Fate written in the stars - [Chapter 2]
The strength of the first
Upon hearing the start of the round, Lilith is immediately on the go, removing her hand from in front of her face muttering a few words, ‘Personification of sin: Envy.’ By her side, a large dog appears, its teeth flash at Tiamat, her blank expression remaining unphased. Lilith dashes forward at the primordial before her, her dog following closely behind her. Her eyes scan over the black sludge at Tiamat’s feet, her instincts telling her to stay away from it at all costs.
Tiamat’s eyes watch Lilith’s approach closely, yet no other part of her body moves to signal a counter to her opponent. Lilith jumps from the ground with a single flap of her wings sending her high through the sky towards her opponent, her demonic claws ready to tear away at Tiamat’s flesh. The two are about to meet when Lilith notices Tiamat subtly move in the corner of her eye. She immediately uses her new wings to jump back from Tiamat as the black sludge forms a pillar and shoots up to Lilith’s position, narrowly missing the tip of her tail.
Not wanting to stop the assault, Lilith positions herself so that the dog of envy can propel himself off her back, ready to bite into Tiamat’s flesh. As the black sludge drops to the ground, Tiamat is forced to defend physically, swinging her tail round to the front and slapping the dog out of the air, sending it flying into the war.
‘So you can move.’ Lilith sarcastically remarks after landing back down on the ground. ‘I’m glad to learn I’m not just fighting a statue.’ Tiamat’s gaze turns more into a glare as she looks down at the taunting demon, yet her lips remain sealed. ‘I wonder what I’ve got to do to get a reaction out of her.’
‘I for one am growing increasingly tired of her dismissive attitude when I am…’ Cassiopeia starts, quickly cut off by Lilith.
‘Shut it Cassiopeia. I need to focus here.’ Lilith snaps back, immediately getting Cassiopeia to be silent again.
‘It’s oddly cathartic to see someone put Cassiopeia in her place after having dealt with that attitude for a good couple years.’ Orio jokes from up in the stands.
‘Did you also see that woman appear behind Lilith?’ Hermes asks his co-host.
‘So it wasn’t just me that saw her. I thought I was going crazy for a second.’ Tezcatlipoca says while laughing. ‘Though now I’m wondering, where the hell did she go?’
‘Ah so they’ve finally discovered the trick. Though it might take a while for those two to figure it out, but I’m sure that Nyx has figured it out already.’ Orion mutters, looking across the arena, his smug gaze meeting Nyx’s glare.
‘Don’t think you’ve won just because of this demigod. Giving some humans divine strength alone isn’t enough to kill a god you know.’ Nyx snarkily says in the direction of Orion, knowing he won’t be able to hear her due to the distance.
The idea of a random woman appearing behind Lilith had sent the human spectators into a collective state of confusion. ‘Did you see a woman behind her?’ ‘Are the announcers going crazy?’ ‘If there wasn’t someone there, then who was she speaking to?’ The questioning and murmuring brought forth a loud wall of sound, yet neither fighter was distracted.
The dog of envy returned to Lilith’s side before disappearing as Lilith began muttering again. ‘Personification of sin: lust.’ On the ground, the dog of envy was replaced by the similarly sized monkey of lust who stood ready to fight. ‘I’m still testing out my abilities, but how about I test out yours as well.’
Lilith dashes forward alongside the monkey before suddenly splitting paths as they circle to either side. Tiamat’s eyes keep track of Lilith seeing her as the bigger threat, rotating her head as Lilith reaches the side of her. Taking the initiative this time, Tiamat launches the black sludge towards the speeding Lilith who dodges by jumping up into the air. Meanwhile, the monkey launches itself off of the side of the arena, slamming into the back of Tiamat’s head. ‘Well that’s interesting, seems this primordial sea can only follow one at a time. A shame you’re facing someone who can summon back up.’ Lilith taunts, dodging the primordial sea again as it shoots up at her.
Tiamat watches as Lilith continues to dodge her assault with the primordial sea, her expression still emotionless as her hand reaches around to catch the monkey of lust in midair. Her expression then suddenly swaps from pure neutrality, to frustration as the monkey lands in her palm. She immediately tightens her grip on it before slamming the monkey into the ground, the stone cracking beneath the impact. The crowd watches in awe at the display of raw strength from Tiamat, however Lilith’s eyes remain on the primordial sea which is now rushing towards the monkey laying in the crater created by Tiamat.
As the sludge is about to engulf the monkey, Lilith manages to desummon it as she lands back on the ground. ‘Some helpful information there, although I’d rather you don’t treat my sins like that, they’re kind of important to me right now. If you had that much of a reaction to the monkey, let’s see how you react to this.’
Tiamat sends the primordial sea at Lilith again, hoping to hit Lilith before she can summon another sin. The sea slams into the wall, burning away at the stone while Lilith is nowhere to be seen.
‘It seems the primordial sea has taken another. It was interesting though to see mother have a reaction, albeit still rage.’ Kingu comments from the stands, a shrug joining his nonchalant tone.
‘Close, but you’ll need to be quicker to catch me.’ Lilith taunts as she comes shooting down from above Tiamat, her heel hitting the back of Tiamat’s head, forcing the primordial to kneel on one knee, the primordial see gathering around her feet again as Lilith lands a safe distance away..
‘What an incredible display of strength from both fighters, Tiamat keeping up an incredible offence, leaving no space for Lilith to take advantage! However Lilith manages to defy the odds, dodging the primordial sea and knocking the mother of beasts to her knees!’ Tezcatlipoca yells out over the microphone as the human crowd cheers in celebration.
Down in the arena, Lilith's legs seem to shrink, however end up at the size they were before the fight started. ‘That's certainly a useful ability. Thank you monkey.’ She quietly mutters while Tiamat gets up to her feet. Lilith readies herself to summon another sin, staring up at the primordial goddess who stares back down, a burning fury behind her eyes.
‘You… landed a blow?’ Tiamat slowly says, each word sending quakes through the ground.
‘So you can speak then.’ Lilith snarkily responds, a similar smirk to Orion's written on her face. ‘I got a few more tricks up my sleeve if you want to see them.’
‘You shall not live much longer. Save your petty tricks and accept your death.’ Alongside Tiamat’s words, the primordial sea begins to almost bubble as the ground quakes, many in the arena in a panicked frenzy, unsure of what's to come. Lilith stands her ground and watches as the Primordial sea begins to rise into the air, now shaped as a sphere. Tiamat out stretches a hand and mutters a simple phrase. ‘Arise from the sea of being: Bašmu!’
Out of sheer instinct, Lilith holds her clawed fingers to her temple as the sphere quickly begins to take form. A long dexterous body of a snake forms, two horns jutting out from the head while two forelegs claw away at the air. A pair of wings sprout out and spread wide into the air. Seeing this beast form, Lilith pinches hard on her temple. ‘Embodiment of sin: Greed.’ Lilith’s mind suddenly races into action, almost seeing everything in slow motion as her body seems to become leaner and more muscular. Bašmu launches forward, quicker than the primordial sea had been before, long fangs made clear as it opens its liquid mouth wide. Lilith juts to the side as Bašmu bites down on her position, her heightened speed allowing her to narrowly dodge.
Lilith immediately charges in at Tiamat again, seeing her as defenceless for the time being. She suddenly flies into the sky as Bašmu passes by below her, attempting to catch her again in its jaws, failing for a second time. Now in the air, Lilith shoots down at Tiamat, throwing a punch aimed at Tiamat’s face. In response Tiamat catches the punch and attempts to force Lilith’s arm back to open her up for an attack.
‘Embodiment of sin: Gluttony.’
Lilith’s arms suddenly grow abnormally, her strength increasing alongside it. Lilith pushes past Tiamat’s hand, landing a mighty punch to the face of the primordial. In the split second Tiamat had to act, she launched her own punch, landing it directly in Lilith’s gut. Both are sent flying back, crashing into the walls of the arena, dust kicked up high into the sky from their impacts.
‘After an astounding display of speed and intelligence, Lilith dances her way past Tiamat’s assault and lands a powerful blow on her foe!’ Hermes exclaims from the announcers booth.
‘So that's what she's doing.’ Mammon says from the stands, waiting for the dust to clear.
‘Doing what? Speak normally and explain yourself Mammon.’ Leviathan snaps at the demon to her right.
‘Did you not feel it when she summoned the dog of envy?’ Mammon responds, not giving away his discovery.
‘No. Now hurry up and say what's in your mind before I beat it out of you.’
‘Alright, alright.’ Mammon says to calm down Leviathan. ‘She's calling upon our own power to either strengthen herself, or summon the animal of sin. If she ever uses yours again, you may feel it.’
‘Is there a way for me to stop it? And who gave her the permission to use it?’
‘No you can't and no one did, our sins are apart of her and so she can use our strength. Now how about you just sit back in watch.’
Leviathan mutters a few inaudible words before sinking back into her seat.
‘Hurry up and get up, we've got a battle to win.’ Cassiopeia encourages in an attempt to be supportive.
‘I thought I told you to be quiet.’ Lilith responds, rubbing the back of her head. ‘That punch hurt like hell, and I don't need you giving me an extra headache on top of that.’
Lilith rises to her feet and watches as Tiamat does the same, brushing a bit of rubble off her large shoulders. The primordial seal reconvenes by Tiamat’s feet, returning to a sludge-like state rather than that of Bašmu.
‘You're slowly getting there Lilith. You're just missing one key part now, the drive.’ Orion mutters, watching the fight below him unfurl.
Posted Aug 11, 2024, 6:43 PM UTC