Obsidian Order Vs Infinitum Solari
"No, wait, you're telling me that you were STUPID enough to actually start playing a GAME against GOD!? GOD!?!?" I really wish Chronias didn't keep calling me stupid, thought Eclipse as he got absolutely railed into for his "stupid" decision.
"Chronias, are you actually going to let me get to the why at any point today or are we going to just be going into completely opposite directions like we often do when we fight?"
"You... you.... I don't know. You understand why I get so upset right? You have truly infinite power with that form, don't you?"
Eclipse nods solemnly. He holds out his slightly blackened paw, and a spinning black mobius strip appears, slowly fading in from the liquid darkness underneath their feet. "This accursed power. Why did I have to be chosen for all this responsibility?"
Chronias couldn't help but give a quick dismissive scoff before even recognizing how rude it was. Not really intending to undermine his partner's feelings, but the thought of the past rushing through his head really made him want to disregard what Eclipse was saying here. "I remember a man who, when I first kissed him, was always looking for 'more' responsibility. Now that you have all the responsibility you could ask for, you're deciding now as a 'hollier than thou' angel that it's too much for you? Sorry but you angels seem to get what you wish for. I can't say I really have a lot of sympathy for you on that front."
His words of course, like usual, cut straight to the point. That's why he ended up leaving The Bureau back on earth in the first place. The secretive nature of our "earthly game" really got to him. I know that he may never forgive me for getting us back into another "secretive game" now that we're in heaven. However, what was I supposed to do? Pretend like I didn't have responsibility for so much of earth's massive problems? We could've done so much more if I had decided not to fall in love. Yet here we are, and the denizens of heaven now need us. I'm not failing another civilization now that I realize what's truly at stake.
"Chronias, do you hate me?"
"Do you really think that's a question worth asking at this point? You always think people hate your nature. Always. I might never truly understand why, heavens know I'll still try though."
"You still want to try? Even after declaring war on Calypso in public?"
Chronias audibly laughs. "If I ever hated you for making reckless decisions, then we never really would've gotten to the point of wanting to elope back on earth now, would we?" That actually makes Eclipse smile deeply. The darkness fades for a bit as a pale blue moon begins to leer over them from on high over the previous pitch black. It gives a nice reflection to the icy surface covering the Ouroboros Shell underneath.
"So, you really do still love me... after deciding to get revenge on Vice and V.I.C.T.O.R.?"
"Babe, I wanted revenge on the whole entire Bureau for outing us as gay, and you think that I'm upset at you for declaring war on some entity going around hunting you down like he's your own shadow? Why would you think that I don't want revenge on these fuckers too? I'm just not wanting you to give up on your angelhood over me. We... already tried to love each other. Fate didn't really want us to be together then. You clearly believe in fate now. It just... really confuses me. You're so vastly different. We both are now. How could I ever imagine you being more faith driven and little magician lover me being more practical in this crazy afterlife? How could I have hope that we can win a truly infinite war for any reason? Let alone fighting against the bastard who's responsible for us dying in the first place? We... kind of already lost this war sweetie."
"Are you expecting me to give up? If I recall correctly, weren't you the one who was always telling us in The Order to 'expect the impossible, and fight it when it comes?'"
"You still remember that far back!? Good lord! Here I thought your memory would have been shattered from that last time we traveled back!" He recognizes that time travel has been happening! Chronias suddenly realized just how big a deal that was. "Eclipse?"
"Hmm? Something more about the war I'm guessing?"
"How... long have we been fighting for?"
"Don't you know already Chronias? We've been fighting this battle our entire existences."
The Conflict
Prelude
The life of the current holder of the mantle of Eclipse was a very destructive one. Here is what begins this almost endless feeling conflict. The Bureau of Investigation, 1925, the office of the future leader of the Obsidian Order. This character's name is now lost to history, especially here in the city of Infinitum. However, this person was a man who was in a very unkind era that everyone would treat as a paradise on earth, which still in fact, had its sections of hell which purgatorio often does have, intentional or not. However, this was also an era of grand discovery, that this person would soon discover.
The "Roaring" Twenties did not roar for everyone. A lot of old habits tend to die kicking and screaming, as Eclipse would put it. Eclipse had been told stories by his now long-gone family about how there were secret talks of a progressive, powerful shadow organization with intensely powerful agents using secrecy and all manner of military skills to climb the ranks and become the best in their fields. At the age of 21, he was a man who hid his secrets exceptionally well, including from himself it seems. So, his adult life became a way to try and find an in. Someway to finally make it into this corruption destroying Bureau of Investigation.
Though he was a late bloomer, he studied hard to learn all the skills required to be a proper spy. Combat by fighting others in friendly brawls in the streets, studying mathematics and sciences through very sloppy methods of self-teaching through "investigating" local libraries. Until he met someone who had studied at Harvard with a penchant for mixing early magic with ancient history and clock making. This is the character who took up the mantle of Chronias, Eclipse's head "general" in a sense here on Infinitum.
This person, despite seeing Eclipse's heavily womanizing nature of going on dates with many women all the time, could see something within him and caught on that he was actually trying to teach women some of the tricks he'd been trying to learn! Seeing if some of them had actually heard about the bureau and knew a way for someone in his position to actually make a name for himself! It was honestly pretty embarrassing early on~
So, one fateful day, Eclipse was slightly rude to Chronias in the back of a speakeasy they'd often attend, and Chronias used one of his favorite tricks. Early hypnosis! He'd had a penchant for clockmaking you see, and Eclipse had insulted Chronias' craft one too many times while they were hanging around the same bars. So, he took a silver pocket watch he'd carry around often, and got quickly in front of Eclipse, who was mesmerized by the beautiful yet simple design, but also took a look occasionally at the figure before him. Chronias' beaming, defiant smile, his confidence to try and perform this trick on someone like him who had been reading up on how to resist little illusions like this. It was the start of their playful rivalry. As Chronias tried his trick and counted down, in an attempt to make Eclipse cluck like a chicken, the countdown began.
3... Chronias looked nervously at the now clearly not under Eclipse.
2.... Eclipse held his hand on the shoulder of the man and slyly grinned, prepping for something entirely unexpected as the girls around him watched his "clearly drunk hand" close around Chronias' tie.
1! Eclipse actually brought in his future partner's tie and kissed him in public! IN THE 20'S! Dear reader, you may not fully understand this, but despite a "sexual revolution" happening during that time, we were NOT in the era now that is the 2020's! No this is a time where that kind of thing could have gotten you arrested! So Chronias actually punched Eclipse to create a scene and said this, "You sir are more drunk now than I have ever seen you been! It's time we actually fought properly! Meet me out in the alley. ALONE!"
Then of course, instead of going to the alley, once everyone had gone away, Chronias confronted Eclipse, and actually pulled him in for a kiss of his own back in that same side alley that he'd said would be the place he beat the tar out of him. Now Chronias actually understood why Eclipse became such a womanizer and offered to have him come with him to a special location they could just be themselves. A separate bar which included some of the women who had walked with Alice Paul and the Suffregettes. This of course was a gay bar that had just begun cropping up during that era as a protective veil of secrecy, and only there did Eclipse find his in with the bureau, as it turns out that Chronias was already a card-carrying member with the public cover of a simple clock maker! However, he did offer Eclipse to actually fight him, and using early forms of eastern martial arts, he would quickly duck, dive, and dance around all of Eclipse's attempts to hit him, until the man grew tired of trying to fight him and gave up. Chronias would often win fights against him without throwing a single punch. A fighting style that Eclipse deeply respected and had never actually seen before!
However, after meeting several as of yet, un-named members of the bureau, they all started realizing something. That through the influence of those who frequented those speakeasies, the ones who were actively in the streets, putting themselves in dangers untold, that, by infiltrating these places, they were going against their own interests for a future seeing the world be kinder to people who loved people of the same sex.
So, they went against their government in the only way they knew how. Through subterfuge. That speakeasy would become the breeding grounds of "The Obsidian Order," a group splintering off from the official Bureau of Investigation which remained completely under wraps because, unfortunately, as the bureau often did, there were spies covering every movement of the organization. So, when the original members tried to splinter off, unfortunately it didn't take very long for their movements to be halted.
There were two splinter cells at the time. "The Obsidian Order" and "V.I.C.T.O.R." otherwise known by its stupidly long name, "The Vice-grip International Crime and Terror Organization and Regime," which unfortunately marked an era under Warren G. Harding known by us as, "Era of Infinite Darkness" here in the war room. This is when the deployment era of "The Obsidian Order" truly began. Through corruption and death and even demonic magic to counteract Chronias' well natured, but highly ineffectual love for parlor tricks. The wedding of Chronias and Eclipse, held in secret in the most "official" manner they could provide actually turned a few of the wrong heads when they chose to move out of the city on "unofficial business" which was actually their attempt to elope along with a few of their friends getting out of the business. Eclipse was taken in by V.I.C.T.O.R. on what was meant to be the best day of his life, and he was kept in solitary confinement until the day of his death. The rest of the Obsidian Order members were left to flounder around on their own. V.I.C.T.O.R. convincing the bureau that cutting out these little loose ends was akin to "tightening up a loose end on and infinite string, for the betterment of the nation and it's values." That is one me and Eclipse both might never, EVER forgive Vice for. As his influence is what properly began this conflict on earth. This seeking of absolute power and this war that we continue to wage in the heavens to this day.
Deployment
The initial deployment of the Infinity Protocols was upon the day of Eclipse's earthbound death. At that point, he so fully had given into his inner darkness that he talked about Gods and demons, and people speaking to him when there was no way for me to speak to him personally. Minor angels and demons usually arise from the deaths of individuals, so the only true way for an angel or demon to interfere with earthly affairs is through going through another cycle of life. The current mantle holder of Vice did exactly that. He was the head of V.I.C.T.O.R. who had inadvertently made a demonic pact with the entity Baphomet. The closest entity related to Eclipse on the angelic side. Due to Infinitum's nature of attempting to redeem that which seems irredeemable, Eclipse's initial stance on not letting me help him was... staggeringly frustrating. He said that HE was in fact the demon Vice and that no one could ever trust him again. It took much coaxing for him to finally accept that he had both died and became an angel. Though he still doesn't truly believe in it.
Majority of the stipulations arose from this inner sense of self-loathing that he'd failed so often to face head on in his mortal life. Feeling forced by his society and his opponents under Vice to believe that he was truly forever destined for misery, he grabbed hold of Eclipse's mantle and started doing some reckless things with it that he has yet to truly pay for. There was one moment where he nearly created a black hole in the middle of infinitum's town square to try and fully eliminate himself from existence. Knowing what we know about that mantle, we had to send MANY angels to surround him to be able to take him into proper custody while we helped him remember his skills as an infiltrator and especially as an investigator. This is why he now holds the cover position of head of "Solarus Detective Agency" to allow him to play this little war game me and him have going. I, Calypso, Lord Titan of Infinitum, do truly wish for him to be able to someday feel the warmth of the sun on his scales, the kindness of his friends from the old speakeasies returning to him, the knowledge that he does not have to face off with V.I.C.T.O.R. alone as we are allies in that fight.
However, he refuses help so often. Eventually he, through exploring his own powers, discovered he was made of dark matter. Began doing field missions solo that did not include anything relating to reforming others. It was actually foolish of me to think that... that he'd be able to handle the responsibility of all the power I bestowed upon him. It was another cruelty that I imposed upon him which started this war in the first place.
He will often deploy shadow creatures to invade different timelines. Often times, figures like Chronias or Bahamut are veiled in literal darkness so that others cannot see them for what they truly are. All members of the Order are angels, but they wish so often to be seen as demons that they slowly became exactly that. So many of them being popped out of the portals of Convex Cove and left to rot and be further tortured.
These "shadows" seek revenge for what happened to them on earth. They will often go through recreations of real battles from earth's history in some attempt to just, I don't know. Find some honorable end? It's often times a sad and pointless act, just as it is on earth. I wish so much that someday my children did not feel the need to kill each other for blood sport. It not only makes the job of redeeming them much harder but also makes it so that hellscape gets filled with people who really don't deserve to be there but have thrown themselves into endless war against themselves by thinking they "need to keep fighting."
As a result, the things these shadows can do are often extremely devastating, and something the citizens of Infinitum City have prayed to me to find a way to deal with. Often times it comes in the forms of Demons, now second-class citizens in Infinitum, stumbling their way through a Convex Portal that "randomly" places them here into my great city. Of course, the reality is I want those particular demons here, and Angelic Therapists will know the means I have of setting marks on demons, or even other angels, who truly need a bit of help finding a communal bond that can help them escape their place among the infinite shadows.
Only through redemption can a shadow truly be reformed. To where the darkness is no longer a weapon, but shield. This is why Chronias and his brother Bahamut are such vital pieces in this game for Eclipse's soul. He must not be allowed to divvy up his eternal soul in such a way that it finally just vanishes without a single person left to remember him. Even infinity returns eventually to Eterna if one is not careful. I should know, that is where true Infinitum lies afterall.
Battlefield
The battlefield is indeed our fair city of Infinitum dear Samuel, however shades don't often get seen among the populace. Rather, they are felt and melt into the shadows of other creatures. This is often why Vice's acts and Eclipse's acts get so confused. As Eclipse is scaling war on two fronts, he is forever destined to lose until he accepts our help. Mostly because the dark matter of Eclipse and the dark matter of Vice are completely indistinguishable from each other. This is very strange to most people observing as they are literally opposites of each other. Eclipse has a sense of honor, duty, and self sacrifice, while Vice seeks only to consume, and has often given even angels the wish to not exist. Many return immediately to Eterna upon thinking of these things due to Vice's grip over their minds. V.I.C.T.O.R has another name here in Infinitum dear solari. It is known as Vice-Grip for short. Much more to the point name, but also very reflective of how Vice can bury itself into your soul, and crush your heart until there is nothing left, like the main entity fueling this nightmare's cold, metal palm.
See, he was my greatest mistake under the mantle of Calypso. Believing that I could create and tame a member of the only other equally infinite race of angel known as the Twilight Shade. Yes, the secret of Vice is this. He is of the same ilk as Eclipse. They both became members of the clan of Twilight Shades, but in alternate realities. Part of the craziness of Infinitum's chaotic nature is the now earth described theory known as the "many worlds" theory. That every action you do or do not perform will create additional timelines. Now, imagine the number of alternative ways things may turn out if you apply that to everyone at once. The truth is I simultaneously rule over every single one of these infinite timestreams.
Alternate Realities encompasses what happens when the big bang did not begin our universe and the fabric of everything which existed was entirely different from the start. The many worlds theory has been described as roots of a tree spreading out into different branches of time, while an Alternate Reality is more like a different tree entirely. How did Vice manage to travel over? Me. I placed him here in an attempt to try and harness his infinite power for myself before creating the mantle of Eclipse. The reality was that my representation in Vice's timeline was trying to do something similar to what I am now doing for Eclipse. Trying to create a perfect defense for his city.
It has always been a futile effort. Our battlefield? All of time and creation. It seems that Eclipse is not the only soul here who can be foolish in every single timeline at once. The more ground Eclipse gains though, the more hope is given to my people. That is why I trust him with the position of Angelic Therapist. Since, even though his massive flaw made me want to create a therapist position for Chronias, a demon, he too has much to teach others which can help restabilize them and direct them away from the wishes of inexistence that plague those infected by Vice's "shadow poison." He may be one of the few hopes we have of proving that Vice can actually be stopped. As truly infinite darkness is something even my infinite light does not have a response for. Afterall. Light cannot exist without darkness.
Conditions
Eclipse created, above all, the condition that they must find a way to "defeat god" without god's help. However, there have been moments where we met with each other and under his perception, he "convinces" me to give him free information.
I of course allow him to believe he's powerful enough with his magic to trick god. When in reality of course, I know everything. This is more like the act of a modern day "white hat hacker" on earth. Eclipse's job is to keep me, Lord Infinium, on my toes. Actively thinking about the protection of my city. "An equal and opposite reaction to Calypso's Holy Light" he would tend to put it. Since not everyone would be happy in the collective unconscious of Eterna.
Worse is this. The real, true danger of Vice is if it fully infects the collective of Eterna. No one knows what might happen if Vice's consumption extended into the world of Eterna fully. Since Vice knows he can't win by trying to directly enter Eterna without my permission, Vice instead "overshadows" other angels to change the rules of the game. He intends to seed wishes of non-existence into Eterna itself. If all the souls contained in the collective wish to not exist... then pure nothing will suddenly be what Eterna wishes for collectively. When any soul in Infinitum decides that non-existence is the only way, they return to Eterna and lose all of their desire for a life of their own. A disgusting way of, in a sense, taking over my very heart and soul so that, as he hopes, God will become comprised of nothing but the wish of not existing. It doesn't even need to be all of Eterna. It just needs to be the majority of my being to actualize God's non-existence.
Eclipse's antithetical position to that is a full opposite. He seeks to meet the "real" Calypso. The singular soul most fit to hold the "Mantle of God." Heh. Such a lovely dream he has. Of the eternal afterlife being individualized. Just as he fought for on earth, he now fights for everyone to be their own individual god. Not even individual angel, but individual god. Able to hold the power of infinity within them. That way, if any ever decide fully to not exist, then Eterna creates itself anew, and the rest of the "gods" of infinitum can seek to commune with Eterna once again to bring more creation into existence after a period of whichever souls needed a "clean break" as he puts it, having the time they needed outside existence. There are actually parts of this plan even I don't know thanks to Chronias' magical effects of being a smokescreen in a way for certain details! This is a good sign and a bad one. It both means that they can have their plans completely hidden, including from Vice. However, it means Vice also has the power to do this, though he seems to be very much a creature with a one-track mind. A true mindless monster with only the desire to consume.
Hopefully this is not just another illusion created by the second Twilight Shade's powerful mantle. For if he IS more than a mindless monster and we have simply forgotten what it's true nature is? Then all of Infinitum will be put in direct risk. Then all of creation may be consumed by infinite darkness without the existence of light at all. Or at least, light being wielded by an all-consuming force like Vice.
The Engagement
Usually, keeping mentally sharp is the strongest method of dealing with "rouge Twilight Shades" young Samuel. Their powers, like mine and all other infinite beings, derives from the mind. Not the brain, as we technically only have souls and not brains. No, the mind is different my lovely little Solari. Here is how the mind is truly different.
The mind is the soul's expression of brain power. Individuals who have lived human lives remember having a brain on earth. The form of being able to have higher consciousness requires the mind. Not all creatures in Infinitum have a mind. Some of them are creations made by the existence of other minds working alone or in tandem, to generate things that exist on earth's surface or in the physical universe.
However, every bonified angel and demon has a mind. The more corrupt the mind becomes, the more the soul thinks of themselves as a demon. Thought and belief are massively important in this world of Infinitum. This means that a being could literally transform themselves from angel to demon and descend out of Infinitum City literally just from a lack of confidence in their existence. It's horrifying, but after a certain point of actualization, it's often not strong enough of a pull downward to really send a soul down into hell proper.
Those who inherit or hold the position in Infinitum of "Therapist" are those who can retain their angelic status while still diving into the different levels of Hellscape. They can even bring up those who believe themselves as demons through interactions with those they knew in life. Sadly, the soul will likely not care much of those they did not know. This is why trying to scrape away at a person's self-perceptions of their personal limits is a huge part of winning this particular "game" for everyone. Me and Eclipse truly don't have too very different of a dream of what Infinitum should be. We both wish for people to not need shadows. Eclipse is just wishing instead for a world where he doesn't "need" to exist. He sees his existence as a burden that he must shoulder, rather than something to be truly loved and enjoyed.
Chronias would never allow for that fool to poof himself out of existence. That's why at this point, they have, let's spitball and say, gone back in time 5,543 times. The number I put there is inaccurate by its very nature. Time travel changes figures that are recorded alongside of memories. Even ours. Even Eclipse's! That is why the memory must be outside the head of the perceiver to remain pristine through Eclipse's unique form of time travel. His imagination is so strong, that he was able to perceive of a means of extracting memory that did not get effected by his own time travel abilities.
Every time I believe that I've picked the wrong guy, his aetherite bricks do their thing and remind me of how wrong I can be sometimes. Game on Eclipse. Your soul is on the line. However, I won't let you slip away into nothing. Let's finally work together to cleanse the scourge of Vice from our lands!
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