I smiled, as Shadow left. I laughed. I was ecstatic. I dance about for a good few minutes before getting a hold of myself, still laughing.
After all this time, it’s finally coming together. Perhaps I should mark this down in my notes and memoirs. I’ve got to finish organizing my thoughts. At such a pivotal point in the history of Darkness, I really should include a short recap for those reading my memoirs, so they are prepared for what comes next.
I went over to my office, and my desk, where I had left my memoir book open to the most recent page: the day I met Shadow. I read aloud what I’d already written.
“The day I met Shadow was one of elation, and confusion, and awe, and of revelations. I remember that the most powerful thought in my mind, the one that dominated me for many days afterwards, was actually quite simple. ‘I believe in Shadow’. I was then, and still am, loyal to Shadow, and I knew I would follow her into a new age.”
“I had supported Shadow since I first read her school files, and I suspect that my greatest opponent, Fitzdonald, who I have mentioned previously, made his decision to oppose her based on those same files. The files themselves, records and transcripts, would not show much to the average reader, let alone anything to be concerned about. For if nothing else, Shadow was excellent at disguising her trail when she needed to. She has long since stopped caring for she know that none can stop her, but she did care then. Yet in those pages, and in the pages of other students, there was a faint pattern to the discerning eye.”
“Shadow’s personal files indicated a student of exemplary skill and knowledge, who managed to avoid any serious conflicts, and in all respects appeared to be a very well-adjusted student, one with many friends and few enemies. The other students, in their files could be seen the truth. When someone spoke out against Shadow, attempted to confront her, or defy her, all kinds of public spectacles that would be recorded, they were dealt with. Some dropped out a few weeks later. Some died in ‘careless accidents’. Others suddenly found themselves with no desire to confront her and apologized, publicly recanting their ways and praising her. Some students reported thefts only to later deny they had ever owned the items they had lost.”
“All of this can be linked to Shadow. While she was still in school, still in the Academy of Magic, she was weaving a web of deceit and destruction. By that fateful day when I first saw her, I’d already read in great detail about her malignance, her evil ways, her cunning manipulation, and her steady rise. But while Fitzdonald let honor blind him to her value, my ambition far outweighed my fears of her callousness. Here was not just someone who could destroy Nyx, here was someone who could lead us to a glorious new age. Here was a girl who could make us, make me… great.”
“And so I arranged for a meeting. Shadow had, a few days prior, had an argument with the Council. She wanted access to the Academy of War, and Fitzdonald was loathe to let her, even then fearing what she might become. So I sent a letter to her, inviting her to come to my house where we could discuss why she wanted to join it. I said in the letter that if I was satisfied with her reasoning, I would actively campaign to get her into it.”
“I had my suspicions, of course. I’d done my research and I knew there was a chance that if I let her into my home, if I let my guard down, something could happen to me. Whatever she’d done to the people at the Academy of Magic, she could just as easily do to me, bending my will to make me support her… but I already did support her. For all I know, something did happen that day, though I noticed nothing. Shadow’s clever like that, always weaving her web without letting you know… so much smarter than Fitzdonald has always assumed. If I had to give her a title, I might choose Lord of Lies. But titles are, for now, beside the point.”
“The point is that I let her in. I let her do whatever she might have done, and I accepted that everything might be different. I let her because I knew then already that Shadow was, and is, the next step for us. The next step for me. Shadow is the future. I knew then, just as I know now, that Shadow is the Dark Messiah. She is the prophet who will lead us out of the jungle and into a new age. She is a goddess.”
“With hope I said it then, and with the strength of conviction I say it now for all to read. Shadow will rise. She will rise high, higher than anyone, and when she does she will usher in a new age, a golden new age for Darkness! It will be an age of power. An age of control. An age where our enemies are slaughtered freely, and they fear us for they at last understand that we are the rightful rulers of all worlds.”
“Under Shadow, the elements will bow to Darkness and all will worship her as their goddess. And I will be at her side, her loyal servant, her faithful supporter. I will serve in her stead, and perhaps I shall rule Nyx, while she rules from on high. After all, she’s going to be a goddess… not a politician. Somebody will have to rule those worlds.”
I smiled at my words. They displayed perhaps a touch too much ambition, but it was important for my memoirs to have emotional depth to them, to show the real me. I contemplated for a moment on the title I’d given her.
The Dark Messiah.
It rang true. She was something unlike any other elemental, and if I had not seen her school records I would not have believed that she even was an elemental. She seemed like a pure incarnation of Darkness that had given itself mortal form to guide us on a new path.
I would stand by her, because I knew that she would rise.
The Dark Messiah cometh, and all worlds shall tremble.