Crowe woke - the silence too perfect, the air too still. In the pits of his guts, he knew he was in a dream.
The world around him was black. And not the black that comes with sleep - it was a much more primal darkness, the kind that swallowed the skies and floors.
It consumed the world around, leaving nothing but black.
Crowe stood up the floor - or was he upside down? It was impossible to tell, he couldn't tell which was ground, sky or star. Only the dark pressed against his skin.
Suddenly, a voice shifted.
It's voice enveloped the world. It was watching.
Crowe tried to usher in a reply but his voice drowned before he uttered a word.
The voice laughed.
And not the typical laugh. It was a twisted, demented melody that echoed around the world - like a broken record that played to no end.
Crowe stood on all ends, his feared expression made him realize that his very existence was at the mercy of this deity.
"Ahh.. You poor soul. Little burning soul... you've taken the fruit, did you not?"
The sly being hysterically snickered.
"Azo, pure Azo in your veins, it trickles in your heart... does it not?"
Crowe did not answer, pure fear drew over his face - He had become a helpless child in an older vessel.
And, almost to taunt him, the snickering showed no signs of stopping.
"I've watched the first worlds burn, the second - consumed. And the third.. ahh the third, that was fun."
The voice paused.
It drooped, resonating a tone that wasn't a voice, it was an emotion. Crowe's spine curled and his heart twisted - his legs frozen on the ground.
"Now come crawling little Messmer, so breakable - your world the fourth, the final. "
The voice slithered throughout the vast black.
"You come seeking magic, did you not?"
Crowe hesitantly nodded.
It laughed - a vibrant sound crashing like waves pouring.
"So you think you come to wield the elements of Jando, Seena, Tosko, Gandayo and Porel?"
The voice burst into laugher - wild, crackling and full of twisted glee.
"HAHAHAHA! Elements you say? No, no, no, you naive fool. Not tools, Not weapons either. Gods. Sleeping. Starved. Screaming"
The voice wheezed. Catching his breath.
"Ahhhh... and you thought u were chosen? Wrong! You're opened."
Crowe's chest tightened, his head snapped, sharp pains consumed his head. A burning sensation seared his skull - It wasn't just pain; it was something ruthless.
"YOU'VE MERELY BEEN DANCING WITH DEVILS WITH PRETTY NAMES!"
Crowe's heart twisted, a panicked beat. His gut twisted, as if something was pulling him from the inside, from deep within his bones.
"Every single gust of wind you conjure, every rock you hurl - it's them and their despicable plans... breathing through you, feedingoff you."
The voice disturbed Crowe's head, he could feel it not just in his mind. It echoed in his very soul. The pain cracked him open — his very being tearing from the inside, Crowe could not handle the sheer twisted agony.
His nerves ignited, bones screamed. His mind consumed him. He couldn't tell if he was breathing or suffocating as if his lungs were filled with molten glass.
But then —
A breath.
Suddenly, the voice pressed on - now soft, almost gentle- but tempting.
"But I can save you, little soul. A way to save you from the very disgusting gods that feed on you like parasites."
It smiled through it's words.
Crowe's thoughts swarmed his head. What is this? Is any of this real? What's happening?
"You hold power... power to break the cycle of pain. Destroy the gods that wormed their ways in your planet."
"For they are not eternal, nor invincible. I, Lorpe, the Book of Divinity... shall bestow on you strength to kill the gods. Undo their grip.. Feedon them."
Crowe's soul - sharp pains embedding his psyche - was not of rational sense. He blurted.
"I- I will kill them"
The voice, Lorpe, laughed - He was satisfied.
"Good.. be free, my child. "
The world around him warped, the pain around him intensified - it became his own, he held the newfound strength in his hands.
A grimoire formed, It's name...
"Lorpe, Flickered Flame"