The Red Hand

Recollection 4 – Halifax.

"Are you sure this is wise, Gale?" Elariel asked the Chief God while watching as a large black blade was lowered into a pool of blue and white 'liquid.' It wasn't immediately clear where the two of them were, though from the limited context clues one could determine that it was somewhere deep underground in a room that looked like a strange combination of fantasy workshop and the bridge of a sci-fi ship due to the intermixing of magical artifacts and advanced machinery. All around them the walls were covered in strange panels outlined in a glowing red light, while odd pieces of technology whistled and hissed as steam pulsed through them. The partially finished metal door that led into a dark hallway seemed to pulse with magic and likely connected this space to somewhere entirely different. "We have no idea what will happen if our powers are combined with a Demon Lord's." She said with a heavy amount of trepidation and anxiety in her voice. “We can't even begin to speculate on the unintended consequences of such a merger.”

{And I don't really love MY energy being the one mixed with it either.} (Elariel)

The Gods had managed to drive Demon Lord Vikes back during his most recent breach of the Heavens. The battle between the Pantheon and the monster had been fierce, and even though Enoris' Gods won, it had come at a terrible cost. Seven Gods had been slain during the ensuing battle with many more being severely wounded, and Vikes, despite being expelled, had sustained comparatively little damage, damage that would easily be healed. Naturally, the Gods were terrified of another attempt by the Demon Lord to invade their realm and finish them off, but as luck would have it, the Demon Lord had been separated from his weapon, a large black blade that served as a conduit for his power. They presumed that it would only be a matter of time until he crafted a new one, but this situation presented an opportunity, one that Gale wouldn't let slip by. While Vikes wouldn't be permanently weakened by the loss of the weapon it did slow him down and gave them time, something that was more valuable than any precious metal.

"Wise? I can't say for certain whether it is or isn't, but right now we don't have the luxury of only choosing the 'wise' options, Elariel." Gale responded as the pool in front of them began to crackle and writhed, electricity exploding from within. "We're on borrowed time, and while I'm grateful that we have it, it will run out and quick at that."

{Our ranks were thinned far more than I expected during the battle, and less than two dozen Gods stand between this monster and universal annihilation. The Primordials are of no help either, not that I expected much from those fools, and the Archdevils are simply too weak to be effective as anything more than fodder. What an absolute disaster, and to think we were so close to a breakthrough...} (Gale)

"I am aware of that, and while I understand just how dire the situation is..." Elariel paused as electricity shot from the pool and exploded around the room in an impressive, yet dangerous, light show. "That concerns me, Gale." She said as Hilare appeared from a portal that quickly closed on the other side of the room.

"How are things looking, Hilare?" Gale asked, ignoring her worries. "Has the reshaping process taken hold?"

"Barely." Hilare said with a deep sigh as he shook his head. "Overwriting a Demon Lord's power with our own... I'll admit I had and still have my doubts about such a thing being possible, Gale." He continued. "Just subduing that thing required several of us to go into a catatonic state, and there's no guarantee the restraints will keep it sealed for any real length of time."

{Its a masterwork weapon. One forged from the very essence of creation energy that binds all reality together. I could never even hope to come close to replicating something like it, but that makes me all the more cautious about it. Especially when it can act of its own free will.} (Hilare)

"Not to mention the fact that as a weapon born of that monster, it could very well resist and repel our power." Elariel interjected. "While I won't deny that turning the blade against its creator is likely the most effective method of destroying Vikes, I question if it's feasible to do something like that in the first place. There are simply things even we Gods cannot do, Gale."

{We still don't even understand what a Demon Lord is or where it came from for fuck's sake! This thing just appeared out of nowhere in a random village and killed Kalrina with power far beyond anything even the Primordials could bring to bear! We're supposed to understand everything about this world and yet here is an existence that is recorded nowhere within any of our collective minds! How could we even hope to control something we understand nothing about.} (Elariel)

"We don't have a choice, Elariel. This weapon will be turned, end of story." Gale said as he side-eyed her. "There can be no failure. There is no other way."

"If you're so insistent, then why are we not binding it to you?" Elariel said with a bit of snark. She wasn't a fan of binding the blade to herself since that put her at risk, and Hilare already warned Gale and the others that the Blade may simply take the host over and use them if they weren't able to resist it. "Surely if you were confident in our ability to bring it to heel, you'd want to control it yourself?"

Elariel was the Goddess being used as the base to transform the Demon Blade into something of a more Divine make. Her power would be mixed into the weapon and used to expunge and 'cleanse' the Demon Lord's power, and would also give Elariel control over the weapon in case it went rogue, at least in theory. Such a process was not easy nor could it be done with every God, and like it or not Elariel seemed to be the best fit.

"I would gladly do so, however, as we saw in a prior test, my power is rejected by this thing." Gale clicked his tongue in irritation. He wanted to use Vikes' blade himself, mostly because he intended to keep it around for later use, but such a plan was quickly discarded when he found that the weapon would not allow itself to mix with him. "For whatever reason, your divinity is 'compatible' with this blade, so we've no choice but to use you as its base. If it wasn't required, then I would've taken the gamble by binding it to myself so as not to risk your lives."

{Liar.} (Elariel)

"The question is, who will wield it?" Hilare decided to intervene and stop the two Gods' back and forth, a sight that was all too common when Elariel and Gale got together. “Just because the blade is bound to one person doesn't mean they have to use it.”

"Me, of course." Elariel said, not letting Gale butt in. "The blade will be tied to my divinity, so it will be easiest for me to control it and bring out its full potential."

"That would make the most sense..." Hilare said as the pool continued to crackle and writhe as Elariel's Divine power infused itself into the blade, which seemed to fight back fiercely to protect itself. "Our best shot is to destroy Vikes' soul. None of our past attempts managed anything more than minor damage, but from my experiments, a Demon Lord is more than capable of destroying itself." He continued. "We just need to hope that enough of its power remains within the blade in a usable state. If we fully purge it, there is a good chance it will be no better at killing Vikes than our other creations."

"That is a valid concern, but I trust your ability, Hilare." Gale said with a fake smile as he attempted to reassure Hilare. "But back to the topic of wielder, I actually have another nominee."

"What?" Elariel said, taken aback. "Who could possibly be more appropriate to wield this blade than me? It's infused with my divinity! There's none who could be more compatible with it than I!"

"I don't know about that. I think I'll be able to handle things without much issue." A blonde-haired woman said as she appeared on top of one of the partially built metal doors of the room. "Yo! How's it going, Elariel? Long time no see!" She smiled brightly before leaping down and landing in front of the three Gods. She seemed to both fit right in with and stick out from the three Gods. Her long blonde hair and golden eyes oozed with divinity but the air about her, combined with her odd outfit that looked more at home on Earth than Enoris, made it apparent that there was more about this woman than met the eye.

"Helia..." Elariel groaned, displeased with her arrival. "Why am I not surprised that a troublemaker such as yourself is involved..."

{I'm starting to think Gale is intentionally doing things just to get under my skin. Why else would he bring this disgrace here.} (Elariel)

"Ah, good. You've arrived just on time." Hilare said, seemingly unsurprised by her appearance.

"You knew she'd be coming here and didn't tell me!" Elariel hissed.

"If I did, then you wouldn't've come, which would've been a problem." Hilare shrugged, not wanting to get into a debate. "Listen, I know you don't really get along with Helia, but for the sake of the world, you need to swallow your distaste for her, at least for now."

"Easier said than done." Elariel scoffed at the notion. The two of them had never gotten along, though it was more of an issue for Elariel than Helia. "Though I suppose I can hold my nose and work with this half breed to save Enoris, if I must."

"You still can't get over the fact that my Mom's a Primordial, can you?" Helia rolled her eyes. "Talk about some serious prejudices, though I guess that's not that odd when I think about it."

"You are an existence which shouldn't be possible!" Elariel snapped back. "The child of a God and a Primordial should not exist! Zenthala broke Divine Law to even try to create you! Not to mention that I simply find the notion of the Divine mating with such things to be disgusting!"

{That... Coming from you...} (Helia)

"I'm going to refrain from discussing your partner choosing practices because that's going to result in us fighting again," Helia said as she held up a hand to show she had no interest in continuing this conversation. "I'm here to help, and Gale said my power was going to be useful in dealing with this Demon Lord. For now, I agree that putting aside our differences and working together to defeat the greater evil is all of our best interests, okay? Think you can deal with me until Vikes is dead?"

"As much as I loath the idea of working alongside you... Fine." Elariel grumbled. "But why is she going to be given the Blade anyway? Helia is far younger and less experienced in combat than any of us at only few tens of thousands of years old. She's practically a newborn! Not to mention that she's no better than I at wielding a blade."

"You raise valid points, but I believe that Helia's unusual existence is what makes her a better candidate." Gale explained that the writhing in the pool of divine power stopped as the chains were slowly raised. "She is neither fully Divine nor a True Primordial, being a mixture of both. Her power is simultaneously that of both and neither, and I believe that such an oddity is exactly what we need to destroy a Demon Lord. You must've noticed that he counters our power quite well during our battles, no?"

"I... I suppose I can't deny that her abilities are unique." Elariel said as they turned to the pool just as the chains pulled the now aqua blue blade from its 'water'. The blade's aura had changed completely, now more resembling a weapon forged by the Divine than a Demon Lord. "And I believe our gamble paid off. I can sense almost nothing of the Demon Lord's power remaining, with most of it being made of my own existence."

{It's an odd feeling. I've created countless weapons from my own power over the years, but this one feels special. Probably because it's a mixture of my own essence and Vikes', as disgusting as that sounds.} (Elariel)

"As an apology for stealing your thunder, how about I let you name it?" Helia snickered. "It's the least I can do."

"A name... Yes, it will need a new one, won't it?" Elariel said, her eyes transfixed on the weapon as she gave it some thought. "I believe that it was called Enūma, was it not. It certainly cannot retain such a name, given it has been reborn as a Divine Blade..." The Goddess paused as she considered a range of names. "A name... A name..."

"Elariel never was good at that sort of thing." Gale chuckled as did Hilare as they watched the Goddess struggle to come up with a name for the blade. She normally left naming to others since hers tended to be either highly unusual or very boring. "I've even heard you never actually named a single one of the Demi-Gods you spawned over the eons, preferring to let the other parent handle that trifle."

"... Halifax..." Elariel ignored him as she spoke aloud a name. "Yes, that's it. This blade's name henceforth shall be Halifax. It will represent a bright new future for our world filled with light, just like its name implies."

Spoiler

Helia!

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