Blasterbot
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[X] King Gaiseric might be able to provide some insight, but it might also be a waste of time. The Skull Knight was always cryptic about it all, and I could not afford any distractions.
Crossover Apotheosis (D&D x Berserk)
- Thread starter Gladiator
- Start date
Gladiator
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I went over all of the chapters again, edited and rephrased some things for more consistency with later chapters, and fixed any and all remaining typos I could find.
I would recommend reading from start to finish now. In order to get an idea of the differences. Most are minor ones. Just there to phrase things more eloquently.
I would recommend reading from start to finish now. In order to get an idea of the differences. Most are minor ones. Just there to phrase things more eloquently.
Gladiator
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Also uploaded the story to Archive Of Our Own.
Apotheosis - Chapter 1 - Atem999 - Multifandom [Archive of Our Own]
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
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The Idea of Evil
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Gladiator
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Chapter 29: The Idea of Evil
"The very best of people? That which makes them worthy of life? Which allows them to grasp towards a purpose to call their own? An adventure unlike any other? It is the poison that will kill them one day. Just as cancer is the abundance of life which leads to death? Just as air which grants life will one day take it? Love will be their end."
- Grandmother Crow
King Gaiseric would dream of her. The person he cherished above all others. The woman he took as his own when he ascended to the throne. That throne which he had fashioned from the remains of those who would dare oppose him. All obstacles brought to heel at last, and flayed in the temple that would become his palace. Their bodies, torn from their skin, would be stuck onto pikes! A spectacle to serve as a grim reminder that just because he was known as a righteous steward? That did not mean he would show his enemies any recourse or redemption.
The rewards of tolerance were always betrayal and treachery, and he had learned that his compassion would become a tool for any rival. A way to invade every sanctuary he worked tirelessly to erect. A ruler could not simply show compassion in all things. They had to have a steady hand, and be willing to make use of violence. It is love that made a people flourish, and it is fear that kept the serpents in their place.
On the dirt with the rest of the refuse.
A tribe of people who had called themselves chosen had been growing in influence. Their greed was unmatched. Their thirst for status unquenchable. They wanted more power, and they would take it from him. Just another thing obstructing his destiny. That is what he thought. Their cult had been growing, and there were agents even in parts of the capital. His capital. The nation he had built was being stolen from him, and he could not rout all of these snakes.
Danan, or The Flower Storm Monarch as some called her, looked just like his beloved. In this era of uncertainty that was the only comfort he still had. That maiden had stood by him, and held him close. Her mysterious talent for magic had been a boon. The young woman had become his advisor in all things paranormal, and then eventually he found himself ensnared by her beauty. The witch had become his wife, and as he learned more about her? He had discovered that her beauty went beyond anything physical, and ventured into the metaphysical. That unconditional love was something that perplexed him, and haunted him every day.
It did not seem natural.
In mortals, of which he governed, love had a limit. The basis of which was equivalent exchange. One party treated the other exactly the same as they would themselves. It could never be anything other than conditional. Whether it was obligation to family, or to a friend who had fought by your side? There had to be something in return. It was never the case with the witch!
Her love did Ń̸̩͕̒O̸͉̳̍͘.̵̣͚̋͋t need to be returned, and she loved with an intensity that many would mistake for madness. Some of the most despicable criminals brought to tears just witnessing it. King Gaiseric had to wonder if they had been doing it all wrong. If the love they practiced was but a shadow of whatever this was.
The Chosen People as they were called? They worshiped a deity no one has ever heard of. In their murals he had seen depictions of it. An enormous heart that was beating in tandem with a swirling vortex, and their high priest; the leader of their flock. The one they had called κανένας. King Gaiseric could not help but feel shaken by it. The intuition he had always trusted? It was going around the bend. Those instincts that had been tempered in war? They were trying to warn him.
However, that love would always be there. That which he had discovered in the witch, and he was at peace. It felt as if there was nothing that he couldn't conquer, and perhaps that had made him weak. That regret had assaulted him as he woke from his slumber. The Skull Knight had dozed off on his horse. He was back in Arlan's Way, and all he could hear were the whispers of the denizens from Elysium. That had migrated to this plane.
They reminded him of her. There was an intrinsic virtue to be found in all of them. That served as an example for mortals. This is what their love could have been like. If only they put in any of the effort.
It was unheard of in a world as harsh as this.
"All of that coin, and here you are sleeping!" I interrupt the musings of the wraith. "What are you doing?"
"You do not pay me at all, Arlan." The Skull Knight grumbles in annoyance. "I was reminiscing, if you must know."
"Perhaps I would provide the coin if you actually did anything!" I take a seat next to him. We were both in the courtyard of the palace. Where I had previously confronted that avatar of Vecna. The night had come to veil my city in darkness, and the moon had revealed itself to illuminate the streets. "I have come seeking answers. I think I have earned them."
"Ask away, Lord Vorlesh." The Skull Knight dismounts from his horse. He would face The Knight Commander. "What piques the interest of a champion?"
"This all began centuries ago, and I think you know where and when it did. Start explaining." I am deadly serious. I wouldn't leave without any answers. "Consider it an order from your Knight Commander."
"If that is the case? Who am I to deny you." The ghost sits down. The Skull Knight massages one of his wrists. One of his gauntlets that would have housed his hand, if he still had one.
"Who is Void exactly?" That demon lord who ruled over every other in this plane. Our next target in this crusade I had sanctioned. This grim reaper had bade me to collect on that life.
"A man of the cloth." The Skull Knight answers. "A priest in life. Who thought he had found the truth. They were like the Holy See of today, but they were much closer to realizing what exactly it was they worshiped."
"He didn't?" That is when I turn to look at the lich. "What did he find instead?"
"An opportunity. A way to exploit those who had believed in him." κανένας had cast aside all of his followers. His belief was not shaken, and when his deity made a request of him? He always obeyed without any question. "The Godhand were never the same. Before Void? There were already four of them."
"There were other demon lords in the service of The Idea of Evil?" I had not seen any of them. Had they already perished? "Who was it that destroyed them?"
"Void made them all answer for their disobedience. His faith was unbreakable. Their pact was not. It ended once they turned their sights on their master." That was a lot to take in. Void had fought four demon lords, and even triumphed against them? "Void was not chosen like they were. κανένας had found The Heart of Darkness by himself, and had sought an audience with it. He had bargained for one at the expense of my people."
"They were all branded?" I had to know. How did this bygone iteration of the Kingdom of Midland fall?
"All of them, Knight Commander. No one was spared. The four angels came to my dominion, and left it in ruin when they made their leave. The souls of my people consigned to the Abyss. They became five on that day, but soon they would become as one. When it became apparent that the rest of them only saw their master as the one holding their leash? I had instigated a rebellion of sorts in their ranks." The Skull Knight nods his head. "I made allies out of some, and I had thought there was a chance. That I could have my revenge. That this grudge of mine could be satisfied. There was not."
"It came to that? That those enemies who partook in the destruction of your empire? They became your allies? Such was your desperation in that moment?" I felt a measure of disapproval, but then I remember Nocticula. Our Lady in Shadow. Had I not allied with demon lords, and forged a truce with these malignant beasts? I could not criticize him.
No more than I could criticize myself.
"I did not have The Sixth Crusade. I did not have a Knight Commander. I had no Godclaw. Nor the love of the divine." The Skull Knight clenches his hands tightly. "I did what I had to do. No more, no less. I was not a champion. I was just another conqueror. Whose only saving grace was the love that he knew." There was more to it. I could feel it.
"What made Void seek out The Heart of Darkness?"
"I did."
I pause at that. I can practically hear the crack in his voice. It was unmistakably shame.
"What did you do, Gaiseric? What torture did you inflict on κανένας?" I look directly into those blazing torches that were The Skull Knight's eyes.
"In that era we did not take kindly to heathens and blasphemers. When I had them at my mercy? I butchered the lot of them, and their parish? I set it ablaze. I spared their high priest only to imprison him in the Tower of Conviction. κανένας became my prisoner, and I exposed him to every punishment I could imagine. I used him to set an example! That none of my enemies might forget to fear King Gaiseric! Only for my cruelty to inspire fear in my own people!" This was difficult for him. The truth was always the greatest challenge to face.
"My beloved tried to impart any kind of mercy in the tyrant that I was, but she had failed. In turn, I had failed her. What happened was my fault, but my people did not deserve to suffer for my mistakes. If he wanted revenge? He only had to sacrifice the monster in front of you. Instead all of my people had to endure worse, and the woman I loved? I had to watch die in my arms." The Skull Knight rises at that. He had answered my question. "May I take my leave, Arlan?"
"Of course, my friend. I have much to mull on." That did explain a lot, but there was still the question of The Idea of Evil. I knew where Void came from, and what made him into what he was, but what about The Idea of Evil?
Where did it begin, and where did it end? I knew the answer to the latter at least. It did not matter where it began.
The ending would be of my own meticulous design.
I would be where it ended.
Flora had seen it all. When The Skull Knight had met her so many years ago? It was a transformative experience. There was a time when she journeyed by his side. They had seen the world together, and what they learned was this: it could not be changed.
The people could change, but it never could. This Earth. This planet which had nurtured life. Only for it to go awry. The apostles. The Godhand. The Idea of Evil. Those monsters were born from the actions of people. No, not just the actions but their hearts. The secrets they would never share. The desires for the taboo. The depravities they kept concealed. The thoughts that would spring forth from their darkest dreams. The inclinations towards violence and mayhem they could not deny. The waking nightmares which had transcended the Astral Plane.
These demons were a reflection of the people. They were part of them. In order to eradicate them? All people had to be changed, and that simply wasn't feasible. There were too many of them, and their nature was that of the profane. There were many who did not want to change, and those that did seek it out? They were far too few...
Righteousness had to be learned. Corruption was the natural state of the world. It was easy to embrace the course of nature. It was an insurmountable challenge to overcome it.
Then, out of all things that could happen, I appeared. The anathema. That which could not give in to nature. That which would challenge all things. I had come to meet the world, and instead of breaking against it? It broke against my resolve.
Flora had thought it a miracle, but now she was not so certain. I was beginning to terrify her. It was not the power that I could wield. It was that flaw within my heart. I would not rest until I had dismantled nature. I would destroy this world. I would destroy any world. If it meant that victory was within reach.
Just more bodies to build into the foundation of my empire. More sacrifices to be made for my illustrious ambition. My cause was undoubtedly just. The path I would have to walk in order to fulfill it?
That was a different story.
I had to ask whether it was worth it. Now on this Golden Throne, and as I surveyed my past? Those disjointed memories that were in disarray had drawn out doubt from within my fractured remains.
"What is it, Flora?" The Skull Knight had come to see her.
"I see something ominous in the horizon." The witch had turned look at her apprentice. Schierke was trying to lecture that thief. Isidro had been caught stealing from the palace again. "Our salvation is certainly at hand, but Arlan Vorlesh has sabotaged his own."
"We all know that he is dying, but it is the choice that he made." King Gaiseric could not deny it. There was nothing they could do for their Knight Commander. I had to meet my death. "We can only ensure that what life he has left was worth it."
"It is not that. It is not that at all." Flora shakes her head. If only they knew. "His journey will not end with that death. He will die three times, and after death comes to claim him on that last inglorious death? He will return once more, and what he will become is no doubt a curse!"
The grievous miracle in all of that horrible splendor that it had. Unrestrained by the mortality I once had.
"This will only be his second death, Flora." King Gaiseric knew that much already. "He will discover a way out of it. Arlan Vorlesh is that kind of person."
"..." The ageing witch becomes silent at that. What The Skull Knight claimed just had to be true, but why did it feel like they were missing something? A detail that had escaped their notice. "I hope that is true, King Gaiseric."
There was another life they knew not of. That I had forgotten. I was not a mortal but a beast.
A crow like any other.
Void was approaching. I could sense it. I did not need to meet the demon lord in his plane of existence. Somehow he had manifested in this realm. Just as Griffith had. As the most powerful of The Godhand? I was not surprised in the least. On my throne in my opulent palace? I waited. I would meet this κανένας.
The Skull Knight was there, and at one of my flanks. The shield I would need. Guts, The White Wolf, had secured his position as my sword. He stood at the other. I did not know what to expect. Just that this would be unpleasant.
When I heard the sound of footsteps? I felt anticipation for what was about to come. What host did this demon lord take? I could only imagine. It must have been a mortal that fit someone of his status. A grizzled war veteran who had rigorously sculpted his body to perfection. A fair maiden with nary a blemish on her ivory skin. It could be anyone.
What I did not expect was a frail and feeble elderly gentleman. He was cloaked in torn rags, and had to make use of a cane just to walk. His hair was a frayed slate, and he looked unkempt. A beard that did not seem to be cared for, but instead let loose to become a disheveled mess. The crusaders cautiously stood by the doors of the throne room. They were suspicious of this guest, but did not sense anything untoward or any kind of intent from him.
Void was an enigma.
"I have come seeking an audience, Arlan Vorlesh. I surrender. On the terms that your crusade against myself, and The Heart of Darkness, comes to an end today." That was not what I was expecting at all. I did not see reason as a possibility. "The condition of this surrender is simple. I am to be left to my own devices, and I will not raise a hand against anyone of Arlan's Way. The Godhand will turn away from your people. They can live as they please, and most importantly of all? Their Knight Commander will not have to die." The highlander removes his hood, and reveals that his eyes had been gouged out. "The only thing I request in return? Is that if people seek us out? They are to be allowed to bargain with us."
κανένας was no fool. The greatest way to defeat an enemy? It would to be give them what they wanted above all else, and even turn them into an ally. He understood that the threat I posed was genuine, and he knew that I cared about these people. That they needed someone like myself to rule over them.
"Why should I believe you would honor this truce? I know what you did with Griffith. How all of you manufactured his fall from grace. This to the point that you had it all planned out centuries ahead of time. The Godhand has patience, and it employs all methods to turn people to their cause. What of your fate? That which you steer at your discretion. The causality you hold sway over..."
κανένας tilts his head. As if in deep contemplation. Then he finally answers. "I cannot promise that we will not do that again, for we need to replenish our numbers. I am all that is left. What I can promise is that none will befall this in lands that you lord over."
"What if I conquer the world?" I frown in distaste. I did not like this at all. "What if all lands are ones that I lord over?"
"Then this truce cannot happen, Lord Vorlesh." Void answers for me. Once again, I am beginning to feel it. That sensation I knew from the moment I drew breath. That desire above all else which conquered my heart. The yearning for victory. Complete and utter, and with no compromise what to speak of. I wanted to win.
"κανένας, you would come in here and dare parley after what you have done--" The Skull Knight all but roars, but he is interrupted as I speak.
"No." I answer. " I will not accept that kind of peace treaty."
"If you slay all of The Godhand? The Idea of Evil will create others." Void almost seems to give me an inquisitive look. It was hard to tell, because his host had no eyes, but I could determine it from his facial expression.
"The Idea of Evil creates nothing! He can only corrupt." There is venom in my voice. A barely constrained fury. "He can divide! He can separate! He can change! He can refashion! He can never create anything!"
"That will not always be the case." κανένας felt what was like pity when he looked at The Skull Knight. "If I die? He will no longer be a demon lord, but a deity the same as any other one."
That caught my interest.
"What do you mean, κανένας?"
"The Idea of Evil shared an essence of sorts with The Godhand, and from that it grew weaker. It is what made us into demon lords, but with every one of us that you slew? It has reclaimed what was lost. Soon it will become what it once was, and that will pose a problem for you. It took everything you had to defeat Vecna. What chance would you have at your weakest?"
"I would slay it! I would destroy it! I would see it gone!"
"At the cost of every person that resides in this plane."
I froze at that. What did Void know?
"The Heart of Darkness is tied to the life of every mortal. It was born from them all. If you somehow successfully destroy it, despite your impairment, they will go with it into the Abyss." The elderly figure was not distressed or showed any concern for his own life. This was not done out of deceit. He was just stating the obvious. This was the truth, and I could detect no lie.
They would all die.
"There is always a way around that where I come from." I would discover some other way to destroy it. A way to free them all from the ties that bind.
"There was, but you used it already." Void turns to look at Guts, and smiles at him. The White Wolf grimaces in disgust. As if something foul had assaulted his senses. "I had the distinct impression that it would be the last time."
I knew immediately that he spoke of Wish. I had used it to save my namesake. The child that had belonged to Guts. What other way did I have? I had to think. I would not accept anything less but the death of them all. The Godhand had to die. The Idea of Evil had to meet oblivion. I could not let them continue unabated. The same tragedy would repeat itself. This story would have to be told again, and again, and again! It would never ever end.
I had to perform just one more miracle. I had to do more than just change the people. I had to change how the world worked. I had to become something else. Something I had sworn I would never do again. When I had fought Vecna. The ardent grace that took residence inside of Radiance was my only chance.
I did not know if I could handle it. The last stitches around my soul may be torn by the exertion. Before I even had a chance to make use of that power. Then who exactly would stop them?
Perhaps Guts? No, he failed against Vecna. As valiant as his effort was? A fully-fledged deity posed an incredible threat to him. He may wound it, and if he was lucky, even kill it, but at a great cost to himself. He may even die.
My Guts would die. The one I took as my own.
I cannot lose another son!
I could not be hasty. I had to plan. I had to find a loophole. There had to be another way. I had the library of Elysium. I had the knowledge. I needed but the opportunity to look for it.
"I will consider what you have said, κανένας. Where might I find you when I make my decision?" I had to play along for now. I had to stall. That was all I could do. If I bought enough time? I would bring about that last miracle. I had to commune with that solar. This destiny would not prevail against The Sixth Crusade. I would unravel it.
I would claim victory from the jaws of defeat.
"Do not keep me waiting forever, Lord Vorlesh. I will be in the plane known only as Destiny's Embrace." κανένας throws something at me. A crystal of some sort. "Use that to gain entrance to my dominion."
I catch it before it can fall to the ground.
Void was unlike the rest. There was no fear. Nor even hatred or envy. Just resignation to it all, and the fate that he had chosen for himself. He had accepted it. That was what it meant to believe in his resplendent master.
His destiny was never his own, and that was just fine by him.
I was in the library going over everything. How exactly would I deal with The Idea of Evil? Void could be handled like any other demon lord, but his master had been born from the people. They would die with him if I somehow managed to win.
The tomes and grimoires of Elysium at my disposal, but I could not find anything. There were many spells, but none of them had the flexibility that I needed. I had to sever whatever connection The Heart of Darkness had with the people, and then I could deal the blow that would end it. A Warding Bond perhaps? I could tie their lives to Guts. An immortal like him would certainly be unaffected by this. He had no relationship to this deity. Instead it was that Fenrir who held ownership of his soul.
The problem was how many people I needed to cast it on. There were millions if not billions of people across this sphere. This was impossible for anyone. I don't even think Elminster himself could manage a spell like this!
I could cast it on maybe a hundred thousand or so, but even I would have difficulty after that. My power was such that I could embolden entire armies with my magic. This was no army though. It was a species.
"What am I going to do?" I was at a loss. The options I had were dwindling. I might have to rely on the solar, and that was no guarantee. I could die, and then what would I achieve?
I wish I had all of them by my side. Those crusaders who fought against my mother. Who faced The Worldwound. If they were here, I would be able to do it. Save for my Regill? They were all gone.
"Might I have a word, sir?" That voice was unfamiliar. "I couldn't help but notice that you were crying."
"What?" I reach for my face, and there were tears. They were like tar. A vacuous black liquid. I had to wonder why that was. If it was a symptom of my curse or something else entirely. "It seems that I am."
The witch, and I knew for certain that it was a witch, had approached me. I had to wonder if she hailed from Elysium. Her beauty was not of this world. One of my people. Who delved deeply into the arcane.
Then I noticed that this aura reminded me of Puck and Ivalera. Perhaps she was an elf of this world? One of those fairies that called themselves elves at any rate. My Assiduous Gaze could discern that much had been true, but she was not nearly as diminutive.
"Do you need company?" The fairy grabbed a chair, and slid it closer. I was buried in books. I had amassed them at the table where I was doing my research. "If you want to talk."
"I don't even know your name." I frown at her. The exhaustion was beginning to set in. I could not continue this.
"It's Danan." I felt like I should know her. "A friend of your lich."
"My lich..." The Skull Knight? That was the only one I could think of. "King Gaiseric."
"I see that he trusts his Knight Commander." The fairy seems pleased at that revelation. That he cared about someone that much. "It is reassuring to know that he is doing well."
"What is my friend to anyone like you?"
"Everything, Arlan Vorlesh. If I could touch him again? As I once was? I would trade this life." There was a pleasant look on her face. As if she was recalling a fond memory. A story that had already found an ending.
A corpse on a throne. The words were clear. When before I had difficulty in understanding them. I heard them when I embraced that ardent grace. It was as if the past, present, and future had become one. The barriers between the three had broken in that moment, and I was confronted with an unseemly truth.
I had seen myself. What I would become. What I was becoming. What I am. All at once. What memories were the past? What was happening even as I spoke to this fairy in the present? What if I was just watching all of this from afar?
I was, I was, I was. No, no, no. I am, I am, I am!
Three voices. Three deaths. Three sacrifices.
Had all of this already happened? Is there any escape from what I had done? I did not know. Only that this fairy in front of me was real, and that I needed to say something. Anything that would break myself out of this stupor.
"Why didn't she want me?" Those words came from someplace deep within my heart. "Why did none of them want Arlan Vorlesh?" There was a hint of pleading in my voice. That of a child. "What did I do wrong?"
I fell from the nest. The mother I knew thought I was weak, and left me to die. Then the witch came, and I found my brother. It was alright because I had him.
I died.
I was lost in a city that crumbled before a demon lord. I felt a hatred. I directed it all on that Deskari. Certainly, he was the source of all of my woes. I need only vanquish him. I would be whole. This would bring back my brothers and sisters! I was not.
I died.
I woke in a tree house, and found a family.
I died? No, no, no. I was going to die.
I was already dead.
I am dying!
I felt warm hands. They wrapped around my cadaver. I was in an embrace. It was not my Arueshalae. It was not my Iomedae. It was not my Farnese. This was not the past, present, or future. It was none of them! A place where time had no meaning.
Where Danan wasn't just Danan. Where the beloved stood in front of King Gaiseric again.
"It is going to be alright. You always know what you have to do." The fairy holds onto my body. "If you have to fight? You will fight. If you have to die? You will die. I will always be here." This warmth. This love. I never knew it. It was not that of a brother or sister. Nor that of a lover. "Arlan Vorlesh? I am proud of what you have become. There is no shame in what you are. Broken as can be. There would be no Arlan Vorlesh otherwise!" The fairy kisses my forehead, and the tears begin to clear. The tar had disappeared, and the doubt had gone with it.
No, only that which I was denied at every turn. That I never received from Areelu Vorlesh.
That of a mother.
There would be no God Emperor of Mankind, if not for what I was about to do. I would save my people. I would save those women I took as my own.
I would save my sons.
Μικρο γατακι tended to his duty as always. He would watch over The God Emperor of Mankind, and be there to protect him. Until the day would come when he would gloriously rise again. Not as a Corpse Emperor trapped on a Golden Throne, but as the deity who led The Imperium of Man. There was only one thing that had bothered him. The Adeptus Custode could have sworn that at times he could see his noble master in tears. They were always of tar. Almost as if oil fell out of the empty sockets where his eyes had been so many years ago. When he fought Horus Lupercal, and was forced to deliver death to his own son.
That primarch who had betrayed them all. It had been ten-thousand years, but the Horus Heresy had left a wound that would not heal. Instead it was left alone. No balm. No salve. No curative. The wound had become infected. It had festered in the absence of something important, and that was something they knew not of.
What did their master require of them? They could only preserve his decaying corpse. In this life or not life, The God Emperor of Mankind had become imprisoned by misfortune. All of his children lost to him due to the whispers of those who lurk in the Immaterium. Those demons had taken everything from them. What could they do now but pray.
Pray, plead, and beg.
Those tears had begun to clear. The tar had gone, and with that what tears fell? They were no different than any other mortal.
Μικρο γατακι felt an inkling of something he did not dare feel before. That which had been warned against in the Codex Astartes. Which would only bring about heartache. That elusive thing called hope.
The custode could almost swear that he saw The God Emperor of Mankind begin to stir.
If I could smile? I would have. It had begun. The gambit I had made was coming into fruition. The Star Child need only return to my side, and breach that Eternity Gate to enter my tomb. This Sanctum Imperialis where all would be revealed to them. When the custode somehow notices that my countenance morphed into that of determination?
Μικρο γατακι fell to his knees in rapturous supplication. This truly had to be the work of the grievous miracle.
I had to resist the urge to snort at that. Their fanaticism was unbearable at times. It would be a waste of energy to reprimand these zealots, and I had to be careful. I had to endure. Otherwise, my effort would have been for nothing. This sacrifice would have been made in vain, and what would this all be for?
It would have meant nothing.
I could be him again. I could see them all. I could save them again. I could remember what it was that made a person into a hero. I had made many mistakes. In my foolish pride? I had denied the obvious. I had become an immortal. Just as my son had done when he accepted that gift from The Black Wolf.
Guts could have salvaged all of this. If only he was here.
I had to face that, and understand why my people had to be free. I thought back to what Sanguinius had requested. That I stayed my hand as I did with Baal, and allowed my people the chance to prove themselves. He was everything I hoped my children would become, and the betrayer had taken him from us all. My Horus Lupercal had slain his own brother. I wish that I could have told The Brightest One how much I loved him, and that his Red Thirst was a flaw inherit in myself.
It was never your fault, Sanguinius. The Blood Angels, those grandchildren of mine, they suffered from my horrid affliction. It was no secret. It was my shame, and you had thought it was always your own. I would have never turned my back on you, or any of my grandchildren. I would have found a cure.
That poison came from my blood. It had been born from my soul, and war which had enthralled it. It should have been Sanguinius leading The Imperium of Man in my stead. Holy Terra should have been his, but there was still the other who had been in limbo. Who had endured every humiliation possible. The one who never looked to me as any kind of parent.
Roboute Guilliman would have to shoulder that responsibility, and I would not fail him. I would show The Blade of Unity that I could be better than I was, and that I could at least be an emperor he could believe in.
Lorgar Aurelian had been true, and I had punished him for it. I could not deny the truth. The Imperium of Man needed something of the divine to watch over them, and I would be that seneschal.
I would be their god.
At last, I would not run away. That mortality may be in my past, but I need not be mortal to be Arlan Vorlesh again!
The Knight Commander of the Sixth Crusade. The champion. The herald. The harbinger.
The father I would have to be, if I am to save my sons. All of them without exception. The anathema would come for them all. I would bring order to the chaos. I will return.
I will not be of war anymore. I will be of that love I knew once.
I will be, I will be, I will be.
The world will change.
I will change.
The Skull Knight sank into those silvery mists. King Gaiseric revealed to be what he always was.
Arlan Vorlesh.
It was at my death at The Worldwound that a piece of myself escaped to this plane. It became a war lord, and that war lord would become an emperor. Now it would return, as I feel that part of myself, and as I remember my beloved? These memories which had been fragmented? They became mine again.
"I love you." The Flower Storm Monarch stood as she once was. "I will always love you." Then as quickly as she appeared? The fairy began to disappear. An echo of the woman I loved. That memory had been burned into the Astral Plane.
It became this Danan.
That was the truth. Why I was drawn into this world to begin with? I had already made my voyage here. I had only to reunite with that part of my soul. It was why I drew the attention of The Godhand. Why The Idea of Evil knew to call me a rival. The executioner it had always dreamed of! I had etched myself into it a thousand years ago.
I already was.
The past, present, and future were not set. They were in flux. I may have died centuries ago, but my soul had permeated all of existence when I dived into The Worldwound. I explored every distant possibility, and every fleeting reprisal. I had traversed the unimaginable in ways only an aeon could. Only to return where I would always be needed.
By the side of my children? I would be there.
They had only call my name.
"Arlan Vorlesh..." The shadow reveals himself. Caelum Vorlesh had known about it all. "My crow." Those parts of myself I had hidden were revealed to him long ago. "What will you do?"
"What I have always done." I turn towards him. There was a euphoric joy. I was whole at last. I could be myself. What may come did not matter.
I was alive.
"I am going to win."
"Did you know?" I went into the forge. The dwarf was there just as he always was. He was crafting another set of armor for one of my crusaders. Hanarr had come from Elfheim. On that island of Skellig. Where her grave was.
"Did I know what, King Gaiseric?" The dwarf doesn't even try to hide it. He focuses on his work. "It is good to see that you've reclaimed that part of yourself." The conqueror was always bereft of that piece of the puzzle. Why he could not quite love like his lady could everyday.
"I wonder if anything has changed." The reconciliation meant history was not quite the same as it once was. By merging with The Skull Knight? It was as if we were always whole. That the tragedy had happened, but in the place of that vagabond? It was Arlan Vorlesh who had saved Guts and Casca during The Eclipse.
Who was the rival of Nosferatu Zodd.
That chimera had been joyous to face death at my hands, and now I knew why. The two of us had a past that I couldn't deny anymore.
I wonder if Guts and Casca even remember The Skull Knight, or if they only remember their Knight Commander. Who had been there to save them in those dire straits. It was of no consequence. I was King Gaiseric, and The Skull Knight was Arlan Vorlesh. I was still here. Just as I truly am.
Hanarr was a creature of fantasy. A being from the Astral Plane. He would remember everything. Just as the fairies would. I did not know about the rest. Guts, as an immortal of sorts, might recall something.
I could not say the same for anyone else.
I had wronged κανένας. Just as I would wrong Lorgar. If only, I could remember that when I am reborn. However, just as it was with The Skull Knight? Whatever this reincarnation was had taken a lot of myself with it.
My memories most of all.
That cloister I had burned. Those were not just his flock. The high priest had family who lived in that church, and the flames had consumed them all the same. It did not justify what he did to my people, but it was an explanation. There was a woman he called his wife, and a daughter he loved dearly.
A daughter I might have had if my beloved did not perish during The Eclipse. Void had made short work of what I treasured, for I had taken his own flesh and blood.
I was not a hero. I had thought I might have been one, but in that era I was but a conqueror. The Skull Knight had been true in that assessment. I was honest in that scathing critique. I had to remind myself. I could not think of that person as anyone but Arlan Vorlesh. I could not disassociate from that just because of whatever guilt I felt.
I had done the same before. It was during The Fifth Crusade. How many villages had been put to the flame? Just to rout out any corruption the demons had sowed in the people. How many innocent lives were devoured by it? I could scarcely put a number to it, and then there were all of my crusaders who died in my name. Who threw their lives away for my cause.
Just as my angels would against every threat to humanity.
"It is a curse, Flora. That much is certain."
Before I could face Void? I had to see them. I had to feel them. I had to taste of their love. Farnese de Vandimion shuddered when I touched her. This apprentice of mine had given of herself everything. The witch belonged to Arlan Vorlesh, and I belonged to my lithe and willowy jewel. This treasure I had undoubtedly won.
"How scandalous." The noble heiress would always tease. "Treating a concubine so tenderly." What I had claimed she was. The truth was more complicated than that. "There are some who would think you even love her."
"What if I do?" I admit without any shame. "Who would have the courage to challenge my claim?" I disrobe my pupil. Her nightgown being practically torn away by my desire.
"Who would have the courage indeed?" The Lady of Valor makes herself known, and caresses her pet. Iomedae would enjoy this banquet. The witch quivers as the deity make use of everything she had learned from Casca. Her tongue exploring every part of this acolyte. The aristocrat moaning in ecstasy as her maidenhood is penetrated by it.
I had to wonder if Iomedae even knew who she would become. The Inheritor would cast it aside. That immortality she had fought for. Her lofty position in the Higher Planes, and then my beloved would recklessly exile herself to this realm.
There was a name I did remember. Celestine. The Living Saint. I had to save her. I may lose my identity, but at least I would remember this: the love that I would venerate. I would not let those skulking in the shadows have her.
The Warp was no place for one of mine.
This road was perilous, but I had to walk it. I had to see it through. I had to do it all over again. This was the price I had to pay in order to rediscover myself. I loathed it all, but if I was to return? I had to become the thing I despised the most. That hypocrite who had been instrumental in the unmaking of my primarchs.
The God Emperor of Mankind.
I was my own worst enemy, but that wouldn't always be the case. I would become what the world had always needed. The Knight Commander. That second son who had started it all.
It was only as myself that I could save my children.
"Do not forget this feeling, Arlan Vorlesh." Iomedae whispers. "When you are lost in the Abyss? It will be the guide. It will dispel every illusion. It is the way back home." The tears had come at last. The goddess had realized the truth. That this was inevitable, and that there was nothing that could stop it. "It may be an eternity, but I know that if anyone can do it? It will be Arlan Vorlesh. The person who stole my heart."
Farnese de Vandimion was in awe. Just witnessing all of it. In the afterglow of pleasure, and watching the people she loved above all others embrace? There was a tinge of envy. What they had would never end. The witch had to wonder if her love would be able to endure the centuries. The millennia.
As if to banish any doubt? I grab my apprentice, and pull her into the nest. My student is embarrassed by the forwardness of it, but eases into the hug. The warmth of it all leaves her lightheaded.
"I love you." This moment. This instant. It would be something that Farnese de Vandimion would always remember. A precious memory locked away where none may trample on it. "Both of you."
These were the days that I truly lived.
"Well, are you ready?" The White Wolf was waiting for the person who had changed everything. That hero had returned at last. I had found what I was looking for in that library. The solution to all of my ails.
"I don't think so." I didn't need to lie. "I will figure something out along the way."
"Oh, you're going to improvise?" Guts gives me a peculiar look. As if he wasn't certain I had all of my marbles, or any of my screws fastened correctly. "No motivational speech or anything like that?"
"Do you really need one?" I glower at him. "Of all the people? The White Wolf doesn't need any help." This child can stand on his own. "Least of all mine."
"Alright." The White Swordsman did appreciate the gesture at least. "Then onward to Destiny's Embrace--"
"Actually, there may be something." I interject before he can say anything else. "I wanted to thank you."
Guts looks confused at that.
"Yeah, and for what exactly do I owe this pleasure?"
"Thank you for saving my life." I continue. "Thank you for all of this." I hum a tune, and turn towards the crystal. The one that would grant us passage. "Thank you for being my son."
The White Wolf was stunned at that. He had no idea how to react. Guts decided that he might as well let his face break into a grin. It had been a while since he allowed himself a bit of joy. "Don't mention it." There was an idea though. "How about you return the favor, and promise me that you will live."
"I can't do that. If I made a promise I would have to keep it, and that is one promise even I can't fulfill." I turn to look at him. I burn it into my memory. This would be my memento. The keepsake. That image of my son.
Ready as he will ever be.
"Don't cry." I command my crusader. "I wouldn't want you to. Especially over a bloodthirsty warmonger."
"I am not going to cry!"
"Oh, you are going to cry! I can see the waterworks already!"
Then the argument would begin. Just as it always did. I would tease him, and he would get angry. Which would lead to a brawl. The scuffle broke a few things. The palace would shake. The people of the capital would just think it is an earthquake, but in reality it was from the wake of Dragon Slayer. Which I deftly avoided.
I had a son at last.
Covered only in the ashes of those people that meant everything to him.
Those eyes which I had plucked from their sockets. That epidermis I had surgically removed from every part of his body. Those lips I had eaten by rats. The brain I had exposed after cracking open his skull, and he had done nothing to undo it all. It served as a reminder, and that he may never forget. What I had done. What I had taken from him. What I would do again.
The nightmare had returned, and the grim reaper had arrived.
"Why even parley at all?" That was a question I had to ask. "After what I did..."
"I already had my vengeance, Arlan Vorlesh. There is no reason to indulge in repetition." κανένας was eerily calm. He had died already, and what had remained was but a whisper. "That is your fiefdom. It was never mine."
"I understand." I could respect that. I could even admire it. "I am not going to apologize. It wouldn't bring them back, and I wouldn't insult you like that. There is no apology for that kind of unforgivable sin." I reach for my blade. Radiance began to gleam. The solar within was impatient. It had to wait. "I can only say that I have slain that conqueror. King Gaiseric is no more."
Void deserved this courtesy.
"I can see that." κανένας did not need eyes to see anymore. Such was the power of a demon lord. This was not the same person. What remained was The Skull Knight, and he had come to avenge his people. "What is your decision, Arlan Vorlesh?"
"This war will end when my hand plunges into the heart of deviltry itself!" I answer without any hesitation. "There will be no peace!"
There will only be war.
"It was my hope that this would be the answer." Void sounds pleased by it. "I will deliver you to saṃsāra."
The plane began to pulsate at that.
"I promise."
"How cowardly of you, Arlan Vorlesh!" Radiance clashes against another barrier. I would not be alone. Just as I had fought by his side against The Falcon of Light? Guts would always be by my side. If it was for the father that he chose? The wolf would stand as vanguard against Ragnarok. This was his opportunity to become the bulwark. The foundation that would secure the glory of what would be.
"It is as you said, Void." There is condemnation in my tone. "I am at my weakest." That did not mean I had to face this by my lonesome. "What fool does not have an auxiliary?"
"I should have expected this from you of all people!" κανένας weaves another incantation. The demon lord evokes Maze, and attempts to banish Guts. The labyrinth coils itself around the wolf like a serpent. Only for my son to howl. The tempest displaces the pocket dimension, and sends it careening across the Abyss. There was no way to know where it went exactly. Out of the hundreds of universes in the Abyss? "King Gaiseric! The conqueror! The tyrant! The monster!"
It could be anywhere.
"Why the indignation, κανένας? What you did to Griffith? It was the same. This is a game, and in any game, the only thing that matters is whether you win or not." I had learned that lesson. "The loser is not remembered! They are vilified! They are made to be the villain! I will not be the villain! I will be the hero!"
I had to be. If I was not? I would lose it all. I would lose them. There was nothing in an ethical victory. There was nothing in a pyrrhic victory. There was nothing in any martyrdom.
What worth did a lesson in morality, in sacrifice, and in love have? If those that profit from it are the grotesque. Those secure in their station. Who would dare look down on those they tormented. In history, there was a monster behind every martyr. They only allowed these tales because they wanted to flaunt their sovereignty. These stories were a testament to how much control they had over the world. They had won.
I would bring an end to it. The stranglehold they had over it all. There will be no more martyrs. There will only be heroes, and the villains who would die by their hand. If that meant I would have to carry every burden? I would do so.
They don't get to win anymore. They will never get to win again. They will only ever know defeat.
It was their turn to be at our mercy.
"This will be castigation." I recall the spell. Time Ravage. I focus it on the demon lord, and the body which had already been mutilated a millennia ago? It undergoes a metamorphosis. It began with a century. Then moved on to a millennium, and continued on to an epoch. Then came to a halt at an aeon. In but a fraction of a second? Void had experienced the death and rebirth of entire planes. "Enjoy all of it, κανένας."
The demon lord collapses at that, and to his credit, he does not die. When anyone else would have withered into dust. However, it served as the perfect distraction. The wolf just had to take that opportunity for himself, and Dragon Slayer soars towards that which it called prey.
The demon lord catches the blade.
"Commendable." Void had to admit. "However, I am always prepared." It was an Antimagic Field that saved his life. Those flames that could erase every record of the past? They disperse, and so do the effects of Time Ravage. The high priest had been a cleric when he was mortal. That did not change with his ascension. It only expanded his arsenal.
"Here is your reward, White Wolf." The world around the wolf began to disappear. The shadows had taken him. Maddening Darkness brought forth by another evocation. "The nightmare as you have always known it."
The Eclipse had struck.
"No." I am swift as I move to intercept the spell. This primordial darkness was impenetrable normally. There was no way to sense anything within it, and you only had all of your worst memories as comfort. It exploited every trauma, and would destroy the sanity of even the most forbearing soldier. This would lead to death. "I don't think so."
I cast Freedom before any damage can be done. The White Wolf escapes before the shades within could consume his mind. I evoke a Polar Ray, and the beam of frigid permafrost crashes against the Antimagic Field. It disperses on contact. I make use of Conduit Surge, and the spell reignites. κανένας fails to move out of the way, and the magic collides against him. Antimagic Field had saved his life still, but something of my spell got through the abjuration.
Void had only a scratch on his chest for all of my effort.
That spell was tricky. There was only one way of countering it that I knew. Out of all magic? It was only second when it came to barring interference from The Weave. Which meant I had to use the most powerful one of all, and even then there was only a chance it may dispel it. "I will have to take that risk."
I cast Telepathic Bond, and turn my attention towards Guts.
"I need another distraction." I transmit that thought. "Can you handle that?"
"Of course I can." I can practically feel him ooze with an unshakeable confidence. "Who do you think you're talking to?"
"The White Swordsman." I answer back. "The last scion of House Vorlesh."
My son, my heir, my legacy.
I would leave it all to him. Arlan's Way. Calder Vorlesh. The Crown of Karsus. Those adventures will all be part of his story, and I would dream of the day I would get to hear it from him. On my Golden Throne? I would wait for The White Wolf. I would wait for the stray I had given my name. There would be a feast. Where he would regale me with tales of lands I had never seen.
I had only triumph, and I would see it. I could not fail. They were all waiting. That family, as dysfunctional as it would be, it was mine. I wouldn't trade it for anything. I had always thought I belonged to war, but that was a lie. It was not war. It was this love.
That was my purpose, and I had denied it.
"This spell will not fail." The die had begun to roll, and as it began to fall? It had landed on one. Where failure was a certainty. "It will not fail." The die begins to twitch. "It must not for I am Arlan Vorlesh!" This plane began to reverberate in anticipation, and then so did every other one.
I would deny it no more.
The White Wolf is engulfed in a Storm of Vengeance, and he twirls Dragon Slayer around. The ethereal flames began to merge with the gale. They had become as one, and from it came invention. A spell that had never been cast. This was an Eye of the Storm. The fiery cyclone crashes against the Antimagic Field. The Weave could not trespass on it, but despite that fact?
It had begun to buckle.
"Impossible!" Void could do nothing for he was deprived of The Weave. Just as we were in the confines of that spell. Guts had eclipsed any effort I could conjure up by myself. I would have to rely on the solar within Radiance, just to match this. I had to feel pride. This was my son, and I was not the only one blessed by the grievous miracle.
I had passed it to him. This torch.
"Do it!" The White Wolf had taken the spoils of war. Void had been torn apart by the spell. He was missing a portion of his torso, and along with it an arm. "Do it, Arlan Vorlesh!" His heart had been exposed, and half of his brain had been liquefied.
Mage's Disjunction erupts from my fingertips, but the Antimagic Field does not disperse. κανένας wears a crooked grin, and begins to regenerate. The White Swordsman, who had been exhausted by the effort, could do nothing as Void relished in his victory. Those arms reached for the wolf. They would snatch his life, and with it I would lose my son.
N̵͓͍̮̗̰̳͇͕͂̏͘͝O̷͈̬̘̗͙̒̋̏̈́̈́͜ͅ.̴̯̙̠͐̎̄̔̊̓̈̕͝
I am a slave to nothing, least of all dice! I will not watch my son die!
That sentiment began to flourish, and all things submitted to it. The Watcher could only observe. This turn of events was unexpected, and not even he had foreseen this turnabout.
In a place that was far, far away. Where the mundane was all there ever was? There were children at a tabletop, and they were playing a game. They were tossing dice, and rolling to see whether the protagonist of their story would prevail. He did not. He had failed. That much was certain. They had seen the die fall on one. There was no way out of it.
Their campaign would end. It had been enjoyable, but--
That is when they noticed something. There was no wind, and nary a breeze in their living room. However, for whatever reason the die began to shake. It started to move. As if some force had wrestled control over it. It must have been nothing, and they had to be seeing things. Their house wasn't haunted, and what else could it be but a coincidence?
It was nothing like that. The die began to crack, and it fractured into many pieces. This was not the solar. It was not Radiance. It was Arlan Vorlesh. It was a grievous miracle. It was a cry of--
"Do not touch him!" I crush his wrist. κανένας grimaces in pain, and looks at his executioner. "Do not ever touch him!" I did not need Mage's Disjunction. I did not need my spells. I did not need Radiance, or that ardent grace. I had my hands.
I would make use of them.
"Die already!" I tear at his heart, and with all the ferocity I can muster? "Die, die, die!"
I free it from his chest.
The Idea of Evil spared no expense in that.
"Papa?" That shouldn't have been possible. He recognized that voice. Why was she here? This had to be the Abyss. "Papa, where were you?" κανένας looks down at her, and she was the exact same as he remembered her. It was his daughter, before the flames had left her blackened. That same bronze hair, and those emeralds that were her eyes. The freckles all over her face, and of course?
That curiosity.
"I was--" Void did not know what to say. How exactly was this possible? "I was at the church. I had a sermon I wanted to share with them all, and I think they liked it." κανένας could scarcely believe this, but he could only lie. They called him a heretic. Those beliefs he had were controversial to say the least.
"They did?" Her eyes began to sparkle. Just like they always used to.
"Yeah, they did." Void smiles. "They really, really loved it." He grabs her hand. "Where is your mother?"
"Fishing." There was a look of disgust on her face, and she stuck her tongue out. "It is so boring!"
"It is." κανένας smiles. "Why don't I fetch us some apples?"
"Yay! I like the red ones! Can I have a dozen?" His daughter perks up at that. Apples were her favorite, and baked apples were even better.
"It depends on how many there are. We have to save some for your mother."
"Okay!"
κανένας felt like a fool, but at least he didn't have to feel like a fool by himself anymore. Those centuries wasted when he could have had all of this to begin with.
"Thank you, Arlan Vorlesh." It had to have been him. "I do not deserve this, but thank you all the same."
"Come on, papa! The orchard is this way!"
"Of course, I am on my way..."
[] The world will change. I will change it. The Idea of Evil manifests itself. It was a deity. This was no demon lord. Another Vecna, and I could not rely on Radiance. I had to win. It might be impossible, but I had to win.
[] The world will change. I will change it. The Idea of Evil manifests itself. It was a deity. This was no demon lord. Another Vecna, and I had no choice but to rely on Radiance. Come what may.
"The very best of people? That which makes them worthy of life? Which allows them to grasp towards a purpose to call their own? An adventure unlike any other? It is the poison that will kill them one day. Just as cancer is the abundance of life which leads to death? Just as air which grants life will one day take it? Love will be their end."
- Grandmother Crow
King Gaiseric would dream of her. The person he cherished above all others. The woman he took as his own when he ascended to the throne. That throne which he had fashioned from the remains of those who would dare oppose him. All obstacles brought to heel at last, and flayed in the temple that would become his palace. Their bodies, torn from their skin, would be stuck onto pikes! A spectacle to serve as a grim reminder that just because he was known as a righteous steward? That did not mean he would show his enemies any recourse or redemption.
The rewards of tolerance were always betrayal and treachery, and he had learned that his compassion would become a tool for any rival. A way to invade every sanctuary he worked tirelessly to erect. A ruler could not simply show compassion in all things. They had to have a steady hand, and be willing to make use of violence. It is love that made a people flourish, and it is fear that kept the serpents in their place.
On the dirt with the rest of the refuse.
A tribe of people who had called themselves chosen had been growing in influence. Their greed was unmatched. Their thirst for status unquenchable. They wanted more power, and they would take it from him. Just another thing obstructing his destiny. That is what he thought. Their cult had been growing, and there were agents even in parts of the capital. His capital. The nation he had built was being stolen from him, and he could not rout all of these snakes.
Danan, or The Flower Storm Monarch as some called her, looked just like his beloved. In this era of uncertainty that was the only comfort he still had. That maiden had stood by him, and held him close. Her mysterious talent for magic had been a boon. The young woman had become his advisor in all things paranormal, and then eventually he found himself ensnared by her beauty. The witch had become his wife, and as he learned more about her? He had discovered that her beauty went beyond anything physical, and ventured into the metaphysical. That unconditional love was something that perplexed him, and haunted him every day.
It did not seem natural.
In mortals, of which he governed, love had a limit. The basis of which was equivalent exchange. One party treated the other exactly the same as they would themselves. It could never be anything other than conditional. Whether it was obligation to family, or to a friend who had fought by your side? There had to be something in return. It was never the case with the witch!
Her love did Ń̸̩͕̒O̸͉̳̍͘.̵̣͚̋͋t need to be returned, and she loved with an intensity that many would mistake for madness. Some of the most despicable criminals brought to tears just witnessing it. King Gaiseric had to wonder if they had been doing it all wrong. If the love they practiced was but a shadow of whatever this was.
The Chosen People as they were called? They worshiped a deity no one has ever heard of. In their murals he had seen depictions of it. An enormous heart that was beating in tandem with a swirling vortex, and their high priest; the leader of their flock. The one they had called κανένας. King Gaiseric could not help but feel shaken by it. The intuition he had always trusted? It was going around the bend. Those instincts that had been tempered in war? They were trying to warn him.
However, that love would always be there. That which he had discovered in the witch, and he was at peace. It felt as if there was nothing that he couldn't conquer, and perhaps that had made him weak. That regret had assaulted him as he woke from his slumber. The Skull Knight had dozed off on his horse. He was back in Arlan's Way, and all he could hear were the whispers of the denizens from Elysium. That had migrated to this plane.
They reminded him of her. There was an intrinsic virtue to be found in all of them. That served as an example for mortals. This is what their love could have been like. If only they put in any of the effort.
It was unheard of in a world as harsh as this.
"All of that coin, and here you are sleeping!" I interrupt the musings of the wraith. "What are you doing?"
"You do not pay me at all, Arlan." The Skull Knight grumbles in annoyance. "I was reminiscing, if you must know."
"Perhaps I would provide the coin if you actually did anything!" I take a seat next to him. We were both in the courtyard of the palace. Where I had previously confronted that avatar of Vecna. The night had come to veil my city in darkness, and the moon had revealed itself to illuminate the streets. "I have come seeking answers. I think I have earned them."
"Ask away, Lord Vorlesh." The Skull Knight dismounts from his horse. He would face The Knight Commander. "What piques the interest of a champion?"
"This all began centuries ago, and I think you know where and when it did. Start explaining." I am deadly serious. I wouldn't leave without any answers. "Consider it an order from your Knight Commander."
"If that is the case? Who am I to deny you." The ghost sits down. The Skull Knight massages one of his wrists. One of his gauntlets that would have housed his hand, if he still had one.
"Who is Void exactly?" That demon lord who ruled over every other in this plane. Our next target in this crusade I had sanctioned. This grim reaper had bade me to collect on that life.
"A man of the cloth." The Skull Knight answers. "A priest in life. Who thought he had found the truth. They were like the Holy See of today, but they were much closer to realizing what exactly it was they worshiped."
"He didn't?" That is when I turn to look at the lich. "What did he find instead?"
"An opportunity. A way to exploit those who had believed in him." κανένας had cast aside all of his followers. His belief was not shaken, and when his deity made a request of him? He always obeyed without any question. "The Godhand were never the same. Before Void? There were already four of them."
"There were other demon lords in the service of The Idea of Evil?" I had not seen any of them. Had they already perished? "Who was it that destroyed them?"
"Void made them all answer for their disobedience. His faith was unbreakable. Their pact was not. It ended once they turned their sights on their master." That was a lot to take in. Void had fought four demon lords, and even triumphed against them? "Void was not chosen like they were. κανένας had found The Heart of Darkness by himself, and had sought an audience with it. He had bargained for one at the expense of my people."
"They were all branded?" I had to know. How did this bygone iteration of the Kingdom of Midland fall?
"All of them, Knight Commander. No one was spared. The four angels came to my dominion, and left it in ruin when they made their leave. The souls of my people consigned to the Abyss. They became five on that day, but soon they would become as one. When it became apparent that the rest of them only saw their master as the one holding their leash? I had instigated a rebellion of sorts in their ranks." The Skull Knight nods his head. "I made allies out of some, and I had thought there was a chance. That I could have my revenge. That this grudge of mine could be satisfied. There was not."
"It came to that? That those enemies who partook in the destruction of your empire? They became your allies? Such was your desperation in that moment?" I felt a measure of disapproval, but then I remember Nocticula. Our Lady in Shadow. Had I not allied with demon lords, and forged a truce with these malignant beasts? I could not criticize him.
No more than I could criticize myself.
"I did not have The Sixth Crusade. I did not have a Knight Commander. I had no Godclaw. Nor the love of the divine." The Skull Knight clenches his hands tightly. "I did what I had to do. No more, no less. I was not a champion. I was just another conqueror. Whose only saving grace was the love that he knew." There was more to it. I could feel it.
"What made Void seek out The Heart of Darkness?"
"I did."
I pause at that. I can practically hear the crack in his voice. It was unmistakably shame.
"What did you do, Gaiseric? What torture did you inflict on κανένας?" I look directly into those blazing torches that were The Skull Knight's eyes.
"In that era we did not take kindly to heathens and blasphemers. When I had them at my mercy? I butchered the lot of them, and their parish? I set it ablaze. I spared their high priest only to imprison him in the Tower of Conviction. κανένας became my prisoner, and I exposed him to every punishment I could imagine. I used him to set an example! That none of my enemies might forget to fear King Gaiseric! Only for my cruelty to inspire fear in my own people!" This was difficult for him. The truth was always the greatest challenge to face.
"My beloved tried to impart any kind of mercy in the tyrant that I was, but she had failed. In turn, I had failed her. What happened was my fault, but my people did not deserve to suffer for my mistakes. If he wanted revenge? He only had to sacrifice the monster in front of you. Instead all of my people had to endure worse, and the woman I loved? I had to watch die in my arms." The Skull Knight rises at that. He had answered my question. "May I take my leave, Arlan?"
"Of course, my friend. I have much to mull on." That did explain a lot, but there was still the question of The Idea of Evil. I knew where Void came from, and what made him into what he was, but what about The Idea of Evil?
Where did it begin, and where did it end? I knew the answer to the latter at least. It did not matter where it began.
The ending would be of my own meticulous design.
I would be where it ended.
<<X>>
Flora had seen it all. When The Skull Knight had met her so many years ago? It was a transformative experience. There was a time when she journeyed by his side. They had seen the world together, and what they learned was this: it could not be changed.
The people could change, but it never could. This Earth. This planet which had nurtured life. Only for it to go awry. The apostles. The Godhand. The Idea of Evil. Those monsters were born from the actions of people. No, not just the actions but their hearts. The secrets they would never share. The desires for the taboo. The depravities they kept concealed. The thoughts that would spring forth from their darkest dreams. The inclinations towards violence and mayhem they could not deny. The waking nightmares which had transcended the Astral Plane.
These demons were a reflection of the people. They were part of them. In order to eradicate them? All people had to be changed, and that simply wasn't feasible. There were too many of them, and their nature was that of the profane. There were many who did not want to change, and those that did seek it out? They were far too few...
Righteousness had to be learned. Corruption was the natural state of the world. It was easy to embrace the course of nature. It was an insurmountable challenge to overcome it.
Then, out of all things that could happen, I appeared. The anathema. That which could not give in to nature. That which would challenge all things. I had come to meet the world, and instead of breaking against it? It broke against my resolve.
Flora had thought it a miracle, but now she was not so certain. I was beginning to terrify her. It was not the power that I could wield. It was that flaw within my heart. I would not rest until I had dismantled nature. I would destroy this world. I would destroy any world. If it meant that victory was within reach.
Just more bodies to build into the foundation of my empire. More sacrifices to be made for my illustrious ambition. My cause was undoubtedly just. The path I would have to walk in order to fulfill it?
That was a different story.
I had to ask whether it was worth it. Now on this Golden Throne, and as I surveyed my past? Those disjointed memories that were in disarray had drawn out doubt from within my fractured remains.
"What is it, Flora?" The Skull Knight had come to see her.
"I see something ominous in the horizon." The witch had turned look at her apprentice. Schierke was trying to lecture that thief. Isidro had been caught stealing from the palace again. "Our salvation is certainly at hand, but Arlan Vorlesh has sabotaged his own."
"We all know that he is dying, but it is the choice that he made." King Gaiseric could not deny it. There was nothing they could do for their Knight Commander. I had to meet my death. "We can only ensure that what life he has left was worth it."
"It is not that. It is not that at all." Flora shakes her head. If only they knew. "His journey will not end with that death. He will die three times, and after death comes to claim him on that last inglorious death? He will return once more, and what he will become is no doubt a curse!"
The grievous miracle in all of that horrible splendor that it had. Unrestrained by the mortality I once had.
"This will only be his second death, Flora." King Gaiseric knew that much already. "He will discover a way out of it. Arlan Vorlesh is that kind of person."
"..." The ageing witch becomes silent at that. What The Skull Knight claimed just had to be true, but why did it feel like they were missing something? A detail that had escaped their notice. "I hope that is true, King Gaiseric."
There was another life they knew not of. That I had forgotten. I was not a mortal but a beast.
A crow like any other.
<<X>>
Void was approaching. I could sense it. I did not need to meet the demon lord in his plane of existence. Somehow he had manifested in this realm. Just as Griffith had. As the most powerful of The Godhand? I was not surprised in the least. On my throne in my opulent palace? I waited. I would meet this κανένας.
The Skull Knight was there, and at one of my flanks. The shield I would need. Guts, The White Wolf, had secured his position as my sword. He stood at the other. I did not know what to expect. Just that this would be unpleasant.
When I heard the sound of footsteps? I felt anticipation for what was about to come. What host did this demon lord take? I could only imagine. It must have been a mortal that fit someone of his status. A grizzled war veteran who had rigorously sculpted his body to perfection. A fair maiden with nary a blemish on her ivory skin. It could be anyone.
What I did not expect was a frail and feeble elderly gentleman. He was cloaked in torn rags, and had to make use of a cane just to walk. His hair was a frayed slate, and he looked unkempt. A beard that did not seem to be cared for, but instead let loose to become a disheveled mess. The crusaders cautiously stood by the doors of the throne room. They were suspicious of this guest, but did not sense anything untoward or any kind of intent from him.
Void was an enigma.
"I have come seeking an audience, Arlan Vorlesh. I surrender. On the terms that your crusade against myself, and The Heart of Darkness, comes to an end today." That was not what I was expecting at all. I did not see reason as a possibility. "The condition of this surrender is simple. I am to be left to my own devices, and I will not raise a hand against anyone of Arlan's Way. The Godhand will turn away from your people. They can live as they please, and most importantly of all? Their Knight Commander will not have to die." The highlander removes his hood, and reveals that his eyes had been gouged out. "The only thing I request in return? Is that if people seek us out? They are to be allowed to bargain with us."
κανένας was no fool. The greatest way to defeat an enemy? It would to be give them what they wanted above all else, and even turn them into an ally. He understood that the threat I posed was genuine, and he knew that I cared about these people. That they needed someone like myself to rule over them.
"Why should I believe you would honor this truce? I know what you did with Griffith. How all of you manufactured his fall from grace. This to the point that you had it all planned out centuries ahead of time. The Godhand has patience, and it employs all methods to turn people to their cause. What of your fate? That which you steer at your discretion. The causality you hold sway over..."
κανένας tilts his head. As if in deep contemplation. Then he finally answers. "I cannot promise that we will not do that again, for we need to replenish our numbers. I am all that is left. What I can promise is that none will befall this in lands that you lord over."
"What if I conquer the world?" I frown in distaste. I did not like this at all. "What if all lands are ones that I lord over?"
"Then this truce cannot happen, Lord Vorlesh." Void answers for me. Once again, I am beginning to feel it. That sensation I knew from the moment I drew breath. That desire above all else which conquered my heart. The yearning for victory. Complete and utter, and with no compromise what to speak of. I wanted to win.
"κανένας, you would come in here and dare parley after what you have done--" The Skull Knight all but roars, but he is interrupted as I speak.
"No." I answer. " I will not accept that kind of peace treaty."
"If you slay all of The Godhand? The Idea of Evil will create others." Void almost seems to give me an inquisitive look. It was hard to tell, because his host had no eyes, but I could determine it from his facial expression.
"The Idea of Evil creates nothing! He can only corrupt." There is venom in my voice. A barely constrained fury. "He can divide! He can separate! He can change! He can refashion! He can never create anything!"
"That will not always be the case." κανένας felt what was like pity when he looked at The Skull Knight. "If I die? He will no longer be a demon lord, but a deity the same as any other one."
That caught my interest.
"What do you mean, κανένας?"
"The Idea of Evil shared an essence of sorts with The Godhand, and from that it grew weaker. It is what made us into demon lords, but with every one of us that you slew? It has reclaimed what was lost. Soon it will become what it once was, and that will pose a problem for you. It took everything you had to defeat Vecna. What chance would you have at your weakest?"
"I would slay it! I would destroy it! I would see it gone!"
"At the cost of every person that resides in this plane."
I froze at that. What did Void know?
"The Heart of Darkness is tied to the life of every mortal. It was born from them all. If you somehow successfully destroy it, despite your impairment, they will go with it into the Abyss." The elderly figure was not distressed or showed any concern for his own life. This was not done out of deceit. He was just stating the obvious. This was the truth, and I could detect no lie.
They would all die.
"There is always a way around that where I come from." I would discover some other way to destroy it. A way to free them all from the ties that bind.
"There was, but you used it already." Void turns to look at Guts, and smiles at him. The White Wolf grimaces in disgust. As if something foul had assaulted his senses. "I had the distinct impression that it would be the last time."
I knew immediately that he spoke of Wish. I had used it to save my namesake. The child that had belonged to Guts. What other way did I have? I had to think. I would not accept anything less but the death of them all. The Godhand had to die. The Idea of Evil had to meet oblivion. I could not let them continue unabated. The same tragedy would repeat itself. This story would have to be told again, and again, and again! It would never ever end.
I had to perform just one more miracle. I had to do more than just change the people. I had to change how the world worked. I had to become something else. Something I had sworn I would never do again. When I had fought Vecna. The ardent grace that took residence inside of Radiance was my only chance.
I did not know if I could handle it. The last stitches around my soul may be torn by the exertion. Before I even had a chance to make use of that power. Then who exactly would stop them?
Perhaps Guts? No, he failed against Vecna. As valiant as his effort was? A fully-fledged deity posed an incredible threat to him. He may wound it, and if he was lucky, even kill it, but at a great cost to himself. He may even die.
My Guts would die. The one I took as my own.
I cannot lose another son!
I could not be hasty. I had to plan. I had to find a loophole. There had to be another way. I had the library of Elysium. I had the knowledge. I needed but the opportunity to look for it.
"I will consider what you have said, κανένας. Where might I find you when I make my decision?" I had to play along for now. I had to stall. That was all I could do. If I bought enough time? I would bring about that last miracle. I had to commune with that solar. This destiny would not prevail against The Sixth Crusade. I would unravel it.
I would claim victory from the jaws of defeat.
"Do not keep me waiting forever, Lord Vorlesh. I will be in the plane known only as Destiny's Embrace." κανένας throws something at me. A crystal of some sort. "Use that to gain entrance to my dominion."
I catch it before it can fall to the ground.
Void was unlike the rest. There was no fear. Nor even hatred or envy. Just resignation to it all, and the fate that he had chosen for himself. He had accepted it. That was what it meant to believe in his resplendent master.
His destiny was never his own, and that was just fine by him.
<<X>>
I was in the library going over everything. How exactly would I deal with The Idea of Evil? Void could be handled like any other demon lord, but his master had been born from the people. They would die with him if I somehow managed to win.
The tomes and grimoires of Elysium at my disposal, but I could not find anything. There were many spells, but none of them had the flexibility that I needed. I had to sever whatever connection The Heart of Darkness had with the people, and then I could deal the blow that would end it. A Warding Bond perhaps? I could tie their lives to Guts. An immortal like him would certainly be unaffected by this. He had no relationship to this deity. Instead it was that Fenrir who held ownership of his soul.
The problem was how many people I needed to cast it on. There were millions if not billions of people across this sphere. This was impossible for anyone. I don't even think Elminster himself could manage a spell like this!
I could cast it on maybe a hundred thousand or so, but even I would have difficulty after that. My power was such that I could embolden entire armies with my magic. This was no army though. It was a species.
"What am I going to do?" I was at a loss. The options I had were dwindling. I might have to rely on the solar, and that was no guarantee. I could die, and then what would I achieve?
I wish I had all of them by my side. Those crusaders who fought against my mother. Who faced The Worldwound. If they were here, I would be able to do it. Save for my Regill? They were all gone.
"Might I have a word, sir?" That voice was unfamiliar. "I couldn't help but notice that you were crying."
"What?" I reach for my face, and there were tears. They were like tar. A vacuous black liquid. I had to wonder why that was. If it was a symptom of my curse or something else entirely. "It seems that I am."
The witch, and I knew for certain that it was a witch, had approached me. I had to wonder if she hailed from Elysium. Her beauty was not of this world. One of my people. Who delved deeply into the arcane.
Then I noticed that this aura reminded me of Puck and Ivalera. Perhaps she was an elf of this world? One of those fairies that called themselves elves at any rate. My Assiduous Gaze could discern that much had been true, but she was not nearly as diminutive.
"Do you need company?" The fairy grabbed a chair, and slid it closer. I was buried in books. I had amassed them at the table where I was doing my research. "If you want to talk."
"I don't even know your name." I frown at her. The exhaustion was beginning to set in. I could not continue this.
"It's Danan." I felt like I should know her. "A friend of your lich."
"My lich..." The Skull Knight? That was the only one I could think of. "King Gaiseric."
"I see that he trusts his Knight Commander." The fairy seems pleased at that revelation. That he cared about someone that much. "It is reassuring to know that he is doing well."
"What is my friend to anyone like you?"
"Everything, Arlan Vorlesh. If I could touch him again? As I once was? I would trade this life." There was a pleasant look on her face. As if she was recalling a fond memory. A story that had already found an ending.
A corpse on a throne. The words were clear. When before I had difficulty in understanding them. I heard them when I embraced that ardent grace. It was as if the past, present, and future had become one. The barriers between the three had broken in that moment, and I was confronted with an unseemly truth.
I had seen myself. What I would become. What I was becoming. What I am. All at once. What memories were the past? What was happening even as I spoke to this fairy in the present? What if I was just watching all of this from afar?
I was, I was, I was. No, no, no. I am, I am, I am!
Three voices. Three deaths. Three sacrifices.
Had all of this already happened? Is there any escape from what I had done? I did not know. Only that this fairy in front of me was real, and that I needed to say something. Anything that would break myself out of this stupor.
"Why didn't she want me?" Those words came from someplace deep within my heart. "Why did none of them want Arlan Vorlesh?" There was a hint of pleading in my voice. That of a child. "What did I do wrong?"
I fell from the nest. The mother I knew thought I was weak, and left me to die. Then the witch came, and I found my brother. It was alright because I had him.
I died.
I was lost in a city that crumbled before a demon lord. I felt a hatred. I directed it all on that Deskari. Certainly, he was the source of all of my woes. I need only vanquish him. I would be whole. This would bring back my brothers and sisters! I was not.
I died.
I woke in a tree house, and found a family.
I died? No, no, no. I was going to die.
I was already dead.
I am dying!
I felt warm hands. They wrapped around my cadaver. I was in an embrace. It was not my Arueshalae. It was not my Iomedae. It was not my Farnese. This was not the past, present, or future. It was none of them! A place where time had no meaning.
Where Danan wasn't just Danan. Where the beloved stood in front of King Gaiseric again.
"It is going to be alright. You always know what you have to do." The fairy holds onto my body. "If you have to fight? You will fight. If you have to die? You will die. I will always be here." This warmth. This love. I never knew it. It was not that of a brother or sister. Nor that of a lover. "Arlan Vorlesh? I am proud of what you have become. There is no shame in what you are. Broken as can be. There would be no Arlan Vorlesh otherwise!" The fairy kisses my forehead, and the tears begin to clear. The tar had disappeared, and the doubt had gone with it.
No, only that which I was denied at every turn. That I never received from Areelu Vorlesh.
That of a mother.
There would be no God Emperor of Mankind, if not for what I was about to do. I would save my people. I would save those women I took as my own.
I would save my sons.
<<X>>
Μικρο γατακι tended to his duty as always. He would watch over The God Emperor of Mankind, and be there to protect him. Until the day would come when he would gloriously rise again. Not as a Corpse Emperor trapped on a Golden Throne, but as the deity who led The Imperium of Man. There was only one thing that had bothered him. The Adeptus Custode could have sworn that at times he could see his noble master in tears. They were always of tar. Almost as if oil fell out of the empty sockets where his eyes had been so many years ago. When he fought Horus Lupercal, and was forced to deliver death to his own son.
That primarch who had betrayed them all. It had been ten-thousand years, but the Horus Heresy had left a wound that would not heal. Instead it was left alone. No balm. No salve. No curative. The wound had become infected. It had festered in the absence of something important, and that was something they knew not of.
What did their master require of them? They could only preserve his decaying corpse. In this life or not life, The God Emperor of Mankind had become imprisoned by misfortune. All of his children lost to him due to the whispers of those who lurk in the Immaterium. Those demons had taken everything from them. What could they do now but pray.
Pray, plead, and beg.
Those tears had begun to clear. The tar had gone, and with that what tears fell? They were no different than any other mortal.
Μικρο γατακι felt an inkling of something he did not dare feel before. That which had been warned against in the Codex Astartes. Which would only bring about heartache. That elusive thing called hope.
The custode could almost swear that he saw The God Emperor of Mankind begin to stir.
If I could smile? I would have. It had begun. The gambit I had made was coming into fruition. The Star Child need only return to my side, and breach that Eternity Gate to enter my tomb. This Sanctum Imperialis where all would be revealed to them. When the custode somehow notices that my countenance morphed into that of determination?
Μικρο γατακι fell to his knees in rapturous supplication. This truly had to be the work of the grievous miracle.
I had to resist the urge to snort at that. Their fanaticism was unbearable at times. It would be a waste of energy to reprimand these zealots, and I had to be careful. I had to endure. Otherwise, my effort would have been for nothing. This sacrifice would have been made in vain, and what would this all be for?
It would have meant nothing.
I could be him again. I could see them all. I could save them again. I could remember what it was that made a person into a hero. I had made many mistakes. In my foolish pride? I had denied the obvious. I had become an immortal. Just as my son had done when he accepted that gift from The Black Wolf.
Guts could have salvaged all of this. If only he was here.
I had to face that, and understand why my people had to be free. I thought back to what Sanguinius had requested. That I stayed my hand as I did with Baal, and allowed my people the chance to prove themselves. He was everything I hoped my children would become, and the betrayer had taken him from us all. My Horus Lupercal had slain his own brother. I wish that I could have told The Brightest One how much I loved him, and that his Red Thirst was a flaw inherit in myself.
It was never your fault, Sanguinius. The Blood Angels, those grandchildren of mine, they suffered from my horrid affliction. It was no secret. It was my shame, and you had thought it was always your own. I would have never turned my back on you, or any of my grandchildren. I would have found a cure.
That poison came from my blood. It had been born from my soul, and war which had enthralled it. It should have been Sanguinius leading The Imperium of Man in my stead. Holy Terra should have been his, but there was still the other who had been in limbo. Who had endured every humiliation possible. The one who never looked to me as any kind of parent.
Roboute Guilliman would have to shoulder that responsibility, and I would not fail him. I would show The Blade of Unity that I could be better than I was, and that I could at least be an emperor he could believe in.
Lorgar Aurelian had been true, and I had punished him for it. I could not deny the truth. The Imperium of Man needed something of the divine to watch over them, and I would be that seneschal.
I would be their god.
At last, I would not run away. That mortality may be in my past, but I need not be mortal to be Arlan Vorlesh again!
The Knight Commander of the Sixth Crusade. The champion. The herald. The harbinger.
The father I would have to be, if I am to save my sons. All of them without exception. The anathema would come for them all. I would bring order to the chaos. I will return.
I will not be of war anymore. I will be of that love I knew once.
I will be, I will be, I will be.
The world will change.
I will change.
<<X>>
The Skull Knight sank into those silvery mists. King Gaiseric revealed to be what he always was.
Arlan Vorlesh.
It was at my death at The Worldwound that a piece of myself escaped to this plane. It became a war lord, and that war lord would become an emperor. Now it would return, as I feel that part of myself, and as I remember my beloved? These memories which had been fragmented? They became mine again.
"I love you." The Flower Storm Monarch stood as she once was. "I will always love you." Then as quickly as she appeared? The fairy began to disappear. An echo of the woman I loved. That memory had been burned into the Astral Plane.
It became this Danan.
That was the truth. Why I was drawn into this world to begin with? I had already made my voyage here. I had only to reunite with that part of my soul. It was why I drew the attention of The Godhand. Why The Idea of Evil knew to call me a rival. The executioner it had always dreamed of! I had etched myself into it a thousand years ago.
I already was.
The past, present, and future were not set. They were in flux. I may have died centuries ago, but my soul had permeated all of existence when I dived into The Worldwound. I explored every distant possibility, and every fleeting reprisal. I had traversed the unimaginable in ways only an aeon could. Only to return where I would always be needed.
By the side of my children? I would be there.
They had only call my name.
"Arlan Vorlesh..." The shadow reveals himself. Caelum Vorlesh had known about it all. "My crow." Those parts of myself I had hidden were revealed to him long ago. "What will you do?"
"What I have always done." I turn towards him. There was a euphoric joy. I was whole at last. I could be myself. What may come did not matter.
I was alive.
"I am going to win."
<<X>>
"Did you know?" I went into the forge. The dwarf was there just as he always was. He was crafting another set of armor for one of my crusaders. Hanarr had come from Elfheim. On that island of Skellig. Where her grave was.
"Did I know what, King Gaiseric?" The dwarf doesn't even try to hide it. He focuses on his work. "It is good to see that you've reclaimed that part of yourself." The conqueror was always bereft of that piece of the puzzle. Why he could not quite love like his lady could everyday.
"I wonder if anything has changed." The reconciliation meant history was not quite the same as it once was. By merging with The Skull Knight? It was as if we were always whole. That the tragedy had happened, but in the place of that vagabond? It was Arlan Vorlesh who had saved Guts and Casca during The Eclipse.
Who was the rival of Nosferatu Zodd.
That chimera had been joyous to face death at my hands, and now I knew why. The two of us had a past that I couldn't deny anymore.
I wonder if Guts and Casca even remember The Skull Knight, or if they only remember their Knight Commander. Who had been there to save them in those dire straits. It was of no consequence. I was King Gaiseric, and The Skull Knight was Arlan Vorlesh. I was still here. Just as I truly am.
Hanarr was a creature of fantasy. A being from the Astral Plane. He would remember everything. Just as the fairies would. I did not know about the rest. Guts, as an immortal of sorts, might recall something.
I could not say the same for anyone else.
I had wronged κανένας. Just as I would wrong Lorgar. If only, I could remember that when I am reborn. However, just as it was with The Skull Knight? Whatever this reincarnation was had taken a lot of myself with it.
My memories most of all.
That cloister I had burned. Those were not just his flock. The high priest had family who lived in that church, and the flames had consumed them all the same. It did not justify what he did to my people, but it was an explanation. There was a woman he called his wife, and a daughter he loved dearly.
A daughter I might have had if my beloved did not perish during The Eclipse. Void had made short work of what I treasured, for I had taken his own flesh and blood.
I was not a hero. I had thought I might have been one, but in that era I was but a conqueror. The Skull Knight had been true in that assessment. I was honest in that scathing critique. I had to remind myself. I could not think of that person as anyone but Arlan Vorlesh. I could not disassociate from that just because of whatever guilt I felt.
I had done the same before. It was during The Fifth Crusade. How many villages had been put to the flame? Just to rout out any corruption the demons had sowed in the people. How many innocent lives were devoured by it? I could scarcely put a number to it, and then there were all of my crusaders who died in my name. Who threw their lives away for my cause.
Just as my angels would against every threat to humanity.
"It is a curse, Flora. That much is certain."
<<X>>
Before I could face Void? I had to see them. I had to feel them. I had to taste of their love. Farnese de Vandimion shuddered when I touched her. This apprentice of mine had given of herself everything. The witch belonged to Arlan Vorlesh, and I belonged to my lithe and willowy jewel. This treasure I had undoubtedly won.
"How scandalous." The noble heiress would always tease. "Treating a concubine so tenderly." What I had claimed she was. The truth was more complicated than that. "There are some who would think you even love her."
"What if I do?" I admit without any shame. "Who would have the courage to challenge my claim?" I disrobe my pupil. Her nightgown being practically torn away by my desire.
"Who would have the courage indeed?" The Lady of Valor makes herself known, and caresses her pet. Iomedae would enjoy this banquet. The witch quivers as the deity make use of everything she had learned from Casca. Her tongue exploring every part of this acolyte. The aristocrat moaning in ecstasy as her maidenhood is penetrated by it.
I had to wonder if Iomedae even knew who she would become. The Inheritor would cast it aside. That immortality she had fought for. Her lofty position in the Higher Planes, and then my beloved would recklessly exile herself to this realm.
There was a name I did remember. Celestine. The Living Saint. I had to save her. I may lose my identity, but at least I would remember this: the love that I would venerate. I would not let those skulking in the shadows have her.
The Warp was no place for one of mine.
This road was perilous, but I had to walk it. I had to see it through. I had to do it all over again. This was the price I had to pay in order to rediscover myself. I loathed it all, but if I was to return? I had to become the thing I despised the most. That hypocrite who had been instrumental in the unmaking of my primarchs.
The God Emperor of Mankind.
I was my own worst enemy, but that wouldn't always be the case. I would become what the world had always needed. The Knight Commander. That second son who had started it all.
It was only as myself that I could save my children.
"Do not forget this feeling, Arlan Vorlesh." Iomedae whispers. "When you are lost in the Abyss? It will be the guide. It will dispel every illusion. It is the way back home." The tears had come at last. The goddess had realized the truth. That this was inevitable, and that there was nothing that could stop it. "It may be an eternity, but I know that if anyone can do it? It will be Arlan Vorlesh. The person who stole my heart."
Farnese de Vandimion was in awe. Just witnessing all of it. In the afterglow of pleasure, and watching the people she loved above all others embrace? There was a tinge of envy. What they had would never end. The witch had to wonder if her love would be able to endure the centuries. The millennia.
As if to banish any doubt? I grab my apprentice, and pull her into the nest. My student is embarrassed by the forwardness of it, but eases into the hug. The warmth of it all leaves her lightheaded.
"I love you." This moment. This instant. It would be something that Farnese de Vandimion would always remember. A precious memory locked away where none may trample on it. "Both of you."
These were the days that I truly lived.
<<X>>
"Well, are you ready?" The White Wolf was waiting for the person who had changed everything. That hero had returned at last. I had found what I was looking for in that library. The solution to all of my ails.
"I don't think so." I didn't need to lie. "I will figure something out along the way."
"Oh, you're going to improvise?" Guts gives me a peculiar look. As if he wasn't certain I had all of my marbles, or any of my screws fastened correctly. "No motivational speech or anything like that?"
"Do you really need one?" I glower at him. "Of all the people? The White Wolf doesn't need any help." This child can stand on his own. "Least of all mine."
"Alright." The White Swordsman did appreciate the gesture at least. "Then onward to Destiny's Embrace--"
"Actually, there may be something." I interject before he can say anything else. "I wanted to thank you."
Guts looks confused at that.
"Yeah, and for what exactly do I owe this pleasure?"
"Thank you for saving my life." I continue. "Thank you for all of this." I hum a tune, and turn towards the crystal. The one that would grant us passage. "Thank you for being my son."
The White Wolf was stunned at that. He had no idea how to react. Guts decided that he might as well let his face break into a grin. It had been a while since he allowed himself a bit of joy. "Don't mention it." There was an idea though. "How about you return the favor, and promise me that you will live."
"I can't do that. If I made a promise I would have to keep it, and that is one promise even I can't fulfill." I turn to look at him. I burn it into my memory. This would be my memento. The keepsake. That image of my son.
Ready as he will ever be.
"Don't cry." I command my crusader. "I wouldn't want you to. Especially over a bloodthirsty warmonger."
"I am not going to cry!"
"Oh, you are going to cry! I can see the waterworks already!"
Then the argument would begin. Just as it always did. I would tease him, and he would get angry. Which would lead to a brawl. The scuffle broke a few things. The palace would shake. The people of the capital would just think it is an earthquake, but in reality it was from the wake of Dragon Slayer. Which I deftly avoided.
I had a son at last.
<<X>>
There was no army. No apostles. Destiny's Embrace was a realm bereft of any worshipers. They had gone with that parish I had torched long ago. There was only Void, and all his numerous devices. κανένας had required only the barest of necessities. He would always make due, and he would never disappoint his master. The Idea of Evil which had answered his prayer when he was at his very lowest in the Tower of Conviction.
Covered only in the ashes of those people that meant everything to him.
Those eyes which I had plucked from their sockets. That epidermis I had surgically removed from every part of his body. Those lips I had eaten by rats. The brain I had exposed after cracking open his skull, and he had done nothing to undo it all. It served as a reminder, and that he may never forget. What I had done. What I had taken from him. What I would do again.
The nightmare had returned, and the grim reaper had arrived.
"Why even parley at all?" That was a question I had to ask. "After what I did..."
"I already had my vengeance, Arlan Vorlesh. There is no reason to indulge in repetition." κανένας was eerily calm. He had died already, and what had remained was but a whisper. "That is your fiefdom. It was never mine."
"I understand." I could respect that. I could even admire it. "I am not going to apologize. It wouldn't bring them back, and I wouldn't insult you like that. There is no apology for that kind of unforgivable sin." I reach for my blade. Radiance began to gleam. The solar within was impatient. It had to wait. "I can only say that I have slain that conqueror. King Gaiseric is no more."
Void deserved this courtesy.
"I can see that." κανένας did not need eyes to see anymore. Such was the power of a demon lord. This was not the same person. What remained was The Skull Knight, and he had come to avenge his people. "What is your decision, Arlan Vorlesh?"
"This war will end when my hand plunges into the heart of deviltry itself!" I answer without any hesitation. "There will be no peace!"
There will only be war.
"It was my hope that this would be the answer." Void sounds pleased by it. "I will deliver you to saṃsāra."
The plane began to pulsate at that.
"I promise."
<<X>>
The White Wolf hurled himself throughout the expanse. Dragon Slayer crashing against a barrier. Drawn out from the ether of this plane. There was a gale which wrapped itself around his blade. The wind would fan the flames. They ignite in the primordial darkness of this realm. Grunbeld would taste the blood of a demon lord again.
"How cowardly of you, Arlan Vorlesh!" Radiance clashes against another barrier. I would not be alone. Just as I had fought by his side against The Falcon of Light? Guts would always be by my side. If it was for the father that he chose? The wolf would stand as vanguard against Ragnarok. This was his opportunity to become the bulwark. The foundation that would secure the glory of what would be.
"It is as you said, Void." There is condemnation in my tone. "I am at my weakest." That did not mean I had to face this by my lonesome. "What fool does not have an auxiliary?"
"I should have expected this from you of all people!" κανένας weaves another incantation. The demon lord evokes Maze, and attempts to banish Guts. The labyrinth coils itself around the wolf like a serpent. Only for my son to howl. The tempest displaces the pocket dimension, and sends it careening across the Abyss. There was no way to know where it went exactly. Out of the hundreds of universes in the Abyss? "King Gaiseric! The conqueror! The tyrant! The monster!"
It could be anywhere.
"Why the indignation, κανένας? What you did to Griffith? It was the same. This is a game, and in any game, the only thing that matters is whether you win or not." I had learned that lesson. "The loser is not remembered! They are vilified! They are made to be the villain! I will not be the villain! I will be the hero!"
I had to be. If I was not? I would lose it all. I would lose them. There was nothing in an ethical victory. There was nothing in a pyrrhic victory. There was nothing in any martyrdom.
What worth did a lesson in morality, in sacrifice, and in love have? If those that profit from it are the grotesque. Those secure in their station. Who would dare look down on those they tormented. In history, there was a monster behind every martyr. They only allowed these tales because they wanted to flaunt their sovereignty. These stories were a testament to how much control they had over the world. They had won.
I would bring an end to it. The stranglehold they had over it all. There will be no more martyrs. There will only be heroes, and the villains who would die by their hand. If that meant I would have to carry every burden? I would do so.
They don't get to win anymore. They will never get to win again. They will only ever know defeat.
It was their turn to be at our mercy.
"This will be castigation." I recall the spell. Time Ravage. I focus it on the demon lord, and the body which had already been mutilated a millennia ago? It undergoes a metamorphosis. It began with a century. Then moved on to a millennium, and continued on to an epoch. Then came to a halt at an aeon. In but a fraction of a second? Void had experienced the death and rebirth of entire planes. "Enjoy all of it, κανένας."
The demon lord collapses at that, and to his credit, he does not die. When anyone else would have withered into dust. However, it served as the perfect distraction. The wolf just had to take that opportunity for himself, and Dragon Slayer soars towards that which it called prey.
The demon lord catches the blade.
"Commendable." Void had to admit. "However, I am always prepared." It was an Antimagic Field that saved his life. Those flames that could erase every record of the past? They disperse, and so do the effects of Time Ravage. The high priest had been a cleric when he was mortal. That did not change with his ascension. It only expanded his arsenal.
"Here is your reward, White Wolf." The world around the wolf began to disappear. The shadows had taken him. Maddening Darkness brought forth by another evocation. "The nightmare as you have always known it."
The Eclipse had struck.
"No." I am swift as I move to intercept the spell. This primordial darkness was impenetrable normally. There was no way to sense anything within it, and you only had all of your worst memories as comfort. It exploited every trauma, and would destroy the sanity of even the most forbearing soldier. This would lead to death. "I don't think so."
I cast Freedom before any damage can be done. The White Wolf escapes before the shades within could consume his mind. I evoke a Polar Ray, and the beam of frigid permafrost crashes against the Antimagic Field. It disperses on contact. I make use of Conduit Surge, and the spell reignites. κανένας fails to move out of the way, and the magic collides against him. Antimagic Field had saved his life still, but something of my spell got through the abjuration.
Void had only a scratch on his chest for all of my effort.
That spell was tricky. There was only one way of countering it that I knew. Out of all magic? It was only second when it came to barring interference from The Weave. Which meant I had to use the most powerful one of all, and even then there was only a chance it may dispel it. "I will have to take that risk."
I cast Telepathic Bond, and turn my attention towards Guts.
"I need another distraction." I transmit that thought. "Can you handle that?"
"Of course I can." I can practically feel him ooze with an unshakeable confidence. "Who do you think you're talking to?"
"The White Swordsman." I answer back. "The last scion of House Vorlesh."
My son, my heir, my legacy.
I would leave it all to him. Arlan's Way. Calder Vorlesh. The Crown of Karsus. Those adventures will all be part of his story, and I would dream of the day I would get to hear it from him. On my Golden Throne? I would wait for The White Wolf. I would wait for the stray I had given my name. There would be a feast. Where he would regale me with tales of lands I had never seen.
I had only triumph, and I would see it. I could not fail. They were all waiting. That family, as dysfunctional as it would be, it was mine. I wouldn't trade it for anything. I had always thought I belonged to war, but that was a lie. It was not war. It was this love.
That was my purpose, and I had denied it.
"This spell will not fail." The die had begun to roll, and as it began to fall? It had landed on one. Where failure was a certainty. "It will not fail." The die begins to twitch. "It must not for I am Arlan Vorlesh!" This plane began to reverberate in anticipation, and then so did every other one.
I would deny it no more.
The White Wolf is engulfed in a Storm of Vengeance, and he twirls Dragon Slayer around. The ethereal flames began to merge with the gale. They had become as one, and from it came invention. A spell that had never been cast. This was an Eye of the Storm. The fiery cyclone crashes against the Antimagic Field. The Weave could not trespass on it, but despite that fact?
It had begun to buckle.
"Impossible!" Void could do nothing for he was deprived of The Weave. Just as we were in the confines of that spell. Guts had eclipsed any effort I could conjure up by myself. I would have to rely on the solar within Radiance, just to match this. I had to feel pride. This was my son, and I was not the only one blessed by the grievous miracle.
I had passed it to him. This torch.
"Do it!" The White Wolf had taken the spoils of war. Void had been torn apart by the spell. He was missing a portion of his torso, and along with it an arm. "Do it, Arlan Vorlesh!" His heart had been exposed, and half of his brain had been liquefied.
Mage's Disjunction erupts from my fingertips, but the Antimagic Field does not disperse. κανένας wears a crooked grin, and begins to regenerate. The White Swordsman, who had been exhausted by the effort, could do nothing as Void relished in his victory. Those arms reached for the wolf. They would snatch his life, and with it I would lose my son.
N̵͓͍̮̗̰̳͇͕͂̏͘͝O̷͈̬̘̗͙̒̋̏̈́̈́͜ͅ.̴̯̙̠͐̎̄̔̊̓̈̕͝
I am a slave to nothing, least of all dice! I will not watch my son die!
That sentiment began to flourish, and all things submitted to it. The Watcher could only observe. This turn of events was unexpected, and not even he had foreseen this turnabout.
In a place that was far, far away. Where the mundane was all there ever was? There were children at a tabletop, and they were playing a game. They were tossing dice, and rolling to see whether the protagonist of their story would prevail. He did not. He had failed. That much was certain. They had seen the die fall on one. There was no way out of it.
Their campaign would end. It had been enjoyable, but--
That is when they noticed something. There was no wind, and nary a breeze in their living room. However, for whatever reason the die began to shake. It started to move. As if some force had wrestled control over it. It must have been nothing, and they had to be seeing things. Their house wasn't haunted, and what else could it be but a coincidence?
It was nothing like that. The die began to crack, and it fractured into many pieces. This was not the solar. It was not Radiance. It was Arlan Vorlesh. It was a grievous miracle. It was a cry of--
"Do not touch him!" I crush his wrist. κανένας grimaces in pain, and looks at his executioner. "Do not ever touch him!" I did not need Mage's Disjunction. I did not need my spells. I did not need Radiance, or that ardent grace. I had my hands.
I would make use of them.
"Die already!" I tear at his heart, and with all the ferocity I can muster? "Die, die, die!"
I free it from his chest.
<<X>>
κανένας had forgotten this place. This home he had. King Gaiseric had taken his life at last, but for some reason he did not mind. There was contentment. He had already lived, and he had already lost. The Abyss could take him, and the bargain could come to a close. What more was there? There was nothing. Just the anguish that would follow.
The Idea of Evil spared no expense in that.
"Papa?" That shouldn't have been possible. He recognized that voice. Why was she here? This had to be the Abyss. "Papa, where were you?" κανένας looks down at her, and she was the exact same as he remembered her. It was his daughter, before the flames had left her blackened. That same bronze hair, and those emeralds that were her eyes. The freckles all over her face, and of course?
That curiosity.
"I was--" Void did not know what to say. How exactly was this possible? "I was at the church. I had a sermon I wanted to share with them all, and I think they liked it." κανένας could scarcely believe this, but he could only lie. They called him a heretic. Those beliefs he had were controversial to say the least.
"They did?" Her eyes began to sparkle. Just like they always used to.
"Yeah, they did." Void smiles. "They really, really loved it." He grabs her hand. "Where is your mother?"
"Fishing." There was a look of disgust on her face, and she stuck her tongue out. "It is so boring!"
"It is." κανένας smiles. "Why don't I fetch us some apples?"
"Yay! I like the red ones! Can I have a dozen?" His daughter perks up at that. Apples were her favorite, and baked apples were even better.
"It depends on how many there are. We have to save some for your mother."
"Okay!"
κανένας felt like a fool, but at least he didn't have to feel like a fool by himself anymore. Those centuries wasted when he could have had all of this to begin with.
"Thank you, Arlan Vorlesh." It had to have been him. "I do not deserve this, but thank you all the same."
"Come on, papa! The orchard is this way!"
"Of course, I am on my way..."
[] The world will change. I will change it. The Idea of Evil manifests itself. It was a deity. This was no demon lord. Another Vecna, and I could not rely on Radiance. I had to win. It might be impossible, but I had to win.
[] The world will change. I will change it. The Idea of Evil manifests itself. It was a deity. This was no demon lord. Another Vecna, and I had no choice but to rely on Radiance. Come what may.
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Blasterbot
Well-known member
[X] The world will change. I will change it. The Idea of Evil manifests itself. It was a deity. This was no demon lord. Another Vecna, and I could not rely on Radiance. I had to win. It might be impossible, but I had to win.
