal Bond Mate Bonds forever imagined, but this is like nothing I've imagined before. I've been tempted to give this supposedly new and unprecedented Eternal Bonding tier a name, but I feel like that isn't really my job or my right." Thomas admitted while Yancy blushed sheepishly.
"I don't know why I'm gifted with such a bond to Thomas either, but I'm not about to let it give me a swelled head or have me mistreat the others here because of it. All of us love Thomas and are loved by him in different but equally vast ways." She added, sensing the mixed feelings felt by her fellow Bond Mates and seeking to reassure them.
"What about the Unquantifiable Bonding Phenomena?" Eesheer suggested randomly with an airy shrug. "I don't know why you're so hesitant to give it a name, but I don't really care. I'll just give it a name instead." He added cheekily, chuckling when Thomas and Yancy both seemed to give it some thought.
"Look, can we talk about this later? We should bring Asia's counterpart back to life while we're all here, and just looking at her and seeing a dead face identical to one of my closest friends is freaking me out." Serena groaned in protest as everyone found themselves agreeing with her words and got to work as Eesheer took the lead.
All of them formed a circle around the blonde-haired nun's still form, clasping hands with each other and glowing with the powers of absolute reincarnation and unrestricted resurrection powers among many others. The powers of Absolute Change, Almighty Ascension, Omnivastance Bestowal, and a myriad of others were brought forth as well. Mafalda held hands with all the rest of them. Maximus did as well, but only by transforming into his Omni-type Ascension Form and gaining his 1000 arms comprised entirely of incandescent, golden energy. Two of these hands held a grip on two of the Supreme Omnidonae on either side of him… completing the circle.
"Asia Argento, we think you've been sleeping for quite long enough." Thomas LCBC2 started as a sort of pseudo-chant, Eesheer picking up where he left off.
"And we wish to rouse you from your forever sleep so that you may awaken into the absolute light."
"So, by the powers invested by all our collective hopes and dreams…" Thomas's Asia LCBC2 spoke.
"We invite you to join us in an everlasting, collective fellowship that discards logic entirely, kicks reason to the curb, and redefines all concepts of forever, love, friendship, and power." Mafalda continued the chant as Maximus started next; the words seeming to flow out of and between them in perfect harmony and balance.
"Smashing all fates and curbstomping the will of all other Gods and pantheons… our seething blood alone will determine what will be." He roared with absolute power that shook the entire ZOF at its very foundations.
"For love everlasting and free from the pattern of the grand design." Yume smiled.
"For happiness and smiles undying." Serena added.
"For every dream shattered and opportunity wasted by your premature demise." Yellow kept it going.
"We'll return to you all this and more, infinity-fold." Yancy said her piece last.
"Now, rejoin your Supreme Omnidony Eternal Bond Mate as one of our own, and never again walk beyond death's doors; for love, for happiness, for the perpetuation of our greatest creation the ZOF and all who exist within it, and for a story and adventure that need never end. Arise to a state of almighty ascendency, Asia Argento LCBC2 the second." Everyone chorused in perfect sync as the chant was concluded and all their positive energy and emotions went towards collectively restoring Asia to life and reincarnating her completely anew.
Against the sheer onslaught of Sovereign Powers batting against it, the knife and its unavertable death inducement powers stood absolutely no chance. The blade and hilt burst into nonexistence at the slightest bit of exposure to their collective strength, and the hole in Asia's throat healed up with nary a scab or a scar in sight. The color returned to her face, and the life suddenly returned to her eyes as she took a deep and calming breath that made Eesheer's eyes water despite his best efforts to keep the damn from breaking.
"Eesheer? What happened, where are we? Oh, my goodness, Freed!" She shouted in a slight panic, cut off from saying anything further when Eesheer threw his arms around her and clung to her with all of his strength… now knowing she could take everything he could dish out and give it back to him in spades.
"It's okay Asia, they're gone now… and they'll never hurt anyone else ever again." He whispered soothingly while somehow managing to smile despite the tears in his eyes. Everyone was touched watching the tender moment, and Thomas LCBC2's Asia was reminded of a similar and equally heart-melting reunion between herself and Issei when Rias brought her back as a devil. She couldn't help smiling at the exchange between her counterpart and Eesheer; sensing that he needed her more than Issei probably ever would. The thought was surprisingly empowering to her, and she hoped it was to her counterpart in Eesheer's arms as well. She was most honored to have the opportunity to partake in her doppelganger's resurrection, and clearly so were the others within Thomas LCBC2's faction.
"Eesheer, I'm so sorry… I never meant to make you cry." Asia whispered while wiping a finger aside of his cheeks.
"Stop it, don't apologize Asia! It doesn't matter anymore, the only thing that matters to me now is that you're okay." Eesheer responded both gently and firmly as he beheld her absolute beauty and splendor, her deification as a Supreme Omnidony already taking place on every level of her existence without her realizing it yet.
"What's… happening to me, everything feels so different?" Asia wondered, and Eesheer sighed. He hoped Asia would be able to forgive him for bringing her back as so much more than what she had been beforehand.
"You brought me back from death as someone like you, didn't you?" She added questioningly, beating him to the punch as he stared at her with surprise etched on his face that she'd worked it out so fast. He nodded slowly and solemnly in affirmation, wanting to have given her more time to acclimate to the changes she was to undergo now. He couldn't help but feel like she hated him now for trapping her forever in the same life that had caused him so much pain and misery.
"Good." She smiled so sweetly as Eesheer's eyes widened again for a completely different reason. That was not the response he was expecting, not at all.
"I don't understand… how can you say that?" He asked in a disbelieving voice, as Thomas LCBC2 exchanged a knowing smile with his own Asia.
"What do you mean?" Asia asked him in a confused tone, tilting her head cutely with curiosity as Eesheer sighed.
"Asia, I'm saying that what I brought you back as is permanent. You can never be a normal human girl again. Doesn't that bother you; don't you have any second guesses or regrets?" He elaborated further and was once again floored when Asia shook her head without hesitating.
"No, I don't regret anything at all, and the best part is you and I can be together forever now… which is all I really wanted." She cooed in pure delight as Thomas and his own Asia's smile continued to widen. This was pretty much parallel to her own decision to stay a devil for Issei, and both she and Thomas knew it to. The more things changed, the more they stayed the same it would seem. Granted, her counterpart could probably still pray to God if she wanted without consequence and wouldn't be affected by crosses and holy water.
Eesheer continued to gape stupidly at her like a fish out of water, opening and closing his mouth several times to find something to respond with. "Wow, um… Asia, I really wish I knew what to say to that, but I really don't." He stammered, and Asia took his hands in both his own as the blood stains on her outfit disappeared.
"You don't have to say anything, just… try and be happy for once. You deserve it after everything you've been through." She giggled, and despite himself Eesheer was happy for the first time in years… and his timid but genuine smile conveyed as much to his new fellow Supreme Omnidony. The entire ZOF consisted solely of the two of them in those moments, and Asia didn't even seem to be aware of everyone else in the room.
"Looks like our work here is done." Thomas LCBC2 said with a fond smile directed at the pair of them, and Yancy looked like she could live off this feeling that came with helping people in need. It was as he said this that Eesheer's Asia realized she and Eesheer weren't alone, and while questions still buzzed in her extremely intelligent-feeling mind she saved them for later as she spun around to see their guests and recognized none but one. Her eyes widened as they met her counterpart's eyes, and the other Asia waved at her with a dazzling smile.
"I'm sure this has got to be really confusing for you, but I'm a version of Asia Argento with powers like you and Eesheer's as well. I come from an alternate reality far removed from your own, and basically… I'm like your doppelganger from another version of your world. I know that probably sounds… insane, but it's the truth." The other Asia explained to her as Eesheer's Asia tilted her head. That was a surreal experience, and she didn't understand half of what was going on, but she was slowly beginning to realize that maybe she didn't need to understand everything.
"So, um… nice to meet you all then. My name is Asia Argento, though if you know another version of me, I guess you already knew that." Asia somewhat awkwardly introduced herself to everyone; taking extra care to pay attention to all their names and remember them as people who had helped give her new life.
"No doubt you two have had a very long day, and I'm sure there are others in your world who would like to know what's happened to you as well. I suggest you both take some much-needed rest for tonight and get ready to face tomorrow together as Supreme Omnidonae. Man, now we've got two LCBC2 Versions of both Yellow and Asia. We're must come up with a more streamlined way of telling the two of you apart, though I can't say I'm displeased by this prospect.
The more of our kind we have, the more our common adversary will hesitate to attack us, and the more fun it will be for everyone involved in our fellowship as well. Such a vast array of differing personalities and different types of people can enrich the quality of a person's life even further, and I'm so blessed I got to participate in the deification process of another of our own tonight. Welcome to our family Asia Argento LCBC2 the Second. I do hope you're willing to put up with us forever, because forever may very well be what you have to look forward to now." Thomas LCBC2 stated sagely as Eesheer's Asia and Eesheer both nodded happily.
She was still a bit overwhelmed by all of this, but Asia would be lying if she said she was unhappy with the turn of events. She could already feel unimaginable power seething within her very blood like an almighty, electrifying ice and fire combo. She could see a number of different wavelengths infinitely exceeding the most advanced sensory technology known to man, could hear the singing of stars and galactic nebulae, and even the birth of distant universes as they gave off a low thrum while expanding from a singular source of infinity density.
She could feel every source of emotional energy within some tier of reality far vaster and infinitely more complex than her indigenous universe, every heartbeat registering as some omnipresent pulse all around her, and was more in tune with everything and everyone, more wholly connected with this Emotional Spectrum of the ZOF than she could ever have fathomed. It felt absolutely wonderful, and beyond that she could even see the strings of emotional and spiritual energy that bound her eternally to Eesheer; her face flushing as her blood and body temperature ran infinitely more simmering than any and all norms, and her bioelectric field created a protective aura around the ZOF to keep it from burning up in her very presence.
To be so powerful and so connected with everything, and yet be unable to be herself around the vast majority of beings or revel in her true nature around them without breaking their grand design construct forever… no wonder most Supreme Omnidonae sought to create others like themselves. They stood apart and were above and beyond the ZOF, while even the mightiest of the Omni LCBC ZOF Masters lived in it… they were always apart at least on some level and could never truly interact with the mortals of their feed without treating them as the most infinitely delicate flowers in existence.
For the first time, she understood intuitively how alone Eesheer must've felt when he first was elevated from a ZOF Master to an LCBC2 Counterpart, and also knew instinctively that he had been lying to her and trying to downplay how powerful he really was now. But she also immediately understood why he did that and forgave him for it without him even having to try and explain his reasoning. She did hope she could come to see the good in what she could do now, and maybe help him do the same in exchange.
He didn't just save her life; hegaveher one. When she had been banished by the church, she honestly didn't know what she had left to live for a long while afterwards and wanted nothing more than to make friends who saw her as Asia and not as some miracle who needed to be worshipped. Eesheer was the first being who ever saw her as a person, and he was her first friend. If she had her way, the two of them would be sharing a lot more firsts together from here on out. Somehow, she doubted he'd object to that any more than she would.
"Thank you all so much for making this possible. I would be dead still if it wasn't for all of you, and I'm so grateful to you all for giving me this opportunity to do more and be more." Asia finally said aloud to everyone at large as Eesheer blushed and averted her gaze shyly and Thomas and his own girls chuckled and smiled at her as a unit.
"Believe me Asia, it was our pleasure." Yume giggled adorably.
"Yeah, your life was cut short way too soon." Rosa agreed.
"In an ideal version of the ZOF I would like it if everyone were to get as many chances at life as they can get to get everything right, and in some realities, they do, and unlimited reincarnations is a thing… but who knows, maybe that will be possible everywhere one day." Thomas LCBC2 whispered as both Asia's smiled at him identically. Eesheer's Asia was still surprised by how willing these complete strangers were to help her and Eesheer when they were in need, but she wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth either.
"I would like that as well. But I also understand that as an all-encompassing reality; the ZOF has to accommodate for every possible and impossible concept of the afterlife simultaneously… so while it is a little unfair, some universes wind up getting the short end of the stick compared to others." Eesheer agreed before adding. "But hey, that's even more reason to make the best of the life you've been given rather than complain about the ones others were dealt instead. Maybe you'll get lucky someday and stumble upon something better, but some people must make do first I suppose. If you wanna greet the sunshine of a better tomorrow, you've gotta weather the storms of today."
"Well said." Thomas admitted, and Eesheer chuckled.
"You're not the only one who's good a turning a phrase you know. Granted, I wouldn't be surprised if you were much infinitely better at it than I am. You kinda remind me of Appaneesty LCBC… just a little, but the similarities are there." He admitted, and Thomas smiled.
"Thanks, that means a lot actually as he was always one of my most prominent protagonists in almost all of my storyboards." He replied, and Eesheer chuckled at the maddeningly meta-fictional statement.
"Anyways, I guess it is time we part ways for now, but if either of you two runs into any trouble; rest assured we've got your back. And Asia, if you have any questions that Eesheer here isn't 100 percent able to honest correctly, feel free to come to me… I happen to know quite a lot about our people's infinite complexities, and I've gotten pretty good at putting it all into perspective as well." He promised them as Eesheer and his Asia nodded thankfully.
"It was nice to meet you Eesheer, and my counterpart… I know how you feel. This is strange for me to." Thomas's Asia gave her own parting statement as one-by-one she and the others began to disappear. Maximus and Mafalda vanished next along with their Trainers Thomas and Yancy, the latter of whom offered both one last, infinitely adorable smile before doing so. Yume said something about them not letting anything stand in their way, and she was gone as well.
"If either of you two ever get into Pokémon battling for real and not just as a video game, be sure to look me up." Rosa offered as Eesheer nodded and Asia looked confused… not understanding what Pokémon were just yet but inexplicably thinking of her Ratchu-kun.
"I'm glad we got to help you both. Have a wonderful evening." Serena said politely while giving them a bow before also vanishing.
"My team's Asia and I are the main healers of Thomas's group, but healing an infinite number of broken hearts is not going to be easy, so look after him Asia. And Eesheer, you make sure you protect her and take care of yourself as well." Yellow concluded, and with that the parting statements stopped and the last of Team TLCBC2 disappeared into the endless expanse of the Great Beyond Void… returning to their indigenous Mega Omega Omnisphere and sector of the ZOF. This left Eesheer and Asia alone as the silence stretched on between them for longer than they've both ever been silent before.
"So… that all really happened then?" Asia asked, finally breaking the lingering silence as Eesheer nodded.
"Yeah, I couldn't get to you in time before Freed stabbed you in the neck… if I had just moved the tiniest bit quicker. I could've easily intercepted the blade in time Asia, but like a big dummy-head I stalled a split-second too long." Eesheer sighed remorsefully, trying to keep from swearing and cursing too much while within earshot of the innocent girl.
Asia took his hands into her own once again and gave them a reassuring squeeze. "It doesn't matter anymore Eesheer. I'm here with you now, and I never plan on leaving you again. I'm so, so sorry to… you should never have had to watch another person die like that. I'm only sorry you were forced to make the decision of resurrecting me like that. But still, despite everything that's happened… I'm glad for it Eesheer." She said with a close-eyed smile that was so Anime perfect that Eesheer blushed despite his shock.
"You're… glad… how can you be so happy about this Asia?" He asked her, distracted by how radiant Asia's smile was and how much her deification was enhancing her already peak human beauty to absolute, divine levels.
"Because, for better or worse, things turned out just fine, and if things didn't play out as they did… I would never have gotten the chance to join you in eternity… or at least not anywhere near this soon." Asia admitted freely.
"And you don't even hesitate to abandon your mortality, your very humanity itself?" Eesheer asked for clarification. Asia once again shook her head.
"Not even a tiny bit. Eesheer, the only thing I had going for me in my mortal life was my ability to help people, to heal them. You have to remember, I was cast out of the church and considered a heretic… it was very unlikely I would be able to do anything with my life outside of becoming a devil alongside Rias and Issei and the others. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but you… you gave me another, alternative option; one that meets my every need to help people in ways I could never have imagined, and to make friendships that will last literally lifetimes.
You offered me a better way of living, and the opportunity to help you as you've helped me since the day we met. When we first met, I didn't even know where I was going, but you were the first person who was kind enough to show me around and help me find the church. And then you even saved my life from the Fallen Angels, and not just once either but several times. You've done more for me in a few days than anyone has ever done in my entire life, and I would be forever condemned if I didn't do everything I could to repay you. Joining you in forever doesn't even begin to compensate, especially since it benefits me as much as it does you." Asia concluded her heart-melting speech with an equally soul-searing smile on her full, pink lips.
"Asia… I… I…" Eesheer was in tears again now as he abandoned words and brought her into his arms again… content to sit there the whole night and sob his every aching, breaking hearts out. The damn broke entirely at long last, and for the first time in countless life ages of the Super Omega Omnisphere; he unloaded all of the pent-up guilt, hatred, passion, loss, and pain he'd been harboring since he'd witnessed so much senseless death in that equally hideous war on all life. Asia continued to remain sitting there comforting him, surprised by how contented their sitting up position was and the fact she didn't feel tired in the slightest even when their touching moment carried on well into the middle of the night.
"It's okay Eesheer, I'm here now… and I'm never, ever leaving you again… I promise." She whispered in his ear along with all manner of sweet nothings; having the distinct feeling that when they were both done here her new friend would feel better than he had in years. His tears were heartbreaking but beautiful… to think that he could've held them in so long without breaking down sooner. She remembered reading something about trying to be strong for too long as opposed to being weak… crying was meant to be therapeutic, yet this was the first time Asia had seen Eesheer truly let loose in that regard.
Maybe it had something to do with her being exactly like him now… maybe she was seeing him truly as he was for the first time. Her smile widened when he began to slowly but inexorably start calming down… well into 4 AM in the morning. Still, if it meant he could finally get all that unresolved anguish and agony out of his system then she would gladly hold him until the end of time. It was still strange to think that she probably could hold him that long, and even allowed herself a quiet giggle as they both continued to bask in each other's unbelievable warmth and share in each other's grief. The sun would shine on a brand-new pair of forever bonded Supreme Omnidonae come morning, but for now the night would always be darkest just before the dawn.
XXX
He never raised his voice, that was the worst thing; the fury of the Supreme Omnidony. Then we discovered why, why this Eesheer LCBC2, who had fought with Gods and Demons of all tiers and won, why he'd simply dealt us a humiliating defeat before... he was being kind. He wrapped Dohnaseek up in unbreakable chains forged in the heart of the ZOF, forcing him to carry an infinitely heavier burden than Jacob Marley ever did in that Charles Dickens Christmas story. He hurled Kalawarner into the event horizon of a collapsing Super Omega Omnisphere to be imprisoned there... forever.
He still visits Mittelt once a year, every year. I wonder if one day he might forgive her, but there she is can you see? He trapped her inside a mirror, every mirror and every reflective surface across the ZOF. If ever you look at your reflection and see something move just for a second; it's her, it's always her. I don't know what he did to Freed to this day, and frankly I'm too scared to ask.
As for myself, I was suspended forever in time and space; isolated eternally on my own personal Ogygia, a prison island of Eesheer's own design that I doubt even the mightiest of ZOF Masters could've escaped from. Every few centuries or so a man would wash up on my shores; a man way too much like Azazel and whom I couldn't help but fall in love with. But for one reason or another; they could never, ever stay, and I was to have my heart broken and shattered countless times over. We wanted to live forever as Fallen Angels; so Eesheer LCBC2 made sure that we did.
Author's Notes: For those of you wondering what the pairings are; they are as follows.
Eesheer LCBC2's ZOFES-Blessed Eternal Bond Mates- both current and eventual (Note: ZOFES is an acronym that stands for the ZOF’s Emotional Spectrum… the largest, most complete form of the Spectrum itself. Essentially, it is where emotional energies and feelings of all kinds are the most infinitely dense and all-powerful, much like any aspect of the ZOF really. This allows it to establish Eternal Bonding tiers that coincide with each and every Omnivastant God tier across all of my System Prime based story boards, including the Supreme Omnidonae up to and including the OLCBC2 Counterparts themselves.
So, when an Eternal Bond Mate comes their way, absolute love and a Forever Bond are basically inevitable. Eternal Bonds blessed by this infinite spectrum are only attainable by Supreme Omnidonae and the mightiest of their creations, the OLCBC ZOF Masters. This allows them toform an eternal or infinite bond with anyone/anything, making them connected on a level beyond anything and everything. This bond allows them to always be connected to each other as their bond transcends everything regardless of its nature including space, time, distance, separation from reality, death, non-existence, etc. This connection goes beyond all other concepts of Eternal Bond Mates, beyond the collective unconscious, beyond even the fabric and foundations of the beyond limit club Berkeley Cardinal maximality of the ZOF.
The Supreme Omnidony's bonds cannot be broken, destroyed, manipulated, removed, separated, or severed. Even if every one of their souls are utterly destroyed the connection will remain, even if their complete existence and/or memory is erased from reality/history the connection will still remain. Nothing can ever separate the users from each other or their bond with each other. Thanks Superpower Wiki for the concept of Eternal Bonds, lol. In my stories; only an Omnidony of equal or exceeding power to the Eternal Bond Mates in question can affect their bond via powers like Red String Manipulation, Absolute Ugliness Inducement, Absolute Unlovability Inducement, or as I like to call it… Johnny Bravo/Meg Griffin Syndrome, and other such powers. And even then, the Eternal Bonds are highly resistant to said powers.
Unlike other spectrums like the EM spectrum; the ZOFES is at least partially sentient and enhanced by the ZOF itself to infinite and everlasting levels)
1: Asia Argento LCBC2 (Eesheer’s Primary ZOFES-Blessed Eternal Bond Mate. The Eternal Bonds of a Supreme Omnidony are not wholly exclusive to one person per LCBC2 Counterpart. Asia may be the first, and his primary, but there are others as well. Granted, this does not mean that any of them will cease to be free to choose either. Eternal Bonds are not the catch-all solution in my stories that various other Fanfiction writers seem to portray them as. Be expecting for Asia, Eesheer, and the others to have to properly develop their future relationship, and for it to not be this perfectly seamless transition either)
2: Serafall Leviathan LCBC2 (One of Eesheer’s eventual Secondary ZOFES-Blessed Eternal Bond Mates. The ranking system the ZOFES uses when blessing a multi Eternal Bond consist of Primary and Secondary Eternal Bond Mates. The wavelengths of its lesser variants, the Mega Omega Omnisphere ES’s and the ESIT’s are not powerful or intense enough to manage a Supreme Omnidony’s Eternal Bond… so that leaves the ZOFES with no alternative but to bless them with the full intensity and frequency-levels of its own wavelengths.
Essentially, this creates an endless hierarchy of Eternal Bonding Tiers to match the various Zenith and Supreme Omnidonae hierarchies of Omnivastance. Serafall is thus a Secondary Eternal Bond Mate of the highest order. This tier is even somewhat resistant to outside attempts to influence the bond via Red String Manipulation powers; including when said powers are used even by other Supreme Omnidonae)
3: Gabriel LCBC2 (Gabby) ((Eventual Secondary ZOFES Eternal Bond Mate))
4: Ophis LCBC2 (Eventual Secondary ZOFES Eternal Bond Mate)
5: Le Fay Pendragon LCBC2 (Eventual Secondary ZOFES Eternal Bond Mate)
6: ??? (No spoilers permitted for this eventual Eternal Bond Mate)
7: ??? (No Spoilers permitted for this eventual Eternal Bond Mate)
Issei Hyoudou’s eventual Harem: Rias, Akeno, Xenovia, Irina, Koneko, Rossweisse, Ravel Phoenix, and Ingvild Leviathan.
Oh, and for good measure, I’ll include the information about the various Eternal Bonding Tiers and their corresponding God/Reality Tiers. Feel free to skip over this if you’re not interested in reading it or want to find out in-story.
Eternal Bonding Tiers in order from most infinite to least infinite.
1: The Unquantifiable Bonding Phenomena (The Eternal Bonding of the Supreme Omnidonae Pantheon taken to its most supremely Omnivastant and eternal level, essentially as close to a genuinely absolute form of Omnivastance as one can get in System Prime. Is attainable mainly by Omni LCBC2 Supreme Omnidonae, one of the mightiest of System Prime’s Omnidony tiers… Beyond the ZOF itself in depth, magnitude, range, etc. Completely immune to any and all outside attempts at influencing said bonds via Red String Manipulation and similar abilities, no matter how infinitely powerful said ability is or its user)
2: ZOFES Eternal Bonds (Primary and Secondary Eternal Bonds of the Non-Omni LCBC2 Supreme Omnidonae and the LCBC ZOF Master tier Zenith Omnidonae fall into this category… with the latter doing so less frequently than the former. Is occasionally able to bind OLCBC2 class Supreme Omnidonae as well. Is almost entirely immune to any and all attempts at outside influence except the ones by Supreme Omnidonae who are stronger than the bonded Eternal Bond Mates)
3: MOO ES Eternal Bonds (The Mega Omni Omega Omnisphere Variant of the ZOFES Eternal Bonding tier; essentially the level 1 Reality tier below the ZOF itself. Is the most common form of Eternal Bonding accessible by the LCBC ZOF Masters, and is accessible by them and them alone. No other God tiers are handled by this ZOFES Variant)
4: ESIT Eternal Bonds (Emotional Spectrum of Infinite Totalities; is essentially the least infinite variant of the ZOFES and handles the Eternal Bonds of all the lesser God tiers of Omnivastance. This includes the ZOF Masters, Prodigies, Regular Zenith Omnidonae, and regular Omnidonae. Individual Omega Omnispheres and their respective Omnivastant beings are handled by this Eternal Bonding Tier as well)
Anyways, that’s all for now; I hope some of you found this information useful for understanding my stories and characters better. If not however, feel free to skip over it entirely.
Disclaimer: I don’t own anything aside from my OCs and original, non-canon ideas/concepts; everything else is the property of its respective owners. I don’t make any profit off this whatsoever, I write purely for fun and entertainment. Story is rated MA for mature adults, viewer discretion is very strongly advised. Chapter is rated MA for limes.
