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“Your Eminence, we have our people securing the impact site now.”
The Lord of Light saw structures like this before. It had been a long time since he had seen the work of the Great Enemy – the ones who destroyed his homeworld, along with many others.
When he was young, a Black Marker landed on his world. However, unlike many of the species he encountered since then, his species had immunity to the Marker signal. Even with this advantage, this did not stop the appearance of the Great Enemy, called by the Makrer’s signal – he and his brother were left with no choice but to retreat. Other members of his species may have survived, but if they did, he has not encountered them.
“Very good. I trust the mages are ready?”
Since then, he and his brother have searched for life for eons, aiding such life wherever it was found. Guiding their societies, the brothers hoped that even one species would be able to defeat the Great Enemy one day, but to date, no species has succeeded.
He hoped that the latest species he and his brother found, humanity, may be able to finally turn the tide. The Lord of Light found their creativity to be quite admirable, though their constant infighting may be what finally causes the Great Enemy to prevail against them.
The woman in front of him nodded. “Yes, of course. We are ready to fire on your mark.”
The woman, Salem, was one of his finest strategists. Her husband, Ozma, also demonstrated great competence, but regrettably died of illness some years ago.
The Lord of Light could see the mages on a ridge. They were under strict orders to remain a safe distance away from the Marker, and once their contribution is complete, to have a psych evaluation to determine if the Marker has any hold on them.
The latest attempt to destroy the Marker involves the use of magical artillery fire. The Lord of Light gave the order to begin, and the mages sent searing hot plasma from their staffs. The Lord of Light used his own powers to protect the mages and the atmosphere from the projectiles with powerful small barriers – were he not there, the mages, Salem, and most life in the area would be flash fried from the heat.
Once the projectiles reached a close enough distance, he created a barrier around the Marker, to prevent any fallout of the blast from escaping. When the projectiles were close enough, he allowed the barriers around the projectiles to dissipate, causing the entire area around the Marker to become a giant ball of light.
Salem and the mages were warned to look away, and they did as instructed. Even though the Lord of Light reduced the light emission enough to prevent radioactive injury, there was still a danger of going blind from the sight.
The Lord of Light then reduced the size of the barrier, ensuring that all the light and heat hit the Marker. Once the barrier reached the Marker’s surface, he allowed the barrier to dissipate.
He already knew the result, but he wanted the humans to double check. “Salem. Status?”
After waiting a few minutes, a courier gave Salem the readout. “No damage.”
The Lord of Light and Salem sighed. They entered the command tent, so they may consider their next move.
As they sat at the main table within, Salem spoke. “We’ve lost another squad at the nearby barracks. Either someone couldn’t take the stress, or the Marker got to them.”
The Lord of Light sighed.
“Your Eminence, I was wondering. Does the Enemy really turn our dead into giant Moons?”
The Lord of Light frowned. “Of course they do. I’ve seen it happen many times before.”
Salem hesitated to ask the next question, but decided to try regardless. “So…they have intelligence? Would they have any connection to the bodies composing them?”
The Lord of Light raised an eyebrow, not liking where this was going. “Go on.”
“Well it’s just…could the Marker bring back Ozma as a Moon? I mean, it could happen, right? And…”
The Lord of Light cut her off. “Denied.”
Salem was taken aback by her Lord’s curtness. “What?”
“Denied. I will not allow anyone to interact with the Marker for their own gain. I’ve seen many species stronger than yours attempt it, and all were slaughtered.”
Salem tried to plead. “But if there’s a chance Ozma could return…”
The Lord of Light placed his hands on the table, staring at Salem directly. “Even if he was brought back, he will be one of those undead abominations roaming the world out there, not the man you loved. If you’re done considering the impossible, let’s return to work on how to demolish the Marker.”
Salem knew the danger, but she could not give up.
She knew that if her plan had any flaw, the Black Marker would exploit it, and most likely exterminate humanity in the process. She could not allow that to happen, but she also could not allow Ozma to remain dead.
Unfortunately, Ozma was a skeleton by now. There wouldn’t be sufficient biomass to reconstruct him without other corpses. Even if her plan to bring him back was a success, she would still need to consider the possibility of Ozma looking nothing like his original body, instead looking like a terrible undead abomination.
However, she had another plan. She had recently approached the Lord of Darkness about a new method to destroy the Black Marker. She proposed talking to the Black Marker and convincing it to stop, using someone as a volunteer to be used as a vessel by the object. If the Marker decided to cooperate, it would converse through the volunteer by giving the volunteer visions of what it wants to say.
The Lord of Darkness told her that such a plan was very risky – she may lose her mind in the process, or become yet another undead abomination. However, she stressed that her connection to Ozma would convince the Marker to speak to her using his form; the volunteer’s presence would ensure that the dialogue could be closed if necessary.
Salem, the volunteer, and the Lord of Darkness approached the Marker, with a horde of Grimm behind them to serve as security. “I trust you understand that, if you demonstrate any signs of treason, you will be summarily executed as a traitor?”
“Yes, of course. I am fully aware of the risks.”
The Lord of Darkness held out his hand to the Marker. “Then please, proceed.” He prodded the volunteer, hands restrained in cuffs and mouth covered in a muzzle, forward. As the volunteer babbled nonsense, the Lord of Darkness faced away from him in disgust.
“You gave me one of these?”
“He’s your volunteer. If he’s not enough, then we’ll cancel the operation.”
Salem sighed. “Never mind.”
Salem took the volunteer by the arm and walked towards the Marker. The Lord of Darkness cast a barrier around the area to contain any hidden threats within. She knew he did not believe she would succeed, thinking she was already controlled by the Marker already. The only reason he would have agreed to her plan is so he could gain additional intelligence on the Marker, nothing more.
No matter the outcome, she was certain she would be killed by the Lord of Darkness’ forces once she finished her business here; but if she could see Ozma once more, she did not care.
Once she was at arm’s length away from the Marker, she could hear an intense humming in her head, and her vision was somewhat distorted. She turned to the volunteer; he was mumbling loudly, talking about things she did not care to understand. She then moved forward, touching the marker with her open palm.
“Salem, is that you?”
“Ozma?”
Salem turned back to the volunteer – he was no longer the mumbling idiot previously, but Ozma in the flesh. “I’m glad we could finally meet again.”
Salem jumped at Ozma and hugged him. “Ozma…it’s been so hard. Ever since you left, these horrible abominations showed up, and then there’s the war, and…”
Ozma patted Salem’s back. “Don’t worry, I’m here now. I assure you, everything will be alright.”
Salem pulled back, but noticed something out of the corner of her eye.
“Salem!”
The Lord of Light marched toward her, completely furious. He raised his hand, using magic to throw Ozma away.
“Ozma, no!” Salem turned to the Lord of Light, enraged at his intrusion. “You bastard!”
The Lord of Darkness walked by his brother. “Brother, Salem was here to gain intelligence on the Marker. Couldn’t you have waited until she was done?”
The Lord of Light turned towards him. “All she wanted to do was talk to a vision of her dead husband! At best, she would have come out as a drooling lunatic!”
Salem knelt by Ozma’s crumpled form, lying against the Marker, as the Lord of Darkness looked on. “I see what you mean, brother. You have my deepest apologies.”
Salem stood up in front of Ozma. “No! Don’t hurt him!”
The Lord of Light attacked, using magic to telekinetically throw her and Ozma against the Marker. Before he could make another move, there was a large explosion emanating from the Marker. Salem and the brothers held their heads, in pain from the Marker’s signal.
“Brother, leave her! We have to rally the troops!”
The Lord of Darkness looked at his brother and nodded. The two then left the vicinity of the Marker, as the Lord of Darkness ordered the Grimm to tighten their encirclement around the Marker. The Lord of Light contacted his human troops to prepare artillery strikes.
Salem then readjusted herself on the ground beside the Marker. She saw Ozma crawl over to her.
“Do not worry, my love…you will live on…”
Salem then passed out, too exhausted to remain awake so close to the Marker’s signal.
“Again!”
Salem heard a voice shouting, but she was too groggy to think much of it. Shortly after the shout, she felt searing pain in her right arm. Screaming, she turned to look at it, finding it missing.
“It’s waking up! Stick in more harpoons!”
Salem felt a barrage of sticks pierce her stomach and chest. As she looked around the room, she saw what appeared to be doctors carrying around various boxes. Looking at one of them, she saw a severed body part.
“Wha…augh!”
Something hit her with a massive jolt of electricity. She had to get the doctors’ attention.
“Stop!”
The doctors stopped in place, and looked at her. “Did you hear that?”
“I think we have been affected. Get help!”
As the doctors began to leave, Salem pleaded for them to help her. When they all left the room, she tried to escape her restraints and the harpoons holding her down, but it was no use.
“Let me out of here! Why are you doing this?”
Someone responded over an intercom after a few seconds. “Can you hear me?”
“Yes, please, let me out of here!”
When she got no response, she continued begging. The door the doctors left through opened, and the Lord of Light went through.
“Please! You have to get me out of here! You have to! Augh!”
The Lord of Light stood in front of her, not saying a word.
“What happened? Why are you doing this? You have to stop!”
The Lord of Light finally spoke. “Fascinating…in all my years, I don’t believe I have ever seen one appear before Convergence.”
Salem was running out of patience. “What are you talking about? Talk sense!”
The Lord of Light sighed. “Perhaps it is best to show you.” The Lord of Light summoned a mirror, allowing Salem to see her current state.
“What…how?” Salem saw that her eyes’ were completely black, with the exception of red irises. Her skin has become completely pale, as if all her blood was drained out.
“You died.”
Salem puffed in anger. “If I’m still here speaking to you, clearly I haven’t!”
“You died several times. Eventually, we managed to capture you after you wiped out one of our platoons. You were then brought here, where we have been searching for a method to kill you ever since.”
“What?”
The Lord of Light began to pace about the room. “We believe the Black Marker’s signal is constantly repairing your body when it sustains injury. We’ve seen abominations like you before, but never with your level of intelligence.”
“So what, I’m one of them now?”
The Lord of Light held a hand up to his chin, and nodded. “Yes, precisely. Do you have any exclusive knowledge about the Marker? Anything that could help us in our campaign?”
Salem thought for a moment, but could not think of anything. She then heard an awful squelching noise, noticing that her right arm was starting to reform. She gasped at the sight, and turned to look at the Lord of Light again.
“Can you do anything to stop this? Please, if I truly did die, I wish to be reunited with my husband in the afterlife…”
The Lord of Light sighed. “I will try. But if even one fragment of you remains, you could return. Even then, I cannot promise that such total destruction of your body will end you for good.”
Salem closed her eyes. “Please, proceed.”
She heard a dull sound, slowly increasing in volume, alongside a yellow light. When the sound became near deafening, she sensed some sort of projectile move toward her, and then everything went dark.
The Great Enemy was gaining ground.
As the Brothers were unable to find a method to permanently kill Salem, they allowed her to rejoin their forces. With the Brothers busy fending off the most dangerous abominations currently in play, Salem was tasked with administrating the logistics of the Brothers’ final plan for humanity.
However, the Brothers gave her strict orders to not reveal the true purpose of the plan to humanity at large; otherwise, the plan will fail, resulting in humanity’s extermination.
Salem called the leaders of the Three Kingdoms together, so they may discuss the current progress of the plan.
“How is Sanus’ progress?”
The King of Sanus, a large yet jovial individual, replied with news of success. “The Marker has been successfully submerged. As expected, the strength of the signal has been greatly reduced, but the abominations remain active.”
Salem nodded in acknowledgement. “Good. Anima?”
The Queen of Anima spoke. “The embryos and seeds are loaded in the proper doomsday vaults. We’ve completed our AI checks; once the required period has elapsed, the vaults will open. We have also rigorously tested the vaults against electromagnetic intrusion – all tests are green. Of course, we cannot guarantee that the outcomes will be precisely as expected.”
Salem raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
The Queen shrugged. “When grown, the new intelligent species may diverge in nature from our own species. While my scientists assure me that the outcome will closely resemble us, there may be some slight mutations over the passage of time. We will monitor any changes until we no longer can, though I expect our part to be a success.”
Salem nodded, and moved to the final leader. “Solitas. Was the distribution successful?”
The lanky leader from Solitas responded. “Yes, from what we can tell. The Relics developed in cooperation with the Lord of Light work as designed. Four of them have been distributed across the continents, while the fifth has been launched into space. Its stealth system keeps it well protected from our foes, and is set to activate on our Lords’ command.
Salem then looked down at the table. “Very good.” She then inhaled deeply for the next part of the meeting. “I believe we are ready for our final phase. Our Lords have requested us to aid them in our final strike on the Great Enemy. Remember, we will be fighting for the future of all life on the planet – if we fail here, we will not get a second chance.”
The King of Solitas wanted to know about what they were walking into. “Has Convergence started?”
Salem froze for a moment, and then nodded. “According to our Lords, yes. A Moon has begun to form in the orbit of our planet. I trust you all understand what this means?”
The King of Sanus has to ask. “How long do we have? A week?”
Salem sighed. “I expect no more than two days, maybe three if we’re lucky.”
The King of Solitas slammed his hands on the table. “We have to destroy it!”
Salem looked at him, remaining composed. “Our Lord of Darkness has a plan for how to stop it. It will not save our species, but our Lord will end whatever plans it has for the time being.”
The Queen looked troubled. “Our successors…will they have the means to continue on? I understand our Lords’ plan involving the Grimm but…it is just too horrible…”
Salem held her hands out in a calming gesture. “Don’t worry, the Grimm will not destroy what comes next. Their goal is only to stop outbreaks before they start. While they will appear exceptionally hostile to our successors, they will not actively try to wipe them out. The Lord of Darkness has granted me secondary control over the Grimm in case they do not act as desired.”
The King of Solitas laughed, not believing his ears. “Why you, of all people?”
“Due to my unique circumstances, I will not be swept up by Convergence. Our Lords believe no other candidates will be available once our part is done.”
The King of Solitas groaned, and left the room. “An abomination of all things. Our Lords must have gone Marker-crazy like everyone else!”
After the King slammed the door, Salem addressed the remaining leaders. “Trust in our Lords’ plan. I assure you, this will all work out in the end.”
The leaders were then dismissed, and Salem leaned back in her chair. One particular individual came back in her mind. The Marker did not possess people often, but it clearly viewed her attachment as a weakness. Before the fifth Relic activates, this may be the last time she can speak to him honestly.
Salem left the room, going down a flight of stairs to a dungeon. Her prisoner remained there, restrained by a great number of enchantments. This time, its host was a redhead. When she approached, he lifted his head.
“Salem…it will not be long now…soon…we will be made whole…”
Salem grabbed the man by the hair. “I was a fool back then. I should have torn you apart the moment I saw you.”
He laughed. “Such pitiful resistance. Nothing you have can stop us. Our new brother will arise, and then even you will be made whole.”
Salem gritted her teeth. “It is I who will arise over you. Your brother will die, and then we will hunt down the rest of your disgusting race.”
He smiled, confident in victory. “No. Your continued existence will drive you mad, and lead you back to us. Then, and only then, we will both be made whole.”
Salem threw away the prisoner by the hair, and turned to leave. However, the prisoner was not done speaking. “You cannot compete with the patience of a God. We will return, again and again. In the end, you will willingly serve us.”
Salem left without another word.
The flash was incredible.
Salem watched the Moon as the Lord of Darkness struck it. A purple sphere appeared at the point of impact, expanding outwards. The people around her watched, even as the sphere enveloped them.
When Salem awoke, she was in a barren wasteland. The Brothers landed next to her.
“It is done.”
Salem stood up and faced the Brothers. She could see the brothers were distraught over the act they committed. She almost felt sorry for them.
Salem spoke. “So, what happens now?”
“Now, you will remain here, as we agreed.”
Salem remembered the Brothers’ initial plan to eject the Marker into space to end the outbreak, but they felt the possibility of Salem never dying due to the potential of the Marker’s return would be too cruel. Instead, Salem and the brothers compromised on leaving her here so she could identify a way to destroy the Black Marker and end her immortality.
The Lord of Light felt regret. “I apologize, this must be quite hard for you. If only we could have found some way…”
Salem held up a hand to stifle him. “It is alright. I guess I’ll have a lot of time to myself to think of a solution.”
The two Brothers looked at each other, and then to Salem. “You do realize he will return?”
As dictated by the plan, the fifth Relic will suppress knowledge of the Markers, the Moons, and anything directly related to them. Any attempts to think or perceive such information will be blocked, replaced by invented information instead generated by the Relic. It was a drastic measure, but this would prevent the Marker from easily calling people to its location.
Salem wondered what she will be like once the fifth Relic activates – this led to her giving a thought to Ozma.
“Yes, I am aware. Ozma…will he be like he was?”
The Lord of Darkness nodded. “It is only conjecture based off the incarnations we’ve seen, but yes. The Marker will try to develop a perfect impersonator of him, but due to our plan, he will have no knowledge of his true origin. The Marker has to impress Ozma’s identity into the mind of the successor species, you understand, who will all be under the effect of the fifth Relic.”
Salem looked down, despondent. “I will not remember you two?”
“You may, but you will most likely remember an altered version of the events that took place here, if you remember anything at all. I am sorry we could not do more.”
Salem looked up to the sky. “And you?”
“We will leave to stop any reinforcements from reaching this world. Then, we will attempt to save other planets from the Enemy’s threat. Hopefully, we will one day be successful, and you will be granted eternal peace.”
Salem remembered the contingency plan embedded within the Relics. Should all five be brought together, a SOS will be sent to the Brothers, at which point they will return. They will then assess the stage of the outbreak – if it is too far gone, there may be nothing they can do to stop the Moons from winning.
Salem then sat down, looking at the ground, despondent over everything she had lost. “I see. I wish you well on your mission.”
“Thank you. We will do our best to not let you down.”
Salem looked up as the Brothers ascended. When they were mere dots in the sky, they sped off, never to be seen again for some time.