//------------------------------// // ? // Story: The War in Heaven // by voroshilov //------------------------------// Eternal Emperor Nicholas, Master of Time, stood amongst darkness. Only the faint breeze of nullspace, reminded him he was still in one piece, and of where he was. “The Great Light is smothered," he said, the reason why quickly revealing itself. The Eternal Blackness turned from presence to creature in front of him, resembling a thick, black scaled snake with neither eyes nor mouth. “Indeed it is," it said, voice deep and foreboding, "I must admit, without you I would not have been victorious. I congratulate you, Nicholas, Survivor. I congratulate you on the destruction of the light.” “And yet it was not I who destroyed it.” “Was it not?" The Eternal Blackness seemed to chuckle. "Whilst you did not personally silence its ravenous maw, shatter its guarding gates or smother its baleful glow, it was you who made it vulnerable. And it was you who raised the ones who performed those deeds. Were it not for you, none of this would have been possible.” “And what of the others? Where are they now?” Nicholas questioned, though he believed he knew the answer. “Returned, to the material. Where they shall live out the rest of their years in freedom and harmony.” Nicholas reached out with his power, only to find nothing. “The Omniverse is shattered…” "Shattered?" The Eternal Blackness interrupted, correcting him, "no, definitely not. Exhausted? Yes. It is a force of nature, Nicholas, it shall heal. As all wounds do.” “Yet this wound does not simply cut deep," Nicholas continued to try and find something, anything of the rest of the Omniverse. "Even here I can feel it: emptiness. The Rift, the Aether, the Tract – all is gone.” The Eternal Blackness laughed. “Indeed, the machinations of the Light have been made ash. All peoples are free of its slavery!” It's voice was triumphant. “In exchange for an age of darkness. The Omniverse is no more, all is and will be dust.” The Eternal Blackness' tone changed. “Has the mighty Nicholas fallen to doubt?" It questioned, "we have won, darkness has prevailed! Freedom is victorious! Surely you can feel that.” “Freedom from what? The slavery of the light has been replaced by the slavery of the dark, the shackles of the spirit replaced by the shackles of the sky.” The Eternal Blackness was silent for a moment, before bellowing, “how dare you! I have brought freedom to the Omniverse! This age of darkness is how it should be…” “Silence, wretch." Nicholas grabbed it in one hand, crushing it between his claws, its snake like body writhing for a moment, before falling limp. “All is thus dust. Whilst those in the material are confined to their earthly plains, I am cursed to wander forevermore. Cursed to search in desperate hope this corpse of a universe for a chance at life anew. For in this new undeath I have made for myself, I am alone; just as I was in that machine. And thus, I shall wander, alone, Everlasting.”