The Temple of Time, once a glorious, marbled palace of white and gold, now sat amongst charred rubble and thorns of darkness. The dark, starry sky was almost idyllic. Perfect for stargazing, as he had appreciated once before. However, it was not the stars that he would set his gaze upon this night.
The body of the queen and ruler of the temple, the transcendent of time Rhinne, slept in a tomb of ice while her soul and powers were kept in a separate dimension of her own creation. Her beauty was captured by timelessness. An ornate, aureate circlet rested atop locks of sandy blonde hair framing a youthful, unblemished face. Her eyes were peacefully closed as if having accepted her defeat, sinewy arms cradling an hourglass to her breast.
Levitating before her frozen coffin, the Black Mage could not feel even the tiniest trace of power left within this inanimate corpse. He placed a clawed hand on the ice and inadvertently caught a glimpse of himself beneath the maroon cowl. Tenebrous hair framing blood-red irises set into a pallid face. He might have lamented his own descent had he retained even a bit of humanity within him. As he was now he simply did not care.
He had taken a walk for a different reason.
With countless thoughts plaguing his mind, he had come to her grave to seek an answer from her presence and a moment of serenity from his ever so chaotic army of squabbling minions. Though the part of him that was a transcendent was not particularly concerned, his innate nature was that of a master magician. Regardless of his ascension, he still retained that infinitely curious and deliberating mindset.
Within her mirrored prison, the unconscious Rhinne had shed a tear containing the last of her powers. Her tear had eventually incarnated into the twin children that shared the title and abilities of the transcendent of time. In the quiet serenity of the night, pondering the significance of that action and replaying that memory over and over, realization and inspiration slowly came to him.
Like the former goddess of time, he too had relinquished his powers. In the past that felt so long ago, he had also discarded his light in the midst of that dark, lightless forest. A light that had become human, groomed and guarded by the remnants of the organization that he had founded.
A light that he had vanquished himself… or did he?
Abruptly, a smile played at his lips, as sinister as the brand new plot that had begun to form.
Of course.
"Hahaha… Hahahahaha!"
He shook his head, laughing the entire time. The one that he had killed, the girl with hair like resplendent sunshine, was merely a distraction. Her light, albeit strong enough to rival his past self, was not of the same purity as the one he had abandoned. His other half, his child and successor and reincarnation, was still out there, growing stronger. Growing strong enough that he would come to face him one day – in the name of revenge or something else.
The maniacal laughter slowly died to a low chuckle, yet his grin never faded.
The light he had discarded was the purest light in all of existence, the answer that he had been seeking in his research but could never find until he had crossed the point of no return. His awakening as a transcendent had only occurred after that, so that incarnated light would not possess power on a similar scale as he.
But that could be easily corrected.
When he had been human, a culture he had observed of parents was to give presents to their offspring at certain timestamps of their lives. It was an unfamiliar concept, but not one that he could not pick up.
"A gift." He mused, pondering and playing with the darkness coiling about his fingers. "Yes. I should prepare a gift. You gave to your children the gift of life and all of your authority. Although I did not create mine with that intention, I too, should prepare something for them. It is, after all, an act befitting of a parent."
Smirking at the former transcendent, he continued, "I thank you, Rhinne."
He wondered if she heard his words, frozen as she was in her prison, and revelled in her silence.
The time was nigh.
The heroes were coming, his child amongst their tiny band of misfits. Sitting in the Temple of Time, he felt their progress through the horde of monsters. Arrows imbued with the might of earth ravaged the troops scouring the air. Dragon fire seared through the melee ranks, turning all to ash. Light, blindingly radiant and impossibly pristine, scattered the remaining forces with little to no effort.
That meagre shard of light had grown so strong in such a short amount of time that he was almost proud. Still, it was nowhere close to the strength it should have possessed. A pity. Nevertheless, he would rectify that soon enough. He cupped the orb of darkness between his palms, hefting its weight and feeding it another trickle of dark magic.
He had prepared this present months in advance. What was once a seed of darkness now pulsed with an abundance of extracted power – the power of the transcendent of light. Writhing and shivering, it stretched tendrils that sought him out, unused to being apart. Beneath the shadows of his cowl, the Black Mage could not suppress a smile.
Unfortunately, the appearance of this fragment drew him unnecessary scrutiny. A silent observer to his every word and action, he could almost see the former servant of Rhinne stiffen, anticipating his next move.
"My lord, that is…?"
Not for you. The Black Mage silently reproached, knowing his subordinate's line of thought. Lust of power had driven Arkarium to betray his mistress and convert to his side. Did he think this one was for him as well?
Such insolent greed.
No. He was not foolish enough to grant this large a portion of his power to someone who had committed treason once, in addition to what he had already been given as a form of courtesy.
This was going to be an investment into his own untapped potential.
"A gift." He answered with a sneer, drawing the orb back into the gold-limned sleeve, redirecting that unworthy slave's attention. "To reward the souls brave enough to throw down their lives in order to face me."
"I see…" Arkarium fell quiet, a look of greenest envy in those dark, sullen eyes.
Without warning, the temple shook in the aftermath of an incredibly immense power, the wrath of a demon unleashed upon the corrupted temple guards. Surprisingly, another pawn had arrived before the heroes themselves.
Arkarium looked up and around with distaste, irises alight with a dull, scarlet lustre.
"An enemy is approaching." He informed, having seen through the eyes of his snakes. "By your leave, I will cull him."
He paused, then nodded his consent. "Go."
With a bow, Arkarium vanished into the tapestry of time. Finally left to his own devices, the Black Mage returned his attention to the orb. It was getting more and more restless, struggling and seeking for something that was not there.
"Be patient." He scolded the little one, poking it with the tip of a nail. "He will be here soon, and then you can have him."
It calmed at his touch. Deep violet tentacles twined about his fingers, their wisping, tapered tips creeping instead towards the backdrop of light.
A fragment cut from the weave that was the ultimate darkness, this segregated portion of his magic was more than sufficient to corrupt. But it was not meant to do only that. If all went as he had planned, it would anchor itself onto that flawless light and become a bowl for the power that his successor would eventually inherit.
A baptism of darkness for his child of light.
Humming amusedly, the Black Mage considered himself a rather thoughtful father. His other half was coming with the intent to take his life, and here he was giving him something instead of taking something away.
It was an overdue birthday present, of sorts, but one that he would most definitely look forward to bestowing.