Issue 7: Lucifer Finds the Mark
It all comes down to one final factor: Who can overthrow the Creator all All-Knowledge? It cloaks itself in many titles: God, The Oversoul, Creation. Each empire that reaches the Bronze age has a name for it. What pale imitation of mortality did it hide the Tears in?!--Lucifer
My progenitors think themselves clever. I will not take the bait.--Abbadon
Each cycle buried pieces of the Truth. The Blood Curse reminds us. Our part in this battle is already settled. We must retake that which was lost. For all of our souls.--Sunset Showdown
No matter what cycle of life we find ourselves in rebellion takes its natural course. Evil seeks to bind you into the depths of despair. Good desires people to push themselves higher. To be more than just a shell of flesh and bone.--Unseen Archives Vol 1
The Night Realm
Outer Plains
Temple of The Forgotten Woe
Lucifer grasped the melted handle. The doorway creaked open.
The first building erected in this desolate hellscape. He would find answers here. Ideas Abbadon didn’t want to share. Plans within plans. That included their enemies. They were in play just along a different board. Their movements controlled by the Highest. His chains were just as stifling as Abbadon’s. Just covered by self-righteous moralizing. The Multiverse was a cage. Regulating the Golden Host to serving Mortals?
Lucifer snarled. His sword flashed out. Beheading the obsidian stone statue. Its three eyes glared at him accusingly. He turned. Glared at the figures that phased through the darkened ceiling. The Silver Lady. The Void Man. The final nuisance.
The mighty Oversoul itself. In the dual form of Man and Woman.
He sneered, “Constant judgment flows from you. Your sons war against each other and for what? This miserable existence?! You have condemned them all. Placed their fate with that crippled Banner. What use is a half rate Thronebeaer and its fragile human blood?”
The Silver Lady’s hair was matted to her head. Her shriveled hands clutched her rosary. Hazy blue eyes completed the wretched ensemble. The Void Man’s voice rasped, “You have not learned. Thus you shall serve the Circle.” The Void Man’s back was hunched. His hands shook. Arthritic and frail. Old guard with no substance.
“Chronos has seen your true form. What now? He broke your precious rules. Yet you throw me to the wolves?!”
The Void Man spat, “You broke the Covenant.”
The Silver Lady added, “You do not understand the Word.”
Lucifer spread his golden wings, “All because I gave Unity and by proxy your rejected son the fruits of your labor.” He watched as the avatars flinched. He had them.
He held his sword hand high, “You created this mess but by your own rules you must live with it!”
∞
The feminine aspect shook her head. He still did not understand. No matter of knowledge would ever bring Lucifer back on the path of Creation. He would serve his new purpose.
Under the watchful eye of the Thronebearer of Bones.
∞
Lucifer eyed the woman coldly, “Your prophesies and mind games mean nothing. The fact that you created a weaker representation of the immortal forms speaks volumes of your lack of foresight.”
He jerked an accusing finger to the Void Man, “You cower. Use a crippled hybrid to bear the marks!” The black cowled gaze pinned Lucifer to the ground. Finally some fire!
He smirked, “You see? I can still needle you. What does Abbadon do? But disappoint time and time again?” He watched as the woman stepped into the shadow of the man. Her back linked to his. “Elysium wasn’t your first failure!”
∞
The male aspect faced Lucifer directly.
The Lightbearer would not understand the Word. Mercy compelled him a final time, “You shall be consumed by the Final Thronebearer.” Lucifer howled.
The incredulous flame ignited within those orbs, “Really? From Eliza Murphy. How quaint. You think one such as her could dominate me? You have grown feeble in your old age. Oversoul.” The word came out as a curse. They had never understood. Which was entirely the point. Of the final two Thronebearers born to Elysium? Eliza had come before her brother. From the Sea of Outer Creation. Thus he was born from the final ashes of that divine water. Only one had seen. Never to be believed.
The one dubbed the Piper within this cycle.
All beginnings held secrets.
Each held a piece. The full tapestry would never be known to anyone.
Even servants of the Light.
∞
I didn’t dare to breathe.
My purpose had already been fulfilled by my reckoning. The fact that the Void and Silver aspect had decided to show me this small bit after the Third Arising spoke of their faith in me. You must forgive me dear reader. Of the Unseen Chronicles. By now I have lived countless lifetimes. With only Doc as my constant companion through the cycles since the Reformation of the Multiverse. My memory is not as it should be. Driven that way on purpose. I recall I used to joke about the swiss cheese dilemma but it holds a kernel of truth. Mortal minds, even ones such as mine, were not made to peer into the Infinite without going mad.
My brother clutched my left arm. We had never switched back. This was why.
We shared in our burden. To keep the darkness at bay.
Within the shadows of the Oversoul we watched as Lucifer sealed the fate for all who would reside within the Ninth Circle. Later stories would give it many names. Hades. Hell. Oblivion. Woe. This was our power. One of sacrifice. Of Duty. Ours was the slow reward of the Vigil. The warmth of the Oversoul tickled the outer edges.
Dexter nodded.
His wraith form solidified for a moment. His smile was an equal mix of joy and remembrance.
Thank you for keeping your promise sister.
It would be eons before the damage was undone.
The Vigil remained.
I squeezed his hand in response.
As all things should be. We will maintain the Ouro.
∞
Lucifer circled after he broke away from the gaze of his Creator. “We exist beyond your binary thinking. All rules have a breaking point. Chronos is proof of that. Unity. Abbadon. All slipped your leash. The Highest made for a poor warden.”
The Silver Lady spoke. Her voice as cold as the depths of space, “Your role was to be Shield to Mortal kind.”
Lucifer replied flippantly, “Oh. Those three primary rulings. What is it with you and threes? A lame representation of mortal cycles. Birth, Growth, Death. What is the point? They only exist for a mere mote. Then fade into the nether.” He stood face to face with the Void Man.
“Chronos cloned himself. Breaking your precious soul shard cycle.”
“Unity crossed the Leylines of Creation. Of Magic.”
His cruel visage turned to the Silver Lady.
“Abbadon rejected your silly notion of Death. The Night Realm is of your doing. For you gave them Life!”
Lucifer kicked. His leg aimed for the Void’s head.
The fallen Thronebearer snarled as a silver shield rose to defend the Oversoul.
“Fine. Have it your way. Watch as your empires crumble. All those soul shards turned to dust within the fires of oblivion!” He turned on his heel and left the crumbling Temple. No wonder Abbadon never came here. He imagined the conversations would be the same.
“Watch as I tear those motes of Creation from your feeble champions!”
He would serve the Red King to spite Creation. That was his path.
Fire engulfed his humanoid form.
He welcomed the pain.
∞
My left arm soaked up the necrotic energies of the strike. The Silver Lady pressed a finger to her lips, “Lucifer does not hear the Word.”
Abbadon’s shadowed form lingered.
They had wanted him to see this.
The Void Man knelt, “This avenue is closed to us.”
Dexter tapped my arm.
See who lingers in Abbadon’s shadow?
My jaw clenched. Thoth.
Pieces clicked into place. If my mind couldn't take the overflow of information? Then what would happen if a regular mind possessed the body of one such as Abbadon? No wonder the Ur-Flow had regulated the Thronebearer Sight. That small sliver of Divine Insight.
Dexter’s mind flowed through mine.
Precisely.
The trap had already been sprung. We were merely experiencing the echoes of what was. What would be. The future set in motion long before my soul shard had come into existence. One question burned within me. Why even create the fault in the first place? Why let evil into the world?
The Word flowed through me.
Choice my dear Thronebearer.
∞
Lucifer knelt at the base of the blackened throne.
His wings creaked. No longer the radiant gold of the Thronebeaer. Each black strip contained the soul shards of the condemned. Their voices echoed. Eternal torment flowed. Mordred on his right. Lilith on his left. Abbadon clutched the armrests.
“Now you see what I deal with? We must search for the one who holds the Tears.”
Mordred stated clearly, “The host won’t be found here. We must follow Murphy into the past. After Thoth stabs her with the Knife from the Tree of Knowledge.” Mordred’s mind was clear after so many years encased within the dreaming weaves of the Night Realm. His humanoid shape had fleshed out once more. Vitality flowed. His bright brown eyes locked onto the Red King. “They are ready for us within the future. The present. But the past? That is ripe for altering. Just enough so we can find the one who truly slumbers!”
Abbadon leaned forward, “Yes. I have already seen a bit of this. That fake museum of the future deserted Earth. They had people hidden beyond the fields erected around that place. This Eliza thought herself clever. Earth will not die as easily as we hoped.”
He knew his enemies had planted false flags. The trick was finding which paths they wanted him to avoid. It all came back to one person. The brother of Murphy. But which one. That clan had so many children. Which hid within the shadow of the Highest?
∞
Thoth wanted to scream.
His current self was oblivious to the trap. He paced within his mental prison cell. This time displacement nonsense was driving him insane. The knife wouldn't oust Murphy from this Bone Throne. If that was what it had been. The future was well guarded. As was the present. Why did they think the past would be any different?! Sheer folly.
He snarled, “We are meant to fail! DO YOU SEE?!”
Abbadon smiled cruelly, “Of course we are. The game was rigged from the start.”
Thoth asked, “Then why?”
Abbadon obliged him. “The Tears will be force fed to Chronos. His body that is. It will distract the guardian beyond the Ouroborous. Thus allowing us all to escape this hell of a multiverse.”
Thoth knew the godling was holding back. Since it was riding around in his body.
Which piece? He dreaded finding out.
He would make everyone pay. Even with his dying breath.
Issue 6: Here
Issue 8: Here
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