Episode 7 - A Spark of Hope Part 2

-Varus-

I look out the window of the train. The planet has a dark beauty to it, like a great beast. Problem is that Valkorian has brought the beast to anger and feriocity. It hasn't slept in a long time. There is an anger, but there is also an exhaustion deep down. Or perhaps that's just me.

A couple of Sith soldiers give me dirty looks as they pass, and Falon smiles apologetically. He had given many of them bruises to remember him by. 'Shoka sits nearby, but not too close. I don't ask for her to come closer, and she doesn't offer. Falon doesn't have to look at us for me to know he thinks its awkward.

"What you think?" She asks.

"The eyes are a surprise." I reply.

"I seem to recall you quite like my surprises."

"In the bedroom, sure. You are very inventive and I'm open to your ideas but resonating in the Dark Side outside of that?" I look to her, concerned. "What possible source are you using for this? I have my anger, my guilt as a spark."

"You think I bear no guilt?" She asks back.

"No, I..." I sigh. "I know you feel guilty about... it."

And just like that, we fall into silence. I don't know what to say, and Ahsoka gives glances to Falon.

Falcon stands and says, "I'll give you two some space." He leaves the room.

"You shouldn't feel guilty about it." I start.

"That's sweet, but you hardly get a say into what I feel. I feel it regardless of what either of us think."

"Because what? Your not 'equipped' to carry to term?" I challenge. "What about the new one there? It has lasted further than any before. You and I both sense it." I stand and take a step towards her, and at the same time she takes a step back. I scoff. "See? Everyone knows who the truly guilty party is."

"That's not true! I just-"

"Oh, please! You are fine, you are a perfectly healthy woman capable of carrying a child. You know it, I know it, hell, even Nihilus knew it!"

Ahsoka's eyes narrow for a fraction of a moment. "Is that what Nihilus told you? Is that what you screamed about? Did he put the blame on you?"

Damn. Damn her perception. "We can get to that later. Ahsoka, I know emotions are a crazy thing. Your thoughts spin and spin from one thing to the next, everything has an emotion tied to it, and while men, quite frankly don't care, you care about EVERYTHING! I know that. You can't control it, but you need to. Don't look at yourself like a broken person. Using guilt to fuel the Dark Side is dangerous."

"Oh, you mean like you do?" She raises an eyebrow.

"Precisely." I nod. "You know how far it brought me, and how easily I fell so many times. Remember on Mandalore? Remember after I defeated my clone? Remember how I was when the Miraluka lost themselves?"

"I remember."

"Then you would remember how hard it was for you to pick up the pieces of what was left of me."

"You aren't willing to pick up the pieces for me? Are you saying its too hard for you?"

"Dumbass, of course I would!" I reply. "If you collapse, I'll pick you up, because I've been there. I've lived there. I'm broken, but I'll risk breaking again to pick you up if I must. But the last thing I want is for you to bring yourself to that point to begin with."

"..." Ahsoka stares at me, silently taking in my words. I take a breath to calm down.

"No matter what you say... No matter what I want to believe... No matter who is at fault..." Ahsoka whispers in barely controlled emotion. Her hands shake. "My body has been a tomb and a coffin, and I cannot bear the thought of it happening again. I know I will technically be alive on the outside, but on the inside I will be reduced to a graveyard. The fact is we are on a planet soaking, dripping, in the Dark Side. I cannot survive, nor can it survive, if I stand out. Regardless of what emotion fuels my instincts, I still have this deep protectiveness, this determination, that tells me to do whatever it takes... even if it means using the Dark Side to blend in for a time. Is it a risk? Sure. What fight isn't? This is nothing short of a war inside me."

"A war I can have no part of." I add.

She looks up at me, shocked, hurt. My heart clenches. I take a breath. "'hsoka, I am a void-user. I drain life around me. You know it, you feel it. It is small, so very small, so you can endure it with ease. No one is hurt. It's like being slightly radioactive. Plenty of people are and they live normally, but then freshly conceived lives are just so... fragile, you know? So easily snuffed out that a single breath can extinguish it. That is what Nihilus reminded me of. It took a bit to know what he was talking about, but he was right; and I hate him for it all the more."

I collapse onto a train seat and rest my head in my hands.

"Y-you're right." Ahsoka stutters. "I am keeping my distance because, deep down, I know your presence is dangerous. I'm sorry... I'm so sorry. Most fathers should feel happy to hear they are a father, not like a reaper."

"Most mothers should feel hope." I add. "Not death."

Ahsoka sighs, "We're screwed up."

"We'll get through this."

"You really think so?"

"What I think don't matter. We have to, because I see no other option. We can't avoid this. We either fight through it, or fall. Whatever it takes."

"Whatever it takes." Ahsoka sighs.

We fall into silence for a moment, each lost in our own thoughts. Then Ahsoka rises, and approaches me until we are about arms length, and no closer.

"I need you to do something for me." She says.

"What?"

"Bring out the Starkiller." She says.

"What?" I ask. "After all I have done to move past him? To kill him?"

"I know, and I love Varus, but the fact is, Varus is vulnerable. Varus has weakness. I have never wanted you to be Starkiller, because that side of you is a side of war when we have always been in relative peace. The only times Starkiller has ever come out is violently and that's my failing. I have never accepted Starkiller, but Starkiller... is a side of you as much as Varus is. Starkiller is YOUR dark side. If you have to use Starkiller to survive, then do it, for me. I need you to stay alive, for me. and if I have to accept Starkiller for you to bring 'him' out, then I will. Because until this child is strong enough to be around you, I need you to stay away from me. And I need you to live. So bring out the assassin. Bring out that side of you that protects you."

Even as she talks, I feel myself harden. Perhaps all it took was acceptance for that shell to envelop me. It is has always been my fall-back, to be Starkiller, but it has been something I have viewed as a failing, not as a strength. Something to be disgusted by, not accepted. But then, I have always used Starkiller in the past in the most extreme ways, fueled by incredible anger or guilt that forces me to view others as witnesses to be removed. I have never viewed it through something so base as survival, never something to purposefully be... unleashed.

"Yes, ma'am." I answer. Starkiller answers. I stand and look solidly at her. "If that is what it takes, at least until we find a way to escape."

"Escape may not be possible for a while, and there are things here that need our attention, or there may no place we can escape to."

"What do you mean?" I wonder.

Ahsoka tells me what she knows from what Scourge has passed on to her. Emperor Valkorian intends to undo the Force using the Tho Yors, and Scourge intends to rebel.

"What kind of moron allows a puppet to create a rebellion against him to gather the malcontents, as if it isn't actually going to be used for its intended purpose." I wonder. (In another dimension, an emperor sneezes.) "All the same, if Valkorian is going to pull a universe-wide event, we should probably see if we can say something about it."

Ahsoka chuckles. "Probably."

"I also want to see if I can find a way to kill Nihilus here. The Sith have to have a way." I muse outloud.

"There is… also a third thing," Ahsoka says hesitantly. "Have you heard anything about the invasion fleet?"

"Only that Valkorian won. And that losses are pretty heavy." I answer. Ahsoka holds herself, and though my first instinct is to approach, I stop myself. I wish I knew what she was thinking, but we are also isolating ourselves in our bond. I don't want to risk it. No physical contact. No contact over our bond. This is going to be agony. I also can't believe I have to resort again to 'asking'. "What's wrong?"

"I'm worried… about everyone. Anakin. Daughter. Son. Obi-Wan. They all went out to fight the last I heard, most likely met Valkorian personally. I feel they are alive still, some weak and hovering, others still there. Koj is advising Mandalore. Captain Rex? Fives? Some I can't sense as they are not in the Force, but Anakin…"

"I feel it too." I say.

"I'm glad I wasn't just imagining it."

"No, I feel it. I can't feel him, but nor have I felt the pain of his loss. I thought I did, but it went away as quickly as I felt it. I don't feel I have lost him. Its more like, he isn't there to be felt. Ahsoka, I think he is just hidden somewhere. Like a prison deep somewhere."

"Well, if he is, then the Sith are in for a rude awakening." She grins. "Either he is busting out, or we are busting in to mock him for being lazy and taking his dear sweet time." Her grin halts. "Or… at least, you will. I probably shouldn't…"

"No, you shouldn't. Not so long as you want to go so far to give this one a chance." I agree. "You need to stay safe… but that begs to question whether or not we can trust this guy. Scourge. Probably isn't my happiest customer since I kicked his ass twice."

"I heard Son saved you, and this time Falon knocked you out."

"I'm calling hacks. I kicked his ass. It counts."

"Suuuure."

"It does!" I insist. Ahsoka laughs. Yes, yes, I know. I'm taking this personally that the bastard is a cheater. I'm being whiny. Yatta yatta yatta.

"I think we can trust him, in so far as this mission." Ahsoka answers after having a good laugh at my expense. "His attention and anger is directed at Valkorian, and Scourge is very much aware, even more than any of us, what the stakes are and how far Valkorian is willing to go to achieve them. Will this be the beginning of a friendship between the Sith Empire and the rest of the galaxy? I doubt it. At most, I hope Scourge will recognize everyone else as neutral parties to be cautious and wary of and distrusted and kept at a distance, rather than enemies. It's a start that allows communication. And right now, that is enough. He also thinks like a Sith, so I expect he will try and get something out of this whole ordeal that elevates his own standing and power. On the way, the reality is, Love, he isn't helping us. We are helping him. The one wondering if anyone should be trusted is him."

"Touche."

"So yeah, you should probably see what he needs help with. I'm sure he will find things for us both to do."

"Working for a true Sith Lord." I scrunch up my nose at the thought. "Been there, done that. Not interested. But if you insist."

Ahsoka smiles, seemingly in thanks. I make my way to the back door. Ahsoka calls, "Starkiller." I stop. "Keep Varus alive. Do not kill him. Bring him back to me."

"Yes, ma'am." I answer. "You stay alive as well. We will watch over you."

Starkiller and Varus may quarrel, may fight, but that is normal, because when it comes down to it, we rely on each other. We are like brothers after all.

"I have the Force for that!"

Oh, for the love of… Woman leave it alone and let me make my exit! Let me be cool! I yell back, "Yes well, right now it seems I'm helping everybody! Why not help the Force while I'm at it!"

I make my way through the train until I find Scourge. He looks up as I approach.

"I trust we will not be having 'that' happening again?" He asks.

"Not so long as you make sure Ahsoka is taken care of." I answer. I sit down across from him. He raises an eyebrow, but otherwise says nothing. "I think we can benefit each other, actually."

Scourge leans back and looks me over. "Hm. I can acknowledge your skill and power, but how exactly am I supposed to trust you? Your woman I can trust. I have put my life in her hands already. You have done nothing but attack me."

I nod. "I get that. So we don't need to work closely together. I am an assassin, Scourge. Give me a target, and what you think I need to take care of it, and I can take care of the rest. All I want is to end the war."

"This war will not end until Valkorian is dead and one is in place to lead who doesn't want war."

"Like you I presume?"

"Despite what you may think, foreign Sith, I have never had an aspiration for leadership. Like you, I was an assassin. There are others who can lead, such as the Dark Council."

"And how many of them don't want war?"

Scourge was silent a moment. "They may not have wanted it, but it will no doubt be a welcome oppurtunity to conquer and grow their power."

"So in my book, that makes you the best candidate."

Scourge sighed. "If it comes to it. What about you? What do you plan to get out of this?"

"Killing Nihilus." I answer without hesitation. "Saving my family. Protecting the galaxy I want them to live in. Stuff like that. Look, I realize I'm not at the top of your buddy list, so if you want me at arm's length, I can work with that. But I need to be doing something. I can't just sit back and do nothing."

Scourge looks out the window, and falls into silence. I know he heard me. Whether he is being thoughtful or ignoring me, I don't know. I continue, "This isn't easy for me either."

"I haven't stabbed you many times, ripped out your spine, and caused you to bleed gallons of blood."

I grimace, "True…"

"Very well… I can make use of someone of your skills." Scourge returns his gaze to me. "Valkorian is bent on his ascension. He cares little for things he considers mortal, such as this war. It was all to draw out Jedi Anakin Skywalker. Now that he has, and seemingly done away with him-" I feel my heart clench as he says it so bluntly. I try not to think about it. "-then he is leaving the war effort over to this… Lord Gemaal. Valkorian will shift his focus to his project of completing his ascension. His ascension will destroy the galaxy in the process. It is his weapon. A very powerful one no one can stop once set in motion. This is both his strength, and his weakness. He underestimates mortals, seemingly haven forgotten what it was like to be one once. He will ignore the entire galaxy and focus the entirity of his attention on a single thing."

"So we turn the tide of the war and bring it to his doorstep." I guess. "You really think any size fleet can compete with someone who can destroy planets?"

"Not like there is a choice in the matter. But the problem is time."

I gulp. That doesn't sound good. "How long are we talking before we are at the point-of-no-return?"

"Days."

"DAYS?!" I gasp. What?! Shouldn't it take like… YEARS to destroy a galaxy!? City by city, planet by planet, system by system, allowing a proper resistance to be gathered and a war to be fought?!

Scourge nods grimly. "Time is short. So our first action must be to buy time... Though I must warn you, if we succeed in accomplishing my goal, it will bring his ire down upon us."

I click my tongue. This will be troublesome. "Pissing off a mortal god. Can't say it wasn't inevitable. I've always had a way of getting on people's bad side."

"Valkorian's entire ascension requires a few things he has carefully worked towards for centuries. The first are the seven Tho Yor, relics of the ancient Jed'aii. He is in possession of five. He will move to claim the other two since the relics were awakened."

"So we take a Tho Yor and run with it." I guess. "How hard can it be to take a planet-sized ship out from under his nose and fly it away?"

Scourge looks at me flatly. He is not amused. "I hope that is meant to be a bad joke." I sigh. "If we can take a Tho Yor, it will do well against him, but at this time it is impractical. Instead we will go after the second step. He has a sword, crafted in blood and the pain of dieing prisoners, that has spent the last thousand years feasting on the cries and deaths of an untold trillions of souls."

I gulp. "You mean the blade we found on that planet we fought on?"

Scourge nods. I grimace. He says, "That blade was crafted by Marco Ragnos, but has never been used. Now he intends to use it to complete his ascension."

"How exactly is a sword going to give him god-hood?" I wonder.

"By impaling it deep into the very beating-heart of the Force... The Tho Yor."

-Visas-

Visas Marr didn't mind the silence, not anymore. Once it reminded her of Nihilus, followed her into then night, made her feel her soul was being sucked away into an infinite well of nothingness. She needed noise. Noise kept away the madness tugging at the edges of her mind.

But it had taken years, perhaps too many, for a little appreciation for peace and quiet to be in her heart. She had been running in a nomadic life for as long as she could remember, and embracing a life on Forge had been... difficult. It was too quiet for the longest time here. Planting her feet and making a life for herself made her jittery.

So as much as she found she could, and had to, accept some peace and quiet, she also found an equal need to have a little noise.

Taking the brat to a playground proved to be a nice balance. She could quietly sit on a bench in watchfulness, while hearing the children screaming and making noise. The screams were happy and innocent and excited, rather than painful and in sorrow, as her memories knew; but it would happily be a good replacement.

In the distance, Visas heard the mothers talk of news. The Mandalorian invasion of the Sith Empire had hit a collosal wall, halting it in place. The mothers believed it to be for the best that they stay out of it. Visas wasn't so sure, but nor could she argue.

Part of Visas liked this life, had always wanted it. She had yet to find anyone to adopt the brat, and was slowly coming to terms with the idea of staying the legal guardian.

But another part of Visas knew it wasn't over. Just because her people had founded a home on Forge, hidden from the galaxy, didn't mean the threats were not out there. Nihilus was not dead, and he had a palate for Force-attuned races. Emperor Valkorian, whom Koj and Varus and Nihilus all seemingly feared, was now becoming an active threat. Visas hoped the Mandalorian invasion would be able to handle him, but she had sensed things... saw things in the Force that made her heart quake.

Everyone had experienced a nightmare of death and destruction and a huge battle between a white knight and a dark knight in their dream on the same night. Even those that did not sleep saw it almost like a vision. The event was passed on as a freak accident, a mistake within the mental network, but Visas knew differently. She sensed it. Something had awoken, something was coming.

When playtime was over, Visas called the brat back, brought her home and to bed before leaving to return to her station. Visas flew to the temple.

In the years since claiming Forge, the temple had become a home for archeologists, scientists, and teachers and students. Ancient books dating back millenia were found, markings were found and recorded, and the depth in which the temple plunged into the Force-infused earth was breathtaking. The stone was woven in with the earth seamlessly.

Visas coordinated the change of the guard for the next shift, and watched as the people went about their work. It was quiet.

A sudden movement drew her attention, and the attention of everyone else in the main room. In the far back, where the statues rested, the center statue's arms moved.

A few years back, Skywalker had used that very statue, grabbing its hands to unlock a Jed'aii portal to another Tho Yor. Now that same statue was moving.

"My lady?" Another guard asked. "Are we expecting visitors?"

"No, but then, Skywalker's family has never visited before." Visas replied. A chill went down her spine. Something was very wrong.

The statues arms came together, and a light shimmered between its hands, before it opened its arms again. A door opened and behind it was darkness.

A man fell through. He landed roughly on his knees. Everyone stilled, watchful, uncertain. No one had expected the portal to open. It was only supposed to be from one Tho Yor to the next.

"That doesn't look like one of Plageus' bugs." Visas murmured.

Visas could not tell what color or designs were on him, but the armor beneath the cloak, the lightsaber on his belt, and the bloodthirsty grin he wore behind the mask was all she needed to know. Another man stepped through the portal. The first rose and ignited a lightsaber.

"Bow down, all of you! The master wills this belongs to him now!" The man barked.

Visas was on them in a second. She brought her lightsaber down on them. The man blocked it, but she proved to be stronger than he expected and she forced him into the wall.

"Guards!" Visas yelled. "Someone tell Rebhorn we are under attack!"

The scientists and students fled, while the guards charged in to aid her as yet more of these men walked through the portal, lightsabers lit and ready to fight.

Visas sent his sight into the portal as she fought. These men were nothing special, but what she saw on the other side shook her. On the other stood stood an army with the white knight hovering in the air over it, observing, and the black knight standing at its helm. The white knight was as bright and blinding as a star in her vision, while the black knight was as the darkest hole, rivalrying even Nihilus.

Even as she watched, more invaders entered through the gate. They had no choice but to enter one by one, with how narrow it was, but their yearning to enter the fray made up for their lack of sudden numbers.

"Call for the guards! We must hold for reinforcements!" Someone yelled.

-Valkorian-

"You were right. There is a token resistance here." Valkorian remarked. He sensed a conflict on the other side within the Force. It was well within expectations. Given time the Tho Yor would be his. Despite it, a small part of him wished Gemaal was wrong, purely because Valkorian did not wish to waste time. He had waited patiently for so long. He was tired of waiting.

"Shall I enter and shatter the resistance, master?" Gemaal asked.

"No." Valkorian answered. "Stay with me. I cannot use the Light as you, so I rely on you to open the gates. Besides, you are handling the army well. The Mandalorian's little tantrum has halted. Keep your attention on that."

What with Gemaal on one side and Revan on the other, the entire war was within his hand. Were he not so impatient he might sit back and watch the game being played out for amusement.

"Then are you to go?"

Valkorian considered it. It would take him but scant moments to reduce the thieves, as if any could take what was his or resist him, to nothingness.

It would be efficent, but oh... Valkorian was so tired of being 'efficent'. He wanted to do something purely for the sentiment and emotion of it. That was what this whole war was about now. He allowed the war to meet his brother, and to destroy him if his brother proved too small, and to defeat him and subdue him and accept him as family if his brother proved worthy. It was all for his brother, for his family, for sentiment and embracing the lesser things about being a man he had thrown off long ago. It was a goodbye to mortality, in a sense. One final acknowledgement of lesser sentiment and emotion. It was his swan song to this universe and existance.

"No." Valkorian decided. "We will deal with them in time. Now that we can reach them at our leisure, let us first see an old friend. Turn it off."

Gemaal bowed, called for the Sith to stop entering the portal, and, placing his hands upon the statue's hands, turned it off. Valkorian grinned. Having a puppet with a supernatural attunement to the Light and Dark was a great boon. Anakin had no idea how powerful he could have been if he had let go, if he had thrown off the mortality that held him behind. In a way, Valkorian considered he had given his brother a gift. Gemaal was so powerful... he could very well be a demi-god Valkorian would hope to take with him into godhood. The only one he would ever accept as his second.

Valkorian allowed a moment to pass. It was important to be in the present. To acknowledge the importance of a moment, to ponder and meditate on the gravity of a second as a new age was slowly coming into being.

"Now." Valkorian breathed. He smiled. It was time. "Establish the portal to 'him'."

Nothing happened. Seconds ticked by. The statue did not move, though Gemaal had his hands upon it.

With each second to go by, Valkorian's eyebrow moved ever so slightly higher.

"Well?" Valkorian asked, not yet annoyed. The ghoul was intact. The 'man' was Gemaal. Gemaal was loyal. Valkorian sensed his thoughts and felt no resistance to his will.

"It is not working." Gemaal answered.

"I can see that. What I want to know is why."

-Visas-

Visas cut down another Sith. There was no time to think, no time to feel. Only fighting as more and more of them entered the fray.

The portal suddenly cut off. The sound was easily recognizable, and the Sith stopped what they were doing to look back, shock, terror, and betrayel etched into their faces.

Then just as suddenly as the portal closed, the statue's arms closed and opened again.

"They just keep coming..." Visas whispered. How long would the reinforcement's be?!

The portal opened, but what came through it was not the humanoid bipedal species of Sith, but something Visas could only compare to a bug. A whole lot of bugs. Not one, or ten, or a hundred, but quickly a thousand or more with each passing moment. They were squeezing their way in as if each second mattered. It was a pure swarm.

"What the..." A Sith muttered.

Visas blinked, so to speak. These insects were not with them?

As if in answer to her thought, the insects, being the size of a small man, flew down upon all of them as a thick swarm, and with seconds cut down every Sith with natural claws, talons, and teeth. Admittedly, several Miraluka cut into the swarm with their lightsabers, expecting a foe, but Visas quickly saw the insects were not touching them.

"HOLD!" She barked. "They are targetting the enemy!"

"What are they?" A Miraluka asked.

"I... I don't know." Visas admitted. "But don't provoke them!"

Even as they talked, thousands more poured through the portal. They filled the temple and poured out in a veritable flood out of every window and passage available.

This outpouring of flesh through the portal ended abrubtly, as if it had vomited out all of its contents. Then two final beings walked through before the portal closed behind them. These two were humanoid in shape.

"Hello." Daughter said. She smiled and bowed at the hip in greeting.

"Someone called for Darkness," Son also said. "So I thought I'd answer."

Daughter grimaced. Son looked sideways at her. "No good?"

"Keep working at it."

Visas could only stare. Son. Daughter. Most of all, Son. He seemed to be holding his chest a bit tenderly, but still. Son!

"F***." Summarized everything Visas could come up with.

-Plagues-

Darth Plageus, the One, watched as the final inhabitents of his planet, as well as the last of his children, entered the portal. His children left behind one final glance. Plageus nodded. They entered in.

Plagueus closed the portal. He sighed. "I hope you know what you are doing."

All is well. All is as it should be. Valkorian has, in his hubris, taken on a flaw. Anakin disobeyed. He is paying for that. The whole galaxy will pay for it. I will pay for it. But know the inevitable comes, and you will play a part in it. You will allow a spark of hope to exist.

"Then it is good." Plageus said. He backed away from the statue. As he stepped back, the statue started to move again as a portal opened. "Now it is time to pay for my own sins."

Through the portal, two men walked through. Anakin walked through, garbed in a powersuit. Plageus sensed he was trapped within his soul, withering in pain and torment, living in his own personal hell. For a man who was once a slave to become a slave so deeply again, must be his worst nightmare. And if Plageus was right, the taste of his Force spirit was not his own anymore, but one close to him.

"Of course you went and did 'that' to him." Plageus muttered.

"Like it?" The second man asked. No matter how many years would pass, no many how many generations would rise and wither, no matter what physical form he may take, Plageus would always remember him.

Marco Ragnos.

"It is a perversion of everything I thought you. I taught you healing, to be a doctor, to heal yourself, and you made a monster from it."

"Only natural, as you used that very same craft to create me." Marco Ragnos mused.

"Yes..." Plageus acknowledged. "I made a monster. So the monster has made a monster... to not be alone."

Marco Ragnos laughed. It was a laugh with the voice of many. A great many. Plageus gulped. Just how many souls had he consumed to become what he was now?

"Oh! I so missed you, old friend." Marco Ragnos grinned. "I hear you threw off your name, tried to hide yourself. Called yourself 'The One'. Quite a title. And I thought I was alone in my ambition for godhood."

"Perhaps the title placed upon me is one I am unworthy of, but I do not share your crooked ambition... 'The One', does not describe me. The title is a tool, nothing more... But what shall I call you?"

Marco Ragnos grinned, quite enjoying himself. "You know what, you birthed me. Why don't you name me? You never did name me."

"Once, I would have called you Marco Ragnos. My old friend. But that name no longer suits you, nor describes you. Now, in this life, you name yourself Valkorian. You were born as Valkorian, but you have continued a self-birth in consuming souls for so long, that when I look upon you, a name no longer suits you. You are not a singular being that can be named... If I were to name you, I would call you 'The Myriad'."

"The Myriad." Plageus' firstborn repeated. He repeated it a few time, and grinned. "It has a nice ring to it. What does it mean?"

"It means 'countless'." Plageus answered.

"I like it. It has a meaning comparible to infinite, limitless, to no longer be mortal, fine, or placed within limits. To be uncountable and beyond the limits of numbers or physics. Truly a name worthy of a god." Marco Ragnos, Valkorian, the Firstborn, the Myriad, bowed. "Thank you, old friend. I accept the name."

"Now." The Myriad continued. "As much as it saddens me, it is time for the game to end. My true path lies before me. My ascension is nigh. As a final thank you, out of my respect and old friendship, I shall kill you so you may not witness and suffer what I bring to this galaxy, and I shall take the name you have given to me into my new birth."

"That is where you are wrong, old friend." Plageus replied. "The game is not over. There are still many pieces yet on the board to make their move."

"You don't truly think you can stop me? Do you?" The Myriad asked.

As he spoke, legions of spirits filled the room. Among them Plageus recognized the spirit of Marco Ragnos and Nihilus. So that void-spirit had joined into the Myriad. In that moment, Plagues understood in part.

A flaw.

"I don't think I can stop you. Even at your birth, I was powerless. But that doesn't mean I won't fight. Even shall I die, I die to spark hope."