The Primordial Record

Seed had finally grown impatient with the chase. With a surge of power that flattened everyone here to the ground and sent powerful reverberations throughout the Land of Miracle, the movements of the slippery figure slowed down, and he fell into Seed's grasp, who gripped him by the neck.

All around Seed, the Old Ones who had been flattened on the ground struggled to stand, but their efforts were useless, and Seed paid them no mind. His focus was on the unknown man he held. He knew this was not Romion but someone else, perhaps his accomplice.

With a voice that held barely controlled fury, Seed growled, "I am not having the best of days, so I am going to ask you only once. Who are you? Be very careful of the answer you give me, for I have no more patience in my heart for fools."

Despite being held underneath a crushing grip, the man in his grasp smiled widely as his eyes caught aflame with a white Celestial fire. The voice that emerged from him came out of the air, and his mouth did not move, only holding a weird smile that showed all his teeth like a crocodile.

"It's been a few minor Era and you already forgotten me? Seed, you used to be more introspective than this, but I can't blame you when you are surrounded by such weakness. The Light does not reach this place; how else would anything worthwhile be nurtured?"

Seed frowned as he listened to these words, his eyes peering into the Celestial flames blazing from the eyes of the man, and then he growled, disgust flashing across his eyes.

"Adjudicator! How much of what happened here was by your Will?"

The smile on the man's face vanished. Although he expected Seed to know who he was, he did not expect him to figure it out so quickly. Seed always had an air of brash arrogance around him, and it was easy to dismiss the cold intellect behind all that bravado.

"Ah, you flatter me, old chap, nothing that happens here is of my Will." the Adjudicator practically crooned, his tone changing from amusement to endearment, almost prompting Seed to crush his neck, perhaps seeing the intention in Seed eyes, the Adjudicator adjusted his tone, "I was here to ask you the same question, you see, the Celestial Court does not look on favorably when you send storms into our domain, and I was here to ask you to… stop. I mean, this does not look good, you guys are breaking the agreement."

Seed looked at the Adjudicator for a moment before he released him and looked up at the heavens, where the immortal eyes were slowly vanishing, but the storm did not abate. He grasped the air and seized a passing lightning bolt as he observed it with a piercing gaze.

There was great energy within this lightning bolt, and as Seed squeezed it, a sizable amount of the energy flowed into his body. His eyes squinted in confusion when he noticed that it could fill up a large portion of his energy stores. There seemed to be more to this energy that needed to be investigated.

How much power would have been released from this storm if he had gained so much energy from an errant lightning bolt? If he added the fact that this storm was brewing all over existence, then a chill flashed across his spine.

Seed noticed that the Old Ones he had pinned to the ground were beginning to stir; the signs were subtle, but he could see they were being granted strength from the storm!

A normal immortal would not have noticed this change quickly enough to take advantage of it. Still, even though they were all weak trash in the eyes of Seed, they were undoubtedly Old Ones whose grasp of energy manipulations was second to none.

'This could be troubling,' Seed thought, 'Turns out my previous speculations were still incorrect, I don't know what is happening.'

Seed paused in shock and remained that way for a while, unknown flashes of emotions brushing past his face now and then.

The Adjudicator, rubbing his neck, which was filled with bruises that would not heal, walked up to Seed and stood beside him in a sort of companionable silence until Seed broke it.

"This storm is not of my making," he said, "You should understand that my domain does not extend to this level, and I house no Intent at this time, not since the end of the Primordial Era, so this is not the Will of Primordial Life either."

The Adjudicator looked around. "Perhaps it is not, but this storm did originate from here, and from the wave of battle that reached me from this area, I can see that you know more than most about its origin. So what do you say, old chap? Tell me what's happening before you know, those stubborn boys in white come down here to burn the Tree of Life. We both know it won't go well for them or you guys, but a statement needs to be made, and there is no better messenger than fire and blood."

Seed regarded this man for a brief moment, and then he smiled; his flustered mind, caused by Rowan's unexpected actions, had settled, and he was back to the person he was. The long and endless drudgery that followed after the great war ended had drained his fierceness, but everything that had happened was like a hammer blow to his consciousness, and Seed had truly woken up.

Hunger flashed in his eyes, and Seed licked his lips, "Adjudicator, do you remember my favourite activity when we last met?"

The Adjudicator grimaced, a light of anger flashing through his fiery eyes, but he suppressed it and did not let any of that emotion bleed through to his voice. "Times have changed, and the City of Light would no longer stand by for such activities. You are forgetting the position of your domain Seed; it is no longer favorable for your damned excesses."

Seed's eyes flashed with a weird look. "Oh, something tells me they will stand by even if I do more than I once did. After all, for what is coming for us all, you will need my power."