The Storm King

After being given a few minutes to process, Leon felt like he understood what the Thunderbird was saying, and it meshed well with Xaphan’s much less detailed explanation from years earlier.

There were millions upon millions of planes within the universe, many smaller than the plane of Aeterna, some larger. And yet, all of them ‘faced’ the same direction: toward the Nexus. The Nexus was in the center of the universe and was in the center of the sky for every plane in existence, which formed a kind of incomplete sphere, with all the planes spread out around the Nexus.

On the inside surface of the Nexus was a massive world far larger than any plane, and in the center of the sphere was the ‘star’, which the Thunderbird later referred to as the Origin Spark, not that Leon knew what that meant.

The universe extended far beyond the ‘sphere’ of planes around the Nexus, though, and that was where Xaphan had come from, the so-called Void. Technically speaking, all the space between the planes and the Nexus was the Void, but when most people spoke of the Void, they spoke of the universe beyond the planes where the demons lived. Unfortunately, the Thunderbird was extremely light on the details of this place, much to Leon’s disappointment.

“Now, what questions do you have?” the Thunderbird asked once her explanation was finished.

There were many Leon had, but the first one he asked was, “What is the Divine Graveyard?”

“This plane and the eleven others around it are one of the closest clusters of planes to the Nexus in existence, and these twelve planes are where the Primal Gods and Devils were buried following their extinction during the catastrophic war eons ago,” the Thunderbird replied.

This one statement made Leon almost reel from how many more questions that gave him. Fortunately, the Thunderbird noticed and decided to launch into another long explanation.

“At the dawn of the universe, the Primal Gods and Devils came into existence,” the Thunderbird explained, and her light projection shifted into two images.

One was of a quadrupedal creature that almost seemed to be made of solid white light, with a smooth metallic surface for skin and hard, sharp edges between these smooth plates. The being had few noticeable facial features, though it did have a recognizable mouth. It’s brow completely covered the area where its eyes would be if it were human and extended out into a pair of huge curved horns, which were also made of up this white metallic substance. Its torso was human enough and had a pair of human-shaped arms coming out of its shoulders.

The other creature seemed to Leon to be made up of dark clouds edged with lighter clouds and red light, as if there were a red light source shining behind the black and dark grey clouds that bent around their edges. The creature had a vaguely human shape, though instead of a defined neck and head, the cloud simply extended upward like a steep hill. In the center of that long and shapeless bump was a single red eye—or what looked like an eye—blazing like a red star in the center of a dark nebula. The being had a pair of arms with two hands, and nine fingers on each hand, though no discernable lower body, save for more clouds.

The white metallic being was a Primal God, while the dark cloud-like being was a Primal Devil.

“These were the first forces in the universe, the first conscious wills,” the Thunderbird continued. “For the most part, they got along well enough, without too many disagreements. If there were disagreements, the Kings of each of these beings would parley and arbitrate along with a leader of the Divine Beasts.”

“Divine Beasts?” Leon asked.

“Indeed, in addition to the Primal Gods and Devils, there were also a number of beasts that sprang into existence with the formation of the universe,” the Thunderbird said. “Some of them of cataclysmic power, able to easily contend with the strongest of the Primal Gods and Devils. Most were of more middling power, relatively speaking, so they weren’t exactly treated like complete equals by the insanely powerful Gods and Devils.

“These beasts were divided, though there were enough to threaten the Primal Gods and Devils into leaving them alone, for the most part. The strongest of them were allowed to reside in the Nexus alongside the Gods and Devils as equals. The Great Black Dragon was the strongest of them all, and if there was ever a single ruler of the Divine Beasts, then it was him. However, his brothers—the other Great Dragons—the Celestial Scorpion, the Phoenix, and the Heavenly Wolf were all of comparable power. There were also at least a thousand other Divine Beasts of great power among their ranks that I don’t have the patience to elucidate upon.”

“Are you a Divine Beast?” Leon asked.

The Thunderbird smiled at him and instantly replied, “No. I was born with nothing, just an eagle from a worthless plane with no more power than any other good-for-nothing beast. I worked for my power, I shed blood and tears for every step I took on the road to claiming the title of King of the Heavens; it was not granted to me by the Universe, I took it with my own talons! Thousands of other beasts just like me did the same, and the Divine Beasts welcomed us into their ranks with only a bit grumbling, unlike the Gods and Devils who would simply ignore our presence.”

“‘King of the Heavens’, is that a real title or are you just messing with me?” Leon humorlessly asked.

“It was real. Or at least, the title that the Great Black Dragon appeased me with after I fought him to a standstill could be translated as such if you took certain liberties with its translation,” the Thunderbird flippantly said before proceeding with her explanation. “Into this world came humans, supposedly created by the Primal Gods alongside the mindless angels that served them as extensions of their will. However, the Primal Devils also claimed that they made humanity, alongside the beings that would later become demons.”

At the mention of demons, Xaphan visibly shook, though he didn’t interrupt.

“It was this conflict, the disagreement about who, in fact, created humanity that started the war eons ago that led to the downfall of the Primal forces, as far as I was aware. I had joined the ranks of the Divine Beasts at the time, so I was hardly in the loop regarding the goings-on of the Primal Devils and Gods.

“Regardless of who or what squirted humanity into existence, humanity had come into being, and when the Gods, Devils, and Divine Beasts were gone, leaving nothing but a few disparate bloodlines, humanity inherited the Nexus and the wider universe.”

“How convenient for them,” Leon muttered.

“The fighting was mostly confined to the Nexus, so humans out in the lower planes survived,” the Thunderbird said. “Remember, the Nexus was the domain of the Primal beings and they weren’t going to lower themselves by gracing the lesser worlds with their presence if they could avoid it, or allow beings from those lesser worlds in to join them unless they had the power to force the issue, as I did.”

“What about during this ‘Reconstitution’?” Leon asked. “When the Nexus destroyed and remade itself, what did they do then, if they weren’t keen on mingling with those they thought beneath them?”

“There were a few planes they created closer to the Nexus than most others, and these planes would be their safe harbors. In fact, the Divine Graveyard is exactly where those planes used to be located…”

“So the Gods and Devils created this plane?” Leon asked.

“Possibly, I didn’t keep track of Divine creations, so I would hardly know. Still, the Divine Graveyard is the closest cluster of planes to the Nexus, so I would be willing to put money down on my guess being correct.”

“… Ok,” Leon said as he processed all of this new information. He had about a million more questions, but there was one thing that he wanted to know above all else. “How do I get to that point?” he asked. “How do I get to the Nexus? I assume that’s where you’re wanting me to go.”

“That is, indeed, where you must go,” the Thunderbird said. Then, after sneakily glancing over her shoulder into the Mists of Chaos by stretching a bit, she said, “In fact, that’s probably where you’ll find your mother, if you’re lucky.”

Everything happening within Leon’s head stopped at that moment. He stared at the Thunderbird, and slowly repeated, “How do I get there?”

Fortunately, the Thunderbird didn’t dramatically pause for long, and after reveling in Leon’s surprise, excitement, and anxiety for a few seconds, she continued. “To reach the Nexus is a difficult thing to achieve. It wouldn’t be a good idea to try below the ninth-tier. Around the tenth-tier or so wouldn’t be the worst idea, but it would be much safer to do so after achieving Apotheosis.”

“And what does that mean?” Leon asked.

“Beyond the tenth-tier, after your soul realm reaches a diameter of ten thousand miles, it’s possible to condense your own Origin Spark, just like what is in the center of the Nexus. It wouldn’t be incorrect to say that at that point, you would be stepping into the realm of the Divine. Your powers would be far beyond what any native on this plane would be capable of mustering, and you would be immortal. Or I suppose, ageless would be more accurate, an Origin Spark wouldn’t make you invincible, though killing you would be a feat that none of this plane would be capable of performing.”

“How would I do this?” Leon inquired, his heart racing and his blood boiling at the prospect of growing strong enough to defeat age. He was only nineteen, and he already had a lifespan of a few hundred years to look forward to, but agelessness was another thing entirely. It was something that had eluded even the greatest of Kings, but the Thunderbird said it was possible.

The Thunderbird considered the issue but then said, “It’s complicated enough that there wouldn’t be much point in explaining right now. When the time comes, I’ll walk you through it, or failing that, you can likely find enough references to Apotheosis in the center of this plane to figure it out yourself.”

Leon rolled his eyes, but he could recognize that the Thunderbird wasn’t going to explain any further down this line of information. Still, this was a lot to take in, and it took Leon more than a few seconds of thought to decide on what he wanted to follow up on.

“So, this is the ‘Divine Graveyard’, then?” Leon asked, seeking confirmation. When the Thunderbird nodded, he asked, “If the Primal Beings are buried here, is there any possibility that there might be something they left behind that could benefit me?”

“Unlikely,” the Thunderbird said. “If there was anything that could be gained from their corpses, then they wouldn’t have been buried all the way out here. Although, since the Divine Graveyard was later forbidden to enter, I suppose the possibility exists that you can find something to use among their corpses, but I wouldn’t count on it.”

“Got it,” Leon said, only mildly disappointed. He wasn’t too keen on grave robbing anyway regardless of whether it was a god or mortal he was stealing from. But if it gained him the power he both wanted and needed, then he’d do it without hesitation, divinity be damned.

“Regardless, this planar cluster was declared off-limits by the humans that took over in the wake of the Primal beings, but by then I was too dead to have first-hand knowledge of it,” the Thunderbird said, her face momentarily sliding into one of pure hatred and wrath. The expression was gone as quickly as it had come, but it still chilled Leon to his core.

But that did nothing to alleviate his curiosity.

“What happened? I can’t imagine something powerful enough to kill you if you were as strong as you say you were an equal to the King of the Divine Beasts,” he asked.

The Thunderbird was quick with her reply, and her face contorted into an expression of unabashed, abject, almost passionate pride. “I was most certainly as powerful as I claim, the Great Black Dragon and I fought continuously for more than a month, and it still ended up a draw! The Great Black Dragon was certainly great, but his power was not greater than my own!

“But that has little to do with my death. My death was my greatest failure, and my greatest triumph, even knowing the heights I had reached and the clan I had built. I and several other Ascended Beasts fell that day, but we accomplished what we had set out to do. I will say no more.”

Leon nodded, understanding as well as any living being could why the Thunderbird was reticent to speak of the death of her physical form.

At this time, Xaphan finally mustered the will to ask a question of his own before the other two dove into another deep discussion.

“I would like to hear more about the demons after the fall of the Primal Devils…” the fire demon said.

He was tall enough that the Thunderbird only had to turn her head a bit to look him in the eye from atop Leon’s marble platform, and she spared the demon no more than a glance and a brief release of her aura, but that was enough to dampen Xaphan’s flames and force the immense demon to his knees.

The Thunderbird didn’t have to say anything for Xaphan to get the picture; she was speaking to her descendent, and he wasn’t to butt in. Her current friendly demeanor was reserved for her last living descendent, not for him.

“You are the last inheritor of my power, of my blood,” the Thunderbird said to Leon, her yellow eyes fixed upon him. “If I am to help you, you must commit to achieving Apotheosis and working to rebuild the clan. Have you the ambition to take this on?”

“I do,” Leon said without hesitation.

“… Good,” the Thunderbird said. She was slightly taken aback, having expected a bit more contemplation on Leon’s part, but gratified in the speed and certainty of his answer, nonetheless.

“On that note,” Leon quietly began, his eyes narrowing as the image of black fire that he had seen in the wade of his fight with the vampire Lewis sprang into his mind, “is your power all I’ve inherited?”

“Is the power to make the firmament your own not enough for you?” the Thunderbird asked, her tone a mix of annoyance and amusement.

“I couldn’t ask for a better inheritance,” Leon said, eliciting a smile of approval and another glance out into the mists from the Thunderbird, “however, I have… at one point or another, felt like something was missing, like there was more within me that wasn’t… I don’t know how to phrase this, I guess I’ve just sometimes felt like something was missing, that there was something I was supposed to have but don’t. Does any of this make sense?”

Of course, it did to the Thunderbird. She knew exactly what Leon was talking about, but after a third glance into the mists, she said, “It doesn’t.” She felt like saying that statement was going to come back and bite her in the future, but at the moment, there wasn’t anything else she could say without poking a sleeping dragon.

Leon accepted her statement with only a bit of reservation—at least, for the time being—chalking his vision of black fire and red-orange light up to a strange dream brought on by a serious injury caused by demonfire. He decided to take the Thunderbird at her word and resolved to be more specific later.

“How about our clan, then?” Leon brought up. “What can you tell me about them?”

The Thunderbird smiled. If anyone else had demanded information from her as Leon was, they would be swiftly struck by innumerable bolts of lightning and rendered ash upon the wind. But it was Leon, her last living link to the world of the living, and in her pride of his ascension to the sixth-tier, she was more than willing to explain the clan’s history to him.

And to do that, she had to start with herself; hardly a difficult topic for such a prideful being.

“Our clan began with my birth, eons ago in the Primal Age…”