A mesmerizing tale of magic, and the risks one takes to master it....
A mesmerizing tale of magic, and the risks one takes to master it.... In another time, in another world, there once lived a magician known far and wide as Heironymus the Black. In those days magic was a fairly common trade, that just about any novice could dabble in with enough simoleons--but Heironymous the Black was not your run of the mill sidestreet charlatan, or snooty court alchemist--far from it.In fact, Heironymous had never even been to court (though kings and queens consulted him regularly), or charged a single simoleon for his services (though those he helped often paid him well), and many had never even seen him in person. But he would come to people in dreams, and could see visions, and whenever one of his dragon familiars was spotted with a missive bearing his seal everyone shuddered as if a cold shadow had descended, for Heironymous always spoke truth, and often saw things that could not--or should not--be seen. Oh, Heironymous was wise in the ways of Les Mysteres, no doubt, for he often travelled great distances to learn all that he could about the secret powers of the universe. An adept at the Hermetic Mysteries and a veritable wizard when it came to illusory spells, hypnosis and phantasms, Heironymous' benign tricks and staggering miracles boggled the mind and awed the spectators.
And yet Heironymous was always on the move; never satisfied; always reaching for that invisible unattainable boundary beyond his limits, beyond his awareness--that infinitesimal space so overlooked by other magicians due to its fragility and complex nature. The Omega Point, where true power dwelled, that surpassed any sleight of hand or invocation of the elements.
The spell to end all spells.
One day, Heironymous found it--it matters not where or when. What matters is what happened to Heironymous as a result.... Heironymous put the finishing touches to his spell, making certain that every ingredient and every arcane accoutrement was in place. His dragon familiars watched from a safe distance, advising him on the best temperature to boil the mandrake roots, and the proper enunciation of complicated Words of Power. When all was in perfect readiness Heironymous nodded his head.
"Master," spoke Morning Glory, his gentle Purple dragon, "are you certain you want to go through with this?"
"I have waited one hundred years and a day for this moment. I have everything. I know everything. I am Heironymos the Black, and I will not wait another moment. You know this, and you know the suffering I have borne, to reach this apex, this pinnacle. You know I cannot--I WILL NOT--stop now. Now stop worrying, Sir, or you'll hurt the spell. I shall have no negative energies inhibiting the flow of the aethers."
Morning Glory bowed his crested head, shamed by this reprimand. "Of course, Master."
"Bella Donna," Heironymous called to his Black dragon, who had observed his preparations in relative silence, compared to her more outspoken companion familar. "Dim the lights, and bolt the doors."
"Yes, Master." With a fluttering of her sable wings it was done, and Heironymous' lair was all soon all shadow and quiet as he gathered his energies.
When he was ready he began to speak, the words of his Magnum Opus triggering a ripple effect throughout the aethers as they unlocked the liminal portals to great magic, which Heironymous sought desperately to reach, and pass through. In his mind's eye he could see the pathways opening, unfolding like petals in a great flower that bloomed and gave forth a spray of divine light, hot and cold, bright and shadowed, expansive yet contained. The flow of space time was sucking him in, carrying him on a current into nothing and everything, and Heironymous was never more terrified in his life. He could see himself, moving closer and farther away every second, and he knew in his heart that he was dying--being killed; torn apart by the magic that was too big for him--but oh! the Omega Point was THERE, and it was so beautiful. He had thought it was a single flower opening, when really it was but one blossom on a great tree, in a veritable garden, and in that garden there was singing; Heironymous heard voices like unto a symphony, beautiful and dreadful, all telling him to GO BACK.
"No. NO!" And finally he was there again, in his lair, his dragons squawking and crying out in alarm.
Heironymous had very little time to come to his senses, as he became terribly aware that all of the gates to the magic that he had stepped through were still open--and that something was definitely coming out.
Heironymous scrambled, trying to break the circles, cut the links, and douse the candles, but it was too late--IT was too insistent, too strong, and IT was coming through rapidly, bending the magic to ITS will so that the way was open and IT could emerge, whole. "Ahhh.... My thanks to you, Master Heironymous." IT stood in silence before him, having come from nothing, as if birthed from the womb of darkness or issued forth from the crack of doom.
"W-who...WHAT are you?"
IT spoke with a voice that came from everywhere at once, bombarding Heironymous' ears with its force, thoug it was soft-spoken, his loud whispers making the chandeliers chime and the floor rumble.
"I am you, Master Heironymous. I am your will; all that you ever desired. What do you will of me?"
"S-s-stay back!! Come no farther!"
"Is that what you truly want, Master?" Heironymous' mind was in shambles; even as he hurriedly armed himself and beckoned his shrieking familiars to his side he could not for the life of him recall the Words to one single spell, or think of one item or ingredient or reagent at his disposal that could help him.
"There is no need to fear me. Do you fear yourself? I am you. I am here to help you."
"Help me? How could a demon possibly help me, for a demon is what you are! I do not dabble in black magics, sir!"
"Perhaps what you say is true. Then again...people lie to themselves all the time--"
"Stop that!"
"Master," IT laughed, almost incredulous. "What would you have of me? You called, and I have answered. Your wish is my command. Is that not why you said my name and awoke me from my slumber?" Heironymos bristled. "I have NEVER called on demons to help me with my magic. You took advantage of the rip in space-time and stole your way into the world. You are a liar, and you want only to confound me, so that you can steal my soul as you no doubt have countless others! I'll ask nothing of you. I ORDER you to go back to the abyss from whence you came! I'll make no deals with devils!"
"Oh, but you have. I was there--with you in the Shang Simlan Temple when you decieved those monks and made off with Pangu's Axe--a fiercely powerful tool is it not--the most powerful athame in existence, which helped you cut through matter AND space in order to unlock the portals to reach ME, no?"
The magician was aghast. "How DARE you besmirch my good name! The axe was PAYMENT!"
"Payment indeed! And what of the Philosoper's Stone you possess? Is there not a certain wizarding school near Dragon Valley that is missing your goodly 'reward for services rendered'?"
"THEY asked ME to be their top professor! It was a once in a lifetime opportunity--!"
"And what an opportunistic thief you are, Master. Your lair is a pirate's cache of magic. Not even your precious familiars can come to your defense on that." The room shook as IT chuckled, vastly amused by the look on Heironymous' face. "Your heart is as black as your name. I told you--I. Am. You. You wanted me. Here I am--bone of your bone and flesh of your flesh. You said my name and woke me from my slumber. What would have of me, Master? I live only to serve you." This had gone on long enough. Heironymous refused to be belittled by some sinister demon who had snuck its way into the world from some other dimension. "I don't know what you are or why you've come here, but your minutes are up."
"Time has no meaning for me, wizard. Was that supposed to be a threat?"
IT stepped closer, and Heironymous was quick to call on the aid of his familiars, who came swooping down to defend their Master, only to be rendered unconcious by IT with a mere wave of the hand. Each fell to the floor in a cold stupor, It stepping carelessly over their forms and sighing, quite bored with the theatrics.
"Feeble. Truly feeble."
"Devil. MONSTER! Ah, now you show your true colors!"
"I can show you much more than that. Their abilities were limited, thus they were bested easily. Master, I shall be the greatest familiar you have ever possessed. I am raw power incarnate. In all your time you have ony tasted but a sample of what an alliance with ME would offer."
"Stay BACK!"
"Come master. You have only to say my name again, and we shall never be separated. POWER. Yours...forever!"
"IF you are so powerful, then why do you need ME? Your limits are clear enough--you are but a parasitic night-mare who can only survive when leeching off of the essense of another!"
"I told you from the beginning...I am you. I cannot be without you. I am your innermost potential. It is time that you made use of what I have to offer. You said my name and woke me from my slumber. We shall be one. You are ready."
"READY? Ah yes--quite ready...to send you back to the abyss!" Heironymous found strength and resolve through his quickly rising anger and ever-present fear. The devil was insistent, but Heironymous had never been one to cave to the whims of another, especially when their wills ran opposite so. Something about this demon was terribly wrong, and IT's quiet earnestness and absurd declarations had the magician completely on his guard.
Heironymous threw up his hands, preparing his strongest Banishing spell to exile the demon to oblivion.
"What are you doing, Master?" IT laughed.
Heironymous began speaking the intricate weave of incantations, begging the gods to snatch up the fiend and bind him fast to the nether regions of the world where It could do no harm.
IT only sighed, "Do you still not understand that you and I are as one? MASTER..." IT reached out, trying to touch the magician. "NEVER! We are not the same! We are nothing alike! Get away from me--go back to where you came from!"
"You WANTED the Omega Point, Master! You ASKED for it--BEGGED, and the gods have given you your wish!!! TAKE MY HAND! You are my Alpha, and I am your Omega!! There can be no End without a Beginning--and ever Beginning begets its own End--to hurt me is only to deny yourself!"
With a cry Heironymous threw the entire force of his spell at the demon, his arms outstretched and his fingers splayed, his entire body shaking as the energy shot out of his core and slammed into IT.
The demon's body swelled, and at first Heironymous thought it might explode, but IT only seemed to be inhaling, as if taking a deep draught of the spell and absorbing it into ITs own black core, before letting out a contented sigh, the spell fizzling and sputtering out around IT.
And at the same moment, Heironymous was consumed with a terrible feeling, very real pain clenching his throat, making it hard for him to breathe.
"What is happening? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME!?" And that was the day Heironymous the Black was no more, for he had at last truly found *IT*...The Omega Point....
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