A Meeting with Evil Incarnate, Who's Actually a Nice Guy.

I stumbled through the darkness for what felt like days. So suffocated by the silence that I could hear my own heartbeat. Whatever this place was, I knew instinctively that it wasn't the living world.

I felt as if I was no longer human, yet I still felt hunger and exhaustion. It was an extremely bizarre feeling, almost as if I was stuck between life and death. Still, I was desperate for a way out. I couldn't allow myself to give up, because then I truly would have gone insane.

Using magic at full output to sustain my body was effective for some time, but days turned into weeks, and I no longer had the strength to cast a single low-level spell. By this point I couldn't even stand and could only move my arms to crawl. I felt as if I truly was on the absolute brink of death.

This lasted for what was likely several more days, and I didn't get any better. The odd part though, is that I wasn't getting worse either, as if my body had reached its limit but simply couldn't die.

That thought was enough to convince me that I was in hell. Doomed to suffer on the brink of death desperately trying to find a way out for all of eternity, deprived of the life that I had taken for granted and punished for my foolishness.

I was so close to insanity that I didn't even notice the dim red light until I'd been looking at it for over an hour. Yet still, noticing it only made me all the more convinced of my insanity. If you have never felt an ounce of true despair, you cannot begin to fathom what this was like for me. I no longer believed in anything and had begun to doubt my own existence. My original human life, my home, and the world itself was nothing more than an illusion created by my mind to cope with this eternal darkness, or so I had begun to believe.

The only thing that allowed me to maintain an ounce of sanity was that red light, which was no longer dim and had been getting brighter by the hour. As I got closer, I realized it wasn't merely a light, but actually a door. Admittedly, I'd never seen a door like that in my life, but I was sure of it. Ancient, covered in runic carvings, and made out of the darkest stone I've ever seen in my life.

While it was likely a trap or illusion, I didn't care. "If some ancient creature is behind this door, maybe it could finally kill me and put an end to this eternal damnation." Death is a sort of freedom in its own way, especially from the perspective of someone in my situation.

Not bothering to contemplate the consequences, I reached out and placed my hand on the door. Imagine my surprise when it turned to dust in an instant. I guess ancient was an understatement.

What was even more surprising was the red light washing over me like a waterfall of energy. I've since realized that the red light was likely a mass of highly pure and potent life force. That would explain the feeling of absolute strength and bliss that coursed through my body. All of my pain and hunger disappeared, and I felt as if my shattered mind had been put back together.

"Is this the secret escape hatch in hell that leads to heaven?" That, while very optimistic, would have certainly been less confusing, as the next part of this story is a bit ridiculous to say the least.

Having regained my vitality, I could now stand. I gathered my courage and walked through the opening in what was once a very (cool looking) ancient door. It didn't take long before I arrived in a grand chamber dimly lit by that same red light from before. Now that I could finally see the walls of this hell, I'd say that they look an awful lot like stone brick. Sure, the darkest and most mystical brick that you could ever imagine and more, but still brick. I would have spent more time thinking about that detail, but I was just a little distracted by the talking sword.

The chamber's interior had a similar shape and design to a cathedral, albeit less intricate, only a fraction of the size, and much darker. Near the wall opposite the entrance, there was an altar. Considering that an altar is what got me here in the first place, I was a little hesitant to approach it. The seemingly legendary talking sword resting on the altar had a different idea though. Its deep and imposing voice echoed throughout the chamber. The words reaching the depths of my soul.

"Do not be afraid, little one. Free me from this altar, and my master will rescue you from the confines of this prison."

Gathering up the courage to talk to a literal hunk of metal, I strode toward the altar.

"Wow, one sentence and I suddenly have a lot of questions. I'll save the fact that you are a talking sword for later and get right to the fun part. You called this place a prison, where exactly are we?"

"Think of it as an inescapable limbo located between the physical and spiritual plane. The details will be revealed to you later, as long as you accept my master's offer and free me."

"Free you? What exactly does that entail?"

"By placing your hand on this altar, your soul will be bound to me and mine to yours. We will enter into a sacred pact that melds our minds as one. As you are a physical being and I am an entity of divinity, our merge will turn you into a semi-spiritual life form. This prison was created to contain me. It prevents all beings of divinity from leaving, as well as all physical beings such as you. Our merge will grant unto you the same properties as the very walls of this prison, allowing us to pass right through and return to the world, whichever one you belong to that is."

"While that is a sound plan, where exactly does your master come into play as a part of this, and who or what exactly are they? The king of talking swords?"

"All will be revealed in time. My master is the God of Chaos, Pazuzu. I was created from a fragment of his power, and with his help, that power can be channeled to create the portal we need to get out of this place. This is only possible if you accept me as a part of yourself."

"Take a chance with you here or suffer for all eternity? I think I've made my decision. So, how do we do this merge thing again?"

"Place your hand on this altar and all will be done. Open yourself up to me."

"Alright, here goes nothing..."

As the power coursed through me, I could feel myself changing. Becoming as light as a feather and brimming with divine energy. I'd never felt anything like this in my life.

I guess I should've noted, Sir. Talking Sword was the most beautiful thing I'd ever laid eyes on. A brilliantly designed longsword that looked as if it could cut through anything.

Acting out of instinct, I picked up the sword and felt the countless millennia old seals shattering. It was a feeling of satisfaction similar to scratching an itch, only a billion times stronger. This feeling was rapidly quelled as I witnessed the blade wither and dull, even its intricate designs seemed to be fading away. Chips in the blade were manifesting, and the handle lost its comfort.

"This is only natural; Because we have now become one with you as my true wielder, my shape, form, and power is shifting to match the level of your soul. As you grow stronger, I will begin to reawaken my true form, bit by bit. This will take time and is not something to be concerned about."

"Oh great, I'm so weak that I turned a legendary sword into a beginner's weapon. How exactly am I supposed to not be a little upset about that?"

As I finished my metamorphosis, I felt an intense pressure fill the chamber. A new voice filled the room, the voice of a God. The voice sounded casual on the surface but was extremely intense. As if it needs to make no attempt to convince or intimidate, their mere presence dominating the atmosphere and demanding respect.

"I applaud your unwavering desire to survive that led you to this place. I am the God of Chaos, and the name that you humans use to refer to me is Pazuzu. As you may have wondered, you didn't stumble upon the entrance to this prison by accident. It was my power that led you through that wicked forest and dragged you to this horrible place."

"Well, thanks for the endless suffering and all, but I'm guessing you had a reason for doing that?"

"That is correct. I needed a vessel worthy of freeing my fragment from this dimension. As you have accepted our offer and become the vessel, I will illuminate the truth of this place. This world was not created to seal a mere sacred artifact of the God of Chaos but was designed to be the eternal resting place of the God himself, which is me of course. The unnecessary details may be revealed to you in the future. In summary, I committed a great "sin" in the eyes of my fellow Gods and "defied the sacred laws of cosmic order" and what not. They banded together with their mortal followers and created this dimension to prevent me from going through with my schemes. It almost worked too, but I was even craftier than they could have imagined."

"You found a way to defy the will of the Gods?"

"Precisely. Before they could complete the ritual to seal me within this world, I fragmented my very being and granted it the form of a sword. Furthermore, I discarded my divinity, leaving what was left of it within the fragment. This meant that I was now half mortal, half God. If I could only wield that sword, I would be able to channel my divine power and escape from this prison. Of course, those cheeky Gods took countermeasures and sealed the sword within this chamber, far above the dungeon that my body lies within."

"I'm guessing this is where I come in."

"You are a quick study, I'm glad to have chosen you. I eventually realized that all it would take for me to be freed from this eternal damnation is to find a human who is willing to take the sword and become an avatar of well, me. As you are a physical being who has merged with the sword, you now possess partial divinity while still being connected to the mortal plane, which is the exact state of being that I had previously attempted to attain in order to free myself."

"If it gets me out of this place, I'll free you. What do I need to do?"

"I wish it were that simple, but you do not possess the power to free me as of this moment. That sword is the key to the dungeon that I am sealed within, and it is incapable of doing so in its current worn and weakened state. You must grow strong enough to awaken the sword's full potential. Only then will you return to this dimension and free me. That is our contract. When I am freed, the sword will be returned to me, until that time comes it will serve you as its master. This is the divine contract that you have entered upon merging with the sword. If you choose to disobey and break our contract, I will allow you to die and be freed from this world, passing on to the mortal afterlife. What is your answer, human?"

On one side, I was angry at this God for condemning me to weeks of torture. On the other side, I completely understood why he did it, and can't help but sympathize with his story. I still had an ocean of questions, but I felt like becoming an avatar of the God of Chaos was pretty much the exact kind of wild and exciting life that I left my home seeking in the first place. I decided to push my questions to the side and give him my answer.

"I accept your offer, Pazuzu, God of Chaos. May our future be filled with fortune and adventure."

"You will not regret this decision, mortal. I will send you back to your home world, go forth and make something of yourself. Crush your enemies in my name and my boon shall be yours!"

A portal opened right in front of me. It seemed to devour me as I could feel myself slipping between worlds and returning home. I guess hell wasn't that bad after all.

"Oh, and one last thing. I have formed a Deity Link with your soul via that sword. You should begin to manifest some of my powers as you grow stronger in the mortal world. While you are still a fragile human, the partial divinity that sword grants you will most likely manifest in the form of an amplified growth rate. You'd best keep that part a secret, as you may end up being targeted and seen as a special threat, just like I was. Good luck!"

I awoke at the fork in the road where this all began, except, there was no left path this time.

I would've assumed that this was all a bad dream, if it weren't for the talking sword, which was still as lively as ever despite being reduced to a fraction of its original power.

"Freedom at last! Oh, if only my master were here to witness this! William, my new master, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for freeing me from that place. We must act with haste and grow stronger in order to free our God!"

"Wait just a second, you sound a lot less intimidating than I remember. In fact, you kind of sound like a teenage boy. What's that about?"

"Swords have feelings too you know. This must be an unfortunate side effect of my power dwindling so greatly. In case you haven't noticed, I can't actually speak anymore. I am communicating with you via telepathy magic, yet I still can't make myself sound older than this."

"Well, it looks like we have even more motivation to evolve now. I have a few questions to ask, but I better get moving. Looks like my trip was delayed by a few weeks, or was it?"

"If that is what you are asking, yes, time has passed while you were in the prison world. Accessing your memories and calculating with my internal clock says that about a month has passed."

"Not like I had any schedule to live up to in the first place. a delay won't be troublesome. Off to Mornhaven we go, Sir. Sword! Actually, I should give you a name so I don't keep referring to you as a talking sword, don't you think you'd prefer that?"

"Hmm, a name... What exactly do you have in mind?"

"The name of your God is Pazuzu, and you are a fragment of his power. So, how about Zu?"

"Zu (pronounced like zoo), I like it. I accept that name, my mortal master. I am now Zu, the destroyer of worlds, killer of kings, the immortal blade of chaos!"

"Okay, alright, you aren't all that yet. No need to overhype yourself Zu, we need to face the reality of how weak we currently are."

"There is no need to be so pessimistic either, my master. Our strength will grow exponentially, we need only commit ourselves to the journey ahead."

"Fine, but one step at a time. Let's focus on getting to Mornhaven for now."

This is where my journey truly began. I look forward to the adventures that await me. As of where I am currently while writing in this journal, I am less than a day away from my destination.

See you in the next chapter, if I live long enough to write it.