Ajax found himself within a sealed dimly lit chamber, staggering the moment he passed though the pathway as a pressure unlike any other slammed into him, burning at the chaotic aspect within him. He would have been nothing but ashes had the cosmic aspect not sought to protect him, protecting his existence from the aspect.
The titan aspect.
Wherever they were, it literally oozed of its presence, the very walks the very dust, even the very air flowed with it, if he didn’t know better, he would had said they were within the realm of the titan himself. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he felt the iron bound chains they wrapped him with actually suppress his power, made of a purple metal etched with runic inscriptions that burned bright.
He fell to his knees, staring straight at the woman who had brought him here, the man with the book and titan aspect at her side, the lightning sword master and the masked grey cloaked man. Watching him from where he struggled, trying to form words.
“When I felt the tremors in reality and caught a glimpse of you here, I thought I had begun to run mad” she said.
Crouching close to him, Ajax suddenly found a blade placed delicately at his throat, the lightning swordsman moving without so much as a sound, blue tinted glasses staring at him. He focused on the woman.
“I’m not your enemy” he said slowly, even that took tremendous amount of effort.
She nodded.
“I highly doubt that, you’re the enemy of the titan blade, our lord, you’re our enemy as well” she said softly.
Ajax shook his head morosely.
“No, not now, not again” he whispered.
“I admit, the other aspect within you seems puzzling enough, a being of tremendous power, power I might add, feels stronger than the titan’s, decided to bestow upon you, why?” she asked.
“I don’t know” Ajax replied.
He could feel his gaze swimming, his stomach roiling, the feeling of bile building up his throat, and still, the woman’s gaze never wavered, locked on him. When he felt like he might pass out, she snapped her fingers and the runes dimmed, the restrictive power in the room lessening as he took a deep breath, shuddering. She stood straight, dusting her shorts.
“You speak the truth, at least, half of it” she said softly as she glanced at the man with the book.
He nodded, stepping forwards as he spoke, his eyes glowing.
“Do you swear by the titan blade, that your answers from this point onwards would be the truth and nothing but the truth?” he asked.
Ajax glanced at him, saw him burning with the power Moyo should possess, confusion blanketing his thoughts. He nodded, accepting.
“I do” he replied.
A loud gong echoed; Ajax shocked as reality around them actually sought to enforce the oath. He felt his senses recalibrating again, calming himself.
“Again, I am not your enemy” he said.
“Neither are you our friend or ally for that matter” the woman said.
“Who are you?” Ajax asked, irritation boiling at his nerves.
He deserved all he had been put through, true, but only at the hands of Moyo, not this master playing at being a ruler. He was a primordial, at least, not in the regular sense, but his powers were, and while it shocked him to feel the aspect of the titan restricting his, there was a limit to what he could take. She folded her arms behind her back.
“Who or what I am, as I suspect you know already, is none of your business Ajax omega blade, or do you still go by that sobriquet?” she asked.
“Just Ajax” he muttered.
“Good, then I am just a woman as well” she replied.
“Those you see here, are the masters and diamonds of house titan blade” she continued.
“House?” Ajax said, eyebrows rising in surprise.
He suspected, but to hear it, to actually see it in physicality was daunting, the woman nodded.
“Yes, house” she replied.
“And this is Gaia?” he asked.
“I believe you know that isn’t so Mr Ajax, please, don’t try to wiggle your way to get answers out of me, I ask the questions, you give the answers, agreed?” she said.
Ajax felt her aura rise, saw what terrible form her spiritual power would shape out to when she decided to release it and shuddered. Where had Moyo met this woman?, what sort of conniving, cunning and deadly being had she been before the advent of the Archailect?. He knew few of her types, oracles, the name they were mostly called by those who coveted them. It wasn’t an official title in any form, but it was what best described them.
Ascenders who could peak into the threads of reality and fate, getting glimpses of the future, who could manipulate events to their favor, albeit in little ways. There were rumors even then of some oracles would could manipulate large events, whose sight expanded into centuries, and Ajax knew here and then that this woman was one of them. She gave a light smile that promised pain and agony if he pissed her off.
“Good, you know what I am as well, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, you will answer my questions directly, no loopholes” she said.
He felt the aspect of the titan swell in power, wondering how they all were able to use it, even rulers could only have one emissary, and at most three to four masters at a time, what did that make the woman and the man, joint emissaries?. He nodded, there was nothing he could do currently.
“Why are you here?” she asked.
Ajax felt the bond tightening around his soul, his oath being enforced.
“To meet Moyo, to seek his forgiveness” he replied, cursing the oath.
“Why?” she asked.
Ajax desperately wanted to tell her it was not her business, that the answer to that was between a master and his student, instead, he felt his mouths forming the answer.
“Because I’ve realized my mistakes and want to make restitutions” he spat out.
She stared at him.
“Do you mean him any harm? In any way, shape or form?” she asked.
“No, no I don’t” he replied softly, eyes shot as he felt his rage simmer down to hopelessness.
She snapped her fingers, the chains reforming to manacles, cuffing his two hands without anything linking them in the middle. He felt the pressure on him recede, breathing easily now as he struggled to his feet, towering over her. The oracle stared at him, one eyebrow raised.
“You may think yourself powerful, but you’re in our domain, you move when I tell you to” she said.
“His domain, it’s Moyo’s’ the very air burns with his power” Ajax replied softly, trying his best to reduce the lethality of his tone.
“you’ll come to find out that much has changed during the time you went rogue” she answered.
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“he’s the cause of the mass genocide of an entire galaxy?” the lightning swordsman asked.
Ajax felt his core being locked to the rank of master, feeling the uncomfortable power being restricted, the cosmic aspect actually enhancing the restriction much to his surprise. The woman nodded.
“Meet Ajax, former master of Moyo, destroyer of an entire galaxy, or rather, specific systems in the galaxy, you can’t wipe out every planet in a galaxy now, can you?” she said mockingly.
“You don’t know the half- “
“Spare me the lectures omega blade” she cut in.
“House Dracon, two rulers, both ancients, we were aware of them, we did our research on them, and we had contingencies on them” she said.
Ajax snorted.
“Without Moyo, you don’t have a chance against their masters, how many masters do you have?, two?” he asked, glancing between the woman and the man.
The diamond ranked lightning swordsman gave a light chuckle.
“I love it when they underestimate us” he replied.
Ajax wondered what that meant, the woman walking closer to him.
“Believe me, whatever you think house Dracon had, we have enough to counter, enough” she said again, as if trying to drive a point in.
“Alright, can I see him now?” Ajax asked again.
“In time, walk with me, Ajax” she replied.
“One second, who’s he?” he asked, pointing at the man who burned with the titan aspect.
“I am the herald of the titan, pontiff of the order of the titan, his chosen priest if you will” the man answered.
Ajax furrowed his eyebrows.
“Moyo didn’t suffer anyone venerating him, who really are you?” he asked again.
The man gave no response, apparently done with him.
“Like we said, much has changed in the time you’ve been gone” the woman said.
“I can’t keep calling you oracle” Ajax said.
“it’s all you’re getting for now” she replied.
Seeing as this was leading nowhere, he followed her silently behind, watching as the previously dimly lit room became washed with light, blinking rapidly to acclimate to the room. The woman turned to the diamond ranked lightning swordsman.
“Return to Stormsreach, we can take it from here” she said.
The blue tinted glasses man nodded.
“Any news from them?” he asked.
“No, but we’re expecting them anytime soon, the archers and order have sent their forces, the moment they breach into the system, you’ll know” she replied softly.
The man nodded, opening a pathway as Ajax realized something.
“Wait, aren’t we on Stormsreach?” he asked.
Was that diamond ranker casually opening a pathway to an entire separate planet?, was that even possible without a tele hub?. Again, the woman paid him no mind, merely clapping as the walls suddenly became reflective, showing scores of diamond and gold rankers at the ready, weapons primed. Ajax felt a twinge of satisfaction that he hadn’t been underestimated, watching as the walls rippled and the woman passed through.
They had been in some sort of cube, no doubt reinforced to ridiculous levels of strength as he passed through, shivering at the aspect of the titan. The herald of the titan, a term Ajax wasn’t comfortable with turned to the woman, whispered in her ears as she nodded, and watched as he left with hooded ascenders, all with the insignia of the titans’ clan etched into their robes of black and deep purple.
They were in a now bigger room, dimly lit as well heading towards a red glowing door.
“You are in the domain of the titan blade” she started.
“You are subject to his laws and commands, seeing as he is currently unavailable, that means you’re subject to my rules and commands” she said.
“Luckily for you, you won’t be staying here for long, I have just the right job for you” she said.
“Hold it woman, I’m not here to be your slave, I’m not sure you know, but while you’re here playing ruler, there’s- “
“The war is over” she cut in softly.
Ajax paused, unsure of what he had heard.
“What?” he asked.
“The war against the abyss, it’s over, the abyss won, Araman to be exact, is now what is referred to in the books of old as a prime abyssal lord I believe” she replied.
Ajax sputtered, Araman?, the abyssal lord of destruction?,
“Just in case you don’t know, a prime abyssal lord is something akin to a being in between a primordial and a supreme being” she continued.
“And the forces of the Archailect?, the primordials?, how do you even know things like these for a master?” Ajax asked confused.
Surely even being an oracle had to have limits.
“That is irrelevant, what you need to know is that we are on our own, every empire, every system, every galaxy in the cosmos is on their own, and thanks to you, we’ll have to fight on two fronts now” she said.
“Me?” he asked.
“The abyss and chaos, yes, I know of the other side as well” she said seeing the look of surprise on his face.
“You shouldn’t know that yet, no one below the harbingers and supreme beings should” he replied.
“Same way I know that your father has ascended to something terrible, reality is unraveling slowly, the abyss is bearing down on the Archailect and house titan blade will be the first to bear the brunt of either side” she said.
Ajax was quiet for a few seconds.
“How are you calm?, there’s a reason they don’t tell ascenders lower than the rank of ancient all these, their minds can’t simply accept the scale of things” he said.
“we’ve been fighting against overwhelming odds from the foundation of our ascension Mr Ajax, we take it like it’s a usual occurrence” she replied.
Ajax nodded, figures the ascenders of the titan blade would be made of refined steel, his attention was drawn as the doors opened and they revealed a large botanical dome. Sunlight filtered in through the glass top, illumination hundreds of plants glowing with aether and mana. Men and women in white robes bowing at her as they passed, eyes flicking to him with uncertainty.
Ajax noticed the life mana pouring from their bodies, watching as what appeared to be gardeners tended to the rare flowers he recognized from his sojourns. A petal was sold at a diamond apiece seeing as they were vital in brewing legendary ranked elixirs of life, it spoke to the wealth of Moyo’s house and he wondered where they had even gotten the seeds from. He saw a gardener handling a short sickle, watching as he realized the tool was attached to the hand of the man, literally passing mana through it.
The man moved in a blur, cleanly cutting off an entire shoot of one of the plants, the plant immediately being drained of life as Ajax stared in horror. He wasn’t staring at the death of the literal money-making plant, no, that was how to harvest it, he was staring as he watching the man absorb the literal life essence of the plant before droplets of golden liquid dropped from his hand and into a vat. Constructs were used for that purpose, never had he heard of an ascender with the power to cut off the actual life of a living thing.
He glanced around at the other gardeners, watching them do the same thing, eyes wide at the implications of what he would assume was a rare path being used by literal hundreds of average looking people.
“Best not dally Mr Ajax, you don’t want to disturb our gardeners, do you?” she said.
“Gardeners?, these are literal walking assassins!” he hissed.
“I would advise not to call them that, these people work hard to ensure the health of the millions of souls that call this planet home Mr Ajax” she said.
Ajax could only nod mutely as the gardeners all shot him looks of insult, best not annoy them then. Catching up to her, he spoke.
“Where exactly are we?” he asked.
“The seat of power of the titan blade” she replied simply.
“that’s Gaia” Ajax said.
“At one time” she replied as they got to a white door, the woman pushing it open.
It opened up to a veranda, revealing a land filled with trees and sky craping structures, paved streets and hundreds of flying luxurious structures zooming around. Ajax stared in awe, watching as exotic birds flew past, seeing ascenders clad in different colors using either flying constructs or on their own power move around.
“Welcome to Ibere, the capital planet of house titan blade” she said.
The veranda glowed and began to drop as a steady but fast pace as Ajax stumbled slightly.
“a little warning?” he said as she smiled softly.
“Moyo owns all these?” he asked.
“The planet is his literal realm, a domain realm, if you will” she replied.
Just how far had Moyo grown?,
The veranda descended as the floor below opened up and it passed through, descending below ground level.
“Where are we going?” he asked.
“Somewhere private where we can talk” she replied.
“About the war?” he asked again.
“Its consequences” she replied again.
The veranda or transport as it turned out stopped, opening to reveal ascenders rushing all around, flying aid constructs bobbing along with a few of them as Ajax realized he was in a command station. Few of them were even aware of their entrance, saluting and hurrying along, none of the bowing and scraping that were custom to the majority of the Archailect. She turned to him.
“As of right now, we are at war, we are preparing for war and all that it entails” she said.
“Do you trust me enough to bring me here?, the command center of all your operations?” he asked.
“What makes you think this is our command station?” she asked again.
Ajax stared at her, and then stretched one hand out to touch an ascender, seeing his hand pass through them as if they were holograms. Pausing at that, he turned to her, the woman paying him no mind as she tapped the beads on her wrists, a map of a star system popping up, Ajax guessed it was this one. She spoke.
“This is the map of the system, we expect the forces of the titan blade to enter through the north, across the cluster of worlds and debris here” she said pointing to the spot.
“Is Moyo with them?” he asked.
She paused before answering.
“Yes, and we have reasons to believe they’re being harried by either the forces of the prime lord or your fathers’” she said.
“he’s not my father, not anymore” he said.
She shrugged.
“What I need you to do, is to go beyond our system and meet up with them, you have the power, we cannot spare our forces, Moyo wouldn’t want that” she said as if chaffing at the thought.
“But I’m expendable” he said.
“yes” she replied with a blank face.
Ajax nodded, at least she was straightforward about it, he stared at the map.
“When do I leave?” he asked.
“now” she replied as she snapped her hand and a sleek black one-man space construct appeared.
Ovoid in shape with what looked like long-range weapons attached to the side, it was burning with power.
“You knew I was coming, weren’t you?” he asked softly.
It was the only way she was that prepared.
She merely folded her arms, tossing him a medal before she did so, he caught it, staring at the carved image of a spider on it.
“Present that to a man called Idris titan fist, he’s the champion of the titan, emissary if you will” she said.
Emissary, Moyo, a ruler.
It brought a smile to his face as he nodded, walking towards the craft.
“Be careful out there Mr Ajax, you’re not the only one hunting for him” she called out.
“i won’t be the only thing they find out there in the darkness” he replied softly.