“Humans, such an interesting species. Their world once held magic like our own, but they were far too selfish to handle it. Just like everything else, they destroyed the magic and subsequently gained amnesia…How convenient. Let’s be sure they never come to our world."
- From an unknown Almiranian scholar
Osiris sat on his throne made of bone and ash like he did most days. The ruler of the underworld went through all the system menus to ensure the flow of souls in and out of the kingdom remained correct. Though Osiris was a born ruler, he never intended to rule a place such as the underworld. Especially for the centuries, he spent tending to all the realms’ requirements.
While the majority of the time he did have Anubis to share the responsibilities with, Anubis recently ascended due to his duelist Bowie returning to Almiran again.
“Ascension,” he said aloud in disgust. He thought of how all the blame for his predicament was the cause of his terrible brother Set. Osiris never dwelled on it. He vowed that he would get revenge someday and bring a fate far greater onto his brother.
Unfortunately, Osiris’s only hope for revenge was to ascend. Ascending was the process in which a duelist wielded the ability to cast card magic bonds with a powerful deity or hero who is either dead or in another realm. Thus, helping the duelist channel the full potential of not only their deck but also the magic they are able to cast.
Osiris thought of the reasons why he never bonded with a duelist and came to the conclusion that no one in the realm existed that had the same goals as him. In order to bond, the duelist and the champion had to share the same goals. The interesting aspect of the realms system that Osiris knew well; the system would look at each inhabitant’s true desire and base their quests off from what they wanted.
“L'rd rul'r, L'rd rul'r, thee system hath spoketh.” A little creature made of bones that looked to be the size and stature of a goblin ran up to the throne and bowed at Osiris’s feet.
“What is it now Vermuth,” Osiris said with a sigh. Though Vermuth always had the best of intentions he always caused more frustration for the great ruler. It seemed with each passing day the inhabitants of the underworld were dwindling. Osiris worried with each and every census. He couldn’t blame the majority of them for finding a way out; he too was trying the same. He could only sigh and think that soon he would be the only one left here. While Anubis was left in the underworld for centuries and tended to the realm himself with no vassals of any kind.
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“L'rd rul'r thou art going to wanteth to seeth this f'r yourself,” the little imp said proudly.
“Oh, for fucks sake,” Osiris said under his breath. Perhaps the little imp will show him something of importance. He always hoped but realized that he needed to adjust his expectations. The last time he didn’t do that, Vermuth ended up as dust and had to be regenerated. Something the ruler did begrudging. Good help was hard to come by, he thought to himself as he followed the little imp down the corridor.
“I bethought yond what I wast reading wast wrong, but I did look at t a hundr'd times I didst.” Vermuth said with uncertainty.
“Well, the chalice can be difficult to read at times.” As the two walked down corridor after corridor, the walls were made from bone and flesh. The walls felt like they had a breath of their own. More importantly, the walls kept secrets. Osiris thought about tearing some down to learn about those secrets so that he could escape. But the thought that Osiris always circled back to was, no one aside from him and Anubis could tactically keep the realm running successfully. He wouldn’t want to find out what the repercussions were for the realm if that were to ever happen.
Osiris often questioned if it was a sense of responsibility that tied him to this hellscape, or the fact that he truly couldn’t leave. He always pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind because he had a realm that he needed to manage.
Osiris followed Vermuth into a dark room with a large chalice sitting in the middle of the room. Light emitted from the chalice. The little imp hurried climbing up a makeshift ladder so the little creature could see into the chalice. While Osiris hulked over the chalice, he saw many orbs inside the container. It looked similar to a vast galaxy, the orbs shined at different brightness and colors. The kaleidoscope met Osiris’ eyes and he looked at the orb in amazement.
“Seeth behold! I kneweth I didst valorous,” Vermuth said with excitement, balancing on the side of the chalice clumsily.
“Yes, good work Vermuth,” the ruler said for the first time.
The little imp was so stunned by the praise from his lord, that he lost balance and fell straight into the chalice. The poor creature disappeared into the water-like substance without a word.
“Well, that’s a problem for later.” Osiris focused on the orb that Vermuth wanted him to see. He looked at the bright orange orb with hope for the first time since he became banished to this realm.
It’s impossible, he thought. The orb that lay before his eyes was a soul that was born in Almiran and was coming back to its home. Not only that but there was a large possibility that the goals the soul desired matched up with his own. The brightness determined how ambitious the soul’s quest would be and the potential magic the soul could wield. Both of these factors would be a good match for Osiris. So long as the soul's orb makes it into Almiran safely.
The mighty ruler cautiously looked on, and as he stared deep into the orb he knew. Osiris needed the soul's orb to make the journey. He gently stuck his hand in the chalice cupping the orb in the palm of his hand. Osiris guided the soul gently into the nexus of the chalice, which rested at the very bottom of the great cup.
“I hope your ambitions are as bright as your soul,” Osiris said with hope.