Private Curious Treatment in the Belly of the Beast

[Onrai]

“It was easy as I had the power of suns behind me at the time.” She said. Onrai did not need to elaborate on the use of a dreadnought’s beam weapons, designed by herself to crack the armor of other Dreadnought-scale warships, to pierce through the gilded plates Ap’aci had once applied to the formerly naked flesh of Ooradryl that had helped seal its unreality and monstrous nature. Such was to be expected from a child of the Soulworm and Kopa Kahn. The evidence was still visible - on each of the three cubes, on at least one facet visible to the duo, was a tremendous hole, courtesy of the weapon unleashed upon them. The initial spearing had caught whichever of the cubes she had encountered off guard - and through the dark enchantments within the vessel, its life force, the power it used to make and unmake, became that of Vanessa Vantai herself. Soon it was wielded against the others, a tempestuous battle of wills allowing the otherwise mortal crew of the vessel to spear them like meat on a skewer. From there it was only the need to further consume that came to Vanessa as her mortal form was broken down, her existence becoming that of something flesh yet spirit, an entity unlike any other.

“All that remains of the Old Ones now is Mnggal-Mnggal. And after I struck its heart to leave nothing left, it knows better than to harm me. In the language of the ancients, I spoke this: ‘Ahornah mgehye l' nog ymg' ahnythor ymg' ngahnah ya vulgtmagl.*’ In his infinite wisdom he should understand.”

The shadow-form pointed to a series of small structures easily dwarfed by the nearest cube, though similar rings of apparent encampments existed around the other cubes. “Which of them would you care to visit?” She asked. “All are here except for Nyeegath, torn asunder by the Night Spirit many moons ago before her last sliver was sealed away after the destruction Ooradryl had wrought upon her.”

Runi Kuryida

 

[Runi Kuryida]

Runi stood with her eyes out across the desolate landscape before them as Onrai spoke. Her chin lifted slightly while her hands remain neutral at either side in Otherspace or a world between worlds. The Shaman was on guard because of the dangers that followed those that crossed the Veils between the Many. There were ancient creatures that still prowled here, living and yet dead -- but not the result of any sort of necromatic Art. No, there were far stranger things that existed precious few knew of. Terrifying, soul-breaking things best left forgotten and undisturbed.

If it was as Onrai claimed then this place was no more secure than any other.

Then the entity spoke two names, which caused Runi to turn her head in Onrai's direction. Twin hazel eyes regarded her for a moment as the woman asked whom she cared to visit. Whose tomb. Victim of Onrai's desire to lay claim to a power unlike any other to reforge the galaxy in her image if she went too far.

"The Firstborn. At what point in the Story is this, Onrai? Whose was the most recent to fall?" Runi lifted her right hand and briefly signed a form in the space before them. The 'world' moved beneath their feet so that the tomb of the Last appeared before them. It was Onrai's story to tell, but the Shaman was most curious -- with time being less a constant than most hoped -- where, no, when they were.

Onrai

 

[Onrai]

"They were all slain in the same encounter. Ooradryl himself was the first to fall. The others soon followed in short order." She said. "This is what you would consider the present. Chronologically time has passed equivalently between realspace and here." There was no reason to try and alter the flow of such within the pocket - acceleration would lead to only one thing: chaos and instability. And that was one thing Onrai could not stand above all other things.

She motioned to the great cubes. "No more will they travel through the endless oceans of Oozultharoum unencumbered. They will rest here forever more, a reminder to any like them that they can be killed and they will be killed if they interfere with what goes on here. Their studies have been most fascinating and have gleaned much about how the spawn of the Soulworm were comprised."

After all, they were certainly unnatural.

Runi Kuryida

 

[Runi Kuryida]

"What have you learned?"

Runi regarded the cube before them contemplatively. There were some that deserved death, but the use of their essence to empower others was concerning. Onrai herself spoke of having done such things. Firstborn. Secondborn. Thirdborn. One generation after another all descending from the same Fault in the design. One whose storied existence continued even to this day whether these lifeless Cubes had managed to cling to their existence or not (as the case was).

The same was true for the mortals, of course. They weren't any more perfect a creation; but then Runi had no expectation they would attain 'perfection.' Existence, it seemed, had a cruel sense of irony -- the stronger you sought something, the further away it became. So, she lent her strength that the young creatures and old souls might somehow discover the answer to the unspoken question on their own. Her only regret was their lack of awareness when the next chapter of their existence began, and all those that preceded it. Like her suppression of memory until it became of import, however, knowledge of the past would only taint new, wild, and outrageous thoughts that might bring forth the future. It was an imperfect system for imperfect creatures; how better to stumble upon perfection given sufficient time?

Onrai

 

[Onrai]

“I have learned of the Empyrean Wars, of how the Old Ones were able to drive your kind out oof the galaxy. I have learned of your sealing off the western regions due to Mnggal-Mnggal. I have even learned of the origins of Abeloth - not how she became the monster she did, but how she herself was created, Mourning, the Mother.” She pondered for a bit further. “Lluxos never told you what to do, I take it. You chose incarnation among the Mandalorians on your own volition. And as it stands he has long since abandoned this place so I suppose your initiative should be… respected.”

Onrai sighed, before pondering a bit. “I have a question about the angle-trap, the most potent of weapons usable against a Celestial. How is one fabricated? I wish to possess such an item for use in the event of Nakhash making a return.” She pondered whether Runi even had an answer to this question.

Runi Kuryida

 

[Runi Kuryida]

"When you prepare a meal," Runi said after a moment, "do you clean every bowl, every utensil while you cook, or do you wait until the food is cooking and all there is to do is wait?" Her hazel eyes slowly swung around to regard Onrai. "The Celestials did the latter. Even the things they put away as the meal took form left a mess upon the countertops in their wake. At times, the children will get their hands into the batter left carelessly unattended. They may even tip the bowl over covering themselves in the process."

"Lluxos never told me what to do. Yes. You could say that." A soft chuckle soon followed.

The Shaman turned her gaze back upon the cube before them. "Angle-traps are not fabricated. They simply are. Much like this realm around us." Runi's lips thinned for a moment. "You should be careful here, Onrai. Someone could truly go mad in this place. Not everything is as it seems."

Onrai

 

[Onrai]

"Depends on the chef." She said. "If the food is done, I certainly do not leave the utensils and bowls out to molder while I enjoy the fruits of my labor. As they did in Ianane, Penegelen, and Ciratu." The ruins found in those systems were to the present day signs of what had at one time been magnificent constructs, and for the most part it had not been the Old Ones who had destroyed them, but the actions of mortals. The Vultar system and the misuse of the Cosmic Turbine came to mind as well, though she figured such was far more obvious.

"He and the others have all abandoned the galaxy." She said. "If you are indeed one of their number, you are the only one. Perhaps if Akala had known, the circumstances of her destruction would have been different." She considered what knowledge was known from the crisis - that the Kwa had suffered at Rakatan hands for allegedly harboring the "last of the Celestials." how shameful it was. "She was an expert in dimensional warfare unlike any before her. Not even the Architects themselves were as skilled in using their laboratory to truly clash with this reality and wound it so... potently." She said. The effects of the portal she had gone through in order to leave the Netherworld and return to the material plane during that crisis still left her with a deep reverence for Akala that had never truly gone away, even after the entity's death. It was, after all, that reverence that had lead to one of the names of Onrai's artificially created children, as well as to her own desires to achieve the level of power Akala had once possessed prior to her death.

"If angle-traps are not fabricated, and merely exist, how can I acquire one? The only one I know of was broken and disintegrated centuries ago." She said. In response to Runi's warning, she laughed. "Madness presumes one maintains mental limitations relative to the boundaries of reality. I no longer have such limitations. I have not had them since my ascension to godhood and the innate wrongness of such a place as this no longer holds sway over me as it does certain others." Tu'teggacha and his need for stability and order were proof of that - she considered him fortunate to have been able to adapt to circumstances and simply accept things as they were instead of making the maddening mistake of trying to instill concepts that were not present in the physical world.

"I suppose another question would be what your name was before you were Runi." She said. "If you have been so persistently recycled, then this is not your true identity."

Runi Kuryida

 

[Runi Kuryida]

"Madness is chaos personified," Runi replied calmly. "It is acting without reason or cause, without direction or purpose. It is a malady that affects even those believed to have formed Creation itself. How many years, Onrai, could you stand here with only these cubes for companionship before you became untethered from what you were or ever hoped to be? When you began to form your own world just to make sense of your own existence? Populate it with creatures that amused and angered you. Do not be too quick to believe yourself incapable of succumbing to entropy."

"Akala's fate was of her own choosing." The Shaman exhaled. "As yours is, Onrai. Even if you set a throne over the galaxy, the creatures within it will resist even if it is counter toward their own good. What will be cannot be forced into being. Many have tried before, and will again." The Font of Power... so many had sought after it only to become weaker for their effort. Power alone could not bring purpose to an empty shell. And the World Between Worlds, as some called it, was no different. If only the Celestials hadn't left so many of their leftovers out to be toyed with frivolously.

The Shaman then regarded the self-proclaimed goddess. "I have always been Runi. If you have a hope of saying the same ages from now, you should decide what it is you are willing to sacrifice before it is too late. Nothing is ever free, Onrai, not even with all the power in the verse."

There was a great deal the two of them were discussing, and not discussing, as they stood there. Not all of which Runi was willing to entertain. Some truths were best buried in time. Lost secrets of Creation. Perhaps a measure of self-preservation as well given Onrai's... ambitions. Should the worst come to pass, Runi could see an Angle-Trap come into being when the right was right. Onrai shouldn't feel too self-reliant.

Onrai

 

[Onrai]

"Why do you think I exist in the mortal universe?" She asked. "Interacting with its lifeforms and creations. Ooradryl and his spawn are dead, flesh to be dissected and processes to be studied by those who are unknowing. I have no desire to remain here with them. I already wield control over Kinoss and its inhabitants. To end up like these dead Old Ones is not a fate to be reserved for myself." She said, responding plainly to the enigmatic spirit-form.

"That would depend on how I ruled and how power was implemented." She pointed out. "There are many who are amenable to rulership over them. Akala's chief issue was the way she went about it, offering her followers nothing but brainwashing. The Kursed were not a natural sort of supplicant after all - not like those on Kinoss." The ones who followed her there were indeed very much devoted out of her loyalty and service to them as much as the inverse were true.

"I have already sacrificed what it is I need to for the betterment of this universe." She responded. "The question is, are you willing to sacrifice the same if not more should the worst come to pass?" Runi seemed to know much she refused to speak of, and it frustrated Onrai - Ooradryl's memories and those of his spawn dated back countless millennia, perhaps millions of years if the chronology was accurate, yet still much eluded her that she required understanding of in order to appropriately be the goddess she believed herself to be, the one intended evidently to save the galaxy from the evils unaware.

Of course, Runi's holding back was for some purpose, and she needed to find out what.

Runi Kuryida

 

[Runi Kuryida]

"It is not the universe I am concerned with, Onrai. It is you."

Runi paused for just a second before she waved a hand before her; with the motion, the world around them and beneath their very feet seemed to move. The Great Cubes of the departed suddenly vanished and blurs of figures appeared and vanished before their eyes. The hulk of Onrai's discarded vessel was swept from existence. Light and Dark ebbed and flowed around them mimicking the passage of time in the material plane.

For a mortal's eye the blur and sense of motion would have been too much. At first dizzying, then nauseating, mind-numbing, migraine inducing and then, likely, life-ending.

The Shaman clenched her fingers into a fist and everything slammed to a dead stop.

A short distance away a lone figure stood. A man, in fact. Not quite, but it was what the mind might perceive as a man. Nothing was as it seemed as they were not in a realm where the laws had been painstakingly defined and the shape of life yet realized. Nevertheless, Onrai might perceive this figure as one name in particular. One soul whose existence she owed much toward -- much gratitude and much scorn. Their name? Wutzek.

The hazel-eyed woman stepped in closer to Onrai and lowered her voice. "Watch closely. Look with more than your sense of visual stimuli. Can you see, Onrai? The haste. The isolation. The ambition. The disregard. He too thought much had already been sacrificed. Too much and not enough, and with a reckless disregard..." Four swirls of color sudden sprang into being.

Runi held up a finger as the scene before them shifted ever so slightly until there was then a 'woman' beside Wutzek.

"Perhaps I should unmake my progeny and forestall this calamity." Before the shortest span had passed, however, the four manifestations vanished. Wutzek's gaze spread out over the vault of Creation, and he declared, "Now I have made matters worse! How can they have disappeared?"

"Haste. Isolation. Ambition. Disregard," the Shaman intoned. "You do not always sacrifice that which you come to expect, nor achieved what you set out to do, if you are not deliberate in your actions. Are you certain obtaining an Angle-Trap is what you need, Onrai? Would it ensure this future calamity you foresee will not come to pass? Is it not enough that an ally might find a means if such a thing became necessary?"

Onrai

 

[Onrai]

And there it was, the sign Onrai had been waiting for to discern precisely what it was that Runi truly was. For her to be able to showcase such a sliver in time within the mutagenic nature of the pocket dimension the duo were now in indicated quite clearly what she had been this entire time. Observation of the strange luminous being, whose maddening form was still at least somewhat discernable by Onrai herself as she observed the scene of history play out before her. She knew exactly what it was that those four swirling masses of energy were and the effect they had upon the galaxy.

"He was foolish." She said. "If he had accepted his offspring, flawed as they were, without hesitancy and been proud to showcase them to Lluxos, then all would have been averted. Ap'aci did not send them ahead for no reason, after all." As she pondered over Runi's further words, she considered for a bit. "Yes, possessing an angle-trap myself would prevent such a circumstance assuredly. This is not something I can fully rely on another for. Not even one of your kind."

A hand was raised and Onrai too sought to channel the power of the dimension, the scene once more shifting until it was but a blackened void through which a tear in the universe was seen. On the far side, the four amorphous energy entities from before peered through the tear, soon conversing amongst themselves.

"Laws prevent the crossing of dimensions, save by the Celestials."

"What is to prevent us crossing over?"

"I do not know."

"The gods, whom you call the Celestials, are at war in this realm. It is of great fascination, but I cannot yet discern the cause of their conflict."

"Are we not gods?"

"No, we are not. We are something else."

"Then we shall be gods, and our universe will bow before us…"

Onrai turned back to Runi as the tear closed. "Such naivety. Had Nakhash not given in to the darkness, perhaps their normalcy would have been assured and the Empyrean Wars never happened. I would not be here standing before you and your grand-nephews would not be dead husks within the void of Illathurion."

Runi Kuryida

 

[Runi Kuryida]

Runi's hazel eyes closed for a moment at Onrai's reply.

They slowly opened when Onrai began to conjure a scene in response. Though it was hardly necessary to bare witness to it with her eyes.

"Is that his Sin, Onrai? Darkness." Her right hand rose into the air overhead, and a field of colorful spheres surrounded them. "There is great darkness, but that is no evil thing. It is the precarious balance between extremes that shapes life and existence itself." Runi's eyes fell from the balls suspended over head until they found Onrai once more. "Nakhash's Sin was Pride. Arrogance. A selfish desire to lay claim to everything before their sight. It was not Darkness that brought about his end, and so much that has followed. It is easy to believe you have all the answers, especially when you possess such great power."

As her hand lowered, the balls faded and the world soon faded back into being beneath their feet. The Great Cube loomed before them as though neither had moved a step in however much time had passed -- if time could be said to pass at all in this place.

"I cannot tell you how to conjure an Angle-Trap, Onrai. Powerful and alone is no way to rule."

Onrai

 

[Onrai]

"And yet would he have even considered pride had the darkness not infiltrated into his heart?"

As the world returned to normal, Onrai knew she would end up disappointed, and that knowledge was soon vindicated by Runi's confirmation and refusal of detailing the fabrication of an angle-trap to the primordial entity. This would only reinvigorate her attempts to travel through Otherspace and discover the secrets by which the angle-trap Typhojem had once wielded had been fabricated. Perhaps then she would fabricate not one but two - one for Nakhash and his brethren, and another for... other uses.

"Why do you think I performed the forbidden rituals and created another Abeloth? My apprentice now roams the galaxy, having imbibed of such, and will work with me to defeat the threat. Do not believe I am as solitary as you profess."

Runi Kuryida

 

[Runi Kuryida]

Runi slowly shook her head. "It is not Darkness that forces a soul to damn itself, Onrai. The Darkness is merely a choice. One too many fall prey to out of convenience or desperation, blinded to the inevitable cost that follows. Nakhash made their choice. Though that does not mean they cannot make a better one next time." Yes, the Shaman wouldn't even consider Nakhash beyond 'saving.' They had made a terrible choice and might even be called the symbol of Evil in the galaxy; but their very being was not beyond being able to change their course.

"You are as solitary as you make yourself, Onrai. I offer to help you, but you reject that and desire the power for yourself. Tell me," the Shaman fixed Onrai with her hazel eyes, "does this New Abeloth possess any power that you, yourself, do not as a goddess?"

Onrai

 

[Onrai]

"There is not a next time. If there was, you and your brothers and sisters would not have locked him and the others away within their own little paradise-prison." She pointed out in response. "It is naivety to presume that an entity of such evil is capable of, itself, changing - only that it may spawn good in the future, as Kopa Kahn's child became the heart of Yuuzhantar." She considered for a bit before further responding.

"I accept your help but must know the answer myself in the event that it leaves me." She stated. "I alone am the only one who I can fully trust with such power. As for the new Abeloth, I do not know - I fed her, nurtured her during her transfiguration into a being as we. She is perhaps the being in this galaxy above all others that I care about the most, and I will do whatever I can to ensure she lives. How she evolves, what she does and can do, is hers to discover."

Runi Kuryida

 

[Runi Kuryida]

The Shaman suddenly chuckled. "I am not foolish enough to let a madman slit my throat, Onrai, but neither am I too hasty in believing even someone like Nakhash cannot change. It is, as ever, their choice -- to be as they wish to be, and to weather the consequences of that decision." Runi spoke to people everyone else considered beyond saving. How many Mandalorians would gape if they saw her speaking with Onrai so casually? The zeal for "justice" or punishment had long since burned off. Well before many stars gave their first light, if Onrai were to tell it.

A smile graced Runi's lips for a moment with Onrai's response. "Trust, Onrai, is as important as power. Unity brings strength. Dependency instills weakness. Even if you should decide to conquer the galaxy against my advice, I won't allow Nakhash or any other to set the cosmos on fire just to spite you." Though, at this point, Runi doubted it was about the woman's ability to trust others -- a serious problem, but not the root of her reluctance. More that she should retain a tactical advantage. One she still felt she held over this 'Abeloth' she created or else she might be less warm to the idea of keeping them so close. No, Runi expected Onrai wouldn't mind knowing how to ensure she wasn't opposed by someone like Runi should it become necessary. More than enough reason to not share the knowledge.

"Perhaps I will have the pleasure of meeting this Abeloth. One that has not fallen into madness from touching both Overwhelming Power and Incomprehensible Knowledge." Presumably. Runi doubted Onrai was insane enough to mistake a rabid monster for a doting daughter. Dangerous business the entity was engaged in, but these were the decisions she -- and the other -- had made. Only time would bear out whether they were for good or ill. As good a story as one could hope.

Onrai

 

[Onrai]

"The devil is the damned eternal." She said. "He can no more reject his existence as the harbinger of evil to this universe than the Maker himself could become corrupt." She still believed that Runi was wrong about the possibility for such an entity changing its ways sincerely - though she was certain it would more than gladly seek to exploit her kindness for its own maleficent ends. Onrai would have gladly done so in a past life, and those she knew had certainly done it.

"I would be depending on you to create the necessary angle-trap if I did not know how to do so myself." She pointed out. "And if meeting my dear Sasmay Cull is something you so desperately wish, I would be more than glad to perhaps arrange such. Maybe you'll go and take her the same way you took Ap'aci or Horliss."

Runi Kuryida

 

[Runi Kuryida]

Runi fixed the other woman/entity with her hazel eyes as she expressed disbelief in the Shaman's optimism. No further comment was made regarding the 'Devil' turning good nor the idea of the 'Maker' becoming corrupt. They had already touched on so many metaphysical topics that endlessly digressing off point would be of little benefit. Though, perhaps later, they might revisit some of these matters.

"A single entity cannot account for all things, else you would not have dispatched so many most mortals would have died just from setting their eyes upon them. Surround yourself with those that compensate for your weaknesses, and offer opposing thoughts." Different thoughts and ways of thinking were vital. How these things were conveyed, however, were important. You didn't want someone that was a contrarian and continuously held up matters pointing out 'flaws' in an otherwise suitable idea.

Now, as to the matter of Sasmay Cull -- this 'Abeloth' of Onrai's -- the Shaman regarded her companion again for a silent moment. "Such methods have not come again, but what can be taught will be to those open to new thoughts." Ap'aci and Horliss were granted an audience with what was conceived as the highest power; which was the method which Runi could not offer to extend to Onrai's own. Much had changed in all the time that had passed since those events. That did not mean Sasmay could never learn of what the others had been taught; just the means of the education had changed.

Onrai

 

[Onrai]

“Then what is the Maker?” She asked. “He cannot be corrupted. That would mean a malevolence behind him that would pollute all of creation.” She said, pondering a bit more. “But I suppose we have spoken enough about esoteric things. I owe you hot chocolate, do I not?”

Raising the Sunstar-Shadowstone, she began the process of opening a rift up back to Kinoss, giving a motion of her hand.

“Shall we go?”

Runi Kuryida

 

[Runi Kuryida]

What is the Maker? Now that was a question. One that was better left answered.

The Shaman tilted her head slightly when Onrai suddenly indicated they should return to the material... for hot chocolate. "Very well." Runi gave a slight nod. "There is more to do and see back there." The larger story might be in the cracks of reality such as this plane, but the heart of it was among the living.

Onrai