Darkness...
Light...
voices...
memories...
names...
faces...
Who am I?
Faces, names; so many, so many. Yet all my name, all my face. Foundering in a tempestuous sea of identities, the memories of all my incarnations flooding my mind. Which one will I be this time? Erekosë, John Daker, Werner von Bek? Elric the albino Sorcerer-Prince of Melnibone, servant of Chaos? Silver-handed Corum Jhaelen Irsei, Vadhagh prince, champion of Order? Jerry Cornelius? Dorian Hawkmoon? Alaric Scarson? Rose Selavy? So many voices, calling out, crying out. I am the Champion Eternal and I have lived many lives, died many deaths.
I hear another name, as from a great distance. A name I do not remember, but which echoes in my memory. Something else, something I cannot name, pulls at me. So unlike my other incarnations, yet not entirely strange, an odd sense of familiarity. I do not understand it, but there is little about the here-and-now I do understand as yet.
I feel my being, my self, tenuous and indistinct, as in a dream. I sense a vastness, a twilit open plain stretching out before me to a far horizon, seemingly without limit; the ground shrouded in a low-lying, undulating mist that appears to emanate a light of its own. A feeble phosphorescence that does naught to alleviate the pervasive gloom. In the dim, nacreous sky, the constellation of The Scales looms forebodingly, picked out in resplendent points of diamond light. How do I know its name, or its nature? The answer eludes me. A long-forgotten memory, perhaps. No matter.
A voice from the mist startles me from my reveries; a sound thin and sharp, like an icy polar wind. "You have come. Good. There is rest and knowledge available here, should you desire it, before your next incarnation."
"Where am I, who are you?"
Some distance to my left, a diminutive figure in a gray robe raises its cowled head, face obscured by shadow. "You stand in a world between the worlds, a liminal plane where the lords of Order and Chaos are not permitted, where the Cosmic Balance holds sole jurisdiction." A voice from an unseen source behind me, thicker and heavier, a voice of mountains and forests, declares: "We are those who you term the Gray Lords, who maintain the Balance and Harmony throughout the many universes." Yet another, to my right, like the sound of a rainstorm, garbed identically to the first and taller, "You have been called, and we are here to provide what guidance we can before you assume your new role. Although your conscious mind will retain little of what you hear and see in this realm, your deeper self will remember, and it may be a boon in time of need. If you have questions, ask, and we will provide such answer as we are able."
"Is this then Tanelorn?"
"It is one incarnation of Tanelorn. But the Tanelorn you seek is far removed, through time and space and thought, from the plane we currently inhabit."
"I see." I respond, disappointed. "Very well. I presume I am once again called to battle. Am I to fight for Order or for Chaos?"
"As always, you will fight for the Balance, for you are its tool, its champion in all times and realms. But this incarnation will be somewhat different. Your nature will be that of Chaos, but you will fight with and for the lords of Law."
"Chaos fighting for Law? How can that be? Would it not be a contradiction?"
A new voice, soft and musical, its location vague and shifting, "There are many contradictions and paradoxes in the multiverse. In becoming this paradox, you will find power and purpose. This is the way of the Champion Eternal. But another comes who will be more able to provide the answers you seek."
A tall, thin man, foppishly dressed in bright colours with a wide-brimmed hat, walks into view from behind me. My eyes are drawn to a small winged cat perched on his left shoulder. "Greetings Champion, dare I hope that you remember me?"
It is a face I know I have seen before, in other lives; but I cannot quite place it. "I am afraid not, though your face, and your unusual pet, feel familiar somehow."
"Ah, well then, no matter. My name in this incarnation is Jhary-a-Conel, and this charming creature is my cat Whiskers. She is my companion, as I am often Companion to Champions. But you have other questions, do you not?"
"I have been called to another life, though I am unsure of my role in it. If I understand, I will again represent Chaos fighting Chaos? I have often taken part in such battles."
"Not entirely," the tall dandy replied, "though you will indeed oppose the depredations of Chaos, your greatest battles will also be against the forces of Order."
"For Order against Order? I am afraid I do not understand. Is it not inconceivable that the White Lords should war amongst themselves?" I asked, confused by his words.
"Not quite inconceivable, Champion. But such matters are complicated, and talking is thirsty work." As those last words are spoken, Jhary glances over at the gathered Gray Lords. One nods, and a table appears before us, laden with food and drink. Jhary's cat jumps down to the table as the thin-faced man seats himself, daintily picks a slice of what appears to be some sort of meat from the table, and begins eating. "There are many forces in the myriad worlds of the multiverse," my companion eventually recommences, "and even the realms of Order and Chaos are not monolithic, not single entities sufficient in themselves, but are each split in twain; with the Lords of the Higher Worlds taking sides not only against their opposite spheres, but against factions within their own. The battle is rarely so simple as Chaos vs. Order," the one calling himself Jhary-a-Conel discourses between mouthfuls. "As you noted, the Chaos lords often battle one another, but are you aware of the reason they do so?"
"I assumed that was inherent, their Chaotic nature driving them to conflict." I reply.
"It is more than that," he continues, "though I don't know how much you know about the nature of Chaos in the Multiverse..."
"I know that Chaos, like Order, is necessary to the world. It is growth and decay, transformation and evolution. Even the Lords of the Higher worlds must maintain some balance of both in order to manifest in a form that can exist in this world." I recite the words as if back at my lessons, once again learning the fundamentals of magic and sorcery. "Those of Order must incorporate a modicum of Chaos, just as those of Chaos must integrate a fragment of Order. I remember that much from my other lives, as a several-time sorcerer and champion of both Chaos and Order."
"Good," replied Jhary, "you have the basics, at least." He smiles, and gestures to the table. I feel myself growing more tangible, and take a seat opposite him. I watch his curious-looking cat with amusement as it paws a slice of meat from the large plate in front of him and begins gnawing it. "That is the natural Chaos you refer to. But there is also another form of Chaos, known as Entropy, that is opposed to the natural. Entropy is destruction and dissolution, the reduction of all space and time into a formless, primal miasma; infinite potential without culmination, where incarnation is brief and fleeting, mercurial as the whims of the lords themselves. It is from this primal substance that the first champions of Law carved the planes of the multiverse; and to which Entropy seeks to return them."
"I remember the stories," I reply. Images of Earl Aubec's conquest of the Chaos lands, bringing entire nations into being, flit through my consciousness. "But that still does not explain the warring of the White Lords."
"Well," muses Jhary, "have a mug of this excellent cider, and I will attempt to remedy your confusion." I do not yet feel tangible enough to do so, and simply sit and wait for him to proceed with his explanation. "Law is stability and persistence and endurance. Imposing structure on the primal Chaos, Law shapes it, gives it a framework in which to create the complex patterns upon which all things depend, and from which they take their form; while Singularity would do away with patterns entirely. With me so far?"
"I... not quite," I reply. "I feel as though there is something I am still missing."
"Very well, mull it over while I think of a better way to put it." The thin dandy cuts a large slice of pale yellow cheese, and with it a piece of a dark loaf nearby, ruminating upon the two thoughtfully for several minutes.
Growing increasingly impatient, I respond somewhat peevishly. "I begin to suspect you pause more for the benefit of your stomach than for my head."
Swallowing his latest mouthful, Jhary laughs. "Ha! Perhaps you're right about that, but one should never pass up a chance to eat and drink one's fill. After all, it may be an uncomfortably long time before such an opportunity arises again." He winks slyly at me, then resumes in a more serious vein. "The realm of Order is divided between the constancy of Law and the oppressive conformity of Singularity. Singularity seeks to purge all trace of complexity and individuality, eliminating everything that fails to conform to its ultimate ideal. It would reduce the entirety of existence into a single, static unity, in an eternally unchanging state — simple, sterile, and lifeless. This is what many of the lords of Order fight to prevent. Does this make things more clear?" he asked, snaking a large blue fruit from a bowl in front of me.
"I am not certain. What you are saying still feels too high and subtle for me."
A hazy image of a man slowly materializes a short distance from the table, striding through the ever-present fog. A figure in armour of jet and gold, his stentorian yet good-natured voice booming out in the mist, stirring up deeply buried memories. "As usual, you confuse the Champion with your philosophizing, Jhary."
"An acknowledged weakness of mine," replied Jhary, smiling broadly back at the newcomer.
"Sepiriz!" I cry. The imposing figure of the Knight of the Balance stands tall and clear, towering over me.
Sepiriz bows to Jhary, then to me, before taking a seat at the side of the table. "Greetings Companion. As with our mutual friend, I am here to impart what counsel I am permitted before your next incarnation."
My shape feels clearer now, more distinct; its build stocky, its limbs short and quadrupedal, like an animal, head high on a long neck. "What is this being?" I entreat in confusion. I cast about my memories for understanding, finding none. "It is nothing like the shape of Men or Eldren. Is it some spawn of Chaos I am to inhabit?"
"Nothing so outlandish," replies Sepiriz. "This is a common form for the world you are called to defend, and resembles some you have known in other worlds. One worn by many, though not all, of its sapient denizens. Yours will be a form possessed of earth and stone, amongst others of wind and sky, sorcery and knowledge. You will not find it unpleasant, I think." Another warm smile, this time with a touch of wistfulness.
I reach up one hoof-like appendage to grasp a mug, doing so with an unfamiliar yet practiced ease. The cider tastes cool and crisp and strong, greatly to my liking. I drain the mug in one go, Jhary refilling it immediately after.
"So, it is this battle that you go to fight," interjects the oddly-dressed man through a mouthful of fruit, blue juice dribbling from one corner down his chin, "aiding Chaos and Law against the forces of Entropy and Singularity; those who comprise the ever-swinging arms of the Balance, against those who seek to destroy it outright."
"I am still having trouble comprehending all this philosophy. I suppose it matters little, since, as always, I am doomed to fight and to see those I care for die. This, too, appears to be the way of the Eternal Champion." Jhary's strange cat meanders across the table toward me, and proceeds to bat idly at a lock of bright pink hair hanging over my face.
The unseen musical voice again, "There will be many battles fought before your release from this realm, Champion; but they will be less onerous than those you are accustomed to. You will have companions in whom you can trust, and upon whom you may depend. The load you carry will be greatly lightened. Indeed, some conflicts you may even find pleasant, in a way."
"Then will my sorrow and loneliness also be lessened?" I ask hopefully.
"Your sorrow you still retain, as it transcends all your incarnations; yet in this life it will be tempered by an even greater mirth, and your loneliness by a greater camaraderie. You will have steadfast allies; and through them you will find comfort and refuge from your sorrow, perhaps even a kind of joy."
"What of the sword, the spear, the staff I have carried in other lives? The Black Sword, or the White? The Runestaff? The Spear That Pierces the Heavens? What weapons will I carry in this battle?"
Sepiriz responds this time, "No sword, spear, or staff will you bear. No such weapons will you need; for in this battle, you yourself will be a weapon, to be wielded by another, in a manner of speaking."
"I am to be weapon to another? I assume you mean that figuratively."
"Yes. In this lifetime, you shall be both Champion and Companion," he nods again at Jhary, who inclines his head in return, "providing aid and comfort to one who is destined to take her own place as a lord of Law. One who favours the Balance, and who will strive to maintain harmony within her realm. The Chaos powers you retain will be a staff, bolstering your allies and confounding your enemies. Your mirth will be a sword and spear, shielding your companions from the forces of Singularity and Entropy, and driving their minions before you."
"Careful, warrior," Jhary interrupts, "you give too much away too soon. Some things the Champion must learn on her own."
"I do not think so," he replies softly, without a trace of emnity. "I say only what is given me to say, and what will be beneficial for the Champion." He turns back to me, looking long and hard, but not unfriendly.
"Are you also to accompany me in this new world?" I inquire hopefully.
The imposing black warrior throws back his head and laughs heartily. "Would that I could, my friend, for it is a world more to my taste than most! Its inhabitants are dear to me; but alas, my duty lies elsewhere, as does that of our erstwhile companion. But you will hardly be alone. Four other companions will you have, and through them will you find your most profound strength. Yet these will not be your only sources of aid, Champion," says the warrior in jet and gold, "more powers in this world you will find, and recruit to the defense of Harmony. You will have more friends and allies than will be readily apparent, if you know where to look for them. Even amongst your direst enemies you may find useful, if unpredictable, comrades."
"You are as cryptic as ever, Sepiriz." I chuckle; finding his infectious laughter bubbling forth from deep within my own chest.
"I do not meant to be," he says gently, "but my own knowledge is limited; and I can provide little beyond what I and Jhary have already said, and my own well-wishes. One more thing only may I divulge: objects of immense power exist within this realm, artifacts born of the Balance, which maintain peace and harmony therein. Without them, the most implacable of the Lords of the Higher Worlds would soon descend upon this domain, trailing strife and despair in their wake. You and your companions will obtain and wield these artifacts, and through them, drive out the forces of dissolution and sterility; bringing healing and harmony to the land and its people. And, perhaps, even a little healing for yourself." He smiles warmly, yet wistfully, briefly grasping one of my now-tangible shoulders in a brotherly embrace.
"How may I... we... find the artifacts of which you speak?"
"I cannot say for certain", the giant replies, "except to reiterate that unexpected friendships can provide help in time of need."
A new figure comes into view in front of me, like the Lords around us cloaked in gray and shadowed. It intones in a dark, portentous voice: "The time has come, Champion Eternal, for you to heed the call."
"May I ask one more question?"
"You may, though we may not have an answer for you."
"Will I find Tanelorn? Will I find peace?"
"We cannot say, such things are beyond even our knowledge. But we can say that in this life, you will find a place much like that which you seek, and will be closer to peace than you have known thus far. That must suffice, for now."
The figures start to fade.
"But it is time, you must go. Hold true to the Balance, Champion, and it will guide you. Lose it, and you will lose yourself."
...i..i...
As I depart the gray realm, I hear Sepiriz call out, "Trust in your companions, my friend, and you will prevail!"
...i..ie...
The call pulls me from the featureless plain, and into eternal battle.
...i.Kie...
My vision dissolves into a soft pink mist, as I feel my memories melting away.
"PINKIE!"
*snork* *YAWN* "Huh? Wha? Oh! Good morning Mrs. Cake! I guess I must've overslept. Wow, I just had the weirdest dream!"
"Sorry to wake you Pinkie, but you did say you wanted to go down to the Town Hall and help with preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration."
"AbsoTIVely Mrs Cake! After all, it's the first time EVER it's being held right here in Ponyville!"
"It's certainly quite an honor, her majesty choosing our little town for such an important celebration. I hope everything goes well... er... is something wrong, Pinkie?"
"Huh? No, just still thinking about that super-weird dream!"
"A dream? Oh. What about, dear?"
"Not sure. I can't really remember it, now. I thi-i-i-ink it was something about meeting a new friend!"
"Well, that sounds nice."
"Yes inDEEDily! There's NOTHING I love more than making new friends! Not even cupcakes! And cupcakes are AMAZING! That rich, creamy frosting... mmm, frosting..."
"Um, Pinkie?"
"Huh? Oh! Well, I better be on my way if I'm gonna help out! I just know this is going to be a SUPER SPLENDERIFIC day all around!"
"Okay, you have a good day now!"
"You too Mrs. Cake! La la la la la. Hrm... Wonder why I can't remember that dream, it sure was strange. And kinda spooky. Oh well. I have a real strong feeling I'm gonna meet a GREAT new FRIEND today. Can't wait to see who it turns out to be!"
"Maybe the ponies in Ponyville have interesting things to talk about. Come on, Twilight, just try!"
"Okay already Spike, I'll give it a try if it'll get you to stop lecturing me." "Um... hello?"
*HUGE GASP*
