Chapter 5 “Aftermath”

Chapter 5 "Aftermath"

Ahhhh… I’m supposed to be the strongest! Assori drifted through space motionless and left to her own thoughts. She was disappointed in herself for losing. I hardly stood a chance with the way I was acting. I cannot allow this to happen again.

She grit her teeth in a controlled frustration of the moment. She had balled her fist for a moment, only to open them in front of her eyes. She examined them by slowly flipping them once from front to back. These hands of hers were strong, her body almost unbreakable yet her conviction was weak. Angelo was standing around watching his daughter float around in sorrow while he tried to find the right words that would sooth her pain. Although he may have won the intense battle but he couldn't win a battle he's been fighting forever: How to be a father. There were endless ways to parent but he could never find out which would be correct. He's always improvised, which worked sometimes but not always. At this point he thought of words of truth.

"You could've won,” Angelo seemed to collect his words. “You’re more than strong enough. Why not fight with all you have?"

A single tear fell down Assori’s eyes, running across her cheek for a moment before floating into the void of space.

"I am well aware of this,” Assori affirmed what he said. Her father knew better than anyone else of what she was capable of. He didn’t know just by observation alone, her raw power exceeded anyone elses in the universe. “My hands… My hands can only kill... It’s impossible to regulate this strength of mine. If I would've used everything I had I could have lost you… Like I did mother."

Angelo felt the profound words of his daughter reach him as he placed his right hand over his chest, over where his heart would be. For a brief time had he felt an familiar pain that was distant in memory. He quickly dismissed these feelings as he couldn't worry about himself. He floated over to Assori and picked her up. He was able to speak the words he felt would help.

"You won't ever lose me. I'll always be strong enough for you… So, there’s no need to hold back."

The warmth of his Angelic body pressing against hers reminded her of her mother’s warmth.

"You promise?"

"Always."

Assori vowed that she would never lose another battle. With all her thoughts collected she floated away from Angelo. She was ready to finish the task that she now had to undertake. Regaining her confidence, she turned to her father and said:

"Teleport out. I'll destroy it all."

Surprised at how effective he was, Angelo didn't expose how he felt everything and simply teleported away.

Assori focused her energy, extending both of her arms in front of her. They were enclosed together tightly grabbing onto an unknown mass. She started to slowly move her hands apart still grasping onto the mass tightly… Within seconds, the universe begins to tear apart. Simultaneously the stars and the planets exploded, creating countless supernovas. She continued to pull the fabric of reality apart until she was left floating in a void of nothingness. The weight of the unknown matter was no longer there. Angelo teleported her back to their dimension into the room with the others. He spoke formally again in a holy voice:

"You have done well."

Lazarus looked at Dominus, accepting his loss.

"Eh. I will take my leave now and gather all my vampires."

Dominus looked at Assori in a manner that was quite confusing. She could have easily won the battle but her feelings had gotten in the way of doing so. After processing what he should say, Dominus asked:

"...........you’re okay, right"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Okay. I will be leaving with Lazarus to watch him destroy his weakest people."

Angelo and Assori both assumed a bet was placed and Lazarus had lost. Zion walked over to Assori and placed her right hand on top of her head swaying back and forward.

"There will be other battles, young warrior." She grimaced.

This was the only moment most of the 5 showed any concern for another. Dominus and Assori were the youngest of them and were hardly shown love or compassion by people because of their standings. They all left they felt relieved that Assori didn't fall into despair and rampage. Stopping her would have been a problem than showing emotion was worth. The 5 only ever rely on each other to stop chaos so they were always close while their people mere stepping stones.

Odrian and the others now full after having an amazing lunch and time at red velvet warehouse said their final goodbyes to Kris. Odrian said:

"it was fun, but we got to go or Ziggy will, uh, up our training."

Sarah not wanting to train extra hard on a full stomach quickly looked in the direction of home and began walking.

"I hope we learn more about each other! Later!"

Landon kept to himself just looking at her from where he stood. He nodded at her and walked away.

"Kris..." Victor remembered last time he was late to Ziggy's training session. He turned to his girlfriend who’s face was blushing. He looked her in the eyes and he could tell she didn’t want him to leave "I'm sorry... I'll make it up to you. I’ve gotta go."

Kris looked at Victor walk away as his back was turned she couldn’t see his face any longer. Her heart beat at a regular pace and her hands fell to her side.

"Not even a hug?" She turned around and started to walk home. Within an instant, her vision went completely dark. She could only feel something like a wall pressing against her back.

"Guess who?"

Before she could answer her vision started to clear. The hands that were over her eyes moved down to embrace her waist tightly. Nervous, she tilted her head back and looked up to find out who it was. Her heart raced upon gazing at the person’s face.

"Victor?!"

Victor bended his head toward her and kissed her on the forehead.

"Yeah..." He smiled. "I'll give you a real kiss later."

He lets go of her and runs off to catch up with the others. She watched as they all vanished into the distance in a hurry. With a smile on her face she went on her way back to her own home.

They arrived back home in 30 minutes. None of them wanted to waste excess energy so they walked regular speed. Ziggy waited for them outside with a bag of items. Did he just come home from the store? Was it part of their training? They couldn't figure out what they were. He wore a menacing smile that left them rather unsettled.

"Oh? So… I see we’re a few milliseconds late."

All of their hearts dropped and faces saddened. They wondered what the repercussions were.

"Why the sad faces? You guys passed, right?"

"Yes, we all did!" Odrian answered for everyone.

"Well perfect! We figured you would! Congrats!”

Landon fixed his glasses, realizing something isn't right. Ziggy happily continued:

“Ah, and where are my manners... Welcome, Victor! You’re training too?"

"Yes sir." Victor respectfully answered.

"We’re cooking all your favorite dishes today to celebrate! So cheer up everyone!"

The four of them now relieved let out a big sigh. Ziggy opened the bag and reached into a mysterious bag and pulled out an item that looked like ping pong paddles. He gave everyone 2 paddles each.

"Well, we were going to spar," Ziggy seemed to size them up from where he stood. "But since you’re late..."

There was a long pause. He looked up at the cloudy skies, feeling the temperature drop slightly.

"It’ll be raining in a few minutes. I want you four to use these paddles.…and Stop every drop of rain from touching our home.”

Ziggy smiled with a deranged expression with no mercy in his eyes.

"Don't be late next time!"