Free Universe in Flames 3: Destination Oblivion by Christian Kallias Page A

even born back then.”
    “I’m . . . I’m not so sure about that,
really.”
    Chase’s
expression changed. “You’re not seriously entertaining the idea that I could be
tens of thousands of years old, right?”
     “Anything is
possible. Perhaps you were preserved. I don’t know. All I know is what I felt
battling you.”
    “And that is?”
    “An old soul, and
a power beyond anything I’ve ever met before.”
    “Surely Argos as
well?”
    “Yes, Argos also has
this power. But it’s as though your powers are opposite sides of the same coin.
He is a Fury alright: arrogant, scheming, drunk for power, but also scared.”
    “Scared? You’re
shitting me. I can’t imagine my brother being scared of anything.”
    “Then you’d be
wrong. I felt an intense fear when I fought him. Something running really deep,
so deep he might not even know it himself. I wouldn’t be surprised if, in fact,
it was that fear that subconsciously drives his actions.”
    “If you’re asking
me to reason with him, you’ll be sorely disappointed, Ares.”
    “I know. The hatred
between you probably can’t be fixed.”
    “It can’t, and
his days are numbered. Now that he came here, I’m gonna track him down and
avenge Sarah’s, my child’s and my mentor’s deaths.”
    “I understand,
but please let me explain further.”
    “Very well.”
    “So, Olympians
are not the killer types, and after realizing how wrong I was I . . . Well, I left my people. In fact,
they more or less banished me. And I had centuries to reflect upon what I had
done. This happened before the Furies were defeated. I had nothing to do with
their downfall, so I cannot be sure. But I know my father, Zeus. While his
might and anger are legendary, I don’t see him killing an entire civilization.”
    “What then? Where
are the Furies?”
    “That’s just it,
Chase, I don’t know; but perhaps some are still around.”
    “It wasn’t just
the Olympians who fought them, right?”
    “No, in fact a
coalition of almost all the worlds living back then assembled their forces and
fought a war that lasted generations. But they were simply too powerful. Sometimes
a single Fury would arrive on a planet and destroy everything on his own.”
    “That explains
some of my visions.”
    “Exactly, Chase.
Furies are something else. They are powerful beyond reason. And they are
aligned with darkness, of that much I’m certain.”
    “How do you
explain me, then?”
    “The exception
that confirms the rule?”
    “Are you telling
me or asking me?”
    “Chase, I don’t
know why you don’t have a blood thirst like the rest of your people. Perhaps
you are a hybrid. Perhaps I’ve looked at it all wrong, and the fact that you’re
so powerful doesn’t mean you must be a pure-blood Fury. Perhaps it’s that
distinction that makes you so powerful.”
    “I have rage,
anger and fury in me. I just choose to control them.”
    “I know, and I
thank you for it. But there’s something else in you. At first, when Aphroditis
told me you were the key I simply couldn’t feel it. You seemed too arrogant,
too sure of yourself; a little childish really.”
    Chase smiled
ironically.
    “No offense
intended.”
    “None taken.”
    “But you
constantly put your own life in service of others, ready to sacrifice it at a
moment’s notice. So I don’t know what the future holds, Chase. All I know—and
this is just a gut feeling—is that you have a role to play in what happens in
this universe. You matter.”
    Chase released another
long breath of frustration.
    “Does that bother
you that much?”
    “I . . . I’m done, Ares. I just want
to kill Argos and be done with all this. I’m not sure I want to keep living
once he’s dead.”
    “You don’t truly believe
that. Your anger and thirst for revenge are what’s driving you right now, and
believe me, I understand. But no, deep within your soul, in your heart, I feel
this is not true.”
    “I don’t feel
what you feel.”
    “I