When the bells toll
The Chromatic Cosmos is a Universe that follows the Akashic Wheel of Progression meaning that actions are recorded in a systematic way that the beings that reside in it gain strength, knowledge, wealth, expertise, and techniques in a fashion that they can monitor. Basically as long as a Universe is part of the Akashic Records the beings live their lives being guided by the numerical value of their attributes, potential, and skills.
It also means that the state of time can only progress and the only instance it will regress is when a new cycle begins where everything may or may not happen again.
The Vast Majority of beings find this part of their reality very convenient as one can strive towards their strengths and shape their goals around their advantages. Sadly not all Universes can be a part of the Akashic Records as the single requirement towards being part of it is that the Universe must be bathed in the countless corpses of its inhabitants, true death in body and soul. Once a Universe does become eligible it is wiped clean and will start all over again from its birth, not a big bang however but a snap of a finger where its echoes resound throughout the empty space where no law can swim through.
The Chromatic Cosmos had its first cleansing by birthing the color black, now it had already birthed the other 7 divine colors on its 8th cycle. A new birthing shall take place which will again flood the Chromatic Cosmos with death.
——
In a small celestial dwarf hurling through the Gentle Rays of The Blessed Galaxy of Hildmr, The dwarf known as the golden plains of Gildrtosh, where the main temple of the the Martial Elves is located. Ruins of a Grand temple peek through the sea of golden wheat, A spire standing upright at the center of the ruins. A small and feeble figure with pointed ears and shining, silky, yet faded golden hair clasping their hands as they mutter in prayer in front of a small bell hanging inside the spire.
Morne Everdeen, the 64th Pope of the Church of the Fist, founded by his Ancestor Elu Vitar. Finishing his prayers he stood up shakily, Golden hair waving in the wind with his being akin to a stick figure wrapped in old wrinkled skin looking like a beggar albeit standing 3 meters tall with fists as large as a bison's head. He exhaled and his breath cleared the air and shook the whole temple itself but never did the bell move. Opening his eyes his Green pupils sparkled with a gem-like glow reflecting the golden plains of Gildrtosh.
"The last phase has come and the tides are now surging back, only those who earn the ticket may continue to live through on the next cycle...
Alas... my Ancestors have already sinned, it is my turn and this time...
I cannot ask for forgiveness, I must go all out..."
*clank*
*clank*
*clank*
The small bell suddenly tolled.
——
Planet Rutsen, Valley of the pure, a majestic Cathedral overlooks the city of Rinnegarde the capital and home of the White Order, the city bustling with beings of every kind as its main business is mercenary work headed by the White Order itself while practicing its main tenets of Equal trade, Equal opportunity, and Dutiful Justice, as to what the last part means... only the White Order can judge itself.
Like a jewel in the center with Rinnergarde serving as its backdrop. Surrounded by circular walls higher than titanic beasts, the Cathedral shimmers with incandescent light. Its halls fill the air a sense of solemnity as the pious devout of the White Order slowly wander about and murmur in prayer inside.
Today is the day of the moon, and every year since the founding of the White Order the moon orbiting Rutsen shall align with Rinnegarde directly above it like a chandelier and when this happens the Cathedral grows eerily quiet for a whole minute until the moon and Rinnegarde are no longer aligned.
However today, there was no silence.
*DONG*
*DONG*
*DONG*
A tall hunched figure stood up feebly with the help of a cane fixed with a small lantern dangling from its grip, his paper-thin skin draped on his skeletal frame whilst being burdened of a huge shell on his broad back but upon observing it closely it actually looks like a pair of wings that have been petrified.
The figure then whispers "Amagala... Ashagaru..." yet his voice travelled throughout Rinnegarde and is heard by everyone who then repeated the same words until the bells have finally stopped after nine tolls.
"I have sinned..." He kneeled and sticked his head to the floor, underneath his face his eyes which reflect a hazy white began to tear up and become bloodshot, "I thought I can be forgiven if I atoned enough... but...
It seems that forgiveness must be earned..." His face suddenly twists into a malicious teeth-grinding grin while blood trickles down his canines.
"By sinning more..."
the Cathedral was then filled with cries of agony that day.
———
The Vasioth are a race that descended from a powerful magma dwelling being also known as the Red Usurper: Calamity Freed one of the Eight Divines. The Vasioth inherited scales that resist heat and corrosion, tails that are built like rudders that can power through the fiery underground rivers of magma throughout multiple molten grade planets. The most distinguished tribe however lives on the Red Giant called Agno fashioned in the center of their mother galaxy, the Red Star Sea.
Agno where the La tribe made their abode is now undergoing an upheaval, a solar flare which the likes of none has ever seen has just happened resulting in destroying three major orbiting stations like a shotgun.
"The core was rumbling... no that sound... it's wailing?" A red-scaled curvaceous figure with a head of shimmering silver scales stood up from a magma tub, her blue eyes squinted as she put on a tight bodysuit. Punching a few options on the terminal on her wrists a holographic image then popped above it showing an image of a spherical bell "The Ancestor's journal says that he made this as a reminder to himself about a grave mistake he has done eons ago, he mentioned here that it will rumble during the 6th day of the 3rd month of the year yet that has already happened it is now the 9th month of this year" The red-scaled figure contemplated.
𝘏𝘮𝘮... 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭, 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘴 30 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘭𝘮, 𝘊𝘪𝘳, 𝘞𝘶𝘧𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 9 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘴... interrupting her thought an alert rang on her terminal and based on the 'CRITICAL' tag on the call she decided to answer it.
"Admiral Guang reporting to the Matriarch! Please excuse my rudeness!" A gray scaled robust figure with scars on his neck fitted with a black compact battle suit kneeled with his hands at his back.
"Spare me the pleasantries Guang, what are the casualties? also, let me know if any observational targets or VIPs were harmed." She sneered as she put on a face of indifference.
"My apologies... as of now we're doing a preliminary investigation based on the updated statistics of the three stations prior to the incident. No VIPs were in the stations but two of our critical targets are reported to be declared missing, we've already locked down the sphere of influence containing the three stations as we confirm the authenticity of the reports. Estimated loss is 7 million dead most of which are highly trained space crew while a loss of forty billion credits at a rough estimate..." the gray-scaled figure explained while kneeling, not daring to look up to the Matriarch's chilling blue eyes.
After a long silence of a minute or so which felt like an eternity to the kneeling Admiral Guang the red-scaled figure snapped her fingers and spoke in a commanding tone "Guang file the finalized report and send it to me in 2 hours after that in exactly 30 minutes call for a meeting for all admirals, ministers, and department heads tell them that I Vasto Magnifica commands it and also make sure to make copies for them too. If the targets are found alive confine them and immediately send them to Agno'Rab make sure the warden puts them in cell 5 and 6."
"Orders received, Glory to La!" Admiral Guang shouted before performing a turning salute while Vasto Magnifica immediately closed the interface, a grin emerges on her as her fangs bare themselves, nothing satisfies her more than the feeling of power wielded by the strongest matriarch of the strongest Vasioth tribe.
——
A mana storm of unprecedented intensity ravaged the pure mana sea of the Mack blue, a storm unseen in history it can only mean one thing...
The tallest waves of mana that man has ever seen, some even eclipse the tallest spires of the Blumentritt castle of the Holy Baruch Kingdom. If not for the humongous anti-mana chains deflecting the waves the Holy Kingdom might have already sunken.
A tall, jacked, dark-skinned figure with dark blue braided hair and a dark blue five o'clock beard carrying a huge marble slab in shape of a surfboard walks to one of the cliff's edges. Gazing fervently at the majestic waves that can easily topple a nation in earth he roars in laughter as he observes and notices that he wasn't the only one with a certain idea.
"HAHAHAHAHA! Great! The younguns should feel courageous! These waves would thrill any true blue Baruchian! AHAHAHAHA!!" The man laughed.
"Geez old man... you're embarrassing just surf already!" A group of bikini-clad dark-skinned girls with toned figures and curves where they should be, yelled at him.
"Ouch! My granddaughters you hurt this poor old man of yours... I thought the ladies like boisterous men like me?" He sighed in a downcast town while hunching.
*SMACK!!!* "Act your age Gom! Don't mind our grandchildren and focus on our date! Your such a fool of a man that you can't even pay attention to me!" A tall dark skinned lady with silver short hair smacks the man named Gom with a disapproving look.
"Guh... hehe I'm sorry my dear Bell, but these waves just fired me up! It reminded me of our fight in passion in which our love blossomed..." the man gazed lovingly on his wife named Bell who despite being a grandmother still retains a healthy youthful beauty.
"Oh dear, the fight in which I beat you up when you begged me for you to be with another woman aside from me?" Bell sneered as she lifted her marble slab surfboard "Oh don't worry I'm told that a lot of younger men are into my kind right now, they call it being babied is what I hear"
"B-Bell you know that was a drunken mistake! You also know that the woman I referred to was Puma-chan from the anime I watched when I was a lonely young man!" Gom put down his surfboard as he tried to catch up to Bell to beg for forgiveness but she already dived into the waves before he could plead.
"Damn Gramps was a hardcore weeb back then..." their grandchildren muttered as they were already used to them play-fighting.
——
The Junk Belt is a stream of Asteroids and destroyed planetary bodies that orbit the Mechanical Titan Forge: Beastmark, A marvel of technology made by the Dwarven Conglomerate. The Junk Belt is where Dwarves do most of their business as Beastmark is a sacred place only dedicated to forging.
A young dwarf resides in a rough shack on one small floating asteroid island. A wooden sign saying "Dusq Kroft" is nailed above the front counter while inside the shack is all sorts of parts, pieces, and ore are categorized into numbered boxes. The young dwarf holds a silver pocket watch, he tinkers with it until it opened revealing the words:
𝘈 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘥, 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘯... 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘯... 𝘮𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘥... 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘣 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘦...
The latter parts were covered in red rust. The young dwarf tried to clean, polish, and smoothen the insides of the pocket watch yet the red rust still remained.
*BOOOOOOOM!!!* a large explosion suddenly sounded and shook his dingy shack. Trembling he put on his space battle suit as he surveyed the Junk Belt but to his surprise it was actually Beastmark where the explosion came from. He saw scarlet flames which only meant one thing, A Grandmaster Smith failed in their craft and had to pay with their life.
——
"Meeeeeh"
"Meeeeeh"
Ybbrid the mountainous region of Maqeed home to the Purple Alpine Monastery Which is the faith of all celibate monks within the universe. A Ghmar, a bipedal sentient being descended from the Purple Ram of the Eight Divines, sat on the lowest point of the Monastery since it was designed like a spiral in which each level sees the level below it and so on. In front of him are a few lit-up joss sticks and a half-drunk bottle of grape-flavored Alpicola. The Purple Alpine Monastery does not banish material and fleshy desires but instead practices the discipline on making one's urges into the mundane that any urge cannot affect your goal and your peace but is only a part of your day-to-day.
Feng, the Ghmar is also the Leader of the Purple Alpine Monastery. Ever since he was a kid he has trained to be indifferent to his desires and this bottle of grape-flavored Alpicola was only there because the monastery is having its monthly plumbing repairs, the water dispensers are empty because a monk forgot to contact their mineral water deliverer, and there were no other drinks on the vending machine, his favorite flavor is fizzy-bubblech.
While meditating the joss sticks suddenly turned into ashes. Then Feng suddenly grabbed a bell chime which he then struck on his head. The ringing reverberated throughout the Monastery then the monks chanted a prayer while slapping their faces...
"Fuck..." Feng cursed, he knew what this meant... His ancestor has awakened.
——
Deep within the Jungles of the planet known as the Forbidden Green: Roghaparivad where no outsider can navigate through as it was said that this whole planet is a temple and the home of the Green divine Purespeon, a green feline with golden irises, a gold star embedded on its forehead, and a tail splitting into two half.
Purespeon lays quietly on a branch of a large Macha blossom clutching on a red yarn ball. She purrs and yawns as she naps. From time to time she gets nightmares where the other sentient beasts ravaged this planet to exterminate her kind. But tonight the stars shine like a sea of hopeful souls singing her a lullaby as she dreams of her master who was ever so gentle and kind, always has treats, and is very nice to the other sentient felines as well. Her tears flow down as she squints her eyes closed because whenever she dreams of her master she also dreams of her betrayal.
"I didn't do it! Master, please run! I can't stop! Nooooooo! Master! NOOOOOOOOO!"
*meowr!* "huff... huff... it is that dream again..."
*sniffles* "I-It wasn't me master... I'm sorry..." she cried herself to sleep as the gentle breeze rattled every leaf in Roghaparivad.
——
Quos the planetary satellite orbiting the battlefield grade Planet known as Granger. No sentient being inhabits here as it had been destroyed by its own inhabitants and because of that only a handful of them survived and went to live on its moon while guarding their forsaken planet in which the Temple of Black still stands after all the eons of destruction without a single blemish. It is also the cause of the largest war Granger has ever been subjected to, the Grangers thought the temple was a treasure house full of resources and technology as it was described as such by ancient records which also indicated that the founders of this planet are buried within.
No one knew how the frenzy started as if it was deliberately set up but all survivors knew how it ended, one day the ruling superpower had successfully destroyed the lock of the temple's front door and when it happened a figure crept out of the creaking temple door. It happened so fast that in the blink of an eye 300 billion Grangers were beheaded within a 10000km radius, 95% percent of its population gone while the remaining 5% desperately gathered themselves, their technology, and resources to escape immediately to their newly erected base on Quos. And once they had successfully done so they've received a video transmission from Granger even though all of them were sure that they've all migrated with no living Granger nor sentient species left behind.
"Stay there... Keep an eye out for me... else I come up there..." *zzzzzzzt zzzt zzzzzzzt*
It was a message from the figure who massacred their race, for the first time ever they saw "it"...
It was a frog...
A thousand years had already passed since then and for the first time since Granger fell silent, the descendants of its survivors who dwell on its moon known as Quos, heard the planet croak.
——
The main temples of the Eight Divines had various events happen today. For some it was an unusual day, some had this day as their last, some celebrated, some trembled, some knelt, some did damage control but all in all nothing seemed out of the ordinary as all beings of the Chromatic Universe were somewhat used to chaos, yet unbeknownst to them, this was the herald for chaos to truly play with the universe itself.