Beyond The Impossible

Hell, 163,000 light-years from Earth

Deep within the planet, magma and Blood are in a constant battle, making Hell far more volcanically active than the typical inhabited world. The majority of the population lives in underground caves, but the lowest level is reserved only for the highest members of Hell’s government and military sources.

It is only accessible by portals. Protected by miles of solid rock, barriers of pure Blood energy, toxic levels of sulfur in the air, and an air temperature which would instantly kill a human.

A pentagram of fire announces the first non-Demon visitor in recorded history: a young human protected by both a Survival Field and an environmental suit. She’s accompanied by Vice, the current Lady of All Demons, who is the first to cross the portal.

<Welcome to the First Circle of Hell, Noriko Null.>

<Nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live here.> she jokes. It’s a cave where the rock has been carved to resemble a gloomy cathedral, illuminated by torches made of Blood energy, and guarded by bare-chested Demons armed with energy pitchforks.

<You would not be able to.> Torn comments, being the last to cross the portal. He’s carrying on his back a rather complex machine, the size of an SUV; when he lays it on the ground, the echo of its sound travels several times through the First Circle.

<Are you certain this device will resist the heat?> Vice asks, lightly tapping the metal with a fingernail. The machine moves on its own, changing its shape: three separate generators connected to a central pillar. Noriko gets closer to the pillar to place a small object inside a special receptable.

It looks like a normal key, but it’s one of the most potentially destructive devices ever created.

<Alright. Powering up generators and activating the Null Shield.> she comments, typing the activation sequence in the holographic control panel.

A forcefield appears around the device, isolating the Iron Key of Heaven it now holds.

<You did not answer my question.> Vice says, not impressed by the technology.

<It’s powered by twelve Mark IX Plasma Generators; it would survive a direct hit by a nuke.>

Vice silently turns towards Torn, who translates:

<She said yes.>

<Then don’t worry, Slayer of Gods. Hell will protect this Key and not allow anyone to use it.>

<Perfect; I wouldn’t want anyone using it to throw more planets around. I understand you’re okay with the Lampyrians now living so close to Hell? Given their birth rate, they will probably end up colonizing the entire Middle Galaxy.>

<Conquest and colonization are in the past for us; Demons haven’t moved beyond Hell for millions of years. As long as the Lampyrians don’t try to invade us, they have nothing to fear from us.>

<How far back do your historical records go?>

<Marduk created the Demon race from the energy dragons birthed by Tiamat over a billion years ago, but I believe you already you knew that. You wish to ask me about Apocalypse, I suppose?>

<Yes. Did you know that the founder of our neutrality was a Nexus host?> Torn asks her.

<It is a secret known only by the highest ranking Demons, Torn. I only learned it once I was elected Lady Of All Demons.>

<Did my father know?>

<As the leader of Hell’s army, yes, he would have been informed. As you can imagine, we have been keeping a close eye on the Nexus since the Lar rediscovered it.>

<What else do you know about the Demon’s history with the Nexus, Vice?>

<I can’t provide any more information on the subject.>

<Oh come on! Why can’t anyone ever give me a straight answer!?> Noriko complains.

Vice turns again towards Torn for a clarification of the term. He just shrugs.

<No, I don’t understand either how direction or sexual orientation factor into the answer.>

<You have to understand, Null, that Apocalypse ruled Hell millions of years ago. Demons live longer than humans, but that is a long time for us as well. All I know is that she was the last Demon host of the Nexus and that she did not wish for any members of her kind to inherit the device.>

<So you don’t know anything else?>

<That is correct. I don’t even know how the first Demon came into possession of the Nexus.>

<We stole it from the First Men.> Torn reveals, having been informed about Noriko’s vision.

<I am not familiar with that term.> Vice admits.

<Join the club. Humanoid, gold skin, bland personality?> Noriko clarifies.

The Demon woman is clearly surprised by her words; she tries to disguise it, but Null can see the fear in her eyes once she realizes what she’s talking about.

<I’ve never heard them called the First Men, but they were the dominant species of the Nine Galaxies during the Golden Age. They called themselves the Eden.>

<You seem quite nervous talking about them.> Noriko notes.

<We have discussed this long enough. You should leave.> Vice quickly changes the subject, creating a new pentagram right next to Noriko and walking away.

<No, I don’t think so. We’re not done here.> the human protests.

<Yes we are.> Vice adds, just when the pentagram moves on its own to make Null and Torn disappear from Hell.

 

Null Tower, New York City

The pentagram deposits the two members of the Vanguard in the Operations Room and then disappears. It’s late night on Earth, but there is someone there: three duplicates of Kari Zel, busy working through the paperwork related to her work as a manager at Null Technologies.

<How did it go?> one of them asks.

<So-so. The Iron Key is secured, but I have a lot of questions and not a lot of people willing to answer them.> Noriko answers.

<You could ask Athena. She definitely knows more about the previous Nexus hosts.> Torn suggests, but Noriko shakes her head.

<I’m way past trusting anything she tells me. Besides, if she doesn’t know that I know what I know, I can still use it to my advantage the next time she tells me she doesn’t know something I know that she knows because I already know what she’s not willing to say she knows, right?>

The three Kari duplicates look at each other: two of them shrugs and the third one answers:

<Sure, whatever you say. Should we go through everything that happened at the company while you were off-planet?>

<Actually, I have something more important to do.> Noriko says, snapping her fingers: it’s a signal to her teleporter to make her vanish in a bright show of lights.

<We really should take that thing away from her.> Kari comments.

 

Delos, 78.000 light-years from Earth

Apollo sits on his throne, holding the Heaven-Slayer sword in his hands: a small trophy for being one of the few immortals to face the Slayer of Gods and survive unscratched.

His oracle Shaina is prostrated at his feet, asking for his forgiveness.

<I’ve failed you, Sun God. I couldn’t kill your sister’s murderer, and I can’t find where she went.>

<It matters not. More pressing matters demand my attention: it’s clear that my father Zeus has left his sector, and I will command my armies to conquer it in my name.>

<Your will shall be done, Almighty Apollo.>

<There is, however, the matter of my wife Helen. She says she did not meet the Slayer, and the Oracles she led to Lampyria swear that she tells the truth; but they may be swayed by her divine beauty to lie for her. I am sure she’s hiding something from me.>

<I can’t say if she’s telling the truth, my lord. I was separated from the other Oracles during much of the mission.>

<I know. Your new mission will be to investigate my wife’s schemes: I want to know if she colluded with one of my enemies. I could force her to confess, of course, but a covert operation could provide more information about my enemies.>

<I will do as you command, Lord Apollo.>

<Of course you will. Start with the Ice Queen of the Lar: I find her rise to power… intriguing.>

 

Apartment of Max Black, New York City

After teleporting herself in the hallway, Noriko Null knocks on the door. She never told Max how much she appreciated his efforts to help her cope with her breakup with Todd, by not allowing herself to be alone during. Now she’s here to return the favor: he just broke up with Lily, and Noriko feels more than a little guilty since she’s the one who forced her to return to space.

<Just a second!> she hears Max say on the other side of the door.

While she waits, she takes something out of her pocket: the black coin that Hermes gave her.

“What am I doing here?” she thinks “I have a billion year old mystery to solve and another two Keys of Heaven to recover. Why should I care about anything else?”

<Oh, it’s you. What’s the emergency?> Max asks; she didn’t even notice he opened the door.

<No emergency. I just wanted to… nevermind, I can leave if you’re busy.>

<No no, come in, I could use the company.> he answers, getting back inside; she reluctantly follows him. This is the first time she visits his apartment: it’s the utter chaos of a bachelor with too much free time on his hands. There are piles of comic books everywhere, movie posters, and three video game consoles.

<It’s exactly as I imagined it. Is everything okay, Max? We’ve been through a lot lately.>

<I know. I’m still bummed we lost the Heaven-Slayer, that was a really cool sword.>

<I’m talking about Lily. I’m sorry you two broke up and I wanted to make sure you were okay.>

<I appreciate it; I know how much you hate coming back to the real world. It’s rough, but I’m not the kind of guy who lives in the past. Maybe the Lampyrian attitude rubbed off on me.>

<Yes, it’s a nice… uhm, “the real world”?> Noriko repeats, raising an eyebrow as she looks at the TV: it’s paused in the middle of a fighting game.

<Relatively speaking. I guess this is too low brow for you?> he asks.

<I used to play this at Jane’s house when we were kids. Back when I was…> she continues, her stare lost in her own mind.

Something inside Noriko clicks. Every other Nexus host she’s met so far seemed larger than life figures, lost into their own obsessions. Could her connection to her human side be what makes her different? Or is it a weakness that she’s not yet prepared to leave behind?

<You don’t know what you’re dealing with, Max.> she answers, taking the black coin and placing it on a pile of comic books where it’s out of her sight once she sits on the couch and adds:

<I’m really freakin’ good at this game. Get ready to be slaughtered.>

<Oh it’s on, Slayer of Gods!>

As the two start their game, none of them can see the infinity symbol on the coin glow for several seconds.

 

Naqada Galaxy, 17 million light-years from Earth

The gods sometimes call this the Nephthys Galaxy, named from the Egyptian goddess who rules it.

Due to the dark band of absorbing dust in front of the galaxy’s bright nucleus, Earth astronomers call this the Black Eye Galaxy. Its other, more rarely used name, is the ominous Evil Eye Galaxy.

Since the region covered by the dust is almost entirely devoid of inhabited worlds, it is one of the most mysterious and least explored parts of the universe under the rule of the Nine Gods.

Inside a cold and dark nebula, the Evil Eye Galaxy just blinked: a massive halo of light makes a new planet exist.

There is no star within several hundred light-years, but the planet doesn’t seem to need it: it radiates a glow that cannot be silenced by the cosmic night.

The planet is almost entirely barren. Not a single drop of water and not even the slightest gust of wind. Just endless deserts of glowing, golden dust.

Except a garden, surviving despite the total lack of any reason for its existence. Inside the garden, surrounded by a perfectly symmetrical arrangement of identical flowers, are a man and a woman.

They’re laying on the golden grass, their eyes closed, without drawing breath, holding each other’s hand. Their skin, hair and even clothes are golden like everything on this planet.

Then they open their eyes, perfectly synchronized. They blink in unison and stand up in unison.

<We are back in the universe.> he says.

<We cannot sense anyone else like us. We are all that is left.> she adds.

<We are all that is needed. There are still gods that will oppose us.> he continues.

<There are still mortals that will oppose us.> she concurs.

<Let us show the universe that Eden has returned.> both say together.