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Chapter 20: The Rise of The Nigthmares...
🕑 Added 2025-04-30 13:00:40 +0000 UTCAt the moment, Elizabeth wasn't sure from where Nightmare Chloe got more things, from her (Or, to be precise, what Elizabeth thought and wished Chloe felt towards Echidna) or from what Echidna herself feared that her daughter would feel.
The insecurities the older woman felt, the fears…. Elizabeth had some doubts about the character of Echidna, because…at the end of the day, Echidna was Chloe's Mother too.
It was the reason why it pissed Elizabeth so much, even Elizabeth's own Mother, Catherine Starlight. A failure of a woman, a woman who only knew how to gush over magical girls, a woman that was vanal as they could get, dumb as a brick. And whose only talent was a dedication to studying something she had no talent at (Confirmed by her Grandmother).
Even someone like that, who shouldn't even deserve Papa, someone like that… Had done her best to be a good Mother. Had went out of her way to sites that she didn't like, spent time with Elizabeth when she was growing, went to the plays, to the park. To the fast food restaurants that Elizabeth wanted…
Even someone like that, who started living life as a supermodel, someone like that, went all over Elizabeth's dreams and wants.
She dirtied herself playing with mud, and she went to beaches that were full of kids playing around. Even someone like Catherine Starlight decided to go out of her way to get an extra happy meal, so Elizabeth had two toys instead of one (Papa still got steak; how he got a steak in that establishment was a mystery to Elizabeth).
So, the fact that Echidna would be like that. It pissed off Elizabeth.
So that was why she had done this act of summoning Nightmare Chloe.
"Okay… That's enough," Elizabeth said raising her hand and pulling at the construct that housed Nightmare Chloe, it was starting to get close to form and condense a Core.
"Aww….I was this close to making a Sin Gem to haunt better you, Mother…" Nightmare Chloe said, kneeling beside Echidna, "But our ever-pitiful Mistress pitied you…Does it anger you? Being pitied by the daughter of the woman who you never managed to surpass?"
"...What? Who? What are you saying…?" Echidna said, confused, "How could I surpass a Goddess?"
"Well, this will be my passing gift. I am sure my original would have wanted to give you help, so she won't mind." Nightmare Chloe said, extending her remaining arm and touching Echidna's temple with it.
Elizabeth made sure that no exchange of Sin Mana occurred, but didn't think Nightmare Chloe could harm Echidna otherwise, even like this. Elizabeth didn't want to use the simulacrum of Chloe to actively hurt Echidna.
She wanted Echidna to understand how much she was a shit of a Mother, though, so she didn't mind using the simulacrum to do that, hypocrite? Of course, Elizabeth was one. Echidna earned that.
She was a bitch.
"Remember," Nightmare Chloe said and Elizabeth felt the Nigthamare's Construct crumble as those words got uttered.
For a second, for the split of a second, Elizabeth wondered what Nightmare's Chloe had done, it didn't matter, a second was all it took, Elizabeth saw the Nightmare's mana flood into the older woman, and resonate within her head.
An instant later, a similar resonance occurred from underground, and then, Echidna's eyes shone in azure light.
That light was powerful enough to fully destroy the Nigthamare's construct, and Elizabeth didn't need to be a genius to know what had happened.
For the Nigthmare's behind Echidna got clearer. The foggy image of Papa kissing Mother became crystal clear, beside them stood a little girl with blonde hair, child Elizabeth.
The image that had previously been foggy of Chloe turned clearer, and the image and besides her a new image manifested, Shadow Pact. Maximilian Windsor.
“No….I….why….I would never…" Echidna said shaking her head, "It's a lie! A lie! I would never do something like that!"
Elizabeth had thought about letting Echidna be, she had really thought of doing so. But this? Outright denial?
"I assume you remember now? Who my parents truly are." Elizabeth said turning to Echidna, preparing a second dosage of her skill.
"....Catherine… It's her fault, if she had just kept her legs shut…" Echidna said as her eyes started to shine in red light.
"Well, that's it. Pity lost." Elizabeth said, shaking her head, "Let's try this one next…I want to say that Greed would suit it best since who it is. But your face screams of another thing…Shift - Nightmare Manifestation into Wrathful Nightmare Parade."
Elizabeth said, channeling the second sin of the night.
She had thought about going full greed and letting it match who she was summoning, but honestly? Elizabeth thought that Wrath fit more.
"Come forth…Shadow Pact," Elizabeth said, letting her skill guide the construction; she…limited what this one had access to, but she didn't mind letting Chloe, or well, Nightmare Chloe, free reign.
Elizabeth trusted Chloe.
Not Shadow Pact though, he didn't earned that trust. Even as a Nightmare Minion.
"...Mother." The Shadow entity said as it wasn't even finished its own body, its body was tall and well built. More well-built than Elizabeth remembered, the man was wearing one of his suits, only this one was ragged and filled with gashes that let his muscles show.
Muscles that Elizabeth was sure he didn't have.
The man was wearing a mask that was broken here and there, as if he had fought something and lost.
His hair was pristine, though, and his eyes glared at Echidna from within the mask.
"....Maximilian." Echidna said, looking at the man with some apprehension, "You have nothing to complain about me; I gave you the best possible education and let you run my empire in my stead, both in this and pre-advent!"
The man, Shadow Pact, merely laughed at the statement.
"No," And said while shaking his head, "You gave me many things, none of which I wanted."
She did?
"You gave me your empire to run? Yes you did, all your minions mine to command. I was one of the most feared Villains…And then one of the most feared Heroes." Shadow Pact said throwing away his jacket, then ripping apart his shirt, letting his torso be exposed.
Elizabeth heard Rena gag at the image and Rossie rush to comfort the girl. To be honest…Elizabeth was kind of enjoying the show…She now had no doubts, that body had been made by her own tastes….
"Authority, power, money… I had them all, if I wanted I could have in my bed any woman I so desired yes…" Shadow Pact continued and started walking towards Echidna as he took his mask away and threw it to the side, the mask turned into wisps of shadows that Elizabeth made sure got reabsorbed and purified.
She didn't trust this Nightmare.
"But the thing I wanted? The thing I Desired, you never gave me." Shadow Pact said as he stood in front of Echidna, looking down at her, "You never gave me a family."
….So Shadow Pact was a mommy's man. Noted.
"...She was your sister." Echidna said glaring back, "Less than that, she was your step-sister. And you visited her anyway, I never stoped you from doing that! Do you think your skills were enough to fool me?"
Wait what?
"You never approved of my skills anyway, it wouldn't matter how much I climbed…My limit was barely C-Tier! And even so, I climbed to A Tier! Nay, I climbed at the peak of the S-Tier powerhouses by effort and it wasn't enough!" Shadow Pact screamed back, "And Chloe! She had more talent than me! Yet you didn't want to let her grow her talent! I loved her more than you could ever, and you never let us be happy!"
No, wait a second… didn't he want a family? So he wasn't a mommy's boy?
"She was your sister!" Echidna said once again, "And even if I let you live with her, what would have you done?!?!?"
"Make her happy!" Shadow Pact screamed back; Elizabeth really wanted some popcorn right now, "I would make sure she was loved both as a girl and as a woman when the time was right!"
….Wait a goddamned second.
"You are a siscon?" Elizabeth said raising her head from the side.
"Have you seen Chloe?!?!?" Shadow Pact suddenly said, turning and screaming at Elizabeth, "She deserves to be loved!"
"....You know what? I might actually kill you after all," Elizabeth said, teleporting over to Shadow Pact and sinking her hand into his chest, "No, never mind the might. I will make sure that you aren't a threat to the world."
And with barely a thought, Elizabeth crushed the Nigthmare's Core. She would need to make sure that the real Shadow Pact wasn't that much of a menace to society, Elizabeth wasn't stupid. She knew that there were perverts in the high spots of society, both those with powers and magic and otherwise.
Case in point, Mother was part of high society, both magical, powered and otherwise, and she was a very true pervert who got off by stalking magical girls…And making magical girls, and possibly getting off of making Magical Girs who adored her because she gave them power when they were at their weakest.
And even Elizabeth herself could barely(VERY BARELY) qualify maybe a somewhat of a deviant. She had two girlfriends after all.
"....Do you expect a thank you?" Echidna said glaring at Elizabeth, "I will not thank you. I accepted you into my fangs because Jack asked. Now that I have my memories there is no way I am keeping you around. Not when I need to focus on going after Jack."
She wanted to follow Papa?
"I expect you to apologize to Chloe or let me punch you again." Elizabeth said letting her Shadows sink back into Terra Nexus, all of them. Letting her form return to normal. "So what will it be?"
"..... It's not your business." Echidna said standing up, pulling something from her chest, "But here, have a look at your Father's cruelty."
Elizabeth took a step forward and grabbed the object that Echidna had pulled out.
It was a birth certificate. It read the father and mother.
Birth Mother, Eleanore Windsor.
Birth Father, not disclosed.
Adoptive Father, Jack Brighton.
… What was the problem?
"And here is the other one he offered me," Echidna said, pulling another one.
Elizabeth took it and read it, the difference obvious at first glance. It had Papa as Birth Father, it had nothing on the birth mother. And read adoptive Mother with Mother (Catherine Starlight) as adoptive mother, in no place did it had Eleanore as anything.
So..."Papa offered to sign as biological Father? So long your name wasn't in the equation?" That was....probably an asshole move, Elizabeth would feel bad if not for the fact that she knew how Eleanore treated Chloe.
"All so Catherine could get her own daughter...or a sister in this case," Eleanore said nodding, "Jack wanted someone for you to play with, and even though I had just managed to get a daughter... he did too, so my achievement was moot."
Achievement? Was that what Chloe was in the end? What about the guilt? The regret? Was it all eclipsed by the desire to get Papa to want her?
"And what do you want from me then? Pity?" Elizabeth said returning both birth certificates, only one had Papa's signature, the one that accepted Chloe as adopted.
"Nothing, you have no right to judge me." Echidna said taking back the birth certificates, "I am sorry for what you went through, and for how Chloe ended..."
Sure she was, now that she was in a weaker position. And only because of that.
"....And as for what happened with Maximilian," Echidna added, "That also was not my intention; the plan was for Max to pull out any cultist that worked for Ethan, not that it worked."
Of course that was the plan, surely Elizabeth would believe that and not think that Echidna was merely trying to get people that was potentially against her to be killed by Shadow Pact while he was running around as a crazed man, right?
Right?
"So, are you going to Apotheosis or something?" Elizabeth said summoning the stat screen of Echidna, "You should have the power to do so, never saw a post Advent status screen of Papa, but I assume that you should have enough to take that step."
"....No," Echidna said shaking her head, "Not yet, I need to make sure my memories are straighten up and that there isn't anything that needs dealing with here in the mortal world first."
Really?
That...Elizabeth didn't think it would be like this.
"...Sure, well. That was all I wanted to say...before I leave though..." Elizabeth said calmly as she walked forward to Echidna, standing in front of her, "I'm sorry about the punch and attempt to stab you."
"...It's fine," Echidna answered with a shrug, "You aren't my daughter, you got raised by Catherine, I can't expect property from you."
Yeah, of course Echidna would say that, so with a smile on her face, Elizabeth focused all her strength into her fist and threw the punch at the older woman's face.
Elizabeth never quite understood why the high society ladies of movies and such always threw a slap, if you want to hurt someone, throw a punch. To her credit Echidna didn't flinch or try to dodge, or stop her.
"..." Instead she stood there and took the punch to the face like a champ.
"Do you want another one?" Echidna said looking down at Elizabeth, granted. Elizabeth hadn't fueled the punch with mana or any of her skills, it was what her natural body could produce.
Her status was big, of course, but so was Echidna. Even if she was more focused toward magic. The difference in status and mana couldn't be ignored.
"No, that was enough." Elizabeth said shaking her head, "Don't overstep your boundaries Echidna, or I'll be back."
"...Don't get too cocky either Starbright," Echidna said as Elizabeth walked back towards Rossie and Rena, "Or next time I will actually fight back."
"Hah, what can you do without your ability to pull my worst fears into the field?" Elizabeth smirked.
"I never advertised myself as [The Mother of Nightmares] I am [The Mother of Monsters]," Echidna said as the shadows pooled behind her, monsters surfacing from there, "My main way of fighting has and will always be the monsters from ancient times."
....Right.
"Whatever," Elizabeth said walking towards the door, "......I'm sorry about Chloe too."
And like that Elizabeth left behind the old monster who commanded the shadows of Zaanam. She now had one thing less to deal with, her next step? She needed to speak with Jenna about that, it was time to start moving towards what Jenna wanted to do.
Time to see about saving Amelia.
