Time passes, and Sombra is officially crowned King. Shadow King Sombra is what some people sometimes call him. But either way, he made sure that his reign as the empire's ruler was exceptional. Of course, first, he had to do something about what he now considered to be the gleaming eyesore that was the palace. Using his great magic, he altered/modified the appearance of the castle so that it would have a more victorian-cathedral appearance to match his demeanor - and the fact he always wore his Umbrumian Armor, and Red cape. Many of the citizens were upset by this change at first. But accept that this was part of the new changes, and had to get used to it. Besides, their gracious king began making life alot better for all of them, so they didn't have to worry much about anything. While he used his genius intellect to improve upon the cities defenses, build new, superior weapons to what they, and the TSI possessed, as well as armor for his soldiers, who replaced the old guard, he also saw to it that the daily struggles that the empire shared with the rest of the world were put to an end.
He found long ago that science, and magic could work well together if done right. And thus he was able to produce great advancements in many fields. He improved agriculture, supplied jobs in construction to people who need it, allowed numerous stores to be open for the local businesses to provide for the empire's communities - and he had the Radiant Hope Memorial Hospital opened to provide relief for the cities only hospital. His soldiers also removed crime from the streets entirely. Sombra ensured that the ones who were released were provided jobs of their own. Those jobs even included enrolling in The Shadow Initiative, who were the protectors of the Empire, and its army. Those who wished to join were welcome to. And in the span of a year, there was no sign of hunger, or disease - Sombra's private investment in the hospitals, and his procuring the information Radiant Hope herself made of her work in the Empire was given to every doctor to learn, and use - crime, or poverty. He ensured that everyone had a place in his newly established empire, and that they would want for nothing ever again. All this without the help of the USA, whom he had cut off ties to some time after his coronation, and they were informed of the situation. All by himself, he had created the perfect paradise on earth: under his benevolent leadership.
And it was the grandest joke of all.
Because he had no real concerns for any of the people in the Empire. Since that accursed day, King Sombra had decided he would devise the ultimate form of revenge against Amore, the princess of shattered crystal - who still lived in her current state even as Sombra scattered all of her pieces across the world with his power. He would do this by making the people of the crystal empire completely, and utterly devoted to him by providing them everything they needed. Amore allowed herself to be dependent on the influence of others, as well as her own fears. Now he would ensure that her own people would be solely dependent upon him until the end of his, or their days. And should anyone on the outside dare undermine his rule.........at least he'll have plenty of good subjects willing to die for their king. The idea of it all brought inhuman glee to his stone, cold heart. In the end, nothing else mattered save for knowing that his people had been avenged - and the fool who ended their lives was now condemned to a fate worse than death.
One day soon, the rest of the world would receive the ax of his vengeance, as he would rule it as the sovereign ruler. With his growing power, and his superior intellect, the world would indeed be his one day. He simply needed to be as patient as he had been 12 years ago. The day would come when the world would belong to him - he just needed to wait. His only regret was that he would be forced to rule it alone. Though most of his feelings were dead, and gone within him, he always allowed the memory of his darling, Radiant Hope, to remain. On the day she was laid to rest, he swore he would never let her memory die, and that he would cherish her for all time. Unfortunately, even the memories of her were no longer sufficient enough to quell his remorse for the tragic role he played in her demise. Were it not for Amore, she would still be in his arms, and they would have been happily married together - maybe even have had a family. But now those were only the vivid fantasies of a dead life. And as everyone knows, the dead can never, ever be brought back from beyond the grave.
Or could it?
In his ten year training to harness his inherent magical, and alchemical abilities, as well as learning to wield his Philosopher's Stone to its full efficiency, King Sombra came across a record of an ancient ritual of alchemy referred to as "Human Transmutation". The records were blemished, and nearly impossible to read for some reason. But he never forgot the name. And with access to the Empire's own logs, and historical records, and all research involving Alchemy, it was only a matter of time before he found precisely what he had been looking for: a pristine version of the record he had found ages ago. And it was here that he learned exactly what Human Transmutation truly was.
According to the information, this was a necromantic form of Alchemy which had been considered taboo to all who used Alchemy. For its true purpose was in resurrecting the dead. From what he gathered, however, noone had successfully performed this art, and remained whole. Each account told of how someone had paid a price for performing this taboo that involved the loss of a piece of that person's body - sometimes the whole body themselves. It appeared that this forbidden alchemy was far too dangerous to use without something horrible happening. But King Sombra held no fear. He was determined to undo Amore's mistake, and bring back his beloved by any means necessary. He took note every account of the attempted transmutation, and deduced the reason why all of them failed. Wrong ingredients, and even miscalculations regarding the human they attempted to bring back.
Sombra immediately figured out how to loop around this obvious flaw. With his magic, he summoned the most important tool to ensure his experiment would succeed: the preserved body of Radiant Hope, whom he had encased in pure crystal to ensure the ravages of time could never effect her. This would remove the risk of any inconceivable calculations in the performance. After all, it's always best to use the source directly. But he didn't stop there. To make sure things went far smoothly than they could, he began developing a machine which could transcend through the realm of space and time. The plan was simple: using Radiant Hope's physical form as an anchoring point, Sombra would use both his magic, and alchemy to follow the traces of spiritual essence left behind by her soul as it left her body.
Like Theseus with the golden thread, he would follow this line all the way to the afterlife, where he would safely find, her, and guide her back into her original body, reviving her at long last. Part of him did feel guilty about going through with this, as he knew she was undoubtedly in the sanctity of Paradise, living a happy, and peaceful existence in the realm beyond. But he knew that it was what needed to be done. Because of Amore, he had taken her life. Now he could finally undo what the accursed witch did, and finally be reunited with Hope.
Several weeks later, the device was completed. And all of the preparations were set: in the middle of this four-pillared machine, and its disc-shaped center, Hope's body had been removed from its coffin, and placed onto the center. He then generated the alchemical circle for Human Transmutation. Now he had everything he needed to safely take advantage of the circle's unpredictable power. Taking his place, he gathered his forces, and initiated the process. Just as he calculated, the circle was reacting to the presence of Hope's form. The body itself became engulfed by a shining light, and transformed into a great eye which records referred to as "The Portal of Truth". So far, everything was going according to plan. Even the techno-mystic harness he created to help him get back was fully functional. So he was prepared when his own body broke down as he stepped onto the eye. His vision brightened, and he saw the bright void he was in. A black void filled with numerous lights. These lights, he saw, were the souls of those who had long passed. And now each of them were going to their rightful destinations. Sombra followed the trail left by Radiant Hope's soul, intrigued by all that he saw as the first living mortal to observe Limbo.
However, there came a point when he saw the souls going up, and down. This was where souls would either receive their reward, or face eternal damnation. As he approached this nexus, he watched souls floating upward into Elysium, which was what the world referred to as Heaven. But he was going downward, in the opposite direction. He didn't understand what was happening. Hope's line was heading into the abyss below. And in a short time, Sombra found himself passing through a fiery light, before his vision revealed him falling to a mountainous region beneath. He safely landed on the ground without incident. But he was imposed by the frightful sight that surrounded him: everywhere, he saw a desolated terrain of ash, flame, and rock. Winged creatures he could not discern flew in the air above, plucking souls as they fell at random. The truly unnerving part of it was seeing, and hearing, human souls plummeting into the inferno which was below him. Either into an endless abyss, or into fiery pits, and blood rivers. It was here that his eyes widened in startled realization. Somehow, through some ungodly cruel twist of fate, Radiant Hope had not been sent to Elysium.
She was down in the hellish netherrealm of Tartarus.
And right now, the King was not alone.
There, towering over the hill which Sombra had found himself - and even the king himself - was a massive, horned monstrosity with red skin, pure white hair, and large beard, curved horns......and a bovine lower body? It was a centaur, in appearance at least. But Sombra could see - could feel - this was no creature of the earthly plain. It's (or rather, his) pure black armor which appeared but a few moments later, with four jewels protruding out of it, and a wing-like cape flowing behind, seemed to be a reflection of its nature. Made even more unnerving was the way its stern, scowling face swiftly turned into that of a sinister grin of malice. The eyes of the demonic figure, empty as darkness with but two yellow pinpricks for eyes, seemed to peer into his very soul: and whatever the beast saw made him laugh. For the first time in his life, king Sombra truly felt small.
The beast's voice was booming, and ominous. To sombra, it was like a presence which could be felt from all around him - it felt like this fiendish being was everywhere, and nowhere. And when he spoke, he stated how pleased he was to at last meet the infamous King Sombra: Child of Outcasts, Usurpers of Crystal Princesses, Initiator of Shadows.......murderer of loved ones, and Childish Deceiver of the Masses. Being mocked so snapped Sombra out of his daze, and he was back to his old self again, demanding the demon to explain who he was. The demon hinted that, over the millenia, he had been called by many names through countless religions: but decided that his title, Lord Tirek, The Lord of Darkness, would suffice.
It didn't take too much effort for Sombra to figure that he was basically speaking to the Devil, himself, to which Tirek did not protest. Then he remarked how it takes one devil to know another, and how it was a shame Radiant Hope didn't have that same intuition. This triggered his anger, and made Sombra again demand Tirek tell him what he was talking about. His response made Tirek laugh with glee, seeing the always composed, and harrowing master of manipulation at his wits end. For once, the answers unclear to him. It was all so ironic, and delicious at once. Even moreso when Sombra threatened to attack him. First, Tirek boasted how, in Tartarus, he was mightier than any gods that the mortals above worshiped. No mortal, be they alive or dead, could ever harm him. But having his fun, Tirek finally relented, explaining how he had been observing Sombra since the day he turned to his dark path. Hinting that he may have played a subliminal role in his life, and influenced his choices.
King Sombra didn't care about whatever trickery Tirek tried using on him. He only wanted to know why his search for Radiant Hope led to this forsaken province. Tirek mused that he was aware of Sombra's attempts to enter the spiritual realm in hopes of reviving his dearly departed Hope. But Tirek stated that such a thing was impossible now. Not understanding, Sombra demanded he explain why that was. With an insidious smirk, Tirek changed the landscape till it became a huge courtyard - and the Dark Prince sat upon a stone throne formed like a tumorous growth from the ground. His hand reached down to Sombra. And in the palm of it was the ethereal form of Radiant Hope herself. His eyes widened in horror, seeing his beloved in the grasp of this monster. Just as he tried to reach for her, Tirek closed his hand, "crushing" her, and then sitting up to give the answer Sombra wished to know..........but would soon regret asking: That her soul was his the day she had died - because of Sombra.
Naturally, Sombra did not understand, and refused to believe he could have caused this to happen to the one he loved. But Tirek corrected him by saying that while he did not do this directly - it was his actions that led to this unfortunate fate. Years ago, several months after Sombra had fled the Empire, Hope became wracked with guilt, and remorse, and fear for her beloved. She was afraid something had happened to him, and that she had been responsible somehow. So overcome with despair that she foolishy proclaimed that she would do anything to see him come back home safely. Then one night, Tirek came to her in her dreams, having heard her pleas. He kept his true name secret, but said how he wished to help ease her pain by granting her wish. Of course, this came with a price in the form of a wager. He revealed then what Sombra had been doing, and how HE was the infamous Shadow King, as well as why he did everything he did, which included the history of Amore, the Umbrum - and in turn, Sombra himself.
This gave her much grief, now knowing what Sombra had gone through. And now she knew why he vanished so. But what she didn't know yet was what Tirek wanted to make a wager. And so the Dark Master explained the terms of his wager: he vowed that Sombra would indeed return to the Empire one day. And on that day, he would face the ultimate challenge: to either accept the path of vengeance and hate he had made for himself, or find redemption in himself, and be made to realize how wrong his methods were. But he warned her that when faced with the source of his newfound anger, and hate, Radiant Hope would be required to make a sacrifice for his sake. Thus came the true part of the wager: that if he was the one to strike her down himself, but then understand what he had made himself become, she would be free to reap the rewards of Elysium, and watch Sombra live a happier life. But if he refused to take any responsibility for his actions, and atone for them, then her soul would belong to Tirek - now, and forevermore. Apparently, she was all too eager to accept. Confident that the Sombra she loved was still in there, and could be brought back from the brink, she accepted the wager. She was willing to do anything to see him again as he once was.
But her sacrifice had proven in vain when Sombra only blamed his enemies for her death, and did not accept that it was his fault. Amore may have been guilty of many things, but Sombra was more guilty of allowing his own hatred to rule him, and transform him into a monster in his own right: one who deceived, manipulated, and coerced others into his service, and only continued to blame everyone else for the things that went wrong. His single-minded hate blinded him to everything, and made him worse than Amore, and those Americans. And in the end, it was Radiant Hope who paid the price. Now she was eternally bound to remain in Tirek's servitude without any hope of release.
And it was all because Sombra refused to change, or see that he could ever be wrong.
Outrage, and harrowing fury engulfed Sombra. In all his years, never had he become so filled with PURE hatred as he had at this moment. As much as he hated Amore', and all of mankind for his Umbrum race's unjust demise, and for his Radiant Hope's death.............he found one whom he hated all so much more in comparison. A bellowing roar escaped his maw as he unleashed the full fury of his mystical and alchemical powers against the unholy demon who he absolutely hated above all else. In his abject fury, he demanded that Tirek release Radiant Hope from his enslavement, and give her back. Of all the mortal souls in existence - and he acknowledged, maybe even his own - only Hope did not deserve a cruel fate as this. At this moment, he didn't even care about resurrecting her: he just wanted her soul to be free. And he would use all of his skill, strength, and what little love was still alive in his heart to save her.
This only made Lord Tirek laugh in his inhuman delight.
All of his diminutive guest's incantations, and spells proved ineffective against a being who was made of pure magic, albeit of dark, unholy magic. And his attempts to keep harming had proven in vain. As he had told the little Umbrum: Tirek was GOD in this realm. His will holds it together, and its essence grants him power to match the heavens themselves. No power save the truly divine had any hope of inflicting any pain upon his form. All the effort Sombra put in served to do was amuse the dark lord. But soon his amusement came to an end when Sombra claimed his power was nothing he could not overcome in time. And he swore that even if it took him over a hundred years, he would free hope from this torment - and he would put that bull-headed abomination in his place.
At last, Tirek found himself annoyed by Sombra's arrogance - that a mere mortal wielding powers he still could not full comprehend had the audacity to compare himself to the devilish beast. Thus did he prove the extent of his might with a beam of volcanic power which overwhelmed Sombra's defenses, and incapacitated him. Before he could even move, Tirek suspended him with his dark magics, and met him face to face. Here, he proclaimed that Sombra would NEVER succeed in his fool's errand. For no mortal soul ever leaves the inferno of Tartarus unless he bids it. And any efforts made by Sombra would have absolutely no success. But he claimed he enjoyed a good sport, and welcomed him to continuously attempt to do so. In fact, to make this game of more interest, Tirek implanted instructions on how to open the bridge between the Mortal Realm, and Tartarus, explaining that it would only be truly effective on All Hallow's Eve, when the powers of Darkness would be at their peak. Only then could Sombra pierce the veil between their realms, and fight for Hope's soul. But then, Tirek decreed it was time for Sombra to leave, as his time was over, and he no longer amused the centaurian devil. Of course, before he was banished, Tirek warned him that a price was to be paid for ultimately breaking one of the taboo's of the universe - and Tirek decided the best punishment was obvious.
As a man who always lived in shadow, and ruled with the shadows........perhaps it was time for the would-be king to become ONE with the Shadows - forever.
Once he returned to Earth, Sombra would learn just how literal a promise this would be. As it appeared, Sombra's return to the earthly realm was as unpleasant as it was an agonizing experience. At the exact moment he emerged back in his castle, and the chamber he began his ritual in, he felt an agonizing sensation consuming his entire body. As if it were crackling, and crumbling like brittle rock. And he felt every single instance of its occurrence. While this happened, he was able to watch in abject horror as his machine had been damaged by supernatural force. It exploded in massive fire, shooting him backwards into the wall - and in doing so, shattered his entire body into dozen's of shard-like pieces. In doing so, inflicted a final, inhuman shriek of pain from the shadow king, who crimson pupils - once emerald before his revelation many ages ago - had become illuminated, and were surrounded by an eerie, green light became his eyes. His will alone prevented him from loosing consciousness.
But in doing so, he was forced to bear witness to his fate, brought about by his use of Human Transmutation despite all of his careful planning, and Tirek's own devilry: where once there was a flesh, and blood body, now there was only an ethereal black smoke, and mist. It was as if his entire body had become that of a living shadow - a Wraith. And his kingly armor had been reduced to pieces of scrap with only his crown remaining. And to his dread, he observed as the fire made by his machine's destruction consumed everything. Even Radiant Hope's body had been reduced to ashes by the intensity of the flames, and had become no more.
As once had happened before, Sombra was filled with a grief stricken to him by the loss of his one, and only love. Once again, she had been cruelly, and unfairly taken from him, and condemned to a fate she had not deserved............and it was all of humanities fault, as he told himself. Once again, grief turned to anger. And that anger had returned into hate. A hatred for which he had almost completely forgotten because of his original goal's completion. But now, his hate had been rekindled, and was burning brightly in his heart, which was now as black as night. First, they had taken his people away from him. And now, because of all mankind who had driven him to his path of hatred, Hope was trapped in the Inferno itself for all eternity. But it would not be forever, he swore. That imbecile, Tirek, had unknowingly given him the keys to his own doom. All Sombra needed was time to conceive the ultimate means of besting the devil in his own domain. Oh, yes: he would use the dark spell given to him to enter Tartarus annually, as he'd been told was the only way it could be done. And one day soon, he would fix this grievous travesty, and free his Hope to the endless bounties of Paradise.
Meanwhile, he would now initiate his newest campaign: one that would be waged against the world itself. Donning a new formed suit reminiscent of the one he wore as The Shadow King, he ensured that his immaterial face would remain unseen to the world forever more. So none would ever know the shame of his defeat, or truly understand what he had experienced. Soon, however, everyone in the empire began to notice the changes in Sombra. He was even more cold, and unfeeling. And seemingly more ruthless, and prone to anger than he had been before. What's more was his secret declaration of war to his subjects. He proclaimed that from this day forward, the Crystal Empire would be reorganized to become The Empire of Shadows. And that they would be expanding their borders to include the entire world to answer for an unspoken crime against them. For this, the Empire would be one which focused on the production of soldiers, fit to serve in an army greater than any that walks this earth. And together, they would all share in his revenge.
Thus began the decades long campaign to transform the empire into the center of a powerful, militaristic region. One which saw The Shadow Initiative, King Sombra's army during the Siege of the Crystal Empire, expanding to even greater numbers than before. As it happens, old tricks, and old habits die hard. However, Sombra's methods of preparation began to change. Not only was he gathering loyalists to serve in his cause - he also began performing experiments on his subjects to enhance them into even greater warriors to serve the Initiative. Many did not survive these procedures. But those who did became the Elite members of his army. And he continued to constantly improve on the weapons, and technology of the Empire to more fearsome levels than before. Turns out, one of the perks of his newfound curse was that his lifespan seemed limitless now: age was of no consequence to him, disease and sickness meaningless, and there was no need for food or drink.
In essence, he had become immortal. And this gave him plenty of time to make The Empire of Shadows the most fearsome, and powerful force on the planet. Suspicions grew, and rumors persisted of all Sombra had been planning. But thanks to his oversight, he ensured that secrecy was on his side. And by the time it was the year 2018, Sombra was prepared to make his stand against the world. But he was not so foolish as to openly strike against the whole world at once: that had been the folly of tyrants of greater arrogance. No, in his mind, it was best to work smarter, not harder. He had hundreds of plans prepared for his strike against any place he desired. And what he desired most of all was see the ruination of the country which began everything: the U.S. This would be the private war of King Sombra. And just like the Crystal Empire before, these weak fools would fall just as easily as it did.
For what fools could ever dare hope to oppose him, and survive?