Alternate Universe nonsense

A man sat within Nintendria’s castle. He wore a black dress suit, fitting clothes for the immortal being. Helping accentuate his composure was a pair of sparkling gold wings extruding from his back. He stared blankly ahead at the wall, wishing he could be elsewhere. He should be fighting Ranthael himself, not letting a team of mortals do it for him. There was no way they could win. It would be a miracle if they came back at all.

Someone knocked on the open door. He turned his head to see a skinny man with a head of long gray hair. No, it couldn’t be… Xerizero swore he was looking at a ghost.

“F-father…”

The man held his arms out, inviting him closer. “Come here son.”

Xerizero sprung to his feet and ran into Puritus’ embrace. He clamped his arms around his father’s shoulders and buried his face into the side of his neck, fighting back tears. Puritus smiled and returned the gesture.

From behind Puritus, Danielle and the group that traveled to Cerphixen walked in. She smiled at the reunion, but her expression showed sadness.

“You’re back!” Xerizero exclaimed, releasing himself from the hug. “Does this mean…?”

“We were able to rescue the Guardians, but…” she looked at her feet. “Daniel… Ranthael launched him into space. Not even teleported, just…” she clenched her fists together, trying not to think about the implications of being thrown out of the atmosphere.

Xerizero hadn’t known the boy for long, but he couldn’t help but feel like an older brother to him.

“There may be a possibility to get him back,” Puritus said, reading the room. “If we can locate his body within Cerphixen’s orbit, we will be able to revive him with a reviver stone.”

“But how? We can’t just go into space and hope we run into his body!” Danielle said, trying to keep her voice calm. “Space is just too big.”

“You’re right, there are no elements in space. Other than space and time itself… and void.” Puritus put his thumb to his chin and closed his eyes in thought. “Being able to draw objects out of a void is very, very difficult darkness magic. It would be the most direct route, but finding someone who could pull it off may be impossible.”

“Could Lilith do it?”

Puritus shook his head. “Not unless she knew Daniel very well. Our second option would be to locate him with space magic. It’s not quite as difficult as pulling him from the void, and we could go into orbit to retrieve him much easier.”

“But, who would know that amount of space magic? It’s not exactly a common element to be born aligned to. I mean, not even the royal family is naturally aligned to Balance.”

“Hm…” Puritus thought. “We’ll simply have to find someone. In the meantime, if there’s anyone who knows void magic well…”

In the back, Diana elbowed her brother in the side.

Yada yada they get him back and shit.

*

Standing at the top of the tower was a man with brown hair and black cape, looking out the window onto the battle below.

“I see you’ve finally made it here,” he said, not bothering to look at his guests.

“Nintendria, the Betrayer,” Xerizero addressed him, drawing his swords.

“If we’re going by titles, then I suppose it’s only fair to greet you back, Xerizero the Bastard.”

Low blow. Xerizero furrowed his brow in disgust. But it didn’t matter. The worst Nintendria could do was bring up what Xerizero had no control over, while he stood on a mountain of sin by his own hand.

“It’s over. Soon we will reclaim this fortress and defeat Ranthael.”

“My master will never be defeated by the likes of you.” Nintendria finally turned to face him and drew his sword. “You’re not worthy to even face him in combat. I’ll do my master the favor of squashing you here.”

They fight, I’m too lazy to write it out. Astra’s there too and like, maybe a few others.

Knocked to the ground, Xerizero saw his opening on Nintendria. One final strike. His blades seethed with black ether. A moment of charging, and he dashed towards the Guardian. It would be a clean strike.

But Nintendria disappeared in the blink of an eye, and Xerizero hit nothing but cold stone.

“I see you’ve underestimated your foe, Nintendria.”

The evil God materialized at the far end of the room, next to the fallen Guardian. Nintendria took a knee at his master’s return.

“M-master, forgive me, I…”

Ranthael ignored him.

“Very good Xerizero. You’ve become quite the fine swordsman, you know.”

Xerizero stood up, and Astra joined him at his side.

“This is our planet, we will take it back!”

“The child, Ranthael, where are you keeping her?” Astra demanded.

“Child?” Ranthael frowned and tilted his head. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t lie to us! We know about the Temporal Sorceress. We know that you’ve trapped that innocent girl!”

“Trapped?” Ranthael laughed. “No no, dear priestess. I’m afraid you’re mistaken. The Sorceress chose to stay in her tower of her own volition. I didn’t have to take anything, she’s volunteering her power willingly.”

“Her power…?” Xerizero took a step back. “For what?”

Ranthael smirked. “That information doesn’t concern you.”

“He must need an immense amount of time magic for something,” Astra guessed. “Combined with his space magic… It could create a universal wide catastrophe.”

Ranthael frowned. “You know a bit too much there. I wasn’t aware this information still existed.” A spear materialized in Ranthael’s hand. “I can’t let this knowledge go free, you know.”

*

The evil god appeared in a flash of light blue light. It was only a matter of time, as there was no hiding from his all-seeing eyes. Puritus’ corruption helped, but eventually the god would notice the disturbance in space.

Daniel drew a sword and Danielle rushed to warn those inside the castle. Ranthael made no move to stop either of them. He simply meandered towards Daniel, completely unfazed by the weapon.

“Well well, long time no see, Daniel,” Ranthael greeted. “I suppose flinging you into outer space didn’t quite work out as intended. You should be proud of your friends, it’s not easy to recover a body from that.”

“You… had I not been so careless, I could have joined the battle at The Lost Society Fortress. Then maybe Xerizero wouldn’t have had to sacrifice himself!”

“Heh, that foolish boy thought he could incite a rebellion against me. The loss of the Fortress was disappointing, but I’ll be taking another one back!” A spear materialized in Ranthael’s grip, and he launched forward at Daniel. However, another god who seemingly appeared out of nowhere quickly blocked him. The god had long, grayish hair cut at an askew angle, and two white wings on his back. He held two hand swords at an X above his shoulder, safe from the assault from Ranthael’s spear.

“You!” Ranthael spat, “I thought I killed you years ago!”

“You nearly did, but I won’t give up that easily,” Puritus grinned. “It’s all thanks to Arman. In my last breath of life, my soul jumped to his body, where I waited for one hundred years to regain my power and fight you again!”

The two separated and Ranthael hesitated to strike again. It gave enough time for Puritus to address Daniel.

“Get everyone and use teleportation crystal beta. I’ve corrupted it so Ranthael won’t be able to trace your movement in space.”

Daniel nodded and ran back into the castle. Ranthael debated whether to follow him, but he figured he’d let him go for now and instead use the time to chat with his old friend.

“I wasn’t expecting to ever see you again.”

“Ranthael please, do we still have to do this?” Puritus pleaded. “Do you really want to cause another calamity?”

“I will do anything to get our world, our true world, back. Even if it means destroying this one! Everyone… they’re all my creations. They’re worth nothing!”

“No… you don’t believe that. I know you don’t. I know there’s people in this world you care about.”

“Heh, you’re soft Puritus. Unlike you, I don’t have to fall head over heels for the first woman I find attractive.”

Puritus tensed and gripped his swords tight. “If that’s the way it has to be then…” He raised his swords to fight. “This time, I won’t lose!”

*

"What!?" Astra, the real one this time, seemed absolutely appalled by the story. "In no universe would I EVER side with that man!"

"I agree, this is concerning..." Ranthael added.

Nyx shrugged. "I told ya man, alternate universes are weird."

"This isn't weird!" Astra shouted. "Everyone walking on their hands would be weird!"

"Yes... it would be..." Nyx mused.

"I have a question," Jax asked. "If the evil gods are good then how did Xerizero get born? Why would Puritus rape someone?"

"Oh, no no, other way around," Nyx corrected. "Mortal women try to seduce gods all the time to have their children. Some go to less than moral measures."

"They do!?" Astra asked, suddenly fearful.

"...They do?" Ranthael was less trusting.

Nyx shrugged. "Just sharing the facts as I know them."