Chapter V - Brimstone

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TennyoCeres84
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Re: Chapter V - Brimstone

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Meris frowned uncertainly at the old god, but she did as He requested. Still, she wondered, how could he have bequeathed her to the Artisan to gift with the Orcadian strength and compassion? It made no sense. She had merely been the daughter of a seamstress and a fishmonger, then an accomplished if still humble healer. Was there something about her that He knew and she didn't? Even as she looked into the pond, she half-expected to see an even younger self, dressed in a simple wool dress and linen headscarf, but she also felt she was in for a surprise.
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Re: Chapter V - Brimstone

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For a moment, the pond reflected exactly what she'd expected: a younger version of herself. Then, the image rippled and allowed for new splashes of color and light to change her reflection's features. The headscarf turned to a dark blue bandanna, paler whorls and silver thread evoking both the sea and stars. Her skin turned to an opalescent shade of blue, her features turning finer, slightly thinner than her own. Bands of blue silk protected her modesty underneath a simple, yet mesmerizing torc of pure silver, both ends leaving but an inch of her throat bare between them. There was something almost Minoan or Etruscan in design to the robe and decorative loincloth that covered her lower half, waves turning polygonal and framing delicate friezes of sea life and cavorting land creatures. Her reflection carried a charm-bearing twin to the ancient Augur's staff - or even the one Nereus had once carried, armbands and circlets managing to both carry airs of simplicity and regal bearing.

Her eyes were different, however: golden-brown, like a cat's-eye jewel, the pupils irregularly-shaped, like Lucian's. Where her wry and expressive mouth should've been, four long and graceful tentacles swayed downwards. Her reflection looked back to the ancient Augur, her gaze mutely demanding caution and care. Unlike Helena, she was wholly female - born and bred as such, and raised as matriarch and counsel to the Architect's sons.

"You were Merath," whispered the Architect, "Wave-Reader and Star-Scryer, keeper of my Tomes and purveyor of my Wisdom. You were all that your Creator had awakened in me. All of my patience, all of my compassion, all of my love. You were the living soul of the Void Weavers, their one true mother. They were born of each other as they are now, but sat by your side to learn, to reach beyond Dalarath's confines and find it in themselves to care for this Creation. You never raised sons of your own, but had ten thousand years to care for each and every one of my city's souls. For ten thousand years, every one of my sons had a mother, even as I tried and failed to induce your miracle in others."

Merath looked down into her own lake, straight at Meris, and smirked behind her tendrils. Another look outwards made her gather her skirt and kneel down, placing a palm on the lake's surface, mutely beckoning Meris to do the same. Her mouth moved as she did so, her tentacles bobbing, Meris' own voice threaded through an accent time had forgotten. Clipped and a tad guttural, like the deepest, darkest Indo-European linguistic roots processed through modern English.

"I see you," she said, "and I now know what comes. You will succeed where I have failed."
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Re: Chapter V - Brimstone

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In complete shock, Meris sank to her knees and quietly mouthed a "What?" at her alternate self. However, her previous life made sense now. It was no bump on the head or a fortuitous stroke that had given her the ability to understand the Black Speech.

She managed to pull herself out of her astonishment and sobered up as she continued to gaze at the female Void Weaver. She then placed her hand on the water's surface, curious as to what she would have to show her.
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Re: Chapter V - Brimstone

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The female Void Weaver's fingers pushed through the water, the feeling not being too dissimilar from Meris wringing her own hands together. It felt like she was touching her own skin, nevermind how blue the new hand was.

"Speak," Merath said. "Sing. Bring hope to light, for there is darkness ahead. For the longest time, I didn't understand why the Architect made me. Then I saw your kind, and I knew. This, what you see before you? This is but a vessel. You are what matters."

She looked away for an instant, and a distant and mocking voice seemed to be growing closer. The Augur called out in concern, which prompted her to look away again, a hand raised. "No! No, this must be! You know of it, we've discussed it and I've shown you! This is the Brighthallow's last light! SHE IS IT!"

The Augur was dimly heard protesting as feet beat closer. Merath refocused on her reincarnation. "Free Nereus. Free our son - we've both carried him! Bend the world to your will!"

The Betrayer's words in the Black Speech became clearer. "And so, the Balefire is snuffed out - and thus begins our age of glory in darkness! REJOICE, BROTHERS, FOR OUR TRUE MOTHER IS AT HAND!"

Dark and tattered robes flashed, eyes and tendrils that could've belonged to an ancestor of Chambers' flashed, and a dark purple hand gripped Merath's tendrils, jerking her head back. She tried to etch a defense in the Architect's tongue, but a wicked-looking knife, aided by the power of Eldritch madness, cut through the root of her tendrils in one slash. Arterial blood gushed forth, Merath's cries turning weak not out of a loss of strength, but because she clearly didn't wish to give the Betrayer the satisfaction of hearing her wail. With her lower humanlike lip left and the stub of her tendrils, she laboriously managed a few more words as she sank down, her forehead almost touching Meris'.

"I've seen your victory - your Light... How beautiful it will be! I wish- I wish I could've known you from elsewhere, Meris. As a friend, perhaps, or a sister..."

Behind her, the Betrayer was furious. "WHO ARE YOU JABBERING TO! I WILL NOT BE IGNORED, HARLOT!"

Bending down, he backhanded her and then straddled her as she turned on her back, Merath craning her head back to look at Meris even as life was choked out of her.

"Tell Nereus... Tell Lucian and the others... that all... is forgiven!"

To her last breath, Merath tried to marshall something like a telekinetic blast or a formulation of the White Speech that would've saved her, but the Betrayer's own mad willpower made it impossible for her to formulate words. So, her strength sapped by the Black Speech, she died while casting a look that wasn't so much despairing at Meris, as it felt like she was passing on the torch. Either that, or she realized she'd both just passed it and had already passed it on the day of her creation, as Meris and Merath had obviously always been intertwined. Is that how someone died, when knowing they would be given another lease on life, in another body and in another land, formed by other people and other minds?
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Re: Chapter V - Brimstone

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As the blue-skinned Void Weaver died, Meris wept openly. She cried for the loss of Merath, the message she had given her, her anger at her killer, and the myriad of emotions that swirled inside her. "I will, Merath! I promise you that I will save Nereus and our son! I will protect the world and be the light to guide it out of darkness!" she swore, trembling with focus and her power.
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Re: Chapter V - Brimstone

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The Architect's hand, supportively resting on her shoulder throughout this ordeal, lightly squeezed her traps in an unspoken warning. Shoes crunched on the melting snow and scorched grass, the Goat soon standing where the Betrayer had been. The difference, of course, was that Meris was facing him.

"No tears, please," he intoned, in his mockery of a soothing tone. "What you've seen was ordained, as is my victory. In the end, those pitiful dead gods of yours will bow to me. In a way, I'll grant you vengeance, Meris. I've no hatred to spare, unlike your Chamberlain and his addled ancestor. What I bring is merely understanding; that of the notion that all things die. So too do principalities and potentates who choose to rule past their prime. I've no dagger to brandish, only an outstretched hand."

He smiled. "Rule under my stead, Meris. This island, this coast - they could be yours. I could be persuaded to allow you to grant asylum to your allies and loved ones. Needless bloodshed could be avoided."

The Architect's hand had turned cold. "Evil learns," he warned, "the thoughtlessness of ages past gives way to cunning and patience. For all their similarities, your battles are still much different from those my Daughter faced. My evils were and still are grinning fools - the Artisan's mirror the subtlety of Her successes."

The god then blinked as, seemingly out of the simulation's constraints, the Black Goat looked to him, smirking. "Don't be so surprised, Grandfather," he said, "I've always known you'd be mixed up in this. Without Akoman, I would not exist and without you, there would be no Akoman. You, always so willing to help Her, so intent on bettering your knowledge through Her talent... She had no need for Core Principles, as flawed as they are - Her Works flowed like poetry. You were the one who insisted that Order could not arise from grace. She, ever patient, ever caring, gave in to your guidance."

He looked back to the facing armies, then reached for Meris' face, lightly brushing tears from her face. "All of this is your mentor's fault, dear Archmage."

The old god stammered. "I- I thought I was helping her! She thanked me, even!"

The Black Goat sighed and partially turned away, looking off to the rift in the sky through which Heaven's own glass spires could be seen. "She might not be the endless ocean of love Uriel perceives to this day, but Her heart is kind, to a fault. She never would have openly begrudged you, old man. She knew what you were attempting to do. You simply were less wise than you believed yourself to be - and now you reap the fruits of your labor. Your daughter, lost. The Creation you dote over, soon to be under my sway. Your sons, thrown in disarray for generations - warring with each other rather than fulfilling their sacred office."

Leonard paused. "That dagger you've seen? I have mine, but I'm saving it for Akoman. In the end, with Creation under my rule, I'll rid my demesne of your wretched influence in one fell swoop. I do carry the old Betrayer's charge, but I won't content myself with slitting queens' throats. I've waited for Lucifer's promised solution long enough."
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Re: Chapter V - Brimstone

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While still shivering with power, she heard the Goat's approach and his words and then stood. "Your vision of Creation is flawed, Goat. I doubt you even understand what it is that Lucifer wanted; otherwise, he wouldn't have left and would be right by your side. Life isn't meant to be controlled and lorded over with how you would will it to," she quietly hissed. "The Architect and the Artisan understand this, and imperfection is part of the whole."

"I won't bow before you to rule. I want to protect this world from the likes of you. Even if I and my allies have to retreat to fight another day, we will. You will not win," she said resolutely, her eyes crackling with electricity.

"GET. OUT," she whispered mightily, the area shaking with reverberation.
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Re: Chapter V - Brimstone

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The Goat kept his gaze steady. "I can leave, Archmage. Know that if I do, however, I will show you no leniency. You've already lost two friends and from here, it seems painfully clear you're in for more tragedy. Put your heroics aside for an instant and see how it is you might curtail undue suffering for those very people you've sworn to protect."

The Architect's gaze shifted and he raised a hand. Seconds later, the Goat's form seemed to be eaten away at his limbs' extremities, unraveling in polygonal whorls of blue light. The Prince took notice and shrugged. "You wouldn't be much of a hacker in her world, old man. Patching my exploited vulnerability several moments after my using it? I'd consider that sloppy."

The demon looked back to Meris. "What will it be, Archmage? Heroics or common sense? Consideration, or self-righteousness?"
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Re: Chapter V - Brimstone

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Meris scoffed and retorted coldly, "I've seen your handiwork. What leniency you'd offer would then be taken advantage of due to your perceived superiority, as you have in the past, Goat of Mendes. I'm aware of the potential loss that's to come, that there will be those who loathe me and even pursue me and my allies. However, I know of the greater cost of treating you as a benefactor. Your offer would only push the Others' sway that much harder. It'd be a temporary and futile win, as it already will be. Take your offer with you and leave."
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Re: Chapter V - Brimstone

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The ungulate rolled his eyes. "Immortality never does seem to do you mortals any favors, doesn't it?"

His question being rhetorical, what was left of his upper limbs, torso and head turned around and hovered off, bobbing as if still sustained by a pair of legs. "I'll see you on the battlefield, Meris," he said, before dissipating entirely.

Moments later, the Architect looked on as the simulation began to unravel by his own hand. "What I've done to him, you and Lucian will be able to do to other interlopers from beyond your universe's boundaries. It will be costly at first, even dangerous, but you will one day come to look upon the Earth as I do. You will see its systems, their beauty and fragility - and you will see the boon I so recklessly offered the Artisan, thinking it might bolster Her efforts."

He lightly hung his head, a bit of a self-deprecating smile playing behind his beard. "We stand as gods only to those within your realm. In this one, I'm as capable of offering a poorly-timed gift to someone as any mortal man. If I could take it back - if She could - "

The god stopped and looked at Meris frankly. "I apologize," he said. "To you, and to all of Creation. You hadn't so much as been formed that I had underestimated your kind. You never deserved to be born as mother and savior alike, to suffer aeons at the hands of my fallen sons. You have the Artisan's gentle strength, Her steel-clad kindness... It's unfair of me to place so much on your shoulders, in this life or any other one."

He raised his free hand, a large tome with its sides clasped with copper hinges in marine whorls and designs appearing atop his palm. "I do it because for all of my power, I see no way for this Creation to survive without you and your allies. You've been shown, now it is time for you to understand."
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