Oblivion's Queen

by M. H. Johnson

  Twilight blinked. “Ah. I see.”

  Alex nodded solemnly. “Yes. The beginning. Where this realm came from. The wellspring of life, magic, reality as we understand it. There are a lot of legends. A lot of tales. Some say we sprung whole from the All-Father and All-Mother, givers of life and all things. Others say we are the tears of angels after a titanic battle with the forces of Chaos, and still others say we were made of clay from the river of life.”

  Alex's bleak smile was filled with wonder as he gazed at the terrible queen and heiress to powers unimaginable. "But perhaps the most interesting of stories says that we were given life in a mysterious garden, souls that had lived and died many times before. Trapped in the depths of eternal Hell and suffering, given a new chance to embrace the cycle of life by a demon born free of sin. She who had never Fallen, only sired by mortal folly, born into a realm of endless horror, endless nightmare."

  Jess shook under the weight of her friend's too knowing gaze, heart racing with awe and terror at words that she feared would drown her within a tidal wave of memories if she dared focus upon anything but the play of her friend's features, and Alex’s voice became one of reverence as he continued.

  "It is said this demon had a gift unfathomable to her kind. The power to nurture, to create, to love. Even trapped in Hell, she nurtured a garden, and in that garden the souls she held captive knew peace, not torment. They knew rest, not fear. Yet this was not enough for the queen of this gentle realm. She wanted her garden to grow bigger, her people to have more. She wanted to claim an entire realm of Hell for her own. To give it life, hope, and purpose."

  Alex took a shuddering breath, and Jess was suddenly hit by an epiphany of understanding, as if the universe itself were crying its words out through Alex, but a vessel of its will, the last gasps of a dying man begging for succor from the only one who could possibly save it. The very one, Jess was horrified to realize, that was risking the doom of all she had ever known and loved. Alex's eyes lit up in awe even as he spoke the words. Jess realized that he too was hearing them for the first time.

  "In pursuit of her noble quest, the Queen who would Rise enlisted the help of an angel who, moved by the compassion of her soul, gave that young queen his blessing, but told her that the forging of her dream would exact a terrible price. She would have to make the ultimate sacrifice. Being as she was a child of paladins and angels as well as demons, she had readily agreed to this sacrifice, and the very Tree of Life became her guide and counselor, speaking to her through the murmurings of branch and leaf, as she pledged her growing realm into its care."

  Jess found her breath growing sharp and rapid. Her heart was hammering. She wanted to scream. She couldn't bear to see Jera's awe-filled gaze light upon her, or feel Alex's words of wisdom pierce her heart with unspeakable longing, a longing that filled her eyes with tears falling to the ground as brilliant diamonds, so rare were the tears of a queen of Hell.

  "So that young queen, nurturer of the only living garden ever to blossom in Hell, took counsel with the Tree of Life and her angelic companion, and together they worked to free our realm." Alex coughed and gasped, forcing himself to continue speaking as the air continued to thin. "To unmoor her garden from the depths of Hades and set it free, floating gently upon the paths of existence as we understand it, embracing once more the cycle of life, death, rebirth and renewal that is the province of all things of the living realms.”

  Alex's smile was gentle. "Due to her noble sacrifice, the cycle of life roared forth once more, sending our realm soaring high above the fallen realms below, soaring ever closer to the Heavens impossibly high above, so that one day we might be close enough to hear the angel's sing, freeing all the souls trapped within this sacred realm, forgiven of the sins that had damned them endless ages ago at last.

  Alex gazed solemnly at Jess then, his gaze holding such a weight as to leave Jess speechless, captivated and horrified as she was by his gentle words. "Yet such a dream had a terrible cost. For the great Queen of the Garden had to survive horrific battles, fighting legions of foes to free her realm from the chords of dark oaths that had formally bound it. Until at last, the final battle. Where the Queen of the Garden met one of the greatest queens of Hell that had ever walked the abyssal planes, daughter of he who had initiated the terrible war between angels that had so shattered our reality. That terrible queen, wearing scale armor of blackest night, wielding a sword of nightmarish potency just like our own queen, mirroring our savior in all ways, even in appearance. For she was, in fact, her mother."

  Jess let loose a sharp cry, falling back. “I don’t want to hear any more. Don’t say any more!” she begged.

  Alex just gazed at Jess with a look of almost worshipful awe and smiled gently. "It's okay, Jess. The story is almost over. For the great queens were so closely matched that they both fell that day. And though one fell deep into the depths of the Abyss, the other was embraced by the Tree of Life, her pierced soul protected forever within its bowers. And the blood of her death nurtured the soil of this realm so that true life could blossom forth once more. The sun burst from crimson skies, and the air turned blue and rich with spring breezes and the songs of birds. And with the dawning of a new day came the dawning of life upon our sacred world, and this is the true reason why we have named all the lands of this world by the gentle light of the rising sun.”

  Alex blinked and smiled. "And that is my favorite story about the origins of our world. A legend I tell you now as if I had read it a thousand times before. It speaks to me with its tale of virtue surviving even in the darkest of places; the power of hope and sacrifice, the divine truth that no one is too low to be saved, should they feel the grace of the angels above, and the passion to protect those in need." He laughed. "And somehow I know that this story was originally transcribed by a young man who had heard it from a cat! And though the names of the characters differ with the language and the era, the earliest names of the Queen of the Garden and her companions were that of the darkest hour, wrath, and forbidden beauty. In other words; Midnight, Rage, and Jezabelle."

  Alex sighed, and looked at the blood red sky and monstrous floating moons high above, shivering in the freezing air. “And until this hour, I didn't even know the tale, for all that it now shimmers within me as if it had been inscribed into my very soul. As if I did not know in my heart of hearts that the Sacred Tree herself has blessed me with the seeds of this story. As if I didn't realize that this was a True Telling of the origins of Dawn. And now I hope, my dear friend, that somehow, you can take us home.”

  Jera nodded. “Please, Jess. Please.”

  Jess nodded solemnly. "Of course, my friends. The barrier is not far, I can sense it close by. Let's head there right away. I have no doubt I can pull you both through, with this much energy coursing through me."

  Alex and Jess sighed in relief and proceeded to leave the circle even as her familiar cried out. “Do not! Do not leave that circle of power or the Void will claim you, even now. The land is already dead.” He raised his potent eyes to gaze deeply into those of his master. “Jess, you cannot carry them out as you are. If you do, you will doom the entire world we have struggled so long to keep safe, you and I, these many generations.”

  Jess stumbled back. “What are you saying, Twilight? Those were stories!”

  "Do you really believe that?" Twilight asked softly, and Jess shuddered. "I have nurtured and cared for you for countless lifetimes. Soothed the gentle cries of tired babies, served as companion to young girls curious to explore their father's lands. And always we have been blessed. Rarely have you or your loved ones been plagued with privation, never have your parents been less than the devoted loving paragons every child hopes for, whatever their flaws, whatever your differences. Rarely have you even known pain or sorrow, save for Lilith's vile machinations. Forever I have striven so that gentle old age which eventually claim all mortals is your only burden, and a terrible price we all paid when I failed in that duty, and tragedy dared to cro
ss your doorstep."

  Twilight's tired sigh felt like the death of stars twinkling in the night sky. "I have always striven for your happiness, my queen, and ever the forest has welcomed you, even when all hands, spurred by your mother's blackened pawns, would turn against you. For your very life, your willing death and innocent rebirth, is what anchors this realm to existence, guided and nurtured by the Great Tree. And were you to reclaim your ancient powers in full once more, this very realm and all you hold dear would perish!"

  Jess flinched at her familiar's sharp tone, her eyes locking upon Jera's panicked, helpless gaze, sensing the treasure she held within her. The weight of her familiar's terrible words filled her with crushing despair. "All the friends you know and love; Alex, Jera, their unborn daughter that they will one day name after you; your family even now traveling to Highrock to surprise you and yes, attempt to find you a nice man to marry and have a family with, the safety of each and every one of their souls depends upon the choices you make now!"

  Her familiar's cold gaze froze Jess with the weight of his words. “If you dare to cross the barrier as you are now, all of that will be sucked up by the winds of Hell. Every mortal you ever loved will die screaming in agony, and I will never be able to taste the delights of fresh fish again!”

  Twilight's words shook the ground, and all stared at Twilight in awe, rarely having heard anything but jaded amusement from him before this hour. Never before had he roared like the precursor of oblivion that Jess intuitively understood him to be. A sentience so vast, so awful, that in his true form he could blot out all the stars twinkling within the endless skies high above.

  Jess shuddered, sobbing, and looked at her friends, feeling a sudden heart-wrenching shame. Rage howled, rubbing his flank soothingly against her. She gazed anew at the lifeless forest, felt the keening wind robbing the land of all moisture and life. And she nodded through her tears. “Forgive me. I would never do that. I would die first.” She gazed at her beloved familiar. “Twilight. What do I have to do?”

  Her cat closed his eyes, sighing deeply. "It is no small thing I must ask of you, Jess. That we all must ask of you. In order to save the souls of all you hold dear, you must cut the chords of power that bind you to the Void and flood you with such hideous, delicious strength; the power to conquer and destroy any realm you walk upon. Power of unbelievable seduction. The headiest rush of pleasure any mortal or immortal could ever hope to savor."

  Twilight paused, his brilliant sapphire eyes staring deeply into her own. “Yet such power, as you see all about you, is the power of death and agony. To have the courage to deny yourself that power, to instead choose to embrace fragile mortality once more, even if doing so kills you, that, my dear Jess, is the true mark of the Paladin, and would do the ghost of your ultimate forefather proud.”

  Her mind whirled with horror and confusion, near overwhelmed by the terrible hungers she fought against even now. She grimaced bitterly, knowing already what she must do. For the sake of her soul and for the sake of all those she loved, Jera's anxious gaze piercing her heart even now.

  Jess smiled grimly and nodded. "So. To protect our world from being consumed by my evil demonic appetite, I can never enter the realm of life again. And to save my friends from being destroyed by the Void eating this realm of Regio even now, I must cut my own chord… and die. Right, Twilight?"

  Her familiar nodded. “I’m afraid so. And you will have to cut the chord tethering you to the Void even if your friends were able to flee without your help, as your appetite will only grow. Once this Shadowrealm has been consumed, the realm of life will eventually be pulled in its sway, like a massive star in the heavens slowly consuming a smaller one. Your death is a distinct possibility if you wish to save this world, my queen.”

  Twilight laid a gentle paw upon his shuddering master's arm. "But I have hope. I hope that if I can bring you to a shoot of the Tree of Life, it will be able to nurture you, to restore you. Or at least accept you back within its bowers, to be born anew."

  Jess gave a hopeless little laugh, overwhelmed by horror and euphoria both, fighting desperately to hold her humanity and resolve against the ever-growing desire to let go of all restraint, and never feel again. "Sounds like I die either way to me, but apparently I've done that a lot over the years. Tell me, Twilight, why me? Why am I this terrible? I didn't think demons were gods."

  Twilight sighed. “Our dear Alex did tap into something greater than himself when he revealed your story. Scholar that he is, seeker of ultimate truths, for all that I fear the weight of such knowledge already burdens his fragile soul, he does sense semblances of the truth. Your primal father was indeed a Paladin. And mortal. Which is exactly what your mother wanted. You see, dear Jess, it all boils down to an algebraic equation.”

  Jess blinked in disbelief, gazing about the slowly disintegrating world around them with an anxious gaze. “Twilight, we really don't have time for this!”

  Twilight huffed. “Just open that brilliantly eccentric mind of yours and focus, my dear Jess. Imagine a scale similar to a merchant's scale used for measuring weights, save that this one stretches across the entire universe. If you put two people at opposite ends of it, no matter how vast the scale is, it shall tip in favor of the more powerful individual. The heavier one, yes?”

  Jess nodded. “Of course.”

  “Well then. Consider such a great balance, each side containing one person, each person holding a barrel. It doesn't matter what the barrel contains, as long as it is the same contents in each barrel, yes?”

  Jess thought about it for a moment before dipping her head. “So long as they are the same distance apart, if each barrel weighs the same, the barrels won't affect which way the scale tips.”

  Twilight nodded “In any case, my dear Jess, I want you to imagine that the contents of these barrels are, in fact, infinite.

  Jess blinked and Alex whistled. “Powerful concept.

  Twilight nodded "Exactly. And that, my friends, is how I want you to think about the powers of a demon. Unlimited power balanced by Eternal life. Though all demons have access to the powers of Oblivion, it is all stretched infinitely thin, because the existence of the demon itself stretches through eternity."

  Alex smiled. "I think I understand. What matters is the natural talents and ability of the individual demons themselves. The fact that the powers of the Void are open to all demons to some extent is balanced by the fact that they must sip from the cup of the Void for all eternity. Never gulping all that power down in one mighty swig, so to speak."

  Twilight paused as the group slowly nodded. "Now imagine a case where infinity was divided by a finite number. All the infinite power of the Void, divided by the length of a mortal lifespan."

  Jess blinked, and Alex gasped in awe. “The power open to that individual would be… limitless. That demon's barrel, so to speak, would be so heavy that it would send the balance entire crashing down, the whole bloody universe along with it. But if it was a demon, doesn’t that also mean it would also eventually die?”

  And Jess shuddered, it all coming into place with crystalline clarity. “That’s why my bloodline is mixed. If my mother has immortal power and I inherit her power and my father’s… mortality? By that logic, Twilight, my power is… unlimited. That of the gods.”

  “Correct,” Twilight agreed, even as Jera and Alex looked upon Jess with awe. “But there is a cost. You wield a power beyond even the greatest of demonlords if you ever choose to embrace your nature fully. But you would die. Utterly. Your soul consumed even as you wielded the Void. But while you live, never will a life have been lived that would be so potent, so magnificent, so reality-shakingly grand as would be yours.”

  Her familiar's hypnotic gaze left Jess momentarily spellbound, imagining the sheer mad thrill of forcing the universe entire to dance to her every whim, all of existence a grand stage enacting endless plays for her pleasure. She shivered in horrified fascination, lost in her familiar's brilliant sapphire eyes, listening
to his every word.

  "For forty or so more years, every sentient being within the cosmos would tremble at the barest whisper of your name, lords of Heaven and Hell alike would weep and beg for your mercy. Endless legions would dance to your tune, forging impossibly massive empires for your pleasure or destruction, all according to your slightest whim. The suns in the heavens above countless worlds filled with millions of sentient souls would erupt and explode to hideous effect for your pleasure. And then, when your mortal coil unwinds at last, you would die."

  Twilight paused for a moment. “Of course, as all your power and might is right now tied to this realm, resonating as it does with the Tree of Life, your true awakening would spell doom for the latticework that keeps this universe safe, and the countless souls who live countless lives within it. So you see, my Jess, your awakening would send all those rescued souls of your garden screaming as they were catapulted helplessly to their final death, plummeting endlessly into the great Void itself.”

  Jess trembled under the terrible weight of Twilight's gaze. “And that Void would be you, my Jess. Look at Jera and Alex leaning away from you even as we speak, struggling for balance. Even now, gravity begins to warp and bend around you. Were you to fully embrace your nature, it would all end. All the souls existing in this realm would perish in the unspeakable agony of the Void. But you could do it, if you chose to embrace the nightmare, for you are as close to a god as this multiverse has ever known.”

  "Twilight!" Alex's voice was almost strangled with panic, even as Jess's eyes glazed over in dazed wonder. "Why are you saying all that? Are you trying to tempt her?"

  Twilight gazed sadly at the young pair of lovers, holding each other so tightly, faces masks of such terror. "I'm am doing naught but telling her the truth. The complete truth. The resonance is too vital for anyone to dare risk deception at this point in time. She must choose life or not, knowing the full ramifications of her choice. What she gains, and all that she loses." He sighed. "Besides. My words are as nothing compared to the sweet temptations the Voidal Chords sing to her, even now."