（ＡＲＣ １）Chapter 7- Normand Ariston and Destiny.

Sounds of chaos echo through the forest—trees crashing, ground trembling, Cathy and Raijin yelling in the distance.

Normand Ariston: "GIVE ME THE SYRINGE, RAJIN! I'M DONE WAITING!"

Normand forced himself up, his body trembling, blood dripping from his wounds. His voice was raw, desperate.

Raijin, without hesitation, darted toward him, the syringe clutched tightly in his hand. His speed was unreal—lightning-fast, like a blur across the battlefield.

Cathy, hot on his heels, shouted after him. But before she could close the gap, Raijin tossed the syringe to Normand and vanished into the shadows like a phantom.

I saw the syringe clearly—its contents glimmering in a strange rainbow hue, the same liquid Cathy had absorbed during our battle with Keito.

Without a moment's pause, Normand jabbed the syringe into his arm. His veins lit up with the same rainbow glow as his skin darkened and pulsed unnaturally.

Normand Ariston: "GRAAAHH!! THRILLER: MAXIMA!"

His scream reverberated through the forest as his body twisted and morphed, growing into a massive, grotesque version of itself.

He became a hulking zombie giant, muscles rippling beneath decayed flesh, his eyes glowing like two cursed suns. The crown he once wore fell to the ground, discarded, forgotten.

He wasn't Normand anymore.

James Karawei: "He's... The King of Nothing now."

The beast roared, swinging its colossal arms wildly. Everything it touched—trees, rocks, even the earth itself—turned into twisted zombies.

The air felt heavier, thicker.I turned to Jack, who was struggling to get back on his feet.

James Karawei: "Get ready, Jack... This one's from Mr. Nakamura! Savage Garden: TWENTY THOUSAND SWORD BURST!"

Raising my hand, I focused all my energy. My right eye glowed with a vivid rainbow hue, but with it came the whispers, again—those haunting voices from memories that weren't mine.

???: "You're not good enough!" - A man's gruff voice.

???: "Try harder next time, dweeb!" - A bubbly, mocking laugh.

???: "Is this how you carry yourself, young man? I expected more from you..." - An old woman, disappointed.

The voices grew louder, threatening to drown me. But I pushed through, focusing on the towering behemoth before me.

With a roar, I unleashed a torrent of bubble-like swords, each one moving faster than I could even comprehend. They shot out in streams, piercing through the giant's body. Each impact created a burst of air pressure so intense it shook the battlefield.

But Normand didn't stop. He regenerated faster than I could damage him, using his own blood, flesh, and bone to spawn more of those rabid zombies.

Jack Daniels: "Holy crap, dude! You're insane... Don't worry, I got your back!"

Jack fought off the other zombies as i kept shooting swords at what was once Normand— He charged towards me but just then the ground beneath me was being levitated by Cathy who was being punted into the ground by Raijin, the sounds of our battle could be heard for miles around...

Scene cuts to three farmers enjoying a beer, sitting down in the back of a truck overlooking the forest

Farmer #1: "Fred.... is it just me or is somebody throwing a darned rave in our good ol' woods?"

Farmer #2: "Nah... could be bigfoot, only him and your granmaw scream like that!"

Farmer #3: "Must be them lil grey men that probe round' ere' in the winter..." 

Scene cuts to a close-up shot of the moon, sudden aerial shot of the battle in the forest

It was crazy, absolutely... 100%! I can tell you that much, no matter how many bubble swords i shot at Normand he kept regenerating. Then, Cathy's voice rang out—raw, furious, and desperate.

Cathy Ariston: "DON'T YOU DARE DIE ON ME! NONE OF YOU!!"

She intercepted a massive boulder Normand hurled at me, stopping it with pure gravity. Tears streamed down her face as she screamed, her rage boiling over.

Raijin appeared behind her, delivering a sharp kick to her face and dashing past me. For a split second, our eyes met.

His smug expression faltered when he noticed my rainbow eye glaring back at him.

He hesitated.

And then... everything went black.

From what [REDACTED] told me later on, i copied Raijin's power and dashed forwards towards Normand, knocking him down into the ground and splitting the sky with a great burst of speed, my eyes were unfocused and hazy... the forest was destroyed afterwards... all i could hear was my name being called and then...

Flashback to 2010—Normand's birth

Normand Ariston wasn't like other babies. His skin was green, sickly, almost corpse-like. He looked like death incarnate, but his father, Obadiah Ariston, was unmoved.

A man in a red business suit stood beside him, watching the newborn through the glass of the nursery, where all the babies were kept.

???: "Oh... this really does bring back good memories Obie.. what will you name him?"

The strange man stared at Normand's father, Obadiah "The House" Ariston.

Obadiah Ariston: "Normand... That's a strong name. He'll grow up as strong as a Viking, you'll see. I can tell— Plus it fits with everything going on right now, you've managed to capture 'that girl', right? You can't keep slacking."

The man laughed and threw his head back as he stared at Obadiah.

???: "Oh please... She was destined for it, destiny is such a wonderful thing... isn't it?"

He stood up as he watched the babies sleeping peacefully, his gaze landing on Normand.

???: "Destiny... It's fascinating, isn't it? It twists the strong into the weak and the weak into the strong. It creates outcasts and freaks, divides and controls them. Truly wonderful, wouldn't you agree?"

Obadiah didn't respond, his gaze locked on Normand.

Obadiah Ariston: "Promise me... Promise me you'll leave Cathy alone. She's not ready. Out of the three, she's the one I'm most proud of. She has her mother's eyes, you know."

???: "Relax. Yoshio will take her place. Cathy will flourish when the time is right. Besides, you know as well as I do... The House always wins, doesn't it?"

The man smirked, patting Obadiah on the shoulder before walking away.

2015—Normand's fifth birthday

Cathy Ariston: "Come on, Norm! Blow out the candles already! I want cake!"She pouted, stomping her foot as she waited impatiently.

Obadiah Ariston: "Cathy, it's Normand's birthday. At least pretend to wear the party hat."

Cathy Ariston: "Ugh, fine! But only because I want cake!"

Normand smiled faintly as his sister put on the poorly made party hat.

Obadiah Ariston: "Alright, kids... Say cake!"

Both: "CAAAAAKE!"

It was a fleeting moment of happiness. Cathy didn't care that her brother was different. To her, he was just her best friend.

But as Normand grew older, that happiness faded.

2020—Normand, now ten years old, stood in a school hallway.

The other kids mocked him for his green skin. One boy, larger than the rest, pulled out a knife.

Bully: "Stay back, freak!"

Normand lunged, but the knife slashed across his cheek. The sight of his own blood sent him into a panic.

Normand freaked out upon the sight of his own blood, he had Hemphobia, the fear of blood so of course his powers manifested. 

Normand's scream echoed through the school as he turned the bullies into zombies, draining their life force. His fear of blood had triggered something primal.

A few hours pass where he goes on a rampage, he's not thinking straight and he ends up destroying the entire school... killing everyone there, when he sees Cathy hiding in her classroom he snaps out of it and runs away, he bumps into the strange man in the red business suit.

???: "Who are you running from? You cant escape yourself... Normand, join me! I will make you a king amongst men and your throne shall be made of the corpses of fools and none shall reject you, for you are The King Of Nothing... but I? I will make you King Of Everything, follow me, be my son, and live."

Normand looked back as Cathy ran out of the school, the building eating itself alive as it was turned into a behemoth zombie, she saw Normand with the man before they disappeared into thin air. She screamed his name as he disappeared with the man in the red suit.

Cathy Ariston: "BROTHER!!!"From that moment on, Normand Ariston was no longer her brother. He was the King of Nothing.

——————————————————————————————-—————————————

Author's Note:

Yo yo! Thanks for making it through another chapter of Divinity: Infinity... Tell me what you guys think about Normand, he has a cool power but... he's a little strange and crazy.

Anyway... tell your friends about this goofy web-novel so i can make more chapters and even more people will see the peak, I'm cooking for reallll also i plan on making fight-scenes longer in the future, just have to worldbuild right now with these "minor" characters.

FUN FACTS!

Fun Fact: Normand's favorite food is in fact cake.

Fun Fact #2: The Boss has lots of masks throughout the entire series, damn coward...

Fun Fact #3: "The House" loves his kids "equally", but he loves Cathy the most, which is why he sent the other two to work for The Syndicate, typical...

________________________________________________________________________________