4Disclaimer: I do not own WITCH, its rights are a property of the Disney Company and Disney Italia.
So this is my first serious WITCH fanfic. I have an idea for a story based in this awesome series and I wanted to write it. This is gonna be just the Prologue to the main story. After it, I will leave a whole section of after-work like another chapter to explain things. Enjoy your read and leave a review!
WICTH
A different story
Prologue: Four Royals of the Supernatural
There are a lot of ways of telling a story. You can start from the end, from the beginning, "in media res"… You can show the point of view of one character, of every character, or even of no one. You can have a happy ending, a sad ending, or a bittersweet one.
There are so many ways of telling a story…
In this story´s case, everyone knows the "principal plot". Five girls, five normal, human girls; are chosen by the Light, in order to fight the Darkness. They fight, brave and powerful, against a pathetic excuse of a ruler, a greedy and self-centered man that, unable to be content with his place in the "Design of Everything"; betrays his family and destroys everything that he holds dear; and for that sin he will expand the rest of his days in a cage, with the monsters that he forced to be born; for neither he or those monster see nothing wrong in what they did.
They fight, experienced and more intelligent; against one of their own, one of their predecessors; a sad and miserable woman, driven by her weaknesses to see that her friends just wanted to protect her; that buries her sadness and remorse using power and an excuse of a "Better Design" to the "Design of Everything". And for her sins and pettiness, that woman will remain in a dream prison, enjoying the happiness that she think she deserves; until the moment that she is strong enough to face the ones that she has hurt, and ask for their forgiveness.
And they win. Those five normal, human, ordinary girls win. And more importantly, they grow. They mature. They conquer their fears, they become stronger, smarter. They strengthen their love and bounds.
And when the moment of truth comes, when those five ordinary girls are given the chance to become something more, something beyond the ordinary; they choose to remain human, to no lose their love and bounds. For love is what, in the end, helps them to remain human; and the only thing that makes a human be human; and the true greatness in the universe.
And so, the story ends, with the happy ending that the Light always deserves. Or so it seems. Is that really the ending? Is happiness what the Light deserves? No. Like it has been said, there are so many ways of telling a story.
And to be able to tell the ending of these five humans story, we have to start from the beginning. What is the beginning, you ask? Is the beginning the infant days of the greedy prince?
No.
The golden age of the previous generation, maybe?
No.
The beginning of this story takes places before that. Even before Kandrakar and the concept of "Heart".
When the universe was young, and the energy that nowadays sentient people call magic was wild and knew no forms or spells; this story starts. And it starts with a child. A child that is young. He is even younger than the five girls.
In this young universe, where magic runs rampant, the ones that can use it are revered and loved by thousands. In this young but dangerous universe, this child, that has been born with the ability to channel that rampant power and bound it to the mission of healing, is destined to be extraordinary.
Innumerable masses of people come. Heal my children, oh Child of Heal, they say. Heal my lover, my companion, the people under my wing, they say. And they keep coming and saying those words. And so, the time passes, and the Child of Healing becomes the first being in universal history, to be a social leader. Not a Conqueror, not a Destroyer; but a Healer.
Ah, but nature, especially young nature, despises the healers. One day, the people are attacked by an animal. This animal, this beast, is an ancestor of the Great Wolf Fenrir that will torment the inhabitants of the northern parts of Earth; and so is the ancestor of the first beast that will bear the name Khor the Destroyer; and so he is the ancestor of every great wolf and every great beast that lurks in the shadows of every forest, tundra and mountain. For the time that it stood around, it was called just that, The Beast.
And the Beast ravages the people, and so it hurts the Child of Healing. And when the attack ends and The Beast goes into the horizon, looking for more to eat, the Child is abandoned by the people. "Why haven´t you protected us?" the people ask while they leave. And the Child of Healing does not understand. Was he here for protection? No, he was there for healing. Why do they think that he can protect? He can only heal. He cannot even live for himself just with that. But he was revered and so his choose was to be a Healer; not a Conqueror or a Destroyer. And sometimes, those are needed.
And the Child of Healing, who even with the pass of the years is still a child, is left alone. And he cries, and cries, until there are no more tears to bear from his eyes. And the Child screams in anger. "It is not my fault!" "I don´t want to end like this!" while his wounds are bleeding, for he is not able to heal himself. Really is such a pity, for a Healer to die because he is unable to heal himself. And so, the Child continues screaming, in hope that someone will come and heal him for the first time.
And the same rampant magic that has helped him since birth comes to him again. But this time is no driven by the need to heal others. This time is driven by anger, by hate; but above anything else, is driven by a desire.
"I WANT TO LIVE"
That is what the Child screams with his wounds bleeding and his spirit broken. And so the rampant magic opens a tear in the fabric of the universe. But this tear is different than the ones to come. It is no Portal, for there are still no Veils, but it is not a Fold in space too. This tear is a Wound in the universe itself. And so, for that Wound, the Abyss, the original mass of nothingness that would be called "Darkness" or "Void" in the distant future, came for the first time. And the Abyss halted and watched the one that had summoned it to the domains of the Light.
The Abyss is something that is no impressed regularly. As one of the two driving forces of everything, it's very hard to impress it. But this little one, this… Creature of the Light had broke the fabric of the universe itself and called it to this place. And so, the Abyss thought, for the very first time in Eons, that maybe not all the Creatures of the Light were destined to be in the light. That maybe those creatures were its property as they were of the Light.
And so, the Abyss came completely from the Wound, and toke the Child of Healing in its brace, like a mother would do with a baby. And the Abyss learned from the Child. It learned his name, his history, his language. But the most important thing that it learned was the concept of "desire".
"What do you desire?" asked the Abyss to the Child.
"I desire to live!" was the answer, as expected.
Was the Abyss showing gratitude? Love, maybe? Or was all part of a new plan that had just popped out in its mind the moment that it came from the Wound? It does not matter; for the Abyss granted the Child´s desire. The Abyss annihilated the Child´s body, erased it from reality itself, but conserved his mind and soul. The Abyss warped around them, removing the rights of the Light from the Child, and forging a new body for him from itself.
And the Child was not the Child anymore. His body looked similar, but it was not the same. For starters, the wounds were gone. He seemed a little bit older too. His hair, which until that point was of a wary green, was now as black as the Abyss itself. His skin, until that moment almond, almost chocolate; was now of a pale white. But it was not a healthy one. It looked like decadent and unhealthy marble.
And then, there were the eyes. The eyes were there, but at the same time they weren´t. A person could have look from a distance and figure that the sclera was a complete orb of dark. But there was no eye in that skull. For the two orbs, which sometimes are described as the "windows to the soul", were now Wounds to the Abyss. A testimony of that the Child was not himself anymore.
Now embodied in a large robe of pale almost transparent grey (but not as pale as himself), that was almost like the regal dresses that the royals put on their newborns and that let the shape of his naked body under the dress be seen; and without nothing to cover his feet, the new born Abyss-Child listened carefully to his creator.
"If you desire to live, if you desire to continue; then continue. Continue with me and for me; wipe out from this place the ones that can hurt you and that would try and hurt me".
"Because I am you and you are me. If your desire is to survive; then it is simple. Conquer and destroy everything that wants to oppose you and me; and then make it bow to us or disappear. Bring Death and Rot to the ones that walk on the Light, for that is the purpose of the Abyss. And bury your fears in me. In us"
And so the Abyss-Child held his new hands to the skies, and made the Wound to grew and envelop the entire world. And the world became the Wound. The Abyss took over and became physical. And the world and everything that had a foot in it became warped by the Abyss. There were ones who died, of course, especially if they were the ones who had bothered the Child; their flesh, bones, souls and minds rotten away. Ironically, the Beast survived. It even became stronger, bigger and smarter. The Abyss-Child sent it in a travel for the entire cosmos, and that is when it started mating. With lesser beings, true, but when nature calls it does it whit fervor.
When the Wound-World was finished, it moved. To the corners of the universe, to a place from where its inhabitants; now walking monstrosities, living nightmares born from the decadent imagination of the Abyss-Child; would watch the universe bloom and grow.
Because the Abyss-Child knew, thanks to the powers that he inherited, that there could be more. He would not be the only one who would rule over the new decadent court that populated his world fortress. There would be more. So he would wait.
He directed himself to the nightmares, which in return looked back to him with hundreds of eyes each one; with tentacles and too many mouths in their bodies and heads. They were called the Dasa by the Abyss-Child.
They then sang, in a guttural, bizarre, frightening yet beautiful way; for their ruler and the ones to come.
Then the Abyss-Child joined and sang with his own voice. And even if the language cannot be put here, the translations of what he said are, more or less: "My name is Vritra, the one that envelops everything with the Abyss, Death and Rot. Because I desire to live, and only in the Abyss I shall remain"
Now our story advances. To a time were magic has been codified in spells and formulas, but still there are no "Hearts". There are few remnants of the rampant magic of the old times, and there are still descendants of the Beast terrorizing the worlds; albeit there are nothing compared with their progenitor.
In this point of the story, our attention should be directed to a man of knowledge and progress. He was a wizard to some, a hermit to others. He was one of the first that the universe called Philosopher. His place of residence, his birth world, was a world that would become quite important with the pass of time. This world was Arkhanta, home of the Banshees, women of the swamp that in other worlds were called lamia or sirens.
The Philosopher spent his days investigating, reading and experimenting. Combining magic and the few that the men and women of his world knew about science, he created new formulas, new spells and new uses for the magic.
With the pass of the years, he accomplished what no one else had accomplished until him. He made a deal with a banshee, something that, in millennia, another man of that world would accomplish too; albeit in a very different manner.
The Philosopher wants to travel to other worlds, to other places; to learn from them and create anew. And for that, he needs the banshees, who have (and never will have) equal in Arkhanta in terms of magical power. In exchange, he offers the banshee all the new achievements that he has gathered with the pass of the years. After all, he wants to discover and create new, but not keep it to himself.
The banshee agrees, and shows him how to create a Fold in space. She provides him with the means to domesticate and bound to his will a Tonga creature, which can create Folds between worlds using its bare teeth.
With his Tonga, which he names Zaza, the Philosopher leaves, and travels around the universe. He travels to Metamoor, which in the future will be named Meridian, and he learns from the shamans of the Lurden people, whose rituals will be banished in the times of war, from the Chimeras that can turn themselves in gigantic animals and that with the pass of time will be denigrated with the term "shapeshipter", and also from the noble Ghalots, the scaled people, that are not so much different of the banshees. He doesn´t have enough luck to meet a Passling. Apparently they live in a large construct underground, a city that they have created in order to be infinite. Good Passlings, the Philosopher likes that type of ambition.
He travels to Basillade, which offers him tactics and combat training, alongside a new robe that can withstand dirt and fire. When the Philosopher and Zaza leave Basillade, he has made himself sure of teach to the others how to bound a Tonga.
His last parade is the Earth. Surprisingly is the place where he stays more. The Philosopher founds Earth and it´s people as knowledge-hungry as he is. Also, he founds incredible interesting how time seems to pass in a different rate in Earth that in the rest of the worlds that he has visited. One day in Earth should have be half a day in Arkhanta, he thought.
He and Zaza make new friends in Earth. The most important of them, is a human called Hermes-Tot, an alchemist and man of knowledge like him. The two of them walk and talk regularly, alongside Zaza.
When the Philosopher leaves, Hermes-Tot is the last one to say his goodbyes. He would have loved to travel with the Philosopher, but their talks had helped him to get to an idea; and idea to re-formulate the bound of the Tonga to magic itself, and create masses of enormous magic capability that can be wielded by people. This, in the future, will lead to the creation of the term "Hearth", the magical will of a world that can be bound to and wielded by the ones that prove worthy to the world and that grants an enormous power.
The Philosopher returns to his home and goes to the banshee to share with her his new discoveries. They talk for long, about his discoveries and his adventures, about his new friends and the different races that he has discovered. But when he returns another day he founds her sad and depressive. The banshee asks the Philosopher to go to Basilade, to go and see its people; for them have been travelling between worlds for a lot of time.
"But that's fantastic. It means that they have learned how to bind a Tonga" he retorts.
"Yes, they have learned" answers the banshee.
So the Philosopher marches to Basilade alongside Zaza. And what he encounters is not of his liking. Yes, the people have been travelling between worlds. But there is no Tonga to be seen in all Basilade. And when they travel, they do it alone.
They have been hunting the Tonga using the spell that he taught them; because the whole Tonga is no need to travel, only its teeth. And if you work with the teeth and make objects with it (like a ring, for example), those objects will be able to fold the space too.
The moment that he tries to leave, he is stopped. The people of Basilade think that his knowledge is dangerous.
"Knowledge, dangerous?" asks the Philosopher. "Ridiculous, knowledge can only let to progress! It is you that are a failure using knowledge!"
And so, the Philosopher runs. But the people of Basilade warriors since the dawn of their societies prove to be too great of a challenge for him. That is why when the moment of truth comes, when an arrow reaches his leg and stops him from keep running. In that moment, Zaza comes to him.
And the Philosopher releases the Tonga from his bounding spell. The animal has accompanied him long enough. But the Tonga doesn´t leave. It keeps itself there and with its tongue licks the Philosophers face. And then Zaza roars, and smashes it´s head in the ground, hard enough to make one of its teeth to fall from its mouth.
The tooth is left there, at the side of the Philosopher, for him to use. Zaza, meanwhile, leave its companion and dashes to battle the warriors of Basilade, who have no simply harm his companion, but also hunt down its species. And so Zaza goes, to fight for the Philosopher.
Have you ever seen a Tonga creature fight? It is not a nice spectacle for the ones that are in the receiving end of its rage. It is bad to a man to fight an enraged animal, but to fight an animal that can not only tear your flesh, but also erase the very matter of your body from space with its bite? That is a nightmare.
But eventually, every creature that fights grows tired. And Zaza, good loyal Zaza, was no exception. So the Basilade warriors, even if decreased in numbers, eventually conquered the animal, and wiped out its life. Zaza´s teeth met the same fate that the ones from other Tonga creatures.
But at least the Philosopher was able to escape. Although, unable to use the bare Tonga tooth adequately, he ended in deserted lands of the world of Aridia, a place with no known civilization, only with a very few reptilian species adapted to the dry environment.
Unable to walk due to the arrow stock in his leg, the Philosopher waits there for his end, in the deserted plains of Aridia. He keeps the tooth of Zaza with him. He doesn´t want to use it again. What difference would it be between him and Basilade if he uses it? So, until the end, the Philosopher does what a philosopher knows best, and he thinks and meditates.
Was really his fault what happened to the Tonga creatures? Was the knowledge that he shared the trigger of an species genocide? Was it really his fault?
"No!" he screamed. "It was not my fault! I only shared the knowledge! It´s not my fault! It´s not my fault…" The Philosopher had started sobbing. "It´s not my fault… Zaza, Hermes… I promise…"
"But you shared" a tranquil, yet almost monstrous voice said. The Philosopher opened his eyes wide, and even if it hurt; he stood up. He looked around, until his face encountered the face of a child; a scary child with no eyes; his skin marble white and his hair darker than the starless night skies. The Philosopher felt to his ass and crawled away. But the pain in his leg and the now dry sensation in his throat made him stop.
"No need to flee from me. My name is Vritra, the Enveloper." The child said. He then appeared behind the Philosopher, as emphasizing that there was no escape. "And I am not here to harm you, oh great thinker" then Vritra moved his left hand, and the wound in the Philosophers leg healed, or more precisely erased. This made the Philosopher stop for a moment.
Vritra looked funny, first at the fact that he had healed someone for the first time in what it looked like an eternity, and to the fact that the Philosopher was now willing to start a conversation.
"Yes… I shared." start the good Philosopher. "That is how knowledge works. It had to be shared or it fades away. It is knowledge's purpose to be shared"
"It is?" retorted Vritra. "Look, what the sharing of knowledge has done and will do" And with a movement of his little right hand, the sands of Aridia formed windows in the air, and in those windows images started to appear.
The Philosopher saw then, how many Tonga creatures were being stripped of their teeth; not only in Basilade, but also in Meridian and his own home-world, Arkhanta. He then saw how in a few years the people will use those teeth and what they have created with them to travel with armies to other worlds, to conquer and kill and to oppress the good people of the universe. He saw derivates of his formulas, used to increase the destructive capability of spells and weapons.
"The moment you share knowledge" said Vritra, who was now behind the Philosopher, almost talking to his ear "you give the mediocre a weapon. Knowledge is a treasure, true, but in the hands of the many, it can only turn into a monster. So, no, my dear great thinker, sharing is not the purpose of knowledge. Knowledge has to be preserved, in the hands of the ones that will treasure it"
Then Vritra dispelled the sand windows, making the sand to become part of Aridia again. "Have seen enough?" he asked, but he knew the answer already.
The Philosopher stood there for a moment. Digesting what he had just seen. And, after a few minutes that looked like hours, he answered.
"No"
Vritra looked curiously at the man. "What?"
"I said no! It is not enough, show me more!"
"Oh, but I cannot show you so easily. What could you do if I gave you the knowledge that I posses? You certainly will share it with others, gave the mediocre what they do not deserve. No, no. I have changed my mind. I will leave you here, in this world, to die. Because I am sure that you will share"
"I will not!" shouted the Philosopher. "If only pain and destruction can come from the sharing of knowledge, then I will not share! But I will not be left down in this ridiculous pathetic world, when there are so many new things to learn about!"
At that moment, Vritra closed the distance between the two, and looking directly in the eyes of the Philosopher with his no-eyes, he spoke. "Then, what do you desire? What do you want? Do you want to live, to share, to dream, to conquer or to get revenge?"
"I WANT TO KNOW"
The moment that those words were spoken from the Philosophers mouth, the Abyss emanated from Vritra´s eyes and got itself inside the Philosopher, from the mouth. Then Vritra stood aside, and the Philosopher started to change, while the Abyss itself spoke to him.
"If your desire is to know, then know. Know with me and for me. Consume all the knowledge in this universe with your mouth, rip from the Light the knowledge that it doesn´t deserve, and keep it to yourself with Gluttony and Greed. For consuming what the Light possesses is the purpose of the Abyss. Because I am you and you are me. Consume and bury your ignorance in me. In us"
When the Abyss ended its speech, the Philosopher was not the Philosopher anymore. Almost every muscle in his body was gone, consumed by him. Only skin and bones remained. And the skin was now as pitch black as the hair and eyes of Vritra. His arms and body were now abnormally large, with in combo with his now skeletal body made him look like some sort of nightmarish scarecrow. His attire was now a black robe with gold trim. But the most disturbing thin was his face; or more precisely the lack of it.
No eyes, no ears, no nose. They simply were not there. The only thing that was in that face was a mouth. A big, skeletal mouth, filled with sick yellow teeth. No sharp, pointy teeth, no.
Cartoonish rectangular teeth.
"Shall we march then?" inquired Vritra.
"Indeed" answered the Abyss-Philosopher. Then, from his nightmarish mouth came his tongue. A scarlet tongue with tiny (almost microscopic) hands instead of taste buds. That tongue stretch out from the Abyss-Philosopher mouth… One meter… Five meters… It could stretch as long as the universe was, but this time it only stretches enough to touch the tooth of the late Zaza. And in the moment that the tongue touched it, it was consumed by the Abyss-Philosopher almost instantly, like being suck by a black hole.
Not only the tooth's matter, but it´s essence too was consumed. For that was the purpose of that tongue and that mouth, to consume and assimilate.
Then, the Abyss-Philosopher made a movement with his arm and created a Wound in Aridia, for he had learned how to distort space from the tooth. Not as big as to consume the world, but enough to Vitra and him to leave the deserted world to their home.
The years passed, and some wise people scattered around the universe started to feel something weird. They were forgetting things: ideas, formulas and designs. They were forgetting.
In the world of Earth, the wise Hermes-Tot was in his death bed. Surrounded by his sons and daughters, his last words were a warning. "Be careful my children. Treasure the knowledge and share it with many as possible, for something is eating our dreams…"
And unbeknown to them all, in the Wound-world where the Abyss was physical, the Dasa sang stronger, for they had now a second royal to sang with the first. And the Abyss-Philosopher sang, in a high and shrill voice. And even if the language cannot be put here, the translations of what he said are, more or less: "My name is Ba´al Zaabub, the one that devours everything with the Abyss, Gluttony and Greed. Because I desire to know, and only in the Abyss I shall learn"
Our story takes another jump in time again. This time, we will focus on a woman, a very important woman. You know her well, or you should.
This woman lives in a time of peace and enlighten. The "Hearth" of every world is now something that is well known almost for every magic creature of some name; and the Tonga teeth and the items that are made with them are used normally for people that want to travel across the Infinite Dimensions; for that is their name, or at least the one designated to them. Khor the Destroyer, the original one and the last of the living descendants of the Beast has been slain years ago.
A universal entity that shall guarantee the balance of the peace of the universe has been built by the union of various sage people and powerful mages. Here it is, in the center of the universe itself; here raises Kandrakar, the Fortress of Light. And in the center of Kandrakar, our woman, with white skin, green eyes and red long hair awaits. Her name is N´ghala, the First Oracle. But now, silence, don´t make any noise, don´t let a word to flee from your mouth. The Oracle is about to speak:
"My dear sages of the Council of Light." Started the Oracle "powerful Galhots of Metamoor; valiant warriors of Basilade, mighty banshees of Arkhanta, strong tree-folk of Zamballa, and wise humans of Earth. Today our efforts had come to bear a fruit. Today, this council which was born with the purpose of maintaining the pace across the Infinite Dimensions, to the large number of worlds under its care; today it sees its dreams come true. Behold" and then the first Oracle holds her hand up, and shows something to the council. A tiny pink jewel is in the hand of N´ghala. In the eyes of the ones that are no educated in the ways of magic and mystic, this would be only a simply (and actually kind of pathetic) accessory. But the sages of the council knew best. They knew that that tiny jewel was the key to their dreams and possibly the most powerful magical item in the entire universe. For that jewel was the Hearth of Kandrakar, the magical will of the center of the universe.
"The Hearth, the Hearth…" whispered numerous sages, in awe.
"Yes, the Hearth of Kandrakar" continued N´ghala. "The magical construct made not only of the magical will of the center of the universe, but also of the remnants of the Four Dragons and the Great Nymph Xi Jing, who all helped the universe in times of need, the artifact that will permit to touch the dragons to five chosen ones. And this five chosen ones will be gifted with control over Earth, Water, Fire, Wind and Quintessence; the five pillars of reality itself. And they will become a symbol of peace and freedom to the entire universe; a group made in order to protect. For that is what they will be: Guardians of the Infinite Dimensions. Now, we shall appoint one Guardian per world that forms the Council of Light."
As N´ghala ended her speech, from the Council of Light five women came. The first one, a Zaballan small tree-folk, the second one a young banshee with sort blue hair, a young woman of Bassilade with a dark braid, a feminine Galhot of Metamoor, with blue skin and only a lock of white hair in her head, and finally, a young Earth woman with pale dark hair bounded in two braids at the sides of her head.
N´ghala hold up the Hearth again, and from it came the five symbols of the elements. They flee a little in the baste room that held the Council, until they noticed the five women. And then they flee towards them, and touched their souls. Then, of course, the transformation.
A body, independent of how powerful it might be, cannot hold the power of a dragon in its regular form. That is why when the process ended, the tree-folk was now more humanoid, but maintained her body of wood and leaves; the banshee was now a being of pure water; the daughter of Basilade was made of crimson flames; the young earthling a construct of living air; and finally the Galhot was now a mass of pure energy.
There they stood the first generation of Guardians of the Infinite Dimensions. N´ghala bowed respectively to them, and the first five retorted with the same gesture. They then occupied their place, behind the Oracle herself.
"Now" said the Oracle, while a much sadder simile appeared in her face, "I shall appoint a new Oracle".
This revelation took everyone in the council by surprise. No one was expecting that, neither any of them had being informed of. A lot of confused whispers rose from every corner of the Council, creating a buzzing sound that echoed for the entire chamber. They could not believe it. Much of them hold N´ghala as a close friend, others as a very wise leader, and others almost as an angel. Seeing this, N´ghala held her hand and silenced them. Then she spoke again.
"I am an Oracle that has dedicated her live to build this pace. I know of how to made, but not to how maintain. I know how to guide the ones that fall to despair, but I don´t know how to teach teamwork and rise properly the ones of the next generation. That is the reason why this council was made, in order to help and learn from each others. I am not fit to the task to come. Neither the Oracle that I will appoint will be fit to the task that is not part of his time. That is the reason behind the appointment of a new guide, of a new Oracle."
As N´ghala ended her speech, a new being rose from the Hearth. This time it was a crystal blue butterfly. The butterfly flew around the multitude of sages, until in stopped in the shoulder of an old earthling. A sage and alchemist of Earth named Paracelsus.
Everyone knew him. He was the one that directed the sages of Earth, and he was also a powerful magus, also a gold hearted man. But above all else, he was said to be the best of teachers in the entire cosmos.
"Master Paracelsus of Earth", said N´ghala "you have been chosen. Come here, to be bestowed as the Second Oracle." The old man rose from his seat and he came to the Oracle´s encounter. When he was face to face with the red headed woman, he spoke soft. "It must be a mistake, N´ghala; there are much more competent sages to bare this task"
But N´ghala dismissed his doubts with a soft smile. "No, my humble Paracelsus, you are the one. You are the best of teachers; for you are patient, caring, and joyful. That is the kind of teacher that these first five need. And there is no one that doubts your ability for that task. Am I wrong?"
No, the First Oracle wasn´t wrong. No one in the Council of Light doubted the ability of Paracelsus at teaching. And so no one voiced a word of protest. Truly he was the most indicated one to this task.
And so, N´ghala pushed her forehead against the one of Paracelsus. And the energy that connected her to Kandrakar´s core passed to the old sage. And so, a new symbol, a rune that resembled the Hearth was bestowed upon Paracelsus forehead. And the powers of sight that permit the Oracle to see in the flow of time passed to the man from the woman.
And so, he now was, Second Oracle of Kandrakar, Paracelsus.
The Council of Light clapped and cheered in form of approves. Then N´ghala rose from her seat and handled it to Paracelsus. And she leaved the Council.
In the exteriors of the Fortress of Light, N´ghala walked with a little cane in her right hand that helped the middle aged woman to walk. Even if her body was not crippled or hurt, the absence of the mystical energy of Kandrakar was a little inconvenience. At least until she had accustomed to her new stage.
"Are you all right?" asked a young voice behind her. N´ghala turned around and saw a young banshee in a white sage robe. One of the most recent sages of Arkhanta, she supposed.
"I am just a little tired. I must admit that the lack of being connected to a cosmic source of infinite energy has a few disadvantages in one´s body. But I will be alright when I have re-accustomed myself to a normal mortal´s life. Although, shouldn´t be you with the rest of the Council?" asked N´ghala in retort.
"No, Paracelsus has dismissed us. He said that he liked to start strengthen the bounds between the Guardians (was it that, right?) almost as soon as possible. I just wanted to talk with you… eh… former Oracle?"
"Just N´ghala now, it seems. May I ask your name, young banshee?"
"Yua of Arkhanta, one of the new sages of my world, I am third in the line of succession to the Hearth of…" answered the young banshee, almost automatically. Fortunately, N´ghala stopped her.
"I will call you just Yua then" said the former Oracle, smiling at the apparent incapability of the young banshee of not relaxing herself in front of authority. The banshee smiled back.
"Just Yua, then." The banshee said, a little nervous.
"And what is the reason that you want to speak to me?" asked again the former Oracle, while starting to walk again, the banshee to her side.
"Is my sister going to be alright?" asked the banshee, now showing concern.
"Your sister…? Oh" N´ghala then acknowledged that the young banshee that was now walking by her side was awfully similar to the one that had become one with the water. "I see. Do not worry Yua; your sister will be alright."
"How can you be so sure? She doesn´t look like her anymore, what if my sister is now lost and she is not inside that… water thing."
"That "water thing" is still your sister. If she wasn´t still your sister, she could have not bound with the remnant of the water dragon. Your sister is still her. Is just that her appearance has been changed. But in the deep, is very hard to change a person. What it is in the deep is their very nature, their true essence. If your sister cared for you and you cared for her, then nothing in this universe can change that"
"But what if…" answered Yua, again with nervousness in her voice.
"Yua" said N´ghala, this time facing eye to eye the young banshee, with her free hand in her shoulder. "I promise you, that the Water Guardian and you too, will be spectacular"
"Is that a prophecy?" asked now Yua.
"Better, is good old faith" answered N´ghala. "You should be going now" continued the middle aged redhead "the other sages will be pondering where you are"
"I don´t think so, they probably have not noticed my absence…"
"Yua." Interrupted again the former Oracle. "Spectacular"
"Yes, spectacular" said the young banshee. "Alright, I will be going". While heading away from her interlocutor, Yua asked for a last time. "Where are you going, anyway?"
"I will head for Earth. I never had the opportunity to visit it in a deep way, and since I had appointed one of its inhabitants as my successor… well, it seems logical"
"Good travel then" said Yua, and she headed away. N´ghala lasted for a few seconds until the banshee disappeared from her sigh. It was truly a very enjoyable view to watch her walk away, the way her young hips were… No! N´ghala stopped her mind to taking that way, and then she started walking again. She had a very long journey to Earth. No time to loss in watching and thinking about young women. Independently of how pretty they were. She must remember what her mother taught her, long ago.
So the now former Oracle travelled to Earth. What had this tiny messy world that attracts so much attention? Is because its time moves two times faster than the rest of the known worlds? Is it because the innumerable cultures which populate it? Or maybe all of those reasons? It does not matter.
For N´ghala, the former Oracle, now just a woman walking on the roads of Earth; the world of humans offered both education and entertainment. So she walked and learned. It wasn´t long time pass when she encountered a young girl, in the road.
"A beggar" she thought. N´ghala took pity for the young girl; an offered her to walk beside her. Maybe she reminded her of sweet young Yua? She did not know. But the young girl took N´ghala´s hand and they walked together. The former Oracle named her Freya, her little girl with golden hair and green eyes. Those eyes which were just like hers.
N´ghala and Freya decided to live in a little house that the former Oracle made with her magic. Even with not cosmic bound to Kandrakar, she still had that kind of ability. The house was near a forest, in the outskirts of a village, by the side of a brilliant calm river where Freya used to play.
The two women passed their days together, with N'ghala teaching her new daughter everything that she knew. The days became weeks, the weeks months, and the months years. N´ghala never asked why her new, beautiful daughter, was in the state that she encountered her. Maybe she lost her original parents?
When N´ghala opened her eyes one morning, she had just passed the equator of her life, and her gold haired daughter was almost an adult woman. Why didn´t she abandon the position of Oracle sooner? This new life was tranquil, peaceful. And the probably most beautiful and kind creature of the entire universe called her mother. She felt more proud about Freya that she felt about Kandrakar and the entire Council of Light. Except for Yua, of course. Maybe it would be a good idea to arrange a meeting between the banshee and her daughter. They probably will become friends. Maybe they would play in the brilliant river; and she will play with them too. Completely naked.
One day N´ghala returned from the village almost at twilight. Her daughter was preparing for dinner. Her beautiful and kind Freya. How could had she lived all those years without her?
Alone, always alone, in that cold fortress in the center of the universe and her cold home, before it. Was that cold what had motivated her to seek companions across the universe? Was Kandrakar born just for the sake of a woman´s pettiness?
None of that mattered now. The only thing that mattered was Freya.
When they finished their dinner, Freya went to sleep first. And N´ghala waited a few minutes. Then she headed to her daughter´s room in silence. Then, once there, she just picked a chair and sit down. She watched her daughter sleep. There was something in Freya that made N´ghala feel young and powerful again. It made her feel even stronger than an Oracle or any Hearth wielder.
She stroked Freya´s golden hair. And her daughter wake up.
"Mother?" asked Freya, almost in dreams. "Do you want to sleep with me?"
"Yes" N´ghala surprised herself answering. "Why not? Just like when you were a child…"
N´ghala entered her daughter´s bed. Then they embraced each other. Freya buried her face in her mother´s bust, using it as a pillow, exactly like when she was a child. N´ghala surrounded her daughter with her arms and hold her tight to her. N´ghala lowered her head and smelled her daughter´s hair. It smelled like the fallen leafs in autumn.
"You are so warm…" whispered the mother to the daughter. Then she prepared herself to sleep…
"I love you, mother" until those words escaped from Freya´s mouth.
That did it. The trigger was pull.
N´ghala opened her eyes wide, the word "sleeping" totally out of her mind. She smelled again Freya´s hair, and her hands started moving under Freya´s night robe, touching her young skin and making Freya laugh.
"Mother, stop… It tickles!" was the innocent response of Freya. But when N´ghala pressed her lips against hers and the young lady felled her mother´s tongue coming inside her mouth, invading her; all the happiness faded away.
Freya grew more surprised when her mother broke the kiss, hold her up and kiss her again this time more violently.
Freya screamed, and then she was the one that broke the kiss. But N´ghala hold her hands and pinned her to the bed using magic. Then the former Oracle ripped out Freya´s clothes, and pressed her bust against hers. And she started to kiss her again, this time with such strength that it was enough to made Freya unable to move her head.
Since the young woman´s hands were motionless due to the former Oracle´s spell; she started to press her daughter´s breasts with them, playing with the two amounts of flesh like a child would play with a pair of balloons. Just enjoying herself.
Just pure hedonism.
"Mother! Stop!" asked Freya to N´ghala, her mother.
"No" was the answer of N´ghala, the First Oracle of Kandrakar; of N´ghala, the daughter of Dür´ghala, who had lived cold during all her live.
Then her left hand pressed Freya´s left breast harder, and the young woman screamed more. Then the right hand of the older red headed woman started to go down Freya´s body. Down, down, down, down…
Until it reached her most vivid flesh and started to play with it. Like a child would play with a new toy that was just bought without the consent of the parents. Just enjoying herself.
Just pure hedonism.
"Stop, Stop, Stop!" Shouted Freya, with all the power of her lungs.
"No, I will not stop. I have been waiting, so long, so cold…And you are so warm Freya. So beautiful and kind. The only one that ever talked to me without bowing, without looking me like a god… And the only one that looked to me when I was going… I love you, Yua.
"Who… who is Yua?" asked Freya, crying of pure terror. This thing was not her mother, nor her caring mother, who had saved her…
"You are Yua", said the First Oracle, and another kiss. But this time Freya bites back, literally. She bites N´ghala´s lip, and tears up a little bit of it. And N´ghala screams in pain and anger. She dispels her magic, and holding Freya by her hands, slaps her in the face so strongly that she is knocked out of the bed. And no wasting time, Freya gets up and runs from the house.
"You impudent ungrateful child!" shouts N´ghala, almost like a rabid dog. Until she realizes what have happened. She looks at her hand and then at the bed. There are a few drops of blood where Freya had been lying.
"Oh, dear Gods…" whispered N´ghala, now the mother again.
She ran outside too, no thinking in the fact that she was naked too, just like her daughter. She ran, to the forest. She was sure that Freya had gone that way.
"Freya! Freya, where are you?! Freya, come back!" she shouted to the dark of the trees. "I am sorry… I didn´t mean to do it! I don´t know what happened!"
Still, no response. The woman kept shouting during hours. But Freya didn´t come back. Perhaps she didn´t want to see her mother again. Perhaps she had encountered her death end in the forest. Perhaps she didn´t run to the forest in the first place.
And, in the end N´ghala ended alone. Just like at the beginning.
"Please… please Freya come back… we will play by the rivers side… I want you to meet everyone… I want them to know you and how happy you have made me…"
Crying, the once wise and powerful First Oracle was crying. She was alone again. Like a little kid that gets herself lost in the unknown, scared and cold; especially cold.
"I am cold again… as if I am completely frozen… I am very sorry Freya, I really am…"
"No, you are not" said then a high and shrill voice, almost like the noise that is made when someone scratches a crystal with a nail of metal. "You are not, sorry, no, no you aren´t… It is only a pathetic excuse!"
N´ghala focused her eyes in the dark and then she spotted someone. A very tall individual with black skin and long arms, a frail body made only of skin and bones and nothing in the face except for a grinning mouth of sick yellow teeth.
"A demon…" it was all that N´ghala reached to say.
"Demon, you say, oh first champion of light? Yes, I could be a demon, but that term feels small to define the ones like me" then it pondered a little, with its skeletal hand holding his skeletal chin. "Ah… living construct of negative energy with the will to think and act would be more accurate to describe the ones like me. But, since that seems too long, you may call me just Ba´al Zaabub, the Devourer" then Ba´al laughed, and it was such a pitch high laugh that made the forest shiver and N´ghala to held her ears. It was a laugh like shattering glass.
"What?" was the only thing that the weak former Oracle could say in response to the monster.
"What?" mimicked Ba´al, grinning. "Come on, you little one, saw more enthusiasm!"
"I am… too cold. I did something horrible, and now I am cold"
"Yes, you are cold. But why are you cold, anyway? You say that you made something terrible, but I don´t see the problem! What is wrong with wanted to be warm, what is wrong with wanted to be loved? I will answer. NOTHING! You did nothing wrong, little N´ghala."
"How… how do you…?"
"Know your name? I know lots of things, little one. I know… almost everything. I know that you were always cold. Cold under the mistreatments of Dür´ghala, your very own mother. Cold even when you looked for companions to save this messy universe from its own nature. Cold even when you played with yourself under the blankets of your bed, thinking about how beautiful seemed the young daughters of the great lords…"
"Enough!" shouted N´ghala "You are…"
"Come on" retorted Ba´al "tell me that I am wrong. Tell me that what I said is a lie, and I will leave. I promise! Fingers not crossed!"
But N´ghala couldn´t say that he was lying. Because he was not. She always had found the daughters of the lords, of the bakers, and of the soldiers quite beautiful. And also she had found beautiful their wives and sisters. But mother…
"Yes! Yes! Your mother negated you your destined love, didn´t she?" said Ba´al, almost like reading her mind. "What did she said? That it was unnatural, she said! What a lie!"
"But it is unnatural…" continued N´ghala, almost pleading to the demon. The destiny of a woman is to lay with a man, and the destiny of a man is to lay with a woman. That is natural.
"Unnatural? Isn´t it unnatural to condense the magical will of a world, and call it Heart? Isn´t it unnatural to bound five women with the remnants of elemental gods and call them Guardians? Ohm? What it is unnatural and what is not?"
"But those things were made for protecting the good and peace of the universe. To protect the light of…" excused herself N´ghala. Weird. Why needed she to excuse herself?
"Exactly! The Light is a concept that moves with hypocrisy! If it is for the Light, even if it's terrible, then is natural and right! But if it is something that is not of the Light, even if it is something that cannot harm a fly, then is something unnatural! Don´t tell me that you believe yourself when you say that you are sorry. You are not! You are only lying to yourself. Didn´t it feel good to finally get your desire satisfied, didn´t it feel great to kiss her body and dominate her soul? Tell me!"
"It felt good." N´ghala confessed, "but even if that is true, it doesn´t feel right…"
"Right and wrong" said Ba´al, this time completely calm. So calm, that his voice sounded louder. "are only viewpoints. Terms and words, for the ones that are too weak to satisfy their own desires. If you continue to believe that, oh First Oracle, then you will never feel free with your own tastes, and you will never feel warm again. So, tell me, N´ghala. What. Do you. Want?"
"I WANT TO FEEL"
And by those words, Ba´al Zaabub opened his mouth, and from it came the Abyss. The Abyss curled and get inside N´ghala by ripping her stomach and inserting itself into her womb. And from inside, N´ghala started to change, and the Abyss spoke to her.
"If your desire is to feel, then feel. Feel with me and for me. Taste every sensation in this universe with your own body, rape the Light itself with Lust and Envy, injure in the weakling the feelings that they fear. For indulging in those sensations is the purpose of the Abyss. Because I am you and you are me. Experience and bury your shame in me. In us"
When the Abyss ended its speech N´ghala was not N´ghala anymore. Her skin had become scarlet, her body toned, her hands were almost like claws. Her lips were almost fire, her eyes burning with passion. It could have been gorgeous for any man or woman, except that her teeth were pointy, little fangs. And her tongue looked like a worm. And her hair was now an amalgam of white tentacles, each one with multiple mouths and their own pointy fangs and worm-tongues. She ten moaned, extended her arms, and from the wound that the Abyss had made in her womb, little, insectoid scorpion and spider arms stood out.
She then directed herself to Ba´al Zaabub and he made a Wound for them to go. "After you, madam" said the Devourer, making a vow. The Abyss-Oracle kissed him in the cheek and departed. But before, she blew a kiss to the village, whose population ended indulging themselves in the most decadent ways of hedonism that a human being is capable of.
"Let us march then" she said.
The word spread across the country. That a village was almost burned to crisp while its own citizens were just… copulating like animals. That the only thing that had resisted the fire was a small house in the outskirts. It is said that, sometimes, a woman with golden hair and green eyes comes to that house. That she leaves there a bunch of scarlet flowers, she prays for her mother, and then she goes away.
And unbeknown to all of them; back in the Wound-world, the Dasa sang even stronger than before, for now there was a third royal reigning over them and singing with the other two. And the Abyss-Oracle sang, in a deep and gripping voice. And even if the language cannot be put here, the translations of what she said are, more or less: "My name is Qetesh, the one that experience everything with the Abyss, Lust and Envy. Because I desire to feel, and only in the Abyss I shall feel warm"
For the final parade of this story´s beginning, we will travel to Meridian. To Meridian, not Metamoor, for the world has been populated and conquered by humans by now. In this era, Kandrakar is law, the Light is belief, and even Khor the Destroyer is by now a mere story to scare the children.
Now, in the recently built palace, in the young throne of Meridian sits a King with a Queen by his side. This King, with a muscular body decorated with scars of multiple battles, with pride in his eyes now that he had completed the task of uniting the Galhot, the Chimera and the human; now that he had made peace with the tribes of Lurdens and their shamans; with long black hair in his head, and the thickest of beards… Here sits and rules Escanor, the Great; one of the noble knights of the court of king John of Britannia, that was chosen by the Oracle Helia to bring peace to Meridian with the help of his sword, and his noble companions Hoel, Didier, Grendal and Brandis.
By his side, in her own throne, rules with him compassionate and smart Leryn, his wife in Earth that followed him to Meridian after his victory. And as the new Queen, she was bestowed with the power known as Hearth of Meridian, which will be bound to her bloodline forever.
And by the feet of the thrones, something strange is moving. Something little, a toddler, a little girl of the same blood that the King and the Queen. This is Rose Escanor, the first princess of Meridian, the heir to the throne. When she gets older, that it is.
There stood the royal family, proud and powerful.
But, wait, something is wrong with the King that sits on the throne. Something troubles his soul and darkens his mind. For the King has spent years now out of the battlefield and he has grown… bored.
Yes, he is content and prideful with his new live as king, with the woman that he loves the most ruling beside him. He is content and prideful with his daughter which he treasures the most. He is content and prideful with his companions and friends, who had stand beside him in a thousand battlefields. But he is also bored.
For this King was not born as a prince destined to be crowned, but as a simple man who was destined to wield the sword. And only by the sword he made a name for himself, only by the sword when he was chopping his enemies like butter, only by the sword he seemed alive.
So, now on the throne, the King misses the battlefield; misses being a knight. Misses the bonfires with his companions and the raw meet that is cooked in it; and misses the songs that some of the soldiers play with improvised instruments.
But above all else, he misses the battle. He misses the attack, and the defense. He misses the victory, but also the defeat at the hands of worthy opponents. He misses the sensation of slicing an enemy alive, and of being injured. He misses the sensation of nostalgia when a new young soldier stabs repeatedly the corpse of an enemy in hopes of it never stands again.
He misses the battle. The life of a King is not for a Knight.
Although, his wife seems more comfortable with it than he is. She is more predisposed to these duties than him. Maybe women are more predisposed to those duties, which need the use of brain and cunning, than the men. Maybe that is the reason behind the Hearths of every world bounding with women and not with men. Maybe that is the reason why the Guardians of the Infinite Dimensions are all women. That or the Oracle is just a pervert.
So the King sits in his throne, and leaves the matters of the court to the Queen and the ministers. And while loving his wife and caring for their daughter, he misses the battle, his passion burning down; and silently, he desires and prays to every god in this universe to let him taste feel of battle again. For he is Escanor, the Great; and he has lived all his live by the sword.
And one day, it seems that his prayers have been listened. For the one to come to court is not a minister or a village chief, but Grendal, one of the Four Knights. Why is he here? He has his place in the Tower of Grendal (named after him) in the south of Meridian, guarding the frontier with the Lurden regions…
The King and the Queen send their daughter away. This is not a matter for children. When the child is gone, and the court is cleared of everyone no dispatching a politic purpose, the King lets his friend and companion speak.
"Your Majesty" starts Grendal "the Lurdens had gone mad. Their shamans have reunited their clans and lead them to war. They have destroyed the Tower that I had been guarding since Your Majesty put me in charge of it. Many of my men had lost their lives. The only ones that escaped were around twenty men, counting myself. And it was not easy." Then Grendal held up his coat, and showed how his armor was broken, and his body full of wounds.
"But what is their motive? I thought that our disparities with the Lurdens were settled long ago" spoke and asked now Queen Leryn
"The shamans claim that they have seen the end of everything in a vision, and that they have to stop the Incoming Darkness. But I think that this is just an excuse to restart the war and claim parts of our territory" answered Grendal.
The King spoke next. "Very well, then. Listen here Lord Grendal, call of the other three and their battalions. Tell them that they must leave in their Towers someone of confidence and enough men to defend them, but that everyone else should depart as soon as possible to the south. You and the elite battalion will depart will me as soon the message has been delivered."
He had looked sad about the perspective of starting a new conflict, but it was just a façade. Deep down, the King was in awe. The Knight, not the King, was going to his real home again.
As soon as the preparations were done, he and Grendal departed with the most skilled soldiers of the army. Around half thousand of the most talented living killing machines were going out of the capital, to the south. To encounter the Lurdens, who fight with rock and spear; and the shamans, who command the storm and move the earth under their feet.
And from the royal balcony of the castle, Queen Leryn watched her husband depart to the battlefield, with little Rose by her side. She was smiling.
After almost a day of travelling, the small battalion encountered the Lurden. Only the warriors of their clans were there, but that was normal. Only monsters made their children and women join the battle, and despite their appearance, Escanor knew that the Lurden were a noble race.
Commanding the enemy were the five shamans that reigned over the clans. The five of them dressed in loincloths, with wooden crowns in their heads. The five of them levitating from the ground. Escanor respected them. Only the best warriors were ascended to the rank of shaman. The King wished that their politics would be the same. Only a warrior respects power and knows his limitations. That was his belief.
There were no words between the leaders of the two armies. The head of the shamans moved his claw; and Escanor shouted to his battalion, with Grendal by his left. And then the two little armies clashed.
While the Lurdens were more and each one of them was stronger than a human, the army of the capital was better suited in armors and weapons. Plus they had several Galhots fighting by their side. This made the army of the King to gain the upper hand. At least until the shamans joined the battle.
They were mighty in magic. They created a storm cloud out of nowhere, and using the lightning inside of it, ripped a baste part of the King´s little army. Then they crafted an earthquake, and made their enemy to split in two. One half commanded by Escanor and the other one by Grendal.
Escanor was not devastated by this. The other three knights would be there soon, with reinforcements. Any moment now. Any moment…
Dam it! Where were they?! The battle continued advancing, and his other three companions were nowhere to be seen.
They were alone against an enemy that surpassed them and that had magic at their side. Unfortunately for the Lurdens, those were the type of battle that Escanor liked the most. And with an almost animalistic scream, the King fled to the center of the battle, ripping through his enemies with his great sword.
The King fought, being freed of his shadow, murdering his enemies, strong; until he, Grendal and no more than twenty men were the only ones that kept themselves alive. The shamans had retired themselves again to their territory with the few Lurden that had ended alive; but until marching, they directed themselves to the King, and they said, "What you are going to do, you will regret it. Everyone will regret it" and they disappeared, into the horizon.
And the King and his Knight were left alone. Where were the others? Where were the other three knights? Where were the reinforcements? And why did the shamans show up with so little men if they were uniting their clans? It had been a good battle but still…
Then a realization came to the King´s mind. That maybe those final words of the shamans were not for him. He was irremediably tired, and hurt. While Grendal was much less wounded, thanks to not jumping into the battle like he did.
"Hey, Grendal" said the King.
"Yes, Escanor?" retorted Grendal. In the battlefield there was not need to formalities.
"The Lurdens weren´t the ones who attacked first, were they?"
"No" and then Grendal stabbed the King in the back. "I attacked them" Another one. "Them burned the Tower of Grendal down myself" Another stab. "And the others are not coming". Another one. "And also I think that the Incoming Darkness that the shamans feared it's me. But, hey, I always liked titles" Another one. "Unlike you. Who say that you are fit to be King?! You are nothing but a killer, a pebble that made himself up in the court with a bridge of blood and guts! You even dared to sign peace with those abominations! Not only the Lurdens, but also those Chimeras… those shapeshipter creatures! You are not." Another stab. "Fit" Another stab. "To rule!" The final one. "You are nothing but an enraged animal, like those beasts… Only a human should rule over all!"
The King lay on the ground; terribly wounded, but alive. Then Grendal pushed him down the crack on the ground that the shamans had opened with their powers. "And this was not even my idea!" shouted the traitorous man, before the King fell. "It was the Queen´s! She hates those things even more than I do! She promised me that she will arrange my son´s and your daughter´s marriage if I do this! You hear me?! My son will seat in that throne of yours, and your daughter will be his! Are you hearing, Escanor the Great?! Are you hearing me, you pebble?!"
Grendal broke into laughter, even when Escanor was so down that he wasn´t able to hear his traitorous companion. He was still alive. His body crippled, wounded to the extreme, but still alive. That was the strength of Escanor.
"Keep it to your son, I never wanted it in the first place" said the Fallen King. His mind was now trying to process what he had listened from Grendal´s mouth.
"Leryn" he thoughts. "Have you betrayed me? I loved you. I cared for you… I loved you more than the battlefield." Dammed battlefield. Maybe if he had not been so enthusiastic about fighting again, he could have seen the sings of the betrayal. Maybe he could have seen the sings of hate in his wife. Maybe that was what Leryn and Grendal took advantage of.
Still, he was content. It has been a good battle. The shamans, no, the whole Lurden people were great honorable warriors. It could have been better, but…
It could have been better…
Escanor screamed. A long scream that made his energy come back to him, and that forced his body to stand up, fueled with anger. "GRENDAL! LERYN!" he shouted. And then he started climbing the wall of the crack. Little by little; but also relentlessly. And then he fell.
And he started climbing again. And repeated the process until he was in the top of the crack again. Three days had been passed, but he was in the top, he was standing, and he was furious.
There stood Escanor, the Wrathful Fallen King. Then he started walking, with difficulty. "I will not let you… kill me… by stabbing me in the back…"
"I will die… in the most glorious of battles… I will die… fighting…" then he fell to the ground. Because even the Wrathful Fallen King couldn´t go against the laws of physics. That was the power of magic, and he held no one. "I will not die here! I will not die… until I have killed every one of you!
"My, what a resolve" said then a voice; a deep and gripping voice. "But don´t you lie to yourself. You won´t be able to reach the castle. And even if you will; what could you possibly do?"
Escanor lifted his head from the ground, and saw… a woman. Yes, definitely that was a woman. A scarlet skinned and naked woman. Her hands were like claws, her hair white tentacles with tiny mouths, which whispered words in a strange language. She had pointy little fangs as teeth. And when her tongue stood out, it was like a worm. And finally, from her belly stood out a bunch of insect claws and legs, which looked almost like pleading for attention. The Fallen King didn´t know if he should feel terrified or aroused.
He chose for standing up one more time. A lifetime of fighting was telling him that, above anything else, this woman was powerful. "Dam you, Grendal" thought Escanor. "If I was in my prime I could have fight this monster woman and go out in a glorious final flame…"
"Actually, no you couldn´t" said the woman, reading he Fallen King´s thoughts. "I am in a very different level from you. That glorious flame of your last moments that you thought about would actually be nothing more than a ridiculous crisp. Same if you go to the castle. That wife of yours will destroy you in an instant, for she is the hearth of Metamoor. Oh, but she is not your wife anymore, is she?" the woman smirked, showing her pointy tiny unnatural teeth.
This make Escanor scold to the woman in front of him in anger. He made amount of the majority of the energy that he had left in his body, and threw a punch to the woman. The moment that his right hand made contact with her, or more precisely the air around her, it disintegrated.
Escanor fell again to the ground, screaming for the loss of his right hand, but more out of impotence than pain; although it was painful too.
"My, what a caring husband" mocked the woman. "I think that I am feeling a little bit jealous of her. Or maybe I´m just jealous of you? Who cares?" then the woman laughed. It was a content and sinister laugh, which sounded more like a moan.
"Who… what are you?" shouted the King.
"Oh right, I didn´t say who I am. My name is Qetesh, the Tempter. I am pleased to meet with you." There was it again, that disturbing smile; between seductive and mocking.
Escanor was speechless. His mind was going numb from the shock of the treason, the wounds in his back, the incredible pain in his now missing arm, and the words of the woman, Qetesh, who seemed like seeing him as a joke.
"Joke?" asked the Tempter, reading the mid of the man again. "No, I don´t see you as a joke, Esaconor the King of the Battlefield. I actually like you. My family likes you, our subjects like you. You swing your sword first and ask later. And when you swing, you do it strong."
"But, above all else, you like to fight, don´t you? Don´t you think that if you head now to the castle, you won´t be able to experiment the awe of the battle no more?" Qetesh looked down at the Fallen King in the dirt. "Forget about those petty politics and royals, with their pathetic intents of trying to build something perfect that last forever. Is that what you really want? Is that what you desire? To sit on a throne and just be a messy royal, deprived of your true passion? I know that you are not angry at them for betraying you. You are angry at them for not providing with your earned grandiloquent last stand! An you know that it is true"
And Escanor could not deny it. Truth be told, he didn´t want to kill them for the treason. True, he felt offended, but he deserved a better death than being stabbed in the back. He deserved to burn at the same time that the battlefield and take with him the same worthy man that had slained him. Revenge was not his wish, neither was the throne. He himself had admitted it.
Seeing the fallen man´s doubts finally taking over, Qetesh asked again. "What do you really want?"
"I WANT TO FIGHT"
And at those words, the womb of Quetesh opened up; helped by the little insectoid arms and legs, and the Abyss came from it. It warped, and inserted itself inside Escanor from the hole of his missing arm, and started to change him from inside, and the spoke to him.
"If your desire is to fight, then fight. Fight with me and for me. Slain everyone worthy of the effort in this universe, battle the Light with your Wrath and Pride, purge this universe from the peaceful ones that thing that they can escape the reality of their nature. For fighting the Light to the end is the purpose of the Abyss. Because I am you and you are me. Fight and bury your weakness in me. In us"
When the Abyss ended its speech Escanor was not Escanor anymore. His missing arm was there again, and his wounds were gone. But his body was not made of blood, bone and flesh. His blood was now melting magma, his bones were none, and his muscles and skin were now pure silver and metal. His face was gone; there was not even a mouth. No hair, not even genitalia. His body was now hulking even more than before, his head shaped like a medieval war helmet, only with one line of vision, ignited in white fire. A living suit of humanoid-shaped armor, his inside melted, burning liquid rock and metal.
The Abyss-Knight stood there for a second, then, using his now restored right arm, he materialized a spear made of white flames. Then he threw it, in the castle direction, which was several miles away.
When it landed, it caused the biggest confusion in Meridian history. It pierced through the stone and the metal like they were butter; it melted everything and everyone in its way, until it reached and impaled a woman named Catharina, who had just moved to the castle. This woman was the caretaker of Grendal´s son, Roderich; and the only person in this world that truly concerned herself with the child's well being.
With the woman pierced and death, the spear made its way to the ground, and it made a crack in Meridian´s itself. The crack that it made was so deep that the people would believe that it hadn´t end. And it had not, for this was a Wound to the Wound-world, where the Abyss is physical. The meridianites would end naming it The Abyss of Shadows. And the Queens and other nobles will use it to dispose of the ones that they see as enemies.
Once this was settled, Quetesh and the Abyss-Knight leaved Meridian, using for it a Wound that was opened in the air by the Tempter.
When the minds of everyone in the castle were calmed, Grendal and Queen Leryn took advantage of the situation. They said that that Fire Spear has been a Lurden attack perpetrated by their shamans, and that the true meridianites would take revenge on them. And so starting a war that would last for more than a whole millennia, until the present day. But also igniting a war between father and son, for Grendal and his wife, Eleanor, would never be as caring for Roderich as Catharina was.
So, when Rose and he were to get married, he told her the truth, about her father, about everything. And so, they waited. Until the moment that they made their marrying kiss and the Hearth of Meridian passed down mother to daughter. In that very moment, the charade fell.
And they killed everyone. His cold parents and her traitorous mother. Everyone in the wedding that day. And she did not stop. For she was the daughter of her father. And he helped her, for he was grown in love with her while plotting how to kill the ones they hated. They saw beauty in each other's monstrosity. And so, they ruled, the first pair of Mad Royals of Meridian, who opened the court´s doors to the Chimera people for the first time.
Of course, this situation was remedied by her own daughter, Elaine, who wanted to take where her grandmother had left with the abominations. And so was started, the biggest family tradition of the Escanor house; one generation betraying another; it did not matter if it was for justice or for pure power. For that family is the biggest battlefield of them all.
And unbeknown to all of them; back in the Wound-world, the Dasa sang stronger than never will they do, for now there was a fourth royal reigning over them and singing with the other three. And the Abyss-Knight sang, in a loud and metallic voice. And even if the language cannot be put here, the translations of what she said are, more or less: "My name is Moloch, the one that fights everything with the Abyss, Wrath and Pride. Because I desire to fight, and only in the Abyss I shall gain powerful foes"
And there they stood, singing in unison with themselves and the Dasa; the Four Royals of the Supernatural, the leaders and creators of all the monsters. For four they were and four they will be; no more no less. Death and Rot; Gluttony and Greed; Lust and Envy; and also Wrath and Pride.
And singing, they waited, until the moment for them to take part directly in the Design of Everything will come.
Our beginning ends now, in the present day. After the five ordinary girls that rose to extraordinary have earned their happy ending. In this time, something is starting to sound, in the dreams of the people. Across the stars, from the most unknown parts of the universe, a song is started to being heard. A song in a strange language, that no one can understand. It is been sang by four voices at the same time, four voices that sound like one and like four at the same time, accompanied by a chorus of other thousands voices. The melody echoes and the song goes on with two simple words:
"WE DESIRE"