Make of thyself that which ye desire. Be it a Lord. Be it a God. But should ye fail to become aught at all, ye will be forsaken. Amounting only to sacrifices…
The spoken echoes of Queen Marika the Eternal lingers in his mind as the Tarnished warrior gazed upon the fading Elden Beast. Once aglow with gold and seemingly containing the universe's secrets, its body lay broken and shattered, soon to be no more.
The Tarnished begins to rise, hands trembling and breathing ragged as he surveyed the once godly arena, now silent and devoid of its golden hue.
"I...I did it. I finally did it."
As the water drains away, he starts to fumble to the headless body of Queen Marika the Eternal, once the ruler of The Lands Between, and the blue summon sign just ahead. Even as his body fought against him, he knew he had a task to accomplish.
As he kneeled down and poured a bit of focus into the sign, the letters rose and intertwined. From it, the blue magic circle grew, scattering the icy snowflake. From the circle emerges Lunar Princess Ranni, the last of the Empyreans.
The Snow Witch observed his form and softly nodded.
"...The battle is over, I see."
Turning to Marika's crumbled form and her fallen head, she gently picked up Marika's head and cradled it within her arms, raising it upon the Queen's headless body.
"I do solemnly swear. To every living being, and every living soul."
The air chilled, and a pale white mist began to form. Queen Marika's body began to crumble, tiny golden shards swept aside by the wind. Out of the lingering fog, the Dark Moon manifested. It bathed them in shining moonlight while its dark void seemed to absorb Marika's essence.
"Now cometh the age of the stars.
A thousand-year voyage under the wisdom of the Moon.
Here beginneth the chill night that encompasses all, reaching the great beyond.
Into fear, doubt, and loneliness…
As the path stretcheth into darkness."
As she finished her speech, and Marika's body now scattered by the wind, a memory surfaced from the depth of his mind.
He once conversed with her miniature form about the order she envisioned, an order not of gold but the stars and moon of the chill night. She would keep them far from the earth beneath our feet. Life, souls, and order are now unbound. And the certainties of sight, emotion, faith, and touch... Now impossible.
As Ranni turned around, gently smiling and holding out her pair of left arms, the one above bearing the Dark Moon Ring he placed upon her.
"Well then. Shall we? My dear consort, eternal."
And so, they embarked into the unknown, commencing their thousand-year odyssey.
Genkai, Year XXXX
As Zald and Alfia gaze toward the Dragon Valley from the School District observatory, their mission fulfilled, a pair of meteorites streak across their view, signaling the descent of Gods.
In Orario, deep under the Guild's Pantheon, Ouranos jostles and pauses his prayers, sensing the descent of an outer God, their power unrestraint. Though distant, he knows they'll soon head to Orario, as most Gods do. But this time, something is different, his godly intuition tells him. Whoever they are, they'll be the harbinger of a new era, and those who dare to stand against it will be swept away like leaves in a raging river. He will not be one of them, for he will adapt.
"Fels"
"Ouranos-sama"
"Expedite the plan. The dawn of a different time is upon us."
Ouranos contemplates the times ahead as his trusted aid retreats into the shadow.
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Author Notes
Yo, this is MK, and this is my first fanfic ever. While I'm fluent in English, I'm not a native, so feel free to leave constructive criticism about my writing, and if I'm missing something about the lore, please let me know. The updating schedule has yet to be set in stone.
Also, what year is it in Genkai when the story begins, just for timekeeping purposes?