Sun & Moon Act I: Ascending Star

by cursedchords

Chapter 18: The Eye of the Storm

“We remember that day as the day of Discord’s fall. But what really happened that day was that our nation was born again, as unity once again trumped division, and love once again conquered hatred.”

- High Princess Celestia, Personal Journals (Vol. 1)

After a year spent away from its gloom, Celestia felt very strange to be back in Eridian. When she had first left, she had hoped that she would never have to see its grim features ever again. Whatever happened now, at least she wouldn’t have to look at them for much longer.

Atlas and Aqua were by her side, each one bound like livestock, an indignity that she most regretted, but which was unfortunately necessary for their cover. At least Atlas’s wings were free, though of course here in the upper city they were useless to him anyway.

Celestia had made sure that their entrance to the city would not remain a secret. Her past spent working the streets had proved an asset for that, since now she knew where to spread rumours to ensure that they reached as many ears as possible. It was only a matter of hours before an emissary of Upper Eridian had arrived to verify her claims. Eagerly, he had led them up the mountain, until now the three of them stood just outside the doors to the King’s audience chamber. From inside, the noise of the assembled nobles filtered out, all of them here to watch what would surely be a spectacle.

All of them, Celestia fervently hoped, including Seraph and Luna. Especially Luna. The Master of Fire would be a lucky bonus, but without her sister Celestia knew that she wouldn’t stand a chance against Discord. With the magic that the two of them shared though, the shoe would be on the other hoof.

There was a clang from the cold iron of the doors in front of them, and then with twin screams of rusted metal they were hauled open. Celestia stepped forward, tugging slightly on the ropes with which she led her two prisoners. The passage beyond the threshold was high and wide, and thronged with ponies dressed in all sorts of colourful arrangements. Their clothing stood out in the dullness of the stone room; though muted by Eridian’s constant dusk, it was still lively. Any lifting of Celestia’s spirit that the sight brought her was instantly quashed, though, by the assault of jeers that the nobles immediately threw back at her.

For a moment, her resolve wavered. There was so much malice on display here, in how the mares spat upon the floor where Aqua and Atlas walked, and how the stallions derided them for falling victim to the King’s power. She knew that each of them only did this out of fear, that they were merely acting how they believed their King wanted them to act, and it was for that reason that the Triumvirs had resolved to save them too. But right now it required all of her self-control to pretend to be on their side, and not let all of her magic show in defending the honour of her teachers.

“Pay them no heed,” Aqua whispered to her, seeming to sense her student’s righteous fury. “Right now we need to be on the lookout for Luna and Seraph. Do you see them anywhere?”

Celestia ran her eyes quickly over the crowd. Some of the ponies she recognized immediately: Terraria and a few senior members of the Order of Earth, who had assimilated themselves into the room shortly prior to their entrance. Resplendent in her best robes, and accented by a few choice pieces of jewellery, the Master of Earth fit into Upper Eridian as if she belonged there.

The rest of the room blended itself into a mosaic of colour as Celestia scanned over it. There were rows of ponies here, all garishly dressed, all with their contempt on full display. For an instant, she wondered if somehow Seraph and Luna weren’t there.

Then Atlas gave her a poke in the shoulder. “Down the left side, by the third column,” he whispered. Surreptitiously, she stole a look in that direction. Sure enough, standing off to the side quietly was a tall orange earth pony, dressed in a vibrant red cape, and regarding her coolly. And even better, right beside him, almost unrecognizable in her fashionable outfit, stood a dark purple alicorn, with a long sword sheathed at her side. As their eyes met, Celestia could almost feel the spark of recognition that passed between them.

There was neither time nor opportunity for them to talk, so Celestia tried to say everything that she wanted to say in that one look. That she was happy to see Luna still alive, that she was sorry for not going along with her at first, that she had a plan to get out of this. For her part, Celestia sensed a note of warning in her sister’s expression, coupled with a subtle shake of her head in Seraph’s direction. Doubtless, the earth pony had plans of his own.

Celestia offered her sister a small smile as she passed. It was all that she had time for, because just then there was a flash of magic at the far end of the hall. Multiple tendrils of grey smoke materialized, winding themselves together in a swirl of wind. After a second the maelstrom cleared to reveal the High King, Discord, looking out over the assemblage with a twisted sneer. All at once, the room fell silent.

“Welcome,” he said genially, giving Atlas a slight wave. “You have no idea how lonely this place gets, surrounded by groveling sycophants, themselves only suited as instruments in another’s plans. I’m so pleased to finally meet ponies capable of taking the initiative to spread Chaos on their own.”

With a snap of his talon, Discord once again disappeared in a puff of smoke, and appeared immediately standing between Aqua and Atlas. “I always found the idea of your ‘Resistance’ as little more than amusement,” he continued, leaning down so that his eyes were level with those of his prisoners. “Sure, you scurry about spreading hope and happiness, but you’ve never posed any threat to me.” He reached out and grabbed Aqua and Atlas by the shoulders, pulling them in closer. “But you wouldn’t believe how much you’ve scared my minions here,” he whispered, so quiet that even Celestia could barely hear him. “They believed that I wanted your heads on silver platters, and they’ve expended quite some effort trying to get them.”

Standing up again, Discord pulled Aqua and Atlas into a tight embrace. The two Masters struggled mightily, but bound as they were, their attempts were in vain. “I can’t thank you both enough,” Discord announced. “You’ve given all of these ponies a raison d’être, you see, an excuse to scour the countryside, arresting those deemed to be sympathizers. Everything that you’ve done has only served to allow my court to spread fear and chaos all throughout Equestria, and all without any of my help.”

He released his grip, allowing Aqua and Atlas to fall to the ground roughly. A tear rolled down his cheek, and he pulled a handkerchief out of nowhere, blowing his nose on it loudly. “You’ve all grown up so fast,” he sniffed. “When I first arrived here, Equestria was such a peaceful, friendly place. But now, the divide between your two camps is destroying friendships and tearing families apart. A few more years like this, and Equestria wouldn’t even need me anymore.”

Celestia caught the glimpse that passed between Aqua and Atlas. Could Equestria really have been a better place if the Resistance hadn’t been formed? Of course not. But it was undeniable that the war between Eridian and Everfree had caused Equestria harm. She stole another glance at Seraph, and saw that his eyes were fixed firmly on Discord, and were burning with hatred.

Discord snapped his talons again, and in the next second he was seated, peering over steepled fingers at his prisoners, once again serious. “So you see, if it were up to me, I’d just as soon see you free. But since your captor has been such a good dog and brought you to me, I suppose she deserves some reward. Would she please step forward?”

All the eyes in the room turned towards Celestia, and she took a few tentative steps forward. It was crucial here that the King not suspect her true intentions, so she tried very hard to hide the nerves that were jumping around in her head. She was a good servant, who had done her master well. That meant she had to look proud, triumphant even. She stopped walking when she reached the foot of Discord’s seat.

“Who are you?” he asked simply.

“My name is Celestia,” she answered, confident that he would not recognize the name.

“And what do you desire, Celestia?”

Celestia cast her eyes down respectfully. “The reward is not mine to claim, Your Majesty. I acted only as the instrument of my lord and master, whose name is Seraph. He is the one who deserves your reward.” And she pointed to her left, where the Master of Fire stood. A muted gasp spread through the room.

Discord tittered. “How chivalrous! How humble! It was your work that won you this boon, why should you not be rewarded?”

Celestia kept her head bowed. “Some of us can do more, some of us have to do less,” she recited, letting a very small smile tug at her lips as she spoke. “When I thought about it, this was how I would make the most difference, in service of Your Majesty.” She did not have to look to see the spark of recognition that would light up Luna’s face when she heard the words. The words that Atlas had first spoken to them, a year ago, which had started them down this journey. The words that, hopefully, signalled that she had a plan for ending it.

“Okay, fine, whatever!” Discord waved her off dismissively, as though her formality had interrupted his fun. “A simple yes or no will suffice. If you don’t want any part of it, then go stand with the rest of his servants. Let this Seraph character come to claim the prize.”

Celestia gave him one final bow, before turning and making her way down to where Luna stood. As she passed him, Atlas gave her a subtle wink. So far, things were going exactly to plan.

When she arrived at Luna’s side, Celestia calmly took her place in the crowd, just standing dutifully with the rest of her master’s entourage. Seraph shot her a puzzled look as she arrived, but Celestia ignored him. He could only step out to the front of the room and leave them be.

“I’m sorry, Sister,” Luna whispered to her as soon as he had gone. “I thought I could see this through on my own, but all I’ve done is complicate things even more.”

Celestia turned to look at her sister. With the rest of the crowd’s attention on Seraph, now they had an opportunity for a more intimate exchange. “No, I’m sorry,” she said. “You were right all along, about the Resistance and about Terraria. I should have helped you do what I knew was right.”

Luna looked up at her, warmth blossoming in her eyes. “It’s good to see you again,” she said, and in the next instant she was hugging Celestia tightly.

“Good to see you too,” Celestia said as she returned the embrace. And she felt the same warmth light up her own heart. Today, the fate of Equestria was hanging in the balance, and with Luna here by her side, she could feel that things were going to work out just fine.

After a second, Luna let go. “I did tell you, though, didn’t I?” she asked, tossing her mane over her shoulder casually. “So this is what it feels like to be right for once.”

“I said that I was sorry. Anyway, we’ll have time for all of that later. Do you have them?”

“Yes,” her sister replied, serious again. She indicated her saddlebag, which was lying off to her right. Celestia could barely see a large red jewel poking out the top.

Celestia smiled. “So you did figure it out.”

Luna grinned. “Of course. With Aqua here, Discord will expect his spells to detect magic. Which allows us to sneak in with our own. Great idea, by the way.”

“Thank you. With those, things become quite a bit easier.”

Luna took a deep breath, and her eyes flicked over to Seraph, who was taking his time walking up to Discord. “There are complications,” she said darkly.

Celestia once again looked over to Terraria, who was watching eagerly at the rear of the room. If she had recognized her son when Celestia had pointed him out, she wasn’t showing it. Then again, she had believed that he was dead for twenty years now. Several of her followers were grouped around her, each also looking excited to finally be here. “Tell me about it,” she said.

Luna took a step closer to her, so that they could whisper without anypony else hearing. “Seraph has henchponies spread out here, and all through the city. All of them are armed. When we unseat the King, they’re all going to move with him to secure power.”

Celestia’s eyebrows rose. “How do you know that?”

“I… sort of fell in with him,” Luna admitted, glancing uncomfortably down at the sheath attached to her shoulder. “He wants action, but he’ll stop at nothing to get the crown. I don’t think that we can afford to let him get it.”

Celestia nodded. “Terraria did bring an honour guard with her. That’s her over there,” she whispered back, flicking her eyes in the direction of the Master of Earth. “They’re unarmed though. I don’t think that she was expecting much of a fight.” She looked back toward the front of the room, where Aqua and Atlas still stood. “The two of them will be on our side, but even so they won’t be much against an army. I don’t suppose that Seraph would be open to negotiation?”

Her sister shook her head. “He’s been waiting for this day for too long. I don’t think that he’d be satisfied with anypony else on the throne.”

“And I doubt that Terraria will be happy to see him.” Luna was right. No matter how this went, it seemed undeniable that things would degenerate into a fight.

“Why does it always have to be so complicated?” Luna sighed. “You have a plan though, I hope? You always have a plan.”

Casting her eyes once more about the room, Celestia took in all of the available data. Discord was still at the front, making ready to give Seraph whatever reward he had in store. The rest of the ponies here, the regular citizens of Upper Eridian, were watching raptly. Should things start to go downhill, Celestia guessed that few of them would stick around. Seraph, though, would get straight to business. She glanced once more at Terraria. As much as Celestia despised her for what she had put the country through, she still wanted to get through this with as little blood spilled as possible.

“Well?” Luna asked, a bit more urgently this time.

“I think so,” she replied, nodding slowly. “It’ll be tough, but there might be a way to do it.” She turned back to Luna. “We have to deal with Discord first though. Are you ready?”

Luna’s grin returned. “To finally do something to help Equestria?” She gave Celestia a sly look. “You were the one who promised.”

Celestia remembered that night, when they had been walking through the city not far from this spot. Back then she had been just trying to shut Luna up, and indeed she had reneged on the promise almost immediately. But that was before she had known just what her and Luna were capable of. Before she had known that sometimes the will to fight really could make the ultimate difference. “I said that I would always be there when the opportunity came,” she said. “I’m not going anywhere now.”

“Then let’s do it.” Quickly, Luna reached off to her side, and withdrew the gleaming ring of gemstones from her saddlebag. Immediately, Celestia felt the rush of its magic once more infuse her being. She reached out with a hoof and touched the ring, and a blossom of pure light sprang from the central gem, bright and radiant in the drab surroundings. In sequence each of other fives jewels lit up as well, their colours adding to the prismatic glow that now encased both of the two sisters.

Then, with an electric crackle the light branched off into two tendrils, one running into Luna via her hoof, and the other into Celestia. It felt exactly like it had on that first night, a divine essence that penetrated every facet of her being. Luna was here with her too, not merely standing beside her, but somehow inhabiting the same mental space. Their two minds were now one, joined by the magic of the ring.

At the front of the room, Discord started. His attention had been fixed on nothing in particular, as Seraph had slowly made his way up to the front. Now, though, the light show in the farther down the hall had caught his attention. “Magic,” he breathed, looking about hurriedly until his eyes found Aqua. The unicorn offered him a sly smirk.

“Check and mate,” she said proudly.

“Not if I have anything to say about it,” Discord growled.

With only a bare effort, the two alicorns lifted off from the floor, floating out into the centre of the hall, so that their view of Discord was no longer obstructed. All around them, the other ponies of the court were aghast, some already cautiously making their way to the exits, but most simply standing stock-still, their mouths hanging agape at the spectacle.

“Discord!” Luna yelled, her voice emerging layered with magic to sound loud as thunder. “Your reign is ended.”

In front, the draconequus also flew up into the air, conjuring a dark purple ball of magic on top of his right thumb. “We’ll see,” he called back. “I took on all the magic in Equestria to get here. I think that I can handle a couple of alicorns. Face it,” he snarled, “you’re way out of your league.”

Celestia felt her sister’s anger burning beside her like a torch. The time for posturing had ended. “Come on, Luna,” she thought. “For everypony.” And together, the two sisters called up every last reserve of their magic. Celestia thought back to all of the years that they had spent together in Eridian, lawless, full of misery and danger. She could feel Luna’s memories too, of all the despair they had seen as they traveled the country with Atlas, and all the pain she had learned about in Aqua’s histories. The memories welled up inside them, and then all at once they overflowed, shooting out through Celestia’s and Luna’s horns into a single pinpoint, from which a brilliant beam of light grew, and headed straight for Discord.

The High King was struck fully in the chest by the magic, which grew and encapsulated his form in a glowing ball. Starting from the feet, his body began changing, solidifying and freezing into granite. With a last grunt of exertion, he threw his ball of magic up at the ceiling, moments before his arm and upper body solidified too. “Enjoy your reward,” he whispered, as the stone spread up through his neck, and then he chuckled, just once, as it finally claimed his head.

There was a decisive clunk as the King’s petrified form hit the floor, toppling over backwards. Celestia and Luna stayed in the air for a moment, watchful for any additional tricks, especially from the ceiling. But Discord’s magic winked out of existence as soon as its master was no more. There were several seconds of silence, and then the two of them floated back down to the floor.

Disconnecting herself from Luna’s consciousness once again came with an overwhelming sense of triumph. “We did it, Luna!” Celestia shouted, as she grabbed her sister in another hug.

“Yes, indeed you did,” came a bright voice from behind them. Startled, Celestia looked up, and standing there was Terraria, a brilliant smile lighting up her bright teeth. She was flanked by two grinning stallions, ranking members of her honour guard. “Just as the Prophecy guaranteed you would.”

“Oh, what a load of garbage!” came a yell from the front of the room. Once again, the two sisters turned around in surprise, and this time it was Seraph, emerging from behind a column with a smirk on his face and a long, gleaming sword clutched in his hoof. “Leave it to my mother to be the first pony to claim the credit for somepony else’s work.”

A great many emotions played themselves out rapidfire on Terraria’s face when she saw him. Unsurprisingly, Celestia didn’t see relief anywhere in the sequence. Finally, her features settled into an expression of disdain. “Unsurprising that I would find you here,” she stated, coming forward to stand in front of Celestia and Luna. “A traitor among his kin. This is the Resistance’s victory, Seraph.”

“Not yet, it’s not,” he replied, and flourished his sword. There came the sound of a dozen more swords being drawn around them, as ponies stepped out of the crowd, each one clad in the red of the Order of Fire, and each one looking stone-facedly at Terraria.

Celestia knew that she had to intervene, before things could get out of hoof. Extending her wings, she leaped up into the air. With quick shots of magic, she cut the bonds from Aqua and Atlas. Luna took care of Seraph’s minions, blasting their weapons away with a few focused beams. The two of them turned back to Seraph now, once again afire with their magic. “There will not be blood today,” Celestia said. She nodded to Atlas and Aqua, and each one stepped in between the Masters of Earth and Fire.

Seraph looked deep into the eyes of the pony who had once been his best friend, but his expression did not soften. “Do not stand in my way, Atlas.”

“Think about what you are doing,” Atlas replied. “The country is finally free. This should be a happy day, not one for bloodshed.”

“Don’t tell me to think!” Seraph snapped. “I’ve been thinking about this for twenty years! There can be no freedom while this false Prophet covets the crown.”

“And what would you replace me with, my son?” Terraria, answered, sticking her head out around Aqua, who stood resolutely blocking her mother’s path. “We have not shrugged off one King only to bow to another!”

“Equestria does not expect a Queen either, Mother.” Seraph sneered back. “And yet that’s exactly what you’ve become!”

Terraria’s face took on an ashen hue. “I’ve only ever acted for the good of the country!” she yelled shrilly. “How dare you question my loyalty to the ponies that I’ve served for decades?”

“You didn’t serve them, you were served by them, a Queen of the Resistance! All you’ve ever wanted is to stay in control!”

“Then what is it that you want, my son? Why is it that you cannot brook the idea of somepony else taking the crown?”

Now it was Seraph’s composure that broke. “I want only what I deserve!” he roared, levelling his sword at his mother. “What I earned through the sweat of my brow and the work of my hooves! What you took away from me, when you realized that I would never bow down to you! You so often spoke of destiny, well this is mine: to save Equestria from you.”

---

For a second, Atlas had hoped that maybe, just maybe, some of the friend that he had once known was still there in Seraph’s head, and this whole thing would be solved peacefully. But now that he saw the hatred that held sway in the earth pony’s mind, he knew that this was not going to end well. No amount of dialogue was going to solve this disagreement.

All around them, the ponies of the court were standing, most of them still in shock from Discord’s defeat. Seraph’s minions were still there too, their eyes darting quickly between Luna, who was doing her best to hold them all in check, and their Master.

“It’s no use, Celestia,” he called out to the alicorn behind him. “These two are going to kill each other no matter what we do with them.”

“I won’t accept that,” she replied. “Even if we have to—”

She was interrupted by a wrenching crash from above, and a horrific grating sound of dislodging stone. Atlas looked up just in time to see a large chunk of masonry start to fall. Immediately, he pushed Seraph hard backward, then used his wings to pull himself in the opposite direction. The huge block crashed down right where they had been standing.

“What the—” he started to say, but in that moment twin booms erupted from the ceiling above them, and then the whole roof was torn away, revealing a swirl of menacing purple overhead, crackling with bolts of bright lightning. A gust of wind swept through the room, roaring malevolently in Atlas’s ears. The sound he recognized immediately from his nightmares.

“The storm!” Luna yelled, her words barely audible amidst the tempest. “Discord must have reactivated it before he was petrified. We all have to get out of here now!” No sooner had she said the words than a bolt of Chaos Lightning arced right towards her. Luna flinched, but a magical shield formed itself around her, causing the lightning to bounce off to the floor, where it opened up a two foot-wide rift of inky nothing. With a quick blast of her own magic, Celestia sewed it back up.

“Luna and I can hold it off,” she shouted to Atlas, even as another bolt ricocheted off of her, “but not forever. You have to get everypony else out!”

Atlas nodded briskly, quickly taking stock again of the rest of the room. Most of the nobles had been jolted out of their stupor by the storm, and needed no further encouragement to head for the exit. Seraph’s followers were still standing their ground, though on their faces Atlas could see uncertainty. That changed when one of them was struck by a loose bolt of Chaos, and disappeared after a short scream. Atlas pointed to the door. “Go!” he yelled. All of the stallions took off at a gallop.

That just left Terraria and Seraph. In the centre of the room, Aqua was still doing her best to keep the two Masters separated. Chaos bolts were now falling all around them, opening up rifts faster than Celestia and Luna could seal them back up. It would only be a few more minutes before the storm consumed the whole castle.

But neither one of Terraria or Seraph seemed to care, so fixated were they upon each other. As he watched, another crackle of lightning sped down towards them, this time forcing Aqua to quickly teleport away. Terraria jumped nimbly aside, towards where Luna was hovering, and in one deft movement she had unsheathed and stolen the alicorn’s sword. Now armed, she looked at her son anew. “Don’t forget who it was that first taught you the secrets of the blade, my son,” she said calmly in spite of the chaos around them. “You never could beat me.”

Seraph didn’t waste time replying, instead charging right at the Master of Earth with his sword extended. Terraria parried him swiftly, and jumped back to avoid a huge bolt of lightning that cut a swath through the floor, from one wall to the other. Neither one paid it any heed, instead continuing their duel and adding the clangs of their swords to the din of the storm.

Celestia’s voice came strained. “We can’t… hold this room together much longer.” She looked down tiredly at Atlas. “Leave them,” she said, ”save yourselves.”

Atlas looked over to the back of the room, where the open doorway beckoned. All the other ponies had already made it out, and indeed there was only a thin corridor of stone floor that still linked them to it. Then, in the other direction, he could see Seraph and Terraria, locked in their duel, completely oblivious to the storm.

He could leave, taking Aqua with him and abandoning those two fools to their fate. But Atlas already knew where that road led. It led to sleepless nights and tortured mornings, to memories and questions that assaulted him whenever he spared a moment to think. It led to doubts about what could have been, and guilt that he had done nothing when maybe he could have made a difference. Beside him, he saw similar emotions on Aqua’s face, and knew that she too was done with hiding from their responsibility.

Atlas just shook his head. “No,” he said, “not again.”

Celestia nodded. “Then do it quickly.”

The pegasus took to the sky at once, and hoisted Aqua up by her forelegs. Up ahead lay a vast chasm of void, eagerly drinking in the collapsing walls and columns of the room, and each passing second brought a fresh salvo of lightning.

Atlas weaved and bobbed, twisting left and right to avoid the bolts of Chaos that rained down in his path as though they were consciously trying to stop him. Aqua helped too, diverting falling chunks of masonry with her magic. Up ahead, Seraph and Terraria were still going at it, standing on what now looked like a small mountain of solid earth, with chasms all around it.

“I won’t be able to carry both of them,” he said to Aqua as they approached.

“Set me down there,” she replied, pointing out a flat square of floor, seemingly safe. “I’ll pick up Seraph with my magic, then teleport away. You get Terraria.”

“Right.” With one more spin away from another bolt, Atlas dropped his wife as carefully as he could on the patch of ground, then took off for the Master of Earth like a stone from a sling. Overhead, he could feel that familiar static in the air, and looking up he saw a huge Chaos bolt forming, making ready to strike right where Seraph and Terraria were standing. Each one’s focus was locked upon the other, absorbed by the fight. Atlas put his head down and flew straight on.

Atlas and the Chaos bolt arrived at the same time. For a second, a kaleidoscope of colours lit up his vision, as reality disintegrated around him, accompanied by a cacophony of discordant sound. Atlas fought to keep his mind focused, groping blindly for where he knew Terraria had been standing. His right hoof touched her on the shoulder, and so he quickly wrapped his forelegs around her and gave his wings one more stroke, powering them both free of the carnage.

The Master of Earth was still flailing in his grasp, swinging her sword ineffectually. When Atlas turned around he could see Seraph too floating there, enveloped in Aqua’s crystal blue magic, a scowl still on his face. She was standing where he had left her, and she was clearly relieved that he was still okay. Beneath them, there was now only an endless hole of darkness.

Atlas wanted to breath a sigh of relief, but the danger wasn’t over yet. He gave Aqua a nod, and started to once again fly quickly toward the door.

But as he passed, Seraph gave one more grunt of exertion, and slashed his sword murderously out sideways, aimed right for Terraria’s heart. Atlas didn’t see the stroke; all that he felt was a strong gust of wind from overhead, then a biting pain at his side. He heard Aqua scream, and when he looked down, he just caught the sight of his severed wing falling down into the abyss. After a motionless second, he and Terraria followed.

It only took an instant before Atlas felt himself being pulled up again, as Aqua’s magic suffused his form. The jerk of the stop pulled Terraria from his grip, and without his wing there was no way that he could get her back. Atlas could only watch as the Master of Earth fell down, her screams lost in the tumult of the storm, and drowned out by Seraph’s derisive laughter above them. Then the pain in his side hit him, and Atlas passed out cold.

Comments

[Yami Vizzini]

Now that was intense!