A World Of Decree: And The Seven Laws

Selvis wasn't just in shock, he was in a state of seeing a miracle. The synergy, connection, speed, and pure power that came from that attack was unbelievable. He remembered the last time he saw Rina and Atlas in combat, seeing them struggle to even control their attacks. Now, however, they were on a completely different level.

What surprised him the most was how the two of them didn't even use a spell to turn Osiris into nothing more than a corpse on the floor. Selvis knew they weren't the same kids he met at the entrance exam one year ago.

Seeing Atlas and Rina perform a magnificent attack made Selvis regain his control, strength, and pride. He stood back up on his feet, "Unbelievable…"

"Don't listen to him." Atlas gestured to Selvis, keeping his gaze onto the lifeless body of Osiris. "He's nothing more than a man driven by his own d.e.s.i.r.es. Nothing good comes from a broken soul."

"You've grown, Atlas." Faibel complimented, but his tone seemed unforgiving.

Atlas stayed quiet, focused on Osiris. He knew it couldn't be over. He knew Osiris would find a way to stand back up. He knew it wasn't the end.

A small twitch, no longer than half a second seemed to appear on Osiris's leg. Another followed on his shoulder, and the final one made a snapping noise in his right hand.

"NOOO!" Selvis shouted, dragging Atlas and Rina's attention onto him, and away from Osiris.

Selvis tried to get to them as fast as he could, but another stone wall fell from nowhere, separating Faibel and Selvis from Atlas and Rina. The wall made a thunderous clap against the cold floor, shaking the entire cube of stone like an earthquake.

Selvis slapped the side of his fist against the wall, "SHIT!" He turned back around to face Faibel, "Excuse my language, but These walls aren't made of stone." Selvis stroked his finger along the smooth surface of the grey stone. "They're infused with something… Something I can't crack."

"Seems like the only option we have is to find another way," Faibel said, looking around the endless looking atmosphere they were in. "Osiris planned this perfectly," He chuckled slightly.

"Let's go." Selvis angrily agreed, starting to run along the side of the wall in hopes of finding some sort of end to this madness.

…

On the other side of the wall, Osiris's body began to boil in a raging storm of hatred. Not like water over a scolding fire, but like pockets of air rising to the surface from the depths of a swamp. His flesh and skin began to bubble and burst, fixing his damaged organs and bones in an instant. His body slowly began to rise from the ground, forming the last missing pieces that were stolen from him moments ago: his eyes.

His wounds were healed, but his soul remained untouched. "Absolutely marvelous." Osiris coughed in a ruffled voice. "Now I can truly see how much power those Laws gave to you."

"Hmph," Atlas clenched his teeth, feeling the tension in his muscles. "What you've done… The lives you hurt… The lives you stole… The families you've broken…" Atlas paused, staring deep into the lifeless eyes of Osiris. "You-"

"Stop!" Osiris swiftly gestured his finger at Atlas, cutting him off. As soon as Osiris directed his pale finger at Atlas, something was off. Atlas couldn't help but feel overwhelmed, paranoid, anxious, scared.

"I can end your life in a heartbeat." Osiris said, wantingly. "You've already come in contact with me. Your life is at my disposal."

Atlas quickly glared at his fist, seeing some sort of corrosion begin to form around his knuckles, and fade away as if it were never there.

"But I'm not going to do that. There's no fun without a challenge." Osiris dropped his finger, keeping his unsatisfied grin in perfect shape. "Both of you used your own power to knock me over. I want to see how much power that Law of yours truly gives."

"Stay calm." Rina motioned to Atlas, "He's just taunting us. We'll fight him off until someone else gets here."

Osiris burst out into a sea of boisterous laughter, "I control everything. All these walls, all this space, everything is entirely under my control. No one will come."

"So you control objects too?" Atlas questioned angrily.

Osiris refused to answer for a moment, but decided there was no point in hiding anything now. "Who said these walls weren't living?"

Everything went silent for a moment, that is, until an unimaginable realization struck Rina and Atlas like a knife through their hearts. Their skin froze, their eyes wanted to scream out of pure torture, and their mind couldn't handle the situation they were in. It was like every breath of air escaped their lungs, and they'd forgotten how to breath. All they wanted to do was run, get out as fast as possible and never come back, but they couldn't. Their legs wouldn't move, their eyes were stuck, and their hearts were terrified.

Osiris noticed that they realized what he meant, prompting him to laugh once more. "I'd say about 1,000 or so. Yeah, that sounds about right. Surprisingly, humans can withstand a lot of metaphysical pressure placed upon them."

What Rina and Atlas realized was that Osiris took living creatures, molding stone into sections of their body to gain full control of unliving things. There was no possible way the stone would pierce the skin of the living creature or else it would interrupt body processes and vital organs that keep them alive. However, the sheer thought of something as cruel was too much for them to handle.

"Rina." Atlas folded his brows.

Rina slowly stuttered her head towards him, still in shock. "Y-yes?"

"We'll save them, every last one. I swear it."

Osiris leaned back, a little surprised, "Well then. COME AT ME!"

Without even a slight hesitation, Atlas quickly focused on concentrating his magic to his legs for greater speed and agility. However, he had to be careful. If what Osiris said was true, then Atlas had to do everything he possibly could to avoid destroying the stone walls around them.

"RINA!" Atlas yelled.

"Right!" Rina whipped another microscopic blade of water directly at Osiris. He couldn't even react at the sheer speed of the attack when it suddenly cut through his eyes once again, giving Atlas the perfect window of opportunity to leap forward and strike.

Atlas figured he couldn't use either of the spells he knew or the entire place would collapse. So he had to rely on managing his power output, and timing his attacks perfectly. However, although he could see blood spill from Osiris's eyes, there was no delay in regeneration.

Osiris kept his grin in place, instantly regenerating his sight and anticipating Atlas's next moves perfectly. Osiris stretched his hand to the side, forming some sort of yellow spear alongside his finger, flinging it directly at Atlas.

"Crap!" Atlas gasped, managing to dodge in the nick of time as the spear flew right past his cheek. A small cut appeared on the right side of his face, but the pain was negligible to the adrenaline running through him.

"You alright!" Rina yelled from afar.

Atlas reached a hand to his face, pressing it softly against his cheek in frustration. A couple drops of red appeared on his hand, and the smell of dust and rock filled the air. "Yeah, I'm fine." Brushing the blood off, Atlas proceeded to leap at Osiris with Rina's support. However, even after countless attacks, Rina's precision, power and speed diminished with every slash of water thrown.

Atlas plunged his fist into Osrirs's face, but was instantly stopped as his fist fast unglued by Osiris's hand. With how much force he put into the punch, Osiris being able to stop it with just one hand took him by an unexpected shock. No matter how hard Atlas tried to retreat, Osiris kept a firm grasp, flinging Atlas across the giant room like a ragdoll.

Rina continued throwing small attacks, but they barely even left a single scratch on Osiris's regenerating abilities. Atlas stood back up with a few bruises and scr.a.p.es from the hardened floor, still being able to fight, but unsure how.

Suddenly the blood on his cheek started to hurt even more, spilling more and more drops of blood.

"Once my curse reaches your bloodstream." Osiris howled, "I can manipulate your blood, movements, and life... But I won't do that." He stopped the blood pouring down Atlas's face with a simple gesture. "Well, at least for you I won't."

"Atlas." Rina said, angrily. "I can barely cast any spells in this place. Due to the walls, and the dirty air, I can't form any fresh water." She clenched her fists, feeling her nails digging into her palms. "But I don't think he can hurt me. I can still make my body permeable to attacks."

Osiris laughed in the distance, his cough-like laugh echoing against the stone walls like bats in a cave. "Is that so? Seems like you've never fought against a curse before!" Osiris quickly flung another spear at Rina, making sure to barely nick her arm to show his superiority.

The attack was so fast Rina didn't even notice until a sudden stinging feeling ran through her arm. Looking down, she saw blood running down her wrist like a broken sink. Even Atlas was surprised, Osiris's attack speed was nearly ten times faster than the previous spear of bright yellow light.

Rina felt the pain rise with every second, trying her best to minimize the damage with a ripped sleeve wrapped around the wound. "It's fine!" She said, nervously. "Just a-" The blood continued to run down her arm, faster and faster with every second. "W-what's going on?"

Atlas has never seen Rina truly afraid. She's been on the verge of death, suffocated by her own sorrow from the loss of her sister, and even trapped in an underground chamber, fighting for her life. And out of all those times, she was never scared. She never doubted herself. She never feared the end, but now, it was different.

Her eyes began to wander for the sky, for the sun, for the rain, but all she could see was the stone, and her soul within it. She wanted to see the light once more, she wanted to be released from this chamber, she wanted to feel the freedom of the outdoors, but she couldn't. The blood kept coming, dripping on the floor, and she knew what was coming next.

She glanced at Atlas one more time with a bright smile. "I'm. Sorry." She whispered, feeling the raindrops finally approach her eyes. "I-"

She was cut off by another spear. This time, directly through her heart.

For that split moment Atlas saw the spear pierce her c.h.e.s.t, the world froze around him. Osiris wasn't moving, Rina wasn't falling, and even the dust on the ground remained motionless. All he could see were the tears slowly streaming down her cheek. He could see the blood escape her body, and he could see her eyes wanting nothing more but one last view of the clouds above. A feeling of emptiness filled him for that split moment, and he couldn't breath. His heart wasn't responding, his body wouldn't move, and all he could do was watch her fall onto the cold, lifeless ground.

"R-Rina..." Atlas stuttered, feeling his first tear finally break, and the rest following like wildfire.