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A gut wrenching booming noise was heard throughout the air. The ocean once cold became so boiling the even giants felt its scorching heat. The lands shook, breaking apart in pieces sinking into boiling hot steam and screams below.
And then there was silence. Pure utter silence.
The only sound heard in miles was the strange timely wind.
No.
It wasn't windy.
It was breathing heavily.
The strange fur-like mountains shifted. Backwards one might say.
If there was anyone alive at all to say that.
The loud noise was heard again. Short yet powerful. But it was fainter. Like it was far away.
The mountains and wind changed again.
It wasn't far away. If anything…
It was falling down.
Rain started pouring, mixing with the boiling oceans below. It was a dark blue.
The waters mix in a whirlpool of colors: red, blue, black, yellow, orange, purple, etc. Even colors unknown to the naked eye appear in it.
It was enchanting to see. But it was horrifying to see what the blue rain was and where it came from.
It was blood.
It was Titan's blood.
A surge of tsunamis came as the great mountain fell into the ocean. Although to it, it well as be a puddle, or shallow lake at best.
The last Titan has fallen.
Titans have names. Some were simple. Others were not. They were complex. They were rude. They were meaningful.
They say to help a Titan move on, you must speak their name for the last time.
There was no one around to say its name.
For there is none left to speak it.
It sinks. It feels no cold. It feels no heat. It feels numb. It cannot see, for there's no light in the abyss.
It remembers dying. They were killed.
It remembers crying. Their kind is extinct.
It remembers being so angry. He got revenge. It finished its goal. Now it can finally rest in peace-
“◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️? Where did the others go? Why aren't they moving? Did my siblings take them away? Did I.. fail? All I want.. is to play... All I wanted was to play!”
No. It's goal isn't over. They are still out there. They might try again. They will try again.
It moves as much as possible, to get any feeling in their limbs. The waters dragging it down. It must swim. Up! They must swim up!
Their body felt alive again. They swim. As much as possible. No matter how much resistance the water gave them. No matter how much their screams at them rest. They must reach up. They must keep moving forward.
Then he felt something under his claws. Due to some unknown instinct, it - no. He holds onto the thing like his life depends on it.
Or what remains of it.
“◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️? Where's - What are you doing? ◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️ Stop! I don't understand! What happened! Please!”
…. Oh no. Please don't tell them they didn't.
As he felt the item float out of the water, revealing to her that it was a cube. Full of colors that reminds him of a prism. She couldn't stop thinking about what she had done.
Her claws slipping from the cube, falling to water, now acting as solid ground as he is no longer in there.
He stares at the golden sharp edges cavern that stretches for who knows how long. She sees multiple cubes similar to the one he fell off, floating to and sinking to the black waters from the bottom and the ceiling at top of her.
He was in the In-Between.
“It hurts! Help please! What did I do wrong! I was -”
The Titan falls over forward on the ground, his arms barely holding her steady as the contents of his stomach reveals themselves.
He throws up. The same black water he swam up from was the very same he threw up. Leaking out of his mouth, as well leaking out of his eyes of her skull. This wasn't natural.
Not does it matter. For she can never forgive himself the atrocious act he had done. Something he promised herself she will never do.
The Titan hurt a child.
That's a fate worse than death in their opinion
____________
As she felt Belos possessed her body, he feared for the worst.
His fears became true as the light orbs floated around the Isles.
The Titan ran. Faster. Faster. He doesn't have much time.
Something he learned centuries ago was that souls from different realms try to return to their origin when they died.
Luz is human.
The Titan sees a light orb floats into the In-Between Realm and settles into the water. Heading to the human realm.
His theory was right.
The Titan ducked into water to save her, the In-between showing themselves they weren't happy.
◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️. Unwise Titan. A voiceless sound came to his ears as he swam fanatically. Warning him, if he wasn't careful.
He will die.
His hand grabs the child's arm and pulls. The Titan reappears out of the surface, panting as he hosts Luz up.
He tries not to cry seeing how small and fragile the child felt as he carried her like a kitten.
The Titan places her down just in time as she coughs. At least it's not like his disturbing experience. Maybe how they got out of the water and how long affects that. He takes a note of that later.
“King?” She mutters softly, out of breath barely regaining her sight.
The Titan chuckles. It had been so long since he heard another voice. “No.” His voice was soothing soft that was unexpected to hear from someone who had a skull for a head. “But he does get his good looks from me.” He was glad she chose a smaller appearance. He didn't want to scare her.
Luz looked shocked, “Oh, Titan.”
The Titan couldn't stop himself. “Oh, me!” He placed his hand forward, “Nice to meet you, Luz the Human.”
Luz accepts as she handshakes the Titan. “You can't actually be the Titan Titan, right? You're the Boiling Isles, and that Titan is all -”
His skull followed the way his eyes softened. “Dead-looking?”
He already knew the answer, and Luz began to sink as she came to the realization as well. “Does that mean I'm also—”
The Titan picks Luz up. “Ah, no, nope, no. Don't wanna do that. If you go under without a portal, you really will be dead-looking.” He sets Luz down.
Luz was in disbelief. “I can't believe this. You're King's dad!”
He couldn't stop himself from the praise. “I think King said it best once. "I am both King and Queen, best of both things." “ He chuckles, “But "Dad" works fine.”
There was another word for dad. What was it? Ah yes.
“What is this place?”
Papa Titan points to the area around them. “This is the space in between. Well, in between a lot of places. And I've been stuck here for quite some time. But at least I can keep an eye on my child. And those who have been kind to him.” He holds a floating block showing moments of his son and Luz spending time together. Luz looks so happy there.
The Luz here with him wasn't. “I'm not so kind. When I saw the Collector fly up to Belos, I hoped with all my heart I would see them blast him away, and—” She sighs. The last words left unsaid, but Papa Titan understood.
He was like that for centuries.
“Hey, I can relate. I was willing to do anything to keep my kid safe. But I attacked the wrong person. Dragged the Collector down here for nothing.”
“Does that make us as bad as Belos?”
He chuckles, baffled at the idea, “What? Have you been drinking Eda's homemade apple blood?”
“Well, Belos says he's trying to save humanity. And we are saying we want to save our families. So isn't that the same thing? Don't—Don't these feelings come from the same place?”
Oh kid.
“You assume Belos' goal comes from a genuine place. But that man doesn't care about anything but his need to be the hero in his own delusion. And because of that, he fears what he can't control.”
“And now that fear is going to win.”
Papa Titan wanted to say more but then he felt it. It didn't hurt a lot like he thought. “Ah, dang.” But it still hurts. He puts on a calming smile when he hears Luz gasp as she sees his chest being affected by Belos’ possession. “I thought I had more time left. But Belos will have full control soon... You ready to stop him?” Luz jolted in surprise from that.
“What? What can I do?”
He moved slowly towards her, making it obvious it was more painful than it looked. The Titan was going to make a tough choice. “You've already helped King so much. So let me use my last bit of life to help you.” He extends his hand. On it, various glyphs appear floating around his arm.
Luz looked at me in awe. But she can feel the unspoken words. “Are you sure you wanna give this power to me?”
Papa Titan was proud. Glyphs weren't just magic. It was a language. Luz knows what will happen. Papa Titan tries not to waiver as Luz looks at him in sadness.
“Well, you're the one here, and you seem like a good witch. But I can't give you anything unless you choose to accept it. So the question is, will you choose yourself?”
Luz glances at him for a moment before taking his hand and a golden orb surrounds Luz. She starts to float up. Papa Titan was relieved. While it would be nice to continue seeing his son.
King deserves to have his sister back.
“Now, Belos will be able to control everything, so you have to defeat him fast.”
“But-”
“My power won't last forever, so use your time wisely.”
“Oh, but what about -”
“Eda the Owl Lady?” He saluted. “Send her my regards, big fan.”
He was running out of time. They both knew this would happen.
Papa Titan accepted his death.
Luz does not.
Not yet.
She reaches out and holds on to Papa Titan's claw to keep from being sent further upward. The Titan was surprised.
“No, King, what about King? Don't you wanna say something to him?”
King. His son. He thinks for a moment. What words can he say? There is so much he wants to tell him. The stories, the awkward growth, the joy. What can he say to his son to let him know how much he loves him?
It clicks in Papa Titan's head what to say as he whispers something in Luz's ear. Luz is excited by what she hears.
“Oh. He'll love that.” She chuckles. Then she looks up.
Guess the avatar thing wears off.
The Titan takes on his larger form and starts to sink into the water. His skeleton body slowly sinks below.
His skull was barely over the water.
He usually sees people down below. It had been a long time since he had to look up.
Luz cries as she flinches from the light that will come afterwards as Papa Titan says his final words.
“Goodbye, Luz.”
And he was gone.
This time, without regrets.
Huh. Come to think of it. The Titan pondered as he below the surface of the water. It will be a while before he can no longer think. He has to make sure to think as much as possible to give Luz enough time to defeat that parasite. Surely being alone with thoughts isn't so bad.
He had done it for centuries. What's a few moments more compared to that?
Today is the same day he died for the first time. It is either a coincidence or does the In-Between have a set of rules that if you have previously died but postponed it. Does it mean you have to die in a similar way at a later date? I mean. It makes sense.
So you can say this is my anniversary of my death. Ha!
…
…
Moving on from the reminder of his loneliness, the Titan was glad he met the human.
When she first entered her realm, he wasn't sure how to react. Was she like Caleb or Philip?
She was so fascinated with our world like the kind man was. But there were times she made mistakes similar to Philip.
But unlike that parasite. She learns. She has grown. That day in the boiling rain were both of them in danger. Luz stayed to protect his son despite all odds, the Titan made his decision.
What came afterwards was unexpected but it was definitely welcome. She became the light of their lives. Despite being from the human realm, her spirit speaks so much like the demon realm.
Hmm. Hopefully I didn't change too much. He knows his magic was powerful, even though there's not much left. She had studied enough in the human realm so that Luz has all her human parts.
Okay so maybe looking through reflections in biology isn't the best but still. I think I did a good job. I even added a hat as a bonus.
Despite being in the water, he can feel his left arm lifting. Seriously! What in my name is he doing? IS He-
…
He can't remember his name. That is worrisome. She thought she had more time. I need to hang on. Just a little longer.
… the child is running out of time. He can feel his jaw opening out of his control. That little parasitic monster is the worst.
I was going to say worm but that was just insulting to Hooty’s mother, she was the best. That demon's jokes always made her laughed.
His children were using his magic to save her other children. Maybe it was a good thing the starchild puppet those on his corpse. Better having a few headaches than being dead-looking like him.
Then he felt something on his heart. They were boney but just familiar enough despite only meeting each other for a few brief moments.
His daughter has arrived.
He felt her rage, her fear, her determination as she pulled away the parasite attached to his discomposing heart.
You can do it daughter!
As his son released his weh, his body stopped moving.
They won. He was so glad.
Then the parasite moved.
All the Titan felt was pure agonizing rage. It murder his children. It manipulated her starchild. It attacked his son's family. He tricked his daughter.
Let me. He asked his daughter as he felt her staring down at the monster on the ground begging for his life by lies. She knew his daughter shouldn't carry the weight of killing someone.
At least not alone.
The boiling rain falled on the parasite as his family stomped on it for good measure.
He should see you. His daughter asked.
Who was he to deny that request? She never thought otherwise.
The Titan roared as they flew away, seeing his son looking at him in awe was enough.
His final message was Goodbye Son.
___________
The spirit wanders the void. All darkness surrounding them. Then he saw something from a distance. It floats towards him. She grabs it gently.
It was a light glyph. He tapped on it.
A small light orb appears in front of him, entering in the spirit.
He felt it. It was unspoken but it was clear enough. His daughter knew his language now. His son has his future ahead of him. The star child is free from the past. His children are free from the parasite.
As the Titan felt the final bit of his magic flew away. They cried in relief.
There's someone who knows their name.
There's people who knew their language they thought they lost.
The Titan ◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️ sinks below.
This time with no regrets.
