Sunday, May 31, 2009

The Return Part III



Of all the emotion it should feel, it was puzzlement it felt most. It baffled it how its race or species, with their knowledge, power and most of all wickedness and aggression (and of course madness), would choose to get the bitter end of the deal. Here they are, rotting and stinking in a remote and harsh world, engulfed in darkness. Here they are, hidden from the real world, practicing their own law and way of life in sanctuary. More like an outcast. Here they are punishing and tormenting their own kind, while the weakling human roamed the real and beautiful world. Beautiful, ripe land. The insignificant, low-level creature which more a beast than an intelligent being. Their science are so eons backward that any event, entity or power that they couldn’t understand were called “supernatural”. Damn, they couldn’t even travel between dimensions, let alone mastering the art of self manipulation and recreating life out of non-biological material. The best that they could do was creating large energy source they called “nuclear” and can only do it by using artificial tool they called “machine”. And they rarely can control it or they have an illusion of controlling it. Deaths of thousands of their kind and after effect to their generation seemed ignored. Foolish humans. Foolish, ignorant humans.

 

It heard the tales from mouth to mouth, passed down from its elder from generation to generation. It was also documented in scrolls and books, although the details were spared. It was until he secretly read the Holy Dark Documents that he know the whole truth, every detail. And that what made it angry, bewildered. It took it quite some time (about 500 human years) to discover this; after all the detail and carefully planning, after all the studying and surveying (more like spying) and after using all the tricks in any book in everything.

 

Before time was documented, there was only one world, one plane, one dimension. They were 2 powerful species rule this plane, human was more like a dream at that time. These two species were equally powerful, knowledgeable and capable although differ in nature.

 

One of them is its species, the Dark Contractor. More savage, ruthless and morbid. It was still an advance race albeit a brutal one. They have rules and laws, but it was more out of necessity than out of compassion or moral boundaries. What make them better was they don’t really have emotion, especially those good but intense feeling such as love or sympathy. So, unbounded by moral compass and feeling, they would do anything to accomplish their goal. No experiment is terrible enough for them to carried out, no plan and execution is evil enough as long as it is needed and important. In their own defense (more to their own pride), they are not selfish.  They think the greater good for all than personal good. No matter how much blood shed, how many died, how many tormented, how many body collected, it was all worth it. Sacrifice, seemed to be the core of their existence. Bad, but true. They would have dominate the world if not for the other race.

 

It didn’t know why, even in the Holy Dark Document (which should have all the missing details), the name of the 2nd race wasn’t clearly mention. The documents just refer them as the Other. Like the name itself would incinerate the document if it was ever written. The Other race or civilization was as advance as the Dark Contractor. They were equal in almost everything; strength, technology, culture etc etc. They were as strong as The Dark contractor but differ in nature. Very opposite actually. They were the yang of The Dark Contractor’s yin. The light of The Dark Contractor’s dark. While the goal itself what drive the Dark Contractor, it was more the love of making themselves better, making the world better that drive the Other. They were bounded by their emotions, human emotions now, and by their pathetic moral compass but instead of becoming hindrances, it became their catalyst. Loves making them accomplishing their goal without unnecessary sacrifice, which make them think harder and do things better. Quite an irony because love usually make people sacrifice. Maybe it was more of their deep believes in morality and fairness. Their sense of justice.

    

It carried on reading the Holy Dark Document. For a few hundred human years The Dark Contractor and the Other co-existed. Although there was no full fledge battle, a silent war erupted of course. It’s just a law of nature. But because they were equal in power and greatness, no one was winning or losing. There were casualties, many in fact, but as the war was fought in secrecy, everything seemed peaceful on the surface. Until a third-party came into the picture, and of course the balance was disturbed. That third-party was, and still is, a low level organism called human. More like germs or viruses. Cancer to the world. Kept reproducing itself and destroying everything around them. But the Other accepted this new race, maybe attracted to their potential amidst their savage nature and small mind. After some times, these human beginning to evolve, becoming smarter and more civilized, although nowhere near as advanced as the Other and the Dark Contractor. But the Other forgot, no matter how big their potential is, human is still savage by nature. There is darkness in the core of their being. And the Dark Contractor took advantage of that. By offering earthly pleasure such as power, wealth and sex, the human agreed to conspire with the Dark Contractor to bring down the Other. For their own satisfaction, they betrayed the Other’s trust.

       

So the plan to destroy the Other was set to motion. With the human inside information, the Dark Contractor knew the Other defenses and weaknesses. Conjuring powerful spell that created Black Hurricane made of hundred thousands of Dark Soldier, the Dark Contractor destroyed the Other Main City. Millions of the Other died. Their power, magic and knowledge couldn’t save them. Most of them didn’t know what hit them, let alone fight the powerful supernatural hurricane.


But at the last moment, the leader of the Other managed to save the Core of their power. He did it by splitting them into two and changed them to human forms. Then he gave them to his most trusted Guards and used his last remaining strength to teleport them to safety. After the Black Hurricane subsided, The Dark Contractor dispatched a Special Force to finish off any survivor. Another force was sent to salvage any valuable object.

 

The rest, as they said it again and again, was history. The Dark Contractor gave the human all the worldly pleasure they wish for. Then, the world was split into 2 dimensions. One dimension which was wild but beautiful, was taken by the humans. This dimension, although suitable for living, was also boring. There was no supernatural manifestation, no spell or powerful magic conjured and not much creature exist. The other dimension, dark and hot, full of wondrous yet dangerous things belong to the Dark Contractor. It was hard to the eyes, but wonderful to mind and soul. It is sort of place humans would call “Hell” but that was because of their inability to enjoy higher sense of pleasure. After that the gate that connecting the two dimension was closed. There was no more interaction between the two races. After a few hundred human years, the human completely forgot about the Dark Contractor or the Other. But the memory of these two powerful races was etched in their soul, they unconsciously reenacted parts of their existence by writing stories, painting picture and singing. The humans thought they imagine them, fantasized about them but actually it was just their souls remember them. The Dark Contractor, on the other hand, from time to time sends a probe to locate the Core of the Other power that was split into two. Only the Probe wasn’t a machine, but a creature that can disguised itself as a human. It would then moved among them, changing from one person to another, collecting information. And once a year, it would feed on human flesh to recharge.

       

From the last volume of the Holy Dark Document, it found out that the Probe was already located the two humans who are actually the Core of the Other’s power. They were separated far from each other, each with their own pair of guardians. They also didn’t know this and though that they are actually normal humans. Again, to its puzzlement, The Great Elder didn’t just send assassins to destroy the split Core. They just monitor them with no solid plan to do anything about it. Frustrated, it took action on its own. But of course stealthy and silently. As old and incompetent these elders are, they were still powerful and full of tricks. Their most valuable assets are the Huvrig, the combination of soldier, guard and executioner. They are violent and strong creature, and most importantly, not affected by magic. What they lack was only the will of their own and are controlled easily by The Great Elder. Once, there was a Dark Contractor that felt the same way as it, called The Great Ojiman. Ojiman wasn’t a powerful conjurer with almost nil knowledge, but it got brute strength. Once, it crushed a mountain because it was on Ojiman’s way. It also slays a lot of its opponents by tearing them bare-handedly. One day, the Great Ojiman challenged The Great Elder and told them to bow before it. The next day, Ojiman head was pierced on the top of The Great Dark Citadel and its limbs was pierced on every corner of the city. They said it was the work of a Huvrig, not many, just one. They also said the Huvrig was once man, and after years of torturing and genetic manipulation, they were transformed into Huvrig, powerful yet in complete control by the Elder.

        

So it moved quietly, planning in sickening detail on how to get to the other dimension and find the Cores. With gifted mind and a lot of anger (a lot of time too), it finally succeed in opening a door to the other side. It was a high level spell and almost cost it its life. Once there, it disguised itself to look human, a trick learns from the Probe design. It was overwhelming even for it, a higher being to be exposed to a new dimension, new cultural, new environment. But it adapted quickly. To make it easier for it, it grabs an elderly human. In a dark deserted place it began to pluck the information from the human. To make it fast, it just slashed the skull right opened and thrust its claws through his brain. Surge of electrical impulse containing information (knowledge, memory, feeling) ran through its hand and directly to its brain. It was a moment of ecstasy, to a human it was like drug overdose on steroid. Then, it knows how the human worlds works, how ancient it may be.                   
        

Without further delay it tracks down the 1st Core, a male. It saw the Core in front of his home, hesitating to go in. When it closes in, suddenly something happen. It seemed unconsciously the Core react to its present. Wave of energy clashed with its magical energy and open up a little the other dimension. The Core started to get dizzy and almost tumbling. Then it tracks his mind and snatches whatever piece of memory it can get. It was a bus conductor giving a 50 cent coin. So, it change it appearance to the bus conductor and went to meet the Core. The Core was confused, but his energy subsided and the hole in this dimension reality was gone. When the Core was about to take the coin, it change back to its original appearance and used magic that can change its physical self to extend its arms to tremendous length. Its claws went through the Core human body until it hit a tree across the street. The motion brought along The Core to the tree. It reset the magic and its arm is once more in its original length with it at the claws position. It crouched before the Core and said, “If only I can kill you right now..."
"But they said I can't because you are too important. Well, at least I have the pleasure of your pain...”

It started to twist its claws to hurt the Core. To hurt him as its heart and mind hurt. Hurt him because of making it lives in a dark and violent world. It almost killed him when it suddenly sensed another powerful present. The Guardian. It didn’t fear the Guardian, but it fear a direct confrontation could alert the Elder. It hissed and unwinds its teleporting magic to get back to its dimension. Once back, it went down to the lowest level of its own home which protected from any surveillance magic. There, it screamed until its lung burst and started to tear itself up. It doesn’t matter for it as each part of it will come back together like some sick puzzle. Another physical magic that remembers its anatomy. But now, it tore and tore and tore itself up. When it can no longer tore itself up, its separated eyes started to cry individually. Tears mixed with black blood. It hated its dark world.