Chapter Twenty: Part Two - Inimus

A tingling sensation like static electricity danced up her arms, making the hair there stand at attention. A moment later Leta gasped as a force not unlike the touch of god itself struck her like a spear from on high. Her back arched as her mouth opened in a silent scream, eyes wide and unblinking as power moved through a form that was barely equipped to handle it.

Simon shouted her name in shock, fearing to touch her as crackles of metaphysical power snapped the air like deadly fireflies.

All of this was ignored by Leta as her mind was propelled into the darkness of the weapon's hive mind.

She beheld a true void, a vacuum in space and time. She could not feel if it was hot or cold, if a roaring loudness had deafened her or if there was truly no sound. She couldn't perceive that she even had a form. The only thing that kept her grounded and not insane with fear was the knowledge that she was who she was, no matter where, when, or what form she took.

In the void, she sensed two other energies.

One was by her side, tethered to her by unbreakable forces and would be with her till the day she died. The energy was steadfast, unchanging form that was familiar to her, and she recognized it to be the hive mind of her own nanites, Gada.

The other was constantly changing. One minute it seemed large and almost airy, then it shrunk and brought it's mass together as if it could begin to warp the space around it.

Like water without a vessel to give it shape, the energy fluxed in and out of itself without reason or pattern.

In the void, she felt the energy vibrate with curiosity, frigidness, and at the same time hope.

~'WHO ARE YOU?'~

It wasn't words that echoed in the darkness, more the echoes of intention, like sensing the body language of someone you couldn't see.

[YOUR PREVIOUS MASTER IS DEAD.] Gada vibrated in return, [YOU HAVE BEEN IN STASIS FOR OVER 4,000 YEARS.]

The alien energy paused, almost contemplative. ~'I AM WITHOUT MASTER, ADRIFT IN SHADOW. I DESIRE TO SERVE. I DESIRE TO DO AS I WAS MADE TO DO. WILL I BE ABLE TO DO SO AGAIN?'~

Gada paused, her energy seeming to take a step back as if allowing Leta a moment to connect with the weapon.

She stood before this great vibration, awed by the vastness of it. It's energy was both endless and finite, like staring into a black hole that could be the size of galaxy's one minute and the size of an atom the next, never loosing it's deadly power.

Without form or sense of self, she found herself speaking words she had not voiced to the others.

"I am alone. I am the only Monarch, and I am being hunted by danger."

~'MONARCH…'~ The energy seemed to hiss the title as it pulled it's terrible mass inward to be a small as possible, dampening it's deadly vibrations as if humbling itself before it's lord.

"You know what I am?"

~'FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS, I STOOD VIGIL BEFORE THE LADY OF MYSTERIES, GUARDING HER SECRETS AS SHE WEAVED THE GODSEED IN HER SHADOW HALLS. 'TIMES I HAVE HEARD HER REFER TO THE GODSEED AS THE MONARCH, A DEMIGOD MADE WITH THE INTENTION OF TRANSCENDING INTO GODHOOD, OR SO THE MORTALS WOULD PERCEIVE.'~

Leta felt her existence shiver with new knowledge.

The energy continued as it lowered itself in a direction that seemed to be down.

~'I, AS ALL WEAPONS ARE, WAS CREATED WITH REVERENCE TO THE ATLANTIANS AND, IN TURN, THE GODSEED. I BOW TO YOU NOW, AS A SERVANT OF THE ATLANTIANS AND THE GODSEED. I AM YOURS TO COMMAND, MONARCH.'~

"You will allow me to wield you?"

~'IF THAT IS WHAT YOU DESIRE, YES. I LONG FOR THE RING OF METAL AS I DEFEND A GREAT CAUSE. I CAN THINK OF NO GREATER HONOR THAN TO BE BRANDED BY THE GODSEED HERSELF.'~

Gada's energy flared behind her, the threads that bound them together vibrating as they extended outwards like wisps of silk towards the alien energy.

"Do you swear loyalty to me? To act as an extension of my form and with my intent? Do you swear your form unto my keeping for all time, shaping yourself to my desires and needs? Do you swear to be strong in my time of great peril and sharp as I exact my vengeance? No other shall give you commands, and should you falter under the pressure of others to point your blade at me, you will become truly lifeless, unable to be wielded forever more?"

~'ON EVERY GOD AMONG THE STARS AND ON THOSE THAT WATCH BEHIND THE VEILS OF THE WORLDS, THIS I SWEAR UNTO YOU, MY MASTER.'~

[HOST HAS PREFORMED THEIR FIRST OATH BINDING. THE HOST HAS GAINED THE SKILL OATH BINDING, LEVEL ONE. MORE THAN ANY SPOKEN OR WRITTEN CONTRACT, THE OATH BINDING SKILL ALLOWS FOR A MUTUAL AGREEMENT TO BE MADE BETWEEN THE HOST AND ANOTHER ENTITY. HOST AND ENTITY MUST AGREE TO THE PACT AND ACCEPT ALL REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE TERMS OF THE AGREEMENT. A REWARD AND A PUNISHMENT MUST BE GIVEN IN THE OATH FOR IT TO BE BINDING.

AT LEVEL ONE, THE HOST CAN CREATE MINOR OATH BINDINGS, RESULTING IN LESS SEVERE PUNISHMENTS POSSIBLE WITH LIVING MATTER. IN THE CASE OF NON-LIVING MATTER, SUCH AS ATLANTIAN WEAPONS, OATHS ARE COMPLETELY BINDING AND CAN ONLY BE REMOVED BY THOSE IN THE ATLANTIAN JUDICIARY SYSTEM.]

Leta gasped as her conscious was pulled from the void and back into her body. In her hands the sword vibrated, hieroglyphs glowing a lilac purple under the grim. It hummed like an angry bee as the rust and filth that covered it after thousands of years began to heat, filling the room with the smell of scorched earth as was had coated it was literally burned away.

It shimmered and seemed to warp slightly in a way that is only possible when a living being wakes from a long nap. The weapon seemed to stretch a few inches, becoming almost malleable as it settled back into a familiar form, perfect once more as if it had just been forged.

The blade was nearly four feet in length from tip to hilt, made of a silvery metal with the faintest of blue toned waves in it like Damascus steel. It was smooth and sharp with an easily recognizable fuller now, the grip made of a braided metal several shades darker than the blade.

the pommel was still a flattened disk on it's side, though now she could easily recognize the Sumerian god star symbol.

Leta gazed at the weapon in her hand in awe, catching in the reflection the blue glow of her eyes. For all it's mass, it was impossibly light in her hands, no heavier than holding a notebook. It's edge hummed with the faintest line of lilac light around the edge that promised to cleave through anything that stood in it's path of destruction.

And yet, it dulled only when she ran her fingers over it, never willing to harm it's master.

Leta whispered as she beheld the weapon, "I give you the name…Inimus."