ISSUE 26: THE GOLDEN PROMISE
It is endless. It endures but even the Ouroborous needs its protectors. Unity wishes the Omega out of the way. I have come to Earth to gain assistance. The Wall of the Infinite demands and I hear its pleas.—B’karis M’tah, Head Marshall of the Defender Corps.
INet is flooded. I can’t even keep track of all the reactions. Even from territories beyond Earth. On the one hand, you have many people on the “Dang. Well, I guess we know Star is off the table so to speak.” Vs the hectic nagging reactions of her detractors. Then you have the VR forums in general. It's all over the place. Here I thought she’d keep things under wraps for a while. If I only knew just how important that little explosion from Earth was. It might have been the tipping point for my escapades down the line. —Jonas “Eddie” Olsten.
I didn’t understand why at the time. Years later the threads unfurling from that one singularity made sense. It was a tipping point. But at least I didn’t have to hide certain things when in the demi sphere anymore. A small part of me was extremely pleased with myself and Star. Ok, A big silly part of me was. Not going to lie: I used our relationship to browbeat some “donate your DNA to the council for study” Typherian scientists to great strides. House Useless didn’t know what hit them. Plus it was an anchor of sorts.—Doctor Impossible.
I know. You are wondering. You just put Lorain in danger. But take a look at it from another perspective. It would make certain things much easier in the long run. That would be acutely felt when I got to Typha. Would it shock you to know that our relationship made things easier in the eyes of Typha? That Lorain was considered the superior genetic catch. Because she was the only one who could be recognized through Typherian Bonds. They could feel her react on some level like them. Which disturbed X’mil’s faction to no end. No, the wider effects of my actions that day wouldn’t become clear until much later. When the final curtain call began. The lights of many carried me home from vast and distant shores.—Sleeping In Starlight, a memoir of the 22nd century.
Murphy Household
Camp Osiris (New Ashbury, Texas)
January 12th, 2104.
B’karis M’tah faced the doorway. His normal features clouded. He made a soft knock.
*****
I opened the door.
A man with a bushy black beard and wide shoulders stared back. His mouth was set in a hard line. It softened when he looked at me. He hollered out, “Little One! “ Mom burst into the room. Her eyes tearing up as she saw him. Trouble peeked out from behind the mountain man. The black duck was chortling.
Zach zipped into the room and let out a shout.
Then B’karis picked everyone up in a huge bear hug. “By the Rulers, it's good to see you again!”
Dexter added, “I imagine we have an Omega Defender Corp to find.”
I gave my great uncle another look over with my other senses. His ribs were still being knitted together by medical nanites. I asked, “How did you get out? Your body is still mending!” Mom narrowed her eyes. Her voice was awash with worry, “I’ll have Lorain look at you.”
Trouble let out a greeting as Gulliver joined us.
Trouble said, “We have to go to the Ouro. Gotta bring your Twins.”
*****
J’ino buried her worry with another question. “What happened? What took the Omega?” The Marshall of the Defenders paced about the living room. “We were tricked. A signal was sent out. Indicating an Ouro breach. A massive one.”
He set a device on the living room table. It shimmered for a moment then a beam shot out and relayed the event directly.
The Ouroboros Chain
Crucible Entrance (Prime Eden Universe)
Date Redacted
L’tan of the Commons shouted, “SEED BROOD!”
The reek of the corruption hit his senses even within the void of space. The great Ouro thrummed with Life. Its great barrier giving off an inner radiance that nearly blinded the Omega even with his protective energies and battle suit. The breath between universes was even more chaotic. The Weave screamed in agony as the blighted creatures of Unity phased in. The All-Father’s pirates providing some cover via their ships.
The battlefield was pure chaos.
Nearly all the Omega Defender Corp was present. B’karis fired his omega beams from his bracers. Forming a line of crystallized anti-matter explosions that ripped some of the Seed Brood apart. These were particularly vicious. Even the traditional weapons of Typha’s advanced dark matter missile barrages were bearly affecting this particular batch. The Marshall grunted with disgust as more pirates died in the assault. Most were conditioned by the All-Mother’s suicidal training regime. They had no will to speak of. The Hidden House used their Typherian heritage for vile purposes. Making all their followers into automatons. Enslaved forever to his will. If his people had wanted to, B’karis and others like him could have reshaped the multiverse into a wasteland of slaves. He shuddered as another Brood Face Hugger wrapped its tentacles about him.
Its pincers aiming for the Typherian’s throat.
“By Flame and Star! Forever I Pierce the Darkness!”
His house motto inflamed his blood.
A sphere of antimatter decimated the front line of Pirates and monsters. Quick moving Typherian scout fliers dashed around him, using their grav lasers to finish the job. One the echoes of battle faded. Leaving husks of corpses and ships alike, the entire Omega Corp investigated the Ouro.
A few remained behind to corral any remaining corruption.
The Marshall commanded another 3 to report to Typha directly.
None would make it there.
He scanned the section of the Ouro. The Weave whispering in his mind.
He thought it was the remnants from the battle that confused it.
Not realizing the trap was already set.
B’karis was the first to notice it as the Crucible closed behind them. The song was off. The timber. Everything was nearly perfect but one element stuck out like Trouble without his wings. The blessing of the 3 was absent. Too late he bellowed, “Emergency Beam Out! Origin! ORIGIN!” Nothing happened. A soft murmur of glee hit them.
“Too late Marshall. Welcome to the Land of Forever. Enjoy your stay.”
It continued, “A pocket. Made for Ones like You. Belt Wielders!”
The cage shut with a soft peal of laughter. He knew that voice.
The All-Mother.
*****
I swallowed hard.
White was shuddering. Her mental fingers digging into my brain. She hissed an apology.
<
Mom hugged B’karis. Saying, “We aren’t prepared are we?”
He replied, “No. But that is why your children must go to the Ouro. To free my brothers and sisters from her trap. It is a pocket dimension. The Chain only had enough warning to transport me, nearly breaking me in the process, through a transwarp bridge. Without a Scholar Gate to guide my journey.”
Mom’s eyes got huge. Biggest I’ve ever seen.
He continued, “V’lakor let me in on a few important things while I initially recovered.”
White gave me a mental picture. Of a crash test dummy going through the screening of a grave car window. <
Another memory uncloaked.
Of me hiding the Golem’s heart. Where only I could go. Even inside the sun. I had wrapped it in something else. A pocket within that bright corona. Not within the Sol System but residing within the Ouro. It had begged me to hide it there. So it could cleanse the Golem Heart. We would use it to bust the Omegas out of their fell prison. There were vast stars and planets contained within the Ouroborous. I blinked rapidly.
My uncle said, “You know how to do it don’t you?” I nodded. Rubbing my eyes.
“Ma, you know when you and dad asked me to hide that corrupted heart?”
She narrowed her eyes, folding her arms over her chest, “Where exactly did you hide it?”
B’karis smirked, tears running down his face to soak his beard, “She is a chip off the old V’lakor block. To use a human phrase. Rulers preserve us!”
Mom couldn’t quite keep the smile from her face. Even though she was still coming to grips with the fact that I still had memory blockage. This time due to White. My belt tugged at me, bringing me face to face with Trouble and my great uncle. She interlinked with their belts for a moment. Information passing between all of them.
B’karis picked me up with another bone-shaking hug. “Truly, no wonder my niece continues to keep you here. Why V’alkor keeps his council.” It was almost as if he was seeing me for the first time. Mom’s mind wrapped around me like a warm wind. What would happen once my Defender abilities manifested?
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
White said, <
I took that in. “So no more Secret Identity then?”
White replied, <
Dad entered. His face was clouded for a split second. He brought a strange-looking firearm with him. Handing it over to B’karis. “For when certain Void Walkers show up. This one is the real deal. Not the faulty one Thoth stole.” He ruffled my hair.
“From what my wife tells me, I should be a part of this debrief of sorts.”
The room was awash with the beams again. Relaying the remaining part of this adventure.
*****
L’tan whirled. Clawing at the place where the door had been. His movements fevered and growing more desperate. B’karis reached out. Touching the source for his Omega powers. It still responded. At least they weren’t fully cut off. All around him the rooms changed. Taking on a parody of familiar places. The only living things within it were his fellow Omegas. A Bardaxian called Howls-At-The Moons bared his teeth. His snarling filling the air. He tore into the ground but it reformed like nothing had made a dent. <
The Bardaxian was built for sheer brute force. His massive paws the size of B’karis’ head.
His gray fur bristled.
He tasted the air to the point that everyone could see his massive chest expand even with his Defender suit covering him. He whined and curled himself around a Litari Dreamweaver, Navia. She kept muttering, “The dawn shall break. We must shield ourselves. I will induce a deep sleep within everyone here. This place was made to trick our senses. Break down our physical and mental barriers. We must hold here. The Ouro and Three will not abandon us.”
L’tan felt his eyelids growing heavy. They all collapsed to the ground. Their belts shielding them from harm. B’taris found himself being raised high up into the air. A voice dimly echoing, “There is no other way.” He felt an immense force grip his chest. Hurling him across a distance that his mind couldn’t parse. A hall of mirrors within his mind. One version of a tesseract overlaying another and another until the cold grip of deep space shocked him out of his daze. The copper tang of blood poured through his lips and his labored breathing indicated cracked or broken ribs. Or even his whole ribcage. His back was well fortified though. The belt saw to that. He gestured weakly, “Beam. Origin.” The area around him warmed. He felt the rough walls of Typha’s inner sanctum. The personal residence of his brother in law. Trouble’s power washed over him.
The Royal Ummatosh bird wasted no time.
He felt the healing webs wrap around his body.
*****
My father asked, “Who or what pulled you from that place?”
B’karis shot me a look, “The Ouro itself. We had always wondered if it had a mind of its own.” I noticed dad’s heartbeat spike. Its rhythm at odds with the controlled expression he was maintaining. It sped up when he saw me looking at him with curiosity. What did he know about the Ouroborous Chain? Beyond what we learned from the Void Line. I only really clearly remembered the Ur-Stone’s role. It’s birth within a dying Universe. Carrying Aether’s people and other versions of the Markav forward across the very boundaries of the Weave to bring them here. We had seen different things within the Depths. Dad sighed, “The Ouro is also you kiddo. Its everyone. All we are, who we were, who will be. But you and your brother feature within it constantly. Like you are linchpins no matter what the universe.”
B’karis agreed, “It is why you both must go. You must learn.”
He snapped his fingers and Dexter shouted, “At least-!”
We floated within a dark cavern. I tried to float upward but my body didn’t respond. My brother glided over. As if something else was controlling his body. We were lined up, back to back, while the room around us rotated. Galaxies and planets appeared. Died. Reformed.
Dark Matter growing with each renewal and deconstruction.
A glass wall manifested. Dexter hissed, “What madness is this? I can’t even hear…”
Black. He couldn’t feel his belt. I poked around. Seeing if I could rouse White.
She was all around me.
The glass vibrated.
“White, where are we within the Ouro?”
3 voices announced, “Everywhere. The Ouro is you. It is us. It is all. ”
Dexter nudged me, “I think this is the only way we can handle perceiving this area internally. See how the walls echo our memories. You still have quite a bit locked away.” He growled, “Jesus. Why does the world want you to forget? Until some mysterious time is right? Ding ding ding goes the bell. Be a good little Martyr.”
He was right, his memories, as I looked through his eyes were clear.
Mine, on the other hand still had quite a few gaps.
White, her hands were on my cheeks. I could smell the salt of her tears.
One said, “Why do you fight?”
The second, “Death is merely a door. It is easy to find that path.”
The third, “What is your purpose?”
I found myself being dragged under. Dexter’s fury washing over me as the world faded.
He responded to a question, “DO WE NOT GET A CHOICE!?”
Within The Ouroborous
Heart of Life
Date Irrelevant
A faint breeze touched my face. I opened my eyes to see a woman staring down at me.
She was all white. A singular radiance. I rubbed my eyes again to be sure.
It was the same sensation. Was I inside my belt? Or was it inside the Ouro while I slept?
She glanced at me. “We must retrieve the Golem’s heart. I am as much the Ouro as you are. We must all face our inner selves. This will be quite different from what you are used to.”
She placed a flower in my hair. “We still ask far too much of you and your brother. He carries enough fury for the both of you because he must.”
*****
Alexander “Dexter” Murphy was surrounded by bodies. Massive hulking things twisted by Unity. The blood of the FBI woman was apparent. All their eyes were pitiless akin to Chronos. The Black walked beside him. A mirror of his sister belt. The Weave twisted around them.
The first voice intoned, “What is death?”
He could see the Weave rejecting all the Unity corruption. The Ouro was assisting with the cleansing. But it was still breaching places. Like an unwanted virus.
Dexter remarked,"Some places are nearly as corrupted as Unity’s home universe."The Black nodded. Pointing to the epicenter of the battlefield, “You are a weapon of war Dexter Murphy. We are the spear that will pierce the Heavens. But it is your sister who must infuse that spear with the purity of Life. The very anathema to Unity.”
He could see it now. As Twins, they had done many things together. Even growing up via her memories within the Weave. They would share the responsibility of Shield and Spear. Bringing forth the Dawn. Even the realms of Death and Rebirth were affected. Going for Tick when it should be Tock. Dexter rested his hands on the surface. Feeling the corrupted things recoil at his presence. His was the Domain of Death and the Weave.
“I know my place, Black. But do not presume to force my hand. It has already been guided without my consent far too much.” His eyes were hooded. His mouth firm. The belt could see the ancient fire of the Ayeers and the Murphys glaring back at him from those deep gray orbs.
The avatar of the Black bowed his head. He replied, “Indeed. I have already seen what choices have been taken with our role in things. Our original failure. The sin to eat all other sins.”
Dexter added, “So you are siblings. With who else? Di’axi?”
Black shook his head, “No. My sister and I were made to protect the Leylines across all universes. We were the original guardians. Due to our arrogance, Unity was birthed. Di’axi was but a child when all of this occurred. He saw his father…..”
Dexter pushed, saying, “What? Is Di’axi’s father a part of Unity? Was he consumed?”
Black replied, “No. He was to wield the first spear. The first weapon against Unity.”
*****
I bit my lip. White wouldn’t stand still. Her face kept changing. From old, middle-aged, then fresh faced youth. Her pacing was frantic. She would at times glare at me. Angry with herself. I blurted out, “Look. I can’t quite remember yet where I placed it in here. The Ouro is pounding against my skull. “ It was muttering: Reveal the truth.
Finally White howled, “IT WAS OUR SIN! YES! HAPPY!?”
Her eyes were locked above me. Like she wanted to tear down the sky with her very will.
I pitched my voice. To be as gentle as possible. “How did Di’axi get caught up in all of this? I saw a vision or memory of his father at the Omega outpost.”
She hugged herself in response to my question. Her eyes dimming. Losing most of their luster. “We were supposed to guard the Leylines. My brother and I. Twin suns of Life and Death.” She fell to her knees. Continuing to shudder. “Our folly was Unity. It…tricked us.” She glared at the sky once more. Her tears salting the ground. “Fine!” She growled. Hitting the earth with her fists. “We thought we could fight our roles. Not realizing the danger of Unity’s honeyed words.”
My mind keyed in on roles.
“So the Convergence was the response to Unity but it was also a way to course-correct your failed duties?”
She nodded. Guilt was coming off her in droves. It beat against my senses like a war drum. I placed a hand on her shoulder. “I know this might seem very corny. Like Lorain says: I am 100% cornfed.” White turned to regard me. A ghost of a smile appearing. I continued, “There’s always a light at the end of the tunnel. We just have to collect all the light we can on this journey. If we all work together I bet we can realign the Multiverse again. Cleanse Unity for all time.”
She rested her head on my shoulder. “We ask too much.”
Again, Avalon’s rushing waters came to me. The people of the 42 century knew something vital. Important enough to bend the rules of Time. Maybe we would have to bend Uplift Protocol as well. White shared an image of a Scholar. Di’axi’s father. He was charging Unity. His spear was aglow with sigils of power. He hurled it. It shattered against Unity but created a crack! The vision faded. White said, “We have no idea what happened to him after that. But there is a faultline you can take advantage of when the time comes.” She wept earnestly. The Ouro rumbled under our feet. I held her close as we stood on a blank canvas. Dexter was next to Black. All 4 of us turned. A white dwarf star manifested.
The Golem’s heart pulsed within. No longer a dull and lifeless thing. But radiating a brilliance that brought a smile to my face.
I reached out to grab it. I looked at Dexter. He reached out as well.
It phased through us. Connecting the Golden Disk within me to my brother. The crown hidden so long ago within me burst forth. What shocked me was the white half encircled my brother’s head. While the black portion wrapped itself around me.
*****
The Cage holding the Omega’s burst open.
They walked the cosmos once more.
The All-Mother’s breath came out in a sharp gasp.
She turned to her husband. “The Twin Rulers have arrived. We must bend them to our will dear husband.”
He smiled. Both of them had the outer shells of classic Typherian beauty. To hide the vile will underneath. He snapped his fingers and a servant appeared. “Make sure to tell my spies to be on their best behavior. No overall movement until I command it!”
*****
V’alkor Ayeer felt the Throne vibrate. The circlet around his head disappeared.
His grandchildren had finally taken the burden from him.
He knew that other forces would sense this as well. Time to play his trap card.
It would be the only way Typha would survive.
Very soon his planet would destroy itself.
Not physically but all politics and House bickering would end.
*****
Thoth raised his arms to the sky.
Letting the gentle rays of Sol hit his face. Below him, the various components were aligned. Soon the dread host would rise once more.
With no Ta’mathon to stop him.
No Odessens from his home universe as well.
His lips were bloodied and cracked from diving into the Fire Layline.
The world would soon fear him by his true name.
Z’tar Urraden. First of his Name. Night King of At’lan.
They may have stopped him within his original universe but he would take them all here.
His warped laughter rose as the constructs began to form. Their empty eyes awaiting his orders.
*****
J’ino was about to shout and then her children returned. Their faces calm. An inner radiance coming off them in droves. It reached out and her racing heart was soothed by it. Outwardly they seemed the same. Her breath hitched. As she stared into their faces, she knew, they were the Twin Rulers in truth now. Dexter caught her as she sank to her knees.
“Mother, we will choose. But for now, let’s work on getting rid of Thoth.”
*****
Dad took me by the shoulders. Seeing the new mettle burning within.
We could both feel it. The Throne of the Multiverse.
I jerked in surprise, my grandfather touched my mind. >>I will maintain the illusion. But know that Unity, the All-Father and a few others know. Tread carefully.<<
INet blared to life: “Breaking News! The demi known as Snake Charmer has broken out of prison alongside one other known individual, the Hanged Man!”
Dad cursed. He relayed an alert to all personnel.
<
He kissed mom farewell and pinned the rest of us to the spot with his command.
“Worry about Thoth. Let us handle Snake Charmer.”
*****
The Hanged Man dreamed.
It was coming for them.
It would eat them all.