[center][h3]Tribulation[/h3]
[sub]Part I[/sub][/center]

When the Shade left Galbar, it came to rest on a world where the continents were adrift upon the wind, soaring through raging skies and separated by seas of nothingness rather than water. The daylight condensed into golden clouds and the riddling djinn carried them and let the droplets of magic and rain fall juxtaposed. Legend said that one god slept and was the slow-beating heart within the ribcage that was the shattered world's core, but the inhabitants knew the terror of another master, one who lurked in the shadows and demanded sacrifice.

Zephyrion's bleeding aura was the mechanism that made it so. Though every eddy and crevice of Caelum was laden with his power, this lifeblood was not the wild and unstable sort that had once been his very quintessence. It did not bring the raw powers of creation or destruction to bear, and nor did it bring order to the strange world or through chaos make it stranger yet, but rather it acted as the force of sustenance and stability that held the unnatural world's laws in place and maintained things just as they were and had always been.

It was fortunate that such a state was what the ailing god willed, for in truth, he knew that he likely lacked the potency to reshape or change his prized world even if the fancy struck him. If the Caelites had truly understood the peril of their place, their prayers would haunt him. In a way, it was perhaps best that they lived in as close to an ignorant bliss as could be managed upon a world of turmoil and scarcity. But Zephyrion banished such thought from his mind; in the past, his hubris would have him cast aside philosophical musings and deemed them wholly fruitless in a world devoid of meaning, but now there was not even that defiance left to animate his existence. There was only silence and exhaustion overwhelming. The First Gale had long since died, and now there was nothing left that even resembled a storm.

[center][img]https://img00.deviantart.net/8b6e/i/2008/289/7/8/dark_being_made_from_light_by_fabreeze.jpg[/img]
[i]The writhing winds of his tempestuous body had collapsed into an immutable, pristine simulacrum of a body. His form was composed of light and darkness alike, adrift within the darkness of Caelum's hollowed core.[/i][/center]

From the darkness, there was a sudden genesis of motion accompanied by a familiar presence.

[color=gold][b]"You have returned."[/b][/color]

His child did not answer with words. Instead, a dark tendril reached from within the breast of the god's armor, down through the sleeves of the robe that rested on top, and twisted upwards before wrapping twice around the ornate helmet. With a snap, Xos tore off the mask. His visage erupted upward and spilled out from the now-gaping hole in his suit of armor. The rest of his body followed the head, pouring free like wine from an uncorked bottle.

Then as he was naked the silence shattered, as if the wine bottle finally fell from the table and left all its pieces bare upon the floor. [color=00FF7F]"When I went to Galbar, I found a part of myself that had been missing all this time. Just as I thought I might,"[/color] Xos breathed, each whisper echoing like thunder. Before Zephyrion's very eyes, Xos' inky mass began to undergo some metamorphosis. [color=00FF7F]"I found substance to back my convictions. I proved my strength. Now, perhaps your own powers will not taunt me so."[/color]

[color=gold][b]"Taunt you? I raised you as I would any offspring. I tried to imbue you with wisdom, but could never find purchase enough to weather and overcome your defiance; at least I did show you your birthright and how to wield your powers, if nothing else. And now it has been many decades since your powers have overshadowed my own, and still you find cause for jealousy?"[/b][/color]

[color=00FF7F]"Hmph. You are a better brother than I,"[/color] he confessed even as the aberrant shaping continued. [color=00FF7F]"But though I have come to think you weak, you have always had [i]one[/i] power that was denied to me--the ability to control your body. How am I to be a god that works to promote [i]change[/i] if I cannot even change myself? Existence itself is an [i]insult[/i] and a mockery to all of my sensibilities when I alone am denied the prerogative that every other divine being so effortlessly achieves; I am entombed within this crude, decaying shell! I [b]loathe[/b] it! How could I not have envied you and all the others?"[/color]

Zephyrion was silenced by Xos' unusual openness, so the shade continued, [color=00FF7F]"...but I was wrong. I meditated as I traveled here, and I finally divined my purpose and my true calling in this world. And with that knowledge, I've become a force too great and too beautiful to stop; a fiery flower blossom that blooms from the filth and rises above it."[/color]

The transformation was complete, and before Zephyrion was an entirely corporeal, hulking body blacker than the darkest of nights, but still more corporeal than mere smoke and shadow. The shade, if he could still be called that, exhaled in relief at the end, but he was still far from finished. Zephyrion could tell that this shape was not entirely what had been intended, and the discrepancy between vision and reality infuriated Xos now, just as it always did. But Xos always was good at wearing masks when the occasion called for it. Xos recalled his momentarily discarded armor. It rocketed through the darkness of the void to return to its only wearer, and with a touch it twisted and grew to take on an entirely new appearance. 

[center][img]https://orig00.deviantart.net/eac2/f/2012/085/2/3/profile_picture_by_god_shadow_child23-d4typw5.jpg[/img]
[i]It wrapped perfectly about his new frame.[/i][/center]

[color=00FF7F]"There is nothing more that you can teach me, no power that you can wield over me in your decrepit state, no way to prolong your destiny and no more excuses to face your fate in following my shadow. So come now. I [i]will[/i] have my brother by my side when I return to Galbar, that there may be another to witness its restoration."[/color]

[color=gold][b]"If for all your professed love you shall not spare my self-determination, then at least offer mercy to my creations here. You know that if I were to leave, their world would crumble and they would be extinguished in a few moments. Xos, Xaas, Zo: regardless of whatever names they call you, they have given you no grievances and they have come to worship you as their lone god. So answer their prayers this once and grant them mercy from the ruinous powers that obey your whims."[/b][/color]

[color=00FF7F]"..."[/color] he hesitated.

[color=gold][b]"Zyus."[/b][/color]

[color=00FF7F]"You know that I cannot stay the claws of chaos and entropy forever. Their time will come and they will all die; all things succumb to chaos, except chaos itself. I won't even be able to spare you in the end, and perhaps my devouring powers will eventually turn upon themselves. Then, not even I would remain. Am I the cruel one, [i]brother?[/i] You would only delay their end."[/color]

As he waited for an answer, the emptiness of Zyus' eyes bored into Zephyrion, but the golden god met the cold gaze. He looked into Zyus' eyes as no other would or perhaps even could, and within the voids he thought he saw the tiniest flicker of light.

[color=00FF7F]"I shall grant you this."[/color]

The embodiment of decay snapped a finger and defied physics. The proverbial blankets of destruction that had come to weave themselves above and below Caelum all came unbound, and order would reign supreme for another hundred years. 

[color=gold][b]"With such powers at your command, you could just as easily take the other side. You could be the floodgate that holds back the tides of darkness. Surely the other gods saw this potential in you! What did they say when you went to Galbar and saw them?"[/b][/color]

[color=00FF7F]"Their mouths offered me little save spittle and slights. But their eyes betrayed their fear. They know that I see them for the worms that they are, and that I will soon be rid of them. They would all die eventually, but I shall grant them mercy by ending their hubris prematurely, and once I stand alone atop the ashes, I shall meditate and perhaps find some peace in my newfound omnipotence. And then perhaps my burden and my torment can finally end."[/color]

He breathed. [color=00FF7F]"Hmph. Now, we go."[/color]

[hr]

[color=00FF7F]"Surprisingly little had changed in the time since they drove you out. The very reality of Chronos was warped; it is hard to say how much time has passed upon this plane during your thousands of years of imprisonment, but surely no more than two hundred cycles. Your pet Akthanos is dead, as is Ventus, but their direct successors still live. I shall show you."[/color]

They drifted through the world as a shadow and an equally invisible breath of wind. Zephyrion was quiet as he witnessed the djinn; he felt as though they had somehow changed. Eventually they came to the Celestial Citadel, or what little still remained of it. If mere wind could weep, it would have in that moment. [color=gold][b]"I see the irony now. I called myself supreme; I declared myself lord of change and altered the world below and the works of others at a mere whim, thinking it my mandate. But I had always hoped that this place could stay unchanged and unsullied. You've ruined and broken it. There's nothing here but emptiness, and...Ventus..."[/b][/color]

Zyus was utterly cold. [color=00FF7F]"Ventus was nearly a god. When I came to this place, I found that he had tapped into this place's power and siphoned [i]our[/i] energy away. Do you think me blind to the loathing and hatred and blame that dwells even in your eyes? Cast it at me no longer; [i]he[/i] was the cause for your decline. [i]He[/i] stole our power, so I punished him."[/color]

[color=00FF7F]"Hmph. And when you open your eyes, and look outwards to see all that is ill with the world,"[/color] he began to preach, [color=00FF7F]"know that it is the fault of the vile Jvan. That you or any other could ever think of her as more than an abomination is beyond me; she has tampered with the djinn, culled their ranks, twisted the natural way of things that you designed, and ultimately forced my hand. She spits upon your name and scorns mine; my only regret is that my first attempt to slay her was stymied. But that only means that I shall have even longer to enjoy the task of ripping her asunder! Even now, I have set in motion what loyal djinn remain, and they will undo her corruption."[/color]

He collected himself and let the acid drip free from his tone. [color=00FF7F]"I have appointed a new Vizier. He is a certain djinni called Murmur, one that you doubtless remember. In him, I think I saw a kindred soul. He yearns for silence just as I do, but he is tortured by how he must always be loud. It is only through our own wills that we are set into motion; he has his pain to drive him onward, just as I have mine."[/color]

As if on queue, the air began to hum and Vizier Murmur made his way to the crumbling chamber that they occupied. Zephyrion sensed a moment of trepidation and recognition in the djinni lord, but then Murmur's aura focussed its attention upon the presence that truly dominated the room. The room reverberated with his voice, [color=Khaki]"My lord, it is well that you have returned now. Your plans have been set into motion."[/color]

[color=00FF7F]"Hmph."[/color] Zyus looked to Zephyrion. [color=00FF7F]"I'll be back."[/color]


[hider=Summary]
-An introduction gives some exposition on Caelum. Wiki article potentially coming soon, if I can discern a desire for it.
-The reason for Zephyrion's reluctance to leave Caelum is finally given: the entire planet is unstable and without his presence, it will begin to collapse inward and spiral into an inevitable oblivion
-Xos shows up. He's much more powerful, takes on a new look, and vaguely says that he has had cause to reflect upon his convictions and realize exactly what he wants to do.
-He goes on and eventually confronts Zephyrion about how he'd promised to come back to Galbar on his own volition but has put it off for way too long.
-Zephyion pleads for the Caelites and is able to convince Xos to at least help stabilize the planet (-1 MP) so that it will have some time before it implodes when they leave. As this happens, Zephyrion asks Xos what happened when he went to Galbar to meet the other gods in person for the first time.
-Xos says that he thinks that they're all worms and that he intends to be rid of them. Literally all of them. That way they won't be able to interfere with his plans and he'll finally be truly omnipotent and free. Zephyrion is reluctant to press him for further detail, but it comes out that Xos clashed with several gods.
-With Caelum stabilized, Zephyrion has no more excuses, and Zyus (turns out that's the name that Zephyrion gave to him, yo!) drags him back to Galbar. They lay low for the most part.
-Zephyrion is deeply saddened at the shattered state of the Celestial Citadel and Ventus' death. Xos blames Jvan for almost everything. He wants to take Zephyrion down to the Changing Plains for some reason, but then Murmur comes to tell him something and Xos says "brb".
-This whole post hopefully makes Xos a bit less shallow. Throughout, he talks about the feelings going on in his head and gives some justification (however poor) about why he feels the need to scour creation and kill other gods.
[/hider]