Zero Potential: Interlude I

Interlude I

Off in Galandria, a far distant land known for being run by devout seers, Sister Huang one of the seven heavenly maidens, of the Divine Order sat in quiet contemplation. The reason for sister Huang’s presence was as much honor as it was ceremony. Since the beginning of recorded time the Divine Order has sat as the first line of warning for darkness that threatened to engulf the world.

Sister Huang’s job, just like that of her six other heavenly sisters, was to come in her observe the readings of the great crystal and pray that it never comes to life. The act of prayer and meditation was not necessarily a rule at first, but one and all each heavenly maiden took it on as their duty to pray during their weekly shift where they would watch over the crystal and observe for any fluctuations in energy readings by the great orb. For there was not much else to do during one’s shift, other than pray that the end of the world would not in fact start during one’s own shift, or during any shift for that matter.

Over the centuries, there have been hints, warnings and flashes of evils, but fortunately nothing conclusive has happened.

A few weeks ago, the sacred sphere, a divine object handed down by the Gods themselves began to glow brightly for the first time in twenty years.

The masses would have it known that the sacred sphere granted by the Gods has always remained inactive, yet there are seven people who know differently. The seven heavenly maidens all know the truth of the world. For unlike all others, who have their memories wiped, anyone who connects their consciousness with the sphere of the Gods can see the true history of the world. They can see that a calamity just ended, one of the greatest evils that the world ever knew was stopped as it reached its zenith in power. The hero and villain both identities are hidden, marred by changing fates and divine protections, but the fact remains the same. The world was saved yet again, and no one noticed.

Seeing the success, the Divine Order secretly recorded the victory, noting the initial start and end times, the countries involved, and then ultimately the country from where the calamity began and ended. There was a flow to things, a pattern, but one that always seemed to be just outside the grasp of everyone who could watch and record. The calamity always began in the country where the hero who struck down the last calamity began.

Then just like always, since the source that ended the last calamity began in Belaton, the Divine Order preemptively sent spies to every corner of the kingdom. What were the spies doing? Simple, they were keeping an eye out for people who randomly appeared, showing signs of power. The goal was to find seeds of destruction, before they had time to germinate and grow.

Recently, one of the youngest scouts, one assigned to the magical Academy within Belaton spoke of an unusual person masking their powers. Since that point, all communications with the rogue spy have gone silent. Secretly sister Huang fears the worst, though worst is a relative term when there is no true being of supreme evil yet.

There are no signs of darkness, at least not what the seven heavenly maidens have been so used to over recent years. Before the last calamity ended, darkness completely coated the sphere so much so, that even trying to glance into the sphere for details would cause pain to swell in each of the heavenly maidens. If a heavenly maiden pierced the darkness with their Sight, then they could gain insights into the movements of the enemy of the world. They could see corruption happening at the roots and inform kings and queens of problems before they arose from within their kingdoms.

Yet, the Divine Order’s success is a double-edged sword, as the more times they are accurate and able to stop a calamity from occurring, the more the world forgets their deeds. Even those who were last out on missions often forget what happened, blissfully ignorant of the dangers they not only helped prevent by being a member of the Divine Order, while also losing faith within themselves that their goals and actions are actually as beneficial to the world as the heavenly maidens claim.

Rituals can be performed to help the sacred protectors of the heavenly maidens remember their sacrifices, to remember their actions from before the calamity disappeared and the world reset itself. There is however just one problem with this, anyone who has such a ritual performed on them will have their eyes burned out of their heads if they so much as lay eyes upon the new embodiment of evil. Such is the power of knowledge; it is a huge tradeoff. As those who remain behind with devout knowledge of the past often choose not to leave their stronghold, many instead devoting their lives to the training of the next generation of scouts, warriors, and magicians who will be employed to help protect the world from future calamities.

That is why there are always sacred elders who stay, who retain their memories of the past calamities that were prevented. Yet, even with these true believers the power and authority of the Divine Order constantly dwindles, despite the fact that they easily have one of the most important jobs in the world, to prevent any and all future calamities from destroying the world.

Thus, it was that sister Huang watched over the recently purged sphere of the Gods and prayed. She prayed that the world would have yet one more day of peace. One more day where her services and those of her order were not needed. In fact, that is what all the members of the Divine Order secretly prayed for, on some basic level, they all prayed for a day and time when they would not be needed.

Flicker.

The glowing sphere let out a light puff of darkness. Not much but given that there was normally an all-consuming light coming from the sphere when there was no darkness present, made even the slightest hint of shadows easily noticeable.

“So it has begun, and the hearts and minds of the people of the world will be tested to right the wrongs of the past. Until the hearts of all people are truly clean of corruption, calamities will be needed to bring about the changes needed to ultimately create a better world.” Sister Huang said, mentally quoting the scriptures from what would now be considered heretical texts. Heretical to those who didn’t understand the fact that the Gods were both love and discipline, everyone remembers the love, but they don’t remember what it means to be truly disciplined.

Opening her eyes from her prayers, sister Huang saw the faint appearance of a shadow. Just a passing smoke trail, in a sea of blinding white light. Seeing the remaining trails of smoke quickly burn away, sister Huang was tempted to dismiss the quick cloud of darkness, but she couldn’t, not again. That was how the last one got to be so powerful, she had been on shift last time. At the time she was new to the heavenly sisters and saw a similar sign. At the time, she did not wish to cause undue concern so she waited to warn others, until it was too late.

This time sister Huang, aided by the memories of her past failures, sighed inwardly, as she rose to her feet and strode over to the giant corded rope on the side. Then grabbing the rope up high, she clung tightly to the rope and pulled down with all her might.

Ding-dong.

Immediately overhead, a giant bell rang out, signaling that the short lived peace was once again over.