The Legendary Fool

Thirty-Seventh Floor — The Divine Graveyard,

Aerinaculumn,

Private Quarters of the Wisdom Archon, Zephni Ludus

A lone woman dressed in silken white vestments trimmed with shimmering gold stood alone in a vast chamber with a vaulted ceiling.

In her right hand was a wand, a wand that appeared to be sculpted out of the purest of alabaster, its length tapering slightly from base to tip. In appearance alone, it was a thing of precision, yet nothing about it suggested that it was anything out of the ordinary.

Yet if any climber who had a Mental Stat below 250 were to look upon it, their mind would unspool like a cast fishing hook that was connected to a rod, the wisdom within claimed by that appearing ordinary length of alabaster.

Before her floated a card, its properties concealed by a fog of swirling white.

In her left hand was a bizarre tome, a tome upon which words wrote itself and pages flipped by themselves, yet it never seemed to run out of space to write in.

Her golden hair cascaded down her shoulders in a smooth current, a world contained within her amber-gold eyes. Her features could only be described as a sculptor’s masterwork, a song of symmetry, grace and pride. Her pale skin stood at the border, a touch away from pallid yet destined to never reach it.

The woman stood in the centre of the chamber, in the midst of a sea of stars that possibly could not be real yet anyone who had shared a space with her would claim that they were, without a doubt, as real as they were.

It was as if the cosmos itself had been summoned into that room, orbiting around the lone woman.

She flicked her wand and where there were thousands of stars, there were now hundreds of constellations in too many shapes to keep track of.

There was a pause as the woman's gaze swept across the constellations, before she swiped her wand down and only a tenth of the original number constellations survived, a series of stars linked by bright lines.

Only, there was one anomaly. A constellation refused to shatter, yet could not form, causing the lines to blink and out of existence.

The woman pointed her wand at the anomaly. All constellations but one faded, while the remaining anomaly was enlarged before her.

“The Traveller found someone suited for a mutated card on a fringe planet,” The woman spoke and the floating book began to scribble with even greater intensity.

She pointed her wand to the second star.

“But the person in question never arrived at the designated location set up by Them,” She stated.

Third star.

“Reports of a Noble from one of the toy kingdoms being impersonated to gain entry to Renovia. No deaths and an ordinary elixir stolen. All attempts at detection failed. ”

Fourth Star.

“Change in the predicted course of the civil war in the toy kingdom. Instead of House Nezaria and House Zenari waging war with each other with a 97.2198% certainty,House Nezeria and House Zenari band together to wage war against the ruling House Nottrakon.”

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Fifth star.

“Valeria Nezeria, predicted to die at 98.99% certainty, is rescued by a mysterious group of individuals that do not appear to be associated with any of the local factions. The group saves her, delivers her to House Nezaria and reveals the true perpetrators as House Nottrakon. The group involved uses teleportation cards to escape to unknown location.”

Sixth Star.

“The Necromancer Archon is witnessed taking strange actions, as noticed by a temperamental change in the behavior of the invading Nether Faction from floors twenty to thirty seven”.

Seventh Star.

“The Wisdom Archon, Zephni Ludus is… flabbergasted?” The lone woman’s stoic features cracked, replaced by a flicker of surprise that lasted for a brief moment before composure returned to her features.

She pointed her wand at the constellation, a flash of true divine might venturing forth in the shape of a mote of light and striking the constellation like a droplet striking water, melding with it entirely.

The lines connecting the constellation were growing brighter with every moment that passed and for a moment, it looked like the constellation would be formed.

But then, something unexpected happened.

The stars began to rearrange themselves, completing the restructure before Zephni could interfere.

A jester icon looked down upon Zephni Ludus, The Wisdom Archon, Supreme Commander of the Bastion of Light Guild, Chosen of the Ephemeral Ranked [The Wisdom] card, Wielder of Limit-Broken Legendary (Mezzanine)/ Mythic card Lightbringer, Keeper of Divinity ranked artifact Wand of Jñāna, Granted the feat: Archon for exemplary contribution to the Divine System beyond all measures of expectation, Granted the feat: Manifestor of Cards for achieving Card Manifestation with ten cards ranked Epic or higher, also known as The Oracle of Light.

Mocking laughter filled the chamber.

“You should not be able to do this,” Zephni Ludus, The Wisdom Archon coldly stated. “The Prime shattered your soul into more pieces than there are stars remaining in this realm. Your power was reduced to a fragment of a fragment and your inheritance lies unclaimed. A divine can never truly be killed, but you are merely imitating what you once were without the memories or knowledge.”

The mocking laughter continued.

“Your inheritor will be reduced to a puppet if he falls under the Necromancer Archon’s control. Those who wield the Nether do not adhere to laws. You made the mistake of siding against the Prime once and look what it brought you. We may not live in an era of peace, but there is an order to our world, a place for both the weak and strong. Those that channel the Nether today are not the same as the people you once knew. They give life to horrible perversions of the universe’s laws, they tap into the Nether to become beasts chained to instinct instead of thought and their desire for vengeance will ruin what little remains. Do you really wish for that future?”

The laughter continued.

“Let your inheritor work with me. With the Book of Maya and the Wand of Jñāna together, I will be able to reclaim the Seven Divine Artifacts. Once I ascend, I will restore of your soul what I can and grant you a portion of your abilities back.”

“Always…,” A thousand whispers sounded out in Zephni’s ear, startling her even though nothing showed on her expression. “So serious…. Just like…her.”

Then the stars that comprised the Jester Icon exploded into mists of different colors, ranging from blue to red, white and purple.

A droplet of blood trickled down the lone woman’s cheek.

A knock rang against the door a moment later.

Zephni waved her hand and traces of the trail of blood faded.

“Come inside,” She ordered in a stately tone.

Two men came to a stop twenty steps before her, immediately kneeling down on one knee with their gazes held low so the didn’t accidentally make eye-contact with Zephni.

The book, the wand and the card was nowhere to be seen.

“Speak,” Zephni placidly stated.

“Your holiness, you asked me to fetch my son to your personal chamber on this date and time. I pray that I have not overstepped and both I and my son pledge our lives to any undertaking you may have for us. It would be our utmost honor and privilege to serve you.”

“Indeed, I did,” Zephni nodded, her tone sombre. “I need him to find someone for me.”