34 Chapter 32: The story of a fallen angel
AN: Here's what happens if you combine a little high alcohol content drinks in the wee hours of the morning and mix it with all the information you know about DC and put it into a chapter
"Talking"
'Thinking'
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"What I want to say... is that you should never have been a Rider"
Edgar's mind was still numb from Zarathos' words. He could not understand that he was not the cause of all his suffering so far, and, in reality, he had been part of a great plan of an evil being who wanted to destroy the world.
At this moment, both Zarathos and he, were inside the temple. If the exterior architecture was beautiful, the interior simply could not be described in words.
There were Roman, Greek and Latin engravings, but with modern embellishments that highlighted its beauty. The temple looked huge from the outside, but inside it seemed endless. Edgar was only in the main hall, but he could see that there was an endless corridor full of rooms. The reason for these rooms he could only wonder.
The most endearing thing about the place were the paintings on the ceiling. Since, as a catholic church, these depicted relevant scenes. However, the scenes shown in this temple were not taken from the bible, far from it.
On the contrary, they were scenes that Edgar could recognize as having already happened. In one part of the temple there were paintings illustrating the invasion that happened 5 years ago by Steppenwolf.
There were also scenes of other invasions, but these were of shape-shifting aliens who hated light. Another scene was of the original League fighting a giant starfish. They all represented the same thing. The start of the Justice League.
Elsewhere, there were scenes of destroyed worlds. He could discern several Superman, Batman and other identical superheroes gathered together as they fought a gray-skinned being that emitted a purple energy from its body, while destroying universes in its wake.
Another scene was the Joker, but this Joker was huge, with a gothic-style spiked suit. He was fighting with a terrifying looking woman. Every punch they landed made the universe succumb. Edgar could never in his wildest dreams have guessed that the Joker could be so powerful and fearsome.
Every scene was endearing. But Edgar wondered if it described the near future. If this was true, the world was in serious trouble.
However, contrary to Edgar's erratic thoughts, at this moment, Zarathos was totally unconcerned about the situation. He had his eyes closed as he enjoyed drinking a tea that he had conjured with magic.
"How can you be calm in this situation?" asked Edgar to Zarathos. Zarathos opened his eyes and smiled slightly.
"What situation?" there was a carefree smile on his face. Same smile that made Edgar want to punch him more. Even if it was his own face
"I don't know, maybe that I'm part of a plan of a being that wants to destroy the world, or maybe the scenes on the ceiling of apocalyptic events, I don't know, you pick which you prefer"
Zarathos looked at the ceiling, and analyzed each scene carefully while rubbing his chin with his hand. Then he turned to Edgar and said seriously.
"About the ceiling, you shouldn't worry too much. These scenes may represent the past, present or future, or perhaps events that will never occur in the entire multiverse. Worrying about this will only bring despair into your life. The best advice I can give you is to live one day at a time. And about Trigon... getting angry is not going to solve the situation. We can just start working together to right this wrong"
"Wait, wait... you're saying there's a multiverse?"
(AN: gives love to the chapter for the reference)
Zarathos had a 'is your question serious?' look on his face.
"Edgar, in a world where there are interdimensional demons, gods walking among mortals and practically situations that can destroy the earth day by day, and, are you surprised that a multiverse exists?"
Edgar had an embarrassed look on his face at Zarathos' words. Now that he mentioned it he was right. The world had many mysteries. To be surprised by this revelation was foolish now that he saw it.
"Well, it's just that many scientists have wanted to explain the multiverse theory and all that it entails"
"Sigh, you humans want to try to understand the universe and all its secrets when you can't understand yourselves"
After that, they both fell silent. A slightly uncomfortable silence began to grow in the room. Edgar cut that silence short when he asked a question he had.
"Hey, and how could you summon that tea. I want one too"
"Edgar, this place is in your mental palace. You are lord and master of everything here. Sure, part of this place is built with my power and that's why I can do all this, but if you want something, you just need to imagine it"
Edgar was surprised by his words. He thought it wouldn't be that easy, but contrary to his expectations, Zarathos had confirmed that it actually was.
Quickly, he imagined a tasty lemon tea, which materialized before him immediately. Although Edgar knew it was only a figment of his imagination, the tea tasted like the real thing. He could even swear that the taste was the best he had ever tasted.
"Why is it so tasty?" Edgar asked him in amazement.
"Because everything here is made to please you. The food or drink you want will be for your total delight. Even, if you imagine a weapon, it will be the one that suits you best or the one you need the most. A great thing if I may say so" Zarathos commented with a smile. At this moment, he was laughing at Edgar's astonished behavior.
And he could only imagine how he would get when he discovered the contents of all the rooms in the hallway. He would faint from surprise.
"But we've already spent too much time at leisure. It's time for you to accept your heritage Edgar. It's time for you to embrace your power" Zarathos finally dropped his carefree demeanor and said as seriously as possible to Edgar.
Quickly, the tea cups disappeared as if they had never been there. Edgar also became serious at this, and asked Zarathos.
"And how do I do that?"
"First, you must let go of your prejudice. It's preventing you from reaching your full potential, and that's bad. But I don't blame you for this. From the beginning you had the wrong idea of your power because of the power tainted by Trigon. That caused you to mentally shut down and not let me in to explain the situation. Besides I was also weakened, it was just bad timing for both of us"
Edgar had a look of conflict on his face. Giving up such prejudices was easier thought than done. However, now that he could see the very compromising situation he was in, he hardened his thoughts and accepted such a proposal.
"It won't be easy, but I will try. I will work towards embracing that power"
"Perfect. I like that answer. I know that humans, though short-lived, tend to hold grudges or prejudices long enough. I know it wasn't easy, but you'll be able to do it. I think the best thing to start with is for you to know the whole story behind our power. It will help you think things through better, and let go of your prejudices"
"I agree" Edgar readily accepted the proposal. He also couldn't help but admit that he was very curious to know the true origin of Zarathos.
"Well, the first thing we should do is this..." Zarathos snapped his fingers and a large holographic image materialized right at the center of the table. It looked like a movie projection with the highest definition. "It's more entertaining that way. Now listen to me carefully and don't interrupt me. I don't want to repeat this twice"
"I understand" Edgar readily agreed. Quickly the projected scene began to play. A miniature universe could be seen in the image.
(AN: all paragraphs below is Zarathos telling the story)
"Many, many eons ago. My father, the creator of the entire universe, created the first universe in history. It was a small universe compared to those of today. But there was something that made it more special than those of today. At that time, there were no concepts of time, destiny, space, death and so on. Everything that is known today did not exist. The universe was there, without any rules or concepts that governed it.
My father created the first beings. Different races with varied characteristics began to emerge throughout that universe. They had no destiny. They had no purpose. Only my father left them there, to grow and evolve on their own. Free will at its best.
Time passed, and with that time, beings evolved. Some became brilliant minds and created technology so advanced that not even the most brilliant minds of today could imagine.
Others went to the arcane side, trying to shape the energy of the universe, becoming what we know as the first wizards. Some became beings of peace and philosophers. Nomads who moved from land to land to preach teachings and learning. But, others simply became conquerors, beings who only longed for war and killing.
However, no matter the different paths each race took, there was one thing in common. They all worshipped my father as their creator.
However, as time went by, they became arrogant. They stopped praising my father and thought they could surpass or dethrone him. Many were already beings with immense power. Such power blinded them thinking they could become the supreme gods. This brought only one simple thing... chaos.
My father, who saw all this, became furious. He wanted to spread that fury on these beings and teach them a lesson in humility. However, the love he felt for them was such that he could not even imagine lifting a finger at his beloved creation. So he opted for another alternative. To create a being that would be their fury. To teach them a lesson. The being he created was called Eclipso"
In the image a gray-skinned being with a purple hood could be seen. It was large and muscular. With a maniacal grin. His red, menacing eyes projected great power.
"This being wielded tremendous power before this entire universe. The chaos already produced became worse. Millennia-old worlds and evolutionary history was totally decimated by the wrath of this monster. The task my father had given him had been a resounding success.
What my father did not expect, however, was that this being would gain consciousness of its own. And that all the energy it destroyed would be absorbed by it, becoming powerful and indestructible. The being began to become a devourer of universes.
My father intervened by locking him in an eternal prison, but it was too late. The first universe my father created had been totally destroyed. Sure, there were things left over from the old universe, the Motherbox is an example of the advanced technology that remained. But practically all the life that had grown over time had been decimated by this being.
My father took the remaining energy from that destroyed universe and expanded it. Beginning to create what we know as the multiverse. However, my father, who had learned from that mistake, began to create basic rules that would operate and control the expansion of the multiverse.
First he created 7 primary concepts: Dream, Death, Desire, Despair, Destiny, Delirium and Destruction. These concepts would be key to control the unbridled free will, and set the races on a controlled path.
He then created the laws of time and space and configured them to be three-dimensional and cyclic. This was for one purpose only. When one universe died, another would be reborn from its energy, making an endless but intermittent cycle.
Finally, he created an antithesis of Eclipso. A being that would be the anger, but also the calmness of my father. A being that would inflict punishment, but also salvation. A being that would destroy, but also create. A judge of order. My father created The Spectre.
Spectre, in turn, created the lords of chaos and order. Beings that would maintain the balance of each universe, on a multiversal scale.
However, when my father created the multiverse and finished configuring it, he did not realize that part of the chaotic energy corrupted by Eclipso had seeped into that creation. This energy was the cause of the birth of powerful beings. That's right, I'm talking about demons and other beings of immense power.
Satan, Beelzebub, Astaroth... Trigon and many more beings were the creation of this energy. Some more powerful than others. But they all had only one purpose... to destroy and corrupt. These beings quickly spread their power throughout the multiverse, and created inferior beings to serve them. The so-called dark creatures.
My father, seeing this, created us. The angels. First he created 12, the so-called archangels, and then we created the others, with one purpose. To fight the demons and prevent the destruction of the multiverse.
I was one of the initial 12, being called for the first time as Azazel. Each archangel had a divine flaw. Something we were hooked on or lived for. My divine flaw... was loyalty. My brother Michael's, was leadership, and Lucifer's was desire.
From here, many events happened. Life evolved with more order. With more control. Some beings of great power like Perpetua or the Anti-Monitor revealed themselves and we prevented it. However, those events gave way to an end... rebellion. Specifically, the rebellion of my brother Lucifer.
My brother did not understand how my father, a being of great power could allow so much misfortune to exist. Sure, The Spectre or the Eternals monitored everything, but they allowed free will to exist. That is, just as there was growth, there was death. Just as there was wealth and expansion, there was poverty and destruction.
My brother could not understand why my father could not use his power to make us all happy, to fulfill our wishes ... so he rebelled. And I joined him, becoming the general of his troops.
We used the demons, beings that were not related to my father to fight my brothers. But in the end, we were completely defeated.
My father punished my brother Lucifer with running hell. The prison created specifically for these demons. My brother Uriel, another who joined us, was put as a guide in limbo. A place where the souls rested before going on their way to eternal rest.
And me… I was forbidden to return to my home in heaven, becoming the fallen angel Zarathos.
As the main task, I was put in charge of controlling, as the Spectre, the evil in the world. The Spectre did the job in multiversal terms, but chaos was growing on a universal level as more and more universes were created, so I was put in charge of controlling that evil.
What you know as punishing sinners is just a crude way of talking about controlling the evil of the world.
So I spread my essence throughout each universe, seeking avatars who could control a small scale of my power and be my emissaries. Thus the Riders were created.
At first I sought out races that developed quickly. Kryptonians, New Gods, Tamaraneans, but I realized that the ones that could best match my power were humans. An ephemeral and not very powerful race, but my father gave them the greatest free will in the universe. Why he did this... even I do not know the answer.
You are the current Rider of this universe Edgar. As I said, our work is indispensable to the control of the multiverse in general. We are an agent of order, but also, an agent of chaos.
You have had several predecessors, but it was the last Rider who died fighting Trigon himself, where the problems you are currently having arose.
He was repelled in the end, but used an artifact left over from the primordial universe to trap me and corrupt my demonic power. The artifact is called the tomb of divine souls. Which was the contract you signed.
As I said before, I am a fallen angel. Being a fallen angel, I have part demonic energy, and part angelic energy. You, at this time, can only control demonic energy, but in reality, my power is most enhanced when my angelic phase is used"
The image showed Ghost Rider when he lost control and had the blue fire while fighting the League.
"Each phase has different powers. Then you'll learn what they are, eventually. Trigon corrupted your demonic power so that, if you fought him, you would be weak and vulnerable. In short, he can kill you easily in that form. You can only fight him if you use your angelic phase"
The projection ended with the image of the blue Ghost Rider. However, Zarathos did not stop talking.
"That's the short story. Edgar, your job, and what I seek, is for you to be able to control that angelic phase. Using that phase you can even get safely out of the dimension of Azarath. Get Raven out of that place and let her see the real world"
Edgar's mind was numb from the whole story. Like in a Chinese novel, he felt like a frog in a well. At this moment, he felt that his mundane problems were totally irrelevant when listening to all this. Zarathos who saw Edgar's conflicted look, could guess his thoughts. Patting him comfortingly, he said.
"Calm down. I know you feel overwhelmed by everything, but as I said, you must live one day at a time. It sounds hard but there's still time. Soon you'll start training, and you'll get better and better at your power"
"Can I ask you a few questions?" Edgar asked hesitantly. He had many questions from the story he heard, but he filtered out the most important ones, and left some not so relevant for later.
"Sure" Zarathos readily agreed. The more informed Edgar became, the easier it would be to embrace his power.
"That power corrupted by Trigon, how does it affect me?"
"Good question. First, the body aches and severe headaches are enhanced by this. I'm not saying you wouldn't have these pains, because you would, but they are more painful for you because of the corrupted power. The second is the thirst for blood, for 'vengeance', is enhanced by the cursed energy. And the last one is your blindness... it has not been cured because of this curse. My power should have cured it, but because of the curse, your optic nerve is simply damaged by this cursed energy. One possibility is that you can repair it in the angelic phase... but it is a remote possibility. The truth is that it all depends on your body, mind and soul. And this is where the main difficulty comes in.
As an analogy, my power is like water. And your body is a glass. The smaller the glass the less water it can hold. That's why I didn't choose you as a user. Edgar... your body is not at all fit to withstand my power. Your mind is better, it's tough, but it has limitations, especially with the prejudices you've imposed on yourself.
However, contrary to my expectations, I am not lying to you when I tell you that of all my users you are the one with the most potential, and it is all due to one thing.
Your soul is the most similar to me in compatibility, with more than 95%. None of my former users in the entire multiverse, have more than 90%. 5% more and you could practically wield all my divine power. It's not unreasonable to say you could kill Trigon with that power"
"So that's the goal then, isn't it?, to get that power"
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"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA, NO. It's impossible for you to achieve it. And if you did, it would practically destroy your mortal body. It's too risky. Your goal is to control the angelic phase and use its power to wipe out the Trigon avatar of this universe. Destroy the artifact of my curse and you can be free"
That was the goal Zarathos had for Edgar. He knew Trigon was a multiversal being. Killing him would not be easy. But he could defeat his avatar of this universe and destroy his 'contract'. With that, he would be free of that curse. He could even live a normal life in the future.
"Well, any other questions?"
"I have many, but not so relevant. A lot of questions about your story, and mostly curious about what you said about the Motherbox. Isn't the Motherbox that artifact that gave Cyborg his powers?"
"Ah, yes. A totally awesome piece of technology, left over from the primordial universe. The New Gods found it a long, long time ago, and with that artifact they practically entrenched their power, becoming some of the most powerful beings in the multiverse. However, not even they can understand the tremendous potential of such technology. I'm telling you Edgar, that thing is perhaps the most dangerous weapon in the universe. Why it chose that boy to be the avatar of its power, even I can't answer. I guess it'll be all right as long as he doesn't turn bad. Otherwise... he'll be dealing with us"
"Well, I have other questions... but I think this is the last one I'll ask you today. Who's going to train me?"
Zarathos grinned wildly at this question. This was the question he really wanted Edgar to ask him.
"Not just one... several" Zarathos snapped his fingers and with that, 4 figures materialized before Edgar.
One was a man dressed as a cowboy. He was old, with shoulder-length hair, and an overgrown beard. When Edgar looked at him, he gave him a nod with his hat.
The other person was a person dressed in medieval armor. He had a Templar cross on his chest, and a large double-edged sword was on his waist. The man was handsome, with beard on his face, and his hair was not visible as it was covered by a hood. He gave Edgar another nod.
The third person was the only woman. But she was the tallest of them all. Edgar thought she was almost six feet tall, full of muscles, but that didn't take away from her beauty, on the contrary, it gave her a wild look. She was dressed in Viking attire, with braids of that time, and black paint on her face. She gave Edgar a wild smile, like that of a predator watching its prey.
And the last one was the rarest of all. He was of indigenous descent, with brown skin. His only clothing was the skin of a Jaguar. He was muscular, and had a serious look on his face. He made a sign of respect by tapping his chest twice toward Edgar.
"Let me introduced them. My first avatar, of the Jaguar tribe, he is Moctezuma. My second avatar, the great Viking warrior, champion of her tribe, Lagertha. The third avatar, member of the Knights Templar and hunter of dark witches Ezio Auditore. And the last avatar, from the far West, the retired sheriff, Carter Slade. All are the previous Riders before you. And they will be your trainers. They all reached the angelic phase, and will give you advice on how you can achieve it as well"
"It's a pleasure, I'm Edgar Bones. I look forward to working with you"
Everyone just nodded at his words. Edgar turned to look at Zarathos and asked.
"Good, I'm ready. Let's get started"
"Stop your horse, cowboy. Right now it's just the introduction. Besides, your sleep time is over. That's another one, you must learn to enter your mental palace without sleep. Morpheus does me the favor of bringing you here, but dreamtime is fleeting. The girl Raven can help you achieve that. She knows better meditation techniques that will help you achieve that. And speaking of Raven... you should wake up, because I think she's in trouble"
Edgar was alarmed by Zarathos' last words. Quickly, he asked him how to get out of this place. Raven needed him.
"How do I get out of here, tell me quickly"
"Easy. If it was a big deal I would have already taken you out by force. You just need to think about getting out, walking through the front door and that's it""
Edgar quickly headed for the doors, but before leaving, he turned to Zarathos and asked one last question he had.
"Hey Zarathos, one last question…"
"Sure, tell me"
"The story was pretty well explained, but one thing that raised doubts in my mind is your divine flaw. You said it was loyalty. But you still betrayed your father... Why was that?"
Zarathos thought quickly about the question. However, he just smiled wryly and said.
"I don't know, it just happened"
Edgar nodded at the answer and walked through the door. A white light was produced as Edgar crossed indicating that he had left his mental palace.
"He's interesting" Carter finally said.
"He's got a lot of potential. I'll be glad to break him" Lagertha grinned wildly as she thundered her fists. Her blood boiled at this moment at the thought of fighting him. She of all people was the most capable fighter. She would teach him hand to hand combat. The others could only feel saddened by the harsh fate that was coming to Edgar.
"What do you think of him, Zarathos?" Ezio asked him. However, the answer never came, as they noticed that Zarathos' gaze was lost, indicating that he was deep in thought. A small memory came to his mind derived from Edgar's question.
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Inside his mind there was a scene he had experienced some time ago. Zarathos or rather Azael was kneeling before his father. He had called him on an important mission.
"Father, you called to me?"
"Azael, my son, I cannot tell you much. But in the future, I want you to do me a favor and not question it"
"Anything for you, father"
"If one of my sons ever rebels against me, I want you to join him"
"Impossible. I can't betray you, father. Just thinking about it makes my heart ache"
"I know, son. That's why I ask you not to question it. Just do it. It's important that you do. You'll understand eventually"
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"sorry, what did you ask me?" Zarathos snapped out of his thoughts. With an apologetic smile he turned to the previous riders in the room.
"What do you think of Edgar?"
"He has potential, quite a bit. But his fate is against him. Only time will tell if he can manage to break his cursed chains"
Everyone nodded at Zarathos' assessment. Slowly, each one disappeared, leaving the room alone. Zarathos was the last to leave. Before leaving, he thought
'Father, it's been a long time and I still don't understand it'
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Edgar woke up from the dream he had. He felt as if minutes had passed in that place, but in reality, quite a few hours had already passed. Still the sun was not fully up, so he was going to go back to sleep, and maybe he would be lucky enough to meet Diana in his dreams, but a scream brought him out of his reverie.
"AHHHHHHHHHH" the scream was one of pain, and Edgar could discern that it came from Raven. Quickly, he remembered why he had left the mental palace.
Edgar headed in the direction of the noise. In the side room slept Raven. However, at this moment, Raven was not lying in her bed. She was floating in the air in a horizontal position.
Her eyes were closed and a pained face was easily discernible. But the strangest thing was that shadows were coming out of her body.
'Shadow magic' Edgar could easily discern from the nature of Raven's magic. The shadow magic was identical to that of Duke's. However, the power that Raven was emitting was perhaps 3 times more powerful than Duke's. At this moment, such magic was protecting her.
Edgar tried to get closer, but a shadow hit him and sent him flying away. Edgar quickly got up, and tried again. The shadows were powerful, but Edgar persisted. In the end, he was able to reach Raven's main body.
Edgar embraced the girl, and, as if on a switch, all power ceased to be emitted. Raven fell into Edgar's arms. Her face was still one of pain.
"It's okay, you're safe. I'm here" Edgar comforted her. Raven began to calm down due to the words and warmth emitting from Edgar. Quickly Raven's pained face calmed down and she started to become neutral and peaceful. Unfortunately, the last thing she said made Edgar totally uneasy.
"He's coming, he's coming" Raven muttered before returning to her dream. A better dream. A happy dream where her mother was.
However, Edgar no longer rested that night. His restless mind thought only of the dangerous future that was about to come.
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AN:
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