The Past Ahead - an Empires SMP AU

Chapter 12 - Secret existence

           Xornoth was winning when it had happened. He had Scott trapped in a ring of corruption and fire; he couldn't escape. The spell was ready to seal him away in a crystal so he could watch, helpless, as his demon brother tortured and killed his friends in front of him. Not that the other emperors weren't probably dying already. The explosion that had freed Xornoth was powerful enough to wipe out whole empires. Served them right for trying to fight him. 

           It was kind of ironic, really, when one thought about it. If those too-stubborn-to-die emperors hadn't sealed him away in a crystal in an attempt to save their empires, they wouldn't have been in a position to destroy the world with the explosion. And then the explosion destroyed their empires anyway. Xornoth didn't care. He thought it was amusing and humorous, yes, but he didn't really care about it then. Not when he was winning and finally getting his revenge on his accursed brother. 

           And then came the pain. Pain, like he had never felt before. Pain, that it almost hurt to not scream in agony. Pain, like his soul was being torn forcibly from his body. Was it Scott? With that cursed Rune Blade? He glanced at his brother. No, he hadn't used the sword. Whatever was happening, it wasn't because of him. 

           And then they were both teleported to somewhere new, along with the other eleven emperors. They were in a room that he didn't recognize, which was surprising, because Xornoth was sure that he was familiar enough with the other empires to know who's room was whose. And then he saw the other thirteen people, crowded into the same room as they.

           They looked just like the emperors he fought and detested, other than a blonde lady wearing a steampunk uniform and a bard with a lute. Xornoth was almost frightened there for a moment. Maybe it was found out that he had escaped and someone, probably that annoying Crystal Cliffs wizard, had cast a spell that brought these new beings to defeat him. That was an irrational assumption that his dazed mind had created from sheer fear, a feeling he wasn't used to. 

           And then he realized no one was looking at him. No one noticed him. He realized why when someone had passed right through his body. He looked at his hands, now made of a swirling, dark ectoplasm. He had no physical form. He was like a ghost in a way, although obviously not dead, because he could see his soulbound brother standing there alive and well. Looking around his surroundings more, Xornoth realized that he was on the spectral plane. 

           He was well familiar with the dimension that was half-aligned with the world they all resided in, considering he had been there a lot before Lord Sausage of Mythland and emperor Joey of the Lost Empire had slain the dragon and let him bring himself fully to that world. Although last time he had been there, he had a physical form, and was able to clip a few seconds to minutes at a time into the physical world to interact with the emperors. Now, no matter how he had tried, he couldn't bring himself to leave. 

          All of his questions were soon given answers as he watched the emperors around him fight and then discuss what had happened. So the incompetent wizard had panicked and sent them all a thousand years into the future. Xornoth floated over to her as the Wizard Gem showed Sausage of Sanctuary the spell she had used. He read over the mage's shoulder, understanding the spell.

           What a simple mistake. Gem had asked the spell to find her friends and bring them somewhere safe, without even clarifying when or where. The magic had searched for the souls of her fellow emperors to bring them somewhere safe, and since Xornoth's soul was linked to Scott's, the magic had brought him along as well, although without his body because of nuances. 

           Xornoth soon started planning how he could use his shapeless form to his advantage, and how he could corrupt and take over these new lands. The first advantage he found was that he could easily spy on the emperors without them knowing he was there. He spent the week keeping tabs on the emperors and studying their habits and eavesdropping on conversations.