Eternia's Requiem

Inside the shattered soul realm, silver mist and golden lightning collided endlessly.

The sky 1no longer resembled a sky.

It looked like a broken mirror.

Millions of cracks spread across the heavens.

Entire mountains rose from nothingness only to collapse seconds later.

Reality itself had become unstable.

At the center of the chaos stood three figures.

The First Dream.

Eternity.

And Eternia.

The pressure generated by their clash was enough to distort the soul realm itself.

The First Dream slowly lowered his hand.

His golden eyes stared at the two girls standing before him.

For the first time since descending into this era...

His expression contained genuine irritation.

Not anger.

Not hatred.

Irritation.

The sort someone felt when an insect refused to die.

"You are prolonging the inevitable."

His voice echoed through every layer of the soul realm.

Eternia immediately shot back.

"Funny."

The First Dream raised an eyebrow.

"You spent half an hour monologuing about the universe and now you’re talking about inevitable?"

Eternity snorted.

The First Dream blinked.

Eternia pointed at him.

"Do you have any idea how much trauma you’ve caused?"

The First Dream stared.

"An immeasurable amount."

"At least you’re honest."

Eternity laughed.

Actually laughed.

For the first time in what felt like forever.

The sound shocked even her.

The First Dream narrowed his eyes.

"You believe this is amusing?"

Eternity folded her arms.

"No."

She pointed at Eternia.

"She is."

"Hey."

"You are."

"I know."

The two girls exchanged grins.

The First Dream suddenly realized something.

The fusion had succeeded far more completely than expected.

Neither soul had been consumed.

Neither soul had disappeared.

Both existed simultaneously.

Both strengthened each other.

Both anchored the body.

Which meant...

Taking control would become significantly harder.

His expression darkened.

The First Dream moved.

The soul realm exploded.

A shockwave tore through the sky.

Before Eternia could react he appeared directly in front of her.

A hand shot toward her throat.

Fast.

Far too fast.

Yet another hand intercepted it.

BOOM.

Eternity blocked the strike.

Silver light erupted.

The impact shattered the mountain behind them.

Eternity slid backward.

Her feet dug trenches through reality itself.

The First Dream attacked again.

And again.

And again.

Every movement was impossibly precise.

No wasted effort.

No wasted energy.

Each strike contained enough force to shatter continents.

Eternia finally joined the fight.

Silver chains erupted from beneath the ground.

The First Dream dodged.

Golden spears followed.

He shattered them.

Eternity lunged from above.

The First Dream spun.

A kick connected.

Eternity crashed through three mountains.

The sky broke again.

Eternia winced.

"Why does he hit so hard?"

Inside her head Eternity replied instantly.

"Because he’s older than reality."

"That’s not fair."

"No one said it was."

The First Dream extended both hands.

Golden symbols appeared across the heavens.

Ancient.

Unknown.

Terrifying.

The symbols descended.

The entire soul realm trembled.

Eternia felt danger immediately.

"What is that?"

Eternity’s expression changed.

"Move."

That alone was enough.

Eternia jumped.

A split second later the location where she had been standing vanished.

Not destroyed.

Not broken.

Gone.

Erased.

The soul realm contained a hole now.

A literal absence.

Eternia’s face turned pale.

"Okay."

She pointed.

"I hate him."

Eternity nodded.

"Reasonable."

The First Dream sighed.

"You two speak too much."

Eternia immediately replied.

"You tried ending existence because nobody agreed with you."

The First Dream paused.

"...That is an oversimplification."

Eternity burst out laughing.

Even the soul realm seemed amused.

The First Dream looked offended.

Which somehow made it funnier.

The battle intensified.

Silver ether surged.

Golden divinity roared.

Entire landscapes were created and destroyed every few seconds.

The First Dream continued advancing.

Eternity continued resisting.

Yet something had changed.

Slowly.

Subtly.

The First Dream was losing ground.

Not because he had become weaker.

Because his connection to the body was weakening.

Every second he remained here...

The fusion strengthened.

Every second Eternia accepted the body as her own...

The soul rejected him further. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

The First Dream realized it.

His attacks became harsher.

More desperate.

More aggressive.

Outside.

Etherius watched in complete confusion.

Eternia’s body remained motionless.

Yet terrifying energy erupted around her.

Sometimes silver.

Sometimes gold.

Sometimes black.

The surrounding battlefield trembled.

The barrier shook.

The corpses scattered across the land moved from the pressure alone.

Etherius swallowed.

"What in the world is happening..."

For once.

He had absolutely no plan.

Inside.

The First Dream raised his hand.

Thousands of chains emerged.

The same chains used to bind Eternity countless times before.

The chains rushed forward.

Eternity froze.

For a brief moment.

A very brief moment.

Fear appeared on her face.

The First Dream saw it.

And smiled.

Then Eternia stepped forward.

The chains wrapped around her instead.

Eternity’s eyes widened.

"Eternia!"

The chains tightened.

Pain exploded through her soul.

Yet she gritted her teeth.

Then smiled.

The exact same stubborn smile Eternity once had.

The smile of someone refusing to surrender.

"You know."

The chains groaned.

"I’ve died before."

Cracks spread through the restraints.

The First Dream’s eyes widened.

"I’ve lost everything before."

More cracks.

"I’ve been betrayed before."

The chains shattered.

Silver light erupted.

Eternia pointed directly at him.

"But I am getting really tired of losing."

BOOM.

The soul realm exploded.

For the first time.

The First Dream was pushed backward.

Only one step.

But it happened.

Silence followed.

The First Dream stared.

Eternity stared.

Even Eternia looked surprised.

Then Eternity started laughing again.

"YOU PUSHED HIM."

"I DID?"

"YOU DID."

Eternia immediately pointed at him.

"GET PUSHED."

The First Dream looked like he wanted to erase both of them.

The final clash began.

The soul realm collapsed entirely.

Everything became white.

An endless sea of light.

The First Dream gathered every remaining connection he possessed.

Golden energy surrounded him.

The pressure became unbearable.

Eternity stepped forward.

Silver light gathered around her.

Eternia joined beside her.

Their hands met.

Their souls synchronized.

Their thoughts became one.

Past.

Present.

Future.

All moving together.

The First Dream attacked.

So did they.

Three streams of power collided.

The impact silenced the world.

No sound existed.

No movement existed.

Only light.

Endless light.

The First Dream pushed harder.

So did they.

The connection began breaking.

The golden threads linking him to the body snapped one by one.

The First Dream’s eyes widened.

"No."

Another thread broke.

"No."

Another.

"No."

Thousands shattered.

The body was rejecting him.

The soul was rejecting him.

The vessel was no longer his.

For the first time since descending...

The First Dream felt something he hated.

Loss.

"You cannot stop me."

His voice shook the realm.

Eternity answered.

"Maybe not forever."

Eternia smiled.

"But definitely today."

The final thread snapped.

CRACK.

The soul realm exploded.

Golden light was violently ejected from the core.

The First Dream was thrown backward.

For the first time.

Actually forced out.

His expression twisted into pure disbelief.

Then rage.

Absolute rage.

The kind that could burn worlds.

His voice thundered.

"Eternity."

Silver light answered.

"Eternia."

Another voice joined.

The First Dream stared at both of them.

Then slowly smiled.

A terrifying smile.

"This changes nothing."

The soul realm began closing.

His presence faded.

"Eventually I will return."

Eternity glared.

"Then we’ll beat you again."

The First Dream vanished.

Silence.

Complete silence.

The soul realm stopped shaking.

The sky healed.

The cracks disappeared.

The mist settled.

For the first time in ages...

Peace.

Eternia nearly collapsed.

"We won?"

Eternity smiled.

"We won."

Then she poked Eternia’s forehead.

"Now get moving."

"Huh?"

"The body."

Eternity pointed upward.

"Take control."

Eternia froze.

The body.

The original body.

Not hers.

Eternity’s.

A guilty feeling appeared immediately.

"I..."

Eternity’s expression softened.

For once.

Not serious.

Not grim.

Not burdened.

Just gentle.

"You really are a good person."

Eternia looked away.

"It feels wrong."

Eternity shook her head.

"It isn’t."

"But—"

"You gave me freedom."

Eternity smiled.

"And now I’m giving you a future."

Eternia felt her chest tighten.

The guilt remained.

But so did something else.

Determination.

Eternity stepped backward.

"Go."

The world began fading.

"Live."

"Eternity—"

"Don’t waste the chance."

The soul realm dissolved.

Eternia opened her eyes.

The real world returned.

Cold wind.

Smoke.

Blood.

Ruins.

The battlefield stretched endlessly around her.

Everything was destroyed.

The extra arms were gone.

The glowing runes were gone.

The monstrous presence was gone.

Only her normal body remained.

Two arms.

Normal appearance.

Normal breathing.

She was herself again.

For the first time in what felt like forever.

Eternia slowly sat up.

The world spun.

Her head hurt.

Everything hurt.

Nearby sat Etherius.

Covered in dust.

Exhausted.

Silent.

Staring.

He looked like someone who had witnessed the end of the world.

Which honestly wasn’t far from the truth.

Their eyes met.

Neither spoke.

Several seconds passed.

Then Eternia opened her mouth.

"...Hi."

Etherius stared.

"...Hi."

Another pause.

Then Eternia smiled weakly.

And immediately collapsed face-first into the ground.

Darkness claimed her.

The last thing she heard was Etherius shouting her name.

And somewhere deep within her soul...

Eternity laughing.