Angels of Infinitum

"Ok, now that we are finally in Lagharia again, thank you for that by the way Chronias, is there anything concerning Infinitum City you feel you must know about?" Eclipse asked the brilliant red dragon. Still quadrupedal for now. It was almost a little extra bit of cuteness seeing him transition from that to a mostly bipedal beast again.

"Well, Infinitum is a city integrating both angels and demons together, right? How... exactly does something like that work?"

"It's not something I entirely understand either. However, as an angel, I can say this much. Perception is absolutely everything."

"That, doesn't really answer my question. You know that right?"

"I sadly can't reveal too much. I think you of all people should understand why."

"Hmm... honestly? Can't say I do!" Is he... tricking me? This thought entered into Chronias' mind for a moment before deciding to grill into this 'detective' a bit further. "Why do you often have to be so vague? Is it because... you don't..."

"Yes, don't worry I trust you."

"But I didn't even..."

"Finish your thought? I know."

"How are you able to..."

"Finish your sentences exactly as you intended?"

"Uh... yes... that I guess."

"We've had this discussion many times before. You often ask me, 'What is an angel?' 'Who are you?' 'Why is it so dark?' However, in this timeline, it seems like you actually know more than you think you do! This is a great sign of better things to come on the horizon! Tell me, what did you perceive while you were coming into my humble agency?"

"HA! THAT'S what you're asking!? Haha~ Well one very key thing I noticed is that you don't use any chairs in your agency. Seems a pretty bad business decision if you're asking me~"

"Why do you think I did that Chronias?"

"Oh shit! There's an actual reason for that?" Chronias thought frantically. "I only intended it as a joke! I hope he doesn't try to just erase me from existence or something!" Suddenly he felt a calm, comforting paw on his shoulder. It glowed golden as if the shifting nature of Eclipse's soul just got infinitely brighter. It almost became hard to look at that once black paw glowing as it did. "Is this it? Did I upset him enough to get him to kill me? Goodbye, cruel world... I... didn't know you well, but maybe the next afterlife will be better?"

"Angels can read thoughts you know, cutie~" Chronias' fur hides it really well, but blood rushed into his cheeks quickly. Why is flirting like this actually working on him? Even Scratch tried to flirt with him at first, but it never actually worked on him... why... is it working.... when it's from a guy? Not to mention an angel who might kill me at any moment! "Chronias... listen... you're safe here. I know you never truly believe that, but I must insist and try to rationalize this for you, as it is your specialty these days. Why would I use my angelic power to lead you here if I could just allow Calypso's forces, the Infinitum Solari, to pick you up instead and return you to your world?" Finally, a little bit of warmth to Chronias' cold heart. Still, why though?

"You... didn't lead me here. Also, why do you think it's ok to call me cutie!?"

"Did you.. not like.. it?"

Chronias actually had to think for a minute. Do I really want to piss off an angel's advances like thi... oh RIGHT HE CAN READ MY THOUGHTS FUCK! "I uh.... fuck. I don't know what to say honestly." Not like I even need to say anything around here, right you fucking pervert!? Read THAT one for me why don't you!

With a slight tinge of sadness in his expression, but still carrying warmth and hope, Eclipse got up, not even having noticed he was sitting with Chronias on the edge of "New Lagharia's" singular patch of green earth that housed the great expanse of his brand new Obsidian Tower. With a bit of a sigh, he says... "You don't have to 'let' me read your thoughts you know~ However it seems a part of you really likes the idea of your old lover finally getting a good read on how you're feeling~ You asked about angels yes? Ask yourself this one. Privately if you must. What do you know about how love works? Feeling love? Feeling romantic attraction? Perhaps you've never felt it before now and do not know why you feel this way? When you feel ready, I'd like to do another, how did you put it? 'Shadow game?' Yes, Shadow Game. This time, I wish to show you the means of dancing with someone you clearly care about. However, if you don't want to do that, you're free to leave. Simply invoke my name and..."

"ECLIPSE!"

"I knew it. I knew he wouldn't be ready to actually see me."

Then Eclipse felt something that made his blood turn into molten lava pumping through the mountainous terrain of his heart. He felt someone grab onto his paw. With two paws even. That person said in his all too familiar voice... "Can we stop the game now? I've missed you sweetie. I just want to know, why love has continued here for so long. Why can't I ever let you go my darling detective?"

Naming Traditions

Feminine names

Femininity often is simple in angels. Simplicity is often key when it comes to angelic names in general. Things that are very specific to feminine names are starting a series of letters added onto their mortal names starting with "I". So, let's say that a mortal comes up to us with the name of Joseph when they were mortal, but they chose to either through or outside of the therapy system, help work on redeeming a female soul that has lost their name through forgetting it. That person still holds traits the beholder views as feminine. So, by helping this lost soul, Joseph may choose to adapt their name slightly into Josephi. Another feminine defining letter to add would be "A". So it could also become Josepha instead should they want to essentially "adorn" their name with something feminine without adding an I. Then it if that person continues being redeemed, the redeemer might choose to add more of the found name that person finds to their own. So, if the soul decides on the name "Yuri" then Josephi may add any of those letters to his name, including another "I" since it is part of the name "Yuri" then making Josephi, Josephii. Often though, people choose to reclaim their names and retain them. However, a complete wipe that does not affect their outward facing gender may also be chosen later. So Josephii may just outright decide to be named Orphelio on a whim and then time may actually shift to reflect their new name! My powers allow for the comfort of all citizens, so we must keep the idea of freedom of choice in mind regularly when it comes to names. We don't often care much for how citizens are named, so long as they do not choose names which directly tie to the mantles assigned to certain people. Then we tend to start to care.

Masculine names

As opposed to the feminine "I" and "A", there is also a masculine "E" or "O." So, Joseph from the previous example may choose to add a masculine "O" to his name upon attempting to redeem a soul that he decides is masculine. This does not always need to be successful due to the rule of "wiping" that we discussed before. So, Josephe may wish to even try to copy the name of another, but they will not take on the appearance of another person. For example, if both truly wish it, then two connected souls could both decide to be called Josepho regardless of the name being slightly non-sensical to earthlings. It would not protect their name from being mocked, especially by demons should they chose to interact with them, but this is why telepathic communication is exclusively used for angel-to-angel communication unless one is a therapist. Though, given the everchanging nature of Infinitum, these rules may change. Often, they do with the times, the same as cultural naming conventions do on earth. This is mostly though, discussing how angels can add to their names instead of fully remaking them. As within our culture, masculinity and femininity are often put under the microscope and put into question. Especially since often times with ethereal forms, angels take on more gender neutral or hermaphroditic forms. Some don't even like to manifest with bodies and instead prefer to take on abstract amalgamations of shapes they'd seen in their lives, and forms can even shift with the nature of the soul as well.

Unisex names

Mantles tend to be the most unisex names on Infinitum, as they are often names given from Heaven born angelic creatures to other creatures. Since we bolster a community of acceptance, most natural gendered languages do not develop in the same way here as in on earth. Why, I'll hear new things all the time about how certain citizens have chosen to not have a gender expression at all or have decided that gender does not even exist for them! So how can we possibly create a unisex name if sex and gender are not even expressions that a soul recognizes as being true to them? This is where a soul can slip into unreality and corrupt itself, insulating itself and not finding an actualization of their own. Especially younger souls tend to come to us as more agender and neutral things. That does not mean that actualization in our realm demands someone choose a gender. Rather, it demands that these terms are recognized as existing in the first place, so that those who do choose to express gender in that way, such as Eclipse's semi-masculine form, get to be who they are AND get to be properly accepted... for the most part. Even angels do tend to have their biases and labels. That's why therapist's jobs can almost seem like they will never be done, even for the people they care most about. The mind dictates we will never fully see another person exactly as they want to be seen, but the pursuit of seeing each other equally is always an endeavor that the angels of infinitum respect, even if they are often times oblivious to the dangers of leaving things misunderstood.

To you dear reader, I must say, that I never really understood the reason behind why humans chose to have names in the first place. It is in a way, limiting, but in another, allows for the "label" which is their name to have truly unlimited meaning through the actions they perform. They seem to think that the names themselves grant the power which comes exclusively from me, Lord Titan of Infinitum. This is where angelic creatures can tend to get, as some on earth would say, "Up their own ass" about names and titles. Thinking that it makes them some superior class of citizen. I never actually wanted to make Demons second class citizens here for example. However, some angels, if brought together, may just have enough power to weaken even me, which scares me. Yes. Even God Infinitum does know true fear in their soul. Their collective, loud, and very active soul. The more people are born, the more my powers wane. I wish to fully understand this principle as to why Eterna has decided to allow people to split from it, as even I am just a projection of their infinite holy light upon the world, and someone deemed a strong enough leader to represent their collective unconscious.

I wonder what "gender" the name Calypso holds? Is that a neutral one? More feminine due to historical witches taking up the mantle? More masculine due to an omnipotent male now holding the reigns? Even I, it seems, am not immune to wondering and exploring this topic. How intriguing.

Family names

Family names can be retained when a soul enters into heaven based upon my judgement of where they belong in the Rings of Infinitum. I, Calypso, am the only one who can definitively decide on matters like this, but I do allow for quite a few interesting phenomena when it comes to last names in Infinitum Culture.

Infinitum City was meant to be ever expanding for a reason. It is a paradise separate from the collective unconscious that makes up my being known only as Eterna. So, in this realm, let's say a soul comes to me with their life stowed with them and shares their stories of meeting a new group of variously named people who in turn, became a found family. Their personal paradise might include having angels take over the mantle of a brother and not a father. The mantle of a mother but not a sister. Until that mantle, we have created is filled, through the correct person dying, it is allowed for the angel to "act" as the person until or unless the person accepts that they are not actually dead.

It's better when a soul comes to us with many of their memories of who was alive and who wasn't intact, but the therapy teams of infinitum of which Eclipse and Chronias are a part of now, are useful in the case of memories being shattered. You can only decide on the names of the people you want in your life when you fully accept who you are. However, angelic therapists too sometimes have trouble finding their truest families. Eclipse himself believes that his own family have gravely hurt him and also lost track of who his family actually was on earth due to deep isolation preventing him from even remembering them. Thus, "The Eclipsed Order/The Chroniclers" became his actual family name! Funny how that works isn't it?

In events of a conflict, we usually default to the person's default family name. Much as the idea of Dia De Los Muertos might imply that members of the same family can meet again in the afterlife and regain a sense of familial community. However, the nature of this place also means that betrayals are logged and tracked. So, exploit or abuse your family name one too many times, then even as an angel, you may be actually kicked out from your family unit and maybe even be forced to spend time in Hellscape without one! This also means that angels may have to wait a long period of time for their demonic brethren to become properly integrated. This is to make it so that abusers do not have easy access to their children again in the afterlife. They must earn the right to become angels through self-reflection and careful growth, usually done through an angelic therapy team of various different skill set people working together to try and reform a family that was lost on earth. Usually there are reasons that a person wants to be distant from family, so to adhere to the personal paradise concept of Infinitum, those who abuse may at some point forget the people they abused, proving their souls were never meant to entwine in the afterlife.

Let's say Eclipse's last name is Miller seeing as how that was a fairly common earthly last name for his era. You might say that due to his organization following him, that his surname, even though he did not retain his first name, might be Miller. However, he created a lot of distance between him and his earthly family. So, there may not be any desire to return to that family, and there honestly isn't with that one. So perhaps his last name here should be more abstract, like "Lunarian" to reflect his current role. Sometimes though? When people come to me as alone as Eclipse was, but still having done enough to become angels, they forgo a last name at all. This usually only happens in the most tragic of cases.

Thus, it came to be that Eclipse has no familial name. The closest people refer to him as is Eclipsed Heart due to his heart being blackened by history and his time here among the angels. Chronias is a better example though ironically, in spite of now sharing Eclipse's trauma of memory across time travel loops. So, his last name is Lunatu. Luna is due to his affinity for one attuned to the moon, but the "tu" is associated to his family name of "tulsa," which kind of manifests in a familial affinity for storms and lightning due to its closeness to the "Tesla" family. Though I'll tell you that a Tesla will always be able to produce a stronger charge just due to their heritage here in heaven. The more that a creature redeems others though, their powers might increase, and they may end up getting more lettering added to their surname to match if that person they redeem is one they wish to keep contact with after their work is done.

I hope and pray for the day that Eclipse develops a familial name. Even if it's something really stupid in my eyes. I just want him to feel like he deserves to maybe even share "Lunatu" with Chronias.

Other names

The Mantles are the most mysterious names of all Infinitum. Of course, I too hold the mantle of Calypso, with titles granted to me by those who believe in my powers. The fact that I even allow a war makes some of the angels understand fear in a way I didn't think was truly possible. Not until Eclipse decided that his mantle too would be one that was shrouded in mystery. I suppose taking the form of a dragon whose very essence is comprised of dark matter would do that to someone. I would not know, as we've been playing "games" with each other for quite some time. Sometimes people's lives are put at risk. Sometimes, trauma is recollected, and the game becomes too much. As I've said before elsewhere in this universe of earthly articles though reader, Eclipse is a gamer at heart. It is what he loves more than anything. This story you're reading, this setting you're reading about, is his experiment to see how well he can deconstruct the rules of a game into something that can be experienced almost entirely by your imagination.

Mantles tend to work in the same way. They are aspects of imagination of different types. So, if a soul comes to me and has an imagination they see as a cumulonimbus storm cloud, then there may someday be another Eclipse. The mantle here is fluid and can allow multiple angels to hold it at once as well. There are even those who in their states of recovery, believe themselves to be the one and only Calypso! I've heard greater jokes before but that always tends to make me uproariously laugh~

Hmm. Eclipse is tricking a local populace in Hellscape now to believe that HE is Calypso!? AHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA! That absolute gremlin! He does realize that this is an act of treason against his position yes!? Well maybe he's hoping that he'll travel back in time to make me forget! HAHA!

Samuel, make sure we track this one as best as our records allow little Solari. Anything he's not stealing away with aetherite brick I want kept firmly in place if he attempts to flee. Eclipse, Chronias, Scratch, Bahamut, WesternDragoon, Sonngradd, You, Samuel, Me, Calypso, and the guardian of the angels, the goddess Celestia. All of these mantles are playthings for Eterna in this extended game we find ourselves in. Only by all of us working together can the mantle of Eclipse truly be purified.

This, is the truest possible story, of The Infinity Protocol. Good luck deciphering the mysteries dear reader. You may well need it at this rate! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Encompassed species

• Twilight Shade