“Only the dead have seen the end of war.”
― Plato
“His name…” The Earth hesitated, a deep reluctance in its voice. “He carried no such thing, just a self appointed title.” A deep shiver ran through Christopher as the Earth groaned. “The One True Master of Identity.”
“Identity huh,” Ven frowned. He’d come across the face of Evolution and was hunted by the Master of Fate, why would this fellow be different? “That sounds like a Conceptual Entity…”
“He was… once,” the Earth sighed, voice quieter than the wind. “But he unified himself, all versions from every multiverse.” Chrispoher’s wrist flicked and an illusion of a vast silver hand clawed from the void, raised over countless worlds. “He became something new, and he wasn’t satisfied. He wanted all beings to become a part of him, puppets for his amusement.”
Ven fell silent. An itch formed at the back of his mind, the roots of a plan. Whoever that enemy was, they’d had a brilliant idea. The combined might of infinite souls, the overlaid power of endless versions of the self. He turned his gaze back to Christopher, who was still possessed by the spirit of the Earth.
“How was he defeated? Something like what you describe would be beyond any multiversal concept…” That level of power was his goal. Strength that went unmatched under all of creation. The Earth shook Chrispoher’s head.
“Not defeated, imprisoned,” Christopher’s illusion changed to a layered nest, a nesting doll that shrunk to infinity. “Locked forever within an inescapable prison that has no key.” The image zoomed out, until it displayed a huge world, set around an impossible star. “Fueled by the power of his own forbidden creation, it can never fail!”
Ven resisted the urge to wince. That was obviously the place of his second rebirth, the sealed planet that he’d promised to free. He gestured to the illusion, a question on his lips.
“What forbidden creation, exactly…”
The Earth changed the focus to the heavenly white star. Near identical to the one in his soul, Ven had always suspected they had some relationship. It rained a tide of energy onto the world below, the first link in the chain that kept the seal in place.
Stolen novel; please report.
“This star is actually an artificial construct, an abomination!” Christopher’s face twisted, the disgust of the Earth painted for all to see. “Its existence is anathema to the principles of reality, a machine that reached to stand above the Gods!”
“Right…” Ven rubbed his face and sent a tendril of consciousness to his inner world.
‘Hey, System… I thought you were created by Verander…’
[That was the knowledge I was born with… but it would be a simple matter for the one who made me, to install false memories.]
“Alright, the big white stars are bad,” Ven repressed a sigh and returned to his conversation. “Have you ever heard of a being called ‘the Titan’ or some such?”
He pinched the bridge of his nose, head tilted to the sky. Why was he always on the wrong side of things? His system gave him too many benefits, he would never abandon it and sooner or later… some big shot would detect it.
“Of course,” the Earth nodded, eyes sombre. “He was the hero who turned on his master, burnt to nothing so the trap could be sprung.” The illusion changed to a familiar Giant. “It was his command that compelled the forbidden star to turn against its creator.”
“Alright…” Ven rose to his feet. “Thanks for the information, but I’ve got to find my friends,” he pointed to the skies. “But it’s been a…”
The world darkened and silenced his goodbye, stars replaced by a hollow black. The Earth howled with Christopher’s lips, agony and terror that coiled at Ven’s ears. The sun showed its face, before it too was lost to shadow. A vast, smiling maw sucked up the errant star, followed by a sigh of satisfaction that shook the world.
“Is that you, little Ven…” The reborn Titan squinted at the lightless earth. “Still hung up on your memories of a simpler time, huh?”
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Pain.
Loss.
She drifted, her internal matrix shattered, separated from the unity she’d known since birth. Blind, she retreated inward, the last gasp of her power used to wrap her broken self in a crystal. Protected against time and the hands of mortals, she drifted toward a spiral of stars, far from all she called home.
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“Thank the gods Lyra convinced the drones to return to work,” Mara tilted her head back, the tower before them lost to the sky.
“Thank her, not the gods,” Aangor grumbled, tired eyes focused to the east. “And thank Cain, without him, time would have ran out long ago.”
Mara winced. The unscrupulous killer had spent the last months in seclusion, but she had visited him only a day ago. His flesh was gone once more, bones exposed to the world. Even those had been thinned, as if wind and sand had worn them down.
“Now we’ll see if it’s been worth it,” Syy and Kalina strolled up to the exhausted pair. The teenage goddess held the older woman’s arm as she waved to the space elevator. “Maybe it won’t even work!”
“It will work,” a thunderous wind dusted the group and Huan and the Dragon God settled to the ground. Huan pulled a face at Kalina as she defended the plan. “There is unlimited energy, just above our heads. The tower will connect it to Husband's gate and all will be well!”
“Don’t pretend like you understand how it works,” Kalina rolled her eyes, a mean spirited grin on her face as she attacked Haun’s weakness. “And he’s not your Husband. I bet he’s found himself a new girl, wherever he is… he probably doesn’t even remember your name!”
“I’LL CUT THAT LYING TONGUE FROM YOUR FILTH STAINED MOUTH, HARRLET!” Huan burst forward, stopped by the Dragon God’s hand. “LET ME GO, GRANDMA, SHE HAS TO DIE!”
“Quiet, child,” the Dragon God soothed her granddaughter. “The tower is about to begin its work…”