Lords of Creation (Story Thread 3)

[Zaleramancer]

A wave of death pierced Zaya's mind and she came to a halt.

The agony of demise and the rise of chaos and conflict. Her hags were dying. Across the world, death was falling.

Souls of the past swirled by her, and her mind embraced one to learn the cause.

I killed them. By the gods I killed them. Why? I didn't want to. I didn't. Why. Why. I'm sorry. I'm sorry!

Wailing lamentations whistled through her thoughts like a hurricane; the spirits began to latch onto her.

She then noticed why.

Off in the distance, through the eyes of the dead, she saw entrance to the realm of dreams. The domain of the Monster King.

A revelation came. He was taking the dead who had no one else and using them. His power came from that. These people would be trapped there, tortured by their own actions until he collected them.

She thought of the agony the single soul had professed. Thought of her own time trapped there.

No.

Compassion blossomed with fury.

They would not suffer like that. She would not allow it!

Horse and armor vanishing, for they would only impede her now, the goddess began to pull the souls away from the dark dimension.

She sang. A song of power that beckoned to the dead to come to her. It roared outwards across the world, silent to the living but loud to the passed.

Pouring her power into the wordless beckoning, a memory came to mind.. one of a poem she had heard on a world long passed. One that a witch had sung in a story of moving pictures.

Zaya laughed softly in her mind about how appropriate it would be now..

Come little children, I'll take thee away
 into a land of enchantment

As the souls flocked to her, she began to seize upon her power and uses in the most basic way of the divine. A plane of her own began to form, birthed from the song.

Come little children the time's come to play
here in my garden of Shadows

To the dead, she towered in their world, an eternal beauty with hair like silver fire. Her song set them free of the pull of the Monster King's world

Follow sweet children I'll show thee the way
through all the pain and the Sorrows

The new land was a dark place, but not the frightening darkness of death or night. The cool comfort of shade in a bright and hot land, or the cool beauty of a crisp night under the stars. The darkness of comfort and safety and rest.

Weep not poor children for life is this way
murdering beauty and Passions

Her song reached into the dark place of memories and dreams, touching those tortured souls. Her might pulled them free. Zaya knew that her body had long ceased to be anything solid, burning with the power of a new star.

Hush now dear children it must be this way
to weary of life and Deceptions


As the world of Zaya gained definition, becoming a infinite garden of cool shadows under a dark purple sun, souls began to flood into it. Relief filled her as she finished the world and threw herself wholly into the song.

Rest now my children for soon we'll away
into the calm and the Quiet


Pulled from their dark torture, the souls flew away from one afterlife into a new. Those of all races and ages flashed by in a flood of spirits, all into the gateway to Zaya's Garden.

Come little children I'll take thee away
into a land of Enchantment

Zaya realized that one of the other gods might happen upon her world.. Maybe even the wicked Monster King. All her strength turned to concealing it. A thousand miles away, a crack appeared in Zaya's Mirror.

Come little children the time's come to play
here in my garden of Shadows

The goddess had burned away everything except for her voice and her song. As the last refrains ended and the flood of souls slowed to a trickle, she felt hollow.

Her Mirror shattered.

Zaya felt it as a blow. Her body was gone, all that was left was her innermost soul. It boiled at the edges, dissipating. To much power, to much energy, to much exertion. Was this what the Watchman had felt?

Self-preservation jerked slowing into place as Zaya's mind shook itself loose of her dreaminess. Her thoughts accelerated as her mind moved to the highest speed of which it was capable.

The world slowed around her as her mind moved faster than her senses.

She contemplated what to do and realized there was little she could. Like a star, the god's core of raging energy was what kept them.. existing. Without it, they would collapse inward with the surety of a dying star. Suppressing the thought of her own demise, she realized that what she had done did nothing to halt what was happening to the living, only providing comfort to the dead.

Zaya had not even assisted the Fair Goddess in her hunt for a cure. She had sent an avatar to communicate with through this vast emergency but.. Realization came. Though her avatar could not keep herself intact, she could help in other ways.

The knowledge of Zaya began to split. Though she could not save all of her memories, she would save these. All she knew of healing and medicine and biology and channeled it through her link with her avatar. The knowledge burned into it's mind.

It's mind.. Without her powerful presence, her avatar was beginning to grow.. independent. At first, this knowledge comforted her in that it would be able to use the wisdom she had given it to help..

Then a new thought formed.

She could save herself. If she exchanged her mind and memory with that of the avatar, she could live. Her power would be reduced, but she would survive.

But her avatar's newly-born mind would die.

Zaya felt temptation. All her instincts and memories screamed for her to do this. All save one.

The Babysitter had asked if she would have killed the world.

Self-illusion collapsed before the threat of demise. All her long life she had acted with selfish immorality. All because she knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that she was a horrible person. Why bother acting any differently, damned as she was by killing a world.

But she had been wrong.

Pulling the mind of her avatar to her, she funneled a few more memories into it. In the fraction of a second Zaya's mind and her avatar's touched, the avatar lived a small life-time. From child to youth the avatar lived, taking a male identity. He lived in a world populated by figures pulled from Zaya's memory.

As she pushed him gently back into the body, which began to transform as rapidly as anything physical could at this speed, she wished her avatar... her child fair well.

With a thought she snipped the connection between them so that he would survive.

Alone with her thoughts, Zaya pondered what to do. Watching a soul crawl by in slow motion, moving around the orb of shrinking fire that was her, she thought.

There was no way that what was left of her would last long enough to reach any of the other gods who could save her. The fact that she could speak with her avatar had merely been a result of their connection. She could possibly send a missive to some, but none would reach her in time..

So, it was time for her to die.

It was a shame. She had lived a long, full life though. It would be nice if it could have continued though.

Glancing at the souls, Zaya felt a twinge of envy. It's not like there was a place for dead gods..

A wicked thought occurred to her.

Or was there?

Her plane could support her even in this form, and the gateway was close enough to reach. Of course, the way she had made it precluded her contacting others or leaving without being at full strength.. It would be a long time healing before that happened.. Centuries even.

But it was a way to live. Then she realized that the others wouldn't know. Even her avatar.. child.. thought she would be dead.

Oh, that would be a surprise for them. Zaya regretted the pain this would cause the Babysitter.

It was time to go.

Zaya let her mind descend back to a merely mortal speed and rushed her dissolving soul towards the portal. Mind growing vaguer the further she went, the glorious mind of a god became merely a mind focused on a single goal..

Just.. a.. little.. farther..

Very nearly dead, the soul of a god stumbled into the portal.

Across the world there was a small sigh.. The sound like a dying god.  

[Zaleramancer]

The haggard vulture jerked up, feathers flaking away as it transformed into a male youth with silvery hair. Sobbing slightly, he glanced at the fair goddess.

"I'm here to help."

[Zaleramancer]

Mighty gods came together in a tremendous clash. A tsunami of power battered against the world itself.

Sword blow after sword blow came, wounds cutting deep into the divine flesh of Pantheo, golden ichor spattering across the sea and land. Laughing the Monster King only seemed to grow stronger, his sword drinking in the power like a sponge.

A desperate final blow came from Pantheo.

An explosion, smaller than the latter but still impressive came.

Light that blinded even divine eyes obscured the scene as a roar deafened ears.

When the light cleared, Pantheo staggered backwards into the sea. The Monster King stood, wounded.

His dark sword had shattered.

[Philote]

Pantheo staggered back into the sea, feeling exhilarated at his victory. He had poured all of his power over the Monster King, overloading him as he had done the Dragon before and finally, the Monster King's blade had broke before him. There were none who could stand before him now, he would crush whatever remained of the Monster King. He would rule this world and hunt down others to test his might against.

In the midst of Pantheo's celebration, a surge of power rushes through him. One of his lower arms simply unravels, unable to support the Divine energy rushing through him and falls into the sea to dissipate away. The red haze of Conflict over Pantheo's vision vanishes and Gilgamesh's mind returns. His body was covered in wounds, more numerous that even those he had suffered during the fight with the Dragon. In his madness he had been blind to his own condition. The power of his very Domains was slipping from him.

"I'm Dying" Gilgamesh thinks, the first seed of fear he has felt during his existence.

Gilgamesh grabs for the Spirit of Nova within his body. She already held four of his Domains, she would support his last as he gave her dominion over Kingdoms. A last futile attempt to support the mad power he had built up, power more than his single body could withstand.

His upper right arm break apart, shooting off as Divine Energy into the sky. As it burns away, the energy changes from Gilgamesh and burns down to the ghost of Yojimbo being flung into the void. Gilgamesh's mind sits within the well of Divine Energy he had created, the last of his control burned away in Divine fire, as one by one the Spirits of his Pantheon burst out of his body, taking away the form of Pantheo with them, to be flung away beyond the stars themselves.

Finally it comes down to Gilgamesh alone. The entirety of the wealth he had built up for himself lost to the edge of space. His Pantheon lost and unable to come to their dying master's aid. The unraveling of power traveled towards the center of Pantheo's and Gilgamesh's being. He had achieved his goal at least, he imagines, he had built up his power and conquered every foe.

His last thought is that with his power he had even conquered himself. The unraveling strikes the core of his being, rending his very Spirit in half and ending his mind. The last of his body dissipates into Divine energy and floats away with the stars.

[Philote]

The red haze over Lo-Kag's vision lifted and all around him he saw the fallen bodies of the Genasi that he had brought under his command. All slain by his hand. The madness that had descended upon him all those around him was lifted, but the scars of the event still weighed heavily upon his soul.

He begins to walk, carried on by his sense of duty. There were still vile creatures to exterminate, even if the main mass of them had been cleared out. The enthusiasm and strength he had displayed at the beginning of the war was gone. Maddening Conflict had been lifted away from him, and with it, the soul of his Heroism.

All around Gilgamesh's continent, the heroes snapped out of their fury to find themselves in the same situation as Lo-Kag.

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

"Don't gloat," came a dozen voices, all speaking together.

Behind the Monster King, the Watchman landed and dropped his passenger off on the parapet. He set Aox gently down, and walked forward, placing the Durhian behind him. He spoke, softly. "When you find a way to hit him with that stick again, do it." Then he walked forward, Brother Eye spreading out behind him like a shield between the god in from of him and the mortal behind him.

"Hello. I'm the Watchman. It's a shame we could not meet under more favorable circumstances." The words were polite, but spoken with the kind of cold intensity that tells you exactly what the speaker means to do to you. It's the way mob bosses talk when ordering deaths.

He glanced at the busted sword, shards littering the ground around his feet. "That was one of mine." he then adjusted his head, slightly, just enough to see the few leftover wisps of Gilgamesh. "And that was a comrade."

"I suppose I'm obligated to tell you that, if you surrender, you'll receive a fair trial of your peers. After all, I wouldn't want to sacrifice my ideals on account scum like you. But I feel it's only fair to tell you even if I do, it will only prolong your miserable existence for a short time. I don't think it would be hard to get the others to agree to execution."

"So if it pleases you," he said, bathed in the grey light that Brother Eye was emitting now, "let's just close the curtain on this Drama."

The air cracked and split, and The Equalizer was birthed back into the world. He caught it mid dash and slammed it down toward the Monster King.

[Zaleramancer]

Side stepping the blow, the Monster King gave the illusion of confidence.

However, worry was starting to appear.

He was weakened without his weapon. Injured by the fight. For some reason, the power coming from his dimension had begun to diminish.

It was a good thing he had contingencies.

Two mirror-like amulets jingled around his neck. One showed the image of an axe, the other a faceless mask.

"I have other trivial toys." He said with many voices as an axe appeared in his hand, the mirror of the Watchman's.

The axe chopped down.

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

The Axe came down, and the Watchmans brought his own up to defend. He didn't block the blade. He wasn't a complete fool. He hooked the handle of his axe right under the blade of it's shadow brother.

"Not any you know how to use, Half-God."

He punctuated this by slamming his mask into the Monster Kings.

[Zaleramancer]

He paused and looked around.

Slaughter and chaos everywhere. Even his mother's descriptive talent had failed to cover the saddening sight.

Pushing aside the sorrow that came with that thought, Paean whistled an panicked bird from the sky. Petting it softly, he whispered to it.

The bird changed, growing and becoming more elongated. Wings widened and it's head grew larger.

Nearly beyond the ability to hold up, the bird leapt to the sky and headed west..

Towards his mother's home.

[Zaleramancer]

Jerking backward from the blow, the God faded into shadow and reappeared outside of the Watchman's reach.

"Do I not?"

As he said these words the ground rumbled, spires of crystals began to grow with rapid speed. Monsters flowed out of them like a river of flesh. Black dust clouds spiraled up.

"As wonderful as this has been, I fear I must depart." He began to move towards one of the spires.

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

"Hey. Hey! Come on old women."

The mirror had blown up. That had been part of it. That was when she had suspected that something bad might have happened. But then the fish people, they had stopped being crazy. That meant something good must have happened, so she'd had the army cut them loose. Now they milled about around her, confused without anyone to give them orders.

But the Hags were a different story. They were listless and sluggish. Most of them couldn't get up, even when she cut their bindings. They seemed..... older. Worn out. Not nearly the fearsome lords of the island she had seen before.

They were wasting, and she was starting to freak out.

"Come on, there are still those things here lurking around. They're still eating people. Look, listen to me. I'm like, half-Zaya. You have to listen to me, right? So long as she's not around."

They didn't respond.

"So, so....so...... SO! As temporary island boss, I order you not to die! You don't have to get up, just don't die."

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

"Brother Eye!"

The Eye reacted instantly, sending it's beam into the crystal spire.

The result could only be described as a epileptic raindow spray of death. The crystal acted as a prism, splitting the grey beam into multiple colors that shot out of it at random. These hit the other spires, further splitting the beam. The Monsters and the black wave were fried instantly as the color spray, visible for miles, bored deep holes in the demon wall.

Through these flew the Watchman, descending on the villain through the rainbow.

[Zaleramancer]

With an air of smugness, a duplicate of the floating eye appeared before the Monster King.

The brilliant beam reflected off, blasting at the Watchman.

Into the crystal leapt the Monster King, away towards the former lands of the god of heroes.

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

He was caught completely unprepared as the beam hit him full in the chest, flinging him high into the air and knocking the Axe from his hand.

Brother Eye stopped it's firing as it master slammed back into the parapet, dazed. Not really injured. He definitely would have been able to get up, before the Equalizer came down and buried itself up to the hilt in his chest.

For the first time, in a long time, the Watchmen knew pain. A spasm and an odd sound testified to this, a sort of scream hastliy turned into a grunt.

He wasn't dieing, he knew what that felt like. But still, like this....

"Aox!" he called out as Brother Eye engaged it's black counterpart in a ariel dogfight. "You can not let that man get away. Follow him. This may be the last chance he gives us."

[Zaleramancer]

Bursting forth from the ground, the Monster King rose to the sky like the rebirth of a dark phoenix. Power crushed those few divine servitors that remained.

He sought out the power of the island. The grand artifacts that remained.

Drawing on their power, he began to channel it to his dark purpose.

Bands of swirling energy touched the sky, spinning and rippling.

A pinprick appeared, a portal began to be birthed. Shimmering worlds could be seen beyond.

[Mik_Hael]

"Just...a few...more..hundred thousand feet,...of black..featureless...glass," Mik Hael panted.

[Marvelous Miscreant]

"Yes, Sir!" Aox replied as wisps of power began to coil around his arms and legs. He launched himself after the fleeing god and followed.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

Uburra-Namall hovered about the ramshackle hovel in which her thinkers and the assistant of Zaya (Omni rest her soul) were busy working. Still, she could not bear to mourn. Instead, she threw herself into the thinkers' work, doing her best to perceive every point of the formulae they devised.

And she would not simply watch them work, and take from them what information she could. She would also add a woman's touch to the equation. Where they tested all manner of elixirs and potions and serums and ointments, she would add in the occasional sigh, and they would feel a burst of inspiration as to how they had been wrong the entire time.

Where they scribbled like mad on paper, and boards and walls, they would look back to the goddess, and if they 'just didn't feel right' to her, they would run back to the drawing board, racking their brains again and again, until the goddess could feel that they were heading in the right direction. She did not know what knowledge they possessed, and did not understand many of the formulae they came up with, but her intuition was invaluable.

And the heat of her passion radiated through them in nearly the purest form it could, without driving them mad, or killing them outright. The thinkers felt themselves empowered to unreal heights, like academic berserkers. Their minds raced with poetry a much as with prose, they formulated and hypothesized to new mathematic and scientific heights.

Harkan found himself humming a new opera he'd thought of off the cuff, as he and Draias discussed the workings of various organisms they tested for their cure. Draias worked with leaves and roots for a new serum, and suddenly found himself deviating in and out of a new language that he had begun to devise along the way. Zai found in himself superhuman leaps of logic, that surprised even him, among which a thought for a certain number sequence that might later come in handy...

Still, Uburra-Namall could sense it was not enough. They were not moving fast enough. There was something missing. Something missing, despite maybe being present.

Something present...

Present...

Nearly immediately, Paean, Harkan, Draias and Zai gasped at their simultaneous epiphany. They looked to the goddess, and she just shrugged with a smile. Then, almost as though without thinking, the four rushed to their respective work stations, pushing the four into a single work station, and combined all ingredients they had.

Zai looked up, "Goddess, will this work?"

"I...I don't know." Uburra-Namall replied. She looked the mixture over. Still, it didn't seem quite right. And then she had an idea. She reached over, and dipped a finger into the elixir to taste it. Though, the elixir would not reach her mouth before her intuition told her that she had found what she needed.

It was her touch that was required. Essence of moly; amaranth abstract; glazed aglaophotis; hemlock juice; crushed belladonna; nightshade, nicely diced; ground garlic; chicken broth, and the touch of a love goddess. Indeed. She shook her head. Who would have thought?

Laughing, the Fair Goddess put a hand up, and from the chaos of the fray outside, summoned one of the living dead. Her power alone restrained it, and she levitated the bowl near its face, ignoring the dumb brute's animal protest. Closer and closer it drew, until the wooden bowl gently touched the monster's hideous decaying frayed lips. She forced its mouth open, and coaxed the elixir down.

The monster huffed and snarled and fought and raged...and then smacked its chapped, darkened lips. And then licked its rotting, decayed teeth. There was even a murmuring, mumbling sound of perhaps approval. Likely the chicken broth.

And as the nasty, undead wretch murmured and grumbled its approval, there was slowly a change, Its skin seemed to fill in, where it had formerly fallen away. Its blood leaked less, until not at all. Its muscular grew less atrophied, and the smell of death dissipated into the air, overpowered by Uburra-Namall's beaming femininity. And its motion quickened until, at last, it was the nightmare beast it had been in life.

The goddess and the thinkers gasped in pleasant surprise at the implication. And then Uburra-Namall brought Heartbreaker down on its head to kill it finally, ending its life for a second time with a sickening, bloody, gory splat. Its purpose having been served, wiping up its gore and innards were easily a much more pleasant task.

And so, the goddess would leave her beloved thinkers to it, as she spread the word. They had found a cure!

[Marvelous Miscreant]

Aox sped across the land like a bullet from a gun. Dust and grit billowed behind him as he tore through the air. He headed straight for the maelstrom of energy that was forming just ahead. In the eye of the storm was the monster king.

"Did you miss me?" Aox called out as he powered forward towards his foe. Energy poured into the palm of his hand, collecting there, forming a sphere of power. His hand crackled and spit with electric force as he thrust the energy in his palm upwards towards his enemy.

The beam that spewed from his hand was blinding.

[Zaleramancer]

Above the lands of Gilgamesh, the Monsterking soared. A dark cloak billowed around him as his mask glinted in the setting sun. Blood red light flashed across the island, highlighting the fragments of chaos still roiling across it. Monsters still rose, Undead still rose, Explosions battered the lands as false-gods whimpered and died, strengthless.

It was glorious.

Purple lightning crackled along his frame as it touched the spiraling portal before him. Slow, yet steadily, it was growing larger. Soon, it would be large enough to connect to his plane and allow him to exit this world with his army at his heels. The thick smell of ozone perforated downwards as the aether was stripped of energy to supply this hellish hole in the world.

All seemed well, when the Monsterking felt something huge and wild fly towards him.

He prided himself on his speed, strength and stamina, yet even he scarcely avoided the blow. Nothing less than a sphere mightier than anything he could have conjured sped past.

It vanished into the distance, sending a ripple through the portal as it shrieked past.

Smoothing the panic in himself, the Monsterking spoke.

"You do not know what forces you tamper with, boy."