Wilhelm jumped back, narrowly missing a falling beam astonished and momentarily terrified. The sudden sound of screams and wails could be heard for miles around, only to then be muffled or silenced by the shadow of darkness that surrounded the assembly. Mouth gaping like a fish, he quickly clenched his jaw with agonizing pain. Quickly recollecting himself, he restraightened his posture once more and eyed his master expecting a response. Any response in fact. To his shock, the man was quiet; he looked bored and unamused at the action unfolding before him. Shrugging it off as inconsequential, the gentleman patted himself over, swiping off the dust like it was just another day. Wilhelm watched him, dumbfounded.
Amazing, he thought, his power is truly unparalleledamong. He looked at his master. To think that this is his son…
And to believe that at one point in his youth, he was even more powerful than Bahamut.
No.
That was wrong, Wilhelm remembered. He is more powerful than his son.
In fact, he’s even more powerful than the 12 with their powers combined. And yet, they still had the nerve to openly demean and disrespect him.
Such arrogance, these 12…
Then…
“I believe that is quite enough, Ak’khenal”, clicked the Inhibitor, his voice proper and taciturn, “if you continue to throw tantrums like this, you’ll only sully yourself and us along with you.”
As he said this, he strode towards Bahamut and with a wave of his hand, bubbly tendrils snaked their way towards both Bahamut and the carcass of the building he just destroyed. Slithering around the Definitive, the bubbles passed through him absorbed bits and pieces of his aura before returning to the boy who stopped to kneel, touching the pavement. Uttering a silent command, the bubbly tendrils evaporated into the ground, dissipating the collected essence deep into the earth, while the Inhibitor softly whispered “Kh’ioio Sosoyini..”
Wilhelm knew exactly what the Inhibitor was saying. Standing up and dusting himself off, he walked towards Bahamut and the Connivant to stand in-between them facing the Master and Wilhelm. As he walked, he pointed out, “If what the Venerable One says is true, then it seems that the Prophecy of the 9 has come to pass. And don’t pretend like you’ve not noticed the recent signs.”
The Rahk’zh’gal clicked in agreement, and began opening its neck ribs to form acarapace hood, like a cobra. It was visibly agitated, but the Inhibitor understood and started to rub its crest, soothing the creature.
“It is therefore clear now”, the Inhibitor concluded, “that the Prophecy of the 9 has indeed begun, and with the Eternatus aroused from their slumber, then the Paracausal Advent the Master’s described is sure to follow.”
“And if the Ascendant has indeed returned”, said the Master, confirming the Inhibitor’sassertions, “then this means that the Iliudodan’Mrabus is upon us all.” While he spoke, he turned towards Wilhelm, notingthe young disciple waiting patiently and eagerly based onthe subtle vibrations his muscles created from the tension and anxiety he triedto hide. The Master quietly chuckled before continuing, “If the Ascendant can be placedunder our direct control, then the resulting Balanceof Heaven can then be tipped in our favor and the goal we ourselves hadset forth to achieve all those millennia ago shall indeed come to fruition.”
“That,of course, is a big if”, interjected another member of the 12.Turningto identify the new voice, Wilhelm’s gaze alighted upon a young man who lookedno older than Wilhelm.
He was ‘6’1’ with espresso-colored hair tied in a messy bun, the shade of sand at the tips. He had a light stubble and a long thin nose with cheekbones that rested at medium height so as not to overtakehis small almond-shaped eyes. The pupils were crystal clear and the color ofplatinum, light moving in various directions as if his eyes were made of theliquid metal itself.
No, that wasn’t light, it was platinum, pureplatinum.
It was a common trait among the 12, or rather Others whose evolution had peaked at certain levels, to achieve a state of being in which their physical attributes would become attune to the earth itself, matching the nature of their branching deviations with their own individual predisposed sentiments and attitudes. As such, in the case of this man, his eyes which were literal platinum for pupils implied his genetic purity and affinity towards minerals and the shaping and manifestation of them. Of course this was all speculation on Wilhelm’s part due to the nature of an individual Other varying as was their collective genealogy. As platinum was just as rare even for humans as a mineable metal, the same applied to all but a select few bloodlines that carried this genetic trait across their ancestry, and even fewer with the affinity tied towards it upon their awakening state.
This member of the 12 was biracial, half-Japanese/Chinese, and half-White, with a slightly muscular build that was hidden by his clothes. As Wilhelm looked him up and down, he noted that the man wore a dark turquoise yukata with yellow reeds stitched along the rims that slid off his right shoulder to expose his bare chest and right arm, which was heavily tattooed. Not realizing it, Wilhelm found himself enraptured by the intricate artwork before him naked on the skin, a scene of cranes standing in a pool near a waterfall at the base of Mt, Fuji. Clouds sailed behind the mountain, and as they reached the forearm, the landscape ended with a large azure dragon that covered the right side of his chest and Wilhelm could tell, no doubt his back as well as. The level of detail on the feathers and the eye of crane amazed Wilhelm, how miniscule they seemed on the surface before panning farther away so that one could realize the entire picture. A warmth crept in his bones that Wilhelm silently cursed himself for having, and blinking to distract himself failed as his eyes glossed over the rest of the young man’s body. He was lean muscled, his 6-pack partially obscured by his tattoos while his left arm lazily rested in the fold of his nagagi.
Draped over his shoulders like a cape, he had a silver hooded haori with emerald green petals that stretched past his ankles and with a gold chain that hung from the collar, a livery collar as Wilhelm noted. His expression was one of boredom, with a demeanor that was incredibly laidback, which completely contrasted the tense atmosphere of the conversation he was currently in. Exhibiting tiredness, he scratched his jaw, and clicked in his tongue in a way that Wilhelm’s immediately realized who he was. He’d previously met him once before while attending to business in the east. Requiring resources from a faction of Others whose utmost cooperation the Master needed to fund his own operations in the region, Wilhelm was sent in to ensure their “loyalty” to the Master, and by chance was accosted by street thugs sent to kill him. They failed, but not before he intervened and lead him to his headquarters, being the contact that Wilhelm was supposed to meet.
It was 5 years ago, and he was a boy then. He couldn’t have been older than 19 back then, Wilhelm mused. He remembered it all too well.
Comments (0)
See all