Thus Speak Prodigal
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Part II : The Search for True Love
Disclaimer : Standard
Episode 12 :
The End of Time & Beginning of Hope
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(a)The Fires of Hell
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"How interesting to come back to Hell for the 2nd time," Torrants
said to Mayar as they were joined by Runoa and Clone. They were
outside the gates of Hell.
"Runoa, thanks for coming," said Mayar, as she hugged her old
friend.
"No problem, it concern my daughter." said Ruona, who knew all that
had happened from Mayar when they reunited before the war.
"We have to be careful, Mistress," Clone spoke with a cautious
tone,"I sensed that there is great danger."
"Yes, I agree with Clone," Torrants said, as he surveyed
around,"According to Valentine, the Devil is out to harm you so
that the existence of True love would be destroyed. Just hope that
Prodigal would be around now."
"Yes, he is still in Heaven, and I think that he would have met
with greater danger against Gabriel." Runoa felt that something had
happened to his beloved, but could not know what was going
on.
"Welcome to Hell again," a familiar voice spoke, it was the voice
of the demoness, followed by a horde of devils and demons.
"Hallo Kathy, we have enough of your nonsense. Hand over Runoa's
daughter, otherwise face my fury," Mayar was agitated and spoke on
behalf of the rest. Clone was looking around, as he realized that
the Devil was not around. It was surprising to him that the Lord of
Hell was not around. Where is the anomaly? Clone was thinking and
he was wondering that it was a trap to ensure that Ruona would be
assaulted by the minions of Evil. He would fight to the last drop
of his blood to ensure his mistress safety.
"Runoa and Mayar, stayed back," Torrants said as he wielded his
hourglass. "Clone, let's do it." The next instant, flashes of blows
were exchanged as Runoa and Mayar could hardly see what was
happening. Groans and moans were heard, but they do not belonged to
the god of Time and the servant to the Endless, Love. The horde of
demons were defeated in less than a few seconds. Clone's pole was
filled with demon's blood, and Torrant's hourglass was still packed
with lightning which was unleashed to hit the demons, who stopped
his way. Hallo Kathy smiled. She was ready to take the battle at
her own hands.
"Let me deal with the bitch," a voice spoke before Torrants could
do anything. It was Mayar, as she was ready to pay the demoness for
the curse she placed on her years back that led to her exile.
"You are doomed," Hallo Kathy smiled as she held her whip ready.
She quickly slashed her opponent with her whip, but was greeted by
a stream of energy flowing from Mayar's hands that defended the
attacks easily.
"How do you possess such power?" Hallo Kathy was astonished by the
sudden power of the former mermaid. She saw the crafty smile of the
Goddess of Love, who gave her the notion that she had a hand in
it.
"Now, face my wrath, demoness," Mayar threw a fireball right into
the demoness' front. The demoness could not defend herself in time.
But the fireball was greeted by a figure, who took the fireball and
extinguished in split seconds. It revealed a handsome young man in
white suit, with a flail on his left hand. Of course, I would not
fail to mention his "Leonardo Dicappucino" look. He was holding the
flail of Destruction, and he was ready to destroy the lives of
those who defied him and trepassed Hell.
"S.A. Tan!" Torrants said, as he moved forward to defend Mayar.
Clone held his pole tight and was ready to defend against the
powerful Lord of Hell. The next instant, the Devil swiftly moved
towards Runoa's position. Mayar and Torrants quickly rushed to
protect the goddess of love, but thrown away by the protected field
of the Devil. All that left was Clone's last stand, as he lifted
his pole up hard, and struck instantaneously on the rushing
Devil.
A tremendous explosion was heard and Clone was thrown apart by the
blast. Torrants and Mayar could only see Runoa's palms were stuck
with the Devil's palms. She was under great difficulty to deal with
the Devil's powers. She felt that the Devil had more power than
her, and she could not conjure any more energy to fight against the
lord of Hell.
A quick feminine figure between the two colliding forces of Love
and Hell. The figure lifted her palm and broke the engagement
apart, and the Devil was surprised by the sudden attack. He had to
retreated back to a position which he could see who had assaulted
him. He could only see a woman dressed in a combination of black
tight singlet and sleazy black pants. She bore the power which a
lot of mortals feared. Death was her name.
"S.A. Tan, enough is enough," Death said, as she supported the
fallen Runoa. "The war should end."
"Where is Prodigal?" the Devil asked,"Tell that coward to appear."
Suddenly he realized what was already happening. Immediately, he
took up the flail of Devestation and unleashed the forces of
destruction. He spoke,"By Destruction's hand, by craft and by art,
what once was once, now torn apart!". The flail seemed to conjure
many streams of light, which were emitted out instantaneously and
struck all the figures around. At the next instant, all including
the demoness were hurt with both Mayar and Ruona knocked
unconscious, and that includes Death, who was shocked by the
possession of Devestation's flail in the hands of the Lord of
Hell.
"How did you get the flail of Devestation?" Death was almost
certain that it would be impossible to be in the Devil's
possession.
"A deal with him to destroy that wimpy brother of yours, Hope," the
Devil smiled, as he grabbed the unconscious Ruona and rushed to
where the actual battle is.
"No!" said Clone, who rushed with his final might to intercept the
Devil, but he was pestered by the demoness Hallo Kathy. His anger
has overwhelmed him, and he unleashed his most powerful blow, and
Hallo Kathy was struck with her utmost surprise, and fell to her
destruction by the 7 foot Clone. However, the energy which Clone
had conjured to kill Hallo Kathy had resulted in his exhaustion and
could not move on.
"Clone, take care of Mayar," Torrants said as he took the hourglass
and chased the Devil together with Death.
(b)The Closure of the Anomaly
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"Thank you, Mister Hope for saving our lives," Kallen spoke as he
was recovered from the curse. He was reverted back to his charming
appearance, with the aid given by Valentine's magic.
"You are welcome, the Prince of Elves," said Prodigal who was
carrying his daughter with both his arms. She was asleep peacefully
by the side of her father. The prodigal could felt the kinship
between Valentine and him. In order to deal with the anomaly, the
Prodigal and Death had split up to deal with each thing at a time.
He had managed to enter into Hell by another gateway, and found his
trapped daughter and the Prince of Elves unconscious.
"Valentine, my daughter, you must wake up," said the Prodigal, as
he infused his dying daughter with the channel of his energy.
"You are doomed to be destroyed today, Hope," came a sinister
laughter. "together with your wife and daughter." It was the voice
of the Devil who had Ruona, the goddess of love as his hostage. He
was chased after by Death and Time. They were now all in the main
hall. The prodigal handed his daughter to Kallen, who was joined by
Torrants. Death joined his brother as they faced the most powerful
adversary which the Endless had fought.
"Prodigal," Death said,"he had Devestation's flail, and we have to
be careful in engaging him."
"S.A. Tan, hand over Runoa," said Prodigal, "Otherwise, hell would
cease to exist." He was ready to threatened to the Devil regardless
of anything because of his love for Runoa. He was frustrated at his
inability to save Ruona from disaster. He clenched his fists
tight.
"You have yourself to blame for abandoning the realm of Hope," said
the Devil,"I would win today, and tomorrow Heaven would be
mine."
"Don't count on the chicks before they hatched," Torrants poked the
Devil with scorn. At this moment, Mayar and Clone had arrived into
the scene. Mayar had regained her consciousness, and sought to join
her lover as soon as he could.
At this instant, the grounds on Hell began to shake, and suddenly a
large sphere of grey light appeared between the Devil and the
Prodigal. It was the anomaly and it had found its first
target.
"S.A. Tan, if you destroy me, there would no way you could close
the anomaly, and everything would cease to exist." Prodigal said,
as he signalled to Death, who was already preparing to move.
"I would kill you first, and sealed the anomaly with Devestation's
flail," the Devil laughed, as he lifted the flail for the final
kill.
"Now, Death!" the Prodigal jumped into the air, and in his fastest
speed, he fired a beam of energy onto the Devil's hand. The Devil
was caught by the element of surprise, and the blast hit his arm at
the right position and the flail of Devestation flew into the air.
Before the Devil could do anything, Death had arrived and snatched
the captured Goddess of Love from the Devil.
"You would not win so easily," the Devil was angered by Prodigal's
effort to thwart his plans. He fired an blast onto the flail of
Destruction to shatter it.
"No," the Prodigal shouted.
At this instant, the daughter of the Goddess of Love and Hope was
awaken by the commotion. She saw Torrants right in front of him.
Quickly, she whispered to Torrants. In the midst of chaos, Time had
made the biggest sacrifice. He threw his hourglass to block the
flail from the blast of destruction. The hourglass was shattered
and it released an upheaval of energy that thrown everyone apart .
The Prodigal and Death quickly channelled all the energy to fling
the flail towards the anomaly. Successfully, the flail was turned
towards the anomaly and shattered the anomaly. However, the flail
released energy that annihilate the shattered pieces of the
hourglass.
The closure of the anomaly had opened a void, and the next instant,
everyone was sucked into the void. Torrants and Mayar were the
first to get sucked into the void. It was too fast for anyone to
take action. Quickly without hesitation, Death and Prodigal managed
to create a field to block the rest from being absorbed into the
void. The Devil was able to hold his ground as he channeled all his
energy to protect himself.
The anomaly was closed at that instant, but what became of those
who fought in this destructive battle?
(c)The End of Time
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"No!" Runoa woke up and found herself resting in her chambers. She
found a little gal sitting by the side of her. It was her daughter,
Valentine, the new Endless with the manifestation of True Love. In
the chamber, there was her faithful servant, Clone, Death and most
strangely, the most powerful and oldest of the Endless, Fate.
"Mother, you have finally awaken," Valentine spoke.
"You are?" said Runoa, as she searched around but could
"I am your daughter, Valentine," said the young Endless. "I am from
the future, and I was brought back here by an older Torrants who
told me of his mistake for not able to throw his hourglass to stop
the sealing of the anomaly, and Hell was able to dominate the world
for many millenia. However, I have changed history at the last
instant. Otherwise, you would have been dead and I would not have
existed."
There were so many questions which Ruona wished to ask, but nothing
was more important than to ask,"Where is Prodigal?"
"He has left, Runoa," Death said tersely.
"Why did he leave?" Runoa wanted to know why the Prodigal had left
her again.
"Because of Heaven," Death said as she told Runoa what happened in
Heaven where the Prodigal had finally met the other woman who had
entered into her life. She was distressed of the departure of her
loved one.
"I have to find him," said the goddess of love but was stopped by
Death.
"You have to find him, but not now," a voice spoke and to
everyone's surprise, it was the voice of Fate. "After you have
recovered from the damages you sustained from the destruction of
the anomaly." Even Death could not believe that Fate spoke.
"Mother, Father has left because of the disappearance of Auntie
Mayar and Uncle Torrants into the void. He has vowed to search for
them no matter where he had to go."
"You mean...," Runoa realized what had happened, by looking into
Death and Fate's eyes.
"The destruction of the hourglass had destroyed the tenets of Time.
Now without time, the Universe would not be able to move and
everything would be frozen. Though we saved the Universe from the
anomaly, we have brought forward what is known as the End of Time.
We only have twenty years before the Universe started to freeze."
Fate said. Ruona realized why the Prodigal had leave
immediately.
"But I don't get it, if the End of Time had happened, then
Valentine would not be able to exist, and why is she still here?"
Death tried to think about the implications of the paradox caused
by the end of Time.
"Well, Death, she was protected by the powers of Time by a Torrants
from an alternate reality, and hence she had remnants of a time
bubble which would protect her from any form of danger that
threatens her existence." Fate replied.
"Is there a way out to save Mayar and Torrants?" Death asked.
"I do not know, and to restore Time is beyond my realm, and beyond
the ability of any Endless," Fate said,"I am here because I am
required to be here to see that what must happen, to happen."
"Mother, because of the End of Time, I couldn't return to the
future," Valentine said.
"I see, where is Prodigal going since he do not know where to start
as well?" Runoa asked.
"He has left to go to London to visit an old friend," Death said as
she shook her head. "He said that it's time to end the whole thing
between Celette, you and him."
Runoa could do nothing but to hope that she could recover soon. Her
only motivation was to find Prodigal and know who the Prodigal
actually loved all these while.
[to be concluded]
[This message has been edited by prodigal (edited 10 March
2000).]