Chapter 1 Interventus: Vengeance.

  Story and characters written and created by JustSomeNumbers

  Upon the skies of a wide stretching continent, a singular landmass far reaches the outskirts of the horizon with no end in sight. Looking down upon a world filled with the arcane madness of the witchlight from the feral races. Monsters born from the unbalanced manna of the primordial beginnings herald the creation of the heavens above, a floating realm scraping the peering wisp of the clouds overlooked the banality of life. It was the golden glows of the decadent houses, the arcane shimmer of glowing orbs of light- powered by the lifeblood of the inhabitants who view the splendor of the community parkways, gentle breeze and pale white marble lined within the streets. Many areas of congress and peaceful hide-aways were the hallmark of whomever gave rise to this unimaginably divine place. To the inhabitants of the realm below on the Pangea super-continent of “Euros”, the realm housing the gods, hevi, was what this place of un-deniable peaceful air of tranquility. To the gods, ruling the universality of existence- this was simply an intermediary place of rest or observation. Where the gods simply exist when not completing any personal projects or want to socialize with other divine beings.

  The city itself was unlike any other, truly one of the most luxurious and creative aspects of architecture- shifting the gaze of onlookers from one masterpiece to the next. As expected of the god of Architecture, now long since replaced by a predecessor since the rapture conflict. Each building is somehow built to clearly reflect the unique niche of the divine dwelling inside- with lavish articulations of their personality, yet somehow forming together in a pale marble and tinted golden landscape. The feeling of belonging and comfort only being exceeded by the impeccable placement of the facilities of which meet the various needs of the gods.

  While true that each aspect of divinity- each god themselves have a specific and unique domain of control, each of the domains require one thing in common:

  The need of a space for divination, aspect creation, faith transmutation and arbitration.

  The space for divination and aspect creation, typically a divine space contained within a globe of crystalline sparks of glass forged from the sands of divinity from the shores of the universality (a large monolith reaching to the cosmos, where gods are born and new domains of control abstracted-), caters to the gods specific need to interact with their believers and create manifestations of their domain. Many of the gods feel embarrassed to show their prototype organisms, or unfinished world phenomena. New workings of apostles- assistants to their god, as well as new designs of the seraphs- a unique race each god scrutinizingly makes to serve specific divine purposes are housed here. This is also where most of the gods who are active and engaged with the lower realm and mortals spend a majority of their time.

  Attached close by or directly (depending on the individual desires of the divine being belonging to it), was the subsequent space needed for faith transmutation. In essence the process of faith transmutation was the creation of new mana particulates- the particles that allowed the unique blessing of the divine to be bestowed upon the mortal realm in the form of Manna. Manna was simply what the mortals who had the ability to use specific aspects of these particles (determined by which god was blessing said mortal-) used the manna particulates. But to the gods, these manna particulates were the truth that they as divinity existed. Manna particulates and their creation was not an involved process, after setting up the cyclical cycle of faith- the prayers and belief in the god in question were converted into a higher concentration of their respective manna particulates. While the un-intended consequence of having mortals slowly amass the ability to harness more and more of the increased amounts of manna- the important fact that demanded the attention of the gods was that it meant more followers and thus more influence. This process of faith transmutation then means the survival or death of the gods, and the heightening of one's domain of control.

  The final and most…complicated… of the needs- was the direct need for arbitration of disputes between the gods. Within the primordial laws, a set of rules the universality set forth for continued existence only added on or amended by the slightest modification costing significantly: was the chambers of trial. Renamed after the rapture conflict by none other than the leader of the prevailing and sole surviving faction Vita Divinae to the chamber of games. To be precise, games of the gods. Where those with influence would play thrilling games with consequences on the divine scale. Alternatively- and its intended purpose was to duel the divine that opposed to another for their very existence. Victor takes all but the unique manna particulates, halting an increase in particles and leaving only a trace of what once was.

  A man robed in what could only be described as perplexingly divine and unimpressive cloth, poised to obscure or hide his appearance was positioned in a huddle before a woman of seemingly increasing distress. Sporting long silk robes with a darkened hood was teary eyed facing the wispy ground of Hevi’s game chambers. The chambers signified nothing but dread, or for those particularly prepared to enter: Determination.

  The man’s name was Divinae Interventus, the divine with the domain of control over the aspects of time and intervention. Soon, he would disappear from universality all together. His face contorted and shifted from various emotions. As his eyes began to tear, and water containing the very essence of manna slowly poured out from his opened eyes, he started to shiver. Not because he was fearful of what was to come, not because he was angry he lost to his old… “friend”. His body began shivering due to the sheer hatred and vile thoughts that were forming at the thought of this… this murderer, getting to live any longer. The very thought of it made his blood boil. The stars of the universe burned dimmer in comparison to the pain he felt when realizing the avenging of his brother was not only in vain- but a mere pebblestone to the person lauding over his pitiful and disgraceful state.

  The woman standing before him, Divinae Vita- was a striking beauty in her humanoid form. With the domain she controls being the essence of life, a veritable fortress of youth and life brimming with an aura of pleasant forestry- yet in her current state was only the semblance of some archaic twist of miserable ineptitude and apathetic fear. Her various facial wrinkles from her scrunched up nose and clenched jaw couldn’t even be hidden by the shakily held fan she tried to hide it behind. She was in utter disbelief at the stupidity and absolute arrogance Interventus had just shown her. If anyone in Hevi knew what they were looking at, one singular word would come to mind. Absolute and holistic dread. A sense of dread so dire, and so inexplicably visible that the tension of the moment could only be broken by the drastic reversal of what was currently unfolding. But alas, why would anyone risk upsetting such a clear moment? Jumping in to challenge the results would most likely be suicidal not only in the very nature of the action- but would essentially mean spending the rest of divinity as someone to interfere in one of the most influential god games ever physically witnessed. Even the rapture conflict wasn’t as important as what was being witnessed.

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  A god cannot ever “die” as mortals typically think, however- they can lose certain… “bets” within the games of the gods. As the primordial laws set forth, the games serve as the ultimate and final arbitration between those in conflict. Or alternatively for those simply bored by the lack of anything too meaningful to distract them from managing their own domains of control. The chambers of which are where these games are finalized and enacted. A giant building in the center of Hevi, high above the clouds with views of worlds, galaxies and the remnants of olden apostles and felled gods served as a reminder of the reason only Euros is available to divinity now.

  With a softly gristle to the man's deeply mournful breath, a small exclamation pushed through the smallest cracks between his bitten lips.

  “...damn…DAMN.”

  Interventus started pounding the white wispy ground, the shivering was getting so painful to contain he figured he might as well let out his dread in physical percussion. It didn’t matter that Vita, the victor and sole reason he was about to disappear completely was in front of him. What point is a dignified appearance if all was for naught? What point is there to restrain oneself if the moment is only fleeting and frail?

  “I…”

  Interventus began a shaky sentence with raspy undertones to his voice. The shaking continued to escalate and his body was screaming for him to strangle that son of a bitch who murdered him. The one light this existence was worth viewing.

  “...You. You're going to PAY for this you- you…”

  It was a struggle to focus, his mind was foggy from the circles it was racing. His head felt hot and his eyes were feeling raw from the tears leaving his ducts. A blurry vision was all he could see through the wasted tears exiting his suffering body. A crack started to form on the brim of his nose, glowing with a pale golden light one would usually reserve for momentous and hopeful occasions. This signified the end, cracks in the soul of divinity from the loss of a game. Alas his time to cease existing was but mere moments away.

  Vita bit her lip in response, hard enough to see from underneath the fan was a steady supply of the crimson omen. Divine blood was dripping slowly from her lip to the holy grounds of the gods for yet another time. Her eyes were so clear and focused it seemed to cut through the tension with unrelenting…regret. Regret her plan to capture the man she sought under her complete control. But most of all, the dread of knowing she was responsible for never being able to try again. A desperate rationalization began to formulate in her semi-calm demeanor.

  “...IDIOT.”

  Yes, it was clear to her. Only one reason came to mind to explain the scene that would haunt her for the rest of eternity.

  “THIS. this is why your brother DIED. YOU FOOL.”

  After re-adjusting her fan in a fit to distract her body from the feelings being communicated by her mind slowly unraveling, interventus responded in kind to the former friend.

  “SHUT YOUR FILTHY MOUTH. I… I…”

  Interventus wanted to pay no heed to the words of such a disgusting person. But all he could do was reflect and wait, a funny thing for a god to do. However, with this condemnation to utter annihilation gave rise to the actualization of a scheme. A… last resort so to speak. The thought of which calmed the shivering anger and refocused his mind. The once spinning environment and fiery hot feeling in his forehead slowly started to rechristen into a cold and unrelenting forceful re-allocation.

  “...You will pay for this Vita. I’ll make… “

  Interventus shakily got up from the sobbing painful lump he was in, and stood at an uneasy position- waning from falling over to staying steady over and over again.

  “I’LL MAKE CERTAIN OF IT WITH MY OWN HANDS YOU TRAITOROUS RAT.”

  With his mind calmed from the chance to at the very least get one thing back at the murderer, he used his power to shift universality. While his time was still ticking, time is irrelevant to one who controls and maintains it. The small crack on his nose began to ever so slightly deepen. As interventus shifted into the black void of time- he began to search. Search for the thread he can pull to finalize this… appalling scheme of his. His thinking was now fully concise:

  If I make a vessel so powerful- so influential: I can send unto vita the dread and pain she forced my dreary existence to become. I simply need to pour everything into it.

  Creating a vessel was easy. He was a god after all, but the sheer magnitude of which this vessel would be created was something never done before. The creation of a vessel that would inherit the manna capacity and power from the very gods themselves. It is simply put, suicidal to undertake. The god would cease to exist, after all, to create such a thing would require every singular atom of one’s being. However, this thought only applied to rational beings. Beings that still had something to live for. Interventus already wasted his life.

  He began working. As the concept of time did not matter in this void, the only limitation was what he could bestow such a thing. Such an… abomination. As he began to shape the vessel, the deep crack that was no longer progressing- due to the absence of time in his realm; suddenly surged. A tidal wave of stinging pain could only be described as the absolution of his determination. His tears only mimicked the actual pain he wanted to express, cracks forming all throughout his body- golden pale light seeping closer and closer to consuming the very silhouette of his being. Chunks of his flesh began to fade into dusted nothingness, lost to the sands of the void before him. But he was resolved.

  AAAGGHHHHHG. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHVCK.

  Torturous amounts of pain, and the loss of everything but his upper body were tapered off by the finishing of the vessel's body. It took tremendous effort to simply breathe in a manner that was marginally less hellish.

  “Ehghhhhh…. It’s…. Done…”

  His heavy breathing was relieved slightly by the completion of his vessel. The completion for the mechanism to his vengeance. While not completed, this was the biggest hurdle he was to face- now Interventus only needed to fill the vessel with soul as to animate it. Most situations where creations of the gods are made anew or created for the first time require only a singular soul. This…. Abomination… needed more. A single soul would simply be too fragile for a vessel of this magnitude. While a powerful essence, a soul alone would only measure up to about the pristine clarity of half a divine being- and that was if the soul itself was already exceptionally above certain “mortal standards”. To be safe, he decided his new vessel would need three. Just to be certain this final act of defiance would be certain. Absolution in his thoughts crushed any insolent thoughts of self preservation. Another shifting of universality began, and he was off to collect the necessary souls.

  It is time to begin. To find the souls of my vessel- and to materialize my Vengeance.