[Chapter] Breaking Free

The calico cat approached, the curious red stripe on its swishing tail almost hypnotic. It stared up at Finn.
"She says 'Hello Finn. It's me, Evelyn.'" The girl behind the cat looked up at Finn. Finn's eyes slowly rose from the cat to meet her gaze, glancing briefly at the boy beside her.
"That's my sister?"
"The Goddess Feliss resurrected her in this form with a mission. She found us, and collected all the Patron's artifacts. She can stop the end of Time." Finn's eyes widened. There was another way out of this mess. She didn't have to destroy the universe after all.
Renova's head snapped towards her. "You... you actually got my sword? From the volcano?" He scoffed, smirking. "That's wonderful." He extended his hand out and from the bag on the boy's back a sword flew into it. The sword seemed to pulse with power now that it was in it's owner's hand.
"Would you believe Embla threw this into the volcano because it was "too dangerous"? Honestly, she's a real scaredy cat." He smiled at the cat before him. "No pun intended." Renova tilted his head to the side, shrugging. "Still, it's a shame. You went through all that work. But I did a lot of work too. I can't have you ruining this."
Time stopped when the sword sank into the cat. Everyone was frozen in shock. The silence was only broken moments later by Finn's laughter. It grew in volume, becoming more manic, until she was shrieking.
"Now!" Renova yelled, and from behind [Name] slapped manacles on her, the same ones from all those months ago. The ones that drained her destructive power.
"You know what's funny? I thought she was dead. She was killed right in front of me. I spent months getting over it. I was about to end the world. And then she appears right before I do it, telling me that I don't have to destroy it all. But now... now she's dead again! How funny is that?" Her eyes snapped to Renova's. They were hard and serious, a stark contrast to her gleeful face. "Who's decision was it to kill her again? Yours? The Goddesses? His?" She said, pointing behind her.
"We can still save Time!" The girl shouted. "You don't have to destroy anything anymore." The boy held up the bag of artifacts, as if offering it to the Goddesses themselves.
Finn chuckled, shaking her head. "I really wish that were true. But what's the point of living without her? She's not going to be revived again. Her purpose was filled. I know how they work. It's all about them. Always has been. Even us Patrons are chess pieces to them. Only one step above the rest, but still on the board. So it's time to reset."
Renova gestured to the manacles. "You're cuffed. You can't destroy the universe. You're going to fuel a weapon for a war, and that's it."
Finn's laughter started back up again. "You spent so much time teaching me how to use my power. Or you thought you did. You didn't do any of the teaching. It was Silenda who did it all. You claimed you were helping me forge my own path. She's the only one that actually did it."
Finn receded into a low giggling as the light in the room vanished. The sound of manacles falling to the floor was heard. Renova's sword burst into flame, but it only lit up a small circle around him. Even with deified flames, it was struggling to repel the dark.
"She taught me how to get out of things." Renova turned, hearing her voice in his ear. But she was already gone.
"She taught me how to move." The voice was now above him. He swung his sword into the empty air.
"She taught me how to show mercy." The sound of shuffling feet was heard from where the girl and boy were, then the sound of the door closing. Renova ran over to it, and realised it was locked.
"And she taught me how to kill." The darkness closed in on the sword.
Renova's powers kicked in, and he blocked the incoming dagger. "You forget who you're fighting. Even in total darkness, I can hold my own."
"Can you hold your own against me?" Renova's face fell when he heard the distinctive voice of Silenda. "In a place this dark, I could teleport from the other side of the globe."
*epik fight scene*
Renova Vs Finn and Silenda 

Renova's eyes glazed over. Silenda turned to Finn. Even in the oppressive dark, they could see each other perfectly well. "What do you want to do now? It's up to you. I think those two have got a decent plan. The power of all the demigods together could stop Time from ending."
Finn looked down, then at Renova, then at the door where she could sense the two still waiting outside. To hear the sounds of deified combat and not run, they must've been either insanely brave, or unbelievably stupid.
Finally, she looked down at the almost forgotten body of Evelyn. Finn scooped up the cat, its fur matted with blood. The sword had skewered her.
"I'm sorry. But it's time to reset everything." She glanced one final time at the door, imagining what trials they had to go through to collect all these precious items. All that effort wasted. But everything is going to disappear now, so what's the point? The only person she truly cared about had died again. She just wanted it to be all over.
Finn stroked the cat's head as she rose into the air. The ground shook, and the darkness spread out from the building, into the surrounding fields. Silenda felt the ground disappear from beneath her, and used her powers to hover in the void. The darkness picked up pace as it spread, covering the entirety of Kaeoma in minutes, proceeding to cover the globe in just a few more. The stars were no longer visible in this void, and soon they too disappeared from existence.
Reality had become no more.