The Celestial Way

Seventh Interlude

SEVENTH INTERLUDE

From the perspective of one who sought Ascension

In a fit of righteous Rage, I did the unthinkable.

I consumed the souls of everyone on Terra Para.

Except those who the Dragonslayer saved, by shielding them from my Grasp with the Power of the Stars.

As I realized my plan had failed, the Fury inside me broke free. Blinded for consequence, I unleashed ultimate Destruction across the planet, reaving the Essence of Everyone and Everything I could Reach. I swelled enormously with Power, Tall, Undefeatable, Implacable before my Enemies. I was ready to crush the Radiant Knights, to grip them in my Fist, and will them to Reveal where they kept Veralla, while I robbed the Dragonslayer of his Starblade.

Yet they fled once more, narrowly escaping my Wrath.

Fools! They could not fathom the Might that was now inside me! The Forces I could wield now! It was the closest I have ever felt to a be like a god Myself, with command over Reality itself! I needed Not a Benediction anymore to spark my Dream! And so I went in the blink of an instant to the Shard, ready to cast down the Gate that barred the Way to the Temple and...

No, no, no! THIS CANNOT BE! How did I lose so Much, so Fast?? Why my Life drained away so swiftly??

The Vortex. It was so vast, so peerless in its intensity. It seeped away my Light, like a hungry Beast beyond Space and Time, immortal and indiscriminate. During my Period of Weakness the Vortex had grown Without Restraint, and now even I was Subject to its limitless Desire for Termination. Now, It had Recurred me once more into Normality, revoking my Supreme Vitality.

I needed to renew my Essence. I needed... souls.

Then I realized my mistake.

In one decisive, overreaching Strike on my part, the Stars had Turned. I was left without ways to replenish my Power. I ended the War for Ascension, yet I was not its Victor. Without further Opposition before me I would perish and die, alone and forever cursed, with Time as my inevitable Judge. Those who rallied against my Crusade needed only to wait.

In that moment, I could have left Terra Para and tried to raise the entire galaxy to aid me; I could have conquered other worlds as easily as I did this. Yet I would always have been on Edge, always fearful of the possibility of creating another fatal Mistake, always glancing to see the Judge looming behind, with Verdict ready in hand. And Terra Para itself was at the mercy of Temporality, for I myself had created the Blight that now devoured its barren landscapes and the Prize that lay among them. To leave now would be to spell doom for the Universe.

Without realizing it, the Knights and the Dragonslayer have won.

They have won, because I overplayed my Action and now I was to be eternally a Monster, the Villain That Good Defeated.

No! I refuse to accept that Narrative! There must be another Way!

I dismissed all of my Revenant, for They had No One to fight now. I shored up my waning Light, applying all effort to keep the Flame of my Soul last as long as possible. Then I desperately Searched, Contemplated, Looked, Cogitated for a Solution to my Utter Predicament.

Where the Radiant Knights had gone? I have explored the deepest reaches of Terra Para, have traversed the endless layers of the local manifold, and have not found even the merest Thread that would point to their Location. Impossibility – for I was in complete control of every part of this immediate Cosmos, down to the very Laws of Physics, as I had demonstrated with the Reality Vortex. How can Anyone hide their Presence from me??