[0-2]Dawn of the Tide

As the stretching Pollux attempted to awaken from his slumber, his bowels released uncontrollably.

'An obvious con of turning part Avian,' he thought. Just as he finished that thought, a twinge of pain strained his back before a loud POP! sounded & garnered him some relief.

'Anotheerr...' he grumbles as he seemingly careened off the edge. Yet it was just his usual fashion of gliding lazily down from his perch in the top of his tower.

He landed in front of his training dummy, Greg. Besides being the only thing in their Spatial Realm that allowed him to swing at full force, Greg helped him keep track of the strength he gained in recent centuries. It absorbed 100% of the damage dealt due to being embued with many magical enhancements. Even the shockwaves of a fierce fighter like Pollux would no longer damage the surrounding area.

'This Dark Matter transformation has its occasional drawbacks...the pain of growth & slight mutation.' thought Pollux.

'However, it would be a bold faced lie if I said I don't enjoy the benefits!'

Pollux curled his clawed fists & sent a powerful flurry of punches at his training dummy.

[Flash Barrage¹]

His speed was imperceivable to all but the most skilled combat Divina. More than two dozen punches in less than 2 seconds was almost impossible to block for many. Pollux knew he wasn't all powerful(yet!) However, he also knew he would soon be a VERY serious contender.

[Ding!]

(G-G-GOOD SH...WO-WOOW..N-ICE-ICE...)

He grinned despite himself. He always did multiple shots to purposefully mess up the audio. Pollux hated the novelty sound effects Castor added on this gift, but it was still a fantastic tool & he made use of Greg every millennium.

A figure popped up on the display in the training dummy.

[1.2bn]

"Hmm. I suppose a 200m growth in power over the last millennium is great. Still, I think I could partake a bit more & withstand the corruption..." Pollux muttered to himself as he stepped over to his large shelf.

It was full of magical vials holding raw Dark Matter. He had personally collected it at The Edge² himself so he was sure of the quality.

He removed a single vial & expertly uncorked the top. He drained the entire thing in a single gulp & quickly sat the bottle down before the convulsions hit.

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Grabbing the edge of his desk, Pollux helped himself into the large arm chair sitting behind it.

He sighed a breath of relief. The healing charm he wore calmed the pain in his muscles.

He glanced around while waiting to fully recuperate from devouring the mysterious energy.

The loft was the top of a 100ft tall spire. The inside of the loft had meager decoration, but the most important things were always near his perch. In Polluxs' mind, everything was absolutely essential yet he still valued the contents of this single level more than most everything in his collection.

Pollux stood from his seat & meandered over to lean towards his Cosmiscope³.

He focused the lens to where he was meant to meet Castor the previous night before glaring through.

'HA! He is going to tag a long after all. I'm surprised he still listens, given my status of late. All I have to do is pull the blood card...'

'...What's this? A Kludde! How terrifyingly amazing! There aren't many mounts in Dominion that could keep up other than Dragons and...A Qilin?! This incredible yet foolish man actually allied with a Qilin! I knew it was a good idea to convince him to tag along.'

Pollux scoffed to himself when realizing he did appreciate SOME aspects of his brother, especially Castor's beast-taming abilities.

Sweeping away the disturbing 'fluffy' thoughts long unfamiliar to him, Pollux decided to check Yahwehs' Locker with his Cosmiscope before meeting with Castor.

He carefully re-adjusted focus & angle before looking through again.

His view was entirely different now.

He could see Yahwehs' Locker. Pollux estimated it to be well over 100 times larger than his & Castors' Locker. There were of thousands of shining vials of all different shades, tints, tones & hues of colors.

'Souls have a formal ranking system, but truth be told; the essence of life varies far more greatly than many give credit.' Pollux thought to himself.

He had read many more texts than he cared to admit. Pollux had knowledge that he had hidden from his brother: Platinum wasn't the only rarity to look for. He also knew that Yahweh enjoyed working at his Soul Forge far more average.

Yahweh was always trying to forge the best. After all, the more high quality souls that exist in any given time period will boost the overall power of the planets Mana Font. In turn, this allows one to absorb more Celestial Force⁴.

Pollux began observing the guards first. It was important to make sure they maintained the scheduled shifts & movements.

They were relatively low rank Divina, directly under order of Yahweh. Yahweh was quite egotistical so he always favored other lizard-kin, even if they weren't very powerful. Although, they were most similar to his Cloaked Form⁵.

Their forked tongues occasionally prodding as their sharp colored eyes darted around. The variants of lizard-kin within the guards of Yahwehs' Locker were strictly regulated so they didn't make for much of a visage.

As far as Pollux was concerned, their only real difference were their colors.

Most of them wielded short spears with half shields. They would be easy enough to dispatch if it were just them but Pollux knew it wasn't that simple.

Just as he was thinking about the differing defences & mentally making a checklist of counters, the guards changed as scheduled. Pollix observed the tall green & short reddish lizard-kin begin to leave. A rotund blue & a blue spotted purple lizard-kin entered just as the other two started off. Each pair nodded as they passed each other.

'Hmph, business as usual. Yahweh is a good manager, even if he can be a jerk.' thought Pollux.

Sighing, he decided it was finally time to finish packing.

As he stood, he mentally summoned a familiar. An imp-like creature appeared from a portal before him & waited patiently. It knew better than to question Pollix.

"You need to teleport & load that wonderfully beastly Kludde with all the wares I'm preparing." Pollux needlessly muttered to the low intelligence sentient. Some lives simply held no value in his eyes.

As he gathered more belongings, the small imp-like being was slowly being weighed down. By the time it was time for it to carry out its duty, it was hardly hovering above the ground.

"GET MOVING & BE SURE TO SECURE IT ALL!!" shouted Pollux suddenly, not a second after the final pack was placed.

Another side effect of the consumption of Dark Matter, were uncontrollable bouts of anger.

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Pollux carefully examined each row for what seemed like hours. The varying colors sometimes hard to distinguish as he was looking for specific ones.

Of course, he had already located at least five hundred of assumed rarities before today. He simply felt it best to be prepared. They had to be able to make an impact; no matter the direction of movement. If they were unlucky, a guard would make an untimely turn. Maybe even Yahweh himself would enter to store a soul while they were present.

Pollux shuddered.

He wasn't necessarily afraid of Yahweh. He was confident in his own abilities but he wasn't ignorant either. Pollux knew they could stand no chance of making it out alive if they ran in to the Creator⁶ amongst lizard-kin.

"AH! I FOUND TWO MORE!" he exclaimed loudly

Pollux marked them on the make-shift map he had drawn. It detailed the routes as well as the locations of every variety he could spot. He finished gathering what he needed & ordered a servant to run his packs down to the meeting point.

Pollux had waited for several millennium to reach this point. He was finally ready to leave & prep Castor for their journey.

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Castor sighed as the Kludde once again burned the flesh from his hand & forearm while feeding it.

'It seems content on eating you, rather than the dead meat,' chimed Orugle.

Castor laughed gaudily, slapping his charred hand against his knee as it healed. "As quick of wit as you are wise, my dear. Your banter doesn't cease to amuse."

Castor & Orugle spent much of the night discussing a bit of everything, from obvious facts to hidden traits. No secret was worth with holding from a kindred soul. They both knew they were destined to be companions until they eventually Ascend or get killed by other Divina.

The Kludde stared dully at the pair. Its species were actually quite intelligent. They simply preferred shows of strength & enjoying potent spirits with their packs.

Most humanoids had no clue a Kludde. As a whole, the felt superior to the ancient Sphinx. Their games involved much more complicated measures than relaying a riddle & waiting for the incorrect response...

They were all snapped out of their thoughts as the motley trio suddenly sensed something approaching. Castor & Orugle turned towards the Kludde. The Kludde stood still as some sort of lower being appeared before it through a portal.

It thought to itself, 'This must be my new masters' servant. It carries a vile odor...'

Castor & Orugle continued to converse while Polluxs' servant loaded the Kludde with his travel wares.

'Do you truly intend on crossing a Creator, Castor? Do you have any idea what would happen to us all if we are captured?' Orugles' voice resounded within Castor's mind.

Castor sighed before speaking aloud, "I know the consequences are severe, but we are in desperate straights. We haven't successfully reincarnated high quality souls in almost 2,000 years. I fear the decline of our luck of forging has driven my brother mad... increasing our strength is the only course I see to his salvation."

Castor paced in front of Orugle as he continued, "If we are able to get enough souls & return to our Realm, we can put them directly in the Soul Stream⁷. They'll reincarnate somewhere in Arcian within the next century. Their power will fuel us & Pollux will no longer feel the need to devour Dark Matter."

He stopped suddenly and looked up in to the sky, towards the west.

Within seconds, the faint outline of Polluxs' large frame was visible. Orugle followed her new companions gaze. She could see much more fine details than Castor.

'Why does Pollux not have a weapon? He is foolish to think their will be no blood shed on this insane venture.' Orugle said in thought-speech, directly to Castor.

'He is a Divina master of unarmed combat. There's few that could rival him in a straight forward brawl. Besides, I'm not sure he could comfortably wield a weapon any more...' replied Castor.

'Fair point.'

Orugle could see clearly enough that she make out the massive talons on the ends of Polluxs' humanoid hands & feet. He was more corrupt than Castor knew yet it was not her duty to intervene.

His love for his brother had clouded his sight.

Yet her only task was to live happily with her companion until she could return to her people. Although Castor was an amazing Divina & quickly became a great friend, they both understood they would each choose the bond of family over most anything else.

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[Flash Barrage¹: The innate Air & Spatial mana infused hand-to-hand skill of Pollux. Unavoidable by all equally & lower strength ranked Divina.]

[The Edge²: Quite literally, the edge of the ever-expanding universe is an abyss filled with Dark Matter. The Dark Matter is being slowly devoured by aforementioned expansion.]

[Cosmiscope³: A magical viewing device that allows the user to view any where & every where within 5 of the 7 dimensions.]

[Celestial Force⁴: The purest form of mana, drawn directly from Mana Font by Divina. Used to maintain Eternal Vigor as well as power soul forge & many other uses.]

[Cloaked Form⁵: A skill used by certain Divina to hide their true forms. Most that use this ability have reportedly never been seen in the true form.]

[Creator⁶: One of the ranks amongst Divina.]

[Soul Stream⁷: The cycle of reincarnation within each Realm. Most souls don't impact the Mana Font until they are reborn...]