Chapter 12: Cosmic Cog
The party of four flashed into a world unlike any other. They appeared upon the chrome palm of a giant metal hand, its fingers pointed towards the heavens. Though the heavens, as well as the earth and all the horizons were composed of highly reflective shining constantly churning blue mud.
"O.K." Gallows whistled as he took a step across the palm. "I'm getting a feeling of déjà vu here, like I've seen this blue mud before."
"Me too…" Jack scratched his head.
"That's not important right now!" Jane stomped. "We have to find the guardian king so we can get Christmas back!"
"It may be too late." Magdalen took out a gold watch on a chin from his pocket. "It's the 25th already."
"We didn't get it in time?" Jack turned to face Magdalen.
"I'm afraid it's so. We've come all this way, but we just weren't quick enough." Magdalen replied.
"Who knows what's going on the surface right now." Jane shook her head. "Without Christmas, without peace on Earth for just one day… These guardians are going to pay!"
Gallows narrowed his brow and walked towards the center of the palm and looked straight up, where the index finger of the monumental hand was pointing. There was a point of shining white light straight above, in which it appeared this sphere of mud was revolving around. A soft choral melody could be heard as well as the churning of the mysterious muddy liquid. Gallows closed his hands into fists and shouted towards the light. "Guardian King! Come out and give back Christmas!"
At that moment, a shower of dazzling light exploded from above and, at first a blazing white silhouette, appeared two figures. A woman with long black hair and mysterious eyes and an enormous black sea turtle with enormous flippers, which in his floating state resembled wings. The two stayed levitating just above the tip of the index finger, looking down upon their human guests.
"Who is he whom wishes to speak to the guardian king?" The woman asked.
"We are!" Gallows shouted. "Which one of you is the guardian king?"
"Obviously the turtle." Jane sighed. "Guardian KING."
The mysterious woman spoke. "I am the herald Celesdue, guardian of the moon. This is Shturdark, guardian of water and king of all the guardians." She waved her hand towards the enormous sea turtle, which made no effort to acknowledge her introduction.
"Shturdark?" Jack stepped towards the center of the palm, tilting his head in confusion. "Shturdark, as in the first guardian you get in every game? The most basic of all guardians is the king of guardians!"
"It's never who you think is will be…" Jane sighed. "Until last chapter, I was sure it was going to be Zephyr."
"What business do you have at the court of Shturdark?" Celesdue asked. "None of you are shamans, so you are wasting our time."
"Oh. Right." Gallows cleared his throat. "We've come for Christmas! We may be late, but late is better than never!"
"So hand it over!" Jack joined in. "Before we rough you up!"
"We have the sheriff star!" Jane added. "And we're determined as hell!"
"We have been fighting for so long." Magdalen drew his blade. "You owe us at least an explanation."
"I owe you no such thing." Shturdark's voice was surprisingly calm and serene, such as the ocean tide. "However, my efforts are about to be unleashed upon the world. You might as well hear it. At noon today, when the people of Filgaia have all learned of Christmas' disappearance, when they are void of the feeling that comes once a year, when they find that this day is just like every other chaos infused day on Filgaia, I shall announce a new tradition that shall take this world back to the days of yore."
"A simpler time." Celesdue floated around the turtle. "When men feared the world around them and looked to the skies and the stars for hope from we guardians."
"A new holiday to replace Christmas!" Magdalen echoed.
"What about gingerbread houses, stockings and presents!" Jane asked.
"The commercialism that drives men in this time of the year shall be gone. Instead, it shall be a day of remembrance and worship to the guardians." Shturdark told them.
"My God…" Jack gasped.
"And what about the most important thing about Christmas? The office parties? What about them!" Gallows desperately sought an answer.
"Such vice shall be erased from this day." Celesdue answered. "It will be a day of purity and cleansing, strengthening the guardians."
"What would you call such a mad holiday?" Magdalen growled.
Shturdark's eyes were a glow. "Gahooladay: day of the guardians."
"Gahooladay?" Jane raised an eyebrow. "What kind of name is that? Merry Gahooladay?"
"Salutationary Gahooladay" Celesdue corrected. "That is what the people will say every December 25th from her on."
Gallows looked to the other three agents with a look of determination. "It's not just bad that their taking Christmas away, but their taking all the fun stuff that goes with it too! No more presents, food, parties, or women! This isn't about Christmas anymore! It's for the people! For Filgaia!"
"For Filgaia!" Jack, Jane, and Magdalen raised their fists in the air.
Gallows turned back towards the guardians, drawing his PP7. "Sorry Shturdark, but this is for the good of the people!"
"Their discontent is growing dangerous." Celesdue reported to the giant turtle. "Shall I crush them for you, oh King?"
"No. I shall do this myself." Shturdark lowered himself towards the hand, his size becoming a reality. He easily dwarfed all the agents. A sense of hopelessness washed over the humans.
"That's it! Laser silhouette!" Jack drew his blade and leaped towards the broad black shell, slashing an uncountable amount of times before landing back upon the palm. Magdalen also leaped towards him, enacting Heaven's Justice with power of his blade. Yet both attacks didn't harm the mighty turtle. Shturdark didn't bother to move. Instead, spheres of water formed from the air, then erupted into powerful streams, blasting into the four opponents. With Celesdue's added magic, the powerful attack knocked all four agents down, severely weakened.
"There is no might greater than the sea and the moon, together controlling the tide." Celesdue warned from her hovering position.
"That was my best guys." Jack sighed. "I'm done."
"I think we all are." Jane replied.
"Let Gahooladay reign." Shturdark announced, powering up the same attack. However, Gallows, the ever-observant pupil that he is (yea right), caught a glimpse of something. Flashing into the sphere in the same manner the guardians did came Pooka. This was odd, as Pooka never counted for anything. The purple cat flew to just over the two guardians and rather quickly grew a giant head! Its head became so enormous that even the guardians paid attention. Now knowing what the hell was happening, everyone was confused. Then Pooka quickly snapped up the turtle and the moon guardians, giving them a little chew, and swallowing. It then resumed normal size.
The agents were stunned. Gallows finally shook it off though and stood up. "What the hell was that!
"Pooka ATE the guardian king!" Jack shook his head.
"What are you doing Pooka?" Jane asked as she and Magdalen stood up.
"Pooka is not Pooka." Pooka began his confusing statements again. "Pooka has no self. Pooka merely represents the guardians."
"So you ATE them!" Gallows yelled. "I mean, what the hell?"
"Pooka has gathered all the guardians in one place. All of the guardians power now rests within Pooka, who will now act out the will of the guardians." Pooka explained.
"ALL the guardians! That can't be! We killed most of them!" Jane shouted. "Even the lords?"
"You were following us the whole time, weren't you Pooka?" Jack announced. "What kind of evil plan are you cooking up!"
"Pooka has unified the guardians in a way that they could not. Their essences shall be transformed into one being with self." Pooka then shattered into a hundred glowing specks above their heads. The specks then quickly began to spin around and around, forming a sphere of dashing lights. In yet another brilliant flash of light, where once there were specks there was now a horrible giant semitransparent green sphere, it's surfaces covered in churning human faces. The sphere, as the guardian king once did, floated over the hand. "Behold Gaia, the collective guardian!" Gaia bellowed in what sounded like a dozen different voices.
"This shit just keeps getting weirder and weirder." Gallows swallowed.
"Gaia? What do you plan on doing with Christmas?" Magdalen shouted. "If you are not interested, we shall simply take it."
"Christmas?" Gaia's voices asked. "Our plan for Christmas differs from the guardian king's. We shall take hold of each and every person on Filgaia and force them into worshipping us. Not just on one day, but all year round. Filgaia will constantly be strengthening us with their minds and prayers, forever." Gaia then shot several dozen tentacles into the blue liquid. "No longer will people have the option to choose whom they shall admire. There will only be us!"
"Things just went from bad to worse, didn't they?" Gallows turned to face the group.
"That's a big hell yes." Jack sighed.
"Well, we couldn't handle Shturdark, you think we can handle Gaia?" Jane asked.
"We can only try." Magdalen held up his blade. "And that will be good enough for me."
Gallows smiled. "Right. We have to do something, because sitting here and jabbing isn't going to accomplish anything!"
The four looked back up to Gaia, who was pulsing a variety of colors, electrical discharge zapping off it. It was definitely doing something bad. The four swallowed and readied their weapons. Gallows crawled up a finger and began firing into Gaia as Jack Laser Silhouetted the being. Magdalen continued with Heaven's Justice and Jane continued taking shots with her arm. Gaia, unlike Shturdark, appeared to be taking damage. They continued doing this for about eight minutes or so before Jane dropped to her knees, her gun falling onto the chrome palm. She instantly grabbed her head and closed her eyes, shouting. "Gaia's starting to take over!"
Magdalen dropped his sword and rushed over to the lady, but found his mind being tapped as well. Jack looked to Gallows, who nodded. Gallows shouted. "We gotta hurry!"
"Right! But I'm getting exhausted!" Jack yelled as he did another Laser Silhouette.
"Gallows!" Jane shouted. Gallows glanced over to see Jane toss him the Sheriff Star. With a little luck, he caught it. She then pulled out an enormous bomb from her dress. It was gray and had her face plastered on it. "Take this you son of a bitch!" She tossed the bomb at Gaia as Jack performed another Laser Silhouette. With the Sheriff Star, Jack leaped from the finger, grabbing into Gaia and firing with his now super abilities! The bomb went off in combination with the three other attacks. Now even Gallows and Jack could feel the mind tap. Jack fell to the floor, completely drained of the energy required for the skill. Gallows fell as well, albeit a bit slower due to sinking through Gaia. Surprisingly, the mind tap grew dimmer as Gaia's pulsing colors went faster. All of the faces had a look of horror.
"NO! We can not vanish! We are essential! We are vital! We are Filgaia!" Gaia spouted in the voices. And then, the blue, shining mud surrounding everything began to form tentacles, stretching towards Gaia and latching on. In a moment, Gaia stopped flashing colors and its faces froze, turning a dull gray.
"Did we do it?" Jack asked.
"Where is Christmas?" Magdalen asked.
"What the hell is this?" Gallows raised an eyebrow at the blue mud. "Oh shit. Now I remember why it's so damn familiar!"
An arm of the blue mud stretched towards the index finger, disconnecting and morphing into a young woman, somewhere in her late teens, with fair skin, soft brown hair, blue sparkling eyes, and blue robes. Her expression was empty as she now stood atop the finger, looking down at the humans. "I am Glaive Le Gable. Guardian of the Origin."
"Shit. Another one!" Jane cursed.
"Didn't Pooka say he ate all of the guardians?" Jack looked to Gallows.
"All of the guardians beyond myself have been converted into Gaia, the collective guardian." Glaive Le Gable explained. "However, I have taken hold of Gaia, paralyzing it."
"Oh thanks." Gallows breathed a sigh of relief. "I knew I could always count on you."
"You are the being whom had asked of my abilities before." Glaive Le Gable looked at Gallows. "Your body was destroyed but I crafted you a superior vessel with your will to drive it. However, using my ability of the origin, your will reverted back to its original form."
Gallows shrugged. "It's not that I didn't like your golden hero body, its just that if I didn't go back, I was going to die from being smacked around by Nega Filgaia."
"For that treachery," Glaive Le Gable began to show anger. "I shall never forgive you. This Christmas you seek has caused many problems with many beings. It is chaotic and unwieldy. But this is because of men, not itself. Men have become flawed over the ages and it just now that I see it."
"What are you going to do! Force us to worship you like Gaia was going to do?" Jane hissed.
"No." Glaive Le Gable replied. "Gaia is still tapped into every being on the planet. Using my memories and the humans' will power, I shall drive Filgaia back and start all over, from the origin. From there, time shall start anew and life will find a new course. The guardians shall be reborn and we shall direct life in a more direct approach." Glaive Le Gable then floated into the air and came to rest upon Gaia. Still showing little emotion, she melted into the blue mud, merging with the gray Gaia. Gaia began flashing colors again, and the agents could feel not only Gaia tapping into their minds, but Glaive Le Gable's reach as well.
"Make it stop!" Jane shouted. She grabbed onto Jack. "Can't we do something?"
Jack winced as he felt his mind being grasped. He placed his arms around Jane and swallowed. "I don't know!"
Gallows and Magdalen continued attacking Gaia, even as their minds were being taken hold of. Nothing was working! Nothing at all! Eventually Magdalen stopped, dropping to the ground. Images of Filgaia flashed through his head, static filling his ears. Gallows continued firing, now that even he couldn't see nor hear. The static was so loud and the images so fast. Gallows eventually dropped to his knee, his gun out of his grasp. "Is there nothing I can do?" Gallows shouted, but no one could listen. "Is this the end!"
And then there was nothing but pitch-blackness. No images, no color, no sound. Gallows couldn't see his body and couldn't feel it either. It felt like only his mind was left. After what seemed like an eternity passed before the black faded away into nothing but white. Gallows could once again see his hands and feel his body again. What had happened? Was this the origin? There was no one around, not Jack, not Jane, not Magdalen, not Lilka, not Marivel, not even Pooka. If this was the origin of the universe, how come he was here, who shouldn't be born for another eight billion years. "Just what's going on!" Gallows screamed.
"This is the Horizon." A soft, feminine voice replied. Gallows turned around to see a young blonde girl with green eyes standing there, wearing a green blouse and red mittens, with a red cap and brown dog like ears. "I am Mariel, and this is the Horizon."
"The Horizon? You mean the crazy place Ginny was talking about? Between worlds!" Gallows recalled.
Mariel nodded. "You are between the present Filgaia and the Filgaia of the beginning. The Filgaia of the present has yet to be destroyed and the Filgaia of the beginning has yet to be created. Glaive Le Gable is using the will power of everyone on Filgaia to create this new Origin."
"So Jack, Jane, and everyone are still around?" Gallows asked, sweat rolling down his face.
"They are gone." Mariel shook her head. "The planet is physically gone, however, it is still in your head!" Mariel pointed to Gallows. "And you will join them once Glaive Le Gable has finished her Origin."
"Then there has to be a way to stop her! To bring everyone back! There just has to!" Gallows bent down and clamped onto Mariels' shoulders.
"It certainly seems hopeless." Mariel began, "But you can counter her will. If your will is stronger, than the Filgaia that you know from your memories will come to be."
"But she has the willpower of everyone on Filgaia! It's just you and me! Left!" Gallows shook his head. "I'm doomed."
"Will power," Mariel looked Gallows in the eye. "Is your determination. If you want Filgaia back enough, you might be able to defeat Glaive Le Gable, even with all the people on the planet. Will power is up to you, not any one else. No one can help you here."
Gallows took a breath and narrowed his brow. "You're right! I can't expect someone to save my ass every time! This is up to me!" Gallows stood up. "I love Filgaia and all the wierdo's in it! That's why I'm keeping it! I'm going to make Filgaia as it should be!"
Mariel smiled before everything shattered. Gallows found himself in subspace with Glaive Le Gable. Both of them were floating through the static dimension, both with a determined look on their face.
"I am creating Filgaia over again." Glaive Le Gable repeated. "From it's origins we shall start anew."
"And I say we're keeping Filgaia the way it is!" Gallows frowned. "There's too many damn good people that I love, like, or find amusing to let them go to waste by you!"
Glaive Le Gable frowned. "You love you Filgaia, even though it is mortally flawed?"
"I do." Gallows replied.
"And you'd sacrifice everything to bring it back, not even allowing for the option of a new and better Filgaia?"
"That's right!"
"I see." Glaive Le Gable sighed. "Than your will is absolute. Good luck with your flawed world…"
Subspace collapsed on itself, fading away in a series of static discharges. Everything faded black and Gallows felt himself disappear alongside Glaive Le Gable into darkness.
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Salutationary Gahooladay was created by WolfbaneHybrid and was used without permission!