18 - Angels

"That's great and all… but what does any of that have to do with the first impact?" Will asked with a groan, not having expected the lecture to be quite so long-winded.

"I'm getting to that," The Librarian said, brushing Will off and looking over at Sarah who seemed to have entered a catatonic state, eyes blank and unseeing. "Are you listening Sarah?" He asked sharply.

Sarah jolted, startled out of her revelry, "Huh? Yeah… what were we talking about?"

"The creation of our world," The librarian said exasperatedly.

Sarah groaned audibly, "That old-wives tale? Everyone knows that's just some propaganda from the church of complexity. How would anyone even know what happened before the universe was created? Who would they hear about it from?"

The librarian frowned, prickling like a cat that was just stood on, "I told you, it's not propaganda and I can prove it!"

"Oh yeah?" Sarah asked sarcastically.

"Yeah, listen to this!" The librarian shouted, reaching under his big wooden desk and bringing out a cube of stone, carved to perfection and covered in minuscule writing and illustrations.

"What's that?" Will muttered. Examining the dark stone block curiously.

"That, young man, is a Rosetta stone. A fisherman brought it to me a couple of years ago after he dredged it up with his catch." The librarian said, growing increasingly excited.

"And? What does it do?" Sarah asked languidly, "The writing on it isn't in a language I've ever seen before."

Suddenly, the librarian grinned. "Me neither, I have no idea what language this is even written in. None at all,"

Sarah smacked her forehead angrily. "So, what is the fucking point of that useless rock then?"

"Just because I don't know what language it is… doesn't mean I can't read it," the librarian said slowly.

"Huh? What sort of stupid sense does that make?" Sarah groaned.

"Listen, I have discovered something very important about the nature of our world and if I reveal it to you, you must promise me not to tell anyone," The librarian said, his excited voice quieting down as he spoke.

Seeing how serious he looked, it was Sarah's turn to frown as she leaned in closely. "What is it?"

"Do you promise?" The librarian stalled, anxiously looking between Will and Sarah.

"Ugh fine! Just tell me what's going on already," Sarah said with a grimace like she had just swallowed a lemon. Will nodded in agreement as well and the librarian eased up slightly, looking less tense.

"Ok look, I know this will sound crazy, but does either of you believe in magic?" He asked slowly.

"No," "Yes," Sarah and Will replied in unison.

"Right, I didn't either until… Wait did you just say yes?" The librarian trailed off, staring at Will.

Cursing his inability to lie, Will could only nod. His face flushed red from the weird looks Sarah was giving him.

"L-look, it makes sense. How else could animals grow so big so fast? And what about the disappearing mountains of ash and glowing lights in the sky before the first impact?" Will stuttered nervously, trying to explain away how he actually knew magic was real.

Sarah looked at him with the same face she had when speaking to one of the younger children at Stella's. "Will… you know that all of those things are just natural phenomena. For one, those glowing lights are called meteorites and they…"

"No, he's right," the librarian interjected.

Sarah's eyes widened and she looked like she'd seen a ghost, "What are you talking about?"

"All of those things Will just mentioned are the result of Magic otherwise known as Mana," he said firmly.

Sarah put her hands on her head, rubbing her forehead in frustration, she looked up at the sky as if asking, why me? "And I suppose you've got some proof?"

The librarian didn't reply, simply placing one hand on the Rosetta stone. Will and Sarah watched closely as the stone began to hum and glow faintly.

"How are you doing that?" Sarah muttered.

"Just wait," the librarian snapped.

The unreadable symbols on the Rosetta stone became to shift and morph into the familiar characters that Will could read, the images shifting into more easily digestible illustrations along with them.

"Wha- What did you just do?" Sarah stuttered.

"That, ladies and gentlemen is magic," the librarian said smugly.

Sarah scoffed at the glowing stone, "It's not very impressive even if it is magic."

Smiling knowingly, the librarian pointed at the stone and spoke, "From what I've read here, this is just the beginning,"

"Hold on, hold on," Will interrupted. "How exactly did you figure out magic was a thing, to begin with?"

Sarah nodded in agreement, "Yeah, it's quite a big jump to go from magic isn't real to… let me use it on this rock and see what happens,"

"Hm, where should I begin?" The librarian mused and Will felt a sense of Deja-vu. The last time the man said this he had gone on to explain the creation of the universe for half an hour.

"How about, you just give us the abbreviated version? We still need to help clean up and I need to find those books I mentioned earlier," he said quickly.

The librarian sighed but acquiesced, "Fine, to put it simply, right after the first impact, I felt this strange energy entering my body through my navel every time I breathed. Then, one night, I woke up in what I thought was a cold sweat, because my clothes were sticking to my body, But as it turns out "

"It wasn't sweating but a weird black gunk," Sarah interrupted, eyeing the librarian closely.

The man's eyes widened, and he stared closely at Sarah, "Yeah, how did you know?"

"Same thing happened to me; I ended up ruining my favourite pyjamas. It was a nightmare to get the smell out of my bedroom," she said angrily.

"Right, it did smell absolutely awful. But anyway, after expelling the black substance, I felt more and more energy entering my body and I had this strange connection to it. I could push it along my limbs and even into things I was touching if I concentrated." The librarian said excitedly.

"So, I tried it on the Rosetta stone when I was bored one day and bam, it lit up and suddenly I could read it. Oh boy, when I tell you, what's written on this stone is ground-breaking, life-changing even, you have to believe me,"

"You still haven't actually told us anything of importance though," Sarah pointed out.

Will nodded in agreement, the librarian was talking a big game, sure. But could he back it up? That remained to be seen.

The librarian nodded and picked up one of the scrolls he had been looking over earlier. "Right, so, after the universe was first born, beings began to emerge through concepts. Think of it like this, as darkness was created, so was its incarnation, its avatar if you will.

Today, we call those avatars the gods and they heralded in the divine era. A period of time when gods and daemons roamed the lands unchecked. All that mattered was induvial strength and cunning.

"Hold on, did you say daemons?" Will asked.

"Yeah, daemons. They are creatures on par with gods and can even attach themselves to a concept eventually once they are strong enough. They are animals that grow strong enough by absorbing mana that they become intelligent and otherworldly,"

'So Latet must be a daemon," Will realised, deciding not to interrupt and just let the librarian finish his story.

"For a long time, the gods and daemons fought for supremacy. Natural resources were limited and the only way to go stronger was through a few very rare natural treasures. Until the balance was broken by a single daemon.

One day, a daemon ventured deep beneath the ground, into the body of Ocras and found a beautiful gemstone that glowed a captivating purple. It seemed as though there was lighting trapped inside it from the way it sparkled, and the daemon was enraptured, unable to take its eyes off the gem for even a second.

Eventually, when he returned to the surface, he hid the gemstone away, studying it like a fanatic until he could find its true purpose. And one day, the daemon emerged from hiding completely changed. It was faster, stronger and more vicious than ever before, leading an unholy crusade against the gods.

Falling like wheat to a farmer's sickle, the gods panicked and unearthed the old ritual of creation, fulfilling all its requirements and making something new in this world. They made their divine soldiers, the angels.

Together with the gods, the angels fought back the daemons, unable to refuse the call to war even if they wanted to. Since the immortals feared death, they cast away the lives of angels ruthlessly, caring little for their kings' pleas.

One day, Adam, the first angel couldn't take the way his kin were being treated anymore and ripped off his wings as a sign of protest. He forsook the gods and their divine gifts. Becoming a simple mortal creature that had never existed before then.

For his daring and reckless decision, Adam was gifted freedom from divine control, but he lost his angelic powers in the process. He was forced to hide away from the all-powerful gods in fear and weakness.

Many aeons passed and countless angels defected, joining Adam in hiding while they bided their time and grew stronger, this time from their own efforts rather than gifts from the divine.

The gods and daemons continued to fight furiously until the day Fate spoke. Existing since the very beginning, Fate was one of the oldest and most powerful gods, although she seldom spoke. Only in times of crisis or great turmoil did she warn her fellow deities of impending doom and her words were clear.

"There are new figures taking their plunge into the river. I see not their faces but their determination. They will wage war and drive us to the brink. Daemons and Gods will fight together and still, be unable to prevail. Judgement is coming."

And soon, her words rang true. As daemons and gods alike fell under the ruthless march of the human race. The sheer number of humans was unimaginable, and they had spent aeons refining their control and study of mana, perfecting its use in their new bodies.

A long war was fought, and billions died but no winner was found. The gods were ancient and had countless plans and schemes that were impossible to predict. The daemons were too powerful and had endless hordes of beasts to use as fodder. And the humans were wily and adaptable, a single defeat meant nothing to them as they only continued to grow in strength and numbers.

Fearing the end was upon them, the god-emperor was about to initiate his last-ditch measure that would throw the war into chaos when Latet, the serpent of deceit betrayed him at the last second, revealing his plan to the human leader Adam.

Adam and Latet rained down destruction upon the pantheon and in desperation, the god-emperor called upon the primordials, North, East, South and West. He prayed for a way to win this war, but the ancient beings were tired of the fighting and bloodshed.

They refused his plea and instead, sealed the world's magic, bringing the gods and daemons away with them to the In-between, a fractured space that still existed after the battle with Ocras.

Before they left, Fate issued her last decree. "We will return in fire and brimstone; the sky shall cry blood and the ground will shake in fear at our presence. The first impact will bring judgement and herald the end of days."

Will whistled and Sarah shook her head not sure what to make of what she had just heard. "So you're saying that the first impact mentioned by Fate is the same thing that happened to us two months ago? Along with the return of mana, you think that the gods are back and vengeful,"

The librarian nodded grimly, "I do. But not all is lost. As you heard from my description of Adam, humans could become just as powerful as gods if given time and the right methods,"

Sarah sighed, holding her head in her hands, "Okay, I'm just going to accept the fact that we are descended from angels and move on, seeing as it doesn't make a difference either way. How exactly do we get as strong as gods?"

The librarian grinned, pointing at the second of the two scrolls he had been reading. "Come and take a look," He said coolly.