Hikari stuck down one after another until a shard of ice pierced her back. The mages laughed at her until her body popped and only black feathers remained. Another saw her a few feet away and did the same thing. Same effect. Fire this time and just burnt feathers. "Something wrong? Didn't you know that the tengu taught ninjutsu to the first humans to use it?" she chuckled. Her illusion popped. They panicked and looked around.  "Up here boys" she said to them hovering 50 feet in the air.  Hikari pushed the center of her driver. "Tengu maximum burst!" it said. Hikari raised her bloody staff above her head summoning a wind vortex. It sucked dozens if not a hundred enemy mages into the air which itself grew damp. A cascade of lighting erupted with collective screaming. Hikari watched silently as electrocute bodies fell like rain. The philosopher stone went dead. The second one leaving just Thee now. "Hikari here. Body count is about 160. Going to back up Susan" she said.

"NEGATIVE! None of you are to engage her! That artifact can make you kill yourself or worse. Only those she doesn't know their names should attack" he said. "Like you?" Susan asked. "No. I got my own problems. I'm in range of Markus" he said. "Keith were running out of time. It's 10:04. We got ten minutes left" Lawan said. "Not to mention our losses. I estimate we have taken out half their forces, but they can claim the same. Trading blows isn't going to work. Not to mention they have not fielded the Susan counterpart. They're buying time we don't have with bodies we can't afford" Xiao said. "Agreed. Attention all forces. Focus your magic on speed and stealth. Your goal is to meet up at the palace" he said.

Susan broke away heading to the palace. Elena was now very close to Aries and Hikari decided on her next form. She drew the kanji and activated it. "Yokai change. Form kitsune. When the nine tails burn, darkness fades" it said. Hikari changed. Nine fluffy fox tails sprout from behind. She wore only a lose red cloth around her body exposing her breasts and crotch. Her hair turned silver. Her feet were bare and her toenails as well as fingernails grew long and sharp like claws. Her eyes glowed blue and one by one blue spirit flames burned on the tip of her tails. She found herself suddenly surrounded. "As my lover indicated. We do not have time for you anymore. Madness consumes you" she muttered snapping her fingers. The mages screamed clutching their heads and began to attack one another. Hikari ran forward and jumped into the air. Jumping to one and then another rooftop. She hurried along her way.

Elena was doing her best, but Aries was too much for her it seemed. Elena put the pressure in her so much her song took the shape of a large winged serpent. Quetzalcoatl in spirit form. Aries cringed at the sight of it knowing full well what it represented but she didn't relent for a moment. Even as her artifact trembled as the sheer stress of the spellcasting. Her attack spells were dissipated barely after they left her lips. Elena knew she was going to lose. She thought of her son, Keith, her mother. Her mother...

"Mama? I want to be a singer" the 8-year-old Elena said to her mother. "Hmm. Latina singers are in fashion now but remember what you are dear. It is a slippery slope you're asking" her mother replied. "I don't like shrinking humans. I like them" she said. "That is what the gods gifted us Through song. And other things..." her mother muttered. "I just want to make people happy by singing like you" Elena whined. Her mother sat down with her tiny child in her palm. She wiped the sweat and dirt from her brow tired after checking the fences that gave protection to the little villagers. "Then you know what the secret is to make them happy with song?" she asked. Elena shook her head. "It is not how well you sing, it is moving their hearts. Even the clumsiest song can move a heart if it is sung with sincerity" her mother replied. Elena remembered her mother's advice given a decade ago. She stopped singing and Aries' melody threatened to crush her where she knelt. But she could faintly hear it. That one note in a dozen slightly off balance. A note heavy with sadness. Elena gambled that Aries had a hidden pain and if she did...

"Merrily we fall out of line, out of line. I'd fall anywhere with you, I'm by your side. Swinging in the rain, humming melodies. We're not going anywhere until we freeze...I'm not afraid, anymore...I'm not afraid..."

(Authors note: The song is I Wouldn’t Mind by He is We)

Elena's song was soft enough to slip Through her defenses and gain access to her mind. An expert at hypnosis and control, Elena immediately saw her mind had been altered. She sensed part of it walled away. Hidden from surface memory. Suppressed. An Achilles heel she could use. Elena forced the memory out into the open. Elena saw it and her heart dropped. Aries' real name was Alicia Matherson. She lived in Corpus Christi Texas with her parents. It began when she was 16. She found that when people heard her sing, they entered a trace state. It amused her. Then one day she sang at a talent show at her high school and won. That night she and her boyfriend attended a party and made love. Everything seemed to be perfect for her until Markus showed up at her door two days later. Her winning the talent show had made papers and had attracted his attention. When a YouTube video of the show emerged, Markus confirmed she was not entirely human by the dazed look of the audience. He creeped her out and terrified her by barging into her home. Her parents were frozen in place by an odd force and then he demanded she speak a strange word. When she did, her artifact appeared confirming she was Aries, his lost zodiac reborn. He demanded she come with him and when she refused, dragged her by force. Alicia grabbed an iron fireplace poker and smacked him with it.  

The cold iron was enough to slip Through his meager magic defenses making him let go and lose his hold on her parents. When they attacked, Markus snapped their necks. Horrified, she ran. Markus sighed and stepped out of the house. He looked at it for a moment before setting it ablaze. Alicia ran as hard as she could and ran to the closest haven she knew. Her boyfriend's. Markus easily caught up to her and kicked the door in. The boyfriend shot him in the heart. Markus staggered for a second before laughing. Desperate, she sang at him and Markus shook off her attack putting his hand over her mouth and motioning her for to be quiet. The boyfriend shot him again emptying the mag until it clicked. With a gesture, he shrank the 16-year-old boy and crushed him under his shoe. Alicia fainted.

"Forever is a long time. But I wouldn't mind spending it by your side"

Aries singing waned. A tear fell from her eyes. Elena was getting through, but she wasn't safe yet.

"Carefully we'll place our destiny. You came and you took my heart and set it free. Every word you write or sing is so warm to me. I'm torn, I'm torn to be right with you. I'm not afraid anymore, I'm not afraid"

Alicia awoke in a cage in a dark room. A basin of water and food near her. A cloth and an empty pot near that. And then a light as a door opened. A light switch clicked on. She screamed as she saw Markus again yet this time a full-fledged giant. He told her what she was, that magic existed, and her function. He told her to serve as his Aries. She told him unceremoniously to fuck off. Markus didn’t take kindly to that. He told her to pledge loyalty or suffer. When she gave him the finger, Markus took the shrunken teenager out of her cage and painfully broke her legs with his fingers. He left her in agony for an entire day before healing her wounds. Every day for a week he tortured her. Crushing her tiny feet between his fingers, pulling on her arms till they dislocated, even placed a lab rat in her cage so it could rape her. Alicia had not given in as she had hope someone would be looking for her. Markus crushed that hope as he took the cage out of the room. Not only had she found out that they had been in a hotel the entire time in her own town, they were indeed looking for her. With her parents and her house bundled to ashes and her and her boyfriend missing, the police figured it was a twisted Romeo and Juliet affair and had warrants for them. Her life was over.

Markus changed his tactics and raped her himself. Sucking on her tiny pussy, jerking her up and down his cock, telling her it would be worse and worse as the days went by. And on the 10 day of captivity, she finally broke. She swore loyalty to him. O appease her new master, she let herself be used as a sex toy. Using her small feet to jerk his giant cock, literally bathing in his semen. Laughing as she took some and rammed it in her pussy. She giggled as he slipped her entire body into his mouth and sucked on her. Once satisfied, he unshrank her, cleaned her up, and took him to his home. From there he told her what her existence would be from now on. Aries of the ZODIAC and the other Celine Cruz. He even had a fake family for her to live with for the next two years. Her appearance was altered so nobody could see she was a wanted girl and had not seen her true face going on 6 years by this point. Elena had dragged the suppressed memories into the forefront. Aries stopped singing and collapsed in front of her. Elena stopped as well not finishing her song. "You poor girl. You never had a choice" Elena said. Aries screamed in mental anguish and sobbed. "How...how could I forget?! Why?" she asked herself. Elena walked over to her. Alicia saw the stained blood on her sandals and scurried back. "It's okay. Nobody is going to hurt you ever again" Elena said holding her hand out. Alicia hesitated until Elena took it and squeezed. "All that he did to me...why did I break?" she sobbed. "It's called Stockholm Syndrome. Your mind was so beaten it took an escape to save you. It's not your fault" Elena replied softly. Alicia sobbed into her chest.

"I destroyed so many lives. Oh god what have I done" she said. "You want to fix it? Change it? Then help me make it right. Help me end this lunatic and his schemes" Elena said. "How?" Alicia asked. Elena whispered into her ear. "I... I don't have the right anymore" she said. "I was once just as you until I was freed. You can but you must be brave enough to take that stand" Elena said. Alicia stood up. "...okay" she muttered. The two divas began a duet...

Meanwhile, Hikari had her hands full with Pisces. She thought her luck was getting better running into a team of Mogwai and leading them to the palace. Her foxfire illusions teamed with claws, made mincemeat of enemies. Then they came across a team of A class mages brimming with power. Way too much power. Their attacks were five times the norm making the koonago stagger. Her defenses withered as she split her focus between healing, barriers, and attacks. Draining her energy faster than she wanted. With a burst of transformation magic, she shrank them where they stood and began crushing them as the survivor Mogwai did their best to help. It unnerved her how they threw themselves at her not caring for their lives. No hesitation to die. Her fox like instincts snapping one up and eating him. Not even a whimper. And when they were dead, their leader was left in the open. Pisces. Her artifact, the clamshell of Venus took ahold of their emotions and bent them to her will. Anger turned to love and devotion and she sicced them on Hikari. She herself fighting off the empathic attack.

Hikari was at a total loss as her comrades swarmed her and attacked at point blank range. Swords slashing her giant bare soles, fire magic burning her hair, ice magic frostbiting her fingertips. They were dismantling her as the zodiac laughed. She grabbed one in anger and felt her heart sway. Her eyes on Pisces. She felt love for her. She desired to suck her toes. To clean her pussy with her tongue. She wanted to shrink down...and she did.

Around that moment, Joseph had grown highly curious as to who was calling to him. "I really don't have time for this but..." he muttered opening a translocation portal to where this person was. He stepped Through. "Thank god! I need you to take me to where they're at" the person said. "From what I heard you have no combat experience" he said. "Please. I can't just sit around. Look at me and tell me I won't be useful" the person said to him. "...alright. Just take my hand" he said. He took ahold of her hand and led her back to the fight.

Hikari didn't fight her as she pulled off the very little clothing she had on. She seemed to delight in stroking her tails. "You love me enough to feed yourself to me, don't you?" Pisces asked. "Yes...mistress" Hikari said hypnotized by her artifact. Hikari climbed into her open mouth an scooted her naked body back towards her throat. Her hands and bare feet inching her to the one-way trip to her stomach. Pisces felt her touch the back of her Throat and with a sadistic grin swallowed her. Hikari landed with a splash in her stomach. Her fox fire lighting the darkness inside. The half-digested corpses of friend and foe alike in her tummy floated beside her. She floated dreamily even as the acids began to slowly burn her flesh. Her magical defenses prolonged her life but not much. Cruelly, Pisces has starved herself just for this purpose. In effect, her gastric juices were more potent than normal. And just as she was about to pass out from lack of oxygen, Hikari heard a song...

"...these wounds won't seem to heal. This pain is just too real. There's just too much that time cannot erase. When you cried, I'd wipe away all of your tears. When you'd scream, I'd fight away all of your fears. And I held your hand all of these years. But you still have all of me..."

The fortification power of not one but two magical songstresses resonated enough in Hikari to begin breaking free of her hold. She knew she couldn't enlarge; such a thing would kill them both. Climbing back up would take too long as it took most of her concentration to ward off her empathic spell. "Eat...this..." she growled pushing the plate on her driver. "Kitsune maximum burst!" it said in Japanese. Hikari rose from the pit in her stomach. Her body was surrounded by intense blue flames as a ball of concentrated lightning formed at the sole of her right foot. The inch and a half tall yokai rocketed into her stomach wall and as soon as she touched it, the ball of lighting exploded. Pisces screamed and looked at her stomach. The outer flesh began to turn red as an ominous blue light emanated from it. And then with a small blast of sizzling flesh and steaming blood, Hikari emerged and floated in the air before the giantess. Pisces raised her hand as if to call upon healing magic only to find her boasted abilities gone. "Aries..." she muttered before collapsing on the ground lifeless. Hikari glanced at the driver. One stone remained lit. She grew back to human size and didn't take notice a brief flickering of that stone now.

"No! Stay back! STAY BACK!" Libra shouted as she was swarmed by highly boosted borrowers and a handful of Mogwai. Libra had counted on two things. One her own party could crush an opposition coming her way and of Susan or the like did come, she knew their full names. The 13-year-old girl never considered Aries being lost to them. Her team was decimated in moments and then they turned on her. The young giantess was mauled by close range spells and sword strikes. She scampered back until she bumped into human sized Xiao. Libra instinctively grabbed her book and screeched as Xiao severed her hands. Her screaming silenced as Xiao sealed her hand over her mouth. With a coldness made possible by training, Xiao shrank the girl still clamped by her hand until she dwindled into her first. Then, it was only a matter of course to simply squeeze harder. A chirp and then the smallest crackling of bones followed by drips of blood. Xiao opened her hand to let the crushed and pulped remains fall to the ground. Libra was no more. Only two ZODIAC's remained and Markus knew it.

"Impossible. The others are gone. Katherine, by me five minutes. At least you won't fail me" he scowled. He turned to walk back into the palace when he was struck hard in the face. The snapping of his neck loudly as he flew and crashed into the barrier. "You aren't going anywhere" Keith said standing there. Markus twisted his head back into place. "You think it will be different t this time moron?" he sneered. Susan, Claire, Lawan, Hikari, and now Xiao appeared before them. "Yes, yes I do" Keith said. Markus snapped his fingers and strangely, he and Keith disappeared for just a second to reappear with swords locked in combat. "Surprised? You aren't the only one that can manipulate time asshole" Keith sneered kicking him. Off guard, Markus was struck down by a sword strike followed up with a fire blast. "Focus on the barrier!" Keith yelled to them. Each one began attacking it. The ashes that was Markus reformed. He willed his sword to him. He looked pissed seeing a nick in the metal. "Upgrade" Keith grinned beginning his attack again.

Claire kept Katherine at bay for the moment, but it was clear that the evil woman's magics were unpredictable. Light magic coupled with gravity magic bent the beams hitting Claire. Time manipulation magic focused on her heart. Claire gripped her chest. "I have no time for this!" Markus yelled using an omnidirectional blast of gravity magic to throw them dozens of feet away. With that, Markus slipped back into the palace and ran to the council room. And just in time to begin the ritual to release the Etherion council. Hope, visibly shaken by all that was happening outside, was not in the right mind to perform the spell. "Do it and I will spare them" he said. In the deepest part of her heart, Hope finally began to doubt his intentions. Hope reluctantly nodded. Markus engaged the Eye of the World and se the portals to the celestial locations needed to break the spell. "NOW DO IT!" he yelled. Hope fired a blast of pure Etherion magic Through the portal.

"It's working...IT'S WORKING!" he laughed seeing the beam of power trace the constellations in the night sky. "You failed little Claire" Katherine chucked looking at the sky. Claire charged her only to be stabbed in the chest with a shard of iron. Claire fell to the ground and pulled the shard out watching Katherine walk away. Claire shrank back down to save her life. The others saw Katherine approach and attacked her. With barely any effort, the weakened Hikari was batted aside crashing into a house, Xiao had her ribs shattered before being struck by point blank lightning. Her twitching body reverted to her normal size. Lawan helped Keith to his feet and saw him dash away at blinding speed just in time to stop Katherine from squashing the three-inch Xiao flat. Katherine got up off her feet, twirled and kicked Keith in the face making him fall back. It was a technique he'd never seen the other Susan use before. He realized he made a big mistake.

In this world, being blind, Susan adopted a fighting technique that focused on the opponent making the first move, as she became an expert on judo and aikido, it emphasizes it. But from where this Susan came from, she was never blind. She didn't focus on the opponent making the first move. She brutally and tirelessly brought the fight to Them. Fighting an opponent that likes close range and speed, his sword would be useless. "Enhance armament. Rune Defense" he said sliding his hand over the blade. Magically, it transformed into chest armor. A fire blast by Susan interrupted Katherine from attacking him again. "No! Focus on the barrier! There's still time to stop it!" Keith told her. Scared for him, she nodded silently. "Susan. Don't think I won't kill you because you're with child" Keith warned. "I cast aside that name that invokes her weakness. I am Katherine" she said bowing and smiling. Susan looked at her. "Our middle name..." she hissed. "Distraction won't work. We will stop the spell" he said. "Fool. The power is arcing Through the goddamn galaxy as we speak! Can you not see it?!" she said pointing to the sky. Keith glanced up to see the constellations being traced out. "That's impossible. We can't...we shouldn't be seeing that light. It's thousands of light years away!" he said. Katherine took that moment to attack.

The fight was brutal. Lawan and Keith gave as good as they got. His armor saving his life more than once. But somehow, Katherine had energy to spare. "Lemurian ice spell level Three. Diamond Dust" she said causing thousands of tiny shards of ice to swarm them. Lawan screamed as thousands of tiny cuts inflicted on her skin. Keith charged her as the sky grew red once more. Keith swung at her and she gripped his arm. "Lemurian Gravity spell level two. Touch of Infinity" she said focusing the attack into her right hand. A punishing punch to his chest so loud everyone heard it. The wind from the shockwave threw dust into the air behind him. Powerful enough for the sword to revert to its natural form. Katherine still held him. "No. Oh god no" Lawan muttered seeing the sight. "I should've killed you when I had the chance" Keith said coughing blood. Katherine smiled. "Lemurian destruction spell level Three. Entropy" she muttered touching his chest.

It spread over his body like an invasion. His skin turned gray as ashes and then Keith simply...blew away like dust in the wind.  "NOOOOOO!" Lawan shrieked. "And now for you" Katherine said to her aiming an ice spell her way. Suddenly, there was a zipping sound in the air and Katherine went flying a few feet back. Then the telltale crack of a gunshot. "Gimme your hand. Quickly" a voice said standing over Lawan. She looked up. "CASSANDRA?!" she yelled seeing her older sister. "I came as soon as I could" she said helping her sister up. "Oh shit you broke the seal" she said seeing her eyes full white and no pupils. "Yes, I did. Now you need to see what I see. One moment" Cassandra said touching her forehead. Lawan's vision changed. There were threads of green, yellow, and red light streaming from her to the staggered Katherine. "What the hell is this?" she asked. "The possible outcomes if you attack her. Green means she won't touch you. Yellow means a half chance. Red mean she will intercept" she replied. Lawan was aghast at how calm her sister was. Her questions had to wait though. Lawan picked up Keith's sword. She felt its power and charged at the murderer of her husband. Katherine quickly found that nothing she could do landed a hit on her. Every attack was perfectly dodged, nullified, or deflected. In truth, Cassandra’s clairvoyance was seeing Katherine's movements a split second before she made them. Relaying that to Lawan in real time made the yaksha untouchable. And then Lawan saw it. A green thread seemingly wrapped around Katherine's Throat. Her sandaled feet stepping in the precisely right places and times as she avoided all kinds of magic until she closed the distance. Katherine went for a sweeping shrinking spell hastily made. "Spell intercept!" Lawan yelled rebounding the spell right back at Katherine. She dwindled immediately but Lawan was so fast she swung her sword cutting off her tiny head from her neck as she fell to the ground. Katherine's body was dead but that was planned for...

A giant portal had opened above all their heads. Lawan rushed to the others. "Where's Keith?" Susan asked. Lawan shook her head. The others held their breaths at the news. "Get back!" she ordered. A massive swell of magical energy enveloped Lawan. To her left was an ethereal woman, Eve, the spirit of his sword. And to her right was Oberon, a fae grieving in his own right. All Three held the sword. Oberon showed her the technique, Eve the form, and Lawan the will. "BANISHING SHIFT!" she yelled discharging all the stored magic within Rune Glory in one instant. Over a hundred spells at once into one fine point. The barrier shattered. "To the top and let NOTHING STOP YOU!" Lawan yelled advancing. Sagittarius wisely hid seeing them dash up the winding stairs. Even at ten years old, she knew she was no match for any of them. They entered the council room to find Markus standing behind Hope, who herself was still unlocking the seal. "Yes! The first one comes! Come forth my mistress! Come forth Ophiuchus!" Markus laughed. There was a hum of power behind him. Claire fired a concentrated beam of plasma, Susan a beam of light, Lawan an ear shattering compressed bolt of lightning. And Xiao the best fire blast she could. The magics converged right on the Eye of the World barely missing Hope. So much foreign magic chaotically shot into the artifact, it overloaded and exploded. The remaining portal violently sparked and collapsed. "NOOO! YOU FUCKING VERMIN!" he yelled turning around. 

"Kitsune maximum burst!" as Hikari jumped into the air and rocketed right at him. Markus took the attack head on and was blown right over the balcony along with Hikari. "Hikari!" Susan yelled. As they rushed to the balcony. They couldn't see them, but they did see a figure float down from the portal floating above the city. But more ominous than that, red lighting crackled from the portal. Lawan grabbed Hope by her Throat. "You have very much to answer for" she told her. "I'm doing this to save the world! You ruined everything!" Hope shouted repulsing Lawan. "How many innocent people have you killed with her stupid plan? Do you even know?!" Lawan shouted. "I only killed the evil ones or people that wanted to die! I gave the latter a full choice!" Hope yelled at her. "Did the 50 million you killed give their votes?!" Lawan spat at her. "50...million? No, I killed maybe a dozen. I'm...I'm not some monster" she muttered. "Fuck you think would happen raising a fucking continent out of the ocean you brat?! That water has to go somewhere!" Lawan shouted. Hope stood frozen. "What..."

"Your little spell that raised all this from the depths devastated the South Pacific! Singapore, Jakarta, Sri Lanka, they're gone and the millions of innocent people that lived there! You have done more damage in one week than Ebonheart did in 4 millennia. You disgraced your father God rest his soul" Lawan said coldly. "Rest his soul? Daddy is...dead?" she whispered. "By the one called Katherine just a few minutes ago" she replied. With her spirit broken, Hope shrank to her normal size. Lawan grabbed her. The others looking at them both. "Go below. He's still alive and god knows what just came Through that fucking hole" Lawan told them. They jumped over the balcony as it was the fastest way down except Susan. "Lawan. I can..."

"No. You're needed below" Lawan said. Susan nodded and jumped over. Lawan looked at the naked teen girl she had considered her stepdaughter in her fist. She was dangerous, unpredictable, a powerful being that had let the promise of worship, devotion, and rule corrupt her soul. Lawan began to squeeze and their air was pushed out of Hope's lungs. Hope didn't struggle at all grief stricken at the loss of her beloved father. Lawan relented and opened her fist letting the gasping girl collapse in it. Lawan saw too much of Keith in her face. She shared his blood and was a part of him body and soul. To crush someone he cherished so deeply felt wrong. Lawan hated herself for not doing so. "You will live with this guilt for the rest of your existence. Everyone will know you brought death upon someone so loved. The borrowers, your siblings, your mothers" Lawan said coldly to her before letting Hope fall to the floor. Hope barely felt the thuds of the feet of the giantess as she stepped over her. Her power searching for a way to bring him back but only to confirm it was not possible. 

Three minutes earlier...

Hikari pressed her kick hard into his chest exploding the fiery lighting at her foot. The blast propelled him into the ground hard and her attack used up the last stone on her belt causing her transformation to cancel. She landed on her feet next to the smashed body of Markus who reformed before her eyes. "She will awaken from her slumber in moments and your merry band will be ashes" he hissed looking at the energy cocoon that enveloped the ancient Lemurian woman. "You won't live to enjoy it" Hikari said staggering to the giant. "Brave last words little princess. You're on deaths door while I'm still raring to go" he chuckled looking down on her. "Crying out of fear? The most sensible thing you've done today" he said. "I'm not crying out of fear. I'm crying because you're making me break a promise...and funny you should mention death" she said as she drew her last kanji on the driver. "Yokai change. Form Shinigami. When the katana burns, your soul is forfeit" it said. Hikari changed and grew before his eyes. She stood human size once more. Tabi socks and sandals on her feet. An ancient black kimono around her body with a white obi sash. Her eyes stark white and in her right hand a katana burning softly with black flames. "A death God means nothing to one who cannot die" he said looking at her. "Even an immortal cannot evade one forever Makil Yousrana" she replied. Markus was taken aback. Her sword flames danced at the sound of his true birth name. "The death gaze can see all, even your malicious soul" she said. The others landed next to her. "That woman is still sleeping but not for long. Use this time to kill her" Hikari said to them. "But..."

"Go! This is mine by vengeance and imperial edict! Just...go Susan" Hikari muttered. Markus went to stop them until Hikari stood before him. "Remember how you laughed when my back was broken? Remember to still be amused when my blade severs your connection to his life" she said coldly. Their fight began...

"By the Buddha Susan. The sky looks as if torn" Lawan said to her. Around the hole in the sky was violent lightning. Inside the hole was pitch blackness which was sucking up the air around it. "Is that a black hole?!" Claire yelled over the building roar in the air. "No. If only we were so lucky. This is what Pele warned us of. This is the focal point of the destruction of reality" Joseph said standing next to them. "What the hell do you mean?" Susan asked. "When the Eye was destroyed, the spell went unfinished. It was supposed the bring the Etherion council from the void between worlds. Keyword worlds. But now, the rip is unchecked and is drawing another world here. This red lighting going back and forth Through time is a herald of it. The worlds, ours and another is merging and when it does, nothing will remain" he explained. "Keith was right! How do we stop it?!" Susan asked. "It would take a huge amount of magic power to seal this rift. We need Hope" he replied. "But Hope is..."

"Not dead. Joseph go get her" Lawan said. "Uh guys!" Claire yelled pointing to the cocoon. "Agreed. Pop the fucking thing!" Lawan yelled. Everyone fired their attacks at it to see nothing happen. "Not even a scratch" Claire muttered.

"Useless" Markus said looking at them. Hikari swung her sword and he deflected it. "I've had thousands of years of experience wielding a sword woman" he growled. "And I have studied under the descendants of Jubei Yagyu and Myamoto Musashi. Your confidence is slipping" Hikari grinned as she could see his soul waver. Markus lunged at her and she parried spinning making a nice cut into his back. "You think this..." he was saying until he noticed he wasn't healing. "Death comes for us all" she said coldly. Both ramped up their attacks to the point they were only blurs of speed. But Hikari was losing ground, she was nearly spent. While her attacks got Through, her strength waned as he struggled to even keep the transformation going. Markus stopped and poured powerful magic into his sword Ea. This was it. The moment in battle which decides the winner. "Shinigami maximum burst!" it said as she used her truly final attack. A tuff of dust came from the ground as she dashed at him faster than the eye can blink. The flames of her sword blazed wildly as she swung fast and deep. Markus thrust Ea at her at the same time he stopped time. However, time means NOTHING to an agent of death. They exist beyond the physical constraints of mortals. The strike was so pure, literally his soul was cleaved in two and jettisoned out of his body violently. Hikari stopped and turned around to watch his lifeless body fall to the ground. Then, she felt cold. She looked at her torso to see a mortal wound. Exhausted and spent, the transformation failed. She shrunk down. "Hiro...forgive me" she muttered pulling out a dagger and thrusting it into her heart. It was the only way to save her soul from being obliterated by Ea. To release it from her body by death before it could be dissolved. Hikari, the princess koonago was no more. 

"She's here" Joseph said holding his hand out. "Hope. You need to take that thing out then help us with that above us" Lawan said. Hope looked at her and then what she was talking about. "I can't. I can't use this power anymore" she muttered. Lawan's words had broken the girl's spirit. "Then your father died for nothing. And before this day is done so will the planet. Including your mother" Lawan said. Hope looked out beyond her hand again and saw the many dead. She saw the look on the faces of the survivors including Markus' mages. All has the look of hopelessness on them. Hope floated from her hand and hovered directly in front of the cocoon. "Stand back" she told them. She fired a large blast of magic at it until it shattered. "You did it!" Lawan yelled. "No. It wasn't me" Hope muttered. Revealed was Ophiuchus herself. Her black hair reached to the crack of her bare ass. Her breasts moved as she took her first breath in 20,000 years. Her skin was pale white from lack of sun in the void. Any clothing she had worn disintegrated long ago. But wasn't moving. Then, a streak of red zipped past all of them smacking into the bare chest of the woman. A flash of red light as magic enveloped her. "Better...much fucking better" a familiar voice said. "Katherine! But I killed you!" Lawan yelled. "My body yes but thankfully my backup plan worked. On my person I had a soul gem in which I placed half my soul in it. This body here was the perfect vessel. One with a dormant sleeping soul and the power of Etherion" she said laughing. 

Lawan led the first shot followed by everyone. "Oh please" Katherine said repelling their attack violently. The ground itself shook and if it wasn't for Hope deflecting most of it, they would've been smears from gravity magic. Elena, who has been in the palace the last few minutes, felt the tremors. Her energy almost spent; she didn't know what she could do. She stood on the first floor worried for her friends until she heard whimpering. Elena followed the sound to a sealed off room and opened the doors. There a young girl sat in the corner shaking and staring wide eyed at Elena. "You're human sized and too young to be one of his soldiers. Who are you?" Elena asked. The girl bolted. With a hum, she brought the girl to a stop and had her turn around. "Who are you?" she asked. "He called me Sagittarius, but my real name is Tracy" she replied hypnotized. It was enough of a shock that Elena canceled her spell. "Please don't hurt me! I only did as they said so they wouldn't hurt me" she whined. Elena, seeing what happened to Pisces was inclined to believe her. "It's okay" Elena said holding her hand out smiling. Tracy reluctantly took it hoping the naive young woman smiling at her would help. In her heart Elena very much did want to help this girl but the circumstances said otherwise. A battle raged outside that needed her attention and she was desperately low on the energy her mother goddess granted her. Energy that was not gifted but loaned out and her son's soul was collateral. With a soft melody, Elena began shrinking her. 

"What...what are you doing?!" Tracy yelled as she dwindled. Elena's fingers now holding her shrinking right hand. "Adet" she yelled summoning her artifact. It fell to the floor. By this point, Tracy was no bigger than two inches in her hand. "Please let me go" she begged her. Elena tried her best to ignore the pleas of the girl as she pulled off her little sandals. Elena whimpered herself seeing how adorable her tiny bare feet were. She pulled off the rest of her clothing and seeing the very vulnerable girl in her hand hesitated. "Please don't eat me" the girl sobbed. "I'm so sorry" Elena whispered. The girl whimpered pitifully as Elena placed her on her tongue and shut her lips. Tiny feet held firm by her lips. Only her soles exposed and then she was slurped into her mouth. Elena closed her eyes and led the screaming morsel of life slip down her Throat. Due to not eating and the nature of her bargain, Tracy was digested in under two minutes. Elena felt her young (mostly innocent) soul absorbed into her. She felt powerful again. She let the shrunken clothing fall from her hands as she went back out into the open...   

"We don't have time for this! The goddamn world is ending above your fucking head!" Susan yelled. "She won't listen. I can see the rage in her mind. Uhhgh...her plans. She's going to shrink every human on the planet but before she...NO!" Hope yelled as Katherine aimed her hand in a western direction of the city. In the distance was a brilliant light and a tremor. Hope threw a shield around the area as a shockwave slammed into them. A glowing burning mushroom cloud rose into the sky. "She killed them all. YOU KILLED THEM ALL!" Hope yelled. "They worshiped us by they were utterly loyal to that fool Markus. Better to start from scratch. So easy...50,000 shrunken buggy humans gone in nuclear fire" Katherine chuckled. "Leave us...NOW!" Hope screamed at them. The power radiating from her made the others run and take cover. "Now for you" Katherine said snapping her fingers. Hope caught her attack and Three it high into the air. A deafening boom shook the ground. With a cold look, Katherine grew herself. Taller...taller...taller until she was well above the palace itself.  And Hope did the very same. The others were stunned as the two towered over them. They couldn't even see Hope's face. "My god. How tall are they?" Claire asked. "742 feet" Joseph replied. "But doesn't that cause a huge strain on their bodies?!" Lawan asked. "An endless loop of healing and fortification. Fractures reformed; heart muscles repaired. Even their nervous systems regrown within seconds" he replied. 

A colossal torrent of lighting came down around them. The ground shook with small earthquakes as small damaged buildings and rubble was sucked up overhead. They began to be lifted form their feet until a song entered their ears. "You" Susan said. "She's no threat anymore" Elena said referring to the singing Pisces. "We will try to hold off the effects but..." she said before singing as well. They watched helpless as the titanesses fought. Magic deflected over and over. Hope's massive feet digging into the ground for leverage. At her size, it was easy to see the blood struggle to pump Through her veins. Hope has the advantage of experience with such magic, yet Katherine fought dirty. She fired a fire blast at those below which made Hope shift attention to stop it. Katherine punched her with a fiery strike sending the giantess tumbling. Third degree burns on her lower stomach and crotch. The faint smell of burnt flesh and pubic hair hung in the air. They could hear Hope moaning in pain. Then a giant dirty foot pushed on her windpipe. Katherine raised her hand summoning 100 ft. long pointy pillars of ice. "Irony. I killed your daddy and you in my world. Killed your daddy in this one...and now you" she chuckled. She slammed her hand down and the pillars floating 200 ft. above her descended. Then...they stopped. A blinding light made Katherine wince. She screamed as heat singed her bare sole and she fell back. The pillars of ice melted into water flooding the ruined city block. And then Hope got to her feet.

"Oh Jesus" Susan muttered seeing the blinding giantess showing absolute power. "You killed my daddy? YOU KILLED MY DADDY?!" Hope screamed. She fired off a beam of light which reflected of a hastily made barrier. The beams slicing apart anything it hit on the ground. They barely missed the others as it zipped overhead cutting a three-story building in two. Hope charged the woman hitting her so hard the ground trembled. Katherine was sent a quarter mile away crashing to the ground obliterating ten city blocks. Hope wasted no time continuing. The sounds of thunderous punching, wet squelching, and the cracking of the earth filled their ears. "By the Buddha" Xiao said as splashes of blood rained down from overhead. Katherine shielded herself as beast she could only to see the girl smash them with ease. Beaten bloody, Hope stood over her. She was already healing at frightening speed. Hope's sensed the thoughts of those she loved nearby. Fear of death, Armageddon, and of her. She couldn't do much about the last one, but she could do something about the first two. With rage still in her heart, she took ahold of Katherine's hair and dragged her back to where they first fought demolishing more of the city. "You want power so badly...take it" she said coldly before showing everyone by kissing Katherine.

Hope poured the power she had into her directly Through mouth to mouth. So much at one time it was burning her out. Blood seeped from her eyes and nose. Her spells holding her body together being so huge couldn't keep up. Her bones cracked. Her glow faded and then Hope with her rage, grief, and pain literally threw Katherine into the sky and Through the rift. "You're a monster. A MONSTER!" Katherine screamed as she felt the chaotic power struggling to be free inside her. "...harrowing" Hope muttered firing off the darkest spell she could still muster. "...I was so close. So close..." Katherine muttered as the black light of the spell raced to her. In a blinding flash and deafening explosion, Katherine was detonated like a nuclear bomb. The magic blast severed the unstable link between her world and the one rushing to collide and merge with hers. The rift began to close and within a few minutes had. Hope shrank down to her normal small size and floated down. Her body was a wreck. The others stood were they were except Lawan who walked over to catch the girl. "You did it" Lawan said. Hope said nothing, rolled over in her palm and closed her eyes. "Is she..."

"No. Passed out" Lawan finished. "It's over. We won" Xiao said. "I wouldn't call this a victory Xiao" Claire said. "We saved the world Claire" Xiao replied. "And they lost theirs" Claire said pointing to Lawan and Hope. An hour had passed as they checked the palace and what was left of the human city. "Report" Lawan said softly still holding Hope. "The human city is a crater. Nothing remains. As for the zodiac, Pisces is accounted and well as the deaths of the others except this new Sagittarius" Claire said sitting beside her. "She's dead. Elena confirmed it" Lawan said. "Curious how she of all of us took a zodiac down. Songs don't do too much against magic arrows" she said. "I asked and Elena said to leave it alone. She didn't look happy discussing it" Lawan said. Susan walked over to them. "The final tally. 27 survivors on our side. 33 on theirs. We uh...we lost Hikari" Susan muttered sitting down. In her right hand was the body of the koonago princess. "What do we do with the enemy survivors?" Lawan asked. "They have two class A mages with them. We can't take them with us" Susan said. "And they're too dangerous to be left alone" Xiao said softly. Lawan nodded. "Then it's settled" Susan said pulling out a very small box from her utility belt. Inside were the captured mages shrunken down to the size of ants. Xiao looked at Susan as she brought the box to her face. With her thumb, she popped it open and dropped the screaming contents into her mouth. She shut it and mashed her tongue to the roof of her mouth killing most of them instantly. With a gulp she executed the rest. 

Susan sat down cradling the body of her comrade. Xiao could see the pain in her eyes but admired the strength she had to do something outside the scope of her beliefs. She remembered her commander telling her that borrowers were weak willed people and could never hope to be as mentally strong as a Mogwai. Xiao knew him to be an utter fool now. Elena came up to them with Aries "Can we leave? This place..." Elena asked. "With her?" Claire asked. "We wouldn't have won without her Claire" Elena said. Aries looked down at the ground. Claire shrugged. "I overheard. If you gather everyone else and can get you home" Joseph told them walking to them. "Your son..." Lawan said. "Was lost to me long ago. Hikari did a number on him. Not a trace of his essence remains, and I turned his body into ashes. He will trouble the world no longer" he said softly. Everyone was gathered together and returned home. They emerged in the living room.

"I will uh...file the official report tomorrow and we can all go over his...his...Xiao please take over" Susan muttered walking to the sunroom. "Keith told me he gave all of us letters to open if he didn't return. I'm sure that's what Susan was trying to say" Claire said. Lawan turned to leave. "Hope" she said. "Yes?" Lawan asked. "Should she be allowed to wake?" Claire asked. It was a question everyone was thinking. "Goodnight everyone" Lawan said leaving. "She did not answer" Xiao said. "She knew enough not to as the grief was still raw" Claire said. "Of course. Soldiers. Report to your quarters or homes" Xiao commanded the ragtag survivors. Claire was left alone in the room. The antique grandfather clock chimed. "12 o'clock. Happy New Year" she said to herself. 

Susan quiet opened the door to her home. On the sofa sat her father with her daughter sleeping beside him. The old man was quietly rubbing Ruby's feet. He stared at Susan with a look which couldn't be explained. She could hear his heart beating rapidly. "My god. Oh my god" he muttered. She nodded and proceeded to take her clothes off. Susan went and took a quick shower before returning. When she came back, Tim stood before her. His hand caressed her cheek. "I'm back" she said. The man fell to the floor crying. Susan held him close. "I take it you guys won then" he said trying to smile. "Winning as in they didn't get what they want yes. We lost 95% of our forces. Markus is dead. The world is saved" she shrugged. Tim was smart enough to see she was in shock. He looked into her eyes. "Jellybean?" he asked. Her lips quivered as she broke into a wail and shrunk down before him. He knew she wanted to be held and cuddled. "He's dead. He and Hikari are both dead" she sobbed. Tim sighed. He liked Keith. "...mom? MOM!" Ruby yelled woken by her crying. Tim handed her to Ruby. She sniffed her mother and held her close to her cheek. Her mother seemed so fragile and helpless in her hand. She knew something horrible had happened, but she was glad her mother had returned. "Oh mom. It's okay. Don't cry. You're so upset you're lactating" Ruby said petting her belly. "Help mommy sweetheart" she said to her. Ruby gently sucked her breasts draining them of excess milk. "I'm home. I'm home" she cried. "Grandpa?" Ruby asked very worried for Susan. "She lost him and a close friend" he said. Ruby bit her lip to avoid crying. Ruby parted her legs and began gently sucking her tiny pussy. 

After an orgasm or two, Susan finally began to calm down. "You don't have to grieve alone mom" she told her. Tim took Susan from her. "She's right. You're not alone in this" Tim said as he kissed her bare feet. "I was so scared I'd never see you all again!" she whimpered. Tim wiped a tear away. "We know jellybean. We know" he said petting her. Susan drifted off to sleep not long after utterly exhausted. Asleep, her shrink spell on her faded and she grew to her regular size in his lap. Tim cuddled her to him. His left hand on her arm. The other on her thigh. Ruby cuddled next to him and they fell asleep. 

Lawan looked at the small naked girl in her husbands’ bed. Hope had displayed a level of power none had seen before and it terrified Lawan. Hearing about it was one thing but a glowing mega giantess was another matter completely. Hope was an emotional time bomb, that much was certain, but what should be done about it. "You okay?" Cassandra asked her coming into the room and finding Lawan sitting on the bed. "As well as a newly widower can be" Lawan replied. Cassandra lowered her head at the foolish question. "Forgive me" Lawan muttered. "It's okay" Cassandra said sitting next to her. She looked down at Hope. "Insane to think such a tiny girl did what she did" she muttered. "Believe it" her sister said. There was a pause. "What does your clairvoyance say now?" Lawan asked. "I don't know what..." she was saying until Lawan gave her a look. "Different things. Half of them ended with you killing her" she replied softly. "She's the most powerful being in the world and she went mad with grief and shame just an hour ago. If she's in a similar state when she wakes..." she said. "The soldier in me says to snap her neck in her sleep. The widower in me says to crush her goddamn skull between my fingers. And the..."

"What?" Cassandra asked. "The mother in me says to comfort the child in her grief" she replied. "Then the question is which one is louder in your heart" Cassandra said. Lawan reached out to Hope. Her fingers went for her head. Cassandras clairvoyance saw Three outcomes and she held her breath. Lawan used her fingernail to move Hope's hair out of her face. The future was settled. "Good night sis. I love you" Cassandra said kissing her cheek. "I love you too. And Cassandra?" she asked. "Thanks for not stopping me" Lawan said. "It was the only way for you to find some peace if you made the choice yourself" Cassandra said to her before leaving. Lawan laid down in bed beside Hope. The smell of Keith on the sheets. She closed her eyes, thought of him, and prayed not to dream that night.