Chương 13: The Outsider's story
"I am content to see you this way, Tsara'noga. Content in the most emotionless way possible and for the first time I am somewhat displeased by the fact, that I can't show emotions and enjoy this moment more. The moment of seeing my plans come to fruition."
The Outsider's unlogical form, twitches and turns, creating ripples throughout space-time and acting like a corkscrew to reality itself. But Hasyn is unimpressed as he has not only foreseen this event but did everything to bring it about.
"WhaT aRe yOu TAlkINg AbOuT, hAsYnn?? dId YoU cOmE TO ToRmeNT uS, HAsYN?!? LEaVE!! stOp tAlkInG tO hIm lIke ThaT, He MiGhT hAte Us NoW. hAhAhAhAhAh, whAt a StuPid ThOUgHt... hE Is sTRanGe..."
"Did you forget Tsara'noga ... your past, your origin. The reason why you are called, the Outsider?"
"WhAt?! whAt Do YOu KNow, HaSYN? WHaT Is ThaT WoRM tAlKinG AbOUt? pASt?? YoU MeAn... tHe TiME WheN WE WErE FRree aND FLowEd ThROugh ThE cOsmOs?? WhAt DOEs HE KnOW aBoUt THat?! HAhaHAha... ThIS IS SO sTUpiD. LeT'S KILL HiM!! NOOO!!!"
"So you don't remember? Aeons ago, before the first living creatures evolved and became the Old Ones, you and the rest of the C'tan flowed about the Universe, unlike the twisted predators you would later become. Despite not having bodies or physical forms, you knew about one another and some form of information exchange happened. I am not aware of everything, so you will have to excuse me, should I make false interpretations, as unlikely as that is.
Back then, when you were a fleeting formless energy construct, you were different from the rest of the C'tan. Your kin, as one might call them, weren't really your kin and you weren't really a C'tan. No matter what, you felt the others didn't appreciate you and maybe even rejected you. When the time came, that the others found a way to grow more powerful by consuming the energy of the stars, you were ... confused, weren't you? It was strange to you, to consume energy from the stars and eliminate them entirely. You liked the stars and their glow and found it sad what the others did.
When you tried to talk to your kin and connect to other C'tan, you were ignored as they were only interested in growing more powerful and consuming energy. That is where your name comes from, 'The Outsider' has nothing to do with you being alone and isolating yourself from the galaxy, it is what you see yourself as, what you have always seen yourself as."
Here's a cursed version of the final passage:
"nOnSenSE!! TsArA'nOgA wAs aLWayS oNE Of ThE moST EnGaGeD iN GrOwInG sTrONgEr aNd cOnSumInG ThE BeST tyPEs oF EneRGY ThROUGhouT OuR EXisTEncE... OnLy A FeW wErE As FEveRiSh As He WaS!! INdEEd, wHat YoU SpeaK oF Is UsElEsS aNd FalSE. BuT tHAt wAs To Be eXPectEd FrOm a SErVanT... oF OuRs..." the different personalities of the many C'tan inside the Outsider were arguing.
"On the contrary. The reason for Tsara'noga's feverish consumption of energy was more sepulchral. Faced with the fact that he was alone and ignored by his kin, Tsara'noga decided to join them and do as they did. You started to do the opposite of what you wanted instinctively. Your thirst was not really for energy, but for attention and that led to you doing what you did.
There was but one problem. You didn't have the right mindset for it. Your mentality and reasoning for consuming energy were wrong. Your will and mentality are weak right up to this day and that was what led to the present. Despite your efforts, you stayed the Outsider.
When the time came for you and the rest of the C'tan to inhabit Necrodermis bodies and become what you thought you were always meant to be our gods, you were there right in front. You wanted to be a part of it. However, something didn't sit right with you. You saw the plans you and your kin were presented with and realised the dangers of it all. You told everyone about it. And yet, no one heard your words.
Your doubts and fears were reasonable, it was after all a binding commitment, to inhabit physical bodies. But the consequences of this decision you mentioned were overshadowed by the Deceiver's flowery words of power and godhood. He promised the rest of the C'tan power and slaves to rule. He told them about the delicious taste of souls and how many more there were if they all just went through with it. No one cared about you, no one listened.
And once again, you realise that you did the wrong thing again. You went against the stream of things and thought about mistakes and problems when you should have been thinking about power and ruling. How truly ironic all of this is. You reprimanded yourself, I assume and after thinking about it and some painful words to yourself, you were one of the loudest supporters for this plan to inhabit Necrodermis bodies.
And now, when all is set and done, the C'tan don't even remember your concerns and words of caution. They only remember that you were one of the strongest supporters of their plan to take on Necrodermis bodies. That is the ignorance of the C'tan and shows just how little you meant to all of them. Your kin ignored you and you tried so desperately to change that by supporting their foolish and dangerous decisions."
Hasyn stops talking for a moment and silence settles on the area. The many different personalities of the C'tan, which the Outsider consumed are also silent for once. They are far too interested to hear what Hasyn has to say. None of them knew what he is talking about and while some of them believe it to be the wild speculations of an inferior being that betrayed them, who as they thought, were gods, they still listened.
Only one knew whether Hasyn's words were true or not. And only he revisited those memories he had long buried deep under hubris and ignorance. But they all resurfaced now, that Hasyn was digging deep. After a moment of silence, Hasyn resumed his tale.
"Over the millennia, you changed Tsara'noga. You consumed the souls of countless races and feasted on them to continue your rise in power. That was all that was on your mind, more power.
When the idea came to you, that it might be possible to grow even more powerful quicker, you didn't even think about it. It didn't matter that the ones you consumed were your kin. Those who you tried to protect and whom you actually wanted to grow closer to, to be accepted, were the ones you consumed to grow stronger. You became the thing you tried to prevent, just so the others would like you and accept you. And yet after you had consumed so many of your kin ... you understand just how you never were one of them.
It was never about the others, it was always you who did that to yourself. The Outsider is a name you gave yourself."
...
No one said anything and Hasyn could see that the Outsider was burdened.
"HoW Do YoU kNOw... aLL oF tHiS?" he asks after a long silence.
"Ah, you see, Nyadra'zatha spoke a lot of his time before you all approached the Necrontyr. I found a way to use a potent type of energy to have him enter a short period of energy-rush and have him talk about a lot of things. I pieced your story together myself though, through logical reasoning."
"WhY aRe YoU TELLinG Me thIS?? WhAt... dOeS iT MeAN tO YoU?!"
"I came here to end it all. To close the last chapter of this part in existence. You see, I was the one who brought about the end of you C'tan."
!!!
"WhAt Is tHiS wORm tAlKinG aBOuT?? PaThETiC AtTemPt tO FlAunT YoUR vICtorY... hAhA, WhAt A LuNaTIC..."
"Is that so? Who told you that it was better to consume other C'tan? How did you know that it was the best chance of growing more powerful in a short period of time? Was it the Aeldari trickster god Cegorach ...? No. It was not. It was me who spread that rumour based on calculations I did. I was the one to speak of it in the presence of the elite Aeldari assassins when they thought I didn't know they were there.
I knew that the Aeldari were looking for weaknesses during the War in Heaven. The Prakasri Dynasty was getting far too efficient and I was growing more influential and powerful. My logical thinking and tactical acumen were far too overpowered for the Aeldari to deal with. The Old Ones were falling under my blades and the Burning One saw me as a valuable tool and allowed me a lot of freedom. I created more technology and improved the ones we had causing our war effort to be basically over, at least against the Old Ones.
So when the Aledari sent their assassins, to spy on me and gain valuable information, I presented it to them. I spoke about the powerful and rich energy you C'tan had amassed and how it would be far more logical for you to consume each other than to slowly go from planet to planet for weak souls. I knew what would happen after I did that.
The Aeldari assassins travelled back to their Core Worlds and reported this information. Khaine hated that idea and didn't know what to do with it. But Cegorach ... he is not the trickster god for nothing. He created a plan and singled out one C'tan to perform this trick on. He knew that there was only one who would truly suit his needs. One C'tan, who had little self-esteem and was far too far gone to realise the trick until it was too late.
... You.
But why was it you, you might wonder? That was also my doing. When the Aeldari 'spied' on me, I dropped the hint that you would be the best choice to start as you were the one who had lost himself in his pursuit of power and was not thinking logically anymore."
"..."
"But that was only the first step of my scheme. You see, shortly after that, Mephet'ran, the Deceiver approached me and asked me to help him and join his side in his conquest for supremacy amongst the C'tan. He tried to tempt me to 'betray' Nyadra'zatha, the Burning One. It was the perfect opportunity for me to 'prove my loyalty'. So I told Nyadra'zatha about it. He was furious and after I told him about Mephet'ran's plan, he was hooked.
Mephet'ran was known as the deceiver and despite knowing that, he wasn't hated among you C'tan. His intelligence was viewed as his strength and he was respected for it. So Nyadra'zatha never once doubted me for a second and was ready to talk about how to win the internal war amongst the C'tan.
I provided Nyadra'zatha with a special weapon to help him fight and consume other C'tan. What he didn't know, however, was that the weapon didn't function how I told him it would and instead had another use. I used the lie to get rid of him and rule my Dynasty how I wished. I had to be ready for my own fight against the C'tan and used this chance perfectly.
And now, here we are ... the event you feared has transpired and you are the last 'living' C'tan. Alone and yet, living with the voices of the C'tan you always wanted to be close to."
...
Anger.
Anger was all the Outsider felt right now. His pathetic origin which he hated was used against him and twisted to such a degree, that others might laugh if they were aware of it.
*VVROO--BOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM--MMMMMM*
Tremendous power flowed out of the Outsider's form. His unlogical, ungeometrical form that seemed to transcend 3 dimensions, twisted and exerted its influence on reality itself and Hasyn who stood there. But Hasyn didn't move away or fight. On the contrary, this final chapter would be closed with a whisper and not a bang.
As soon as the boundless might showed itself, it was once again silenced.
---------
"WhA- whAt IS goINg ONNNN?! WhaT DiD YoU Dooooo?!"
"Did I not mention it? My apologies. You see the device I gave Nyadra'zatha which he thought was to fight and consume other C'tan, was in reality something else. It fused with his existence and was later on passed from one C'tan to another and finally ended up within you after you consumed him. The truth is, my little invention has the power to switch energies and their states.
Like right now, I am changing all the kinetic energy you hold within your mighty form and transforming it into potential energy and heat, rendering you immovable. This was never going to be a 'final battle'. You will cease to exist how you lived your entire life ... pathetically.
But don't worry, Tsara'noga ... I will remember you when I absorb all of your energy and wear you as an accessory."
With a flick, all of the Outsider's energy flowed out of him and into Hasyn. The sad story of the Outsider was over.
_______________________________
There you have it. I hope you enjoyed this rather different chapter. A flashback and a rather peculiar take on the life of a C'tan. I made all of it up btw.
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