Issue 1: The Bone Man
Every cycle I dug deeper. Add a shape here. A thread there. All to undermine that sickening light the Oversoul “gifted” to his creations. There are no dreams. Only the abyss. Mine to rule.--The Dreamweaver
It is true. The Three Speakers do not lie. The work has been corrupted. I will break off parts of myself to get to the bottom of this. I fear that the Weaver has lost his way. I must find a way to save this multiverse of possibilities. Planets and stars can be reborn. Mortality must be given an eternal light to carry them home.-The Oversoul.
The revelation of Silver Fox? Why tell me now? We must get the Weaver to plant his Tears into Thoth. She isn’t just me within the far flung future. She’s me after we correct the corruption of the Dreaming. My battle form to protect the new Dreams. Even nightmares dwell there via the Ninth Circle. In the end we will have to choose.--Arbiter Files (Noah’s Ark Emporium)
X3-992
Dark Mirror Node
Meathook clawed against the rough surface of metal, glass and bone. His allies had prophets. Those who could see beyond Mordred. That one wished to buy redemption. There would be nothing left. The Ninth Circle clawed at his waking thoughts. At his core? Mordred was still a human. Concerned with what remained of his torn soul. Meathook scrambled over the lip.
No wind.
He unbuckled his knife. Made from the bone of the unwilling. He slashed his palm. His blood trickled to the ground. Hissing as his energy flowed into the glyph. A skull with three blazing silver eyes ignited. An emaciated form rose. Its thin digits stark white against the dead of night. White worms thrashed from its mouth and eye sockets.
A dry rasp escaped half-ruined lips, “What do you seek?”
Meathook grimaced as the weight of the Bone Man’s regard sapped the oxygen from his lungs. He responded, “Abbadon walks into a tight noose. But he isn’t the real target. How may I serve the Master of All?”
His yellowed skin darkened as Black Scrawl engulfed him.
∞
I cradled my head in my hands. My wife leaned in, “What is it?”
Black’s tone shifted, “The Dreaming outside of Eden is eating itself! 1st Cycle sector.”
The Archway gates slowed the entropy but we would loose the multiverse in the end. No matter what valves we put into the foundations. The Dreamweaver’s soul was infused within all of his followers. The same could be said of the Oversoul. Our Creator gave us a choice though. One only had to look at the fractured reality of the Void Walkers to know that.
Marie’s bright eyes glanced skyward. Even within the higher reaches of the Weave she couldn’t read the signs. She was 100% standard human. No ounce of demi work within her. Just the way I wanted. An island of normality. She tugged on my right ear, “I know that look.” She marched straight off to the shield world portal. My wife paused. Her chocolate brown eyes assessed everything around me.
“What is it your father usually says? Stay frosty?”
I replied, “I'll keep all my eyes peeled.” Including my Third.
She crossed her arms. Her slow regard equal parts amused punctured with that feminine worry I knew intimately. She blew me a kiss. I caught it with my right hand. Palm outward. It was an old game between us. I loved her all the more for it. Didn’t hurt I always had a soft spot for blonds. Mrs. Murphy winked, “Go get that work done.” Her tone brooked no argument from me.
I dived into the Soul Layer.
∞
Taleer saluted Dexter as he approached. “We’ve managed to find a solid portion of previous cycle Preservation worlds but….”
The Arbiter of the Unseen Order made a chopping motion with his left arm. Motions solidified into a grid of energy. His voice tightened. “It’s still not enough. We will have to venture into other universes to recover the rest.”
Sul’sandra clasped her hands tightly behind her back. The Climb of Helios would recover many souls. From the depths of the Dreaming and beyond. If Eliza could survive. The Markav woman brought herself to task. Eliza would succeed.
The traitorous part of her mind whispered, “...but at what cost?”
The air ignited under the weight of Dexter’s wards.
“Get ready.”
They would venture to the edge of the Dreaming. Not within Edenverse. That was dangerous enough. They seeked a different quarry. The finger of the Bone Man. The first who beheld the fallen form of the Dreamweaver. Ar’hivan.
The Devil of Dreams in the old tongue. Sul sucked in a breath. It was now or never. She asked, “How will inserting these Tears of Ar’hivan into Eliza help us?”
∞
The question I had been dreading.
I needed Sul to understand. “Eliza and I aren't just Arbiters.” The reality was difficult enough to bare. Or comprehend. Instead I continued with, “Imagine the Oversoul is the palm of the hand. My sister and I are one of his fingers. Bred for a singular purpose.”
I was to carry the dead into the new multiverse. Eden would be at the center.
Tanarkan. Shield World of the Dead.
Elysium. Shield World of the Living.
All the others would interlink with us.
As the known multiverse died in the fires of Unity, Abbadon, and all other malevolent forces we would save the most precious of commodities. People and their soul-shard pairs. Those yet to exist.
Eliza would not remain a Thronebearer for much longer. In the end her demi hybrid nature would provide the perfect conduit to cleanse the Tears. Lethe would bear the Tears of Light. Eliza’s body would house the Tears of the Dark. Captain Overwatch would shepherd the Living. Or those caught in-between. It was why we had multiple titles. One? To confuse our enemies. Two? To protect our allies.
The Dreamweaver could not be allowed to maintain his dominion.
My sister would shape the dreams of the New World.
Her road to becoming Silver Fox was merely the prelude to the end.
Our story would strike one final note against the darkness.
We just had to exist long enough to see the rejuvenation of the Oversoul’s dream.
Taleer noted, “Are you implying her burden is greater?”
I responded softly, “Different.”
Dreams could uplift. We had enough nightmares as it was.
Silver Fox materialized within my H.U.D.
<<The road is nearly to its end. Make sure he places the Tears within Thoth after the Climb. It will be the only way to perform the transfer properly.>>
Joy burned within those eyes.
Even after all the horrors she had seen. Helios would leave its mark upon my sister’s body but not her soul. That which was stronger than any demi power known to mortal man. The black, blue, and crimson fires of the Ninth Circle’s gates flashed behind my eyelids. Karvax would not be the last resident of that place.
I would make sure of it.
E’ratha’s entire House would join him.
Black’s feline form curled around me. >>We shall hunt together.<<
My fist curled around the metal of my Trident. The manifestation of my soul’s true power. The enemy had no idea of my sister’s true role. Her soul vigil had yet to materialize properly. Even as the Silver Fox.
I swept my weapon in a wide arc. The port opened. My Markav friend’s armor snapped into place in response to the foreboding darkness that curled about the opening. I stepped over the threshold. Black’s front right paw lashed out. White porous tendrils snapped. Their green ichor splattered against the rocky plain.
A pungent odor followed.
Sul remained to anchor our escape.
Taleer’s disgust washed over me.
I bared my teeth. I had a special surprise for the abode of the Bone Man.
I marked the ground with the first of many sigils.
Most forgot I could shoot cosmic flames from my hands.
The Thronebearer word for Ignite blazed bright amid the dank forest.
∞
X’mil ran down the corridor of the ship.
Sweat dripped from every pore. The creature lapped at his heels. Its half ruined face mocked him. Karvax’s bright blue eye twinkled, “Little pig man! Run run run! As fast as you can!”
The former House representative hissed as razor sharp thorns tore into his sleeping shirt. Voices clamored for his attention. X’mil slid on the wet surface. He tumbled head over heels into a darkened pit. He screamed as a wet tendril forced itself into the opening of his shirt.
He bolted awake. Medusa peered down at him from the ship’s galley railing.
“What? Spaghetti too much for you?”
White worms crawled up his arms. He closed his eyes.
Not there. Not there. Not anywhere!
The sensation abated. He opened one eye to glance down at his plate.
Two blue orbs stared up at him from between the noodles.
Karvax laughed, “...soon you will all be here with me!”
∞
Snake Charmer circled the coffin. It was a Preservation casket. Hilary glared down at it. Chronos’ emaciated form just out of reach. “Where do we need to take him?”
Hilary replied tonelessly, “To the heart of Unity’s former home. Rykah.”
Snake Charmer bit back a snide remark. They both turned as X’mil stomped in. He stank of cheap alcohol. Even with the help of regulation bars he had put on 40 pounds. A rotund porker of note. As Karvax would have pointed out, “Put him over a spit to dry!”
The ship hummed as Pira crossed the Dark Mirror network. It was no longer possible to use it within the Eden Universe but other places had vast holdings they could navigate. Rykah was the epicenter of network within the physical plane.
Hilary twitched as her father remarked, That one is already offered to the alter.
She examined the shadows that clung to X’mil within the realm known as the Dreaming. Her father had given her the formula to comprehend it for a short time. Each vial made from the bones of Light Shamans captured in the various wars across the multiverse. A blackened corpse with bright blue eyes had its fangs clamped down on the Typherian’s left shoulder. Its thorny tail dug into his right side. Black Scrawl seeped into the soul wound.
Karvax. Chronos noted distantly, A resident of this Ninth Circle phenomenon.
Hatred burned within her heart but her father was rarely wrong. One had to have a soul to be ensnared into this new hellscape. Protected by the Highest’s lapdogs. Their titan scales twinkled like comets. Only she could hear the Director. So she responded silently.
Why have them guard such a place? Aren't they supposed to be that ever-so-mythical Force of Goodness and Light?
Chronos responded. His voice as clinical as ever.
They chose to be wardens of that place. Alongside their master. The Highest exists there even now. Across all time and space. In all those lines his brother, Abbadon, joins him. Unable to escape the pull of the Ninth.
A feeling of disquiet came over the former FBI agent.
Would she join them there? Chronos noted coolly, Not if you get me to the heart of Unity’s universe.
He let the message linger within her mind. It was already too late. He was bound to her. An unfortunate development. He had a spark of her shriveled human soul to deal with. Nyx linked with him over their private channel.
//Pristine shell form ready. Waiting for transfer over Mirror Node 24.5-FF//
The Director made his daughter tap her wristwatch.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
What a grand experiment.
Prologue: Here
Issue 2: Here
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