The Seeker | Volume 2

Palsy stumbled back from the Depravity sigil on the wall, his eyes still reminiscent of his daze-like state. Ling and the officer both looked towards him in confusion and concern, wondering what he had just seen. "What is it?" Ling asked as he took two steps forward towards Palsy.

The red haired man's eyes finally lost their look of confusion once Ling put a hand on his shoulder. His eyes then darted towards Ling, who's brows were furrowed in obvious concern. "What did you see?" Ling asked. His question was enough for Palsy's breathing to speed up a little. 

"Oblivion, the end of the world…" Palsy said in a terrified voice as sweat began to beam down his head like raindrops. "The end of the world?" Ling was taken aback by what palsy had just said. Suddenly, the Depravity sigil on the wall disappeared, and the jail cell now had no distinctive features. 

Ling walked over and placed his hand where the sigil just was, but he felt no change in his body, mind or surroundings, which he felt was odd. He shut his eyes and began to visualize the remnants of the sigil he'd just seen. As an Order 8: Lingerer of the connection path he could listen to conversations who he wished would be listened to. Perhaps, his Order 7 advancement ritual success rate would be amplified by doing this task. The wall grew 2 pairs of illusory purple eyes that stared at him. These eyes seemed forged from a faint starlight and the essence of the cosmos. 

The eyes suddenly moved closer to each other, and faint human features began to grow around this pair of eyes. The faint and blurry outline of doll-like features were starting to manifest the more that Ling willed it. The blurry outline suddenly turned less illusory and more lifelike. Suddenly, a clatter was heard as a wooden lifesize doll fell to the ground in front of him. 

Ling looked down in confusion as the wooden doll with no features had the same sigil he visualized on its forehead. "I'm not strong enough to do that…" Ling mumbled with a little trepidation as he knelt down and touched the doll's forehead, now gaining complete authority to look into "its" vision etched within the sigil. 

…

"Another thousand years?" I asked, my face contorting with confusion and a tiny sense of worry. De-Taylel's statement. "So you're saying I'm early, how's that supposed to work?" 

The angel's scorpion torso twitched slightly, and "his" tail swung back and forth gently like a dog. "The epoch of destruction is coming soon, sooner than one might expect. When Khorvath destroyed the world "he" was never found again. Many surmise "he" was either killed by an opposing faction or "he" committed suicide." 

"He" suddenly turned around and stared at the stone statue he once was, which stood as tough as a monolith. "One next who is destined to destroy the world will do it for good—a being of no compassion or mercy. Many people think it's a representation of the wrath of The Oldest One; or the one who stands above all in the cosmos, looking down upon us like insects. 

"The wrath of The Oldest One…" I froze and contemplated "his" words. I always thought the one who created the universe was a being of pure benevolence and compassion. But the very thought of "their" wrath achieving physical form was difficult to understand.

"Anyways, I brought you here due to outside circumstances. You and your friend here became aware of Ian Vinigrad's death. It's not because his death is a dangerous thing; in fact, it only happened last week. But what he was looking for: The 37 Cards of Replication, are very dangerous artifacts."

"Whoever gets their hands on them may achieve the Order 9 characteristics of the corresponding Routeway they symbolize. These cards were created in the Third Epoch by a brilliantly powerful dem-god: Cael. He had followed the major power in that epoch; Errodus. No one knows where "he" came from; but Errodus was a naturally born Spiritual Creature of the Destiny Routeway. With this Routeway "he" could alter the fabric of fate, destiny, and the future. Cael conspired with Errodus to replicate the characteristics of the 20 known Routeways known at the time, and with such a powerful deity's help, he was able to create cards with the Order 9 characteristics of the 20 known routeways.

De-Taylel suddenly waved his hand, and a stone slab appeared. It was illusory and semi-transparent, but had physical characteristics. On the slate was a language that I couldn't read, but De-Taylel was able to translate them to english; a less foreign language.

Order 9 Keeper characteristic: Inquisitive. 

Order 9 Divinity characteristic: Secret Scavenger. 

Order 9 Erosion characteristic: Catalyst of fortune. 

Order 9 Astral characteristic: Holder of Dreams. 

Order 9 Blocker characteristic: Leveler of fate and destiny. 

Order 9 Connection characteristic: Detective of thought. 

Order 9 Guardian characteristic: Justiciar. 

Order 9 Eclypse characteristic: Stealth. 

Order 9 Patience characteristic: Conduit of Peace. 

Order 9 Destruction characteristic: Egoist. 

Order 9 Virtue characteristic: Refinement. 

Order 9 Old-Visionary characteristic: Sun-lighter. 

Order 9 Sefirot characteristic: King of Devils. 

Order 9 Singularity characteristic: Extender.

Order 9 Creator characteristic: Placer of Matter.

Order 9 Tyrant characteristic: Half-Mad-Man. 

Order 9 Illumination characteristic: Beacon of radiance.

Order 9 Vitality characteristic: Wellspring of life.

Order 9 Protection characteristic: Shieldwall of defense.

Wait…one is missing! 

I looked at the now translated slate and took note of one of the missing noted characteristics. My gaze then lifted back to De-Taylel, whose face was expressionless as "he" watched me read the slate. "You said there were 20, one is missing. Do you know why?"

The dark haired angel fell silent, grabbed the slate and looked it over with an indifferent expression. The slate suddenly turned illusory and semi-transparent as it dissipated back into the unknown place from where it came. 

"Yes, the Apocalypse characteristic for Order 9 was supposed to be listed on the slate. There was 1 individual who had the characteristic when it was made, but "he" went bad and the other angels had to subdue him. 

I knew who he was walking about: Crodio. He told me that he was an Order 0 of the Apocalypse routeway before he died, before he was able to destroy the world. When someone gets 1 Order characteristic, it sinks into their body and digests so they can drink the Order 8 potion of the corresponding Routeway without much backlash. So that means I could extract the Order 9 characteristic from Crodio's body and give it to De-Taylel so the slate could be finished. 

But, I did form my own material exchange committee, so I'd have to need the half-dead angel to give me something in return: Information regarding the Zourist Family and their knowledge about the potion formulas for Orders 7, 6 and 5 of the Apocalypse routeway. 

"I can deliver it to you, De-Taylel. But if you do want it, you'll have to give me something in return." I said solemnly as I peered into the angel's fiery eyes. "His" lips twitched into a small, sly smile as he nodded in agreement. "What is it you want?" 

"Any information regarding the Zourist Families search for the Order 7,6 and 5 potion formulas for the Apocalypse Routeways," I responded. De-Taylel fell silent for a few moments, after a while "he" chuckled as if he just left a deep place of thought.

"Of course. But I'm curious, how would you be able to retrieve a long-dead characteristic? The last person to hone it died almost 3500 years ago." I smiled softly as I answered his question. "I know some people, don't worry." 

The angel gave me a glance as "his" body began to turn limpid and transparent. The statue sitting on the throne began to glow as vines crept back up its surface like snakes. The features of De-Taylel began to leave the boy who "he" had previously possessed as a host.

The brown-haired boy didn't look the same as when he was possessed. When he returned to normal his skin looked like it was peeling off, revealing a cold bone beneath it. His teeth began to fall out of his head, landing on the floor below with tiny clanks. 

He looked back at me with fear in his eyes, which were slowly turning cold and shallow as if suddenly losing their color; their sense of life. His palm grew that hand with the sharp teeth, its tongue wrapping around the boy's left arm. The tongue was much larger than me and Daxter had previously anticipated it to be. 

The tongue soon engulfed his entire body. It suddenly contracted, crushing the boy's remains, which were then sucked into the hand on his palm, which was snapped off of his body like a doll's appendage. 

Me and Daxter looked down at the now empty remains of the hand on the ground, as it growled and devoured its meal.