In a particularly bleak corner of the Sex Mage Multiverse, a weary woman confronted an inevitable fate.
Hovering high above the clouds, Queen Rose could see the
domes of shadow had already increased since the night before. The entire
horizon was riddled with them. The Barriers of her Queendom did nothing to hold
them back anymore. Refugees kept pouring into the capital, and her soldiers
could do no more than provide a safe passage to get them there. She and her
strongest Archmages had erected a full force field around the city and it’s
immediate suburbs, but she knew by now that it wouldn’t hold. Sooner or later,
the Terror Zones would subsume them.
Carolina
What were their options at this point? Evacuate to Mars? That
didn’t work out so well for the Deja Colony. Even with Sex Magic life support,
the red planet had been too harsh to eke out a real living on long-term. It
might buy them another decade, at most.
Should she transform her body into some kind of organic
shelter, and evacuate her subjects into herself, put herself and her people
into a sort of stasis state, then fly off into space to drift among the stars.
In some distant future, they might stumble upon another world they could
inhabit. A ridiculous idea, of course, that had fantastically less odds than
trying to live on Mars. There was no guarantee Sex Magic would keep them alive
for the millennia it would take reach another solar system, much less the odds
of finding another habitable world.
Briefly, she debated once more the pros and cons of
reactivating the DimGate. Were things finally so bad, that the nightmarish
invention had actually become the lesser evil? Rose scowled to herself. Even if
she was that desperate, the last invention of Doctor Genesis was itself now
buried in the thick of a Terror Zone a thousand miles wide. Trying to move it
would only destroy it, if it hadn’t been destroyed already. Trying to evacuate
whole nations to its location in the Zone would simply get everyone killed
along the way, nevermind what fate awaited them if any of them actually made it
through the Gate.
A wilder thought sprang to mind. She and the other remaining
Megami could gather all their people into a few cramped locations, the last few
millions on Earth, and trigger a contained Cascade event. They could try to
artificially force a new gestaltation, and convert the remains of humanity into
a few more Megami. And then… then they would just be a handful of superwomen,
flying through space to find another world, no better off than the other doomed
colony ideas.
Rose shook her head at the foolishness of it all. With so
few people left, with the Terror Zones sapping away Sex Magic’s strength, any
attempt to replicate the Cascade would ultimately fail to generate the insane
amounts of Lust Energy needed to recreate the conditions that the Megami
themselves were formed from. They would have, at best, just murdered their own
people for nothing.
A mercy killing, perhaps.
Maybe… maybe that was the only real choice left…
Rose cursed to herself, balling her hands into fists. How
could she think that? There had to be
a way out of this! The Terror Zones hadn’t gotten them all yet. They had a
little more time yet. A little more time to figure out something better, before
they had to choose the worst of the options.
The petite, pink-haired superwoman teleported herself back
to her fortress, where her council of Archmages and Specialists were having
their own debate over what to do. Seated around the great table that dominated
their war room, the women composed themselves as best they could in the
presence of their Queen. Rose sat down and glanced them all over, scanning
their minds with telepathy. Each woman briefly enjoyed that blissful tingle as
their Queen gently caressed their thoughts. But it was only a brief reprieve.
Even with the Magic’s ability to bolster a woman’s mental resilience, the
reality of their situation could not be waved away. Anxiety, depression, and
fear weighed down on all of them. Even the former Cultist on her council was numb
with constant terror.
None of them had any better ideas or any good news.
Resources were stretched thin. For right now, all the men in the Queendom were
being used as indefinite Lust Energy batteries, all of them kept in bedrooms or
placed in out of the way corners, and Teased relentlessly to force them to
generate constant Lust Energy. They were supposed to be given an eight hour
break each day, in rotation, but plenty were simply being left Teased for days.
And why not, the women figured? It’s not like there was
anything for the men to do. There was
a time that attitude would have made Rose seethe and make a very public point
to discipline those who slacked on their responsibilities towards the men. But
right now, Rose could only wonder if just keeping all the males in mystical
bliss through to the end would just be the kinder option.
Moreover, it was also important to make sure every woman was
filled to the brim at all times with as much power as they could get. In case
some of the Terror Zone’s monsters breached the Barriers, a fully charged up
populace could survive a brief incursion better.
Likewise, with so many resources already lost, it was smarter
to lean on the Magic’s sustaining properties to absolutely minimize the need
for food and water. Long-term experimentation proved that the Magic in constant
use could sustain a person to go for months without such basic needs. On the
off chance a miracle came and extended their time left, it was better to still
have rations to dig into when the limits of the Magic’s power were reached.
Rose closed her eyes and rested her forehead against her
clasped hands. For it to end like this, so quickly, so horrifically, so hopelessly,
it just seemed like cosmic sadism. Humanity had survived the upheaval Sex Magic
brought to civilization. They had survived the Cascade. They had survived the
Megami War and the Pandora swarms and the incursions of extra dimensional supervillains.
To have survived all of this, only for the crawling darkness to consume those
who remained, it was all just so goddamned—
“You majesty.” A voice she didn’t recognize broke through
the haze of despair. Rose snapped her gaze up, glancing about the room. She
blinked as she realized everyone around her was frozen in place. The members of
her council were stuck in mid-motion, as if time had stopped. Startled, her
first instinct was to assume she had somehow been forced into a Time Warp
Perception Spell, but when she attempted to counter it, she found there was
nothing to counter.
“No magic has been cast on you,” came a soft, feminine
voice. Rose whirled back around, until she saw a new figure that had not been
there a moment before, standing at the opposite end of the war room’s table.
The woman gazed back at Rose with eyes that glowed a pale
gold. She had Asian features, pale skin, with long snow-white hair. Her body,
however, seemed made of pure shadow, a silhouette of a female form.
The woman came around the large table, stepping gracefully,
as if drifting through reality like a ghost. Her presence was stunning. It had
been a very, very long time since Rose had found herself becoming
uncontrollably flushed in the presence of another woman, even another Megami.
Dimly, she was aware that what she felt now was what her subjects felt in her
own presence. As she gazed into the strange woman’s glowing eyes, she felt lost
in them. For a moment, she felt like a mere angel in the presence of God.
But she didn’t let herself get taken in. Rose’s dour and
stern expression returned as she forced herself to banish such feelings. She
shifted to her feet, teleporting into a standing position, hovering at the
woman’s eye level with her arms crossed, and her own eyes blazing in an icy
blue hue.
“Whoever you are, you have five seconds to explain
yourself.”
The woman bowed again. “I am traveler between worlds. I have
come to offer you a deal. This deal is a great compromise, but one that has the
potential to save your world, and many, many
others.”
Rose had to will herself not to melt at the woman’s honeyed
voice. She exerted her self-control and open her mouth to speak without her
voice shaking, only to blink in surprise as the woman got down on her hands and
knees, prostrating herself before her.
“I must also beg your forgiveness. You, who have lived a
life of hard choices, of terrible compromises, must now make another. And I do
this, because I, too, have had to make hard choices. I accepted the task of
presenting you this deal, foremost for the sake of myself and my own people. I
do wish greatly to help humanity, but I cannot deny my own selfishness in this.”
Rose felt herself trembling as she looked down upon the
beauty at her feet. She felt a lump form in her throat. She felt like a child
before this woman, and yet, she was kneeling to her? “I… I don’t understand…”
The woman rose to her feet, her head still bowed. “Temael’s
Curse feasts upon your world, with no regard towards its denizens. This Curse
was not cast upon your world on purpose. Its presence, like that of Sex Magic,
is simply a consequence of cosmic happenstance. The two powers entered your
world through the same improbable accident.”
Rose frowned. “We are aware of the Magic’s extra-dimensional
origins. We know what Temael is. That knowledge does not help us.”
The woman shook her head. “You do not know the full extent
of things. Your Earth is only one, across thousands upon thousands of
timelines, that Sex Magic and Temael’s Curse spread to.”
Rose felt a pit in her stomach. She knew of the concept of
the multiverse, of course. The DimGate had brought her world into brief contact
with a few other dimensions. Only one had even remotely resembled another
Earth, however, and that world had been swarming with superhumans of an
entirely different sort. But alternate timelines of the same planet? She knew
the concept, of course, the fanciful stories of science fiction writers, where
one could explore all the different ways a person’s life could have gone.
“Yes, there are many other timelines of this Earth. Worlds
where Sex Magic arrived without the Curse in tow. Worlds where the Magic
functions in radically different ways. Worlds where it co-exists with dozens of
other supernatural forces. Worlds where it caused untold disasters all by
itself. And Worlds where human civilization was able to adjust much more
smoothly to its presence, and survive into a new golden era.”
Rose felt, for the first time in months, a fluttering of
hope. “You’re able to travel to all of these worlds?”
“Yes.”
“Would you be able to help us reach one of those safer
worlds?”
The golden-eyed woman gave her a sad smile. “Such a feat is
well within my power, but that is not the deal I am here to make.”
Rose felt that glimmer of hope immediately dashed. Anger
flashed through her, but she had gone so long being beaten numb by despair, it
didn’t really stick. Instead, she just chided herself for feeling any hope in
the first place. “Of course not. That would be too good a thing to happen.”
The woman’s expression looked genuinely regretful. Rose felt
a pang in her chest and a sudden desire to hold the woman tightly, to chase
away the sadness that had no right to cloud such a beautiful face. But the
moment passed, and the woman’s features returned to a gently stern expression. “I
am sorry.”
Rose steeled herself against this woman’s entrancing
presence. She wasn’t going to let this creature, whatever it was, cloud her
mind into an addled compliance. Her voice was cold as she spoke. “What is the
deal?”
The woman nodded. “Temael, the God Itself, wishes only for
one thing: to collect worlds teeming with sapient life. In Its own self, it
holds safe hundreds of planets, most collected from a single galaxy, from a
single timeline. The Earth of that timeline came under Its gaze, but against
all odds, escaped Its grasp.”
The woman’s expression didn’t change, but for a moment, her
voice seemed to hitch, before she continued. “Earth has nonetheless piqued
Temael’s avarice. It was not aware until recently that Its Curse had leaked
into so many timelines of this planet. Having lost the Earth of Its favored
timeline, It is willing to settle for another, just so long as It is able to
acquire at least one for Its collection.”
Rose felt ice crawl through her veins as she realized what
the woman was going to propose. She let her say it anyway.
“Temael, despite all Its power, cannot simply take the
worlds of other dimensions on Its own. It must first seed a world with Its
power, then convince the people of that world to open the door from their side.
Once the proper rituals are performed, It will be able to reach out and take the
planet. Thanks to the spread of the Curse, It now has an abundance of Earths to
choose from, with willing followers on nearly all of them. But It will settle
for just one. In exchange, It will make the effort to withdraw Its errant Curse
from all those others effected.”
Rose stared at her with a near glare. “You want me to allow
It to take my world.”
The woman gave her a solemn frown. “I know this is an
impossible thing to ask, to beg you to sacrifice yourself to It. But for what it’s
worth, those worlds Temael acquires live under Its protection. Its civilizations
are allowed to live mostly as they used to, sometimes even elevated to a higher
state, in exchange for reverence towards It, and to serve Its needs when called
upon. For the most part, however, the majority of Its captured worlds do live
in relative peace. The civilizations of the different planets are not allowed
to predate upon or war with one another. And in taking some of those worlds, It
saved them from destructive ends.”
The woman’s expression shifted to gently stern once more. “If
you accept this deal, you will not only save your world from the Terror Zones,
you will spare every other Sex Mage World in existence. 40% of Earths infected
by Temael’s Curse end in human extinction. Many more suffer unduly for
centuries under the Curse’s poison. In some realities, the Curse even makes it
off world, infecting other civilizations as humanity spreads across the stars
to try and escape it. With your decision, you can change this fate for all of
them.”
Rose stared at her for a long time, calculating the odds. “What
if I gave Temael my planet, but you took my people to another of these worlds?
Perhaps one with a likewise reduced population? We could—”
The woman shook her head. “No. It doesn’t want just the planet. It wants the
civilization living on it. It will not accept an abandoned world.”
Rose scoffed. “There’s barely any civilization left!”
“There is a chance It will take Its followers from the other
Timelines to help you repopulate. But It will not accept an exchange. You and
your people must go with your world.”
“You’re some kind of God yourself, aren’t you?” said Rose.
“Is there nothing you can do?”
“No. I am not a God, and as much as I wish I could, I cannot
save everyone. I swear to you, I already tried to convince Temael of a
population exchange, but It will not accept that arrangement. And for this, I
must apologize once more, for I am sure It was adamant in this detail purely to
hurt me.”
“Hurt you?” said
Rose, anger welling up in her chest. “How does it hurt you?”
The woman put a gentle hand on Rose’s shoulder. “As I said,
my own selfishness compels me. There was a time I tried to stop the Curse
directly. I rallied many others like myself to attack the Dark God. We tried to
kill It. We failed. I failed. All I
managed was to lead my people into a swift genocide, and leave your Earths to
their doomed fates.” For a moment, her gaze drifted, as she relived a terrible
memory. “I have lived a long, long
time regretting that failure. This is my last chance to make it right.”
Rose let out a long, calming breath, composing herself as
best she could. She pushed the woman’s hand off her shoulder, more forcefully
than she wanted, but she was resolved not to let this creature sway her with forced
compassion. Maybe this strange being’s pain was
greater, but that did nothing to lessen Rose’s own torment.
“I have the choice to save thousands upon thousands of
worlds. To save humanity a million times over. All at the cost of my own world.
I’ll spare all those Earths this tyrant God’s shadow, by throwing my people
into It. Refusing just means letting my world die in terrified agony, and
letting all the rest fall with us.”
The woman nodded solemnly. “Not a very fair choice, I know.
Believe me, more than anyone, I know.”
Rose glared at her. “Spare me. You just want absolve
yourself by dumping your burden onto someone else.” She took a moment to keep
herself calm. “Living under a demonic God or dooming thousands of Earths to a
creeping death. Mine is already nearly gone; if it isn’t already the worst off
of those infected worlds, it’s as worse as it can get while having just a
sliver of a chance left.” She gave a rueful laugh. “You already know the answer
I have to give, don’t you? Knowing
all of this, of worlds and timelines and Gods and fate? You already know, you
cosmic bitch. This whole conversation has been nothing but a formality, hasn’t
it?”
The woman smiled sympathetically. “I have seen every Sex
Mage World across the Multiverse. I have seen the outcome of every decision
you, or those in your position, make. This was the best worst choice. I am so
sorry.”
Rose grit her teeth and balled her hands into fists and her eyes
blazed with fury. But even if she had struck at the woman, she knew she
couldn’t harm her, and it wouldn’t have changed anything if she could. Rose
took a long breath, closing her eyes to center herself. When she opened them
again, her expression was one of calm resignation.
“Will It really keep us safe?”
The woman offered a sympathetic smile. “I can’t promise
humanity won’t be changed by Its power and presence. But in as far as I have
seen, the civilizations within It do manage to thrive. It won’t be the Heaven
humanity dreams of, but you will be
saved.”
Rose took a moment to weigh those words, then nodded. “Very
well. What must I do?”
The woman spoke, and she listened with grave attention. Then
the woman faded away, and time resumed. Queen Rose told her council that she
needed to consult with her fellow Megami over some new information. She left the
war room, and a few minutes later, the Darkness took the world.
The white haired woman hovered in the vacuum of space,
halfway between the Earth and the Moon. She watch as a great swirling vortex of
pure black opened up before the planet. An immense shadowy claw reached forth
to gently clasp the world, and drag it through the portal. A moment later,
another great hand extended forth and snagged the Moon, yanking it through the
portal as well. The woman watched the vortex rapidly fade, leaving behind only
bits of space debris, already flying off across the solar system without an
Earth to orbit.
The woman spoke across the veil of dimensions. <Will this
suffice?>
The voice that spoke back seemed to rattle her every atom.
It shall. Our Pact is
now sealed. My people shall leave you and yours untouched. You and yours will
never interfere with Me and Mine again. I will withdraw My Curse from those
other Earths. You shall have an honorary place in My army.
<I don’t want that sort of honor.>
You shall have it,
nonetheless.
The woman suddenly staggered, screaming as a burning
sensation struck her left eye. She curled into a ball and clutched her face as
her cry resounded across the universe, heard by every psychically and
mystically aware mind across every galaxy.
After a moment, the pain faded, and she pulled her hand
away. A terrible, stinging feeling echoed through her very soul. She rose a
shaking hand, almost too afraid to look. But she had to confirm it with her own
eyes. A small mirror appeared in her hand.
Two different eyes peered back at her. On her right, a
glowing gold eye, same as ever. But on her left, her eye glowed crimson, the
pupil slit like a viper, the eye surrounded by a similarly glowing triangular
scar.
So you never forget
again…
She hung there in the void for a long time, gazing at
herself. Hours. Days. Years, perhaps. Unlike most of her fellows, she had sworn
to remember those timelines they left behind. Now, she couldn’t forget them
even if she wanted to.
But maybe now, finally, that memory wasn’t as terrible as it
used to be. It still wasn’t a good memory. Nothing would ever make it good. But
maybe, finally, it wouldn’t haunt her as painfully as it used to.
The woman, freshly scarred with an old wound, finally
straightened up, composed herself, and then vanished from the universe, back to
her own.
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