Author's note: Another lore-heavy chapter, which is primarily why it took so long, but here it is! Some things are explained, other questions will arise, thanks to this chapter too, but everything will make sense in the end! I wonder what theories you all have about what I have fed y'all.
Also, Elias learns some bitter truths. The Truth hurts, and this chapter shows it better than most in this fic. I want you all to realize that everyone is in a doomed world, and every being is doing what they can to solve their problems, from Elias to Odin to Kernel's own actions. They all do what they think they should do with what they have available, no matter how little it improves their chances.
I honestly want to hear y'all's opinions on this chapter. Be sure to comment!
Celestial Ascendancy
Chapter 94: A New Beginning.
Sanctuary.
Elias Black.
Once my consciousness returned, I couldn't help but uncharacteristically gasp at what greeted me. It was one thing to hear the voice of the system talking to me once more after so long, but I decided to follow his lead.
I honestly couldn't even explain why I decided to, since I was sure that Ajuka did his best to give what he promised. I didn't think he was someone who did something half-assedly. The idea of him I had in mind after many meetings was someone who, once he promised something, would do his best to follow through.
But something about the pure confidence and self-assurance of those whispers that fell with His light made me close my eyes and follow its lead.
Curiously enough, I was alone. Any other moment, I would have thought I had died, again, but as 'alone' I was, I couldn't help but feel a fullness I had never experienced before. Light, something simple yet complex, was what enveloped me and everything else.
From my position to the surroundings, the vastness of a new dimension with nothing but light and me. It was something so wonderful and peaceful. There was no ahead or back, no up or down. There simply was.
An empty canvas, one that shamefully I couldn't change, no matter what I tried. 'Standing' up, I looked below me at the sheer expanse around me. There was simply no end in sight, or at least, I couldn't see it.
So strange.
And here I thought I couldn't feel small against something anymore.
Something in the back of my mind alerted me that I wasn't alone anymore.
Smiling as I turned towards the being, I took its appearance.
A blob of light, His light, yet lessened to a large degree. It felt significantly weaker than it had when I last saw it, making me frown.
"Hello," I looked at it with curiosity and a mix of worry. I didn't even understand what it was or how it came to be, since Michael and the rest of the Seraphs seemed confident when they said that the system left by God didn't have a sense of self.
And I doubted that angels could even lie. A part of me was worried that something had hijacked the system or something along those lines. But the purity I could see through the blob erased any of my questions.
It was difficult to explain, and even when I could see it, I didn't have a single idea how to put it into words.
Its soul, because it had a soul, was unlike anything I had ever seen. It was different from a mortal being. The way I saw it, mortal souls were kind of an unfinished canvas, showing their history, but making it clear that they had a long way to go.
Beautiful and simple to a surprising degree, and honestly, it had become something of a guilty pleasure of mine to observe quietly. However, this soul didn't resemble a divine soul; it was unlike the vast soul of Odin, Amaterasu, or even the other angels themselves.
It was as if I was looking at something new, not in the aspect of something I hadn't seen before, but as if something that was born not long ago.
I hadn't had the blessing of seeing a newborn yet, but this soul was just as I had imagined.
"Greetings," he 'responded'. The words coming out of the blob were unnatural to the extreme, but my mind provided the translation much more easily than the last time. I could call it even instinctual.
I waited for it to continue, but it looked as if he was happy to stay floating in front of me. There was a kind of childlike wonder as I felt it 'observing' me. It didn't have eyes, obviously, but it certainly felt like it was assessing me.
"I can not thank you enough for the help," I continued after an awkward silence, "But I must ask… why? Why are you doing this?"
"Hope," It replied simply, as if that was supposed to answer all my questions. In Truth, it only made me wonder even more.
I sighed, feeling out of my depth.
"Is there a way you prefer to be called? I'm thinking that you are not exactly what I thought you were…" I looked at it seriously, thinking hard about the last time I saw the angels and how vehemently they denied the existence of what was in front of me, "Are you even the system left behind by God?"
"Designation," it replied, but the sheer amount of information that barreled through my skull was staggering.
Even after 'hearing' about it, I was left flabbergasted. It explained something that had been bugging me for a long time, especially after Odin explained what he knew about the God of the Bible.
It all started when the universe was nothing more than a spec of Chaos; from it, existence was born in the form of concepts, as Odin explained during the meeting. I didn't know whether it was mentioned on the original timeline or if this one was special, and it didn't matter, truthfully.
At least I finally understood where Trihexa came from. A being that wasn't supposed to exist by any margin of the imagination. A mixture of two concepts of reality that shouldn't mix.
As The Kernel of Heaven explained, the beast of the end was nothing more than a bad joke on the existence level, a merger between Entropy and Destruction at the start of creation.
Somehow, two facets of reality that one would think would be similar, yet in Truth each one contradicted the other, merged into one being.
Trihexa. Something that shouldn't exist, and its only nature was to destroy everything in this universe.
I gaped at the blob, or Kernel, as he called itself.
This was insane, but it did make sense. Trihexa somehow destroyed other concepts of reality while it wandered through the cosmos, yet… they were parts of it, unable to cease to exist even when the very personification of the end tried its best.
As Odin said, God was born from the essence of some other concepts: creation, Truth, and order. God knew about the Truth of the world, knew about the danger the whole reality was in, and that's why he didn't participate overtly in the Great War.
Yet… he couldn't defeat the beast of the end by himself, and pantheons were hilariously against working together, so he knew what he needed to do. A sacrifice.
But… something complicated matters for God as Kernel explained. He was similar to Trihexa yet lessened in every regard. He wasn't the concepts themselves; He was born from them.
The problem was that if Trihexa was a moth… God was a lightbulb. An appetizing meal that would bring the end of the universe to earth, and would consume every being, be it mortal or divine, just to get to savor it once more.
So, God divided Himself to do what He needed to do. He cut parts of his essence out, locking them inside Heaven, so that he could approach the beast without alerting it. That was the only way he could study it without attracting its attention and dooming us all.
Cutting part of your essence left him weakened, and merging with them again wasn't something easy or fast… and having no time, he entered the battlefield against his strongest son and perished.
God died because he was incomplete. But he succeeded, he bought us time, and now that the warring era has finished, perhaps we could unite to battle the beast.
Who was I kidding? I didn't know much about the Great War. Still, even after it finished, all pantheons around the world ignored each other to the best of their abilities.
And that wasn't saying anything about the Khaos Brigade and their insane lot fueling the flames around the world.
"That's a lot," I said, not knowing how to even explain what I was feeling at this moment.
Kernel nodded, the blob moving up and down almost amusingly.
"What can we even do?" I asked, looking at it intently. "And don't think I forgot you didn't explain what you are."
"Complicated," Kernel replied, and I was sent another package of information, making my eyes widen in disbelief.
The Kernel of Heaven, the blob in front of me, was the system. Yet… it wasn't supposed to be like this, ever.
It hadn't been in God's plan for the system to gain consciousness.
But the fragments of God left locked in Heaven were too powerful to be contained. The system did its best to keep them that way, set aside where they couldn't affect anything, but it was incapable of stopping them by itself.
Usually, the system only kept them locked for a short amount of time, but without God retrieving them… Well, that changed things.
After God's death, the system was left without guidance, without someone to control it, so it continued to operate according to the last command left by God.
Contain the fragments from bleeding out into Heaven. But, like I said, it was incapable of succeeding, and the sparks of Truth and order bled out, affecting what was in its path.
Order itself bled into Heaven's system, birthing a new being, giving it consciousness, and allowing Kernel to exist. As for Truth? Well, that was the shocking part.
Michael, the strongest Seraph and current leader of the Angels, was blessed with a minuscule part of it. It was what allowed him to sit on his Father's throne, and even if minimally, listening to the prayers of the faithful.
It was why he was the only angel, besides Metatron, to have golden wings after I healed him.
He was on the cusp of ascending to Godhood, all without knowing. Kernel was almost amused at the implication, even more so when it explained that Angels couldn't host even a small part of God's Authorities. Michael and the Morningstar were the strongest of God's creations, and even Michael fell ill and almost died after he received a tiny portion of Truth itself.
It was thanks to his brothers and sisters that he managed to assimilate the blessing, making him something closer to his Father than the rest of them. But angels weren't meant to be Gods, they were not created that way.
Since, according to Kernel, angels were bound for a single fate and nothing more, serving their Creator. Even if the system used most of its power to hold the fragments of God from affecting everything else, it loosened its restrictions, allowing some Angels to sin and plot against their brethren without falling.
I needed to speak with Metatron soon; they needed to be informed about the traitors in their ranks.
Kernel also found it amusing that even if Michael knew he could take his Father's place, he would simply not do it. Any other angel might do it, but not Michael.
He would do everything in his power to avoid it, not because he didn't want to lead, but because he didn't feel worthy of it.
But then again… who is? God… God was something unique in existence, and I didn't think anyone, past, present, or future, could match him. Certainly not me.
"Is that why you chose me?" I asked, voice quieter than I expected. For a moment, I almost hoped it would deny it.
"Negative."
The word hit like a hammer, and the wave of information that followed made my stomach twist. It wasn't what I feared, to shoulder the weight of God's creation, no, it was something worse.
A gamble. That was all I was.
"A gamble," I repeated under my breath, a bitter laugh escaping me, "that's all I am."
"Affirmation."
I didn't even realize I was laughing until I heard it.
"You didn't think I could stop Trihexa. You just needed a messenger, a…" I swallowed, feeling a lump in my throat that refused to go away, "A herald?"
"Accuracy," Kernel said simply.
As if explaining that accepting me into the role of a messiah would increase our chances of winning against Trihexa by 0.01% would make me feel better.
I stared at the blob of light until my vision began to blur. I had seen gods, irate angels, monsters in human and inhuman form, yet none of them made me feel this cold.
"So that's it," I muttered bitterly, my voice filled with disbelief, "All those prayers from the Wizards and Asia. All my fear for the burden... I was never a savior; you never expected that."
Kernel didn't respond, only pulsed softly, almost as if it didn't understand why I was growing angry.
"You know," I whispered, my voice trembling as I looked down, "I never wanted the weight of the world. But once you gave it to me, I carried it. People died because of that promise."
"I carried it with pride," My fists clenched hard enough to crack, "And you did it for a rounding error."
The light dimmed a little. "Clarification."
Kernel tried to explain that his 'parameters' required an emissary, someone that, with the backing of Heaven, would be heard by other pantheons, and that my suitability was unmatched since God's mortal iteration… it didn't help a single fuck.
I was only suitable thanks to the perk the Grimoire gave me. Randomly.
I raised my head slowly, an empty smile stretching on my face.
"So, you picked me because I fit the mold?" I hissed, "Because I reminded you of Him?"
"Affirmation."
Something inside of me just… snapped. Not in rage, but in something far more complex.
I laughed humorlessly as I stared at the being in front of me, "You didn't believe I could save anyone."
The blob didn't answer, and I took a step closer, growing angrier by the second, but trying to stay calm.
It was funny that after many revelations… I was just feeling petty.
"Fine. I'll do it anyway. Not because you planned it," I snorted, "Not because you gave me a fancy title. I'll make it because I'm me."
I didn't need Kernel's validation, hell, I didn't need it to believe me. Still, I would do it, because I loved my life, because I would give my life to protect the ones I love, and I wouldn't let anyone, no matter how important, make me hesitate.
I knew it was a losing battle, but right now I couldn't give a single flying fuck about it. So what if no one believed in me, so what if Trihexa was an apocalyptic beast meant to be the end of the universe? Fuck them, fuck everyone. I would prove them wrong.
Kernel paused, the blob's light flickering as if it were confused, "Unclear."
"Yeah," I muttered, sighing as I rubbed my temple. "You wouldn't."
I took a deep breath before looking back at him, "Then answer me this… if you didn't expect me to win against Trihexa, why give me this?"
My hand moved on its own, light bursting from my chest as the Celestial Grimoire materialized in my grasp, its pages glowing faintly.
I didn't know if it was my mental state, but I almost felt a feeling of disgust coming out of the Grimoire.
Kernel froze. The space around us grew still, almost frightened.
"Confusion," it said at last, voice dimmer than before.
"You're serious," I whispered, staring at it. "You don't even know what this is."
"Affirmation."
I stared at the Grimoire in disbelief before a hollow chuckle left my lips, "And here I thought I finally had an answer, and all I found was another mystery." I looked down at the faint silver light dancing across my hands.
Kernel had nothing to do with me obtaining the Celestial Grimoire, and in fact, had no idea what it was, almost glitching as it saw it.
I didn't know if I felt relieved that Kernel had nothing to do with it, but I felt past caring. I wasn't upset with Kernel; I understood why he did what he did.
Perhaps I had hyped myself up too much to shoulder the burden, but now I just felt lighter.
Accepting the burden of my own volition, rather than being thrust toward it, was freeing, in a way. I wasn't doing it because it was my duty, I was going to do it because I wanted to, to protect what I loved.
Kernel chose me because I was the perfect match to what he needed, but I would prove that I was more than simply that.
Kernel hesitated before speaking again. "Inquiry."
Moments like this showed how inhuman the Kernel was, wondering if I was angry and why.
It didn't understand feelings the way mortals did, but at least it showed me something.
No matter what happened since I got the Grimoire, I was mortal once, and I couldn't forget my roots the way I had.
"Yeah," I sighed, closing the Grimoire and letting it sink back into my soul. "But not at you. Not anymore."
I turned to face him, feeling exhausted, yet at peace, "Let's build my Sanctuary, Kernel. And then, I'll prove you wrong."
Elias Black.
Sanctuary.
Lowering my hand, I marveled at the act of creation itself. It wasn't something I could do by myself, yet, with Kernel's help, Sanctuary looked the way its name hyped it up to be.
No longer was it a realm filled with the blinding light of the Aetherius. Gone was the feeling of emptiness, despite it being fueled by the power of creation itself.
But despite losing its immaculate, ethereal purity between Kernel and me, it became something more.
A place to live. A place to house all the wizards we would ever need, with more land than I could imagine my people using in the long term.
Even with my enhanced senses, I had trouble perceiving the end of the horizon.
Despite having cut a portion of the dimensional gap for myself, I could say that this place was better than anything else I had imagined for my people.
From the horizon to the heavens, Sanctuary pulsed with quiet life.
Rivers flowing through the earth as if they were veins, twin skies that changed every time I needed, one for the day and one for the night, each breathing in and out of existence as time cycled in harmony.
Forests grew in soft gradients of gold and green, each leaf faintly echoing the Aetherius in its vibrant green shine. Entire cities shining through the horizon. Echoes of London and other cities I had visited, like Kuoh, were woven together in a way that seemed balanced.
And at the heart of it all stood the castle I called home for four years, its towers stretching high into a sky I had made with my own hands.
It was a surreal experience, and I couldn't put into words the feelings it brought to the open.
The sun glowed brighter here, not burning but warming, its light drawn from the Aetherius. A window would never close in its entirety. When it faded, the moon took its place.
A replica of the world, yes, but one created from nothingness between Kernel and me.
A sanctuary for all who needed rest.
For wizards, devils, humans, monsters… for anyone who had nowhere else to go.
And I wasn't the kind of man who would turn my back on those in need. I didn't plan to become that now.
I had no idea how Kernel managed to link the Aetherius with this place, but I wasn't complaining about it. The realm of pure magika filled this dimension to levels never seen before. I sincerely doubted there was a place in the whole universe that could compare to what we had created.
Every single breath I took filled me with power, with the welcoming feeling of purity.
Turning around, I saw Kernel's glow dimming. The pulsating light that once shone like a star now flickered in steady, slow waves.
I frowned in confusion, "You alright, buddy?"
The blob twitched as if shrugging, its light flickering weakly. "Unnecessary."
Then it pulsed again, "Weakened."
I couldn't help the small snort that escaped me, "Huh. You see yourself as male now?"
Kernel bobbed once, looking adorably confused, "Unnecessary," it repeated.
"Fair enough," I muttered, scratching the back of my head. I didn't know what I expected.
Kernel wasn't human, wasn't an angel, wasn't anything I could relate to. It probably didn't care about the things we did. It didn't need to.
But that second word… that one I understood.
"Weakened," I echoed quietly.
Kernel had used too much power helping me weave Sanctuary into existence. Even I could sense how shallow its light had become, how the pure order within it trembled to stay stable.
It needed to go back to Heaven.
"Is there anything I can do?" I asked, genuinely worried.
"Possible," Kernel said in a voice dimmer than before, "Anchors."
I nodded at him, feeling his 'eyes' on me. I understood what he said, even if I didn't know exactly what he was talking about. Kernel needed something linked to God to try to reconstruct itself so it could act a bit more independently.
The only reason he appeared next to me and communicated with me was that he linked himself with me when he approved me as the messiah, but he couldn't even communicate with Michael when he sat on Heaven's throne. No matter how hard he tried to.
It was why a simple 0.01% increase in his predictions was worthy enough to earn his approval.
He had literally no other option.
Kernel was speaking about three sacred gears he had lost to the cycle and had no idea where they could be, since most of his attention was locked in keeping God's fragments away from Heaven.
The first one was the only one I had heard of… The Spear of Longinus and the strongest Longinus. It was a God-killing weapon, capable of destroying a deity with a single hit, according to Rias, and it was a weapon that could destroy any devil just as easily.
Hearing that didn't fill me with confidence, but I saved its name in my memory. The other two were ones I hadn't heard before, some type of Holy nails, the very ones used to crucify my predecessor, and finally, something called the Sephiroth Gral.
Burning the names in my mind, I vowed to help Kernel.
Despite everything, the anger I felt, the revelation that he was gambling when he approved me, and that the probability of us succeeding was hilariously small… I couldn't deny it. I was grateful. Kernel had done more for my people and me than anyone had ever done before.
Not only by creating Sanctuary with me, but also for approving me. No matter his reasons, he did it, and that allowed me to be where I was.
"Thank you," I added quietly.
Kernel bobbed once more, the last flare of its light washing over me like a warm hug.
"Acknowledged," it said, before its form fragmented into thousands of motes that drifted upward and vanished into the sky, retreating to Heaven to recover.
Silence fell over the newborn world. The rivers stilled, and I stood there for a moment, alone again. But I knew what to do now, thanks to Kernel.
With a deep breath, I closed my eyes and reached outward.
All around me, light pulsed, as if answering my call. Threads of golden light extended across Sanctuary as I touched every important slumbering soul, all waiting and sealed safely within stasis.
How Kernel had managed that, I had no idea. The fact that he managed to do something against someone like Ajuka spoke volumes.
"It's time to wake up," I murmured.
And one by one, the lights began to stir.
Elias Black.
Sanctuary.
I let out a slow breath, watching the first waves of color return to Sanctuary. One by one, the motes of light around me pulsed, flickered… and bloomed into familiar silhouettes.
The first voice that reached me was soft, almost hesitant, "Eli… What happened?"
I turned around. Iris was already halfway to me before she even finished the word.
She crashed into my chest, wrapping her arms tightly around my midsection. Behind her, the rest of them began stirring. Mione rubbed her eyes in shock, as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing. I knew that her magnificent brain was flying a mile a minute, trying to comprehend the sheer beauty of Sanctuary and coming up short.
The pout appearing on her face was downright adorable. God, I loved her so fucking much.
Fleur helped Rias steady herself while the crimson-haired devil's peerage slowly regained consciousness. All of them looked open-mouthed at the scene.
Dumbledore, Sirius, and Amelia stood at a distance, all visibly tense, their eyes wide as they took in everything around them.
And I couldn't blame them.
The light of the Aetherius shone over our forms in a gentle hug. The air was filled with so much magic that I noticed the wizards of our midst having trouble coping. Hell, even the devils themselves shivered once or twice at the feeling.
I didn't know precisely how much Magika would affect my people now that they would be in a place charged with it, but I was excited to find out. Worst case scenario, it only increased the amount of magical regeneration, but I didn't think that would be all.
Living in a place like this would change me more, I was almost sure.
Hogwarts stood proudly at the heart of it all, its towers catching the reflection of the sun. A Hogwarts that was incomparable to the one before, over ten times bigger and grander.
Since the Japanese magical school was away from the Ministry, we hadn't been able to bring it with us, unlike their main infrastructure.
And honestly… I wasn't sure if having two schools would be the best for Sanctuary, but having all our younger generation attend the same school would work wonders in uniting our communities. Even with everything going on and the show of force this act would bring when I woke everyone up… I knew that trouble would blow.
It was in human nature, and Wizards could be even more petty than the norm.
But Kernel and I had managed to outdo ourselves for our first try. It was breathtaking.
Fleur's lips parted. "Mon Dieu…"
Asia knelt on the ground as she prayed in thanks, just as Xenovia followed, their faith filling me up even more than before.
Rias, Akeno, and the rest of the devils just stared upward, faces blank with awe. They didn't feel antagonized by the Aetherius in the air; my magic wasn't like that, no matter the quantity.
They were welcomed here; everyone was, regardless of their origin. While I couldn't affect this place by myself yet, I was sure that with time, I could make it even bigger to welcome more people who were sure to come.
The French, for example. Having a safe haven for wizard kind was something that would make them hesitate, even more after what happened to the Japanese Ministry.
Then Ajuka stirred.
His eyes fluttered open, and I felt his magic flare like a volcano just long enough to make everyone tense. But he didn't move; he only stared at the horizon with an unreadable expression. His almost blank gaze flickered between the rivers, the sun in the sky, the castle, and finally on me.
And for the first time since I'd met him, I didn't see curiosity.
I saw fear.
Before I could say anything, a sob broke the silence.
Serafall stood beside him, tears streaming down her cheeks as she stared at me. She didn't say a word before darting forward and wrapping herself around me, arms tight enough that even Iris stepped back, startled.
And I wasn't saying anything about my bones. She almost cracked my ribs with how hard she was hugging me.
"Hey… what's wrong, Sera?" I asked hesitantly, awkwardly patting her back. "You're crying. Did something go wrong?"
She didn't answer. She just shook her head and held me tighter, trembling against me.
Everyone else stood still, uncertain, watching the Leviathan of the Underworld cling to me like a child afraid to wake up from a dream.
I think by this time, everyone realized that Serafall was particularly affected by the Aetherius in a way no other devil was. She always got so… sentimental, almost every time I used it around there.
I was honestly nervous about asking her to explain, feeling it would be better to let her come to terms with it on her own. I just hoped that she would trust me enough to do so.
It's not like I didn't keep secrets from her, so I wasn't one to talk. Still, she owed me some cooking classes, so who knew if things would progress from here.
When she finally loosened her grip, I managed to smile, "I'm fine, you know. Sanctuary's finished. Everything worked perfectly."
Hermione stepped forward, her voice tinged with disbelief, "This is… all yours, Eli?"
"Not mine, Mione," I said quietly, a bright smile revealing my true feelings on my face, "this is ours, for our people."
I looked around at them, my friends, the ones who had fought, bled, and somehow survived all this madness. I had not been conscious of seeing what had happened after I opened the rift to the dimensional gap, but I knew it couldn't be something as simple as all of them walking inside peacefully.
I wasn't sure what they went through. "The consciousness of the Heaven System manifested while we were working. It… offered an alternative. Something more than a simple dimension."
My gaze shifted to Ajuka as I grinned apologetically, "Sorry for changing the plan without explaining anything, Ajuka."
The green-haired devil blinked once, then sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
"You don't need to apologize. I felt everything while you worked with that being," he said with an oddly calm tone, "Even while I couldn't move. It was… enlightening."
I raised an eyebrow in shock, "You were conscious?"
Ajuka nodded, looking at me drily, "Partially. My formula attempted to track what you were doing, but after the first minute, the equations became intractable. Still, I could feel the process…. Every adjustment, every pulse of pure creation that went through for this to exist. All throughout the seven days it took."
"Wait, wait," I shook my head in shock, "Seven days? Are you sure?"
"From the moment I fell into stasis until you finished," he nodded seriously, his face as if carved of granite, "Seven exact days, to the second, Elias. Do I have to explain to you what that means?"
That startled me more than I cared to admit.
I shook my head before snorting, "I don't think I want to think about that right now, Ajuka,"
"But… you are a monster," I clicked my tongue, "From what Kernel explained, he believed he had gotten all of you. He hijacked your spell completely with my help, but you stayed awake."
Ajuka smirked faintly, his eyes filling with an amusement that I was sure didn't appear easily on him, "If I'm a monster," he said, "then what should we call you after what you just did?"
Before I could reply, Serafall swatted his arm without letting go of me, her voice wobbling between laughter and tears. "Don't ruin the moment, smelly Ajuka!"
I chuckled, finally easing her grip and stepping back. "He's right, though. I think things progressed in a way no one expected."
Sirius barked a laugh from behind the others, "You think, nephew? You just built a bloody world, kiddo."
The laughter that followed was gentle yet genuine. For the first time in what felt like ages, there was no fear of uncertainty in the wizards. I couldn't imagine how Sirius and the rest felt with the danger looming over our kind. They simply didn't have the strength to defend themselves and relied solely on us, but we weren't present most of the time.
Then, everything went still.
A ripple passed through the air, subtle but unmistakable thanks to my connection to this dimension. The hair on my arms stood on end as I felt two distinct signatures pressing gently against the barrier of Sanctuary. One was familiar and unforgettable, Odin. The other was sharper. Completely foreign to me, even if on the back of my head I felt as if I should recognize it… like I had met it before.
A divine that I didn't recognize, one that shared… something with me. Pure light.
I turned my gaze upward, toward the horizon where the barrier shimmered faintly.
"Looks like we have visitors," I murmured softly.
"Friends?" Iris asked carefully, despite her calm words; her deathly magic was already enveloping her hands, and a fierce expression appeared on her face.
"Hopefully, love," I said as I narrowed my eyes and focused on the signatures. The feeling that I should recognize him increased by the second, "one of them is Odin. The other…"
I hesitated; the feeling was too strange to ignore. The problem is that the more I focused on it, the more it began to remind me of mine… when I touched the Veil of death for the first time, "...is new."
A soft wind swept through Sanctuary, carrying the sound of shocked amusement.
And as the skies above the new world rippled, I realized… Sanctuary's peace was about to end before it even began.
At least it would not be the troubling type of Chaos, since I doubted Odin would betray us like that when he needed us.
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