Legend of the Empyrean Blacksmith

LAW OF ENTROPY

Inside a glass-roofed gazebo overlooking a cascading garden of roses and rapid streams of water bundling into small waterfalls as they all fell into an out-streaming, massive one, five figures currently sat in ephemeral silence around a wooden table stacked with exotic fruits .

The place beneath was surrounded by clouds as it floated far up, well away from the sight of the world . The gazebo was held up by six, hand-carved beams, decorated by various, beautiful patterns, which ever so often sported a shimmering gem .

Of the five figures, two were men and three were women; Freya sat at the central spot, her expression downcast and troubled . Seated next to her was a woman with a veiled face, her whole body edgeless, bloody-red hair faintly visible as it draped over her back .

Opposite of them, to the far right, was Erebus, who had a deep frown of contemplation on his face . Seated right next to him was the other man, seemingly in his late sixties with a head full of white hair and a face full of white beard . His eyes were closed, his features otherwise entirely ordinary . To the end was the last woman, draped in cascading shadows of nothingness, her figure both there and not at the same time . She didn’t have any distinguishing features, as though she was everyone and no one at the same time .

" . . . why now?" Erebus suddenly asked, breaking the silence and drawing attention to himself . "Why would the Empyrean take Alison now?"

" . . . I imagine it is because he has seen through my Avatar," Freya replied with a faint sigh . "Which forced him to speed up his plans . "

"What plans?" the other man asked, his eyes still closed .

" . . . it’s difficult to say," Freya replied, sighing once more . "I got the feeling he is not playing just our own game, but one much larger than it all . "

" . . . what could possibly be larger?" the veiled woman scoffed, her voice cracking and breaking . "In the end, he still became merely another of Ataxia’s puppets . We’ve put too much faith into him . "

"A’yor," Freya turned to the last woman . "What do you think?"

" . . . I think," the woman’s voice was paradoxically loud and low, distant and near, everywhere and nowhere, at the same time . "Nothing . I am ashamed . . . to say it, Mother . But, when I look at him . . . I . . . see nothing . Far more . . . than looking myself in the mirror . "

" . . . I’ve said it before," the old man said suddenly . "It was a mistake, Mother, to antagonize him . "

" . . . chips merely fell where even Sister was unable to predict them," Freya said, chuckling bitterly . "If it was in the cards, I’d have befriended him instead . "

"Regardless," the veiled woman said . "We can’t allow this to continue anymore . Our reign is already being questioned . If we do nothing after having lost another Bearer, it will become even more difficult . "

" . . . I agree," Erebus said . "We need to draw him out and throw everything we have at him . Even if we are unable to kill him, we need to buy more time . How many years before we can breach the barrier, Mother?"

" . . . with the help of Four and Three, I estimate another thirty years at the least, forty at the most . "

"Then forty we need to buy . " Erebus said . "He’s not invincible . . . nor is he as composed as he lets out . However despicable, we need to aim where it hurts the most . "

" . . . dear Mother, Great Sister," the elderly man suddenly said, opening his eyes as his lips curled up in a bitter smile . "I’m afraid I cannot participate in this . "

" . . . why, Istok?" Freya asked .

"I . . . simply cannot . " the man replied, bowing lowly . "I shall await my due punishment . "

" . . . Istok . . . " Erebus mumbled, but the man had already vanished from his spot, as though he were never there .

"I shall arrange everything," the veiled woman said . "You only need to gather people and be where I tell you to be at and when I tell you . "

"Yes, Great Sister . " Erebus and the other woman nodded solemnly and too vanished, leaving behind only Freya and the veiled woman .

" . . . I’m afraid, sis . " Freya said, biting her lower lip . "This . . . might truly be our undoing . "

"What are you afraid of, Gaia?" the veiled woman asked with a faint scoff . "He is just a lowly human, at his core . Ataxia may enamor him, but he doesn’t make him an immortal . Not in the least . "

"You haven’t met him," Freya said . "Not like I did . He’s . . . different . Different from Eve . Different from Ayla . Different from Rove . Different from Stark . Different from Eldon . "

" . . . in what way?" the veiled woman asked .

" . . . he can both match Eve’s cruelty, as well as Ayla’s compassion," Freya replied, sighing . "He can meet Rove’s determination . . . as well as Stark’s will . And, by far, he is the only one that can match Eldon when it comes to true madness . I feel if we aggravate him too much . . . he will simply cease to care . "

"Let him cease, then," the veiled woman said . "If his following keeps growing, it will soon match ours, Gaia . He may have won them over for now with his wit and charm, but, he’ll chase them away all the same once they finally remember who he is . He’s just another one of Ataxia’s dogs, that’s all . Not one thing less nor one thing more . "

" . . . " Freya remained silent, merely looking out of the gazebo into the vast horizon . Times were about to change . . . yet, for the first time in a long, long while . . . she felt as though she didn’t belong on the right side of it all . The first and the last time she felt that way . . . she was right . Luck was on her side back then, but in her heart, she knew that wouldn’t be the case this time around . She silently prayed, to someone, something, even grander than her . . . prayed and prayed . That was all she could do now .

**

Floating above the ravaged rubble that was once a prison island, two figures had strange expressions on their faces . Four and Three had just witnessed Lino ride off with a Dragon into the horizon, as the two of them slowly materialized behind .

" . . . we need to report this to Two, at the very least . " Four said in a heavy tone .

" . . . it is indeed getting out of hand . " Three added, taking a deep breath as she glanced down at her trembling hand . Just now, when Lino threw the woman from the sky, majority of his Will was aimed neither at the woman nor at those beneath on the island -- it was instead aimed at the two of them, a clear-cut warning that should they intervene, things would get ugly . "We’ve allowed him too much freedom he’s begun to believe the world is truly his . "

" . . . you won’t report anything . " a familiar voice startled the two of them from behind as Six appeared, his expression complex . "I will handle it . "

" . . . like you handled it so far?"

"He’s becoming a loose cannon, Six," Four said . "How can he be trusted with handling anything important? He’s half a breath away from spiraling . "

" . . . is he?" he questioned with the two oddly . "Think back, think back to the moment his Will touched yours . What did you sense? Past the overwhelming desire to kneel, past the unbridled, surface madness, past all of the things you expected his Will to be . What did you sense . . . at the very core?"

" . . . nothing . " Three exclaimed lowly .

"Exactly . Nothing . " Six chuckled bitterly, shaking his head . "I can’t believe that lad is actually trying it . . . "

" . . . won’t Ataxia notice?" Four asked, unable to mask a surprised tone in his voice .

" . . . no," Three suddenly said, chuckling . "He only let us sense it . On purpose . "

"Aye," Six nodded . "Still, it worries me . He’s juggling too many things right now . And it seems Gaia has also decided to stop sitting idly by . "

" . . . we still can’t intervene . " Three said .

"We won’t," Six added . "There is no need . I believe he can figure it out himself . He always has . No reason to stop now . "

" . . . how did he even come up with the idea for it? He shouldn’t have been exposed to the Universal Laws just yet . "

"He took a short trip to Earth," Six said . "A small island in possession of gods . It must have been there that he learned of Law of Entropy . "

" . . . still, just from that?" Three sighed . "Even Eldon needed more . "

" . . . it’s simple," Six said . "Eldon grew up understanding the same Laws we did, boxed in . Lino . . . has always had the liberty of not knowing . It is much easier to create a new habit than it is to re-shape an old one . "

"Can you guess his ultimate intentions?" Four asked . "Does he truly intend to suffocate Qi Springs?"

" . . . I can’t even begin to fathom what he wants to do," Six chuckled . "But, I am looking forward to it . You two should return to the mainland and stay in Celeste . Don’t let him kill other Bearers just yet . "

"What if he goes against us?" Three asked .

"He won’t," Six replied . "He’ll probably curse you out to heaven, but as long as you endure that beating, he won’t make a move against you . "

" . . . I feel . . . I’d rather have him make a move, though . . . " Four mumbled, rubbing his gauze-covered temples . "That tongue of his . . . aii . . . it’s only gotten more venomous over the years . . . "

"Just take the lashing," Six said, slowly beginning to fade . "After all, we’re forcing him to work with two hands tied behind his back . It’s the least we can do for him . "

" . . . then you take the damn lashing . . . " Three mumbled .

"You think I hadn’t?!" Six growled from beyond . "I’d taken so many I’m on the brink of vomiting blood every time I see his face . Humph, it was the high time someone else took that burden away from me -- I mean, that joy from me . Have fun!"

" . . . old crook . Go and die already . . . "