Chapter 8: Division

“I refuse.” Divarus said after a few minutes of walking. They hadn’t made much progress at all.

“Excuse me?” Kaedra said turning towards him.

“I refuse to go on this pointless journey. And if you don’t think I deserve this blade...then take it.” the Scalon said triumphantly as he threw the Heldum Blade to the ground.

“Divarus! Don’t do this.” Thevor warned. “You see how powerful these Dimensional mages are, don’t you?”

“That’s exactly why I refuse. Didn’t you even listen to me before? I won’t be controlled like this. As long as I have free will...I won’t obey beings that hold this much power.

“This is not control.” Kaedra said. “I am trying to train you so that you can stop this conflict...all conflict.”

“War is a part of life. And no matter how powerful you are, you cannot change that. Maybe on other worlds out there...maybe there isn’t war. But this is Terra. And although our history is vague, we know that this has always been a world of war.”

“Look at X. He had the power to stop time. To stop that battle completely. And you tell me, that even with our power, we cannot stop war?”

“No.” Divarus said. “It is foolish. And it seems to me that is the only reason you have this power. Tell me, what will you do if you can somehow accomplish your goal? You are too powerful to live a normal life. You cannot give up your magic. There will be nothing for you to live for.”

Kaedra turned away. “Be gone. I will take Thevor with me then.”

Divarus left without another word. He ran off into the distance, towards the battlefield. Kaedra turned to Thevor with a sadness in her eyes. She then continued walking and the young human soldier followed her. He did not know what to do in a situation like this, but he had a similar goal to Kaedra. Ending conflict...how could that be a bad thing?

The Scalon was running using the rage he had gathered from his conversation with Kaedra. Angrily, he turned towards the battlefield and observed the dome of bright yellow energy that sealed it off from the rest of the world. “No one should have that power.”

Suddenly he felt a cold chill. This was odd due to the fact he could see the sun was shining brightly in the sky. However the cold just continued to grow. Divarus began to shiver as he ran. Something was following him, and he knew it.

However he could also sense whatever it was, it was invisible. It had already surrounded him and turning backwards to look, he would discover nothing. Then from the ground came a wisp of dark energy.

The energy surrounded Divarus’ neck and strangled him. He yelled out for help, but none could hear him. More wisps of dark energy floated from the ground and they began to drag Divarus into darkness.

***

When Divarus awoke, he found himself surrounded by darkness. He could not see anything, but as he felt around, he could still feel himself. “At least I am not dead.” he assured himself. This place was not cold like before. It had no temperature.

“Young Scalon...” said a deep voice that echoed around him. “Tell me what has transpired.”

“Who are you?” Divarus yelled out. He did not expect an answer.

“I am the one responsible for the war. A war that has been frozen in time. Tell me how that happened.”

“Why should I tell you?”

“Because I would like to know what being is so powerful, that my power could be defied. I know of no force that can override me except for the Light and the World itself. And I sense no Light. And I sense the World has not acted here. I can not sense anything...” the voice said, beginning to sound annoyed.

“Tell me...why can I of all beings, not know what did this?!”

Divarus began to formulate a theory about this being. He mentioned Light opposing him which could mean that he was Darkness. Was he really talking to the God of Darkness right now? And then he smirked. If this was a God, then he could stop the Dimensional Mages. He could bring about balance once more.

“A being who called himself a Dimensional Mage. X was his name.” Divarus spoke carefully.

“A Dimensional Mage...” said the voice without emotion. “How to fight a Dimensional Mage is quite the question.”

“You can not defeat him? Surely a being as powerful as yourself...to drag me to a lightless world, could defeat that.” Divarus said.

“The Dimensional Mage cannot defeat me, what I am, however I also cannot defeat it. So in a way we are both more powerful than the other. This is similar to a stalemate but not quite.”

“Please, tell me what you are.”

“I am Darkness. Everything in this world that is dark: spiritually, physically, mentally. That is me. Every shadow you see. Every devious thought. That is who I am.” the voice said in a sinister voice.

“You seem awfully patient for a being like that.”

There was a laugh through the darkness. “I have plenty of time. Resorting to violence...that is only something I do when there is no time, and when I please. You have within you a fire. You hate the Dimensional Mages. However, you are too ignorant to fight them. That makes you a possible asset.”

“You want me to help you?”

There was another laugh. “You are already helping me. However, you can be of further assistance. I want you to restore the flow of Time in the war. The fires must continue to spread.”

“Why would I allow that?” Divarus asked. “I may not believe in ending conflict forever, but that does not mean I want to exacerbate it.”

“Yes however if you help me, you will have gained a powerful ally indeed. You have not been forced to make an oath to me, to give me your soul. Therefore your free will is still intact. However I warn you, I can accomplish this goal whether you help me or not. But if you do choose to help me...there will be rewards.”

“Offering to corrupt me with power?” Divarus guessed.

There was a final laugh, and the sinister tone returned. “Why would I give you power? What makes you think you could handle it? There are many more rewards besides power. As my agent you will only increase your strength by your own will. So what do you say? Will you help me restore balance to this world before the Dimensional Mages rip it apart with a single thought?”

Divarus absorbed what had just been said. Somehow he felt a warm feeling inside of him. While he was talking to Darkness itself, it was offering him free will. And thus he made his decision.

“Yes. I will help you.”

“Excellent. Now you must find Time and ask him for his aid.”

“How will I find Time?”

“You cannot see the hidden world of the Gods and therefore cannot travel to it by yourself, however there are still shadows even in my world. You are in the middle of all Darkness. From here you can go anywhere you need to go.”

“Legends say the Realm of the Divines is incomprehensible to humans.”

“It is not simply a legend...you will not see the true realm. However there will be a world that you can physically walk through. You will be able to find Time there.”

“If you don’t mind me asking...why can’t you go?”

“My consciousness is spread too thin. I am trying to shield Terra from the Dimensional Mages currently. I do not wish to lose my grip on that world. I fear it will be destroyed if I do.”