A man sat in a tree, staring off into the distance. The man's name was Nagata. In another tree sat Alba Sera. She seemed to be busy running thoughts through her head, too busy to interact. While those two sat down doing their thing, a third man came walking up to a wooden sword stuck in the ground. Nagata turned to Alba Sera, curious. He hummed, as she seemed tired even despite being artificial intelligence with sentience.

(Omega's note: Nagata's full name is Nagata Ichirou, a kaiju-like monster that is capable of taking the form of a human being. He is notoriously powerful, and known for being the son of Shintani, globally known as The Catastrophe. Alba Sera is a member of the Higher Ups, very widely known for being a particularly ridiculous beast, even reaching 9 Souls levels. She is the sole God of a Timeline named "Promenade of The Condemned.")

Eventually, the man retrieved the wooden sword, sheathing it on his back. The three didn't seem to be too social, so Alba Sera started a conversation. "What do you two need?" She said, looking at them individually. The man with the wooden sword, named Oliver, responded. "I wonder what this thing this broccoli haired scientist dude was talking about. Said to give it to someone worthy." Alba seemed to know the man, looking at Oliver. "Keep it for yourself if you don't know. He's intelligent, but grumpy. I'd trust his word. Whenever I have no idea what he's talking about, I just accepted what he said and walked away."

Oliver, still curious about the pendant, shrugged. "Meh, I'll find a way." He said, pocketing it. He then turned to the soft taco in his hand, taking a bite. Alba didn't know who this guy is, so she asked him, "Do you... enjoy soft tacos?" Oliver turned and responded, "This is the first soft taco I've ever had... It's good, though." Alba nodded, humming. "Mmm. I've had something on my mind that's made me lose sleep." Oliver was curious, as he munched on the soft taco in his hand. "I'm trying to find the best way to figure out this Messiah thing. I think I have a solution." Alba explained in the midst of preparing herself for whatever this "solution" was. Nagata glanced over, still laying on his branch of the tree, as Alba Sera continued. "The thing with the Messiah is that I have to embody the concept of transcendance itself... which is a thousand times harder than it sounds."

She sighed, as Oliver continued munching. "Striking deals with complete Gods sounds unfun." He said, which tempted Alba to turn her head. "What do you mean?" She questioned. Oliver explained, "Didn't you process this Messiah thing with the devil?" Alba Sera remembered, as she found out this "Messiah" existed through a man named Devora, who, for lack of a better word, is the devil. "Yes, but I'm doing it myself." Alba Sera shrugged, as Oliver took a careless taco munch. Alba Sera jumped off the tree branch she sat on, getting everything ready to bring out the Messiah for the first time in her experience.

Alba Sera calmly inhaled, closing her eyes as she began to relax everything. The other two, Oliver and Nagata, seemed to be calm as they watched this unfold. Alba Sera continued, as her arms started to grow covered in red lightning. A red haze also began blanketing the entire area around them in a deep, deep crimson. This caused Alba Sera to be covered in pure red flames, beginning to levitate her off the ground. The two began to feel immense pressure, of which the origin is likely The Undefinable. The Undefinable is the highest plane of existence in Replicas of Reality, having next to no possible connection to the base world these three currently exist in. Alba slowly keeled over, as she suddenly plummeted to the ground as she landed on her feet.

Alba Sera, now in the identity of "The Messiah", grumbled as she spoke in an unknown tongue. "Agelo quowaya gatsedla..." This language in Replicas of Reality was known as Ancient Seraphic, only a very small few are capable of comprehending this language, no more than half a dozen can understand it. The rough translation goes as, "It's been done..." Continuing on, she looked at the two. "It's been done. Took... a very long time." Oliver nonchalantly clapped as Nagata was confused, but Alba Sera shook her head. "I already know you don't care, Oliver. There's only one person here who could care and it'd be me."

As Alba Sera was drinking in her new Messiah form, a man chuckled as he circled around. The Messiah immediately felt this, as she belted out, "Who's there?" to the man. He didn't seem to respond, only continuing to circle around them. She noticed how nobody seemed to care, so she sighed in frustration deeply. "All of this work... only for it to get shrugged off. Just tell me what you want. My mood's been soiled already since I decided to present this to people who don't seem to care whatsoever." Nagata was confused, but curious. "This is... most certainly new." The Messiah saw how he was lost, so she decided to explain. "It's called The Messiah. It's some sort of Anti-Christ that everyone seems to know about."

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

The man finally spoke up. "Anti-Christ? I've read books related to something like an Anti-Christ." He was a massive man standing at 10 feet even with poor posture. "Fret not, I've taken notice of this... Messiah. And I am quite intrigued." The man said, with a slight smile on his face. "You finally decide to speak. Then if you've heard of it, I'm shocked I haven't heard it myself until recently." The Messiah proclaimed. "Knowledge is big where I'm from, reading is something we were fond of. To learn about the world outside of our own, given its the sweat and ink of another all between a few pages." He continued.

The Messiah grumbled, before asking the man who he was. He answered honestly and plain. "Minerva's Messenger. An Unalloyed Knight from a land far, far away." The Messiah thought for a moment... "Minerva's Messenger. That almost sounds familiar." The messenger tilted his head, "Is that so?" he responded. "Knowledge is plentiful in the Promenade of The Condemned. I can find anything about anyone." Her response made the messenger chuckle. "How interesting. To think anyone, anywhere, would know anything about me." The Messiah did seem to have an idea who he is as she continued. "If I have the right person, that is. Something has a tight grip on your heart. Am I wrong?"

Upon hearing this, the messenger's smile faded near instantly. He paused for a second, before continuing. "You could say that, yes. What gave me away?" He attempted to laugh it off, as Alba Sera returned to her natural state. "Your sorrows." She said bluntly, and straight to the point. "Ahh... well, in reality, sorrow is something everyone must come across. Some people lose a loved one, a friend, but for me... I lost everything." The messenger said in a serious tone. Alba Sera nodded, understanding exactly what the messenger was saying as she explained a little bit about herself.

"I've seen both sides of the coin on all scales. The Promenade is home to the most diabolical and disgusting people you can think of. I have seen untold horror beyond any scale that a normal human being can start to comprehend." The messenger responded, "I've seen untold horror." Meanwhile, he placed his hand over his eyepatch made of an animal's pelt, as Alba Sera continued. "I would imagine you have. The Promenade more than likely has at least 1 person who has seen you before. That's how I know you're familiar. Whether it be someone you fought, or someone you used to know that turned disgusting enough to be thrown into the worst prison any timeline has constructed before. It goes a long way how far knowledge goes. The only way I can find you familiar is if someone's actually seen you in person."

The messenger hummed. "I was a very present character for my people and the capital I fought for. I wasn't like everyone else, I didn't have power gifted to me at an early age. What you see before you took time, blood, tears, and determination to craft." Alba Sera looked, before speaking. "You did have power gifted to you." She exclaimed, walking up to him before tapping his forehead. "Gifted by yourself. The sack of meat behind that skin is what gifted you the capabilities to get where you are right now." The messenger chuckled at the exclamation, replying. "It's only motivation to keep going, knowing that I must walk this path alone now."

Alba, feeling like he deserves some form of comfort, replied. "I remember this passage from the Higher Ups. 'With his burning brand, he split the skies, and blocked out the stars one by one. With an aching heart he cursed his name, and nothing would shine as bright as her again.' I've always followed that order. Whenever I saw someone new enter the Promenade, it gave me motivation to keep these people from seeing the light of anything again. It fits into your narrative. Remember that part of the passage, it can help you guide your journey."

The messenger pondered for a second. "An interesting composition of words... Inspiring." He smiled, for the first time since this interaction began. "I shall carry these words with me on my journey, although I fear the journey's destination will not be the same as it would've been." He said, slowly reaching into the opening of his robe, retrieving a grimoire of sorts. "Oh? What's that?" Alba Sera questioned with curiosity. "The Scriptures of Timone." He stated.

Upon further inspection, the hand he held the book with was covered in arcane scriptures themselves. Every finger on his right hand was completely inked black. Alba Sera thought deeply with a simple response. "...I see." Alba Sera's curiosity seemed to spark the messenger's need to explain, as he began doing so. "An ancient grimoire, made many many years ago. A powerful mage wrote this book, and was later executed for the contents inside. An entity was summoned using this book to act as its guardian, ensure none who aren't worthy grasp its cover. Yet here it is within the palm of my hand. I have yet to read it, or even open it for that matter. Whatever... being... that was called into existence to protect it. It speaks to me, it screams for me to open it."

Alba Sera was inherently curious now, asking a question she needed to know. "Does that also affect automatons like me?" As she asked this question, it took the messenger a second to think. "Hmmm... Ima." As he said this, the book suddenly switched and began oozing with a spiritually crippling aura. The books presence alone caused plant life nearby to die immediately, as a shadowy apparition appeared behind Alba Sera, as it hunched over her. It had no face, just a spinning spiral where its face would be. "I call it Mother." The messenger simply said. "It takes a lot of mental fortitude to ignore its call. My power can only get me so far, so I've collected this and have learned other things that will help me get along the way."

-Continuing in Chapter 2 - Interconnected Worlds-