You're struck in amazement as you look at the object in Aatu's hand as he presents it in front of you.
" A ring? "
You ask Aatu as you pick it up with your fingers and drop it in your palm.
The instant the ring touches your palm, you feel an immense sense of power coursing through your veins. You stare at the ring as it glows magnificently, and as you hold it, you feel like you're a God.
" Yes, mortal. Not just any ring, but a ring that is made from the Light within me. It took the majority of my Light in order to craft something that could stabilize your existence, around 69% to be exact, but in the end it will all be worth it. "
Aatu says to you with a proud smile as he admires what he's just given you.
You continue to stare at the shining ring and you realize that you're unable to avert your gaze from it. You try your hardest to look back up at Aatu, but you begin to feel addicted to the power washing over you as it begins to overcome your very being.
" Mortal? "
Aatu asks curiously, trying to get your attention.
You want to respond, but you're so engulfed with the raw godly power of this ring that you're simply unable to. You exert all of your willpower to muster up a sentence, but you're only able to say a couple of words to Aatu.
" Help… take… "
Aatu gives you a look of approval. He sees that you're having a hard time wielding the Light of a God in your hand, then he reaches out to take the ring back from you. The instant his hand breaks the line of sight between your eyes and the ring, you quickly drop it into the dirt between the both of you. As the ring leaves your possession, the feeling of immense power subsides immediately. Because of this sudden change in how you're feeling, you fall to your hands and knees next to the glowing ring in the dirt and take a deep breath. Aatu puts his hand on your shoulder as he kneels down to check on you, speaking to you in an empathetic tone.
" It's burdensome… I know… Most mortals that feel such a level of power would be entirely consumed by it. The amount of Light that I put into the ring is equal to the amount of my power that resides within it. As a God of Light, I am now only left with roughly 31% of the power that my father gave me. "
" What? "
You look up at him, confused at what Aatu just told you.
" You gave up the majority of your power to create this for me? "
Aatu responds to you in a reassuring tone.
" I wouldn't necessarily say that I gave it up. I'd think of it more as converting my power into a physical form. My power can only truly be lost if it is consumed by another. Since the ring is made of my Light, it will stabilize your existence, keeping you alive by balancing the Darkness that you're made of until you can learn to control your power without it. Since the ring is a physical object, my Light will remain outside of your being so your body can handle it and not be overloaded. The ring will act as a buffer to any Light that you consume and throttle any amount that is too much for you to handle, storing the excess within the ring instead. "
Aatu picks up the ring and you both stand up. Before Aatu gives you back the ring, he gives you a word of warning.
" In creating this ring, I have become weak. When my father created me, he made me more powerful than all six of my siblings combined. Now that I've expended over two-thirds of my power to make this ring, I am now only stronger than any one of my siblings individually. This means that if there is ever a conflict between my siblings, I would need the help of a brother or sister in order to keep the balance. "
" Why? "
You ask Aatu.
" This makes no sense. Why would you give up this power when you need it to do your job as the keeper of balance? Couldn't you just teach me how to use my power without having to make a ring at all? "
As you look at Aatu, you feel as if he wants to tell you something but he's unable to. Aatu slides the ring onto your right index finger and answers you as if he's choosing his words very carefully while he holds your hand.
" My father has put you here for a very important reason. I am not the one to teach you about your power, for that duty belongs to another. I must give this to you because this is the only way. In the coming storm, you will face many tribulations. You will make many friends, you will meet many foes and death will follow in your wake. Your mind, your heart and your soul will all be mangled and torn as you endure what is to come. As you weather this storm, hold onto this ring as if you're holding my hand through it all; and when the time where all hope seems lost and you're on the verge of being broken comes, remember my gift. Then, you will break. "
" Then I will break? "
You ask Aatu as you stand there nervously.
" So I'm doomed to fail? "
Aatu looks at you again as if he's withholding something from you. He speaks to you very cautiously as he gives you an answer.
" Countless universes that my father has created have fallen to their doom from the calamity that soon approaches. I have already seen the signs of the oncoming cataclysm and I'm the only one that knows what truly awaits you in the future. When we witnessed the mortal who used my father's book, what we saw was more than just an anomaly here within our universe… It was an omen of this universe's annihilation. "
" So The One brought me here because I'm the only one who has a chance at stopping this great threat to his universes… "
Aatu nods his head carefully while looking seriously into your eyes.
" Merely having a chance is an overstatement. You are The Holy Omniverse's last hope. A last-ditch effort, because all other efforts from my father over the past one-hundred eons have failed. "
There it is again… One-hundred eons… What happened one-hundred billion years ago? Why did The One erase my memory? Who was I?
I need to find out why I was put into The Light… Wait hold on.
You look down at the ring on your hand to see that it's stopped glowing and you don't feel it having any effect on you. You look up at Aatu in confusion, but before you can ask, he answers you.
" When you first held the ring, it made you feel its power. While it was glowing, it was testing your heart. Most mortals would've allowed the ring to consume them after getting a taste of the power that the ring possesses… What they wouldn't realize is that when the ring consumes them, it shines out all of the Darkness within them, erasing them from existence. You passed the ring's test because you wanted me to take the ring from you after you felt its power and you dropped it. Your heart is pure, and therefore you may now wield the ring without consequence. The ring was created this way to ensure that if it ever fell into the wrong hands, it could not be used. "
Aatu opens a white portal behind him and gestures for you to walk through before him.
" Come, mortal. We have another meeting to attend. The other gods know not of the ring and believe me to still be at my full power. While we are in the presence of the others, do not speak of my ring and stay close to me and Izael. Do you understand? "
You nod your head and ask Aatu a quick question before you step through the portal.
" Yes, but what about Mimi? When we came back here to the village, she didn't come with us. "
Aatu tilts his head up, looking at you with a smile as he answers you with another question.
" You're able to understand me as if I'm a mortal like you are, yes? "
" Yeah… "
You say to him, following where he's going with his questions.
" So this means…? "
" We're still in an Immortal Realm… "
You say to him as you finally understand that you're not actually back at the village.
" Correct. As the Eldest God, I have created this Immortal Realm to observe the conflicts between my siblings as if I was there. This realm allows me to go back and witness the truth in order to keep my judgment on each affair balanced. Right now this realm is frozen in the moment that Izael's angels turn the tide in the battle against Nahzgor's army. As for Mimi, she is with Noeh and Izael. They'll be meeting us in another Immortal Realm that is neutral territory for us all. In that realm, there will be no unfairness of power when we hold our meeting. "
You look around in amazement at the surrounding environment because you finally realize where you are. You then look back at Aatu with a smile and he smiles back, speaking to you in a playful tone.
" Look behind you. "
As you turn around, the colossal dragon instantly crashes to the ground on the horizon causing the surrounding environment to level completely and you see dust and debris shoot rapidly into the air. All of the structures as far as the eye can see are blown back from the crash, but you notice that you're unaffected as you just stand there while everything that's carried by the shockwave from the dragon's fall flies past you. Then from the dragon's corpse, you can see a holy blue beacon of light shoot straight into the heavens and separate the smoky clouds like a mighty arrow. The angels cheer and shout with morale as the cultists all run away from the dead dragon that's now burning and smouldering in blue flames.
" Immortal Realms are badass. "
You remark as you turn back around towards Aatu, stepping through the white portal that Aatu had summoned earlier.
It is now time to meet Nahzgor face to face.