Issue 12: Dust to Dust
Unity has no patience. With Convergence, it wants to consume everything in sight. It’s far more satisfying to work your enemy up into a sense of terror and drink deeply from that cup. My contemporaries are lacking in that arena. Outright brutality isn’t enough.—The All-Father
Eliza can never hide what she’s feeling. It's what people love about her. I know she doesn’t want us in the line of fire but according to these time capsuled Arcane Order drops? We are at the heart of the conflicts. X’mil wishes my debasement then death. There’s no question of that. What worries me more is what we do have on this Red King.—J’ino Murphy
I finally finished. So much to read. The reality of my daughter’s lifespan is sobering. Upon this Shield World? Our family endures. Just as was promised. The road to get there was in no way easy. Vigilance saved us from missteps that could have destroyed billions upon billions. I see the weight in her eyes. The passing of eons. She is still my daughter but I fear I have nothing left to teach her.—Sleeping In Starlight: Reflections
Midden Moutain Range
Paradise Falls (Shield World)
June 3rd, 2136
Judgment grunted. The warning heat was absorbed by his outer shields. He dived to the side as plasma fire erupted where he had been standing moments before. Trees withered. X’mil was within the boundaries set aside. Magic hummed through his golden helm. Sigils formed.
Shall we continue to mimic bioform readings?
Thomas sent the subvocalized affirmative.
Like the Muthra he had to form the words. Unlike their symbology? It didn’t have to be audible. Nor did he have to form the signs within the air or earth. He only had to form the signs within his mind. The advantages of being the Guardian Ruler of the Golden City. It also helped that Arcane Order Shield Worlds like this one had been grown within the Weave within the Golden City. When he had learned that bit of information he had gotten sloshed. Paxton had joined him. Humanity and his daughter had been more than ready. It was ludicrous but he thanked the Highest every day for the opportunity to smite the evils of this multiverse. The dead drops were vital. He peered through the ashen trunks to his right. A sickly green outline pulsed back. Not X’mil but another he knew well enough.
*****
Snake Charmer hit the ground. X’mil’s sigils didn’t recognize the difference between friend and foe. He took three running steps and threw himself through the clearing ahead of the decay ring engulfing the treeline. Charmer spat through gritted teeth, “Enough of this!”
X’mil shouted, “I know you are here Murphy!”
Medusa hugged the ground.
Idiot! She thought furiously.
The supersonic boom let them all know who else had just joined the party.
*****
I landed. The dark brittle spot had grown to encompass 10 miles in every direction. X’mil was a loose cannon. My father and mother had proper protection but the same couldn’t be said of X’mil’s allies. My vision shifted. That three heartbeat signature pulsed on my skin then blinked out once more. The thing that wore the necklace that held the last bits of the All-Father. According to Doc. I had seen visions of it. Even before Convergence.
Where was the creature?
X’mil hurled himself from the corpse of trees. I gripped his left wrist. His fingertips gleamed black. Black scrawl leaked from his eyes. He howled, “Baseborn filth!” I spotted the green sigils etched unto the bone within his ribcage. I sucked in a breath. A sharp burst of air covered him. Ice clung to his skin. It wouldn’t kill him. His body was already gone. An ugly light burned within the depths of his flattened copper and black eyes.
I’kathan of the Lidless.
It gurgled through Black Scawl threads: Such brilliance. I will taste it once more.
The triple beat moved off to the east. My father’s voice came over the coms, <<Go. We can handle this.>>
I’kathan watched me from that necrotic flesh suit formerly known as a Typherian. Whatever was left of X’mil? It was encompassed by the subordinates of the Red King. His soul laid bare and found lacking. My eyes locked onto Medusa. I called out, “There is no escape. You have one chance to prevent the nine inflictions. You who would be jailer rather than jailed.”
In a burst of speed, I sprang skyward.
I heard her reply, “Why do you care? We are already damned.” I detected the hint of longing in her voice. I didn’t lie. At best? They would serve within the realm of Purgatory. As a symbol. As a warning. Choice had consequences and even minor evil wouldn’t be able to escape the deluge. A soul carried the stains of the Shattering. I would need to find the rest of the Host before I could topple that final hurdle.
Then we would all climb from oblivion.
*****
Medusa swore as she came upon X’mil. Bright droplets fell from his chin. Frozen solid. She skipped back as black tendrils flashed out. Seeking warm flesh. She made a warding gesture and then aimed at the figure just beyond the deadened trees. The demi’s golden helm flashed in the sunlight. She spat, “Judgment!” She fired. The grav round burrowed through X’mil’s upper torso. Then pinged upon the magical shield that shimmered around the armored demi. She just had to keep him occupied until her brother arrived.
Pyra’s fireballs struck.
Sending Judgment skidding backward upon the ashen ground. His sword came out. A strange shape to her eyes. Metal ringing. The melody set Pyra’s teeth on edge. Blessed weapons. She gathered the ash about herself. Formed into that tornado shape she knew akin to a second skin. She would suck the air from his lungs. Two bolts of lava ignited within that vortex. “We are not Unity but it was foolish for that Banner to leave you!”
Medusa paled when a triple-layered green and white battle suit landed next to Judgement. Its undercarriage was gunmetal gray. A feminine voice, modulated, exploded from the coms net. “Wrong.” The word sent a twitch down Medusa’s spine. It was one part threat. Two parts overconfidence. Goody two-shoes demis. Medusa spat on the ground.
“Yet the heart of the Terrans nearly died when Star fell to oblivion.” She smirked, “For the first time!” Three red dots zeroed in on her chest. Judgment held up on golden gauntleted hand. Was that a hint of personal pain? Her lips pulled back as a blackened forked tongue tested the air. Her brother was near.
*****
J’ino twitched as the suit’s arcane sigils snapped into place.
Controlling her emotions. She had nearly pulled the trigger.
These local-level villains had no clue. No clue at all. Unity was the distraction. A powerful one but compared to the insidious nature of the Red King? J’ino didn’t think she could have any more nightmares. What little information the Arcane Order did have on it? Him? Disturbed her. Where Unity took its time to roll out its plans? The Red King infiltrated. Controlled flesh. Coerced souls. It was said he could override the makeup of the most powerful incarnations of Owls. If it could do that? What hope did Unity have of stopping him? She’d bet good money it pulled Unity’s strings instead. The ultimate dark to counter the Highest’s light.
It was no wonder the timestamps occurred as ordered. Just when they thought they knew what lay within the deepest dark of the abyss, another layer was added, for them to fight. For their daughter to protect against. Her readouts hummed. She fired a localized shot from her rear anti-matter cannons. Snake Charmer went flying. His cloaking field dissipated as if it never existed. No one would mess with her husband. They had been at this war for far too long.
Area 51.
The Beach War.
All of it had led to this.
While Eliza’s dual identity was known to the general public? The same couldn’t be said of everyone else in the Protectorate. X’mil could search all he liked. She nodded approvingly as Thomas landed a roundhouse kick to X’mil’s frozen form. The head rolled off into the distance. It wouldn’t kill that which was dead but it would inconvenience him for a while. The real fun started when Slapdash entered the fray. He shouted cheerily, “Heya flamethrower!” A vortex of hurricane forced winds erupted.
*****
Lorain Lanis stared.
Horror colored her features. She re-accessed the Arcane Archives within the Jupiter Rising. Eliza’s silver-haired countenance shimmered for a spit second. This was true information. Murphy repeated, “Unity is the subordinate to a greater threat. As the Highest was formed to serve Life. The Red King is its opposite in every way imaginable. Life vs Death. On a multiversal scale.”
Eliza continued. Sympathy echoed outward from a time beyond the far future.
“My parents have the information needed. I cannot give you more than this for now Doc. There are vital reasons. You will have to trust me. Certain types of information will win this war. Secure it for the future generations that will come.” Those eyes locked onto Lorain.
“The Vigil will end for us. That mantle to be taken up by others. So another Scism will never occur. For the Realm will be forged. To which all Evil will dwell. We shall be its Jailers.”
A holo image of the Titans came into view. Shaped like the Ouroborous. Hi’ulk’s indigo frame outer most. With the other two circling white and black. Three forms wrapped around that orb akin to habitat rings. At the center was a black glassed surface of a planet. Angry welts of lava tracked against its pitted facade. The holo dubbed it the Ninth Tribunal. Its unofficial name was Hades. Hell. The Abyss of the Multiverse. Lorain hugged herself. Even now she could detect the malevolence radiating off it in searing waves. Aether’s face emerged into the pickup. He was ancient. His face was lined with careworn marks. He pointed one light gray digit towards the planet. “We will send them all here. Each layer of that place was formed by the violations against Creation. We who were Thronebears in the Original Age. We shall serve as its wardens.”
Eliza bowed her head and then waved one massive arm towards the Titans.
“They resided within me to gain the power needed to contain the various acolytes of the Red King. His Eye sees through each cruelty. Each sin. Unity is the obvious target of his will. As the bull charges the red flag.”
Eliza’s black and gray eyes held Lorain in place.
“Unity’s flesh serves the Red King. Its fractured soul shards are bound forever to that hideous will. You have met its mortal form before. In the Pits.”
Lorain’s heart stopped. “The All-Father.”
Thoth, all the lower evils. They paled in comparison.
The message repeated. Lorain reached out with shaking hands and turned the holo off.
Jupiter Rising noted quietly, “We shall return to the beginning. To ensure our end.”
Lorain asked, “You knew?!”
The ship’s VI didn’t answer. An infinity symbol manifested in front of the human woman.
Jupiter continued, “I exist as Eliza exists. The Past, The Present, The Future. Connected for all Time to the Arcane Network. I merely inhabit this shell. My core resides elsewhen. Elsewhere.” The VI murmured gently, “It was not for you to know until this moment.”
Lorain froze as another image formed. She was clothed in flowing white Egyptian robes. The golden circlet on her head formed by three ouroboros figures. This future Lorain bowed, “We, like the Highest, shall battle the Red King until the Vigil is passed from us.”
Her older self paused. The image turned. The last of the Golden City’s pyramids was being constructed, “Each King and Queen. A mark on the board. Remember that.”
Each of us has a counterpoint!
The realization gave Lorain a burst of hope.
If they could endure? The future would survive.
Eliza added soberly, “The Red King devours flesh. Thus the Living Stone serves as proof of his crimes.”
Lorain fell back into the console chair. It molded itself to her form. She rubbed her face.”What must we do?”
*****
Mordred peered into the Laylines of the Abyss. The Red King’s answer to Humanity’s magical quality. The first attempt had destroyed Elysium’s sanctified grounds. But the Red King had learned. Just as Mordred learned. His lips pulled back into a parody of a smile. His parched lips caked with illusionary pain. Unity would be the greatest boon of all.
Flesh upon flesh. Just as he served. So shall they. Those Amarche demons who thought they controlled fate. Mordred howled within the nightscape pits. The ceremony would encompass all.
Not even Lucifer could escape its reach.
Issue 11: Here
Issue 13: Here
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