Act 5 - Chapter 8, Part 1

Chapter 53: Jack

The ground felt hard like stone, but it was smooth like ice. 'Huh...' Jack slowly opened his eyes as he came to. The black sky was full of lights, slowly moving across a void of vibrant hues. 'Where am I...' Jack blinked at the world above him, he felt entranced. 'Is this a dream...' He reached for it with his left arm, the sky was at his fingertips, but too vast for his tiny hand to grasp. When he only saw his thumb, index, and middle finger, he remembered what happened on the dock of the Rafael Battleship.

"Ha....Ha..." Jack huffed in and out.

Each of his breaths grew louder, he tried moving his right hand and felt an uncomfortable lack of feedback. Jack turned his head slowly, and his heart started to beat even faster out of his chest. Everything below his right elbow was gone. 'Wasn't I just-' Jack's three remaining fingers quickly reached for his chest, and his mind came to a standstill when he remembered falling from the ship.

"What... Happened?" Jack asked himself in a state of shock.

He slowly looked down at his chest, bewildered at seeing the wounds on his hand being sealed by skin. Jack pushed himself up with his left elbow, he paused as his body felt normal. 'The wounds- Where are they?' Jack rolled onto his front, pushing himself up with his left hand. The scars that riddled his body had all closed. He looked up and observed the surface he laid on, it was a pale white, similar to the color of the Celestial itself. Behind him was a strange gate, Jack could see an endless number of towers beyond it. However, to the sides of the gate, the tower he stood on looked isolated. 'What the...' He slowly crept under the circular gate and toward the edge of the platform. 'What... In the...' Jack was awestruck, as he walked through the gate he found himself in a completely different location, upon turning around he saw a single massive tower, however through the gate he walked through, was the area he had awoken in.

"How in the..." Jack uttered.

Jack walked around the gate, and he was surprised to find that the back was sealed. As he walked to the front he shook his head as he saw a whole different location. 'What the fuck...' He peered off the edge and saw hundreds, if not thousands of towers evenly spaced out. He looked down and saw smaller towers surrounding each larger one, each layer of smaller towers was followed by an even smaller layer. It almost seemed like it descended endlessly.

"Are these all... Celestials?" Jack muttered to himself. "Where the hell am I..."

"Silence!" A sharp whisper echoed from somewhere in the dark.

"Huh- Who said-"

"Silence I say!" A dark creature yelled from below.

"Ah!"

Jack looked down and jumped as he noticed a small dark figure in front of him. It was barely even taller than his knees. Its skin was pitch black, making all of its features hard to distinguish. It looked like an oval standing on two thin feet, its round head had two wide white eyes gazing deeply at Jack. 'Is that a mask?'

"You are in the court of the Celestial King! Respect the silence! Or I will destroy you!" the small figure jumped up as he made the threat.

Jack took a step back, "What... What are you- The court of- the Celestial... King? What?! How did I get here? Where am I!"

"Silence I said!" The small bird-like creature suddenly grew to a large size, its massive eyes peered down at Jack. He froze as its tone and pitch enhanced as well. "His majesty seeks your audience, be honored, melancholic fool."

The dark figure bowed its head, from its oval-shaped body, a black feathered wing stretched and pointed through the gate. 'Melancholic?' Jack approached the strange gate, and through it, a large black tower stood in the center of the platform. Jack looked around, there was no other tower in sight around the one he currently stood on. As he walked toward the edge, he looked down and was met with the sight from before, hundreds of towers spread out infinitely. Jack turned back toward the tallest tower in this entire place, he gulped as he looked up to its peak.

A large set of white steps was suddenly lit by a floating crystal. It glowed a deep red despite the stairs reflecting a luminous white. He continued up the steps and more crystals lit up. Each stair seemed to make a faint noise when stepped on. Jack squinted at the next orange one, he continued forward and another lit up, a green one with a familiar luster.

"Huh..." Jack reached forward and felt the heat coming off of the green stone. "This is... Logorite?"

Jack continued up the steps, a yellow stone lit up, and then a blue one next. As he took another step, another familiar crystal lit up. A purple crystal, the same kind that came from Ajal's blood. Jack gulped nervously, he took two more steps up, and a pink crystal lit up, it was bright enough to almost glow an ivory white. The next crystal was red, followed by orange, green, and yellow again. The pattern repeated to the top of the tower.

"The Celestial...Has a king?" Jack looked off the staircase as he continued.

Upon reaching the top he looked up at the lights in the sky once again, the amalgamation of colors all blended beautifully. 'It's so mesmerizing...' Thousands of white dots of different sizes glowed with radiance similar to the sun, 'Isn't the sky supposed to be black during the night? Wait... What time is it... How long has it been...' Jack stopped questioning his surroundings as he noticed a red glow in front of him.

"Huh..."

A red orb was fixed to the end of a black hilt, attached to the golden guard of a bright red sword. It was embedded in the ground in front of a throne, and on that throne was a man. His skin was pitch black. It had white piercing eyes, similar to the creature from earlier. Its pitch-black limbs were massive, practically made solely from muscle. Draped over its shoulders was a white mantle, secured by a brooch that resembled the skull of a bird with a wide but flat beak, it had two wings behind it. The hood of the mantle covered its head, and overtop that was a shiny golden crown. The inside of the mantle was a strange black and white, it seemed to be swaying and reflecting light as Jack got closer. It looked like it wore a mask of some sort.

"H-Hello?" Jack called cautiously.

The humanoid figure didn't respond, Jack couldn't tell if it glanced downwards.

"Jack Eldritch..." Its mouth didn't move, but Jack was certain he heard a voice.

Jack stepped back, he looked around the peak for anyone else, but no one was there. He turned back to the throne, and the man sitting on it leaned onto his right hand. Just seeing it move made Jack's heart jump, 'It's... A person...' He sat behind the red sword embedded in a cross-shaped rock on the ground.

"Where am I?" Jack asked.

"The Celestial Nexus," he answered.

"Your... Court? That- thing at the bottom of the tower... It called you... The Celestial King?"

The massive figure didn't say anything, it simply glanced back toward Jack.

"Yes, I am the Celestial King. My courtier greeted you below."

Jack stared at the person sitting on the throne, he reared his head back as he squinted. 'What... What do I even want to say... What do I even want to ask?' Jack looked up.

"Do... Do you control the Celestials?" Jack asked awkwardly.

The king tilted his head, "No. I instill the will of each planet's Celestials. You seem to be asking the wrong question, what you should be asking is, what is it, that I did."

Jack froze, "The... The king of the angels kept all of my people enslaved... If you... If you are the king of the Celestials..."

"Hm..." the king put a thumb to his chin and looked up. "I suppose one could say, that, you and everyone else in the universe, are my prisoners..."

Jack felt his blood run cold.

"But don't compare me to that, annoying pest of a harbinger, I consider myself," the king put his hands on his chest. "A benevolent god," his arms opened.

As the king stretched out his hands and gestured toward everything, his tone had gone from lazy to one full of pride. Jack glanced toward the red sword before quickly looking back to the king.

"A... A harbinger? What?" Jack stuttered.

"Oh, you wouldn't have ever known... Leamas and Leazra were their names, the harbingers of Jalrog. On your planet, Grelt, you were given the titans you may know as Xenia, Yuria, and Zadia, greater versions of the pre-existing progenitor race which I also created. Jalrog's progenitor race were fiendish beings, and thus I created the great sylphs of order and chaos, two fools who boasted each other as the almighty rulers of the planet. Together, they lead humanity to overwhelm and conquer the creatures of the planet. Leamas and Leazra loved their power and wealth so much that they even tried to defy the fate I set out for them by living on through hosts. Hahahaha! But there was one catch, can you guess what it is?"

The king looked at Jack, who just stood there with a blank look on his face.

"The blood of divine beings is the most powerful resource a civilization can acquire. Each of the seven divine beings possesses different properties within their blood, and the blood of Ragnarok specifically led them to discover an energy that allowed them to harness the power of anti-gravity. When the demons discovered this, they showed the angels what it was capable of. I specifically put it in Leazra's domain, making Ragnarok associate it with his home, but what I didn't expect was for Ragnarok to just do nothing at all. He remained dormant for over a hundred years, it was almost like he was in a state of meditation."

"Meditation?" Jack held his head.

"The demons and the angels both feared him, after all, Ragnarok himself was the biggest creature they'd ever seen. You may have noticed it with Oaraun and Ajal, divine beings may go against the will I instilled in them. It's that, humanity that develops, I, personally, think it's pure weakness. But with Ragnarok, it was different. Ragnarok, despite being the divine being of gluttony, he rather chose to remain still in a state that even I couldn't understand, eventually, some fools amongst the demons had the gall to cut Ragnarok as a sort of game..." the king just kept giggling in his seat.

Jack felt his head throb, he had read about this before.

"That's when Leazra and Leamas discovered it, the properties of the blood. Leamas immediately wanted to kill Ragnarok and harvest all of its blood," said the king.

"Why..." Jack asked.

"That fool was just afraid, it wasn't like Ragnarok did anything to warrant that, Leamas was just that much of a coward. He believed anything that could threaten the order that sustained his pleasure was a threat. Leazra didn't want to follow along, she thought the blood was valuable enough in small quantity and thought that wouldn't awaken Ragnarok. Despite being the sylph of chaos, the charisma of her host changed her. However it was Leamas who had become the chaotic one now, drunk on the prospect of eternal life, he attacked Ragnarok. And so as you may know already, the Divine Being of Gluttony went ballistic," the king started to giggle, and Jack raised an eyebrow. "And- and on my own name can I say that I did not expect him to split the planet in two without outright destroying it, but at the same time, separating it from the other half with enough force to send it straight for Grelt. I had never even thought of that, a Celestial going to a different planet with a different will, I scold myself at the fact that I didn't think of something like that sooner. But, you should be thankful it all happened, it's what made you."

"Thankful... You watched me all this time... You were watching everything... For entertainment?"

"Yeah, but don't get me wrong, I don't make any of them do this. I just watch, it's exciting to just sit back and let things play out."

"You just... Just watch?" Jack sounded confused.

"Yes, oh, of course until I brought you here."

"Huh..."

"What? Are you confused?" the king's tone slowed down, and Jack couldn't tell if he noticed him looking at the sword. "I created these seven beautiful worlds for all of you to live within. That was all I did, until several hours ago, when I chose to save your life, Jack Eldritch."

Jack's head couldn't move any further back, he blinked in disbelief. "S-save? How did you-"

"I wasn't ever going to, but just seeing the miraculous displays of luck bending around you, it was so mesmerizing," the king sounded genuine, almost like he couldn't believe the person in front of him was real. "It was like I was being shown fate and destiny guiding you... If you just made it... A few more seconds! You would've received your gift and lived!" the king let out a disappointed sigh.

"Seconds?" Jack uttered, his throat feeling sore.

"The planet Grelt, at the start of creation, I instilled the Celestials with a will, that manifested the potential of those who exhibit an aptitude to seek the truth, those who provide to others, selflessly or not, and those whose envy had grown out of control. Jack... The Celestial's favor shone brightly for you, you possess all three of these, but you crashed into the sea and broke every bone in your body instantaneously, starting with your skull."

"I... I'm dead? I was going to receive a gift?" Jack stuttered.

"You aren't dead, due to my intervention, however, I was excited to see if you could really do it, but that spoiled fool Leamas stopped you... Ah, you were so close!"

"What... What kind of sick and twisted... Why would you... What about everyone else? What about everyone else who was killed by the angels?! Why did you only save me?! What about Carol?! What about Lydia!" Jack shouted his tone filled with a mix of fear and anger.

The Celestial king tilted his head.

"Well, that's simple. Even while you walk into battle unarmed... Even while bleeding out on the ground... Even while falling to your death...You don't reach for the Celestial's aid... You don't even beg for mercy when being hacked apart by your slave master! You truly interest me, Jack Eldritch."

Jack felt like glancing back toward the sword as his head throbbed.

The king tilted his head. "I've watched so many universes go by, each consumed by the abyss due to sin getting the better of them, in fact, this is the longest any universe has lasted... If you are going to run for my sword, I suggest you recon-"

Jack turned and reached for the red sword with his left hand, and the Celestial king stood. The blade lifted from the ground and the handle soared into his grip. Jack stumbled forward as he missed the handle by just an inch, he looked up at the towering twelve-foot man in shock. The king swung the red sword down with one arm, it happened so fast that Jack could barely react. He shut his eyes and cowered out of fear but opened them as he heard the king walk away.

"There, now you won't think about doing anything... Unhinged," the king stabbed the sword back into the ground.

Jack looked down at his left arm, "Ah- Aah!" He screamed in pain, he fell to his knees immediately as he looked at both of his missing arms. "Ha, aaagh!"

Jack groaned, the searing pain of the cut made him breathe sharp breaths quickly. His head throbbed, and a mix of regret and pain overcame him. The arm he had lost flopped back down in front of him, red blood stained the white stone.

"You see! I've told you exactly who I am, and yet you still tried! You really are amusing!" the king chuckled.

"Aah!" Jack struggled to avoid falling over, an unnerving chill followed the extreme heat on his flesh. "Ack-"

Jack skipped a breath as he felt something come up his throat. He suddenly threw up from the overwhelming pain. The gunk splattered over the ground as he wheezed.

"I'm curious, did you really believe that would work? No one, even beyond this universe, can defeat me," the Celestial King declared. "That's why I sit on that throne, and why you... Are on your knees. I fought and conquered the old world, and took it for myself, my blade is stained red in the blood of millions... And you think you can take that throne?"

"Ah!" Jack grunted in pain.

Jack rolled onto his back and looked up at the stars as he tried to steady his breathing. Jack looked at the figure tower over him, before sitting back on the throne. What made the being even more unnerving, was the fact Jack couldn't feel any spirit from it at all. 'What the fuck! What the hell is this? He can't be real-' Jack looked up at the almost gleeful eyes on the king's face, the other features couldn't be seen. Its white eyes looked down at Jack, they were piercing, overwhelming, and soulless.

Jack gulped. "Why..."

The Celestial King tilted his head.

"How many people's lives have you toyed with... All of my suffering... All of everyone's suffering... You did all of this... Why?!" Jack asked hopelessly with tears in his eyes, his tone weak.

"Why? Well because it's entertaining?"The king looked down and tilted his head. "Well, not exactly, at least, not at first. Still, and to this day, I set out to make life assume its best form..."

"What..." said Jack.

"I shaped the old world to my vision after I claimed it, and then I left life to its own time and will... At first, I did it for me, to overthrow the previous order that controlled the old world. However, there were things I didn't account for or expect at all. The first is the connection between all things..."

"The- what?" Jack coughed weakly.

"I conquered the physical realm, naively believing that was all it would take. It led me here, The Celestial Nexus, once known as the great Soul Furnace. At first, I was confused and ignorant of the true connection between the mind, the body, and the soul. However, after the first epoch, I noticed a part of the world I couldn't see before."

Jack squinted at him, "Epoch?"

"Oh, right, you wouldn't know that term. Rebirths, resets, epochs, they're all the same... After the abyss consumes the universe and destroys reality, I simply start it again, and everything comes back to the way it was. The physical world, the Spirit World of Aka at the root of reality, and the Soul Furnace, now known as the Celestial Nexus will always exist in a balance that cannot be broken. Even by me."

"Resets..." Jack looked down, and his heart rate spiked as a haunting question came to mind, he looked up at the king. "How many times... How many times have you reset everything..."

The king stared at Jack for a few seconds, the silence made him even more anxious.

"How would you react if I said I lost count sometime after twenty?" the king asked with gleeful eyes.

"You..." Jack stuttered. "You mean..."

The king seemed to grin even more as his eyes narrowed further. Jack looked down, he started to breathe in and out rapidly.

"And that brings me to why I've brought you here. You may be able to show me something new, Jack Eldritch. I want you to seek out Aka, and destroy it."

"Huh..."

"Yes, the birthplace of Spirit Arts. I never intended for it to exist, after I created my universe, portals to Aka would appear on each world. At first, it frustrated me, the very fools I sought to destroy kept coming back. After a few more epochs, I found that I started to enjoy it, I admit, it is entertaining watching fools dance in the palm of my hand. But then I realized something was wrong. Someone like me did not exist within that world."

"What?"

"An individual, ambitious and motivated enough to defy life and fate, just didn't exist. That is why I was unsatisfied, it didn't speak the words I spoke, and it didn't represent what I believed was right. It wasn't me, it wasn't good enough... I learned what I really desired was never at the end of the path... I turned out the way that I did because of the struggle. In the pursuit of strength, I reached the absolute truth. I want everyone to find it, just like I did. That person would truly be worthy of overthrowing me, and taking this universe for their own and dictating life."

"You... You want to be overthrown?!"

The king looked at his right hand, "You and I aren't so different Jack, we're just two men that had everything taken from them the moment they were given life... Forced to watch as those greedy crows gluttonized themselves to their liking... I've seen it again and again countless times, heroes driven to their limit by the conflict, reaching this point, but they lack the hunger to truly attain everything, or they can't even fathom the scope of it. The fools lack the ability to set themself aside, I did not fight for power, not for money, not even to survive. But instead, because it is right, I will not allow the old world to return, I, will not, allow life to stagnate again!" the king clenched his fist and slammed it into the armrest of the throne. "Absolutely not! For that... That is the most horrific death... The death of potential!"

"What... What kind of stupid crap..." Jack rolled over onto his front, he winced as he did. He looked up as his chin barely lifted off the ground, his teeth gritting. "You want life to assume its best form?! Being a slave is my best form?!"

"You misunderstand, but that's understandable. As I said, I simply set the stage, and then observe the outcome. I've watched you for some time Jack, and I believe you'd be the perfect one for this," The Celestial King stood up, his red blade lifted out of the ground and flipped into his palm.

The king took slow, menacing steps, spinning the sword in his hand as he approached. Jack looked up at the red sword above him, the hilt hovering directly above his forehead. It started to glow a bright white.

"What are you doing-" Jack winced as the king stepped on his shoulder, "Agh!"

"I'll show you... The absolute truth... When you see the world from my eyes, you may understand..."

"Understand what?! Get away from me!" Jack writhed on the ground.

The king crouched down, hovering the red orb attached to the handle over Jack's temple. The blade lowered, and as it approached Jack's head, his heartbeat increased. He couldn't move, waiting was his only option as the orb approached him. He could hear a strange noise, a pulsing from within the gemstone. Jack struggled to get as far as he could. 'What is that thing?! Ah-' The red orb touched his temple and he felt a popping frequency echo through his head. The high-pitched frequency started to overwhelm his mind. Jack screamed, but the noise blocked out the sound.

Jack frantically opened his eyes to a white void, black dots were scattered across the empty space, and each one had a grey gradient around it. 'What is this?! Where am-' Jack touched his mouth, he couldn't feel his mouth or the tips of his fingers. He opened his mouth to speak but nothing left his throat. He looked down and noticed his arms had returned.

'What the...' Jack's eyes scanned his forearms, a scar remained where it had been cut off. His palms each possessed a single black diamond etched into the center. 'What is this?!' Jack tried to rub the mark off, but he stopped and squinted as he realized his skin was gray. 'What's happening!' Jack's heartbeat continued to rise as he observed his monochrome hand.

The white sky full of black dots started to spiral, and one of the dots expanded. Jack watched as the darkness seemed to spread out across the endless white sky, and then it moved downward as if dripping down walls all around him. 'What-' Jack looked down and then noticed the black dots moving toward his feet. 'Huh...' Jack lifted his foot and noticed the white ground lift up like a cloth stuck to his sole, it continued to flow into his foot. Jack's heart skipped yet another beat. The darkness wasn't spreading out above him. The white void was flowing into him. As all of it entered his foot, Jack was left in nothing but darkness. For some reason, at that moment, everything became clear to him all at once. It was a strange sensation he could only describe as being connected.

Jack sat there, in the black void of darkness, speechless. Until all of a sudden, the darkness felt like it was closing in on him. A tightness grew in Jack's chest, he couldn't move, and fear started to cloud his mind. He couldn't even think or comprehend his own thoughts, but the lurking presence of death was upon him. His body was crushed by it, but he felt no pain, only fear. Jack couldn't move, he sat there, writhing as his consciousness faded. Until the darkness cracked. It was only then, that Jack remembered to breathe.

A sharp exhale escaped his throat as he ran out of breath, and as he did, everything expanded outwards. The darkness, the light, colors between them seemed to stretch and expand infinitely. Jack felt himself get dragged with it until he landed face-first on a carpeted floor.