Time is...

[Atticus the Fallen]

...and then, it would come to an end. Those few, precious seconds Ultimecia had in this life where she could live only the present were already over, as a massive, bonelike protrusion slammed into her chest, lifting her higher into the air as it impaled her. The Fallen stood there, holding her above his head and allowing her blood to trickle down his arm while those burning yellow eyes sought hers.

A moment of silence between the two of them passed... their eyes locked into one another's. Strangely intimate, this act of murder, how close it made them. But Atticus was not in the mood to be loving. Instead, he savored her pain, watching as blood would backspill up her esophagus and drizzle lazily from her lips.

"It's done..." he said quietly to her... "You are done..."

[ultimecia]

[glow=purple,2,800]"URGHRKk!" Ultimecia would cry in pain, as she was hoisted up and over Atticus' head. She coughed out blood, and tiredly rested her eyes on his as he spoke. [/glow]

"It's done..." he said quietly to her... "You are done..."

[glow=purple,2,800]The witch only gasped for air at one point, her body limp and unable to move. That single blow had knocked her spine out of place, and she could only feel the pain coursing through her body... her already fragile body...

"... Time..." she started, giving him a pitied look, "... is eternal... and I accept... this..." she coughed again, it was becoming harder to breathe... His sharp claws had punctured her lungs in several places... her whole body was slowly shutting down. "Time.... like your victory.... is an illusion. And us... reflections that... eventually vanish..."

"... Celebrate not...for, like myself... even you..." she muttered out of breath, her eyes half closed now, but ever breaking eye contact, "...shall fade."[/glow]

[Atticus the Fallen]

"... Celebrate not...for, like myself... even you..." she muttered out of breath, her eyes half closed now, but ever breaking eye contact, "...shall fade."

"You first..." replied the Fallen, and with no more to say, no more to drag on... he clenched his clawed fingers around her still-beating heart... and twisted violently. The ventricles were ripped from place, now spewing crimson in all directions from within. No more pumping for this organ, as he squeezed the life out of it. No more would it tick off her remaining moments. They were concluded.

Slowly, the Fallen's arm lowered, and he allowed the now very dead former witch of time to sliiide an inch at a time from the swordlike central claw of his mutated arm, chunks of flesh tearing away on the smaller protrusions that might have been parts of her spinal column or lungs. The blood splatter was tremendous, pooling at his feet in a wide ameobalike shape into which he intended to drop her broken form.

But her body would never touch the ground. Instead, she'd break apart into a billion scattering feathers, fluttering away in the wind as she toppled in slow motion into non-existance. She was fading away, literally and figuratively, until there was nothing left but a single feather settling in a pool of red deeper than the ocean... which the Fallen would crush under heel as he stepped forward, looking up at Castle Oblivion with mild interest.

His arm contorted back into shape... until it looked as normal as the other which was undamaged. Looking at it, he shrugged, then turned to a nearby corridor to disappear and recooperate...

Ultimecia is dead. Her murder will never be avenged.

[Secondary Characters]

Truly...sadness was the price to meet a climax in the book of life. As a goddess who worked in conjunction with a counterpart god and a being set apart from light and darkness, neither of the three were omnipotent and all-knowing. Ultimecia was close...close enough to see her own demise.

Unfortunately, as a goddess, Cosmos' power was limited to that of her occupation; meddling in the worlds was beyond that power, hence the reason for Ultimecia's existence, to be the proxy of both chaos and order, master of time and space, its guardian.

Even if she tried, her effort would prove futile in this realm, for it was beyond her jurisdiction, both literally and morally. The Witch of Time had this coming, due to the flow of time and the curse she'd been born with. Had the Witch of Time been someone else, Ultimecia might still live.

When Atticus the Fallen struck the final blow and added ultimate insult to injury to the affect, she stood at his departure, her hands shaking at the sides of her immaculate dress, her head drooped, those pure golden curls shading her eyes as she basically hovered to the pool of blood where the single crushed feather lay, smeared, sullied.

'I cannot accept the light, or darkness. As for redemption, it is far from me, and my own time is fleeting. But, know this... your visits have been...welcomed, to say the least.'

Remembering words of the past whispering in the everlasting winds that wrapped around the goddess' frame, she shook her head, her eyes still set on the feather.

"You are wrong, Ultimecia..." she whispered with a frown. "You may not accept either myself or Chaos...but I will accept you...you have been redeemed. You have been set free. Your legacy...is, eternal."

',...It is a death warrant, yes... but fair nonetheless, and it must be done.'

"It is unfair...the fate brought upon you by lottery selection..."

She held out a hand and the feather rose, hovering three feet before the goddess. With a quick flash, her eyes gleamed with green, healthy light, and the blood had disappeared and the crinkles smoothed out. Collecting it in her cupping hands she clutched it to her heart and took a deep breath. It glowed bright and disappeared. "May your heart find peace until next we meet," she said, looking up into the sky as several stars began to glow brighter, creating a dotted image high above. Disappearing herself, Cosmos breathed her last words in Castle Oblivion.

"Your legacy will live on...above Oblivion...my child."