Prologue : A visitor, A message and A promise
In the middle of a dark ocean so vast that it could cover all existence, so deep that it seemed immeasurable, stood tall a narrow, towering mountain that pierced through the ashen fog, that covered over the ocean, and went beyond as if aiming towards the heavens. On it's summit laid a stone garden that was seemingly carved out of the mountain peak itself. Four men were sitting around the only table in it with their eyes filled with unflinching determination, what was surprising was not their determination nor the fact they have scaled such a steep mountain but that all four of them shared the exact same look, bearing and appearance, that of a handsome young man, save for the fact that each of them wore different colored bandanas over their heads - red, blue, green and yellow.
"I'm gonna mop this place with your faces in just three more moves" declared the one with red bandana.
"Dream on idiot!! I'm gonna screw your plans in a single move" the one with the green cloth said in a voice full of arrogance.
They seemed to be playing a casual board game. Just that the obviously normal looking game was nothing but normal. but a game that made use of analyzing and justifying the mysteries related to existence. Not everyone would be able to understand a game like that, let alone 'play'.
"How many times do i have to explain the same rotten stuff to ya maggots?" cursed the one with yellow bandana. He made pointing action with his fingers and bent them to form a sign. An exuberant energy that seemed to have no specific characteristics released from him and entered the board creating some changes on the various runic signs on the board.
"well that's unexpected!" exclaimed the green bandana.
"Don't tell me you went dumb and didn't think that he'd make this move?" chided the blue bandana.
"NO!. Not that moron, the lass has almost made it to the peak!"
"well… she's been stuck for so long. It's about time she made some progress"
"That seems to be the case. I thought she would luck out and free herself quite soon but she's suffering a lot in there"
"Sigh, what happens, happens"
"lets quickly finish this one, the looser gets to manage her"
The four men who resembled each other that they almost shared microscopic similarity threw meaningful gazes at themselves, as if they were destined for a rough ride.
*****
A bewitching beauty scaled the steep mountain with feeble steps. Her entire body was filled with gracefulness and elegance that could not be hidden by how weak she looked. Every step her small frame took accentuated her voluptuous body and gave her an enticing outlook. She had so little to cover herself that made herself look as a rather promiscuous women. Her tight fitting clothes stuck to her smooth creamy skin, gave a clear outline of her seductive body. Cherry red luscious lips the same color as her clothes. Her almond shaped eyes filled to the brim with a certain pride and a sense of accomplishment.
"Huff… Afff… uff" She tried to regulate her breathing clumsily, only to let out seductive moans.
"Ah! she's here." - red
"you took your own sweet time girl" - green
Surprised by hearing two similar haughty but familiar voices that spoke out at the same time, she quickly looked up and found four handsome men looking exactly the same as each other looking at her. All of them had exciting expression with exception of one who immediately cast puppy eyes at her.
The sight before her eyes baffled her."...Master? Is it you Master? "
"You made your Master wait for so long, girl" - green
"Oh my! Oh my!… What in the world are you doing here?" She blinked her eyes half a dozen times in quick succession dumbfounded by the sight before her" The repulsive things in existence have just quadrupled. Just what did you do? Why the heck are there four of you undying bastards? "
"Nah! Nothing much. I just divided my consciousness into four different parts and materialized them" - blue said with a proud look on his face.
He looked at her as if expecting to be praised. But to her it looked more like he was asking for a beating.
"Why would anyone in the right mind even do something like that? Why are you always doing worthless stuff like this? Can't you do something that's actually useful . This is why I hate you you idiot!! " she exclaimed in single breath.
"That aside, what brings you here Shasha?" - red
Shasha immediately squinted her eyes "Hmm…? You mean this place is yours?"
"Who else do you think owns such a magnificent realm?" - blue asked as if he was genuinely surprised.
Hearing those words suddenly gave birth to a burst of energy within the exhausted girl. without adding another word to the conversation she immediately walked forward, reached the gathering of the four men and gave a kick towards the table.
After pulling her leg back she turned her eyes to meet with the eyes of yellow who looked a bit restless and dodged her eyes, an easy target.
"If you knew you've got a visitor coming then you should get up and invite them in, not throw them out in some god forsaken restriction domain, Don't you even know basic manners you dolt? " Shasha chided him with a furious face.
yellow was still acting suspicious and anxious not bothering to reply her.
"what? Cat got your tongue?" Shasha asked with an intimidating sharp gaze and readied herself to punch him in the face if he simply nodded.
"Do you have any idea how long and how much I've suffered under your Restriction Formation you thoughtless bastard?"
"White" he said timidly.
Shasha raised her brows and looked and him questioningly "Hmm..?"
"Your pant-" Shasha quickly ended his sentence with a foot to his face.
*****
The Master-Familiar pair were chatting while taking a walk along the stone garden
"But seriously, Master Rah, don't you have anything worthwhile to do?" Shasha asked, tugging on Rah's arm with a coquettish look on her face.
"when one becomes as strong as me, there isn't much for them to do. And what I am doing is not pointless, I am subtly increasing my understanding of Existence" Rah said with solemn dignified appearance.
"But that doesn't justify throwing your cute-prefect-number one familiar on a Restriction Domain does it?" Shasha asked with a sexy look and she brushed her hair past her ears, trying to make up for beating her master.
Master Ra pitifully traced his hands on the bruises oddly spread over his face and said. "But now that you managed to enter my <Dark Mountain Sea> all by yourself, you seemed to have had a major break through in your understanding of World Energy right?"
"As expected. Master knows everything. Nothing can be hidden from Master. But still, doesn't that mean you knew I was suffering within your Restriction Formation, yet didn't bother to save me at all, your Shasha is hurt master" she pointed her plentiful right chest indicating her hurt feelings and made a pitiful face as if her entire lineage were wronged.
'Anyone with a morsel of conscience would know who the victim is with a single look you trespasser' thought master Ra completely not taken in by her stupid antics.
"You've been stuck in you cultivation for long, so I thought it might help you with your break through"he tried to justify his laziness with eyes filled with false tenderness " Master always thinks of what's the best for you all, alright?" gently patting her head.
"You could just teach me yourself. Why do I have do undergo such painful experience and tiresome cultivation. Hmph!" Shasha complained with a cute snort.
"How boring it would be if I guided you all the way by holding hands. Shasha my dear, Tell me. Why do you want to become strong?"
"So that I can become an immortal like master and live forever with you!" she said fluidly as if it was a natural fact that she had practiced saying a thousand times.
" *sigh*" letting out a helpless sigh Rah continued "Since you are my familiar, it's a given that you'll become an immortal. It's the journey that's important Shasha."
"Since you've contracted with me, you have all the time in existence to slowly taste the fruits of life. No need to hurry and get stuck in a mire like me" Rah advised her with a sincere expression.
"The excitement of unraveling the heavenly mysteries all by yourself… its like undressing a kingdom toppling beauty a piece of cloth at a time" he took a deep breath and continued with utmost solemness "It's a once in a lifetime experience, you have to relish it my dear"
"Master is very bad. Always talking about obscene things" Shasha a slight blush spread across her face as she rapidly punched on his chest.
"Aish.. I'm totally serious… there's nothing exciting to do after you've actually become an immortal" he put on an innocent appearance on his face "Make good of your life while you are still young" Rah raised his thumbs cheering her on.
"Stupid master, how long are you going to keep using this lame excuse?" Shasha chided him with a sexy little pout.
Shasha suddenly realized that they have been unconsciously walking towards the arch " You just want to kick me out… Boo.. Hoo… master abandons me!! I'm the most loyal and dutiful familiar… i've served you for as long as i've remembere- "
"Oh darn! Just go away before my patience runs out. There's a big world out there to explore. Go have fun and don't try to take the easy way by sticking around me" little Shasha's plea was not even heard out by her master as she was gently pushed out through the arch on the summit.
"Ah! Damn you! It's not like I came here 'cause I was looking for you. Ah! Wait… Momanak gave this to me to pass on to you!" Sasha pulled out a spherical contraception that looked like it was made of concentric circular machinations, and threw at him.
"Momanak sent you? Why hell didn't you say it first you idiot? Quickly get lost" Ra pushed her out through the arc which sucked her in a flash.
'Back then, before I sent my Familiars away, I gave Momanak a mission to keep an eye out for the Remnant Divines. Back then I gave him his orders just in case and never thought that he would actually find something worth reporting. What happened? I thought Gamora was leading the survivors and keep them under a leash… she wouldn't plot against me 'cause she know's its useless. Did something happen to her? There's already only a pathetic few of our kind left. I don't really want them to diminish their numbers on any foolish endeavor. That'll only increase my troubles'
As he was musing to himself he turned to look the three figures hidden behind the stone baluster.
"come on guys! There's a puzzle to solve" the yellow bandana Master Ra called out to his unfaithful comrades without a hint of resentment.
Of course his comrades were no one else but he himself. How can he resent them. Even retards won't resent themselves.
"That little bastard mamanak sent a secret encoded parcel instead of just contacting me through the immortal scroll, let's all combine ourselves once again and quickly find out what he has sent"
All four of them raised their hands to each other in unison as soon as red finished. As their hands touched each other they disappeared and one by one till only blue remained. As he turned his head towards the spherical contraception floating undisturbed near him, the bandana on his head disappeared and turned into a mist of unknown Energy.
'interesting… so he created this based on interaction phenomena between <Heavenly Bodies> and <Astral Veins>. To think our little genius has grown this much… *sigh*. He practically created a little prototype world all by himself using fake components that share similar properties to divine materials. But too bad, although his understanding of existence is much higher than Shasha, he can only obediently stand behind her when in comes to prowess in cultivation and battle. This guy just wastes his time on these little toys so I guess that's to be expected. As the best and most understanding master in the universe, I shall accommodate his folly in silence' Ra was blowing his own trumpet, mumbling things to himself, a sad habit he developed by being alone for 'forever'.
'My, My, what is this? A spectral map? So it was not a report but just another junk artifact? Should just put it in the treasury as keepsake? No, Let's believe in our second most powerful and actually useful Familiar and take a closer look'
With scrutinizing gaze, Immortal master Ra carefully studied his Familiars latest product. His efforts did not fail him as he managed to find an anomaly.
'why are those various heavenly bodies and astral veins clustered together? They all seem to be actually fusing with each other. Which Divine in it's right mind would acquiesce to something like that which is akin to suicide? Has my familiar finally gone past it's expiry and turned into a moron? If you force Divines to fuse without their consent or compatibility, things would just go awry with the Divines being destroyed and their World Energy returned to Existence, followed by some crazy ass unimaginable stupidly retarded consequences… No wait!! If what think is what it is… shit! Fuck! This is completely insane. '
After realizing the possibility of something horrendous happening outside, he instantly departed out. In his urgency, he just tore down the space on the mountain peak when he could always head out with the portal in the arch. '
Out in the void, out of the phony realm he created as a hideout, Rah concentrated his consciousness and started feeling out the World Energy beside him. After quickly getting a whiff of it's presence, he trailed its origin throughout and started picking out threads of Energy that did not acquiesce with him.
'If those bastards are doing what i think they are doing, then these thick threads that have traces of divine consciousness should definitely take me to the scene of crime.'
Hoping that there won't be any such thing and that this trail was just something left out of an already dead Divine, Rah followed it in all earnestness.
Betraying his expectations he quickly came across an <Astral vein> that was clearly made by intertwining veins of many different Divines. After a quick inspection at the vicinity, Ra concluded that the scale of merging should be so large that it probably involves almost all the remnant Divines that survived the Great Massacre.
'To think these idiots would have enough guts to actually sacrifice themselves for a great cause. What were they expecting would happen? That a new super powered Divine would be born with which they can get back at me? What's the big idea? What if you kill me? Would you guys get happy after killing me? Would that Fucking satisfy you morons. What the hell is Gamora doing? Is that slut also in the same bag with these leftovers. Fuckin' trashes. I let these idiots live because it would be stupid to live all alone in existence. But now that things have come to this, with you people silently planning for who know's how long. You are forcing me to put an end to this. I don't want to kill you lot, not because I'm a pussy or sympathetic but you lot ain't worth the hassle.'
Rah felt his head explode with various conflicting emotions. When he was a mortal, he lost his wealth, family and happiness all because he was not powerful enough. With not enough strength to protect that which he wanted to protect. As such he dedicated his life entirely with insane dedication to pursue power, so that he has the strength to earn his own happiness. To fulfill his wants, strength was needed.
But as he got stronger and stronger, his wants and whims slowly vanished. As he came to know more about the laws of the world and existence, his entire pursuit started looking like a big joke to him.
Pursuing eternity and absolute strength was like a pawn trying to break out of a chess board. As the pawn struggled to break out of the game. It understood that it's life was just a preconditioned motion. That he was set to move in that way. His emotions where those of a pawn, life and death, happiness and sadness, the grandeur of the living. None of that belonged to the pawn anymore, as it had broken out of the game.
It became an outcast. Although it was powerful enough to create it's own board now, and to live it's desired life. Everything seemed so fake and unbearable.
To reach the pinnacle, he had cut off his emotions, became the most calculative and rational organism in entirety of Existence that it was questionable whether he was a living being at all.
Reaching the peak only resulted in a sense of desolateness, he felt suffocated. As if he had become the board itself, instead of breaking free. That if he proceeded any longer on his path, he would just become existence itself, giving birth to various <Heavenly bodies> and <Astral veins>, which in-turn would form their own consciousness, then have their own world, in which some idiot similar to him will appear, forsaking dharma and seeking power. And that person would slaughter his Divines and become someone similar to himself, and regret after realizing that he had wasted his life on a pursuit without end. And that he would calmly look at it all, waiting for the person to join him by becoming existence alongside him, devoid of conscience, just overlooking all of existence.
Such and ending frightened and suffocated Rah, who advocated strenuous pursuit for strength and greater power, and forced him to halt and question himself. That if the eternity he pursued is only achieved by becoming existence itself. That breaking free of this prison meant becoming the prison itself. Although put in a pleasant way, isn't that just death?
To Rah who feared death more than anything, this was an unacceptable outcome. Thus he started brewing a plan. A certain path to immortality. To create a balance in existence. With he himself, and his familiars that were basically just parts of himself, at one end of the scale balanced with remnants of the Divine species mounting the other end. He would achieve his long aspired immortality. To be immortal and still living.
But now that the remnant divines have gathered together unknown faith empowering them to assimilate with each other, giving birth to a Divine existence, similar in power as himself.
The only difference would be that he is a human with half existence under his influence but no <True World> to back him up while the new born divine will have a new <True World> at it's beckoning. It will have a True Divine body made of <Heavenly Arteries> and <Astral Veins>. A True Child of Heavens that a fake like Himself would not be able to hold a candle to.
My understanding of Heavenly Mysteries would only delay the inevitable as the newborn Divine will only get stronger and stronger while I am stuck in a mire unable to fight back.
My only option would be to wash my neck and wait for a clean death.
No, this won't do.
I'm will not resign.
I made a promise.
A promise to her.
I promised her, that I would live.
That I would live and remember her.
That I would remember her as I live.
And let her live within me.
Forever.
And for that.
I shall live.
Live.
Live.
*****
"Go away Sheah. Leave, so at least you can live"
"I'll live. I'll live so long as you live. I'll live inside you, so long as you remember me. I'll live."
"So promise me. That you'll leave, never turning back, even if you have to run to the end of the world. That you'll live."
"promise me. That you'll remember me"
"promise me, Sheah-go-Rah"
A sudden flash of past brought him back to his senses, barely calming him down.
"To have almost made me break my promise, my reason for living."
Rah clenched his fists so tight in a way he never had before. Red and green veins popping out of his arms and neck making sharp contrast with his pale skin, his long lustrous silver hair in disarray. His blood red eyes bloodier than ever, Rah let out a maddening scream that would frighten even Existence itself.
"UNFORGIVABLE!!"
"That's right! Since the divine is yet to be born. With the merger not even half complete, I don't have to interrupt the process and risk having the Divines die. For if they did die then their world energy would disperse and the balance I've built with so much effort would crumble down just like that. May be that bitch Gamora realized it, that's why the divines have probably gathered en masse for the merger even though I frightened the Fuck out of them during the massacre" Rah suddenly had a revelation.
With a solemn expression Rah readied himself and raised his right hand to his shoulder height.
"By my name, Sheah-go-Rah, I summon thee" Rah pulled out an ancient looking scroll out of thin air, the name Mamanak written on it's shaft with ancient runes.
"Respond to my summons, Mamanak" he finished the summon with a stoic expression.
The summon was instantly followed by the appearance of blinding white light in the surrounding that disappeared in a flash leaving behind a lanky man with dark lustrous hair, tanned skin and muscle perfect for his frame.
He came forward and made bow towards his master and declared his intent.
"your wish, my will, my Lord" Mamanak said with utmost solemness displayed on his face.
"Raise. Spread my word to the others. Find those who are still in the outer realms. There is work to do. We ought to mutate that thing" Rah said in a calm and unperturbed tone as he looked towards the region where the myriad <Astral veins> seemed to converge.
With a single look coupled with his understanding over existence, he uncovered the mystery over the merger without any strain. He coolly listed out the things each of his 86 familiars should do, their basic preparations, how they should proceed with their task. He basically drafted out the entire mission of corrupting the Divine all by himself and delegated the menial tasks to his familiars.
"I'll see to it that the others will receive your commands, my Lord. If that is all, then I shall take my leave" Mamanak bowed again and saluted his lord, turned and left the region in blinding speed with a holy and pure light trailing his path.
'now that the miscellaneous tasks have been dumped on the others, I can take my time and have fun with this merger that these little shits are pulling' The very thought of what he had planned for himself made Rah roar with excitement.
'The <Heavenly Arteries> and other stuff will be taken care of by my familiars. I should focus on the <Astral vein>, I should leave my mark on the <Astral vein> by adulterating them. But I should go about it in a secretive and sneaky manner. Shouldn't let the Divines know that I'm messing around with the hope they are betting their lives on.' Rah slowly contemplated.
'I shouldn't get easily caught. If they found out that I'm snooping around they'd quickly rewind the process and run out of sight just like before. If such a cruel thing happened where would I go for fun?? ….Scratch that, what would I do if they attempted a merger later and I failed to interfere in time. It's too risky. Utmost caution is advised.'
He immediately thought of a solution to his problem.
'I should just ditch my body in the phony realm and increase its restrictions, and I should place an all-out seal on my soul to prevent anyone from identifying me for my soul. I'll just leave a tiny scrap of my soul out to carry my conscience. ' Rah continuously nodded his head seemingly satisfied with his solution.
After making his preparations, he dashed towards and <Astral veins> in his soul form with a childish smile plastered on his face.
"For some reason I keep feeling like I'm a very Evil guy. Welp… who cares? <Astral Veins> here I come. Let's get along. "
*****
The True worlds belonging to all the Divines composed of nearly half of entire Existence was converged to give birth to the new realm. It's scale was so vast and large that even Rah hadn't expected it to be like this.
The <Heavenly bodies> form the tangible realm, while the <Astral veins> form the spectral realm. With <Heavenly bodies> as acupoints and their orbits forming the <Divine Meridian> establishes the <Divine body>. <Astral veins> act as the base forming a spiritual cycle within the <Divine body> on which <Divine Consciousness> will be mounted, resulting in the formation of a new Divine.
<Divine body> and <Divine Consciousness> forms the <True world>. This new Divine would really be a colossus. Rah looked at the place where <Astral veins> of various Divines were converging with unblemished joy displayed on his face.
"At this rate calling you a vein would be a disgrace to you, lets call you <Astral River>. Since it's a river of consciousness where all beings in the new world undergo reincarnation, I shall name you <Astral Soul Grinding River> " without an ounce of concern for the original owner's feelings, Rah renamed it as he deemed fit.
"As I've given you a name and there's also the fact that we'll be meeting each other a later, lets get along well 'Kay ?" Rah continued his pointless conversations with the none existent <Astral spirit> that had yet to form as he drifted along the <Astral River> spreading malevolent viruses corrupting the river.
"As long as you are obedient and listen to me, we both can become immortals. Isn't that awesome? Why would you want to fight it out with me? Well, if you are completely corrupted by me, then even if you wanted to, you'd not be able to fight with me. So Cheers!! " Like an insane person who has no hope to return to civility, Rah kept on talking with the none existent spirit of the soul river to relieve himself oh his boredom.
"You know buddy, in the world I was first born, life long friends are called BFF's there. It means Best Friends Forever. Let's become BFF's , you should feel truly honored buddy. After all I'm the first immortal in Existence, and if you listen to me well, i'll make you the 87th immortal. Well, even if you are my BFF I can't let you cut lines bro. You've got lotta seniors ahead of you so obediently wait your turn 'Kay?"
By the time one would have lost their patience and proclaim that Rah's nonsense would never end.
"I feel a calling for my soul from over that realm. Don't feel lonely lil' bro. Big bro here will finish my incarnation as quick as I can and come running back to you 'Kay? Be a good boy and don't make problems" one can feel the familial love permeating through Rah's words, making them sentimental.(only to know later that their emotions were wasted).
"Time to experience my long awaited reincarnation. Yay!!" Rah's mind and soul were hit with a trance as he was expelled out of the <Astral Soul Grinding River> into a different realm.
*****
…..
I'm a fucking orangutan!!!
And spirit energy is trashy in this realm.
What's that? Looks like a freakin' giant lizard?
Crocodile?
…..
…..
Did you miss me lil' bro, I came running back just like I said I would.
*soul face full of smiles*
*nonchalantly spreading malevolent viruses*
I'm just safe keeping some of my <World Energy> inside lil' bro. No Bigge. Ah! Time to take another incarnation.
…..
…..
I'm a Chameleon.
Spirit energy of the world seems decent
May be I can cultivate and become a powerful chameleon monster beast
…..
…..
Strayed too far from home. Got caught by a raven. Died a violent death. Too gruesome to explain
…..
…..
Did ya miss me lil' bro
….
…..
I'm a fucking cuttlefish.
…..
…..
Long time no see lil' bro. Or may be not.
…..
…..
What am I now? >.<
Why can't i feel anything?
Let's sense using spirit energy
… I'm a fucking cactus!!
…..
….
This time it's really a 'long time no see'
…..
…..
[vicious cycle continues]
…..
…..
"May be, just may be, I'm getting punished for all the Evils I've done… Ha hah ah… who am I kidding? I'm an immortal. Karma and Dharma don't fuckin' bind me. Or do they?"
…..
…..
[reincarnation/retribution continues]
…..
…..
*flips imaginary table*
.....
..... Yikes!! Why is it so fuckin' bright? What's that that resembles a ceiling? is that a women's face?
..... Thank the Heavens, a proper incarnation at last. Finally being human.
