5.30 – Empyrean legacy
“Believe it or not,” Aurora said, “I know more about this spaceship than the rest of you do, or rather, a part of me does. This ship is Empyrean and I’m partially of that race.” She looked at Gothschilde to say, “The power you call upon is the same power that corrupted the Empyreans, the same that turned them into ruthless galactic conquerors. The energy-source was named by them, ‘Oubliette Nebula.’ I speculate that it’s connected with the powers of old gods. That little imp… you didn’t get to see him, but Redline and I dealt with him. It was a forerunner for one of these dark ones.”
Gothschilde’s eyes narrowed.
“I have a piece of Black Angel in here.” Aurora tapped her own temple.
Gothschilde’s eyes opened wide and her eyes narrowed more. “Hah… Black Angel. She was a real bitch, wasn’t she?” she said. “Always looking down her nose at me and everyone else who use the void’s energy. That makes me want to kick your ass, actually. Just in case she’d feel it.” She crossed her arms.
“Hmph! Insolent little bitch!” Black Angel yelled, moving up behind Gothschilde. She swiped at her as if to swat her on the back of her head, but of course it did nothing.
“Okay. Enough fooling,” Gothschilde said. “We’re close.”
“By the way, Aurora, insolent is correct. But focus… there’s a presence here.” Gothschilde’s eyes turned upwards and she pointed somewhere above them in the ship. “Around there… it waits for us. It can sense your light. I’d wager that that’s pretty attractive to it.”
Aurora looked where she was pointing and after a moment, she gasped when she felt the presence. It was similar to Gothschilde’s darkness, but again somehow different. Perhaps she didn’t sense it because it wasn’t within direct perception.
Gothschilde tugged on Aurora’s hand with a frown. “Stop your dawdling.”
Aurora soberly nodded, swallowing.
Was this ship once a source of light instead of darkness? Aurora directed the question to Black Angel who paced along with them.
“Astute question,” Black Angel said. “Because this is one of our oldest ships, perhaps that’s the case, but---”
Black Angel’s form was somewhat ghostly as though she wasn’t really there. “If you let me share with you, I can give you the information you seek. I could tell you, but I won’t share because you won’t let me in.”
“No offense, Black Angel.” Aurora smiled, shooting it at the ephemeral villain. “Please share. I need everything I can gather. Don’t you sense it? This is our greatest trial. I want to defeat this thing. Don’t you?”
Gothschilde looked up at Aurora when she spoke aloud. She frowned.
Aurora fell to her knees as a barrage of pictures filled her mind.
The Empyrian race was graceful and beautiful. Wherever they went, they spread light and enlightenment.
Known not for their power and control over star energy, they were a beautiful and artful race, renowned for their technology and masterpieces. Their science was coupled with their quasi-mystical natures, powered by their ability to store and rechannel light like batteries and lenses.
A great city rose around Aurora with shining spires, powered by the people instead of burning fossil fuels, harnessing the power of wind or generating electricity by other means. During the day, they absorbed the energies of the suns and at night, which only lasted but for an hour’s length on Earth, they stored energy into their technology that powered their homes and great towers.
Aurora witnessed as their people gracefully walked along a broad street, not made for vehicles, since no Empyrean ever required them when they all had beautiful wings. The people walked and flew together as they mingled, laughing and smiling. What she was shown felt like a longing memory, a nostalgic subliminal desire for a time that no longer existed.
The scene shifted from this grand city to that of a ship, looking surprisingly like a 1950’s flying saucer ship. Aurora landed onto it and realized as she passed through its hull, it looked very similar to this very one she actually stood in. She walked its decks and saw the artistic sense of it far more than the ship around her, which was utilitarian as best. It was the same in terms of design sensibility at its base, but something changed in their hearts.
“This ship we find ourselves in could be the same I’m showing you,” Black Angel’s voice echoed in Aurora’s head like the strings of a harp through an empty canyon. “Or at least, a precursor to the one that belonged to dear old friends of mine before the new age.”
“The explorers who took this ship explored a fascinating and beautiful part of the galaxy… the Oubliette Nebula that I showed you. They didn’t return, after they reported that they would explore the universe. According to our accounts of the time, they found a way to go further than ever thought possible by using materials in the Oubliette.”
More visions of the ships flew through Aurora’s mind. Memories of brighter and more elegant ships than this.
Gothschilde prodded Aurora, who shook her head in response, blinking when the villain she asked, “Are you scared of this energy?” She arched an eyebrow at Aurora.
Aurora shook her head again when Black Angel spoke again, “The feeling of the darkness lying ahead is comforting, actually. It reminds me of when I first embraced darkness. It was frightening at first, but not after gaining some experience.”
Gothschilde straightened and pulled on Aurora’s hand. Ahead lay a tube that went upwards. The villain stepped inside and beckoned. “I’m going to use my powers to drive the machinery. It should be possible, given what I’ve heard from the shard.”
“Why would you want to drive the machinery?” Aurora asked, following. Is there any way to purify and use this shard?
“So we can go up a floor, idiot,” Gothschilde said. “You might be able to float up, but neither of us can.”
Black Angel shook her head. “It wouldn’t be possible to change the shard. That would contradict its nature.”
Then I’ll destroy it, after all. Aurora wryly said. That would give Gothschilde what she wanted if she made that decision.
“Let’s do this.”