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Post by Jay on Dec 2, 2017 4:09:29 GMT
Amitiel This was not the end.
No, it couldn't be. Never. I wouldn't allow myself to be turned into a sniveling coward. I wasn't a mortal, who ran from the dark the moment it showed itself. Every corner was to revealed with the Light, every shade was to be purified...
That was how it was supposed to be.
I was a strong angel of the Goddess. I wasn't to show weakness; not here. Not where Her watchful eyes could gaze upon me.
It was that single-minded goal that drove me to Sonlas once more. Some time ago, at least for me, I had come into contact with a nun and a mortal hacker here. It was an annoying experience; but my goal prior to that derailment was scouring the lands of Sonlas for darkness.
I soared through the skies at speeds even I hadn't been sure was safe for the mortal life below. One of my previous manifestations had devastated the farmland of a girl here...
Perhaps if she was under the protection of the Goddess, this would not have occurred. It was a shame, but it was an avoidable one.
All things that do not follow Lady Vessatali must be destroye-
No. Amitiel. Remember her words.
I was screaming at myself internally. These thoughts - these feelings of crusade that were once so deeply buried in myself, were clawing their way to the forefront.
I thought myself a complex enough being that something like this would be child's play... but human emotion... it was overwhelming.
Even my physical form mirrored this, it seemed. A woman's form, with hair that did not seem attractive; stringy and unkempt, with bags under her eyes.
An accurate representation of how I truly felt, it seemed. I was becoming the masks I put on to appease the creatures of the Lesser Wo- ... the mortal plane. The mortal plane was what I meant.
Something caught my attention, pulling me from my thoughts. The feeling, no, the sound of something. Energy, for me, manifested as sound in my ears; I could "hear" the intent of a being.
This intent was monstrous. It was greedy. It was searching.
It was dark.
That made me shoot into action, and I circled the countryside once more to enter the place I had come to learn was called No Man's Land.
The dark force was headed... somewhere? Its trajectory was on a collision course with another place altogether; the massive temple of the Exalted beings named Kishar and Shinzo.
I had watched them from afar for a long time, and for good reason; their energies were some of the strongest on this landmass. They appeared following the first invasion of Necropolis, and of course I wasn't exactly trusting of new powerful lords setting roots in a place so near Eokia.
Still the... Glorious Domain of the Solar Queen was not my jurisdiction. If such a monster were to make it there under my watch... it would be up to the Lady Kishar and Lord Shinzo to perform their own maintenance.
But the beast wasn't there yet. No, it was still on the move.
And, now was a great time to strike it. archangel
Neutral good | ageless | sexless |
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Post by Jay on Dec 2, 2017 4:27:49 GMT
Amitiel Trees, move thyselves. I will not show you mercy if you impede.
I was able to pass the slowly advancing being of darkness rather easily, though I did not see it as I entered the vicinity of the domain.
Instead, I found myself performing reconnaissance. A single beat of my wings, done purely out of habit nowadays, took me faster and faster toward the solar temple. Once I got near, I was quick to stop.
Then, I just gazed.
Nothing seemed amiss, and anything that could have would have been completely alien to me. I had to learn the hard way to ignore energies I could not see into; if the Exalted had something so valuable that it required them to shield it, then it wasn't worth my intervention until they attempted anything especially heinous.
Amitiel, "The Staring Angel" some called me. I thought it metaphorical at first - perhaps they were speaking of me staring into the souls of the wicked? Well, I learned soon after that it was simply calling it strange and uncomfortable to be around. "Everything is black and white with you", they would say.
Yes. It was, because the universe's fundamental forces were black and white. Incongruency and inconsistency was simply a part of the puzzle. There existed gradient, but good and evil were the forces this world was torn between. There existed objective Virtue and objective Villainy - it was the one true law of the universe.
And, no one could contest my knowledge of the universe's workings. I was known in the Heavens for my knowledge, my skill in application of that knowledge... I was.
There were things I no longer had access to. Was I truly allowed access to them in the first place? Well, that was... complicated. Extremely so.
Intellectus... hah. Disgusting, life-destroying Intellectus.
Still, it would have been useful here? It would have been nice to at least know what else stayed within that temple. I knew that Shinzo left it to visit... somewhere. Considering that I was not able to find him on Eokia, I could only surmise that either an untraceable area in Sonlas or... perish the thought, Sanctuary was his destination. But whom would willingly choose to enter a frenzy of sharks?
Perhaps I was. I knew this because I had done it before.
That Darkness I attempted to fight, that monstrosity sitting rotten on the throne of the underworld.
Was that a shiver? Angels did not shiver.
So why...?
No, this was no time to worry about that. I had to be down there to intercept this monster. I confirmed what I needed here. So, I turned in the air, and in an instant I went speeding toward the source of the dark power.
It would not survive its insulting existence. archangel
Neutral good | ageless | sexless |
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Post by Jay on Dec 2, 2017 4:42:40 GMT
Amitiel I touched down on Sonlas' surface and found myself immediately assaulted by the offensive sound and sight of the dark aura.
It was massive, more massive than I had realized. A Greater Demon, perhaps? One of the beings trapped with the Pillars? Decarabia? Paimon? Mammon?
No. I knew of these beings. I knew of them and I hated them, so I could not forget their stench.
I hated them, and I slew them. They were no longer a threat to the multiverse.
So, what was this? Another demon I had no knowledge of, perhaps. The idea was unsettling, but unsurprising. The monsters of the netherworld were of all shapes and sizes; chances were that I knew nothing of them.
So, what was this?
I scoured it, and found nothing of substance. And yet, even at the great distance the monster was from myself, all I could do was feel its malignance.
Something like this... what was it? I couldn't see it, yet there it was. Was it shapeless? No, I would have seen an essence. Gods, it starting to affect my visibility. I could perceive easily only through light and sound while on the on the mortal plane; I didn't want to resort to having to scry through the monster's energy. To elevate my mind to another dimension to see this creature was the ultimate admission of defeat.
It was admitting that this thing could perturb me enough to force me to use my celestial power...
I would not give it that satisfaction.
"Show yourself, Monster!" I screamed into the obscuring energies. "Show yourself and be judged by the Light!"
There was no answer.
Then, my vision began to change; not blur, change. I was seeing images that were not what was once there... archangel
Neutral good | ageless | sexless |
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Post by Jay on Dec 2, 2017 5:11:32 GMT
Amitiel I found myself peering into a void of blackness. The universe around me seemed to be completely empty. I could not see myself, I could only observe the imposing expanse of nothingness in all directions.
What was this place?
Then, as quickly as my observations came, they were refuted.
A bolt of lightning... lightning cracked through the sky, and suddenly sound came to my ears. Thunder. Vicious, almost murderous thunder.
The bolt was followed by others, and I found myself staring at something illuminated by the light of the plasma.
A box, suspended in the void. Chains came from each vertex, stretching into the infinity around me. I wanted to get closer... to inspect it. Yet, something told me to stay away.
I didn't have a choice. Much like a mortal camera, my vision zeroed in on the box. It had small openings on it, and someone - no something - let their fingers emerge from it.
I couldn't sense anything here, so I had no idea what in the world it could have been, but I was now acutely aware that this was no simple box.
It was a cage.
A cage holding something.
Judging by where I was, judging by the necessity of a cage in a place like this, this thing must have been dangerous beyond any recognition.
And, now came the question; what in the name of the Gods put this monster here?
You.
Wait, what?
You did.
My thoughts were speaking... to me?
I did?
Yes.
And, I was answering them.
No, I did not.
Yes. You did.
No, I did not. I would... I would have remembered something like this.
You do remember. You remember because all things are coterminous.
Coterminous. Yes. They were. Time and space were veils. But, this was not something that occurred in my time.
Unless, it was set to?
No. You cannot predict the future.
This was true. I could not. Of course, my own thoughts would understand that.
Of course you would. Your thoughts are your own. And, yet, they are not.
I was now more confused. What did that mean?
It means, you are compromised. archangel
Neutral good | ageless | sexless |
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Post by Jay on Dec 2, 2017 5:23:05 GMT
Amitiel
You. You, you, you... it kept using that phrase, as if it were distinct from me. Therefore, it had to be a trick.
I will not accept lies.
Tis' not a lie though, is it. You are compromised; your being touched by something most foul.
No.
You were caressed by the dark.
No.
You were touched by malevolence.
No.
You were brought to your knees by the evil.
I was not! I was valiant in my efforts! I... I...!
You failed.
I failed?
Yes. And this is your reality, now.
My reality?
Your reality.
No... please stop it.
You are broken. Destroyed. Unmade.
No!
You are a flawed mess.
NO! I am not flawed! I am a perfec-...
You see? Vanity. Vanity and pride.
No...
These were sins you did not partake in before, Amitiel.
Stop it...!!
What happened to the once proud warrior of Empyrea?
I no longer am one of them!
No, you are not. You are a lesser creature, now.
AND WHAT ARE YOU?!
... that is the question, yes? What are you?
What am I?
No... what are you?
I don't understand.
You never have.
I tried to close my eyes, tried to block out these intruding thoughts, but I could not control my vision. I could not feel the eyelids of my mortal form.
These are not my thoughts.
Yes, they are.
No, they are not! I would not doubt myself when the darkness is involved! I would never do that... right?
You would.
No, I...
You have.
It was a mistake! I was simpl-
And, you shall again.
NO! IT WAS A MISTAKE!
A mistake doomed to be repeated. Yes?
WHO ARE YOU?!
This question is good, but it does not fully encompass what needs to be learned, does it?
What do you mean...?
It isn't the truest question you wish to ask.
How would you know?!
Ah. Another good question. But, perhaps the wrong one once again.
No... no... it isn't...
Who are you?
Who are you?
Who are you?
Who... Am... I?
Yes.
Who Am I?
Then, my vision changed once more, and I was standing once again in Sonlas. Except, now, the dark energies were surrounding me even further. They were a storm around me.
Yet, staring forward, I now had a face to it. And I was horrified.
It was... me. Standing there. In this form.
Except, the form itself was wrong. Physically, it was no different than I - after all, it was a mortal body. However, its energies were what caught my attention.
Black. Monstrous. Dark. Malevolent.
This dark mirror of myself stared impassively at me, no more than five feet away, directly into my eyes.
My expression was a mix of surprise and disgust.
Its was a simple acknowledgement of my existence.
Amitiel.
That was it's voice!
Your voice.
No...
Our voice.
No.
Embrace it... Fallen Angel.
archangel
Neutral good | ageless | sexless |
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Post by Jay on Dec 2, 2017 5:47:11 GMT
Amitiel Fallen angel?
"I am not Fallen..." I had control of my voice again.
Unfortunately, so did my mirror. "Are you sure?" they responded. "I distinctly recall you falling from the sky to be here."
Here? On Sonlas?
No. On Earth.
I glared at the monstrosity in front of me as I answered. "I am not Fallen. I was saved."
They did not seem perturbed in the least. "By whom?"
That... it was a question I did not know. I had assumed that it was Empyrean Lady Shelomah who saved my life in the beginning. Then, came Lady Vessatali, and I was sure I had found my savior. Perhaps it was she who had saved my life.
"You do not know, do you?" My mirror was steepling, now. That was truly something I did not do. "It could have been anyone: Shelomah, Vessatali, even The Mother of Light Herself."
The Mother of Light. The Elder. The omnipotent force that guided all Empyreans, and ruled the realm with Her heavenly grace.
I had never seen her in my lifetime. Why would she ever save me, of all things?
"Excellent point... I guess perhaps you could have saved yourself?" Asked the mirror image. It seemed genuinely curious.
My answer wasn't as quick as it should have been, even though I had one. "Impossible. Angels cannot save themselves from Falling."
My mirror image gestured to me. "And, yet, here you are; unscathed. The only thing missing is your divine pedigree and a portion of your Empyrean powers.
Yes, this was true. I was certainly missing a chunk of my original powers. My form in the Heavens was mighty; mightier than anything I had currently with Vess-
"No... no, I am not dissatisfied with my power," I responded. It didn't seem to be prompted by anything other than my thoughts.
The dark being seemed to pick up on that. "You seem quite upset by this prospect, Amitiel."
No, I... I wasn't, I... I wasn't...
"Perhaps Vessa is holding you back?" Asked the dark being.
That elicited a gasp, and my energy began to flare. "You will not speak of her in such a tone, Abomination!"
Ruffled feathers, so to speak. The dark one was also not phased by this aggression.
"Then... perhaps it is you who is the detriment, Amitiel." archangel
Neutral good | ageless | sexless |
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