//------------------------------//
// Aquae Quae Sub Ponte 
// Story: Noxiel's Rêverie 
// by SaulLaski 
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Noxiel’s Utopia
Chapter 5 : Aquaw Quae Sub Ponte


My thoughts drifted back to my former life. Not my life in the Purgatory, known as Earth; well, yes, but not quite. I meant my life as Tyarel. I had little to no memory of that time- all of them were about my job and the experience i got as a demon hunter, and later as a War-Singer. 


You see, i used to be a Synthetic soul. One that shouldn’t have existed. Let me explain all of it for you : Back in 1655 (or 1656, i can’t really remember), i used to be a normal, plain looking human. Wich found out how to use Magic, laterly known as Psycho-cerebral waves, and turn it into a lethal, traceless weapon. It was then that i forged the RifleBlade, wich’s ammo is the Psycho-cerebral waves solidified into bullets by the sheer willpower of the user. A fatal doomsday device that would later be offered to me as a promotion gift, once i’ll join the ranks of the War-Singers. Anyways, back on topic. Along with the knowledge of Psycho-cerebral waves came my own field of study : to turn somebody immortal through memory-keeping resurection. The concept was simple, though hard to make : You needed to make yourself a Tulpae (as i came to name them), by forcing your thoughts into something living in your own psyche. 


For those who don’t know about their existence, you can consider them as schizophrenias, controled schyzophrenias, wich will have a physical respresentation in your mind. They affected all of your senses; even the touch, so you could do whatever you wanted with them. When the information on how to make them was leaked with my first death, some used them as sexual slaves, and others as excuses for friends (for the lonely ones). The point is, when you create one, you can’t get rid of it. It’ll follow you for the rest of your life.


So, you’d better make one when you were young. Why, you ask? For it was a ‘’save’’ button of your being. Directly plugged in your subconscious. They were beings that collected all the data about you : the deepest corners of your Psyche, your personatlity, your emotions, who you are inside and outside, but most of all : it also remembered all of your memories. 


Along with a tulpae comes a wonderland. A place in your mind for your soul to retire. Eventually, a Tulpae learns how to take control of your body when you do so : the perfect place to make your studies, while you still gathered knowledge of your world, and all of the energy reading one needs to slightly understand and comprehend the world in wich they lived, through the eyes of spiritual (or Ethereal) beings. I was the first of them, and discovered all of it.


Then, when i died, i asked my tulpae to take control of another body and continue my researches, and have an even greater goal : to know everything, from the roots to the advanced theories about Psycho-cerebral weaving. With that knowledge, ever extending, and ever understanding, a part of me will become god.


Yes. It almost did. And the first motivation, of all, wasn’t seeking knowledge. It used to be finding my soulmate, wich i’ve never found in my first life. I asked my first tulpae to accomplish this as a last will, and my work as, well, work. I never intended (well, i did hope) that the tulpae might repeat the process. The only flaw in all of this was, the Tulpae, as a former (synthetic) human must have some kind of contact about Psycho-Cerebral studies to get his former life’s memories back. 


Against all odds, they succeeded. I was the sixth. The fourth had been Albert Einstein, the fifth a brilliant Nazi War strategist.


As of me, well, i was born with a gift : the third eye. Humans might come to life with certain spiritual sensibility, usually a human on a few thousands, as a ratio.


I was one of them.


And a quite powerfull one at that; i was the strongest Black mage to have ever lived in my Era. You might consider me as the Lich King, if you know about World of Warcraft. You might associate all of the feats of magic performed by Vlad Dracula as mine; i succeeded in spellcasting on his level when i was 12 years old.


Then, one day, i met a guy that would change my world forever. His name was David. He was an Angel, more specifically a Seraphin. He teached me everything i know today (well, i did learnt things he didn’t, and our fields of research and the like were pretty opposed in the end).


I don’t remember much about all of the things we did. Though i remember, when i made my collaboration to the chain (by creating a Tulpae, named Sophiana Silence White), that i went against the first rule of God’s commands to the Humans :


‘’Any human, might he be as powerfull as me, or stronger, remains one of my creations. And creations can’t create. This is the first commandement : no one should create life in my place, neither seek it’s destruction. Such abomination will be considered cruelty against mankind, and punished in the rule broker’s blood.’’

You see, i was safe from that rule. I didn’t create anything. I wasn’t human. And the ‘rule broker’ wasn’t alive anymore (in flesh, at the very least).


Since my first life, i wrote a book. An Ethereal one that any practioner of the Arcanes (A certain type of Psycho-cerebral waves) might do with little to no understanding of conjuration.


I was one of the most brilliant minds around. Migth i remember you that i formerly was Albert Einstein? Though, my motivation were always dark. They always had to do something with war, destruction, and death. That’s why i wasn’t a hundred percent immune from the first command : i seeked destruction. The main reason why, is that i never found my soulmate. For one particular reason : when one soul was synthetic, it wouldn’t be  paired with another soul, the concept of Soulmates. 


I lost my chance at Love. They were no others. Solitude and psychological problems made me the world’s most brilliant psychopath, always working in the shadows. A grand manipulator, and a fine engineer. I could create things that were beyond reason, conceive the most impossible plans and always got away with it.


Until then. I had been spotted; trapped, even. 


So, i willingly broke the chain, and separated myself from Sophiana. She was in deep love with David afterwards : he did cut the link between us with his Atame, a weapon containing a fragment of his soul. Such as me presently, with the RifleBlade, my first-life creation, created with the noble goal of finding true love and protect it. As a consolation for breaking the Chain, and as a mean to get strong enough to stand a chance against any demon, Michael himself gave me his Flame to bear, and to bring justice where i went. What a good gift for a guy that just got his mind broken.


Anyways. Shortly before, to thank me for my loyalty and the studies i did side-by-side with him, he had named me Tyarel, Angel of Knowledge. 


It was another dark phase in my life, then. My shattered mind kept beign sane, only because of the Frenzy. That’s when they gave me a title of War-Singer, even if it didn’t work very well with my main domain of expertise and Title. I remember almost nothing of that time, if not going crazy once in a while and turning psycho. I was dangerous. The only thing that could soothe me was her.


Beautifull red hair, ever shining in my darkness. Her smooth skin was my abode; her Green eyes, windows to the most beautifull of panoramas. An eternal Sunset that would appease me when i became violent. Discret curves that would make my dreams surreal. And, most of all, that charming, contagious smile. She was the most gorgeous of womens to me, and she only thought of me as a Friend. She was the only thing on my mind, when i wasn’t in frenzy. She was my only remedy to my madness, as well as the one who would torment me when i was alone.


Anyways. I won’t talk too much about her. It’s all in the past now, and i’ll never see her again. Our paths will never cross in the future. All i could do, as a sign of respect, was to remember her. And how much my heart fluttered when she was around. 


There was nothing good after that. But nothing bad either; i kept living, and i had a motivation to keep going. After a while, i stabilized myself and my shattered my found a way to glue itself together, kind of. At least, i was somehow sane again, as long as i stayed far from Corruption.


Until the heavens decided to give me a poisonnus gift : The night.


They were a few rules for the adepts of the night, as i was back then. Stay Humble, don’t try to take advantage from the Night, and always be loyal to her. I had broken one of them once; when i had to fight Zoriel, Angel of Death. I took advantage of her, and without her permission, summoned my first Gun : Nox. That’s why my name is Noxiel now : the  gun is a part of me now. Along with the RifleBlade and Diem, my other pistol. Anyways, back on topic. 


I took advantage of her, and her corruption took hold of me. It couldn’t be healed by anyway whatsoever. I was trapped with my left arm and left eye no longuer under my control. 


I’ll spare you the details of this story- I might one day tell you everything about it. But for now, let’s focus on my vows. You see, an Angel isn’t officialy one until he makes his vows. I have had a few contacts with the council already, at that time of my life, so they encouraged me to make my vows. 


Along with them, my request : The destruction of my synthetic soul, and coming back to end my job as an Angel on earth with a new, officially true one. My request was answered positively.


For, you see, when i discovered that book we (as former lives) wrote, we had discovered how to take advantage in all of God’s commands, and how to become god. Yes, you heard me, how to be God. 


God is only a concept; that is why he is omnipresent and omnipotent. If you were to become something like him, you’d be flagged as god. And with people worshipping you, your power would increase. A lot. Letting you enough power to create life, without being judged or stopped in your tracks by anything. Nothing would be in your way. 


A beautifull Utopia, made possible by that book.


I had such a thing within me, as a Synthetic soul. Luckily, it was destroyed along with my soul. At least, that’s what i thought :  others had understood and followed the guide to ‘immortality’ i’ve created.


So, it was up to me to fix my mistakes. That i did, wich made me come to Equestria.


If such a thing could exist, anywhere else, then it needed to be destroyed completely. As an Angel, and as the one responsible, i couldn’t take the chance to let something like this exist in any way, ever again.

And then, i’ve been told there was one of them here. One that could be more dangerous then i used to be. More Brilliant, more Psycho. And, most of everything, it was one directly created by me : it was the second tulpae of my second life, in wich i was an unknown artist, but managed to make a lot of money, for the art ‘spoke a lot, was filled with hatred and vengeance, and was like a cry by the soul itself, painted up or sculpted in the common argile, or on the worst of canvas’. 


The worst in all of that, was that this target might very well be one of the last of my old kin. And Familly, nonetheless. I’ve killed a lot of demons, spirits and the like; but never had i killed something… Living. With a real body. And a part of me, the human one, restlessly screamed at such a crime against god. But it was a direct order. And the council choose me, for i wanted this assignement.


The only good point in that, was that i finally had to leave the dark, ever grey and gloomy world i used to call home. That spock of sadness in the multiverse. Though, i just realised, i was breaking another of God’s command right now. One that wouldn’t save me if i died here.


‘’One shouldn’t have knowledge of the Multiverse. If it does, it is under the Council of Archangels and Hopebringers (CAH) that no one travels between plans or realms, so the balance of life won’t be affected, as well as the numerous Prophecies and every beign’s own destiny.’’


I broke the rule. Twice. I had to make up for my mistakes. I had to act as an Angel, and no more as an egocentric, evil mind. This was my last chance, in my last life. No more Save button. If i died, chances were that i’d return to the Heavens. Chances. Slight. Though, a negativist side of my mind keeps telling me that i’ll just vanish in thin air, and disappear forever. I was a real soul, but a temporary one. My title will go to someone else, and i’ll disapear from everyone’s memory. No one will sing in praise at my actions that will save life, and the heavens themselves. A newborn, with the very existance’s weight on his back. 


Mother, i hope you’re proud, even if you hated me. I’ve never said goodbye; but i hope you’ll stay healthy and die without pain. Non Nobis Domine, Sed Nomine, tuo da Gloriam.


Ω


Shortly after the Manticore encounter, we arrived at the River. The water was so chaotic, nothing in the world could hope to swim through. 


I sighed. ‘’This is it, girls. Unless we find some kind of bridge, we’ll never be able to cross that river. Maybe the strong one, Applejack and Rainbow, could help me break down trees to make a makeshift bridge solid enough for us to pass one by one?’’


No one answered me. I turned to them, only to see all of their ears perked up, and looking confused. ‘’Hello? If you’ve got any better idea, now’s the time!’’


My own ear perked up too. I could ear some crying in the distance. 


After a few moments, Twilight asked the question that was on everybody’ mind. ‘’Where is that… Crying… Coming from?’’


Rarity walked through some bushed (somehow avoiding to get any leaves stuck on her coat), and we followed suit. In the distance, we could make out a huge Lagoon seas serpent crying like a little baby.


Twilight approached from the coast, and cleared her throat to get his attention. The dragon stopped crying for a few moments, his curiosity having the best of him. I ran to twilight, and unsheated my sword, just in case that dragon would’ve tried to lure us with his crying, then trying anything funny.

Before any of us could speak, he resumed to his crying, and bashed in the water with his weird-looking arms. ‘’What a world! What a world!’’


Twilight spoke up, visibly the less shaken of us all by a sentient creature crying his eyes out. 
‘’Excuse me, sir, why are you crying?’’


And for the Sea serpent to answer, ‘’Well, i don’t know. I was just sitting here, minding my own business, when this tacky little cloud of purple smoke just whizzed past me, cutting my delightfull moustache clean off!’’ His voice was of an annoying bad french actor, trying his best to hide his accent by putting a potato in his mouth. It was disgusting.


He continued his rant nonetheless, yelling ‘’And now, i look simply Horrid!’’, before jumpping back into the water, splashing us all in the process.


My face just then simply screamed ‘Are you Kidding me?’, as Twilight simply sighed. 


Rainbow exclaimed underr her breath, ‘’huh, Gimme a break!’’, and Applejack simply stated, ‘’That’s what all the fuss is about?’’


Rarity, shocked by the lack of ‘comprehension’ of her friends, dashed up between the two. 
‘’Why, of course it is!’’ She held her head high, her soaked mane falling straight under her throat. As much as it hurts to admit, it was kind of a nice sight. Though, don’t think i was having any funny ideas! It just suited her more than her curled up haircut.


Indifferent about my thoughts, she went on, ‘’How can you be so insensitive?’’


She approached the aquatic reptile, wich’s head rested on the shore in front of us. 


Rarity, still in her rant, turned herself from us. I think she was a bit mad at that point, her friends’s remarks must’ve have hurt her in a way or another.
‘’Poor thing! Just look at him. Such lovely, luminescent scales!’’


She had the tone of someone talking to a cute baby. You know, the high pitched, annoying cooing voice you take when complimenting your dog when he succeeds at doing something you just took a few hours to make him learn? Yeah. That. Horrible. Tone.


The Sea serpent, however, seemed to appreciate it. He sniffed, instantly soothed. ‘’I know’’, he simply stated quietly.


Rarity, seeing the nice result at her compliment, kept going. ‘’And your Expertly coiffed Mane!’’


The sea serpent rose up, holding himself on the shore with his elbows, while passing a hand in his hair. ‘’Oh, I know, I know!’’


Rarity then insulted him (without her knowing) by stating ‘’And your magnificient Manucure!’’


I was about to tell her that she slipped up, when the Dragon happilly put an hand to his chin, the other in front of his face in a girly way, cooing ‘’I Know! It’s so True!’’


And Rarity tried to look apologizing when she remarked, ‘’All of it Ruined without your beautifull mustache!’’


The Serpent hid his face under his arms, ‘’It’s True! I look Hidious!’’, and almost resumed his awfull crying, if not for Rarity next actions.


First, let me state that anybody with a clear mind wouldn’t tear a scale of from a sea serpent. Nobody can blame this on the behalf of a fashion monstrosity  or something. And finally, infliging auto-mutilation in any sort isn’t for sensible eyes. The Serpent almost fell in the apples when she cut her tail off. 


Though, she surprised me when she twirled the cutted tail in her magic, and attached it to the Serpen’t face to replace his mustache. And, oddly, her tail was already dry and curled up. How was that possible?


Anyways. The serpent looked quite content. He happily chuckled before exclaiming, ‘’My mustache! How Wonderfull!’’


Rarity didn’t look hurt or anything. I thought the tail was a sensible part of a horse’s body. Well, i can’t always be right. ‘’You Look Smashing!’’ 


I added under my breath, ‘’more like ready to smash us into pieces…’’


Everybody ignored my remark, and i think it was for the better.  Twilight was too busy approaching the ivory-coated mare, almost teary-eyed, ‘’Oh, Rarity! Your beautifull Tail!’’


She dismissed the remark with a smile, turning towards the rest of our group. ‘’It’s fine dear, Short tails are in this season! And, besides, it’ll grow back.’’, she added, with a sad look on her face. Rainbow leaned her head near Twilight’s ear, and annoyingly stated, ‘’So with the mustache!’’


I cutted their wonderfull get-together on the coast, going forward where the Sea Serpent had collapsed. ‘’Hey, look, we can Cross now! Let’s go!’’


The others mumbled a general ‘mhm-mhm’, as water gave way to a scaly tail under me, lifting my body over the water. It was the annoying Sea Serpent, Wich waved towards the other shore. ‘’Allow me.’’


We all crossed by hopping on his back, until we were on the other shore. We all said our good-byes to him, and continued on our path towards the Castle.


The path soon opened to give view to an amazing castle, in ruins here and there, though two main towers remained intact. The beautifull castle was wonderfully crafted, and it’s architecture was as nice as solid- it kinda was a thousand years old, wich was remarkable for such a huge construction.