I reach the heart of the ghastly, dead settlement, I am finally able to get a good look at the colossal edifice. It was a great cyclopean temple, almost resembling a prison. As I break through and into the structure, I see the sinister majesty of its architecture, with hieroglyphs, symbols of arcane knowledge and carvings depicting otherworldly scenes and eldritch beings. The air is much heavier and thicker as compared to the outside. .
"Huh…", I touched the walls in awe and asked: "What are these? These symbols; These… Things. I can feel a… somewhat familiar power from those symbols. They whisper to me…!"
Raphael: 'Boy, these are Gods… Although, none of which I know but most certainly… those are Gods, through and through.'
Lucifer: 'Aye, none of them, I can recognise… Perhaps, these are Outer Gods. Oh, I could not even begin to imagine their strength'
"You believe in God, Lucifer?", I asked, overcome by my curiosity to ask if the fallen angel believes in God.
Lucifer: 'But of course. Morrigan blesses the lads who are off to war and guides the souls of the dead to the higher plane of existence. Lugh is the vanquisher of Daemons.And our Mother Goddess, Danu, blesses our land and fields.'
"Have you ever been in the presence of your God?"
Lucifer: 'Aye… I- I… killed her. In a fit of rage, befitting of a barbarian with lost faith, I bloodied my hands in the blood of my Gods. After over three hundred years of eradicating man from the face of the Earth, I was met with the envoy of the Gods, Lugus. I don't remember what he said but… all I could feel was rage; I could hear the clanking of mythril and steel, sword against swords, mace destroyed shields, explosions of concentrated Magic, the screams lasted for an eternity. And then… nothing. The silence was deafening.
When I returned to the mortal plane, life was thriving, without humans. I put my Dragon friend to rest. All that was left to do… was to finally bring an end to this cycle. And now, I'm here! Living rent-free in your head. Although, I am grateful to be learning new things. What of you, lad?'
"Hmm… I don't believe. I'm pretty intrigued and like to read about all these mythos but I don't believe in any God. To be honest, it's not like I deny the existence of God; There may or may not be one. I just don't really care."
Lucifer: 'Mythos…? You have more than one pantheon of Gods? Aye, there are a few handful of people that did not believe in our God even after witnessing their blessings. But, even in a world of multiple pantheons of Gods. you remain faithless? How very amusing.'
"Our Gods—whether they exist or not— don't bless anything, really. If that's what you're on about."
Lucifer: 'Surely not… How can you survive if not for the blessings of God on creation and land?'
"Eh, we make solutions based on research to compensate for human deficits, disease and bad harvest."
Lucifer: 'Ohh, veery interesting. Our fellow dead friend was God himself to his people so I don't suppose we need to ask whether he believes in himself or not, eh?'
Raphael: 'Hmm…'
As I was gliding my fingers across the wall, I came across a few lines of alien text. They felt familiar; As weird as it may seem. "The stars… have yet to align. Wake not the… the uhh- I can't make out the rest. Scrap that, how can I even understand and decipher this much?"
Raphael: 'These runes… they pulse with power. I have come across runes aplenty but these ones are unique. I can't see through this special Magic. It bends the very fabric of physical and astral form. You can see them blinking, distorting and rippling the space around them, can you not?'
I caress the text, slowly moving my fingers as I get a feel for the language. I hear whispers in the air, slowly encroaching into my mind as they begin to grow more intense by the second. "These voices whisper in the same dialect as the voice that I heard before I got to this place. Man, this is getting annoying…"
Soon, the annoyance evolved into anxiety, and then to fear. But all of a sudden, as I had predicted, all of these feelings dissipated into nothing. My mind was as calm as a serene forest, untouched by humans. "Ugh… that disgusting feeling of emptiness-!"
I navigate the darkness of the alien chapel and finally, after wandering for minutes, I see a statue of grand and grotesque stature. It lay in wait, "...for the stars to align; With the sacrifice fulfilled, the priest's return will be nigh-", I read the text inscribed on the wall beside the statue.
"The priest… is it this thing? Huh- sure doesn't look like what I'd expect a priest to look like."
So, basically, the place wherein I was wandering about, inspecting the statue, the texts, the mosaics and arcane symbols, was the slumber of Cthulhu, his place of worship, his place of silent wait, and a conduit through which he may manifest again in the physical realm of man.
"Believe it or not, Cthulhu is the priest of the Other Gods: Shub-Niggurath, Nyarlathotep, Azathoth, and Yog-Sothoth. And through Cthulhu's manifestation in the physical realm, the Other Gods, alongside Azathoth —lest they be swallowed whole by the Daemon Sultan— will have their final banquet." I launched myself off of my feet and several metres away from the place where I heard the voice behind me.
"Oh, no need to be so alarmed, young man! I have witnessed, through these undeserving eyes, your majestic and god-like feats of supernatural strengths and miracles. Truly awe-striking! Through your peerless and graceful flight, I was drawn towards your royal self!" the person praised and praised. "Please, if you would, bestow your good name upon me-!" the man moved closer as he clapped his hands.
"Who are you?! Why did you think that it was a good idea to sneak up on me?!" I was ready for a fight for my life, led by my natural instincts; Akin to that of a wild animal.
It was already suspicious enough for a person to be in this… whatever the hell this place is; 'Although it would be the same in his eyes…'. He didn't seem to mind all the chaos, and eldritch and mystical bullshit around the entire realm; 'Well, he could be the same as me…'.
"How strange… Had I not sensed two more individuals? Pray tell, where might your two companions be? I have a wonderful offer to the three of you gentlemen!" the person wore all sorts of sweet accords.
"I don't know what you're on about. But you better stay right there unless you like the cool embrace of the Earth, six-feet under!" I threatened the person.
Time passed, he put all the stars at my feet as if he were trying to please me. Something told me to listen to him but I was still sceptical of this feeling. He looked like an important person; Almost identical to a Pharaoh. He was very well spoken and said that he has what I think I want. "And what do you think I want?" I questioned him.
"That— is up to you to decide" he replied in a blunt—you know what to do—tone.
Lucifer: 'I don't like this, lad…'
"Hmm, I don't buy it-" I increase the force of gravity to as high as possible so as to restrict his movement and hopefully ruin his innards. The man remained unfazed as the ground beneath and around him was crushed and grinded to fine particles. "I knew it-! Are you even human?"
"Oh, I do fancy a futile resistance . Have your way with this—" he threw out a crystalline trapezohedron that got stuck to the ground because of the gravity. " Oh, no you don't-".
--END OF CHAPTER 6--