Divine Apostasy Book 11 - Chapter 5

[Author's Note - This chapter contains a lot of information. I'm not sure how much will remain. This is similar to the problems I had in book 9.]

Chapter 5

“Void take me,” Varthon said. “How do you know that?”

“That’s a long story,” Ruin replied. “Basically, a friend has memories that include that guy.”

“The two royals and myself are the only ones I’m aware of that would know Aeonrial’s name. Since I didn’t tell you, and the Val’dor heir was assassinated long ago, that means your friend must be the Io’amar Thal’ara royal.”

“The what now?” Ruin asked. “I have no idea who that is.”

Rami slowly turned to Ruin, her eyes large.

“What? Do you recognize that name?” Ruin asked.

“No, but I have a guess.” Rami repeated the name, but this time emphasized the first part. “Io’amar Thal’ara.”

The realization hit Ruin like a punch to the face. He rubbed his temples, trying to absorb the staggering knowledge of the Elder dagger Io’s identity. And unless the void wyrm was lying, it meant he didn’t know about Tarot and Lir or Lir’s predecessor anyway.

Rami faced Varthon again. “Is Io’amar Thal’ara the royal in charge of the Creation Realm?”

“In charge is a bit of an overstatement, but he is the ultimate authority there,” Varthon replied. “You know how free spirited and hard to control the Creation Realm creatures are.”

“We don’t know actually,” Rami responded. “Io is royalty, though?”

Varthon frowned. “Yes. Is that how you know the Maker’s name?”

Rami didn’t respond, probably not wanting to lie to her father.

Overlord’s voice reached Ruin’s inner ear. So your brain is patched together with Royal Creation essence.

We really need to talk to that dagger, Ruin replied.

Varthon’s use of the term “Maker” triggered a memory of the quest that had appeared after Ruin transitioned from Diamond into Angel.

A quest has activated…

Name: Maker

Description: The System has triggered this quest on behalf of the Prime. You have crossed a critical mental threshold which requires your immediate presence at the Spire. Your Harbinger, if applicable, has been notified of this summons as required by decree. A Spire representative has been dispatched to your location.

Step: 1 of 1

Step Description: You are hereby restricted to the first six dimensions of your current Universe. Failure to comply will result in catastrophic consequences.

Origin: Prime

Allocation: Mythical

Difficulty: Egregious

Risk: Deadly

Duration: Short

Reward: Testing at the Spire. Additional Prime and Faction rewards if assessment confirms the status of Maker.

“To be honest,” Ruin said, “we don’t know if what our friend experienced was an actual memory or information hidden within his mind by someone else. From what you’ve said, it seems like someone else gave him that memory.”

Varthon nodded. “That seems far more likely, but I would like to meet your friend.”

“Sure,” Ruin responded quickly as he turned the conversation in a direction he desperately wanted more information about.

“You called Aeonrial a Maker,” Ruin said to Varthon. “What did you mean?”

“Makers are Harmonics with the incredibly rare ability to produce life. They’re even rarer than Rift Weavers. Makers are the only method the Spire has to quickly populate new universes.”

That shook Ruin. Populate a universe? How could something like that be possible?

Varthon had used another word from the quest. “What’s the Spire?”

The void wyrm narrowed his eyes. “Why so many questions?”

“We’re just curious about the Outerverse,” Rami said, covering for Ruin.

“That’s pointless.”

“Why is that?” Rami asked.

“Everyone born inside this universe lacks an anchor in the Outerverse. With no connection you lack a method to temporally synchronize.”

“Temporally synchronize?” Ruin asked. That sounded a lot like the time-baggage Blapy had warned him about. She had said if he spent too much time in her super-time-dilated Divine Realm, he wouldn’t be able to resynch with the normal time flow of the universe.

“The Maker created this universe with a time stream far, far faster than the Outerverse. I assumed it was another method to hide whatever he was doing here. I’ve never left, so I don’t know the extent, but I’m guessing the entire duration of your universe probably equates to less than a decade in the Outerverse.”

That information staggered Ruin.

“Are you joking?” Rami whispered.

“Now that I think about it,” Varthon continued. “Rami has a chance to reach the Outerverse as, with training, she can use the Void to clear her time divergence.” He turned to Ruin. “And perhaps you might possess a connection to the Destruction Realm that would at least give you the chance to resynch. It’s also possible the Destruction Realm has methods to rid oneself of such things.”

None of that mattered to Ruin as he had no intention of leaving this Universe, but another person came to mind.

“Do all the Destruction Realm creatures know about this?” Ruin asked.

Varthon shrugged. “They would at least suspect it, as communication back to the Outerverse is virtually impossible because of the time differential.”

Relief filled Ruin. Even if Lalquinrial escaped the universe, he’d never match the Outerverse timeline and therefore would remain powerless. Varthon’s information also meant the Dark Priest with Lalquinrial hadn’t told the Infernal Lord the whole truth. Perhaps if Ruin could get this information to Lalquinrial, he’d stop his nihilistic pursuit of destroying this universe.

“Why would anyone from the Outerverse agree to come here,” Rami asked.

“That’s an excellent question and it’s usually one of two things: desperation or redemption.”

“Which are you?” Rami asked.

“I’m here because I’m disgusted with the politics and conflicts of the Destruction and Creation Realm royals, tired of the Spire’s manipulation and authoritarian control, and repulsed by the abject cowardice of the Primal faction as they try to remain removed from it all.”

“Doesn’t that make you just as much a coward for hiding in this universe?” Rami asked.

Ruin grimaced at the blunt question.

“Perhaps,” Varthon responded without any anger. He looked up, as if recalling a memory. “My flight here is complicated, but it involves repaying a debt, helping a friend, and denying those I hate of a weapon.”

Scared Rami would continue to poke the void wyrm, Ruin quickly asked his own question.

“Why was my—” Ruin paused as he searched for the right word to sum up what had happened to him. Finally, he started over. “Why was my predecessor here?”

“She was the last of the Val’dor line. Her family had been wiped out in a power struggle. Another powerful family wished to usurp the Val’dor royal heritage in the inner ring. She hid here to escape assassination until she could figure out a way to save her family’s legacy. Her enemies found her anyway and succeeded in killing her.”

Varthon nodded at the silver circlet on Ruin’s arm. “It will be a frantic contest between the families who wish to claim that band of authority along with the royal heritage it bestows, and the armies of the Destruction Emperor who will destroy you for the heresy of taking his Class.”

The grim description silenced Ruin.

Rami patted Ruin’s knee to comfort him and then asked her own question to fill the sudden silence. “What about Io?”

Varthon laughed. “About as opposite a situation as could exist. The Io’amar Thal’ara royal was forced to come here by his family. A kind of involuntary exile. The younger generation wanted to rid themselves of a doddering old fool they considered useless so they could claim his power. I wonder how that worked out for them.”

Rami shook her head, trying to comprehend all this new information. “So you came by choice, Val’dor came to hide, and Io arrived by force. What about the others. All the common creatures in these realms? Why would they take on this time debt by coming here.”

Once again Varthon shrugged. “I wasn’t part of the negotiations with the Creation and Destruction Realm. My job was to create a bridge deep into the void. So far away, no one could ever find this universe by accident. Honestly though, Aeonrial is a Harmonic prodigy. He might have assured each Realm he would dissipate their time differential when he returned these temporary Creation and Destruction Realms.”

Ruin leaned forward. “Harmonics can manipulate time like that?”

“Not normal ones,” Varthon replied. “But Aeonrial is far from normal. He’s a Maker and capable of anything.”

“Obviously not if he needed you for the void bridge,” Rami said.

Varthon nodded, acknowledging the comment. “Almost anything then, and certainly capable of something as trivial as time manipulation.”

Ruin opened his display and studied the Maker quest again. The Prime, whatever that was, thought Ruin might be one of these Makers. And if what Varthon said was true then a Maker could get rid of time baggage, which meant if he could figure out that process, he could use Miranda’s Divine Realm again.

The display highlighted a quest that had completed, and Ruin opened it.

Name: Harbinger’s Call

Description: The Harbinger speaks for their Verse.

Step: 1 of Unknown

Step Description: Advance Foundation to Tier 3 Level 2.

Origin: System

Allocation: 2 of 3

Difficulty: Egregious

Risk: Deadly

Duration: Extended

Restriction: Foundation equal to or greater than Tier 3 Level 1.

Reward (Step 1): Foundation Manual

Reward (Final): Title of Harbinger

Reward (Final): Invitation to the Spire

Reward (Final): Prime recognition of Harbinger’s Verse with corresponding protections, processes, and rights for said Verse.

Ruin wondered if the quest remained valid since he’d gotten this in his human body. The fact it hadn’t autocompleted made him think it had become invalid. As soon as he focused on the quest, however, it flashed bright and then dim over and over and he tried to close the display before it gave him a headache.

For the first time, Ruin’s display didn’t close with just a thought, and he wondered if he’d just ruined his brain as his entire display warped, and his vision flickered.

Rami reached over and steadied Ruin as he swayed.

“Are you okay?” Rami asked the concern obvious. “What’s happening? I can’t reach you mentally.”

Everything went black. A moment later his vision and displays reappeared like nothing had occurred.

Then three things happened at the same time:

The Harbinger’s Call Step One quest auto-completed. A book appeared in front of Ruin. And a new quest appeared—Harbinger’s Call Step Two.