Issue 18: The Sum of All Things
To cover the investigation we’ve done a complete audit of all Orbital files. Nyx has behaved herself. No unauthorized medical experiments. What would compel her to keep under the radar for so long? This is beyond Chronos.--Conclave Update Tier 1 authorization
Striker Nix has been sloppy. The only thing keeping my “daughter” from deviating from the plan is the fact that the Murphy twins haven’t manifested here. But I knew this going in. Always have a backup plan. --Chronos
Every night I peer out into the New Ashbury Skyline and I smile. No hint of her being reborn.--Hilary Brookes
My brother had managed to gain a network of traders and clansmen from all around Typha and beyond. He called his company Beyond Horizon. We had to find the other Tear holders. Problem was figuring out which layers people had been born to. Not all had been reborn to Human or Typherian heritage. --Sleeping In Starlight: Post Convergence Files (Conclave Access Required)
The Jupiter Rising
In Orbit of Bardax Prime
Febuary 5th 5490 A.C
Doc went to check the cargo.
I had arranged for us to transport some military grade drives to Bardax itself. In the past few years we could only meet up a handful of times. In and out of our Demi personas. I was glad I had an enhanced metabolism. Lorain was making up for a metric ton of dinner dates. Horus floated over. He possessed three red irises this go around. His outer white and tan spherical shell as loaded for combat as ever.
He ejected me from my usual spot. <<Recommend you go down to the planet!>>
I flew down the corridors to the lift. Relishing in the fact that I could just fly for the sake of it. My brother was having a nice vacation from his usual duties. It did help that he never had his wife in the spotlight in our previous life. A “Typherian” with auburn hair and light blue eyes practically tackled me.
Doc’s voice had been modulated. “Finally.”
I responded gently, “Where to first?”
We still had to be careful. So this was the 2nd best option.
Mom had even provided enough Clan Arkan data to have my new hookups make sense. There were so many Typherian merchant clans nowadays that it made the old House Bloodline maze look perfectly mundane. The few within the Eden Cycle Commons relished the new normal. Quite a few hybrids existed as well. It would help once I reemerged into the world. Since Humanity and the Typherians had been interbreeding for well over 2000 years.
Lorain tugged on my navy blue flight jacket. “Come on!”
She knew that glint in my eye, “NO WORK! I forbid it!”
She took my left hand and guided me to the grav pods. “In you go!”
“Yes ma’am!”
She pulled the brim of my cap down as the pod dropped to the sparkling waterfalls below.
Her laughter was just the medicine I craved at that moment.
Earth
Hub Ring Orion
February 5th 5490 A.C
Yak-tish re-examined the list.
Crossguard, Ludicrous Speed, Lensflair, Iron Jaw and Fadeaway. They made up the new team with Ethereal Titan at their head. Not quite as notable as the Banner but he understood the stakes. Find out which one was Lucifer. Many Orbitals often posted to HeroNet about how restrictive moving up was. Theories.
Was it bloodlines?
Experience?
Fadeaway got on his radar because the young demi theorized that Mystic chose who to promote. Based on past life flashes. Could some demis dive into previous other memory and gain more powers? Skills? Insights. They would have to do all of this the old fashioned way. His shoulders itched as Abraham Murphy and his wife passed. He gave a polite nod. For all intents he was one of the support troops attached to Eliza’s new group. The piece of the Tear within him recognizing an ally.
He had never imagined the world as vast as this. Even beyond his Island.
Stars beyond all measure. One could get lost in the wonders of the universe.
Many demis were curious. Alongside their civilian counterparts.
Did the higher tiers know more about the Ninth Circle?
Oh yes. Yak had been stunned by their knowledge of the Devourer. That being who resided beyond the Light of Creation. It had nearly torn his homelands asunder. Unlike the rest within the past cycles? Their gateways had no buffers. His people either summoned the Oversoul’s light directly or archfiends gathered those touched or defiled by the Devourer. He imagined that was why Eliza Murphy had been the first outsider able to travel to his lands. She was blessed directly as well. A direct avatar of the Oversoul’s will.
A flash of warmth ran down his back. The Tear pulsed. He listened to the song.
It would guide him.
∞
Striker Nix nursed his drink.
This was bad. All the usual suspects had made it to Earth. Lucifer’s threat rang clear.
A majority were human. Their bodies and faces changed.
You are the key.
That was why the old fallen one had saved him. Out of everyone he could see past Chronos’ veil. That sliver of him that was Artock remained. That part warped by Chronos and the ghost memory of the Void Walkers. Lucifer processed a sliver of his former glory. Nix had seen the sympathy vibrations within the threads. They all would use each other to reach the final goal. The Ninth Circle. The most heavily protected bastion within this Triad territory.
Lucifer had an advantage no one else had.
He was a Protectorate member.
His ID hidden even from Nix. A trade for getting into this new cycle.
He froze as his H.U.D updated.
//The Silver Siren strikes again! Ninth cultists routed from the northern territories of Camelot.//
He knew those eyes. She was a holy terror against the forces that had kept her entrapped during the Eden days. HeroNet was teeming with old souls that remembered. Lucifer’s mandate had been clear.
“You will draw all attention to yourself.”
This deal was getting worse. He often wondered what had happened to all his Artock brethren. Not all had been of Gemni stock. That race was expanding outward. Everyone was so happy here. Did they care nothing for the horror that would arrive? The only references Nix could find was one entry called, “The Many Faces.”
It pertained to the god that the Ninth Array cultists had formed their whole religion around. It had gotten him on the radar of the whole Protectorate. Only Lucifer’s warnings had hidden him in time. What use was crime when every Tom, Dick and Harry of Earth ended up being mini versions of the ever so pious Eliza Murphy.
Maybe that’s what happened to them.
They got sucked into each soul ever born upon the Earth.
∞
Catherine Bel sang. The words rippled through the Weave. White Scrawl exploded from the ground. Piercing the chests of the black robed men. Nuul, formerly of Atlantis, encased her in bright indigo shielding.
One raised a stone knife, “Traitorous Bride!”
She delivered a kick to his midsection while Nuul captured the knife in a construct of pale blue flames. Bel delivered one final kick to the prostrate cultist. The soft hiss of dissipating Black Scrawl silenced as he lost consciousness. She whirled as Nuul closed in.
“Do not touch me.”
Each word as cold as space itself. Nuul retracted his Defender constructs.
“We have a new assignment for you.”
She nodded stiffly.
“Where?”
Bardax Prime
The Wall of Moriah
February 8th 5490 A.C
Bel paused.
The woman leaning upon the outcropping had dirty blonde hair. Eyes that flashed. Her uniform was a simple navy blue flight jacket, white undershirt and black utility pants. Her anti-grav boots scuffed from long hours loading ships. She turned. Catherine Bel fell in slow motion. The other woman was there in a blink.
“Quite the responsibility. God does work in mysterious ways.”
The false face fell. For a split second Bel saw the full truth.
Trembling fingers pulled Murphy in close.
∞
“When will this end? The Nothing closes in.”
Bel’s voice held a note of fire.
She was another Tear bearer. A demi who could utilize the Weave. I had read her file. White Scrawl cocoons that launched cultists into the Ninth Circle. Not just purging the souls from the body. The full package launched right into the heart of eternal judgment. Bel pulled away. Her expression hardened, “I see. To each a piece is given. To launch the bullet into the heart of darkness. So it may devour itself.”
I nodded, “All in one. The threads will bind them to the Ninth.”
Bel traced symbols into the air.
Her voice cracked, “You will allow this?”
She held much anguish in her heart. I held out my hands. Palms upward, “When the time comes? You shall bind them to the Ninth Circle.” She smiled. As if an age of Winter had been lifted.
“My life is but a mote within the Wall.”
I replied, “Thus the brick is laid. Guiding us all to the Sea.”
Bel whispered, “Find him. She remembers. Gather us all for the final push.”
I turned. My footfalls echoed.
Lethe. I would have to make Lorain remember.
∞
Lorain glared at the console. Eliza’s words brought back memory just out of reach.
She pivoted. “That’s….” She balled her fists up.
“Me? My powers aren’t the same. You know that!”
“Indeed. But that isn’t quite the issue. You followed me through. Both times.”
Lorain pinched the bridge of her nose.
“How?”
∞
I watched as Lethe’s memory form paced about the cargo hold.
She had latched onto Mary upon arriving within this reborn cycle. Ordered to remain separated from her mortal form. So that my brother and I could arrive undetected. Lorain was before me. Her eyes unforgiving. She didn’t want to remember. Maybe even thinking it would be easier to keep this fresh slate going longer. That wasn’t in the cards. I hadn’t lied. She had followed my brother and I through the portal each time.
First to face the Nothing at it’s source.
The 2nd was against Thoth and the Dreamweaver.
Both times the Oversoul had sealed away the memory. This fight would offer no remaining buffers. We would both endure the recollection. Jupiter sealed the hold. Energy shot out to hold us both to the deck. Bel entered. A lute made of White Scrawl parted the layers of memory. Ash and soot rose against the farthest corners of my memory.
The Silver Siren began her lament.
Creation Cycle
Forbidden Lands
White Scrawl Retrieval
Lethe crept after the twin demis.
She feared for them. With each step her outer robes darkened with ash. What had compelled them to venture to this forbidden plane? A flash of white light engulfed the cavern. Lethe bit back a scream. The walls were shuddering. As if a great beast was breathing. She yanked her hand back as it met resistance. The porous material thrummed. Another flash of white. She could hear two voices shouting. Words of Power. Gifted to the realm of Mankind. The Shield bearer and her brother.
Lethe forced her palms through the membrane.
Three golden threads shall bind them. Will you be my eyes?
The voice curled about her. Everlasting. Kind. Ancient.
∞
The Oversoul pleaded with me.
Will you be my hands?
My brother blocked another blow with his spear. Its radiance split the eternal night. I raised my shield up over my head. The Nothing recoiled from it. It desired souls. Yet it was repelled by us. Its hunger rippled across my skin. It could not eat us. It dared not. For we carried the light of the Oversoul within us. The Dreamweaver prostrated himself before the wiggling mass of scales. I would not look it in the eye. I watched as it drained a few sacrifices from the Weaver. Its moniker a direct insult to the 2nd aspect.
He spooled out 7 threads.
They fled into the next cycle. Even as the Ouro twisted around us.
Lethe dashed past us. Her hands burrowing into the flesh of the Nothing.
One dark Tear ran up her arm. I spun my shield in an arc. Pulling her from the bulbous mass. My shield grew until it encompassed all three of us. All light abandoned us. Except for the warmth of the star cupped in Lethe’s hands.
Exodus Cycle
Noah’s Ark
White Scrawl Retrieval
I gasped. Water ran from my lips as three figures held me down.
The voice echoed.
Will you be my mouth? Speak the Words.
“The Ouros must be reset.”
A kindly visage swam before me. His eyes focused on my chest. “You are known to me Arbiter. I am called Noah.” I blinked yet my eyes remained unfocused.
“Easy now. You haven’t used this one before. Each Sleeve requires special tending.”
A system put into place by the Oversoul. Using Eden as its focal point.
The waters soothed my skin.
My vision focused.
One message relayed through one blink.
//Initiating Thronebearer Cleansing. At 2% and climbing. ID fragment recognized. Codifier Black.//
The Icath Soul Pair greeted me.
<<New form acquired for Charon. Beginning Unseen Order Era>>
∞
Bel continued to sing as Dexter Murphy joined his sister and Lorain-Lethe in the memory trance. Memory was power. Within these three was the purpose of the Ninth Circle. A way to stop the Nothing from devouring the rest of Creation. They had managed the impossible. Nearly recovering 90% of the souls thought lost to previously consumed cycles. Her’s had been such a soul. Not even allowed to exist properly within the Eden phase.
Catherine Bel would protect them with every fiber she had.
She would live to see the end of Chronos and all his ilk.
As the primary Sleeve of the Nothing that creature would get all the tender care she could muster. She had willingly given up her body so that Alice Hayden Brookes could live out a normal life. Meathook had earned its just rewards. Dexter’s memories linked into place.
The Climb. The Knife. The Tears.
The Climb. The Knife. The Tears.
The Climb. The Knife. The Tears.
As the Silver Siren she continued her Lament.
Until the three that slept became whole.
Issue 17: Here
Issue 19: Here
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