The Goldfolds had an unfathomably heavy silence.
In a dominion ruled by the will of the Honored Living Golden Paradox, where golden seas of Paradox stretched out like a glorious commandnt, a single truth had always reigned- no Living Paradoxical Authority could be used unless by the Honored Living Golden Paradox himself.
That truth had been a pillar of control, of order and of certainty as this heavy ordeal occured.
And then... Noah disappeared!
The Paradox they wanted to completely devour...disappeared!
Before the eyes of tens of thousands of Foldless Ones.
Before the gazes of Honored Ones who ruled regions of existence with a flick of their will!
He vanished through a burst of silver light- an elegant unraveling of space and direction, the golden paradox sea collapsing around him as if its structure ant nothing.
The stillness that followed was not calm.
BOOM!
It didn’t erupt from any one place. It blood in every mind at once- the roaring, collective realization of sothing they could not yet na. The very air shimred as voices burst out like cracking glass.
"He vanished...!"
"That was another Authority...!"
The gold sea roiled violently, waves of thick light smashing against each other in erratic ripples. Beings who had lived for endless ages, who had studied the weavings of Living Authority with near-religious rigor, now stared at the impossible with eyes that refused to blink.
And then Honored Diviticus roared coldy.
"That was Living Dinsional Authority!" she bellowed, her white flas dancing wildly around her fra, the scorch of them making even nearby Honored Ones tense. "He can utilize Living Dinsional Authority!"
The words tore through the sea like lightning.
The Foldless Ones recoiled, so shaking their heads in disbelief, others muttering in shock.
No one questioned whether Noah was a Paradox. That had been proven long ago. They felt it. Diviticus also just ate a major part of him, so she knew it.
But a Paradox who could wield another Living Existential Authority?
How?
How could such a thing exist?
How could soone do what should be impossible?
Even Honored Gold, stalwart as ever, wore a face painted in grave realization.
"All Golden Paradoxes under my command," his voice bood out like a mountain’s heartbeat, "are to set off at once. Track them. Moiraine... and the Existential Anomaly."
That final word echoed with weight.
An anomaly.
Not a title. A declaration.
Because what else could he be?
The mont the command resounded...
BOOM!
The golden sea cracked.
It dried.
As if drained by so glorious hand, it folded into itself in great sheets, splitting like thin parchnt. The light dimd.
The pressure lifted. Then, every single Foldless One in this area- every single Living Paradox that was not an Honored One, froze.
No screams. No shouts. No movent.
\n(o)v.e\l
Stillness.
Their minds and weavings arrested mid-thought, held in a ti-woven stasis that spared no one.
And then, a throne descended from above!
It was composed entirely of Miniaturized Transcendent Wheels of Existence, each spinning with untraceable speed, each emitting a different song of Existence. It hovered in the air above the now-stilled sea, carried by nothing, owned by none!
Seated atop it was a man.
Tyrannical. Regal.
Majesty emanated from his skin, his posture, his breath. His black hair shimred with gold, his face smooth and unreadable, carved from restraint. Robes of black and deep crimson trimd with white light adorned him, and above his brow hovered a three-pointed crown etched in the shapes of folded infinities.
It was...
A Royal Living Paradox!
Not rely powerful. Revered.
He was flanked by five Honored Living Paradoxes robed in gold, the sigils of infinity blazing on their chests like brands of glory.
Behind them, a hundred Pri Living Paradoxes stood in silence, their white robes marked with smaller sigils, their halos dimd in deference.
All of them were still as Diviticus called out!
"Duke Elagabalus."
A simple call of respect that others also followed!
And the Paradox on the throne nodded as he moved.
His fingers lifted in the air, and a shimr passed through the frozen Foldless Ones like a brushstroke of dawn. In the eyes of each, a golden sheen flickered.
He saw everything.
A thousand lifetis of vision condensed into a mont.
Then, softly, he tapped the side of his crown.
"A Young Paradox that can use both Living Paradoxical and Living Dinsional Authority..."
His voice was low. asured.
"Mmm."
He turned his head, gaze falling to the Honored Living Golden Paradox.
"Gold," he said, "Continue as you were and use everything at your disposal. Find them."
A command given like a whisper from a throne. A whisper that moved mountains.
Honored Gold bowed low.
Then Elagabalus turned again. His eyes rested on Diviticus, whose white flas still flickered like the rage of creation incarnate.
"Honored Diviticus. Now a Paradox that does not produce Inevitabilities...your status is about to beco even higher than mine or the 81 Dukes of Paradox..."
HUUM!
The pause was heavy.
"Co," Elagabalus said. "Let us take you before the Kleos Living Paradoxical Council. With you by our side, those old things will not sit still any longer."
...!
He saw what occured through the eyes of the Living Paradoxes here.
He didn’t ask her about the drop of blood she had shown others here!
And Diviticus did not freely display it as she sheed to understand sothing.
So...
Diviticus bowed low, her mouth curved in sothing between triumph and quiet hunger.
With a lazy gesture of his hand, Elagabalus rose from his throne as it shimred, turning translucent, then gone. In an instant, he, his retinue of Honored and Pri Living Paradoxes, and Diviticus disappeared.
Silence returned.
And then...
The Foldless Ones blinked, unaware of their frozen state monts before.
The whispers returned. Confused. Shocked.
But then, another boom of authority echoed out.
The Honored Living Golden Paradox released a pulse of gold that shook the Skyspace once more, commanding silence.
"Oryzarakh," he called out, his voice like the tolling of a bell.
The glorious figure who had stood frozen beside Aetheron now stepped forward. The light on his face was grim.
He thought of Moiraine. The glorious Moiraine! But now...ah!
"There’s an anomaly to find," Honored Gold said. "Let’s begin where he ca from."
He turned slowly, the weight of his eyes heavy.
"Let us go to the Folds that Paradox stemd from."
...!
User Comments
0 comments from readers