The Prophecy of the Golden Child
All things come to an end. The worlds were born from chaos and to chaos they will return. Long before that occurs, the Creator of Worlds will also come to an end.
Heed this well, for if we cannot bring forth the Golden Child before the Creator leaves us, we shall end as well.
The Golden Child shall be born of an egg of light and a seed of dark. She will be carried by the one who acts from love, and be fed with the hopes and dreams of all who live in the Land of Light and Dark. It is possible for one side to refuse to give their dreams, but if they do, the land shall be sundered and that side shall not survive.
Give freely of your dreams, and the Golden Child shall come forth. She will unite this broken land and finally the land will have a heart.
So shall it be.
Sora watched, dry-eyed, as the demons prepared for war. Some insults were not to be borne, and the death of the High Lord had sent them into a fury. He could hear the discordant sounds of the sirens as they freed the lesser Heartless from their bindings beneath the hall, reshaped them and bound them into physical forms. Lesser Heartless really had no place in the Dark Land… they came as flotsam floating through the void… but the demons had uses for them. Sora didn't particularly like watching the sirens at work, but it was better than watching as the Hourglass selected a new High Lord.
In the normal course of things, High Lords changed when someone challenged the current High Lord and won. Sometimes the old High Lord survived, but mostly not. When that happened, the change of power was clear. But once in a while, a High Lord died in combat and when that happened the Hourglass would speak to everyone who wanted to claim the title and determine who should hold it. It was said that they looked into the future and consulted with the Creator to decide.
Sora couldn't stand to watch. The pain was too much. All he wanted was Axel back… warm arms slid around him from behind, and he almost pulled away before he caught the familiar scent of smoke and musk.
"Chem," Sora murmured, and relaxed into her arms, gently gripping her wrists. Chem laid her cheek against his shoulder, and sniffed.
"Sora." Chemistra hadn't been as close to Axel as Sora, but she had liked him and hated to see Sora hurting. She hesitated, before speaking quietly. "What would you do to bring Axel back?" Sora blinked and suddenly pulled away, angry.
"Anything! But he's dead, Chem." Sora almost choked on the words, but continued. "You can't fix dead." Chemistra bit her lip, looking at him searchingly.
"I… I don't want to give you false hope Sora. It's a fucking insane idea. But I've got a feeling… the High Lord speaks to the Creator, you know? And the Creator can do anything." Sora stared at her, not understanding. "Anything."
"But a new High Lord would never want the old one back," Sora finally said, almost breathless, and Chem nodded with a small smile.
"Unless he loved him." Sora stared away, sightlessly, as he finally understood the idea Chemistra had come up with. It was completely insane and would probably kill him.
But anything was worth a try.
"Thanks Chem!" Sora called as he sprinted away, and Chem waved half-heartedly before taking a long drag from her pipe. It had been very tempting to her to try to keep him, comfort him and make him her own… but it hadn't been right. She just hoped he survived. It would be hard to forgive herself if her idea killed him.
Blynda was peering into a bowl of black water, in the centre of a circle of demons, when he found her. Riku was there too, and immediately went to his side.
"Sora! Me and Kairi have been looking everywhere for you, where did you go?" They had been very worried when Sora slipped away. Sora shrugged, watching Blynda at work.
"I was watching the sirens." Blynda lifted her head and looked at the demon who had petitioned her… Semmins, Sora saw.
"You are not the High Lord," she told the tall, blond demon dreamily. Semmins nodded, accepting her verdict and stepping back. There was some blood on the floor, Sora saw… someone clearly hadn't accepted Blynda's word tamely. Which was incredibly stupid, since there were easily a half-dozen of the most powerful Rages in the room, but there were always fools in the world. "Who else wishes to be tested?"
"I do." Sora said, voice hard as a stone, before anyone else could speak. Startled heads turned to look at him, but Blynda didn't seem surprised at all. There was a pause, then whispers, and Semmins spoke.
"Lad, what are you talking about? You're not ready to be High Lord, even if you have the power for it." But Sora ignored him, watching Blynda. She was peering into her water again, and nodded.
"He is the High Lord." The whispers were cut off in a shocked silence as Blynda smiled. "He will speak to the Creator and succeed, or he will fail… and we will select a new High Lord tomorrow." Riku gripped Sora's shoulder, his knuckles white, but Sora pulled away as Blynda beckoned to him. "Come, High Lord. I will show you the way to the Creator of Worlds."
"Sora!" Riku cried out to him, but as he tried to stop him a dark shock hit his hand, numbing it. Sora glanced back, and Riku could see a mantle of power settling over him. Being High Lord was more than just a title… it was the greatest portion of the power of the Dark Land.
"I'll be back, Riku. I promise." Sora said to him, and hoped he wasn't lying. But lying or not, this was something he had to do.
Blynda led him deep into the hall, deeper than he had ever been before. The walls of the hall became hotter as they went further down, until Sora began to feel breathless. But he gradually got used to it, and understood that the power of the High Lord was already changing him. Blynda seemed indifferent to any discomfort, walking in a cloud of cold air she carried with her. The walls of the hall changed from dark stone to obsidian, and it looked sharp enough to cut, beading with moisture in the hot air.
Finally, Blynda stopped, and Sora swallowed as he looked past her. The tunnel they had followed opened into a large room, but it was hard for him to see anything since it was filled with white mist.
"I can go no farther. The Creator awaits you here. May you be graced with success." She stepped aside, ignoring how a fluttering bit of her robe caught on the jagged walls and was sliced apart. Sora hesitated a moment, then stepped into the mist. Nothing happened, and after a moment he kept walking.
It felt like he walked forever, but then the mist began to thin, and he felt sand underfoot?
"Huh?" Sora turned around slowly. He was standing on the Destiny Islands again. The sand and water were the same, and there were some trees… but only a few. As he watched, another tree appeared, slowly spinning out of the sand. Then Sora glanced upwards at the sky, and had to fight vertigo. There was a vast, spinning void there, a cacophony of darkness and light that knew no end. Swallowing back his nausea, he looked down at the sand. "This… is this the creation of the Destiny Islands?"
"Yes." The voice was entirely normal sounding, and Sora turned to see an angel standing on the sand. Her hair was raven black, sliding down her back in a glossy wave, and her eyes were a dark blue. She was beautiful but subtly… wrong. She breathed only sporadically, as if she had to remind herself to do it, and her movements were jerky. "It was a very long time ago, but I remember. You are Sora?"
"Yes. You're the Creator of Worlds?" He asked her, and she nodded, looking to the left of him. Sora followed her gaze, but there was nothing there that he could see.
"You're… not how I pictured." The Creator had been described to him as a vast, disembodied intelligence, not an angel. She smiled, but the expression was more of a grimace.
"The angels pictured me this way, and you wanted to speak to me. Conversation is difficult in my truer aspect." She paused, remembering to take a breath, and continued. "Although anything I would show you would not be all I am. That would destroy you." Sora couldn't help but bridle a bit at that, even if it wasn't meant as an insult.
"You mean I'm too small to understand?" He asked neutrally, and the Creator laughed, an odd, stuttering sound.
"Yes, but that is not a bad things. You have an… amazing mind…" She leaned forward, so far that it seemed she should have fallen over, but didn't. "You… all your people… create the strangest fantasies. It is beautiful."
"You mean like stories?" Sora hazarded.
"Yes, but those are the… little lies. Little fantasies." She paused, straitening and swaying. "I mean the big fantasies… things like justice. Duty. Compassion. Love." Sora blinked.
"But those aren't fantasies!" He protested, and she shook her head.
"Aren't they? Break down the universe… find any justice? Duty? Love… biochemical reaction meant to facilitate mating… reproduction… attachment to offspring to preserve bloodlines… but it's not just that. You make it more. How do you do that?" Her eyes were fever bright as she stared into his face, and Sora felt that she was really focusing on him for the first time. "I don't know. I learned it from you but I don't know how you did it. Not my plan… just happened. You change. You're the future and I… am the past…" She swayed again, and Sora swallowed. He had thought that the lack of breathing and jerkiness were just because she wasn't familiar with a physical body, but now he was thinking it was because she wasn't in control enough to maintain the body properly. "I… no. No. Getting distracted. What did you come here for?"
"Please, bring Axel back to me?" Sora pleaded, and her gaze turned inward as she thought for a moment.
"Axel. Lea. I knew him. He's gone. I can't." Sora felt like his heart was breaking all over again, as he looked into her beautiful face and heard the truth in her words. "He's gone. If I go after I can't come back. Too close to death. But there's… another way." Her wings drooped for a moment, as if under an unbearable weight, then lifted. "Sora, you love him?"
"With all my heart." The simple truth in those words put a genuine smile on her face, and for a moment Sora was dazzled by the warmth of it. It made her look young and happy, just for a moment.
"Then it's time. Good." She lifted a hand, and held out a little golden egg to him. Sora looked at it dubiously. It looked like a hen's egg, but he could sense a vast, coiling power in it. "This is the egg of the Golden Child. You must… you must carry it with your love. Hold her in your heart, get the demons and angels to feed her their dreams. You may not be strong enough but… the best by far. Axel could not, he did not have enough soul… the other, the Queen, she wouldn't listen. Closed her heart to me. The Seraphim… not in love yet. I thought I could wait on him but you're here so it's now. Once she's strong enough, the egg will hatch. A tiny bit of me and all your hopes and dreams will be given life…"
"Will she be able to bring back Axel?" That was what mattered to him, and Sora wasn't going to lose sight of it. The Creator smiled again.
"She can. I can't promise… she will. But she will have your love for him. I do not think… she will refuse." Sora stared at the egg for a moment longer, then nodded and reached out to take it.
As soon as he touched it, he felt a drain on his heart and soul, and shuddered, trying to stop it. But the drain became more intense, more demanding, and he could feel his heart and soul creaking as it pulled on him. There was a spark of panic, fear, and strangely it wasn't quite his.
"Sora. No. Give her love. You have to hold her with love." The Creator's voice was distant, but Sora thought he understood, and stopped resisting the drain. As soon as he stopped fighting it, the siphon eased, and he reached out tentatively to the presence inside himself. It was unformed, like pure, idealized potential but it held a small part of the Creator's power. And it was afraid, afraid of it's separation from the Creator. He hesitated, and then wrapped it in hands of love, gently cradling it and easing its fear. Soon, it was safely ensconced inside him, quiet and comfortable. Sora focused outwards, and opened his mouth to speak to the Creator…
And closed it with a click. She was gone, and the mist was gone from the room as well. It was just a black cave, carved out of obsidian. He turned to look back, and saw Blynda watching him. He walked back to her, and she nodded to him.
"You have the egg. I see it in you." She said dreamily. "We will have to feed it now… come. It is time to tell everyone what we need." Sora nodded, following her… but occasionally glanced back.
The mist wasn't coming back, and he had a feeling the Creator would never be met here again.
"The demons are moving towards Beacon Hill. We will meet them on the Plains of Erehwhon." Ephraim tapped the map, and Galaros watched, expressionless. "The Cherubim will be here…" Galaros tuned him out… he didn't understand tactics and strategy at all… and watched the Queen. There was a glow about her, a warmth he'd rarely seen. Apparently pregnancy was agreeing with her, unnatural as it was. Demons and angels stopped aging when they absorbed the power of the world, but that meant they also stopped cycling. This would be the first child ever born in the Land of Light, and Galaros didn't want to know how the Virtues had managed it. The whole thing was sickening enough.
At least the demon was gone. They'd all sensed the sudden vanishing of the dark power, and all the angels had breathed a sigh of relief. Galaros frowned faintly. It was a hard thing to be glad someone was dead, but at least the suffering was over.
Suddenly he felt… something. It was like a quiver through the world, and all the angels murmured, looking around. The Queen frowned and said something sharp, regaining their attention, but Galaros wasn't listening. Something new was entering the world, something interested and interesting, and it was important. More important than anything else.
"…and Galaros will remain here, to maintain things in my absence." That made him blink and refocused his thoughts on the meeting.
"If it please you, my Queen, I would request that I be allowed to come." She frowned and looked ready to refuse him, when he added. "I am hoping to be able to convince Kairi and Riku to rejoin us." There was a murmur of support from the angels, and the Queen frowned slightly at him. He could almost hear her wondering if bringing him was a good idea.
But he'd been faithful Galaros for so long, it didn't take more than a moment for her to decide.
"Very well. Alliana, you will maintain things in my absence." The youngest Seraphim nodded, her soft red hair floating around her shoulders. "Let us begin. It's long since time we cleansed the Dark Land, and there is no better time than now."
Semmins stood at the parley sign, his hands folded on the hilt of his broadsword. Sora could only admire his bravery. There was every possibility the angels would shoot him on sight.
Sora had wanted to be the one standing down there, but he had been quite firmly overruled. Theoretically, as the High Lord, he could do anything he pleased. Practically, no High Lord could stand against the entire Hourglass when they decided to gang up on him. The irresistible force had met the immovable object and the object had won, hands down.
He wasn't very far away though. He was standing beside a bonfire the demons had built. To feed the egg their dreams, all the demons of the court had burnt an offering, something that symbolized their hopes and dreams as they concentrated on what the Dark Land meant to them. The egg had taken in varying degrees of power from each demon, but Sora was starting to feel swollen with the potential. And the awareness inside himself was taking on more of a personality, starting to flex against its womb. He wondered how much longer he could hold it.
Chemistra had smiled at him, winked and tossed her pipe into the flames. Semmins had offered a small, heart shaped locket. Siglio had put in a dagger. And the list had gone on… and to his surprise, Riku and Kairi had made offerings as well. Kairi had put in the lead crystal Daphne had given her, and Riku had gently put the glass cat into the flames. It had jumped around for a moment as though it was dancing, then had vanished into the flames.
But they were missing a large part, and that was the angels. The angels needed to contribute their hopes and dreams… or the Creator would have no choice but to sever the Land of Light from the Dark Land, and send it into the void. Where it would shatter, killing everyone who lived on it.
Sora was sorely tempted to let that happen, but he remembered the small smile on Riku's face as he mentioned Galaros, and the pleasure in Kairi's as she recalled the Virtues in the Eye of Light. The angels weren't evil anymore than the demons were. They were just… people.
We're all just people, Sora. Fucking up in a fucked up world.
The army behind him was ready and tense, but Sora exerted his will and they settled back. He'd always been amazed how Axel could get instant obedience, before, and now he was amazed again at how easy it was. Being the High Lord made a huge difference. The sirens were singing, but it was just to amuse themselves, not the grim battle songs they had hammered out earlier. The bound Heartless fluttered overhead or slouched along the ground, and Sora frowned at them, but the sirens had them well in hand. None even looked at him.
He looked up and watched the angels come in. He couldn't be sure, but there seemed to be some confusion as they moved in swirling, hard to hit patterns. Sora smiled to himself… they probably hadn't been expecting a request to parley. Finally four of them landed, and Sora tensed. He could sense the power in all of them… they had to be the Queen and three of her Seraphim. Galaros was easy to pick out, and so was the Queen, with her halo and special wings, but he had no idea who the other two were.
"I am Semmins, Master of the Guard." Semmins said in a voice that easily carried to the bonfire. "The High Lord requests parley."
"You have a new one so quickly?" The Queen sounded amused, and Sora's hands clenched into fists as he stared at her. He wanted nothing more than to attack her, but if he did the angels would have to react. "What does he want, demon?" Semmins ignored the slight, and continued.
"He wants you to make a sacrifice in the bonfire, and add your hopes and dreams to the Golden Child." The Queen's mouth dropped open in shock, and the other angels looked startled… except for Galaros, who looked directly at Sora. He seemed to study him for a moment, and Sora met the angels amber eyes. "The High Lord has the Creator's egg." The Queen suddenly sputtered.
"No! My child shall be the Golden Child, not some demon abomination! Angels-" But Galaros cut her off, his voice clear and firm as he spoke.
"We shall offer our hopes and dreams to the child." The Queen rounded on him, enraged.
"That is not your decision to make, Seraphim!" He met her eyes, his own sad but stern.
"It is my decision." Then he spoke again, and his voice rolled over both armies like quiet thunder. "By the Creator and the Conclave, I am the King of Light. Surrender and your life may be spared, Seraphim Angelline. You have been judged unfit to rule." The Queen of Light went dead white as he spread his wings, the little balls at the tips glittering like jewels in the sun. The other two Seraphim moved behind Galaros, and their body language made their allegiance plain. The Queen looked around at her angels, but no one would meet her eyes, and the demons were watching with interested.
"You TRAITOR!" She finally screamed at Galaros, and flung a bolt of pure light at him. It chewed up the ground and Sora heard Riku make a strangled sound… but when the dust cleared, Galaros was holding a glittering shield in front of himself. He said something to the two other Seraphim, and they nodded, taking wing. Semmins, with the good sense that had made him Master of the Guard, started running back to the demons' lines.
Then Galaros changed. Sora flinched, able to feel the heat even from where he was standing as Galaros shed his human form. It was almost painful to look at the burning serpent, glowing white and blue with heat and floating in the air. Then the Queen changed as well, and the two serpents clashed in midair, sending the other angels scrambling for cover. No one wanted to be in the middle of this battle of leviathans.
Then, suddenly, Sora felt a spasm in the fabric of the world and the Queen was gone. The fiery serpent floated in midair, seeming confused, then settled to earth and turned back into his human form. Galaros looked around, puzzled, then cautiously walked to Sora. There was a call from the angels flying overhead, but he ignored them.
"Where did she go?" He asked Sora, and Sora blinked.
"Didn't you destroy her?" Galaros shook his head, his eyes dark with worry.
"No. She just vanished." That was incredibly strange and worried him a great deal. Then they both looked up as they heard the Creator's voice.
There's no time for that… couldn't let you work it out. No strength left… banished her to the void… all I could do. Hurry. Oh please hurry. The land under their feet seemed to lurch, and Galaros began calling orders to the angels.
Soon the angels were making their offerings. Most didn't have personal items, so they just used locks of their hair, thinking about what the Land of Light meant to them. Galaros used a piece of twisted glass, just a shard of something he had been working on, but Sora felt the strength of his hopes and dreams as he added it to the fire.
When the egg began to separate from him, it wasn't painful… only odd. Sora fell to his hands and knees, gasping as it pulled out of him. It almost felt like a physical separation, but it wasn't just that, and he could feel a loss in his heart and soul. But he held to his love and gave to the child, letting her take what she needed to live.
Finally it was gone, and he looked up at the golden egg floating in the air. It was as large as a person now, and as everyone watched it began to crack. A golden, feathered wing thrust itself out of the crack, followed by another, and then the shell fell into fragments, vanishing into the air as the Golden Child stretched. She looked like she was made out of molten gold, but as they watched she changed, her skin becoming a soft peach and her hair turning into a strawberry blond. It fell down past her buttocks, and was separated into two sections, each capped with a pink sphere. She had curving, golden horns that ran back into her hair. Her clothes changed several times, and finally settled into a white summer dress with a gold, flowery print. She settled onto her feet, and tentatively took a step before turning to smile at Sora. Her eyes were the same green as Axel's, and the mischief in her smile reminded him of Chemistra.
"Why is everyone staring at me?" She asked innocently, and there was a relieved laugh. Then they heard the Creator sigh.
At last. For just a moment, Sora could hear a childish babbling as the Creator let go. It sounded young, free and happy. Then the presence was gone, and he knew it would never be back.
"Please, can you bring Axel back to me?" He begged the child, and she touched her cheek with one finger, tilting her head to her side.
"Axel… oh yes, Axel. No can do." For a moment Sora felt like his heart would break, but then she smiled at him. It was a warm, compassionate smile. "But I can bring you Lea." Sora blinked. "I can't bring back a Heartless or a Nobody, but I can bring back the whole man, the way he used to be."
"Oh." Sora mulled that over for a moment. It would be a lot better for Axel… Lea… but… "Will he remember me?" There was wistfulness in his voice. He wanted Axel back, even if he didn't remember… but it would be hard to bear. The child laughed and nodded.
"He'll remember you! Both his Heartless and Nobody knew you, how could he not?" Sora looked relieved, and the child began to sing… Sora blinked as he recognized the song.
'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gain'd,
To bow and to bend we shan't be asham'd,
To turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come out right.
She gestured imperiously to the sirens, and their voices joined hers, forming a round. Then she gestured at the banshees, and the male voices joined, giving the song a deeper dimension. At last, she called on the angels, and the Virtues with the power of song became part of the round. Everyone listened to the breathtaking melody, and for a moment Sora saw a vision of a young woman with bright red hair, cradling a baby and singing to him. Her voice was soft, breathy, but it was the same song. Then the vision faded, and a golden mist arose, covering everything.
"Sora?" Axel stepped out of the mist, looking puzzled. His skin was normal again, but he still had his obsidian bat wings. He folded them behind him, and rubbed his forehead. "What happened… oof!" Sora ran up to him and hugged him tightly. He could feel the mantle of power, the title of High Lord, lifting from him and returning to Axel and he was glad to see it go. Axel's arms were around him, and Sora sniffed as Axel nuzzled the shorter boy's hair. "S'alright Sora, I'm here." Axel murmured in his ear, and Sora sighed, finally relaxing.
Everything was right with the world.