Chapter 102 - Use My Power

"Where is that Zell?" Kaitlyn asked in a monotone voice. "Where is that?" She said more urgently.

Zell looked into the portal with despair as well. "It's your village." He replied. "Something must have happened."

"Grandpa!" Kaitlyn yelled as she jumped into the portal.

"Hold on lass!" Kilgon yelled as he jumped after her.

Zell followed the two in and they found themselves outside of Leon's hut, which is now a burnt skeleton of what it once was. Kaitlyn just stood among the rumble unmoving and unspeaking. Her eyes darted around the destruction surveying all the damage.

"I don't see any corpses." Kaitlyn said.

"That's good." Zell said. "Maybe they got away from whatever happened."

"Maybe." Kaitlyn replied softly, her ears drooping in sorrow.

"Let's look for clues then." Kilgon said. "Maybe we can find out who attacked them or where they went off to."

"I agree." Zell said. "We need to try and find something." He started to clench his fist as his thoughts went to his mother. "I need her to be alright."

The three of them split up and searched the ruins of the village. All they found was dust and ash until they reached the tree line. Etched into the trees was a name. It was burning into their trunks and repeated itself throughout the totality of the tree line. Zell remembered the name well. The name was Maximus.

"So, it was him." Zell said. "The grubby little demon lord has captured my mother and everyone else in this village. First, he attacks my friends then he dares to take my mother. It is time I pay him a little visit. I have held off on seeing him for far too long."

"Calm down lad." Kilgon said. "If the demon lord had the gall to do this knowing how powerful you are, he must have some kind of plan or trap ready for you. You need to think about it before you just rush in."

"I don't think he is going to hurt them." Kaitlyn said. "Remember he wanted us to join his cause. If he killed them or hurt them it would hurt his goals. As much as I want to save grandpa, we need to be cautious."

"I am going." Zell said coldly. "Do not try and stop me, do not try and reason with me. That woman is the kindest person I have ever met in either of my two lives. She has done nothing but love and support me while everyone else in my family treated me horribly. I will go and save her from wherever he put her, and he will regret the day he decided to attack her.

I do not care what his plans are. I do not fear any trap he may have. I am not going to be stopped."

Zell's hand began to glow from his rage building. As he got angrier the illumination of his tattoo intensified. Until he blacked out and fell face first into the dirt.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself at the waterfall where he met the fox woman. He looked up to find her resting where she had been the last time.

"Welcome back my warrior." She told him.

"You!?" Zell replied. "What happened?!"

"Calm down little one." She said with a smile. "You tapped into more of my power than you were ready for, so your mind came back here to me."

"I wasn't using your power!" Zell protested.

"In your rage, you were." She replied. "Even at your high level the power I possess is still too much for a human to bear. Still, I need you to bear it. I need you to survive and grow. You alone are the hope of the multiverse, my warrior, my knight."

"What about Sid?" Zell asked, trying to confirm the black dragon's story.

"That dragon?" The fox woman asked. "What about him?"

"Did you give him a mark like mine and tell me all those things he said?" Zell asked.

"No." She quickly replied. "You are my champion, my chosen. You are the only one I have given this honor to, as you are the only one who matters."

"He said a fox woman gave him his mark!" Zell protested. "Was everything he said to me a lie?"

"Who said I was the only one?" The woman asked. "I never said I was."

"You never said what you were either." Zell replied. "If I am so important to your plans, at least tell me who you are and what those plans are!"

"You have such a fire in your belly now." She replied. "That is good. You have grown as a person. I shall tell you only this. Who created the multiverse? The gods? No. Who created the gods?"

"They just kind of came into existence I guess." Zell answered.

"We are sisters three." She said with a smile. "We created the multiverse and the gods."

"Then who created you?!" Zell asked.

"We sisters three are infinite and without time." She answered. "We exist and do not exist at all points of the multiverse. We are the magic of creation that flows through everything and yet we are also more. No one created us as we have always been. We have no beginning, and we have no end."

"So basically, you have two sisters and you three are the gods of gods." Zell replied. "Why pick me? I am certain someone in the multiverse would have been better suited for your mission."

"Because you have the skill of defiance." She answered. "We have our first creations full control of our magic and multiverse. What they say goes, for the most part. If they command a mortal to do something, then that mortal will have no choice. You are the only one who can tell them no, so I have granted you my power."

"But wait, your sister gave Sid power?" Zell asked. "If I am the only one, why would she do that?"

"Just a game we play." She said with a laugh. "We all three want our first creations to be punished for how they have been acting. Their careless disregard for their own creations hurts us and we wish it to end. So, my sister and I made a bet of sorts. She claimed that she could make a team of mortals that could stand against the gods and replace them. I claimed I could do it with one soul. You are that one, I have looked throughout the entirety of eternity, and it is you. You are the only one who ever gets that skill.

I waited eons for you to show up and I am most pleased that you have."

"So, you do want me to kill the gods and replace them?" Zell said. "Just using me as they did?"

"No, not at all." She answered. "I want you to do what you think is right. I have only granted you my power. Enough of it to rival the two chief gods combined. What you choose to do with that power is up to you. Should you seek destruction of the multiverse that is your choice but know that all mortal souls will perish with it as they were created from it.

If that is the choice you make you will be the creator god, and you will have to choose the direction of the new multiverse. Or you could figure out a different path. My bet with my sister was that you would find another way. That having a single soul do it would be better than a team, because a team would only focus on the goal and not the aftermath."

"So, everything is up to me?" Zell said. "You will not try to influence me one way or another?"

"No, you passed my test." She said. "You may do as you wish, I am happy to watch and nothing else. Oh, but you do need to do the ritual that Sid suggested, as you are now my power will end up killing you before you can complete your goal. Still your choice of course, but I hope that you don't throw in the towel on me."

"I don't plan on giving up, no." Zell said. "So, what do I do now?"

"Well right now your body is engulfed in my power and your friends are trying their hardest to wake you up." The woman replied. "When I send back your consciousness, I need you to calm down. Any strong emotion could end up triggering my power and I am not sure how much your body can take. Also, you might explode and take the multiverse out with you, so if you could refrain from that…"

"Alright." Zell said. "I am just so mad at the demon lord for attacking me. I cannot believe he attacked me like that unprovoked."

"He just thinks it's the best he can do in the situation he is in." She replied.. "Don't be so harsh on him, without him humanity would have drawn their final breath long ago. Now go back and wake up!"