by Jas T. Ward
“Hello Keeper.”
Again with that word...that caused Reno to squirm and wrap his arms around himself. It made him feel stupid to be called something that apparently he was supposed to know, but he had no idea what it was. And Reno hated being stupid as much as he hated being stared at.
Looking upward again, he pointed a finger upwards. “Nice place. Really pretty.”
The old man laughed softly and came to stand next to him, looking upward as well. “It is. Very pretty.”
Omega looked sideways at Reno and was struck by how so much dark power could lurk under the surface of a man who seemed almost childlike, with insecurities to match. Add to that a wonderment that was truly sincere and Omega was completely drawn to how all of this would play out.
It was a new day in the war, and the man standing next to him had no idea how very much a key to its outcome he was. The whole final battle could very well depend on Reno.
“So, Yin tells me you want to know what you are and how you are, correct?”
Reno looked over and nodded to the nice old dude. “Yeah. She and you keep calling me Keeper. I uh, well,” turned to face the old man and shrugged, “I have no idea what that means.”
Omega smiled and three plush chairs in white satin appeared in a circle behind them. Motioning for Reno to have a seat, he followed and sat down across from Reno as Yin perched on the top of another chair, the goddess still bouncing with excitement of her find. Thrilled with what she seemed to think was her newest trinket.
Omega had never seen her so influenced by the good side of her purpose before and it was a comedic delight to view.
“Let me tell you a story, Reno. Do you like stories?”
Reno gave a smile, but sadness flooded the startling blue of his eyes. “Yeah. I do. I used to tell them to Rugrat. She loves to hear a story before bed. I was never really good at it, so she ended up doing all the telling and I would end up listening.”
He looked away then as if the memory was too painful, drawing up a leg to wrap his arms around it as if to hug away the pain and not used to having others to do it for him.
Omega found that very sad and said softly, “Once there was a man who was driven by love. So strong a love that when he lost it to tragedy, he was then driven by hate and revenge.” Reno turned his head to listen and Yin even hopped down to sit properly in her chair as the Omega spoke. “That man wanted all of Heaven and Hell to pay for his loss by hurting something both realms needed and loved. Mankind.
In the beginning mankind was all things good and none of the things we think of as bad. A pure and perfect light that fed the Source of creation constantly with its warmth and it was kept that way by making sure the darkness stayed locked away. .
One day, that man found where the dark powers were held. In a place between Heaven and Hell called the Void, which was suspended below the realm of man.. The Void is endless as it has no end and no beginning. It’s empty of anything material or immaterial. It simply is a space of nothingness.”
Reno frowned as his eyes drifted right and left to think before asking. “So just a big empty place? Why?”
Omega smiled. “It had to be empty so that the powers contained there would have nothing to feed on and nothing to assist or release them. The dark powers were held there before even man had been created. Powers like Greed, Lust, Murder, Envy and Madness. Kept there because there cannot be light without dark, as my dear child Yin could tell you. Balance must always exist. So they were held prisoner there in their dark energy form so they could not overtake the Light. But the Dark must be allowed to exist for it is needed for balance. Understand?”
Reno sat forward as he let his foot hit the floor and drape his hands off his knees and nodded. “Right. Like the dark and light of the Grid. One is bad and one is good. But you have to have both, right?”
Omega smiled once more with a nod. “It is the law of all creation. Light and Dark must exist or creation will teeter and fail. It is the most basic of all our laws.”
Yin stood and walked over to stand behind Reno’s chair. “It’s my purpose, too. To make sure that both are given and taken. To maintain the balance.”
She leaned down to whisper in his ear, once again wrapping her arms around his chest, nipping his neck with her fangs. “But dark is more fun.”
She gave him a wink before she sat on the arm of his chair and making lazy circles on his arm with her fingers, goose bumps forming under the warmth of her touch against his cold skin.
Omega gave a slight eye roll at the goddess’s words. “You know that I am not deaf, child?”
Yin giggled and nodded. “Yes father. I know.”
Reno looked between the two of them with confusion on his features. “Father?”
Omega waved a hand around them to dismiss it and did that warm smile. “It’s an endearment. Now where were we?”
“Uh. You were saying about balance and stuff. And dark powers in a void place.” Reno did a revamp as he watched Yin stand up only to go and sit cross-legged by the old man’s feet on the floor. It was kind of dizzy as she seemed to go from scary to fun in the blink of an eye, total opposite of the other and rather confusing.
Omega inclined his head towards Reno. “Oh yes. Thank you, Reno. So, as I was telling. These dark powers had been sealed up for centuries since the infancy of mankind. Allowed to exist, but not allowed to grow too strong. Because dark will always hunger to devour the light for that is part of its purpose. Now remember that man I had started to tell you about?”
Both Yin and Reno nodded, getting caught up in the story as it was being told like children on story day. Omega continued as he placed a hand on the top of Yin’s head which caused her to purr.
“Well, that man found a way, unknown to all, to get to the powers for he wanted revenge for losing the one he loved. So he released a dark power on mankind.”
Yin sighed. “It was horrible. The Source was tainted dark very quickly as mankind became infected by a darkness it had not evolved enough to fight against.” She looked up at Omega for interrupting. “Sorry. But it was bad.”
Omega smiled as he brushed his fingers through her hair. “Yes it was. But due to that, Heaven which controlled light, and Hell which controlled dark, was forced to work together. Neither side knew who was responsible at that point, only that somehow the dark power had escaped and that mankind was on the brink of destruction.
So, Heaven and Hell formed a treaty to handle the sparks of souls set free by death from the influx of dark.. Hell could have any soul as long as Heaven was allowed to judge them first. If found worthy, and their light not totally poisoned by the dark that now was infecting like a plague, they were allowed into Heaven and placed back into the light of the Source. The Source powers all creation, life and birth. In turn, Hell could have the souls left over found too dark and keep them contained in Hell. This was the way for many centuries.
But, the treaty was not formed to address the impending doom on the horizon of the humans who still struggled against the darkness overtaking it in time. Mankind itself was helping the power to become stronger as it evolved. As mankind’s hunger for greed and sin grew stronger, so did the dark powers.
So Heaven and Hell decided that they needed a new being to capture and maintain each dark power. To ensure it was fed as it should be for balance, but not fed well enough for it to become too powerful and overtake the light. Balance.”
Yin smiled and pointed to Reno. “A Keeper. You.”
Chapter Forty-Two
Zombie
Reno frowned. “Wait. I think all of this is just making me confused. So these keeper dudes were like lion keepers at the zoo? Feed the big cats lots of steak but don’t let them eat the tourists? And how can I be a new being? I’m really not a being at all.” He pointed a finger to his chest. “This was kinda borrowed and I’m not that old. I’m only four.”
Omega laughed so hard and rich that he placed a hand on his stomach. “Oh you are so entertaining, Reno. B
ut also correct, as far as the zookeeper analogy goes. I will be using that I am sure. But you are actually older than four, as you existed inside of a host for over one hundred and fifty years. Before you were in your current body that was not borrowed, but stolen.”
Omega looked down disapprovingly at Yin, causing her to wince and whisper, “Oops. Sorry.”
Reno wanted to ask what all that meant, but Omega continued. “So still not knowing who was responsible for the powers being released, along with the creation of the Eaters, the High Council that governs both Heaven and Hell voted to allow the beings called Keepers to be created. A single powerful spark of the Source was taken from the flow to be used for this new being. To be sent down to Earth to seek out the dark power, encapsulate it, and become a whole being connected to it in order to keep it fed and controlled.
The son of Lucifer, who was thought to be loyal to the treaty at that time, offered to take care of the task personally. His father allowed it and Heaven agreed. So Epsilon sent the spark to Earth to hunt down the dark power of Madness.
If that first Keeper was a success then the Council was willing to allow for more to be made to do the same with the rest of the dark powers.
But Epsilon was cocky and arrogant in thinking that it was a simple creation, for his mind had become more focused on his need for revenge. He was extremely mistaken and the task went very wrong.”
Omega stood and walked over to Reno to place a warm hand on his shoulder. “No divine mind. No destiny driven path could have made the timing any more amazingly possible than what happened in the split second when that spark, after tracking it for centuries, found Madness.”
Reno looked up at him and chewed on his bottom lip, brows going down as if he was supposed to know the answer. But he had nothing and simply whispered in return. “What?”
Omega smiled down at him so fatherly. “At that exact moment, a small boy was being threatened and shot at by his own father. And the trauma was so horrific that the dark power of insanity was drawn to the boy like lightning to a rod. When Madness went to feed on that boy, the spark was able to hone in on it and both struck the little boy at the same time. That sudden surge of power in such a small, human boy caused his soul and mind to split. The Keeper was created, but it was in the form of a voice in that boy’s head. There to contain the darkness that now was also a passenger in a single vessel containing two.”
Reno stood up, confusion making him dizzy as Omega and Yin watched him. He wrapped his arms around his head, trying to break down and rebuild everything they had just told him until it made some sense. He opened his mouth to speak more than a dozen times, but all he did was fish face with only air making squeaks until he found his voice.
“I was supposed to be whole.”
He floundered, sputtered and rubbed his hands over his face, letting just his eyes peek over his fingertips at them both. “I was meant to be my own person. Not just a bad part of a good person, but whole and good.”
Omega walked over and nodded, placing that warm hand once again on his arm. “Yes. You were meant to be a Keeper. The very first of a being that would be the key to saving mankind from its own darkness.”
Reno felt his knees give. Omega helped him back to his chair with Yin coming over to hug him once again from behind, pressing a kiss against his temple.
He kept blinking with one hand flailing in the air trying to digest it all, to come to terms with that he was never meant to be what he was, and was destined to be so much more.
He felt both thrilled and bitter about that. Denied, but glad to finally know he had worth, even if he had never been allowed to have it. It was like the story of his whole life. “So. I, uh, this Keeper was thought lost? For centuries?”
Omega nodded and once again sat down across from him with Yin staying wrapped around Reno’s shoulders. “Yes. For centuries, and long before that spark was able to latch and bond with Madness.
“In that time, Epsilon was made to feel like a fool. That he hadn’t taken the time to make sure the task was done probably. The Keeper spark was thought both lost and a failure, causing him to lose both the respect of his father and that of the council. But what he would learn later was that when he released the dark powers onto the world, one infected him. And that was the power of greed. The shame he felt for being a failure at creating the Keeper stoked greed to the point that Epsilon was driven insane with a need to prove he could create life. That he could make something new and unique.
“It was then he began his experiments on the demons of Hell. Using the most base and primitive of all the creatures that dwelled there, he spawned, using left over residual energy from the Keeper task, to create the demons known as Energy Eaters. He then sent them to Earth to try to find the lost Keeper spark. But because they were made only from the remnant of that same spark, they could not last long on the Earth realm. They died in extreme pain to devolve within hours beyond the walls of Hell.”
Reno kind of felt bad for them and said softly. “They turn to goo. It’s like water. Kinda nasty.”
Omega nodded and chuckled. “Yes. I am aware.” He gave Reno a soft smile as he felt the man’s sympathy for something that was meant to be the enemy.
“Meanwhile, his own father was investigating how the dark powers were released to begin with, as he was not happy that it had occurred within his realm. Epsilon became aware that his father was narrowing down to the facts by torturing demon after demon. One of them would surely have something to tell. So he ran to the Earth realm. But he needed an army. He was still determined that mankind should pay. That both Hell and Heaven should be denied the sparks that fed the Light.
“Epsilon knew that his Eaters were not strong enough with their scrap of spark. They needed something to give them strength to do damage to man. That’s when he realized they could feed on the spark of those who were of the light when they were frightened, scared, and forced to face the dark. That the very chemistry of mankind that fed and maintained their sparks of light, could fuel the flawed sparks of the Eaters. It was then that the Eaters began to feed on mankind, like sharks in bloody waters, devouring sparks and leaving only empty shells behind. No souls for Heaven and no souls for Hell.
“The treaty was becoming a thing of uselessness. It was then that the Grid was engineered by a god by the name of Tesla. To use the stronger sparks of mankind to feed what he called the Grid and keep it strong while supporting the weaker sparks. Mankind itself could feed its own power of Light and some day becomes a self-sustaining higher power too strong for the dark to exist. Lucifer offered his assistance once he realized his own son had not only released the dark powers, but had created the Energy Eaters. He allowed powerful souls from Hell to be used as fighters. In exchange, if they worked as an army to exterminate the Eaters from Earth, they would be given a second chance to be judged by Heaven.
“Heaven agreed and your god Bounce was enlisted to lead that army as he had no alliance to either side and was thought of as fair and impartial.”
Reno tried to wrap his brain around it as he listened. It made sense he guessed, and pretty much matched the legends and rumors they had all heard. He frowned and looked up to ask Omega softly, “Why would Bounce help?”
Yin made a strange noise and he looked up to see she had a sneer on her face and lips pressed into a thin line in silence.
Omega sighed and sat back to tent his fingers under his chin. “That is between Bounce and Lucifer. And not my story to tell.”
Reno unwrapped Yin from him so he could walk, twisting one hand inside the other as he did so, with his face hard, trying to analyze everything they told him.
He stopped without turning back to face them with eyes downcast on the floor. “I was dead. Killed. I remember that. I remember being dead too. So...,” his words faltered as he remembered that night that now seemed so long ago, “what am I now? Alive? Undead? Dead? I don’t understand how I’m here.”
Omega let out a slow breath to say softly,. “You ha
ve no heartbeat. You have no blood. You are dead. In every known way.”
Reno frowned and placed his palm on his chest over where his heart was. He had avoided thinking about it since he had woken up, along with how he felt so cold. He fought down the panic when he felt no heartbeat. His chest was still as a dead man’s.
Closing his eyes, he went to speak and nothing came out as he wasn’t sure what being dead actually meant. Sure, undead was in all the movies, but if he was dead? What did that mean for his future? Did he even have one?
Omega knew this was difficult and he stopped Yin when she stood to go to the Keeper, going in her stead.
Taking steps to stand at Reno’s side, he watched the Keeper’s face show so many emotions. Sadness and fear, loss and resignation all were contorting the man’s features at once.
Reno glanced over at him with a slack jaw and simply blinked before saying slowly in a small childlike voice. “So I’m dead. Never thought I’d end up in Heaven. Guess that’s a surprise.”
Omega raised a brow as he smiled. “Yes. You are dead. But for you, for a Keeper, that is not the end but the beginning of your purpose.”
Reno frowned and tilted his head as he turned to face the old man. “Beginning? I’m sorry, I’m not the smartest but this is all so confusing.”
Omega reached out to pat his arm. “Keepers are purpose driven like many higher powers. But unlike the rest of us, they cannot serve two purposes at one time. Their sole purpose must be to maintain and feed their dark power. So, when you were killed, your purpose as a Breaker and a human ended. That allowed Madness to claim you as its own, as it should have been able to do centuries ago when it found you as a split personality. But you had Jess’ purpose, and his vessel, so it was unable to do so. Then, when Bounce gave you a life of your own and a new vessel, Madness was with that purpose. Finally your Keeper destiny could be bonded when your spark was severed and destroyed by death.”