Lord Zee
yoshua171The World Below
It was a subtle change, but the wild denizens of Galbar noticed it almost at once. The night, once dark and terrible, had been tempered by the unexpected emergence of a soft white light in the sky. It was no equal to the warm and brilliant sun, but unlike the other beacons in the dark before it this new light seemed to persist. Time and time again it greeted the wildlife of Galbar, unfaltering. It rose in the night sky as the sun did in the day. Perhaps to a god it was merely an interesting sight, a bright spot with a vast shimmering tail, but to countless predators and prey alike it changed everything.
The creatures of the day rejoiced, and those accustom to the dark grew more cautious. In time even they came to benefit, though. To hunt, for plants or prey, was not easy in the near total darkness the creatures of Galbar had known. The emergence of this lesser light made the task simpler. Those creatures who were accustom to total darkness came to thrive now that they could spot their quarries much sooner than they would be spotted in turn.
It was a shift that Asceal was ignorant of. Her unspoken compromise with the darkness did more good than she knew, but all she could think of was why it had been necessary. The Goddess shivered as she remembered. She had to remind herself that it was done and that there was nothing that could change it.
The furnace was broken, and the lost souls were dead and dying. Asceal could only move forward now. She would save who she could save, fix what could be fixed, and never forget what the cost of her hubris had been.
Shaking her head as if to scatter the unwelcome thoughts Asceal stood and regarded the lonely crystal chair on which she’d been seated. Her palace was grand, but bare. She would have to fix that eventually. As much for her own sake as for Liana’s and any guests they might have.
Liana... Asceal looked around, but her friend turned steward was nowhere in sight. She wasn’t surprised by that, really. Liana had been busy exploring the extent of her new powers for quite a while now. If she cared to follow the trail of increasingly intricate statues composed of glowing vines Asceal knew she’d eventually find Liana, but she thought it was better to leave her friend to her entertainment.
She sighed, at least one of them was having a good time. After everything that had happened Asceal had welcomed to chance to rest up. At least, she had at first. It hadn’t taken long for her to realize that if you spend enough time doing nothing you begin to dwell on things you’d rather not.
By now she was, paradoxically, quite tired of relaxation. Driven by a need to do something, anything, she strode out of her palace and looked down on the staircase that led to the surface of her sphere. Down and down it went, but what use was that? On a whim Asceal willed the staircase to change, steps shifting until they spiralled up rather than down.
She made her way up the staircase as it rearranged, happy for the distraction. It wasn’t until she reached the very edge of her sphere, high above the canopy of vines, that she stopped. Standing here she could see it, far in the distance, the middle sphere. Galbar.
Her smile faltered and the memory of past mistakes assailed her mind. Galbar looked so different now. Now that the ones it was meant for were gone. She sighed and flicked her forehead. It did nobody any good for her to wallow in her misery.
It was with that thought that she realized wallowing was exactly what she’d been doing. Even after her meeting with Aelius and Azura she had moped in her palace while Liana explored the Garden and her peers shaped and populated Galbar.
She held back a curse and ran her hands through her hair in frustration. She had to keep busy. More than that, she had to lay the foundation for a better world. The souls she’d meant to save were gone, but the rain of soul ash that permeated the universe hadn’t escaped her notice. The drifting motes of ethereal dust would form into proper souls given time. Even if they were born from a sickening reminder of those who preceded them, they would be proper souls all the same. Hadn’t Asceal sworn she’d do all she could for them?
With that in mind she poured her power into the construction of a tower. Its faceted crystal walls wrapped around and enclosed the staircase she’d already made. At its peak she built a great vaulted chamber. Windows formed between the supports of the tremendous chamber and the domed ceiling high above her stopped short of closing completely. At the center of the dome, where a circular opening stared into the void of space, a golden portal opened. Asceal looked into it and saw the dark oceans of Galbar.
She willed golden wings to sprout from her shoulders and took flight. In a flash she’d passed through the gateway and righted herself as up became down and down became up. She hovered in the air and looked back, seeing that from this side the door to her home was an odd glowing circle in the sky. It would be visible for miles. A moments panic overtook her and she hid the portal, obscuring it with thick clouds.
It was still terribly exposed, but she wondered what else she could do. Anyone would notice the clouds didn’t shift with the wind. Unless... Unless she made her contribution to the world here. Asceal glided down until she stood atop the ocean. She saw the faint reflection of her sphere in the water, and she decided she would make a home for whatever souls came into this world that was as grand as her own.
Asceal closed her eyes and focused her mind on the rock far below the waves. She willed it to rise higher and higher until it freed itself from the deep and tasted the air. When she opened her eyes what greeted her was a flat, rocky plain. It was, to borrow from Liana, rather empty.
That was no matter though, she wasn’t done. She felt weariness assail her senses, but it wasn’t so bad anymore. She’d felt worse. Without further ado she grabbed the rock below her and began to fly. It should have shattered, but she helped it stretch into a smooth mountain that rose until the clouds that obscured her gateway hid its peak.
She grinned, it was a good start. Repeating the act, albeit to a lesser degree, dozens of times left her with an island that sported wide plains, rolling hills, and gently sloping mountains. It was beautiful in a primordial way. It wasn’t a place for life though, and with Phystene in mind Asceal stomped on the rock below her feet.
In one blow the first few inches of rock that covered the island shattered into a fine dust. Soil, or at least the beginnings of it. Content with her work so far Asceal laid down on the dark silt. This time her reprieve wasn’t disturbed by unwelcome thoughts or memories.
This time she knew she’d done something right.
