A Brief Moment of Insanity Ch. 08

"8..." The majority keep going as a few fall silent at the growing intensity of the phenomenon.

The police begin to usher people back away from the electrical discharge. The halo becomes a full-fledged sphere of ionized plasma.

"7..." The voices ring out, unaware of the impending event and its implication.

A hint of panic begins to fill the closest onlookers as the sphere grows to approximately seven feet in diameter.

"6..."The newscasters are now commenting on the strange light and the world watches as it unfolds.

The cameras move away from the ball drop to the sphere of electrical energy glowing brighter by the second.

"5..." The crowd's voice begins to falter as the screens facing Times Square show the sphere and its ever growing intensity.

The countdown ends as the crowd in New York and around the world watch in an almost hypnotic curiosity. What is this sphere and where did it come from? Four seconds later the ball drops, the fireworks are ignited and the sphere fades from existence revealing a tall hooded figure carrying what appears to be a black metal lantern shedding a deep emerald light. It was remarked by the pagans and other spiritually enlightened folk that the man looked exactly like the Hermit card from the famed Rider Tarot deck. Or for those less spiritual, it was the dude from the inside cover of Led Zeppelin IV.

Louis looked around at the thousands of people that had fallen absolutely silent at his miraculous appearance. In his head he heard the laughter of the demon god Yog Sothoh. Very fucking funny he though until a single male voice spoke from the throng.

"Dude... it's like Gandalf was a Green Lantern," he said and the crowd erupted in shouts, questions and threatened to swarm the solitary figure. Louis absently stroked the long white beard he was now sporting as if it had always been a part of his identity.

"Fuck this shit," Louis said as the police tried to manage the mob.

The cameras showed the disappearance live on television screens worldwide. The loud popping sound that accompanied the teleportation was barely audible over the screams and shouts of the New York crowd. The heads of every major news corporation went bat shit crazy minutes later. Physicists and even the Amazing Randy watched the footage over and over again looking for the illusion, the trick and found nothing. The multiple camera angles and the lack of smoke or flash that accompanied the vanishing defied logic, science and made Randy one million dollars poorer. He had to admit, it was the real fucking thing.

No one was able to claim the reward Randy was offering. Some tried to pass themselves off as the Hermit but they failed to reproduce the teleportation effect. Neil deGrasse Tyson even went on air offering a spot on his show Star Talk to the Hermit if he could explain what the hell happened. Social media exploded with memes and videos replaying the events of that unforgettable New Year's Eve.

Louis stood in the wilderness. He looked up at the afternoon sun from his position in the dreaded valley. The valley where the Black Dome resided and this entire butt fuckery had all began. He had reverted back to his normal appearance. He sat around the fire pit where his companions had once sat and tossed stones.

"Some people still believe if you throw stones it keeps the devil away," Nyarlathotep said appearing next to Louis.

"Didn't keep you away," Louis replied. "Why the fuck did he do it?"

"By he, I assume you mean Yog Sothoth," the Black Pharoah said and Louis nodded. "He is not a he or a she or even an It. Yog Sothoth is beyond such temporal measures as am I. Louis so are you. You still play at being a human male when the truth is so much more. You can assume any shape your mind can conceive of. You are not limited by animate or inanimate forms. You could be pure energy or even a thought itself. Why do you haunt yourself with these trifling limitations?"

"I was born human," Louis said his voice hollow and empty as the desert beyond. "I love a human woman with all my heart."

"Which one," Nyarlathotep asked. "You've fucked so many and killed quite a few as well. I'm not judging. I have had partners both male, female and ones your biology couldn't easily classify." That brought out a smile on the old man's face. "I have killed entire worlds for the sport of it. I walk timeless down avenues of existence few can perceive and even fewer can perambulate without perishing instantly. You could in time be worthy of much greater roles if you chose."

"Are you offering me a promotion," Louis asked raising an eyebrow.

"In a matter of speaking yes, we want you to be our ambassador with the Thanatons. When they wake up and they will we want you to negotiate for a non-hostility pact."

"Oh my god," Louis said his eyes widening in shock. "You are afraid of them aren't you? Whoa, I never thought..."

"SILENCE," the black pharaoh roared. "How dare you speak to me of fear? I am the destroyer of worlds! I am the slayer of gods! I am..."

"Afraid... why do you want a non-hostility pact unless you had something to lose..."Louis said smiling now at the Great Old Ones discomfort. "You can't stop them. Hell I think you can't even fight them. Sorry Pharaoh but I and my friends are going to study this energy and find a way of using it against them. It may be the one thing that saves the day."

"Nemesis is coming," Nyarlathotep said. "When it comes the world changes and nothing will stop them or us from taking back the mantle we once held on this world."

"What the hell is Nemesis?" Louis asked and the demon god smiled and told him.

Epilogue:

Warren felt the last of mana flow into him. The old man that had once been the Arch Mage lay prone on the floor panting and heaving as the last of his great strength was given up to the other. Warren bent down and touched him. He restored him to full health and then sent him to the one place in all creation he wanted to be, home. Warren stared out of the Glittering Abyss, a higher plane of existence that was the origin of art, music and magic. It was here that sentience first sprung from aeons past. It was here that mathematics and sorcery were born and kindled in the first Technomages a desire to learn and explore. It was here that the first Arch Mage was brought into being.

The Shimmering Tesseract allowed him to peer into potential futures and see what would likely manifest as mankind's destiny. It was either very bleak or a shining hope for countless generations unborn. It was here that he saw the true chess board and all of its players and pieces. He had once more changed sides and taken up the mantle of the White King. It was his duty to stop the Thanatons. It was his fate to guide humanity to its destined greatness. It was his choice to become the most manipulative and self-loathing son of a bitch on the planet.

"If I knew what was coming I never would have accepted this," he said to no one. "I am about to make every mass murderer the world has ever spawned look like a fucking amateur. But if I don't, no one survives what is about to happen. Please forgive me for what I must do. I have no other choice..."