On Death and the Divine (Invite Only)

by **Nathaniel A. Lincoln** December 7th 2013, 11:52 pm

The amassed swirling vortex's of energy correlated into a somewhat clearer form as Michael began to recover footing and gain a somewhat awkward bearing. Granted still superior to the constantly changing and ever expanding energies of the astral portal. Following mere moments after he felt the first sensations of land on his feat Michael's surroundings began to shape, a plethora of sand. Nothing seemingly ever touching or dotting on the surrounding landscape since the beginning of this vast and ever so desolate wasteland's formation. Of course this fact being entirely wrong in of itself was still immeasurably helpful to the now ravenous angel. For the pesky races of men had ventured far from this place since it eradicated itself from their painfully short memories. Leading to it and it's inhabitants both sentient and non sentient to be ever so untouched. And ever so ripe for the taking.

It was no doubt an understandable mistake however. The real prize was sunken a great depth underneath the whirling sands. Michael's hand was now slowly but surely moving towards the dazzling jewel on his cumbersome belt as he pondered his surroundings. The jewel was easily worthy of admiration and envy filled glares from even the most shockingly wealthy kings and queens of this sprawling world, but that was not why he adorned himself with it in the least. His hand reaching that which it quested for bore itself across said jewel causing it to glow. And once again in mere moments Michael's oh so loved footing caved in from beneath him.

Rapidly cascading below the surface and beyond at astonishing speeds the Intervener struggled to sustain the already painfully limited intangibility it offered. The sands were ever changing and ever moving. Making for a problem that threatened to suffocate the submerged angel if his loved device were to fail him. Still just as Michael had both assumed and predicted it indeed sustained him and it, if only just barely.

Quickly reclaiming his hold on the physical realm Michael found himself stepping on to the solidity of archaic nearly fossilized stone. Progressing forward down the only cleared opening in the small room Michael began to sense the pulsating energy much more vividly now than when he had stumbled across it while spying for a source of sustenance through his astral form. Something he spared time away from his main search to do only when the urge to feed himself and the hunger for energy became nearly absolute.

Although while partaking in this rather bothersome and draining task Michael had stumbled across something rather peculiar and rare. An energy source that was no doubt mighty in it's own rite but also unique unlike any form of power he had ever felt before. This of course proved to make him only more famished. Though behind the gnawing desire, his intellect was indeed still actively processing this information. This new power could possibly contain a lead pertaining to as to how he could reclaim his divinity. Of course regardless of how minute the chances. Michael would either come back from this secluded place very well fed, as a rotting corpse, or whole again. All of the options themselves were either favorable or only a minor nuisance. So it was with those thoughts that he activated the Cherubim on his blade and set forth towards what was known to him as the land of Noah.

Upon advancing for several uneventful minutes down the cramped corridor. The tightness was abruptly replaced by a vast seemingly ever expanding cavern. At some point in the slow submersion of this temple the main body had merged with this rock formation. Or in other words the temple was now inside the cave itself. And calling out to Michael, from the middle of this great room was a talisman, or more importantly to Michael an agonizingly amazing food source.

Upon climbing a unbearably undaunting number of steps. Michael was facing straight towards the jewel upon reaching the top of the platform. And as his hand reached to caress the glowing heart, feeling it's clean cut extravagantly smooth lines. A somewhat familiar sensation overtook him, stealing a glance towards he blade he confirmed his initial suspicion, the Cherubim were definitely not activated by him nor by the jewel. No this was almost certainly something else, more chaotic, more primordial. And he was right in the throes of it.

After several worthless attempts to free himself from the primitive vortex proved to be for naught. Michael yielded to the beast. Allowing for it to take him wherever it so pleased. Or more accurately to force him to go wherever it pleased. Following the feeling of once again returning to the Physical realm. Michael was gifted with another familiar feeling, falling. Which would have made for a very rough landing if of course he hadn't had a pair of giant feather filled wings on his massive back. Allowing him to instead come in on a swift glide and steer himself up and forward.

Their was certainly no doubt about it. He was no longer on the planes of mere men. Akin to the vortex that had carried him here this place was twisted, almost perverted, and the very air nourished Michael, his hunger for once utterly and blissfully satisfied. Resolving to observe and absorb his new surroundings Michael continued on his steady flight. He would indeed see what this new realm had to offer. Whether it would be forfeited to him willingly, or taken by force was entirely another matter in of itself.

by **Arcana** December 8th 2013, 12:54 am

Energy reverberated along the axis between worlds, rousing many beings across this axis and causing a ripple effect. Few of these beings however were of great consequence, shakers of worlds, kings and physical gods. ”Hmmmm, I can feel it.” A pleased sounding voice said reverberating through the air darkly. A blonde haired male overlooked a wasteland, one of obsidian black sand, with plateaus that looked down upon the dead valley below. ”So a pawn of The Communion arrives in my little experiment, intriguing.” He chuckled darkly, an ominous energy swirling around him, yet undetectable to anyone he did not want to sense him. It was an amalgamation of light green, dark purples and other strange hues, all of which formed a seamless energy. ”How will the maimed king respond to this interloper though.” Stark silver eyes glowed brightly, and within a moment the male was gone, leaving only the sound of a dead wind blowing.

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The female Titan snapped awake, feeling the large flux of energy that coursed through The Abyss, stream of black hair falling down her shoulders. It was in the midst of a simple meeting, one that they were holding while their king was off dallying with his consort, the blonde haired Ethereal. Some were showing distaste about having such a weakened monarch, while she and a few others were more than willing to deal with it, as the position was birthright to the human turned Titan. ”So what do you say Sheiara, what do you think about Sean being our ruler?” The Titan male with close cropped brown hair next to her questioned, markings across his pale skin glowing bright red for a moment; markings that all members of their race had. He was an ally of hers, and one that usually backed her up within any debate being held.

”Same as before, I will back him up as long as he proves a capable leader.”

”How long will that be? It’s obvious that his power is waning, something that could affect his performance greatly. What if he loses all of the Nether within his body, that would leave us with nothing but a human; and I don’t know about you, but I will not be ruled by a lesser being.” A thin looking Titan noted silver hair cut military style, perhaps mirroring their factories era of human history or something else entirely.

”That is just speculation Ares and nothing more. If his power is truly waning, then It’s a simple matter of supplying a remedy to the problem, and if that cannot be done, we will have to find another monarch.” An elderly looking female Titan noted, hair like fine silk and skin similar to parchment, markings ink of the finest appearance. ”However, we will not be dealing in speculation as that gets us nowhere, and I think we have more pressing matters, as all of you have no doubt sensed.” The remaining eleven of the council turned towards her, eyes growing dire for a second.

”Someone has broken into The Abyss.”

”Do you know who or what it is?” A young looking male questioned, resting his hands upon the gnarled looking desk infront of him. ”It must be something magically powerful to have opened a portal through the membrane coating The Outer World.” He suggested raising a yellow brow and waiting for someone else to give an answer.

”I don’t know who or what it is, but if they pose a threat, we need to deal with them before Sean gets wind of this little intrusion. We did inform him that The Abyss was impenetrable to invasion, and yet here someone is waltzing in. That will not go well by him, not in the least.”

”What is he going to do, beat us to death with his stump?” A young looking female Titan noted derisively, before being hit across the face by the back of Sheiara’s left foot, falling hard against the back of her chair.

”Continue to speak ill about our sovereign and I sure won’t tolerate your pathetic carcass Raxia.” She spat turning into a cloud of black mist before reforming within her seat, hands clasped but face still severe. ”Now if you excuse me, I think it would be best that we send in a few of our infantry units to investigate the danger, and then we move from there. If things grow too dire, then I can move in and deal with the interloper or interlopers before anything serious happens. That is unless anyone has anything to say against my plan.” No one seemed to say anything, simply remembering what had happened to the last person that spoke out against the fiery female.
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Three figures cloaked in black scanned the swirling sands of the blackened wasteland, misfits within the deathly place, one slightly taller than the others. Within an instant they saw the air distort and the strange being appear, one that looked out of place within The Abyss, especially so close to the core of the universe as the Titan’s called it. Looking up to the dark red sun beating down upon them, they walked close to the strange male, one ahead of the other two removing his hood, revealing a handsome face with a square jaw, sun kissed skin, dark stubble, beaming blue eyes, close cropped brown hair and silver vine like markings creeping up the right half of his neck. ”You aren’t from this plane, are you stranger?”

by **Nathaniel A. Lincoln** December 8th 2013, 1:30 am

Michael had been continuously circling the rather desolate realm for quite a bit of time now and doing so was proving agonizingly unproductive. Having ventured far enough from where he had been thrown from. He currently had only one thing on his mind. Figuring out the workings of this realm and what it was at it's core. For this place was almost in no way similar to the realms of Earth or even the astral plains in which he had traversed. No this was something entirely different, something entirely new in of itself. He had never seen a place in which energy radiated throughout the very air itself to such an extent. And when he observed a group of humanoid creatures, most likely the indigenous species he thought on approaching them. No that could be taken as a threat, even an act of war! Michael knew nothing of this word or it's culture. Still his curiosity getting the better of him and him seeing no other options Michael made haste to land close enough to the creatures for them to observe him but not as to approach them himself. He would allow them to come to him. And sure enough after a brief period of waiting they began walking toward the grounded angel. As they came nearer the leading male posed a question. He would answer but only to gain the information as to what this strange new realm itself was. In doing so however he had to expose weakness in himself, the only way to ask for knowledge was to admit he had none on the subject. This could be used against him, though he would have to take the risk.

"A frequent visitor I do not confess to be, still the difference between planes holds little value or relevance to me anymore. Though for the sake of the knowledge itself I must ask in which of the physical planes do I stand now?" Michael spoke the truth he had been a stranger on the physical planes of men and beast for far too long. This feeling was certainty nothing new and most definitely nothing that unnerved him whatsoever.

Observing the group as he spoke the prescripted words. Michael noted the beings physiology. Yes very humanoid indeed. The creatures were tall by human standards, the one who chose to reveal his face would also be considered quite handsome on Earth. However he was still noticeably taller in his present form. With decently well defined physiques to go along with this noteworthy height they could prove difficult in a fight. However they were currently showing no ill will towards Michael. He would avoid any conflict at all possible. Their was not always a need for violence. Some interactions benefited much more from gentle words, than from a sweeping sword. Something he had learned from his time among the humans.

by **Arcana** December 8th 2013, 1:51 am

The male looked upon the angelic being curiously, musing over something before letting his lips curl into a more friendly expression. ”It’s rare that an outsider would be able to even enter this realm, but strange things have been happening lately. You stand within the realm of the Titans, one that they call The Abyss. Not as colorful as some worlds, but it’s bright by the standards of Nether realms.” He pronounced Titan’s as Ti’taens, a far different pronunciation than how it was spelt. ”You do seem to take well to the Nether rich air though; usually normal beings would have….suffocated.” He turned to his allies, people still with their hoods up, and gave a small nod that seemed to show that this male was safe enough, or that he could protect them if need be.

So with his urging they removed their hoods, one looking like a slightly smaller version of the male, leaner and lacking much of the rugged handsomeness, yet a relation was still visible. The other was a white haired female with a dark complexion from years in the desert, and deep red eyes that were like rubies. ”These are my siblings. We were actually doing a little hunting when we came upon you.” He said introducing the two with a slight motion of his head, smirking widely while waiting for the other two to take up on the small hint and introduce themselves.

”Not that there was anything worth eating out here today anyway. The wasteland is particularly empty today.” The female noted tilting her head to the side, as what appeared to be a bow and a quiver of arrows would appear from over her shoulder. ”I do expect the Titan’s will want to look over that strange burst of energy our…friend made.”

”Not like they will send an army to deal with something like this.” He turned towards the male for a second before letting a sigh slip through his lips.”And where are my manners? With all the excitement I haven’t even introduced myself. It’s a pleasure to meet you strange, the names Darius, the shorter one is Arron and the feisty female is Rika, that’s my older brother and younger sister.

”While I would like to join in the pleasantries, I think we should go to a more hidden location. The overlords can be quite annoying.”

by **Nathaniel A. Lincoln** December 8th 2013, 2:41 pm

The male who had declared himself a Titan although with a slightly warped pronunciation. Also shortly thereafter made a small movement addressed to his allies, a gesture that would almost certainly go unnoticed or unoted by most. Although Michael's archaic and trained eyes however spied and thought upon it with ease. Indeed seemingly nothing to worry about. This male was simply alerting his people, a sign of either acceptance of the Angel, or of arrogance. Yes Michael did believe it was this last one as well. This unknowing Alpha of the small pack saw him as no threat. Which in of itself was correct, if only for the moment. Michael didn't intend to become any sort of threat whatsoever if at all possible, these beings were certainly welcoming enough.

However this was only the second point of interest that Michael picked up upon from the Titan's almost overly welcoming greeting. What was of far greater interest and thus importance to the Angel was his second comment. He had indeed identified himself as a Titan yes. But another point of interest was addressed in his words. Nether, so this was the strange energy that seemed to radiate throughout both the world itself and now enrich his very being as well. This was most certainly something he would press further with the the Titan, if only at a later date.

But first however he intended to exchange words with this almost charismatic Titan Darius. "And as you have entrusted me with your name, I will likewise return the gesture. I have been called many things throughout the eons. Though the title of Michael has seemed to adhere itself to me quite strongly. And this for the moment at the very least is my name, I give it to you in good will and hope for nothing but good will in return my new friend." Yes this would most certainly satisfy the Titan at least for now. The subject of Nether would unfortunately indeed have to wait. Now was not the time to press the matter forward. He at least now held the name of the interesting substance. And this would have to satisfy his thirst for knowledge if only for the moment. For it seemed that the Titans were in somewhat of a hurry to flee from these Overlords. Another matter that he would question this Darius of if the chance presented itself in the near future.

"Pertaining these Overlords and your choice to move to a safer location. I will indeed trust you on the matter. As you are the expert on the subject. And I am in no way that. However I do hope you will at least entertain some rather small inquisitions from me on the way if you would." The last part was more of a statement. Darius seemed willing enough to disclose information of the realm. A characteristic he planed to reap most generously if at all possible.

by **Arcana** December 8th 2013, 9:29 pm

Darius took a far greater interest within the stranger than the others, but that could be chalked up to him being eccentric. ”Michael? Name sounds familiar somehow.” Darius mused out loud, rubbing his rugged chin thoughtfully.

”That’s the name of the prince.” His sister chimed in shaking her head lightly, turning to the stranger with a certain caution that her brother did not seemed to show. ”And trust me, you won’t want to have to fight the Titan’s, they aren’t too kind to outsiders.” The female noted eyes darting about warily.

A dead wind ran through the wastelands, picking up some of the dark sand and forming black dust devils. In the distance one could see what looked like a small settlement of tents, all arranged in some kind of fashion that would seem foreign.

”We have a little time, so ask anything you want to know. If it’s within my range of knowledge, I think I can give you the answers that you seek.” Darius noted, looking from Michael to his companions, one of who were being strangely quiet. They were not aware of the ones that were looking over them, silently waiting.

by **Nathaniel A. Lincoln** December 9th 2013, 5:21 pm

This Darius was indeed welcoming, even exceedingly so. He was in no way daft this much could be clearly seen from his rough eyes, there was clearly detailed processes taking place behind the dull orbs. Although he was clearly not a tactician. He knew nothing of Michael, how could he freely hand out such information about his own home world. Regardless he would indeed take advantage of it as he had planned. Darius's own flaws would allow him to gain much in the way of information.

"First and foremost my friend, I would like to inquire as to who these overlords are. Along with this Nether you spoke of. I can no doubt feel it permeating the air. And I feel as if the two subjects are closely woven together." Michael had managed to push his two main points of curiosity upon Darius in one phrase. Yes these questions were no doubt the most immediately important. Anything else he could presumably either decipher on his own or question Darius on later.

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