Unexpected Detour (Razgriz x Wingshadow)

Sam started to stumble over himself as Rachel revealed that she now knew of Sam's previous interests; it wasn't like he asked for this! All he wanted was to meet her parents and get their acceptance that she'd been betrothed to a wealthy, important member of society. All he wanted was to grow old with her and have a family.....But because of the Succubus' interference, that possible future was now in jeopardy. Talbor was only able to get him because he'd been drunk, but seeing her with her daughter made him realize just how much she meant to him, and how he likely wouldn't have survived if he hadn't met her. Ruby got to him through his sympathy and thoughts of how maybe Rachel would never find out, but again, the fact that he'd birthed a daughter and that he'd run into her again showed him that her heart was true.

One by one, the monster girls he'd come into contact with over his travels so far on this island flashed through his mind. And with these memories came simultaneous happiness that he'd met them and guilt that he'd defiled the vow he'd made to Rachel. Maybe what Rachel said was true.....He knew damn well he'd be pissed if Rachel was sleeping with a bunch of other guys, and he would be surprised if she didn't feel the same way. In fact, he WAS surprised she wasn't more upset with him, his gaze towards her new body one of utter stupefaction and disbelief; would she really just forgive him, even after everything he'd done?

Though what Rachel would say next would bring the greatest surprise of all; she wouldn't allow him to destroy the Succubus? As she held her hand out as if to welcome him to her embrace, he stepped back from her, the disbelief in his expression seeming even more prominent than before. "Rachel.....You don't know what you're saying. Look around you.....Look at what the Succubus has done to this planet! This is what will happen to every colonized world if she isn't stopped!" He then went right up to her, not really caring about what she might be able to do to him especially given his still-weakened state, and grasped her shoulders while he pleaded, "Rachel..... Don't do this. Please! We can still be together! We can still make this work! I promise you...I'll find a way to make everything alright again! Just...fight it! Fight the Succubus' control!"
 
((A huge revelation in this post, just to warn you, so make sure you are firmly seated before continuing... You have been warned))

"Fight the succubus' control?" Rachel's eyes widened, as if such a concept were complete and utter nonsense to her ears. Her wings spread wide and the portal behind her forcibly collapsed, a dark aura around her thickening the potency of which caused even the vampire to balk. She shifted her weight onto her right leg, placing her hand onto her hip and narrowing her eyes, the coldness in her tone evident to all those present, "I think you have misunderstood something rather important, Sam... Do you mean to tell me that none of your lovers, none of these monster girls whom you place so much trust and confidence in, not even one of them have told you the truth? I thought you knew all this time, but it seems they wished to keep you in the dark rather than expose you to the light of reality."

"Don't you dare!" Undie once again attempted to bind Rachel, but she swatted away her liquid tendrils with a quick flick of her wrist and a wave of her arm, shrugging off her attempts as if she were slapping away gnats. The water spirit was helpless to prevent her from revealing the one thing that even the Goddess herself refuse to divulge...

"I am not being controlled by one you refer to as the Succubus any more than you yourself are being controlled by your own will or passions... The Succubus that you speak of is none other than myself, Sam," Rachel smiled in that sweet manner as she always did when speaking to her fiance, only the expression had a more twisted, ironic aspect to it now that her identity had been revealed, "You see, I need a portion of your genetic material in order to complete my transformation which will grant me the power to turn back even the hands of time itself. I have a lot of things I must prepare here on this planet for your arrival, after all... I can obtain this material from either you directly, or perhaps from one of your contracted elementals. It is your choice, really. Don't make this any harder than it needs to be."
 
Rachel's words only served to confuse poor Sam more and more; what on Earth did he misunderstand? And the sudden shift in tone didn't help things either, only serving to add to the Contractor's ever growing puzzlement. The Succubus had messed up this planet and soon plan to spread her own brand of chaos to every single planet in the known and unknown universe. "You thought I knew what? What hasn't anyone told me? What are you talking about?"

Then came Undine's own interjection and reattempt to bind Rachel to where she stood; his eyes shot to Undine herself, then traveled to Gnome and Arisa, his eyes pleading and begging each of them to explain what was happening. None of this made any sense; why was Rachel acting this way? What didn't he know? He soon got an answer; when Rachel told him that she was the Succubus herself, he practically jumped back, releasing his firm grip on Rachel's shoulders as if she were highly contagious with a particularly virulent pathogen. "What?!" he exclaimed; how was she the Succubus? There was no way, no way at all for that to be true in his mind. Unless......

"You sick, twisted.......First you change my fiance's body, now this. Stop using Rachel's body and let her go! Come out and face me yourself!" he then exclaimed, his thought process being that the Succubus was somehow using Rachel as a puppet to communicate to him through her. And with that in mind, he knew he couldn't touch her, lest he physically harm Rachel.
 
"Now, that's not a very nice thing to say to your fiance," Rachel appeared more amused than genuinely offended at his words, "You say you love me, but you really do not even understand how far I am willing to go in order to cater to your tastes, now do you?"

"Stop it, Sam... Its all true," Undie could not even look Sam in the face as she confirmed the validity of Rachel's claims, "From the first time I heard of your quest against the Succubus I knew that she was one and the same with your betrothed, Rachel. Their soul wave lengths match perfectly. When a powerful being forcably controls or distorts the will of another, their wavelength changes. Judging from the memories that I can access through our contract, I knew that she was Rachel, but I couldn't tell you... I knew it would only bring you pain and sorrow to know that the one person whom you loved above all else was also one and the same with the person that you hated and loathed."

A cold silence hung in the air like a sheet of ice, as even Gnome withdrew from Sam and fell silent. "I suspect the Goddess knew as well... Her goal as the protector of his planet is to destroy the Succubus, and I doubt she could trust in your support to such an end if you knew she was also your lover," Undie sighed, her head falling into her hands as she fought against welling tears, "I know this sounds harsh, but I beleive she wished for you to hold her attention while she found some way of restoring her power... Unless we work quickly, I suspect the Goddess herself might oppose us if you wish to save Rachel."

"It... Makes so much more sense now," Gnome looked up at Sam, "Remember the Sphinx's words? She requested that we save her. She must have been trying to ask us to save Rachel, but I never understood what she meant by it until now. No wonder the Succubus always knew your name, and refused to take any other lover than you to herself... The answer was always right in front of me, but I never saw it. I... I'm so sorry, Sam."

"I have done all of this for your sake, Sam. The least you could do is do me the honor of accepting me rather than acting as if this is not what you wanted," Rachel seemingly vanished, appearing behind him and wrapping her arms tightly around his sides as she pressed her ample chest covered in soft, warm fur against his broad, toned back, "You have agonized over the concern of how you could face all your other lovers, simply walking away from them in order to fully dedicate yourself to me once you were able to escape... But, deep down inside, are you sure that is what you really desire? How can you return to a basic, human existence after what you have seen... What you have experienced? Isn't it true that you cannot simply break your contract with Gnome and Undie after this is all said and done? In fact, you plan on contracting two more elemental spirits in order to confront me, don't you? Even in my current state, you cannot break free-" Her hand reached down, fingertips gently touching his thigh as a pulse of sensual pleasure surged through his body.
 
Well, if there was one way to bring a warrior to his knees - something that Sam had largely through the use of his acquired Elemental abilities - it was to make him see that he was wrong in his convictions and take that which was most precious to him. "Wha....You mean....." Sam stuttered out as Undine acknowledged Rachel's words; he couldn't believe what he was hearing. How was this even possible? Rachel, the Succubus? "No....no, no, no this can't be right. It can't be true, it just can't be!" Sam thought to himself, his expression at the revelation one of utter defeat and disbelief.

Gnome's own words seemed to spark some life back into his body; as she spoke, Sam felt himself getting more and more angry. Silus' words from before rang in his head, "Do you see now? Do you see how she hides, Contractor? How she twists and manipulates? She fears you, Elementalist! She fears me! That's why she twists you, to destroy what she has no hope of controlling! She's a user! A liar! A deceiver! That is why she must die! That is why the reign of the Gods must end!" "You all are fools; if the Goddess lives, the Succubus will win. By placing your trust in her, you'll be the destruction of everything. And I'm not going to let that happen. This planet of freaks has to be burned to the ground!""That is why I will stop you, Contractor! You are just as much of a threat to every living human as they are!"

Sam's fists clenched, his clenched eyes watering and his jaw tightly closed as he hung his head; this was just what he needed. Another wrench thrown into the grand scheme of things. And to make it worse, it seemed Silus was largely right in his analysis of the Goddess and what would happen if he trusted the Succubus. Was it true? Was he furthering the goals of the Succubus by following the Goddess and her own desire to rule? Would he really catalyze the destruction of the Universe by fighting against the Succubus? Would he even have the resolve to continue knowing that he would have to face against the one woman he wanted to be with more than any other?

It was only when Rachel materialized behind and pressed her lush form against him that his moment of despair was interrupted, his eyes widening and body relaxing in an instant as her touch brought a wave of arousal through his body. Even with her depleted power, she still was incredibly skilled in her legendary craft, and even with his body so drained of strength he could barely move - the incident with the mental illusion generated by Kratos being an exception due to the sudden rush of adrenaline - he found his limp male flesh starting to swell ever so slightly just from one brush against his thigh.

Even as her sensual energy coursed through his distinctly masculine form, Sam was trying to come to grips with everything that he'd just been told; what was the truth anymore? What reason did he have to fight, if it meant destroying the one held so dear to his heart? The Succubus' own words were also true, reflecting every single doubt he'd ever held in his heart and still did even to this moment. Could he go back? If he did save this planet and the Universe from Annihilation, what would he have to go back to? Someone else had already assumed control of his company by now, his parents were probably worried sick if they heard news of his disappearance.....Could he even call himself human as he was now? "Rachel....." he finally spoke solemnly after a prolonged eerie silence, "just tell me......Were....were "we" a lie too? Another part of your scheme? Another facade to make your own desires become reality?" He had fallen hard for the woman named Rachel, meeting her at that one little mixer on Owa. She had such charm compared to the other girls; of course now he could see why, but before he knew any of this, before this whole crazy parade happened, he knew he had genuinely loved her.
 
"Of course not, Sam... Nothing that I have ever said or done has been a lie. While I was still a human, I was just as much in love with you as I am now. Of course, my ambitions were much more simple back then but they have been and always will be grounded in the same root desire... To be with you and make you happy, Sam," Rachel rested her chin on his shoulder, her soft cheek brushing against him ever so gently as she did so, "I fell in love with you from the first time I met you... I knew you were different from all the men that had shown interest in me before. It was fate which brought us together, and it is fate which ties us together even now."

"Enough, Rachel! You have said quite enough," Gnome interrupted her, speaking up in a uncharacteristically loud tone, "Can't you see that you are causing Sam pain? He loves you, Rachel, no matter what you may do or say, but that doesn't mean it won't cause him pain to see you this way. You are being so selfish, forcing your will on Sam in this way and you do not even seem to realize you are doing it! He doesn't want to be surrounded by desperate women, seeking to hold on to what remains of their race by submitting themselves to him. He doesn't want to see such suffering and pain in the world, especially when it was caused by the one person that he loves so dearly! And he most certainly does not want such a thing to be spread out into the entire universe! Come to your senses and realize that you are deceiving yourself... If you continue down this path, you really will become a monster-"

"Better a monster, than alone, forgotten, and unloved," Rachel spat back at the earth elemental, "You forget your place, little one. You have cared for and protected my fiance for quite a long time, and for that I am grateful, but that does not mean I will allow you to speak to me in such a manner. Just because you have spent so much time with him, and even born his child does not mean you understand him better than I do. You forget that humans are conflicted beings... Their desires are often at odds with each other, restrained by their own sense of morality and social norms. What I am offering him is a world beyond such restraints. You worship a being who wishes to be seen as kind, morally upright, self-sacrificing, and acting in the best interests of her subjects, but in reality she is simply an immortal being with vast power, who is held captive by her own lusts and base desires as much as any of the rest of you. She is dangerous because she does not live true to her own self... I, on the other hand, make it no secret what my desires are."

"From the first time my future self met her, she knew the sort of person this self-declared Goddess was... Her ambitions are not as far-reaching as my own, this much is true, but have you ever considered even once how she wishes to repopulate her world once I am gone? Surely she does not expect you to be able to mate with each and every one of her subjects, so where will she get these young, virile males? She will do whatever is necessary to obtain them... Abduct them from our home world, if she must, and convince them to partake in this little quest of hers. You have seen the lengths she was willing to go in order to free your daughter, Sam," Rachel's hands reached up, wrapping around his waist and holding him tightly to herself lest he back away from her, "What she really wants is you, Sam... She might be holding herself back at the moment, but do you think the end result will be any different once her self-restraint runs thin? If you have to be have to be the mate of an overlord, wouldn't you rather it be me than some lying, self-serving winged creature who simply claims to have your best interests in mind?"

"How dare you say such things about the Goddess!" Undie hissed.

"Oh, please... You are all simply her little pawns. You are merely insects against the power that I now possess, but you are insects which my fiance, or rather my husband, wishes to keep around so for that reason alone I will refrain from destroying you," Rachel shrugged, "You know you can't do a thing against me..."
 
Even as Rachel confirmed that she did love him from the bottom of her heart, he found it difficult to believe her fully; most of his heart was relieved of the burden of proof, instantly wanting to have her back with no questions asked and no consequences to be faced. But another, smaller yet still very much prominent part of him held the doubt that this was just another ploy; even as he felt his beloved nuzzle against him, the dark spectre of betrayal weighed heavily on his soul. This whole time......This whole damn time he'd been lied to. Used like a pawn on a chessboard, ready to be sacrificed at a moment's notice to claim the enemy king and win the game. How could he trust anyone now? Those which he'd worked with so closely, come to trust completely in the name of both preservation of the self and the universe at large, had withheld such critical information; what else weren't they telling him? What other lies had been spun in order to ensure his cooperation?

Even as Rachel and his contracted Elementals would argue, it was like Sam wasn't there; his body felt completely cut-off from all of reality, no words able to penetrate the veil of sorrow, confusion and anger that clouded all forms of perception. His eyes stared blankly at the floor, the voices around him dulling to a rhythm-less droning hum "Just what am I.....What have I become.....Is this my fate.....Am I merely to be a pawn, a disposable hero with the weight of existence on his shoulders? Does it even matter if I succeed? What if the Goddess lied about that, too? What if the Succubus lied about needing me? What role, what part do I play in this?"

It was only when Rachel embraced him even more tightly that he came back out of his trance, managing to catch the Succubus' rhetorical question about the Goddess and her own plans. It was true the Goddess had engaged in a rather lustful activity, and Kratos' deception along with the Goddess' own admission and her attempting to get closer to him on the beach surrounding Arisa's mansion proved that she did indeed desire him. But was it actual love.....Were any of the relationships he formed actual love? Or merely a byproduct of the party's own selfish desires?

But Sam knew he needed to act; brooding over things outside his control would accomplish nothing. But what could he say or do? What should he say or do? "Rachel......." Sam muttered, turning around to face her so that her soft, lush bosom now pressed against his sculpted chest while leaving her arms still locked around his waist. His strong hands came up to gently caress her cheeks, cupping her gorgeous face as he gazed into her eyes, "You know I love you, and you know I always will. Please...don't concern yourself with them. It's me you want, right? I would do anything to make sure we could be together again, you know this". What he would say next would certainly shock anyone who was listening, simply because of the seriousness in his tone and eyes, "Rachel, when I successfully contract Ignus and Sylph, let me rule beside you. When the power of the Elementals is mine, let us become the King and Queen of the New World".
 
"Sam..." Rachel's eyes glistened with delight upon hearing his words, her wings gently wrapping around his hips as she pulled herself up and briefly clasped her lips over his, savoring the sweet flavor for but an instant. A strong surge of energy flowed out from him, like a spiritual vacuum of sorts whose depth and width were of the universe itself, like staring into the endless abyss of all of reality. Just as soon as the sensation had begun, however, it came to an abrupt end as she pulled back lest she cause any permanent harm to her lover, "As I expected... It is still a bit too soon for us to be fully joined together, my Love... But, this should be enough for me to complete my transformation. I will await our second meeting, Darling. Please, do not keep me waiting long. If you delay, it gives our enemies time to prepare a counter-offensive, and for that reason we should act quickly."

With that, she placed one last kiss upon Sam's cheek before backing away from him, large elemental runes appearing in a clockwise pattern around her in a circle as she folded her hands together and pressed her left palm over her heart with her right pressing down upon it. Beams of light issued from her clasped hands, forming clock hands which turned and spun upon the giant dial. The soft purple fur upon her body fell away, her stature increasing ever so slightly as her horns lengthened and her wings grew just as she was enveloped in a brilliant flash of lightning... Then nothing at all remained in her place but the slowly fading energy from the temporal time shift she had cast around herself.

"Sam, Sam, how could you?!" Gnome fell down to her knees with utter dismay, "Why did you say such a thing? How could you betray the purpose we have done all of this for? You can't possibly want this-" The back of Undie's hand slapped across Gnome's cheek, causing her to reel back form the force of the impact, leaving the earth elemental utterly shocked and dismayed until she saw the water elemental's face. Her own cheeks were stained with transparent blue tears, parts of her very body falling from her face.

"Gnome, that's enough... I do not always agree with Sam's decisions, but what is done is done," Undie whispered softly, "I'm sure Sam did not make this decision lightly. All we can do is stand by his side as we swore to, Gnome. Please try to understand him."
 
When Rachel accepted him into her momentary embrace, he felt like she was going to suck the life right out of him; when she pulled away, he almost fell to the ground his knees were shaking so hard. He was lucky to be alive that much was certain; there would certainly be consequences to live up to from what he'd said here, but they were ones he was more than willing to pay. He watched with a slightly pained grimace as Rachel transformed into her true self; needless to say he still didn't understand everything that was going on or how Rachel was both the Succubus and his wife, but that didn't matter right now. He had goals to complete, and he needed to step up and take charge.

Managing to steady himself on his feet, Sam breathed out a sigh of relief as Rachel - now having become the Succubus herself - disappeared back into the void from where she had come. He looked over to Gnome as she pleaded him to explain the disastrous choice he'd just made, the choice that would spell the end of everything. He didn't even bat an eyebrow as the Water Elemental back-handed her and told her to follow his lead.

In fact, Sam didn't even say a single word as he turned to the leave the room where the four ladies in his company currently were; in fact, the only one he motioned to have follow him was the Doppelganger herself. "You. Doppelganger. Come with me.....We need to speak. In private" he then vocalized, eying the Vampire and his two Elementals pointedly as he mentioned their conversation be in private. And with that he merely turned and walked out of the room without one other utterance to clarify why he essentially betrayed the Goddess and threatened the existence of the entire Universe.
 
"Very well," the Doppel nodded, handing her daughter to Arisa before following after Sam, leaving the two elementals and vampire in a mild state of shock. Wasn't he at least going to explain himself? How could he simply walk out of the room after saying and doing all of that right in front of them? Gnome was not alone in her desire to question his decision, especially after the Goddess, who would be their chief opponent in all of this, was now at full power and doubtless filled with fury upon hearing of this latest development.

The Succubus, or Rachel rather, had carefully played her cards in order to avoid directly confronting the Goddess herself, with the intention of aquiring Sam's support before directly confronting her, but her little encounter with Kratos had thrown a wrench into the gears she had sent turning, which made the situation that much more dangerous. A monster girl as powerful as the Goddess herself was bad enough, but one who was expecting was even more deadly as she would stop at nothing to defend her own precious child.

Far above the planet stood just such a being, whose pale eyes had seen all that had transpired between the Succubus and Sam upon the face of the planet even after their parting. Her left hand remained gently pressed against her chest, right above her beating heart, as her right clenched tightly by her side, "So... This is the price I have paid for my indiscretion... Fair move, Rachel, but the ball is in my court, now. I will wait and see what Sam has in mind before I move to act, for things may not turn out as perfectly as you have foreseen."
 
Sam heard the Doppel's lithe footsteps as she followed close behind him; he just needed a room where he could not be disturbed. He knew that the Goddess watched over him, and that she likely watched the entirety of his interaction with his beloved Rachel. How ironic it was, that evil restored the power of the force of good, and that good had now restored the power of the force of evil. Were the stakes not so high, one such as Sam would certainly appreciate the humor of the situation. But now was not the time nor place for laughing.

He found a study, the empty shelves that once likely housed thousands of pages of arcana and other reading material which were destroyed after the fight between Silus and Arisa. The only source of light was a glass window that overlooked the ocean; in fact, it had a perfect view of the majestic body of water. Sam let the Doppel enter before closing the door; he then went to the center of the room and simply stood there looking out the window, his eyes focusing intently on the horizon.

Before long, he would turn back around to face the Doppel herself, his golden hues peering with frightening intensity into the red orbs of the Succubus', or Rachel's as the case was now revealed to be, niece; for a few long moments he stared sternly at her, his arms crossed in front of his chest. "Well....Looks like you got your unspoken wish, Doppelganger. Seems we'll be spending some more time together in the future" he then spoke; after a moment's pause, he then added, "But there are a few things I'm curious about; for obvious reasons, I can't ask Undine or Gnome to explain them. And the Goddess will likely spin another lie to try and cover her own ass. Arisa I can't fully trust either, and I doubt Rachel would be willing to tell me......Which just leaves you". He then slowly walked up to the Doppel, his eyes peering down at her as he continued, "That's not to say I can completely trust you either, but you've been the closest to the Succubus, that much I can say with a large degree of certainty. So tell me, Doppelganger, how exactly does one go from being an ordinary woman into a supposed all-powerful being that can challenge the Queen of Deception?", saying that last title with a hint of venom in his tone to express his displeasure with the Goddess' decision to keep the identity of the Succubus a secret from him.
 
"The power of self-deception is a powerful force, if wielded properly," the Doppelganger spoke solemnly, the words passing through her parted lips like a gentle melody upon a pleasant wind, "The Succubus is one of the most powerful monster girls in existence, the origin of which is unknown even to someone such as myself although we share a similar nature as we are both demon-type monsters. I am far younger and less experienced in such things as herself, which is why I called myself her niece upon our first meeting... There is no real blood relation between us, and I doubt she even considers me anything more than one of her tools in acquiring you for herself."

She looked up at him solemnly, "You do realize that if you had not allowed her to take a sample of your genetic material, she was planning on using my daughter instead, do you not? Her ambition knows no bounds... It was for that reason, and that reason alone that she sent me to seduce you. Of course, at the time I had no further desire than to do as she bid me. I thought it might earn some favor, but it seems she really does only care about one person in the entire universe, you."

"If you were to ask my theory, I believe that there on a basic level there really isn't any difference between how she was now and the succubus which stood before you then. You heard Undie say it herself, her essential nature has not changed either before or after her transformation," the Doppel turned away once again, placing her right hand upon one of the empty shelves, her finger reaching up toward her face as if searching for freshly laid dust, "For that reason, I have realized that there really isn't anything particularly powerful about her..."

"Not her as an individual, that is," the Doppel's words turned dark and ominous, "Succubi are monsters which gain power from males, correct? There is only so much life energy that a single man, or more specifically a male, could possess, correct? Yet, as a young succubus with only the power extracted from you, from a single kiss, she somehow managed to influence the births of an entire planet? How is that even possible? Its quite simple... She extracted the energy from the entire male race on this planet, from not only a single generation, but every generation thereafter. As long as she exists, she will continue to build up this power, not simply extracting the life force of males, but erasing them from existence entirely."

"She couldn't accomplish this at once, of course... That is why the effects where not noticed at first, until her power grew to such an extent that the male population fell into a rapid decline," the Doppel's eyes narrowed, "Yet, what did she do with all of this power once she had extracted it? She put it to a single use... To aid her in confronting and eventually sealing the single being which could stand against her, the Goddess."
 
Sam merely glared at the Doppel as she revealed what she knew about the Succubus; the young changeling had already revealed that she wasn't actually related by blood to the Succubus, so that came as no surprise. However, he didn't seem too particularly fazed at the mention that her daughter would have been used as a means of obtaining his DNA; perhaps the sting of being betrayed by those he'd come to trust was still present. Maybe he'd just lost interest in anything. Who could know what was going on through his head. "Yeah, that what she tells me too....." he then replied in his head to her comment about him being the only one she cared about.

He nodded in reply to her rhetorical questions; he knew well enough that a Succubus required the energy of men to sustain themselves. Though when she started talking about how the males of this world started disappearing, he seemed to gain a bit more interest; it was also here that the pieces of the puzzle started to come together. The Succubus was responsible for what happened to the males of this planet and for sealing the Goddess away; well, at least the Goddess was truthful to him about one thing. Still one thing was unclear to him; the male population would have died out long before she got enough power to do such a thing. At least that's what he theorized.

However, inspiration soon struck him; his mind played back the moment when the Succubus transformed after she kissed him. She seemed to artificially accelerate the timeframe of her transformation. How this played into the grand scheme of things he still wasn't all that certain, and for all he knew he could be wrong about her chronomancer abilities; still, what he'd seen so far and what the Doppel just told him seemed to point in that direction.

"I see" was all he said after she finished explaining everything. If the Succubus had the power to travel through time, that would explain how she might harvest the energy of the population. But if that were the case, how were there not more of her? Or maybe she just has them come out one at a time? At this point, Sam was just guessing; still, he found it unlikely there were more than one of them. She seemed the more selfish sort, a female version of his own incarnation Kratos. Still, if her words were to be believed, she wished him to have all the females in the universe to himself. An attractive offer, certainly a very attractive offer. With that, Sam gave the Doppel a nod and left her behind in the room, his business having been concluded; to say he was acting strangely would be an understatement.

He would soon return to the room where Arisa, Azaleth, Gnome and Undine still resided; he pushed the door open to stand before them once more. "Gnome, Undine.......Let's go. We have a Fire Elemental to contract" he then said in a rather authoritative tone, his face in somewhat of a scowl; of course, if he really were to attempt such a thing - and the tone in his voice being a very clear indicator of how serious he was - it would certainly be suicide since his body was heavily drained from Kratos' little demonstration and the Succubus draining energy from his body.
 
The doppel merely nodded and allowed him to leave, her gaze still fixed upon the empty shelves before her, the emptiness itself reflecting the state of her own heart at the moment. The world around them was rapidly changing, as the various sides and interests rearranged themselves. All she could hope for was to remain an observing party rather than actively involved in the events which would soon tear apart the very fabric of the universe as they knew it. No side would be left unscathed by such a conflict, that much was certain.

"Sam, just take a look at yourself!" Gnome cried out in protest, despite the firm look Undie shot her, "You are in no condition to fight Ignus, let alone anyone else... Please stop doing this to yourself. You'll die if you push yourself too far. Even if we were at our peak condition, fighting against Ignus will be a very tough match." The elemental was practically begging him to reconsider, although it was clear her words were falling on deaf ears.

"Wether or not I agree with Gnome is beyond the point... What I am more interested in hearing, first of all, is how you plan on defeating Ignus in the first place. She is hardly one to trifle with, as you doubtless know by now," Undie spoke up as well, "Secondly, I would like you to be perfectly clear with both of us, Sam. I will follow your lead no matter where you may take us, but rather than rush in blindly I would prefer to know exactly where we stand. Are we actually going to be declaring war against the Goddess?"
 
Indeed, Sam turned a blind eye to Gnome's concerns; as far as he could tell, he was alone in this world. The fact that he was being set up to extinguish the life of his beloved, even if she was the greatest threat if the Goddess was to be believed, infuriated him. How she thought she had the nerve to keep such a critical detail from him escaped his capacity to reason at the moment, though he attributed it to simple 'holier-than-thou' arrogance because she'd been accepted as a God of this world.

As Undine began to interrogate him about his motives and game plan for his upcoming confrontation with the Fire Elemental, Sam just rolled his eyes but let her finish. "I really don't think you're in a position to demand anything of me, Undine. As far as I'm concerned, you matter as little to me as the Goddess does right now. You know, since I seem to matter so little to you. But for the sake of you not becoming a thorn in my side, I'll say this: We have a job to do, and we're doing it".
 
"Sam, I trust in your strength and your ability to persevere..."

"Yet, for my promise's sake and the sake of my people, in the unfortunate case in which you might fall to the temptation of the Succubus, I will do battle with you. I'm afraid that in such a case I will be unable to show mercy. If I fail, not only will my children be in grave peril, but also the entire human race."

"Even now, I bear no hatred nor malice toward the Succubus, nor would I have any toward you should you fall to her devices," the Goddess granted him a strange, knowing glance as if hinting at some hidden truth within her words beyond the clear meaning, "After all, she has sought after such a moment for almost as long as I have. For over two thousand years has this time been approaching, and in but a few short months it will all come to an end."

Her eyelids slightly parted, revealing a dim glow and white, almost colorless eyes, before she quickly shut them once again, "I have seen you standing at the top of a great iron tower shrouded in darkness and thick clouds of gloom. Upon it you stand with your many allies before the Succubus, the one whom you were always destined to face. There, you will be forced to make an impossible decision, one which will demand the utmost resolution in your heart to overcome. In the end, I trust that you will make the proper choice, although even I cannot foresee the outcome."

The words that the Goddess had spoken to Sam never rang quite so true as in that one moment, Undie's eyes widening as she recognized the careful wording that she had chosen to convey her hidden warning, one that she hoped would carry him through this time of difficulty and trial. Yet, as Sam stood before her now she felt that this was a different man than one which had approached her remote spring, the one whom she had pledged herself to wholeheartedly and allowed to be absorbed into her very being. That man still existed, but he had been buried deep within his heart, covered by his own anger at the perceived betrayal of all those near to him... It had been an impossible decision, indeed, but one that the Succubus had masterfully made easy by preying on his own insecurities and devotion to the woman known as Rachel.

"Sam... Listen to yourself. Do you even hear what you are saying? If you mattered nothing to me, then why do you think I have followed you for so long, and braved so many hardships by your side? I, as well as the Goddess, did not tell you because we knew it would be hard for you to hear. We trusted that you would make the proper choice when the time came, Sam, that you would have the strength to make such an impossible decision," Undie's shoulders sagged, "Are you really the sort of man who would rather take the easy path, running away from the hard and difficult path when one person sows seeds of doubt and mistrust in your heart? If you came to me at my spring as such a man, I would have dissolved you into nothing. How can you sacrifice everything that we have worked so hard to build? I will stand for whatever decision you might make, but do not doubt my love for you... Everything that I have done has been out of love for you, Sam, wether or not you interpret as such."
 
Sam's hands clenched weakly as Undine tried to make him see the apparent error of his train of thought; how dare she talk to him like that. "You've got some nerve patronizing me, Undine, especially with how you've lied to me. For someone who claims to want me to take the hard path and shy away from the easy one, you withhold information that would have allowed me to make clear decisions! You claim to want me to have strength, yet you try to soften things on me!" he then spoke in an ever-raising tone of voice.

"And as for how I can sacrifice everything.....Well, it comes just as easily to me as lies do to you and the Goddess" Sam added; rubbing a hand through his long black hair furiously he then said, "In fact, I'm making a hard decision right now: I'm done with you, Undine. If you can't trust me to deal with the fact that my wife is the Succubus, then we have no business being together. I have a job to do, and I'll just go on without you. Either of you. Why don't you talk to me when you actually feel like being truthful for a change?" With that, he turned on his heel and stormed back out of the room, going down the stairs and out of the mansion itself. It was clear that he was headed for the beach, where the black cloud that signaled the location of Ignus' island rose like a beacon; how he intended to reach if he didn't want to use Undine's power, and the fact that he was so weak at the moment, remained a mystery.
 
"Sam, no!" Gnome rushed toward her contractor but before she could even take two steps Undie had reached around her and held her back, preventing her from running after him and the certain destruction which awaited him if he truly intended to confront Ignus in his current state, "You'll die if you go, Sam! Can't you see what Rachel has done to you? In a single moment she has torn us apart... Don't you remember the promise we made to each other, Sam? The promise you made to the Goddess herself if you lost your way?!"

"Gnome, that's enough... He's beyond our ability to convince at this point. Only the Goddess can save him, now," Undie shook her head, pulling the earth elemental away despite her struggles and protests. Arisa could merely watch in sadness and horror as the he continued toward the distant coast, the sky above growing dark and ominous, swirling about a central point as the now-familiar scent of the Goddess' power surged through the clouds. Their diety was mourning, lamenting the task which lay before her now... To destroy the one whom she had allied herself to not so very long ago. What had brought them to this point? Had she foreseen such an outcome all along? The vampire could only watch and wait for the inevitible end...

To this unexpected detour.

The Goddess stood alone upon the the coast, where the ragged rocks rose up above the crashing waves as the tide slid toward the land, each surge of the sea spraying a fresh, salty mist into the sea-scented wind which blew across her face and her gently closed eyes. Her bare feet rested upon the rough face of the rock, her wings spread above her as her head was tilted slightly forward as if to utter a silent prayer. As she heard his footsteps draw ever more near, she spoke not a word to him until he was well within earshot.

"Sam... I will fulfill my duty as the defender of this world, even if it requires that you become my enemy. The day has come to pass which I feared for so many years. You have become lost amid the trials, Sam, and if you seek to oppose me you must realize that there will be but one outcome," she spoke softly, a single tear running down her fair cheek, "I told you that I would hold nothing back, and my resolve has never once wavered... Yet, my will to you is to be merciful and understanding. Know that what I do, I do not out of spite or hatred. I know that your actions are not driven by greed, but are rooted in the love of a woman. Like Helen of Troy, a great many conflicts have begun and ended not with hatred, but by love followed by hatred."

"Let us not give in to the temptation for hatred and war, Sam... The path you have chosen is not the only path before you. Rachel can still be saved and restored to you, if you would be willing to grant me your ear and understanding," the Goddess spoke solemnly, "From the time I first met Rachel, she was alone and weak, frightened at the vastness of my kingdom as I showed her each part from top to bottom. Even then I felt compassion toward her, for reasons beyond my comprehension even as she bound me within that staff and bestowed my power to another. I wished for her to come to an acceptance and understanding of her place in this vast universe, and with your help we can accomplish this... But if you insist upon opposing me, even in light of this, I can see no recourse but to destroy you both."
 
Sam ignored the pleadings of his once-beloved Gnome, his feet crunching on the earth still scorched from his skirmish with Silus before coming into the contact with the rocks. He did not notice the growing turbulence in the skies, vengefully unaware that the one he'd sworn to help would be coming to stop him. He did see her soon enough, standing there as if expecting him to come. A few steps more was all he took before stopping, feeling the ocean breeze wash over his face and his long ragged black locks flutter in the wind as the two powers of the planet confronted each other.

For those moments that she spoke, asking him to abandon his newly turned quest for vengeance and listen to her. His nails bit into the heels of his hands, small streams of red dripping into the surf that washed around his ankles and carried it back to the sea. He did notice the single tear, but his rage-saturated state of mind merely processed it as an attempt to appeal to his sense of humanity. When she finally finished speaking, Sam did not say a single word, only continued to gaze into her closed eyes as if trying to peer straight through her soul.

The land itself seemed to mourn the fact that these two powerful beings, both which had initially sought nothing more than to restore this planet to how it was, to the proper order and balance as Arisa herself stated, were now potentially to be enemies in a single bout of mortal combat. Sam knew he was severely outclassed, outgunned, but in his mind....There was nothing more to lose. He'd lost everything; the very woman he'd sought to return to, to protect in times of great hardship, was revealed to be the very person he was tasked to destroy. And what made it worse was that those he trusted had lied about it, kept him from the truth.

His teeth clenched into a grimace, his own fury beginning to boil over, "Why should I grant you anything, Goddess? Why should I even listen to you anymore, when you did not grant me the simple courtesy of informing me from the start? I go through all this trouble, put myself through countless trials for this planet, and I have to risk losing the woman I pledged myself to? Do you know how much it pains me, Goddess, to have had to break my own moral code so many times, just to survive here? Do you even care?" He paused, letting himself catch his breath after that rant.

It wasn't long, however, before he continued, "No, you know what, don't bother answering. I've seen the crocodile tears you shed for those you "care about". I've been lied to far too many times now; everything I thought I was fighting for was a lie. All of you are nothing but deceitful backstabbing liars. I see now why Silus wanted to extinguish this planet, why he wanted to extinguish you". He then paused and pointed a finger right at her, his voice becoming a booming shout, "This is all your fault to begin with, Goddess! Everything that's happened was because of you!" He paused once more, his head hanging with emotions running high and his heartbeat pounding like a war drum in his ears; before he could even stop himself, the words that would seal his fate spilled out of his mouth, his gaze returning to peer up at the Goddess with utterly ferocious hatred, "AND IF YOU WANT TO STOP IT, YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO KILL ME, GODDESS!" Within that instant, Sam's internal Corruption surged forth as he charged the Goddess, turning his entire right forearm into a gigantic blade; he then leaped high into the air, the weapon raised over his head as if to strike the Goddess down with a single blow.
 
The blade forged from anger and hatred, born from the despair and frustration swelling within him as the corruption within him answered its call and filled him with strength for the battle that he had chosen. Even as the sharpened edge sliced through the air as swiftly as a bolt of lightning, the Goddess remained still and resolute even as the blade pressed against the surface of her soft, unblemished skin. It sliced through her flesh like a knife through softened butter, but abruptly stopped as the weapon struck her bone. A thin sliver of crimson blood leaked from her wound, staining her white robe with her own life fluid. Her closed eyelids slowly opened as she reached up and grasped the blade, the entire weapon shattering into countless fragments in an instant.

"If that is your wish, Sam... Then I will in no way disappoint," the Goddess's eyes shut once again, what she had seen of the future in that instant remaining within her own mind without speaking of it, the truth perhaps passing with her into eternity as she lifted up her left hand, palm outward. She surged forward, striking him firmly in the chest and lifting him up into the air as she simultaneously flew backward, wings spread wide. Above them gleamed the deadly points of countless spears of light, spread beyond the distant horizon in multitude. Holy chains materialized, binding him hand, foot, arm, leg, and neck, preventing even the slightest movement, all simultaneously tightening and pulling him in all directions as the first spear pierced him, then the second, their length reaching from heaven to the earth itself as blow upon blow broke through him. His blood ran like rivers from his wounds, each one more grievous than the last, rending flesh from bone.

"Heaven's judgement be dealt..."

The countless spears continued to rain down from the heavens, the Goddess hovering before him still and firm, cold yet morose as she brought and end to the man that she had wished would at one time stand by her side as her companion and love. Yet, her duty compelled her to press forward despite everything that they had shared... Despite the life that grew within her womb.

"Farewell, my love-"
 
The fact that the weapon even struck the Goddess brought Sam a large amount of glee; he pushed it more and more until it would hit her collarbone. And then its motion stopped; no matter how much effort he exerted, he could not push it another inch into her. As the blade was shattered, Sam felt himself falling before being blasted backwards after the Goddess would confirm her duty to destroy him; the force alone made it feel like several of his internal organs had ruptured simultaneously. As he was strung up like a fresh caught rabbit, he would struggle against the chain's grip, blood leaking from the corners of his mouth as he tried to free himself and kill this wicked woman.

"From one murderer to another, Goddess, I'll see you in hell" he then growled out weakly, coughing up globs of the thick red fluid. Sam howled out in agony as the first spear struck him, its length shattering several ribs as it passed through him and into the wet ground that made up the rocks below. His blood ran along the length of the spear itself, sizzling as its intense energy vaporized the sanguine liquid. Then came a second spear, piercing his liver and emerging from his stomach; he tried to hold back screams of pain, trying to deny the pleasure the Goddess must have felt at his suffering.

Eventually, he could take no more; as more and more spears continued to rip him apart, staining the shoreline of the beach at the back of the Vampires mansion with impossible amounts of blood and bits of flesh, his mouth opened one last time to emit the most pained howl of anguish that could be heard. His screams continued even as everything faded to black, his mind shutting down from the immense blood loss and bodily damage.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Then everything turned white and he found himself awake, bellowing in fright at the top of his lungs as he thrashed on a bed. His eyes were wide, the pupils dilated heavily and searching even though his vision was incredibly blurry. Eventually the screaming stopped, leaving him panting with his chest rising and falling rapidly as if he were about to hyperventilate, his body covered in a cold sweat; his adrenal glands were obviously working overtime, he could hear his own heartbeat going a hundred miles a minute and blocking out every sound that could be heard. His fear high eventually crashed after a few minutes, leaving him to try and comprehend his situation; though his breathing was still extremely heavy yet shallow, he tried to focus his vision and move his body, quickly finding himself unable to do either.

"What the hell......Am I dead?" Sam thought to himself; did the Goddess really kill him? Did he really go that far to try and destroy the Goddess for not telling him that the woman he loved was in fact his enemy? Of course, he would be angry at her, but he wouldn't try to kill her....Would he?
 
Gnome and Undie entered the room shortly thereafter, looking concerned and somewhat panicked although in Sam's eyes their figures would be blurred and difficult to decipher in the dimly lit interior. "Arisa! Sam's finally woken up! Please, bring something for him, would you?" Undie called out toward the door before turning back toward her beloved contractor. She gently cupped his cheek in her hand and smiled down at him, "Stupid... You really had us worried back there. I thought we almost lost you when you fell down as if dead." The two elementals smiled down at him, any accusations of his betrayal in giving himself over to the Succubus or the like not even entering their minds, it seemed. Had they all died and found each other in the world beyond?

Gnome gently wrapped her fingers around his hand, the warmth of her hands spreading across his sweaty palm as she lifted his hand up and brushed her soft cheek against him, "Sam..." If they really were dead, at last they were all together... but that wouldn't explain why Arisa was here as well, rushing up to his bedside and slapping a wet towel across his forehead with enough force to fell an ox.

"You need to rest! Not just anyone can survive a Succubus' kiss. You are lucky to be alive, Sam, and if I hadn't infused some of my life force into you immediately afterward, you most certainly would be pushing daisies by now," the vampire reached up and rubbed her right forefinger across her fangs, as if in remembrance of the moment at which her teeth had pierced his skin in order to infuse his with her own blood. It was a action that few vampires performed, since giving blood was considered an act of subservience. The significance, of course, was lost on all those present so Arisa was the only one in the room feeling awkward at the moment. "There, I saved your life, so I count us even now... So, as soon as you are well again, I'll be kicking all of your loafing butts out of my mansion. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, yeah, Arisa, we love you, too," Undie yawned, stretching her arms over her head in the air as she bent over slightly.
 
Even though Sam couldn't see them to save his life, their energies were so familiar to him that he recognized them instantly; this would count as the second time he'd nearly died as a result of a malevolent entity, only to be saved by another interested party. And the identity of this party was revealed when she slapped a wet cloth on his forehead; he could barely feel much of anything right now, but he was in enough of a right state of mind to recognize Arisa's aura. Who would have thought that a Vampire, one who looked down on humans as nothing more than walking blood banks, would actually save a human? Of course, Sam's actual knowledge of Vampires in general, along with the other Mamono, was gone for now due to his weakened mental state, but it likely wouldn't be lost on Arisa or anyone else who happened to be watching.

So that meant he wasn't dead, or at the very least it made it highly unlikely; Arisa didn't seem the type to perish so easily in battle, if her fight against Silus was any indication of her power. He didn't even hear her remarks as she reminded of how lucky he was to even still be alive and how he would be dead already if she hadn't intervened. If he could understand, he would most certainly agree with her. Sam didn't even realize how close it really was that he felt the Reaper's embrace; even with Arisa's infusion, his body looked almost like a skeleton, much of his muscle mass having been taken to make up for the enormous energy drain of Rachel's kiss and his skin pulled tightly to reveal a good portion of his large skeletal frame. His eye sockets too were heavily sunken, making his eyes seem to bulge out much more than the average human's.

His bony fingers weakly curled around Gnome's own, barely feeling the warmth of her grip; it would certainly take some time for him to recover from this, but two questions still remained....Where was Rachel and why did he give himself over to her? His eyes twitched, his field of view shifting and his irises moving this way and that as he searched for his wife. "R...Rac.....Rachel....W...hee.re...iiiss...." he muttered hoarsely, his voice cracking and dry-sounding as he tried to lift his head, succeeding for about a few millimeters before letting it fall once more; even trying to take a breath seemed like such a laborious task.
 
"Whoa, calm down," Arisa gently pushed his shoulders down against the bed, "Rachel is just fine, so calm down and try to rest up to fight another day. I'm sure she will be rolling back around again as soon as you contract Ignus. In fact, during the few days while you were out I even managed to get in contact with her and arrange a meeting on more suitable terms. Even way off the coast on a remote island, she's managed to hear about your adventures and she seems rather eager to meet you... When you are well enough to challenge her in battle, that is."

"She never was the sort to take the easy way out... I'm sure you two will get along just fine," Undie smirked, but there was a hint of repressed distaste in her tone toward Ignus. The two of them never really saw eye-to-eye, as their personality types were complete polar opposites of each other. While Undie was calculating, defensive, and subtile in her approaches to many situations, Ignus was brash, offense-oriented, and upfront with her feelings as well as intentions. There was essentially no difference between her inner and outer dialogue.

"Don't worry, Sam... We will find a way to save Rachel," Gnome reassured him with a gentle squeeze to his withered hand, "I promise you, from the bottom of my heart, we will find a way. While there is still hope for her, I'm sure the Goddess will understand and led us her support as well. After all, the two of them used to be very close friends. This must be hard on her as well. Don't loose faith, Sam."
 
Unfortunately, Sam still could not really hear much of anything; it would be some time before his senses fully recovered, and even longer until he was ready to move again, and even longer still before he might be even close to ready to take on someone like Ignus. Even as the three wonderful ladies who helped care for him while he was in such a sorry state tried to converse with him, all he could hear was muffled mumbling. He hated being this way, being so useless and such a burden.

As Gnome squeezed his hand, he could feel her energy; even with his depleted capacity for sensation he could feel the utter potency of her aura, the gentleness that resonated within her soul. Then, for what the three women might see as no reason at all, he started to let out a series of grunts, something akin to someone being strangled and gulping for air, but in truth they were small sobs made worse because of his current state.

"G...Gn..nome...Un...Un...Und...ine....Ssssss......sorry..." he finally managed to choke out; Sam realized that what he'd experienced was a dream, but it was too real for him not to be affected by it. When did it start? When did it stop? Did he really say and do all those awful things?
 
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