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How did it come to this?
2300 years Morax has been alive, carved from stone by Her thousand hands. 2100 years since Dust joined him, and Celestia’s first son and daughter were united. Partners in all things— love, war, and divinity. A Dragon of earth and gold, joined in the skies by a Phoenix of silver and blue. Together, they built thriving cities, conquered their enemies, and raised a legion of adepti as their allies in this never ending war for the thrones.
And now all of it was destroyed, buried by an unending torrent of floodwater. The betrayal of Osial. Morax could feel the shattered contract, something that was once an alliance now reduced to the abyssal depths devouring Guili Plains. It fueled him as he fought against Osial’s allies, tearing heads from necks and shredding tentacles into nothing. Beside him, Guizong’s silver brilliance shone as her all consuming dust blinded and cut and killed anything that dared oppose her. A goddess of humanity now drenched in the blood of her foes, divinity sparkling around her even in the midst of Osial’s assault. She had never been more beautiful.
Just as Morax finally tore apart an abysmal squid, a roar sounded from the ocean, the sheer volume and strength of it sending a shockwave throughout the watery battlefield.
“Osial.” Guizhong noted, catalyst coming to settle beside her.
“Stay here, I can lead him away from you and the adepti so you can-”
“He wouldn’t take the bait— he doesn’t just want you, he wants all of our people to drown and our cities to crumble.”
“Well of course, but I am strong enough to subdue him for at least several hours,” he argued back, mindlessly sending a spear hurling straight through an approaching monsterling.
“And then what? He drags you down to the depths, and we’re left here without our golden prince? I think not— I’ll go, my ballistae can deter him long enough.”
She flashed him a blinding white smile, temporarily stopping him from fighting her decision. Meanwhile, another deafening roar sounded, much closer, and the rain picked up significantly.
“Protect our people!” Guizhong called, before shifting into her adeptal form and taking off despite the pounding rain. Morax could only watch her disappearing figure, rendered speechless. However, he was soon drawn back to reality by the violent cries of a new form emerging, and soon took on his own adeptal form to face them.
~
Guizhong landed on a mountaintop, pale blue clothing, armor, and silvery blonde hair fully soaked with water, dirt, and blood. Despite that, she looked out to the sea, eyes settling upon what— or rather, who— she was looking for.
Osial. Hovering miles and miles above the ocean in his humanoid form, watery tentacles emerging from his back and his lower half fading away into the starry depths of the deep sea. Beisht was not standing beside her husband, so Guizhong could only assume she too was wreaking havoc somewhere, clad in the glory of the abyss and the oceans.
“SO THE COWARD SENDS HIS WIFE TO FIGHT? A SHOW WORTHY OF THAT WEAK REPTILE!” Osial boasted, thundering voice clear despite all of the carnage and storming around them.
“Reconsider who it is you’re calling weak, Osial.”
Within hardly a second, dust began to swirl around her, solidifying and forming divine bullets unbothered by the rain. With barely a flick of her finger, the bullets fired, flying true through the downpour and striking at Osial’s tentacles.
“YOU DARE TO TRY AND FACE ME? HAH! I WILL GIVE YOU A FIGHT, LITTLE BIRD!”
Guizhong could only watch and prepare her next move as Osial’s facsimile of a human melted away, making way for a leviathan of water and rage. The roar he let out caused the water around him to surge toward her, reaching to the peak of the mountain and knocking her back. She groaned as she landed on her back, before forcing herself up and waiting for her time to strike. Her ballista was at her fingertips, ready to be summoned from her abode to serve the purpose it was made for— godslaying.
“YOUR EARTH CANNOT WITHSTAND THE DEVOURING DEPTHS! WATER WILL ERODE STONE, AND YOU PATHETIC GROUND DWELLERS WILL-”
Fire. Her weapon manifested itself in front of her, and with practiced ease she fired the bolt straight at Osial’s would-be chest, watching as its silver magnificence split into a barrage of dozens of arrows. Almost all of them hit their mark, pushing Osial back as he roared in pain.
“YOU,” he bellowed, recomposing himself and summoning a swirl of pure hydro from below him, “I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR INTERFERENCE! DROWN, DROWN WITH YOUR PATHETIC HUMANS AND YOUR MISERABLE EXCUSE OF A CIVILIZATION!”
The Lady of Dust continued to rapidfire from her ballista, going as far as to put in three of her exploding darts at a time. They continued to meet their mark— she was experienced with her own weapons, after all. Meanwhile, her catalyst provided a steady stream of smaller arrows, serving almost as supports to her ballista. Yet despite it all, Osial recovered. And the swirl of water soon became most of the ocean around him rising to meet his commands, bending to his will as easily as the earth bent to that of Morax. As she looked down below, seeing the shoreline recede, she finally understood. She did not move as Osial raised a would-be arm and sent millions upon millions of gallons of water at her.
There are no words to describe what she felt then. The crushing force of water shattered her body, the divinity and ichor within her not nearly fast or strong enough to even stand a chance of repairing her. The force of the ocean hitting her sent her flying off the mountain, world fading as her vision darkened.
No shield surrounded her. There was no golden brilliance reaching out to her, no soothing the pain she felt as her mangled body slammed against the ground, the sheer force of it sending cracks through the earth and forming a crater where she fell. So finally, she understood. Celestia hovered above her, and Guizhong could almost feel Her eyes on her, watching Her daughter’s final moments.
Dust only let out a broken chuckle as a shockwave left her body.
~
“Father!” cried Menogias, before Morax sent a Geo spear straight through the skull of the creature chasing after his son.
Before he could do anything else, the earth began to shake outside of his own will, and a pulse of divinity that created rain withstanding dust storms— wait, what? No no no— Morax searched for her presence, running his divinity along the shared artery of their souls. He came up with nothing, a heaviness settling in his chest as humans and monsters alike died painful deaths of a thousand cuts from unending dust torrents.
“Mother?..”
Morax did not respond, could not respond. Melting into his draconic form, he took off from the earth, letting out a roar as he flew to the sea.
Nothing could have prepared him for what he saw. The dragon crashed to the ground, before shifting back to a humanoid and sprinting to the newly formed crater. There lay Guizhong— her bones broken and mangled in so many ways, salty floodwater seeping into the cuts on her skin. Once bright, silver beauty was now dulled, hair dirtied and ethereal robes torn as her dying form let out shockwaves of dust that carried grief and pain along with them.
Morax fell to his knees, reaching out to her and pulling her into his lap as a golden shield surrounded them both
“Guizhong…” he managed, cradling her head in his arms. His chest had never held a heart in it, yet now it felt more empty than ever. His partner in all things gazed up at him with unfocused blue eyes, still holding onto a weak smile despite her circumstances.
“Morax… you came…” she whispered, letting out a breathy sigh.
The lord’s eyes began to water, golden irises drowned out by grief. “I.. I do not permit you to leave.”
Guizhong could only look up at him with a faint smile, focusing on her partner rather than the simultaneously deafening and silent gaze of Celestia above.
“L-Look at you, still holding onto lordship ev-even now.” She chuckled weakly. “Smile, Morax. It would.. It would suit you.”
He could not bring himself to. The floodgates of grief opened, golden tears falling from his eyes as he brought a trembling hand to her cheek.
“Heh— you’re-”
“I will kill him. I will drive my spear through Osial’s pathetic being, and-and I will feast on his flesh and he will regret ever having-”
“You can’t. I-If he dies, so does everyo-” Guizhong broke out into coughing, and Morax could hear what remained of her ribs shattering right then and there. “The devouring depths will wash away Dust, and given time they will erode earth. An-And yet, it is ea… It is earth that contains the sea. Isn’t that lovely, my dear Morax?”
Guizhong was the one whose body was broken. She was dying and the pain should be too much to bear. So, why was he the one feeling nothing but soul-crushing agony within him? Morax opened his mouth to speak, but instead let out a choked sob as his pain drowned out anything he could say.
“I can see Them, my love..” she whispered, before her eyes grew dull. In that moment, Morax felt his soul shatter as her own soul departed, leaving his once paired divinity alone. The world was still as Guizhong’s body became limp, and the world was silent as she faded into the dust she once controlled, and the earth waited as the last remnant of her dropped into his hands— a hairpin in the shape of a glaze lily.
Morax sat alone in the crater, and the earth was still. Tears ran down his face as his breath shook and his bloodstained hands gripped the lily so tight he feared it would break.
And the earth began to shake as the man let out a roar, full of agony and grief and sorrow. Mountains began to crumble and cracks formed in the earth as he curled in on himself, clutching the glaze lily to his chest as his tears fell onto his own wife’s grave.
Yet, another feeling boiled up in his chest. Not one of pain or grief— but a desire for vengeance. And so he rose, the power of Geo at his fingertips and Mother watching from above. His shield had been getting battered with water, and yet his power stood strong as he grieved. And now, it would stand strong as he raged.
“SO THE LIZARD HAS FINALLY STOPPED COWERING? COME AND FACE ME, EARTHDWELLER, AND JOIN YOUR WIFE IN HER GRAVE!”
Morax said nothing, could say nothing. All he did was raise an arm, and the earth raised itself with it. Just as the depths would respond to Osial’s call, so too would the mountains and ground respond to Morax’s. But Morax was not just a pitiful elemental spirit, no. He was the first son of Celestia, and the heavens would answer him.
Osial’s attacks slammed against his golden shield, but the force of hydro was not enough to deter him from skyrocketing upwards, until he was eye to eye with Osial’s monstrous form. Lifting a trembling golden hand, Morax would point his spear to where Celestia sat anchored above, and it answered his call.
The golden veins of ore on his arms lit up, as did his eyes and tips of his hair as pure, divine energy answered him, empowering him and causing the earth around them to quake. The waves were worsened by the abrupt movement of the tectonic plates, but Morax couldn’t force himself to care. Water would erode earth and wash away dust, and yet earth was the only thing that contained the violent seas. He could grieve later, for now he could not waste her final wisdom.
“YOUR CELESTIAL GIFTS ARE NO MATCH FOR THE GLORY OF THE DEPTHS, LITTLE REPTILE. STAND DOWN AND KNEEL OR BE CONSUMED BY THE VORTEX!”
“I kneel for no one.”
He could feel the power flowing through him. He could feel Its eyes on him, could feel Her empowering him, could feel Him slow time, could feel All Of Them gazing down at his final stand. This war was rigged, and it was not in Osial’s favor.
It didn’t take long after that. His pupils narrowed until they were hardly slits, and his spear glowed as though it was the sun itself. He could see the golden wounds on Osial, see the damage Guizhong had done to him in her own last stand. And so he thought, she had never been more beautiful.
Morax sent his spear flying, the weapon gaining speed and strength before it barrelled through Osial’s divine torso, carving a clean hole through. But that was not enough, would not be enough. Baring his teeth in a sick smile, Morax crossed his arms, and the heavens answered.
The sky tore open into a dimension of gold and Geo and strength, and from it came his final revenge. Spears and meteors made of the purest divine stone, growing faster and larger as they descended. And for the first time, Morax thought he could see fear in Osial’s eyes as he faced divine retribution.
The subsequent explosion toppled mountains as the ocean exploded, sending something reminiscent of tsunamis in every direction. Morax watched all of it, unmoving and eyes unblinking. He watched as Osial drowned beneath stone, swearing vengeance against him even as his voice weakened and his body disappeared into the depths he so loved. Morax floated there, still save for his arm reaching out to summon the Vortex Vanquisher from where it had landed. But Celestia loomed above him, and suddenly he realized why.
A brilliant golden light enveloped him, his empty chest pounding and power radiating off of him in waves of pure divinity and strength. He was violently flipped onto his back, floating in stasis and staring up at Celestia. In his mind he saw flashes of eyes, hands, cubes, time, death, rebirth, everything he had come to witness since the day of his birth. In that moment, the crumbled remains of the mountains around him floated to join him, meeting together above him and merging into one tiny, blindingly bright object.
His eyes squinted closed, before being forced open by a power outside of his will. Above him he saw a golden chess piece, spinning idly. Before long, it fell, melting into his chest as if that was where it was made to go. And it had been, hadn’t it? He was created with a hollow chest, and now inside it was the steady yet artificial beat of a pure Celestial “heart”. The shock of its power surging through him and affecting his whole being caused him to lose control, falling from where he lay in the skies.
He was caught by the earth, hands of Geo holding his body and depositing him to the ground. He should be happy, he told himself. This is what he had been fighting for, right? But he could not bear it, not without her to rule by his side. Hands of obsidian and gold clawed at his chest, trying to tear out the rook that had invaded his body. Falling to his knees, Morax began to weep, mourning his wife, his friends, and that Mother now held his being even tighter than before.
And so, on his knees in the crater that marked his wife’s grave, Morax choked on his tears.