The Fourth Realm 2:

--Prophecy of Old--

A fanfic taking place in the Realms of the Blood, created by

Anne Bishop whom I worship and pay tribute to every day.

Just kidding. Or so you think.

(Written by the Great and Powerful Keski,

spell checked by Microsoft Works Word Processor)

---

Chapter I

The Prophecy

(It's an extended episode--The Season Premiere!)

---

In the beginning

Lorn shook his head slowly, his black hair shifting in a rippling fashion. "No. Versiver, the gods will not approve. You're meddling with things that shouldn't be meddled with."

Versiver snorted. He raised his hand in a diminutive gesture. "Lorn, of all my brothers, you are the only one who objects to this. You are the only one who objects to my actions. You are the only one who doesn't believe that we are working towards a greater good."

"That's because there will be repercussions, Versiver."

Akarui raised his voice. "I don't believe we are doing anything terribly wrong. There aren't any rules set in stone, after all, so how can we be violating them?"

"Rules don't have to be set in stone to be effective," Oebr murmured.

"There are no rules, and we aren't doing anything wrong," Versiver snapped.

"You'll see," Lorn said quietly. "You'll see."

---

Versiver laughed hysterically as he held the chalice above his head. "This!" he shouted over the raising gale around the four brothers. "This is it! This is the power we've been waiting for! All the years of work, of failure, of ridicule--this is our just reward! The power of the gods is within our reach!" He put the chalice to his lips and drank deep of the red liquid inside. He lowered the chalice and handed it to Oebr, who took a gulp and passed it to Akarui. Akarui stared at it, took a drink, and gave it to Lorn.

Lorn held the chalice for a long time before tentatively putting it to his lips and taking a small drink.

All four of them convulsed at the same time. The chalice fell to the ground and shattered, the red liquid spreading out on the ground.

And the room, the entire world, all of it faded.

---

The Darkness

Foolish meddling mortal men. You are awakened.

The four awoke simultaneously. Where were they? It was dark. Very dark. There was no ground, but they weren't exactly floating--they were simply there. They couldn't see each other, but they all felt the strange sensation of a great weight. Versiver breathed heavily and clutched at his sides.

The world has been shattered because of what you have done. Your mortal bodies cannot house the power you attempted to attain. It was unleashed… and the whole of existence shall suffer the consequences.

"No," Lorn murmured. "I told you. I told you all. And now… now this."

The ancient gods are no more. I am the only one left… And with the last of my power I will see to it that you four do not go unpunished for your crimes.

"What?" Oebr exclaimed. "No! That isn't fair!"

What is fair, human? How can you contemplate such concepts as 'fair' when you attempt to attain the power of those such as me? Humans are not meant to be gods. That is why they are humans and not gods. Now hear your fate!

Versiver hissed in pain and doubled over in the darkness, still clutching his sides.

Because of the power released through your actions, a great power parallel to the world has been born… This shadow… This Darkness… will leak its power into the world. According to Dios, who has already faded into the Darkness, an entirely new race of humans with countless abilities will be born as well.

Lorn, Akarui, and Oebr, all at once went into convulsions of pain and cried out as their bodies began to change shape.

Lorn, Akarui, Oebr--for your inability to object to what you knew was wrong, you shall forever retain the bodies of the dragons you so venerate. Lorn, you shall aid this strange new race of people by giving them the tools with which they will access the power of the Darkness.

The three were full-fledged dragons now. As the voice stopped speaking, Lorn vanished before he could respond.

Versiver--for your transgressions, you shall suffer the pain of transformation but keep the general form of your body. However, you shall be denied usage of the power of this new Darkness.

Versiver screamed and blood splattered as the skin on his back tore open with an audible rrrrip! and two gargantuan dragon's wings emerged from inside of his body.

And you shall all live on forever until the appointed time.

"The appointed time?" Akarui said, almost unable to talk with his rapidly changing throat and mouth.

Only one of the three may prosper.

No one said anything.

Akarui--Give her the garnet.

Akarui started to speak, but vanished in midsentence.

Oebr--Be careful with the boy, but be wary of the girl.

Oebr, too, started to inquire, but vanished.

Versiver--Luseik's Queen will be your downfall.

Versiver didn't bother attempting to speak, but nothing happened. He struggled to get to his feet, and faced the shadows boldly.

"I will not have a downfall," he hissed. "You said yourself, the ancient gods are no more. Your power is spent, Morgenstern--yes, I recognize you, as I could recognize any of you pathetic so-called gods--and you can do no more to punish my brothers and I."

You believe yourself to be more powerful than you truly are. That arrogance will only help Luseik's Queen in her task of destroying you, utterly and completely.

"So you say, Morgenstern. We shall see what becomes of your little prophecy."

---

Today

Dhemlan Dachrea

Versiver stared at his hands.

Luseik's Queen, his downfall.

Perhaps. But if he killed her, she wouldn't be much of a Queen, now, would she?

Let the old dead gods have their meaningless "appointed time". It would come soon enough. Hell, Akarui was already dead, if Kennesra was to be believed. And if Luseik didn't appreciate Versiver's killing the Ebon-Gray Jeweled little tart, well, he'd live long enough to get over it, being a draghan, after all.

The problem was Anna herself. Draghans were spread out all over Dachrea, but what were the odds of one getting into Terreille? And she was a draghan. She had to be, didn't she? How else could she have that power?

And what tormented Versiver was this--how did she work the way she did? She had the power of nullification, and it was almost ridiculously strong, and yet she could still use Craft with the best of them. Versiver was the original draghan, of course, and his gift was absolute--but in addition, he had virtually no Craft. His Black Jewels weren't good for anything but psychic abilities like the threads.

Damn it! This was all so confusing! What the Hell was Anna that she could do all this?

And the other with them… Althemen. He was a subordinate of that worm Menteur, Versiver was sure of it. He'd also have to be disposed of. Alnevar, maybe not. Alnevar still had amnesia. He knew only what Althemen had told him.

Now Keski wasn't a threat and wouldn't be until he'd grown into a full-grown gejk. But Satiyen, the wehr. The wolf-man. He'd been abandoned by his own Queen; he couldn't be too trustworthy. Versiver had sent him to begin with, but now he wondered if that had been a mistake.

Luseik, out of all of them, was both useful and safe to keep as a tool. He wouldn't turn against his own father but he still had enough power to be a threat to Versiver's enemies.

And with enough coercion--and lying, of course--he might even be convinced to dispose of the Ebon-Gray Jeweled Queen. But Versiver wasn't getting his hopes up.

---

Everdusk

Oebr pondered quietly in his castle in Everdusk. Akarui… dead. He knew it for certain. He didn't know how he knew. But he knew.

Be careful of the boy…

He'd forgotten those words from Morgenstern, so long ago. And look what had happened because of it. But the second part…

…but be wary of the girl.

What would that come to? Would Yachesa betray him? It wouldn't be terribly surprising. The girl was mentally unstable. Not insane, no, certainly not in the Twisted Kingdom. Just a bit unstable. In fact, she nearly had fallen into the Twisted Kingdom after the disaster with her brother.

Oebr had learned a painful lesson that night. He had been following in his brother's meddling footsteps, hadn't he? Making that spell. It all came down to power--back then, back before all of this, they had been trying to attain power. And Yachesa's brother had been irreparably damaged by Oebr's own attempt at giving him more power than he was meant to have.

But how much power had they truly unleashed? Enough power the shatter the world into three Realms, close enough to reach through Gates, but too far to reach in any conventional method. Enough to bring the Dark Realm, Hell, closer than ever before. Enough, according to Morgenstern, to create something as unbelievably huge in scope, something so enormous the mind could barely contemplate it, into existence--The Darkness. If Morgenstern was to be believed, they had created the Darkness.

And they had destroyed all of the gods. Five gods, gods, and all of the power which that entailed. Morgenstern, God of the Sun. Luna, Goddess of the moon. Vhit, God of Life. Mortika, Goddess of Death. And Dios, the High Lord. Dios, the god of everything that could be imagined, and they had destroyed him.

The prophecy of Morgenstern was finally coming to fruition. What would happen? Who could predict the coming days…?

---

Akarui's Fortress

Akarui lay motionless on the cold stone floor. Anna was sobbing into her hands. Luseik had dropped the dagger and was staring at his hands in silent horror.

Althemen watched the proceedings without apparent emotion. He alone had a secret that he knew he must soon tell the others; something Akarui had imparted via a psychic thread in his last moments.

Satiyen and Keski had bowed their heads out of respect. Alnevar was staring at Akarui as if entranced, though abhorrence showed in his eyes.

"Anna." It was Althemen who finally spoke, his sharp voice cutting through the silence. "He said that he left something for you to have. I suggest you retrieve it so that we can leave."

Anna lowered her hands and stared at Althemen in disgust.

"I couldn't do anything," Luseik murmured, still staring at his hands. "I couldn't do anything."

"None of you even tried to do anything!" Anna shouted at the rest of them.

Satiyen stepped forward. "Anna--"

"You all just watched him die! You didn't even try to stop Luseik!"

Althemen snarled. "It wouldn't have done any good if we had!" he snapped.

"And how the hell do you know?" Anna retorted, her eyes still red.

"Because," Althemen hissed, "he told me that he was going to die regardless. A prophecy made when he was young is coming to a close. Part of what sustained the prophecy was a curse that kept Akarui from ever dying… And when the prophecy is completed, so too would Akarui's curse. And he would die. Better that he die knowing full well what is happening than dropping dead with no warning."

Anna stared at him. "He told you this?"

"Before he died, yes."

"And you believed him?"

"A man wouldn't make up something like that in his last moments."

Anna didn't say anything for a long time. Finally, Althemen repeated himself.

"He left you something."

Anna stood up wordlessly, without looking at anyone, and left the room. She returned seconds later holding a small blackwood box. "Let's go," she muttered without emotion.

---

The Winds over Dachrea

The Black coach flashed invisibly over the Hybrid Realm, sustained by Luseik's power, as the occupants inside it each pondered over their own thoughts.

"Why?" Anna whispered. Satiyen, sitting next to her, glanced over.

"Is something wrong, Anna?" he said softly.

"Why would he do something like that?"

Satiyen turned his body to face her and tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

"Althemen told me what Akarui told him. But if that was all that happened, why would Akarui feel compelled to do what he did? The dragon's claw… Why would he need to? Nothing in the prophecy said anything about anything he had to do…"

Satiyen didn't understand. He hadn't heard anything from Althemen, and certainly not from Akarui himself.

Anna growled. "It doesn't make any sense! Everything is wrong! Versiver is supposed to be the good guy!"

Satiyen was alarmed now. The occupants of the coach were looking at Anna now. Frustrated, she shot Althemen a look and explained what Akarui had told Althemen, and in turn, Althemen had told her, about Versiver's meddling, the prophecy, all of it.

"But Versiver is supposed to be the good guy… Akarui was supposed to be the bad guy. But everything's wrong and now there's all this other stuff that wasn't important before, and now it is!"

She seemed about to cry again. Luseik didn't move to comfort her, so Satiyen leaned over and embraced her, murmuring into her ear that everything would turn out all right.

"It won't," Anna said. "Nothing ever turns out 'all right' in the real world."

Satiyen didn't respond.

Luseik wasn't watching them. He had been staring at the floor of the coach ever since Anna had mentioned Versiver.

That was almost too much to comprehend. Versiver had once been human? And just how old was Luseik's enigmatic father, anyway?

Versiver had the gift of nullification. Another fact no one had been informed of until now--but if he had been the first, he must have passed it on. So did that mean Anna was a descendant of Versiver? It didn't mean she was closely related to Luseik. If Versiver was as old as Akarui said, Anna and Luseik could be thousands of generations apart from each other. But what disturbed Luseik was the question of why Anna had the gift, and Versiver had the gift, but Luseik himself didn't.

Or did he? Perhaps, like the Blood Jewels themselves, the gift manifested itself at varying levels of intensity. He created a small ball of witchfire and concentrated on it. Without cutting off the power that sustained it, he focused on the fire. Go out. Nothing happened. Go out. The flame continued to burn. Go out! Was it Luseik's imagination, or had it flickered? Go out! I need you to go out… If I can't do this, then I'm wrong… And I can't be wrong right now. Go out! The flame sputtered out. Luseik stared at the empty air for at least a full minute. The coach began to shudder as his concentration faded, and he hastily corrected their path.

He had the gift. Obviously, it was so weak as to be useless, but he had it. Which meant it was natural to draghans, and Anna was a descendant of Versiver. Which meant Althemen had originally been a draghan. Which meant that their friend Althemen still had a lot of things he wasn't telling them…

---

Althemen's Youth

Dachrea

Althemen scratched at his back. The scars that would never fade had begun to itch again. Sometimes he feared they would drive him insane. The mere memories of his wings could well be enough to push him into the Twisted Kingdom.

But at least the memories of being a slave were behind him. Menteur had saved him from that Hell. No longer was he degraded daily, tortured with his every breath.

And soon he would be a rubis. Even those centuries-old-scars would fade. But did he really want them to fade? Did he want to abolish the only reminder of his former glory, of when he'd had his wings?

Damn it all. And Tesora… She had rejected him… Could he take all of this without breaking? How could she not want him in the first place? She'd been born a slave, and Menteur had saved her as he'd saved Althemen. Althemen had fallen for her within a month of meeting her, but she denied his advances and rejected his attentions. Why? Why? He was willing to give her anything she wanted in order to please her, and yet it seemed all she wanted him to give her was solitude.

He couldn't keep pressing. She'd already made it clear she didn't want him. So what now?

Well, Alnevar had been different lately. Did that mean anything? Althemen couldn't place it, but…

Another presence in the room. Speak of the devil. Althemen turned to see Alnevar grinning at him.

"Scared?" Alnevar said, still grinning.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, come off it. Word's already gotten around that Menteur's going to do a little experiment on you. So? You scared?"

"Please," Althemen muttered. "I trust Menteur's judgment."

"Yeah, yeah," Alnevar said wryly, "you'd trust his judgment if he told you to descend to the Black, or try to ride a Black Wind."

Althemen snorted. "Alnevar, you're a real pain in the ass, you know that?"

"That's my job," Alnevar laughed. He left the room chuckling to himself. Althemen leaned back and stared at the ceiling. Maybe things weren't perfect. Maybe Althemen didn't have everything he wanted.

But wasn't it better than being a slave?

Life was good.

---

Today

The Winds over Dachrea

Althemen stared out of the ornamental window into the Darkness, one hand holding up his head, the other in his pocket, fingering the two Ebon-Gray shards he'd acquired in Akarui's castle.

"Scared?"

That had been Alnevar's greeting, the day before Althemen had been made into a rubis. Three days before They'd found out about Alnevar's little secrets. His love affair with Tesora… And the other one. He'd lost Althemen's friendship until now with the love affair, but what had turned even Menteur against him…

Yeah, I'm scared. Now more than ever. I haven't spoken with my lord Menteur in ages. And now we're heading right into Versiver's clutches. And worst of all, Alnevar still hasn't remembered anything. He has no idea what we are heading into.

---

Northern Dachrea

"Alnevar is still with them."

"Please forgive me, my lord, but I am finding it hard to complete my task. Althemen grows more and more watchful by the minute. I am trying to get around him, but it is difficult. If I were to dispose of the newborn rubis now, Althemen would surely be seconds behind, ready to attack me. I don't mean to make excuses, though, my lord. Alnevar will be dead before any problems arise. No one has yet realized I'm… not exactly who they think I am. Not even Versiver himself, and of that I am positive."

"I'm sure he will. Because if he isn't, you will suffer the consequences."

"I understand, Lord Kennesval."

"See that you do, Keskes."