PROLOGUE OF Z – DIVINE JUDGMENT
The place was infinite and bright, with candelabras of pure gold and heavy, cut diamonds, tinged with black in some parts. The golden walls bore a long — infinite, even — row of paintings that contained, in astronomically huge form, portraits of great Eternyures or Eternietus and gods, the feudal lords of infinite universes or, sometimes, finite ones that belonged to a single world. The most powerful, obviously the universe, had no portrait. When one speaks of the universe as a force, one does not portray it — after all, it is everything and nothing. But the physical universe, its appearance, exists, and that appearance is everything one can see. But, after all, what the hell is this thing called the universe, my dear ones? Some answer, claiming that it is merely the space in which everything exists and resides, while others claim that it is a being, the very space in which everything lives and everything knows, almost like a god, except for the fact that no one, besides the great gods, has ever spoken to the universe. This may seem a very strange conception, but that is what the universe is — everything and everyone. And the Land of Judgment is one of its many arms, one of its many domains; a creation of its own, not to enact justice, but to define it. This is, indeed, a truly infinite and very cruel place — more infinite than the land of Ether Ethernus.
Pigledo, our pig, came to this land of blinding light under orders from the principal god of the first world, the one that had been destroyed by Rhinorius Sturk, to serve as a juror in a trial that, apparently, was very important. Coming there was boring and irritating for our little pig; he wanted to fight and sleep, not to define whether what a certain man did could be considered a "crime" or not. Besides, he would have to come face to face with Ether. "That guy... I wish his mother had drowned him the moment he came out from between her hairy, always-open legs." Ether was annoying to our little pig because he was always talking about killing the king of Z and making his children suffer. "Scoundrel. Not even Rhinorius has such a perverse mind. Sometimes it's hard to believe they came from the same woman." Pigledo seriously doubted that Ether could actually do that, but there was something strange in his guts that told him Ether was now more treacherous than ever. "What could it be?" Anyway, none of that mattered, after all, he still had to come here to participate in that damn trial to watch strong men converse in their beautiful voices and eloquent words, while their golden cloaks fluttered through the air of the airless hall. And all this without mentioning those relics created by the dwarves... "Cursed! Good thing they died. The Precipice of Time is justifiable, but the Transmigrator Orb? What is that guy thinking of doing?"
Pigledo walked through halls and halls, corridors and corridors, entire gardens, and still he could not find the room – or hall – where the trial would take place. Ashamed, he looked at his watch and realized he was a little late. Reluctantly, he asked for help from a celestial lady who was walking around singing. She sang about how she had been abused and killed by sailors in M, and Pigledo seemed not to like it. That pig, our pig, was a man of honor and duty. If he ever caught those wrongdoers... Putting the music aside, the lady helped him, taking him straight to the damn hall. At that moment, he thought about his little bird and the whore Ariana who was trying to steal him away. "Damn her! Go sleep with someone else."
Pigledo admitted that perhaps destroying half of galaxy A had not been his smartest move, but after learning what Ariana wanted from his little bird... And if there was one thing he didn't want, it was for that cheap prostitute to steal Lueriu from him.
Finally, our little pig arrived, with the lady's help, at the room — or hall. Pigledo didn't really know the difference between a room and a hall, nor whether the place where the trial was taking place was one thing or the other. From what he knew, the place was arranged in a half-moon, with the great gods facing the huge entrance door. The other gods, Eternyures, Gâmodes, Salrims and everything else faced the nine great gods — the feudal lords of the worlds. Above the great gods was the place of the infinite whole, the universe, which never welcomed us, nor anything else. The truth is that the universe had never appeared at these trials, except on the occasion when Rhinorius destroyed his world and killed the lesser gods, thus breaking one of the most important rules of the universe: A being must not kill its gods, and its gods cannot kill a being. "This is the only rule imposed by myself, the universe. Did you hear that, Rhinorius?" And so the universe reminded us, its subjects, that we should not engage in unnecessary conflicts. The gods take care of us, and we enjoy and rejoice in the faces of happiness.
This trance of thought was interrupted by the Celestial Lady, who opened the door of the room — or whatever it was. "But, after all, what is this?"
"My dear ones, I apologize for my delay," said Pigledo with a smile, as he performed a small, quick, but effective bow, sitting down in the first seat he found. Beside him was Viviana, the weakest Eternyur, and also the only one in this world that our pig did not hate. She was the only one who treated our little pig with seriousness. "If only my little bird could see her value."
"'Ledo, you're late. Did you see the scoundrel Ether or his brother?" It was none other than his god, the first great god, the only one who had been in direct contact with the universe. He now had the form of a small child. Last week, he had been a senile old lady, and the week before, a Lady of P. "Actually, forget it. If they take much longer, I'll speak to the universe myself to have them killed. Let's wait a little longer, mighty ones."
Everyone in the room nodded. With a smile that split his face, the damned woman beside Pigledo chattered with some monkey god. "Macano, wasn't it?" But after finishing her conversation, Viviana turned to the poor pig, who only wanted to hunt and sleep, and said:
"Tell me, Lord Pig: does your disciple, the young world-traveler, have any suitors? I saw him in the war of the Yllyus Yrrar, when the king of Y was fleeing with a knightess, and I was fighting and nearly dying at the hands of an Ygra-dere, until Lueriu appeared and saved my skin. At the time I asked his name, and he told me, but when I asked if he was married, he told me to ask his master — and you are his master. So tell me: if he has no suitors, may I give him my hand?"
"Ah, I wish I had that power, girl. But my little bird is stubborn and doesn't care for feminine beauties."
"Like you?"
"No. A little different. I don't get involved with women because I'm a pig; he doesn't get involved with women because he doesn't want to."
"But... do you think you could at least try to make him realize I exist? I don't want to lose him to that Ariana."
"Oh, don't mention that name. And don't worry: I'll try to talk to him when we're training."
She smiled. Finally, the interaction ended there.
"My little bird needs to get a mask like Ether, or change his appearance like the great gods!" And he really needed it: if there was anyone who had a face as beautiful as Lueriu, that person was Zirinos Malor, the prince – actually, the disappeared king – of Z, the most powerful galaxy in the third world. A pity that it had now been taken by Ariana, and the only survivors of the family had been sold as slaves in X: Zerane as a sexual object and Ziring as healing herbs. "I still have to go and recover one of them to reside as a judge alongside the great Arcano." Even though the Arcano wasn't even there, the only ones with the power to carry out judgments involving high genocide were the royal family of Z. That is, if the two of them died, everyone could do whatever they wanted without worrying about the consequences. Including that this trial was only being carried out because it did not require the Arcano or anyone from the royal family of Z.
The huge door, which was closed, suddenly opened, and Ether entered. He wore his usual beige cloak, the mask with an H where his left eye would be. Normally, his brother would always come behind him with an arrogant smile, but today that didn't happen. And good thing: if there was a man that our pig adored, but was afraid of, that man was Rhinorius. The only person in that world who had access to the Power Graduator, who had destroyed an entire world and come out unscathed. Pigledo's fear came from that, and the love came from Rhinorius's change of character over the years. "Now that, yes, is redemption." And a great redemption, indeed. Although neither Pigledo nor any god knew exactly where so much anger and hatred in the man came from.
With light steps, Ether walked to where Pigledo was sitting and leaned against the wall, near the door. He ignored our pig and made a small bow to the first god. As he belonged to the first world, he only needed to address the first great god; the other gods only needed to address him when absolutely necessary.
"My sovereign, I apologize for the delay. I don't really know where my brother is; we haven't spoken since the 'accident.'"
The first great god nodded slightly and asked that they proceed without Rhinorius. Ether looked at Pigledo and Viviana for five minutes without saying anything. Pigledo's patience was wearing very thin, and the girl wouldn't stop chattering in the ears of a monkey god. "I miss the times when the perfect woman was the one who stayed quiet and knew how to behave in public. But, well, this is what we have now. Good thing I don't have a female waiting for me at home." And, in fact, Pigledo didn't have a woman waiting for him at home, but he wasn't the only one there without a woman: almost none of them had one, after all, such powerful beings having wives at home meant weakness. Besides, even if our little pig wanted one, he didn't have the skills to seduce one. And whether he wanted a lady or not, Pigledo lived well alone teaching his little bird.
Another type of person that Pigledo hated were the weak who did nothing to change that. Thinking about them reminded him of his times as a real pig, who could do nothing; those had been frightening times in our little pig's life.
"Tell me something, Ether: do I, by any chance, look like a joke to you?"
"No, my sovereign."
"Ha! Excellent! Then explain your delay. Which king did you kill now?"
"None, my sovereign. I arrived late because I had to take care of Z's heir."
"Take care of Z's heir." And with a face full of hatred he added: "If you kill the boy, I myself will speak to the universe to have you killed. Or perhaps I'll ask our little pig to kill you. What do you say? He's right here beside you."
Ether said nothing. Now, all angry eyes turned to Ether, including his own. Everyone knew perfectly well what Ether had done days ago — killed the judge of the divine judgment and destroyed the lives of his children. Zickony was the most beloved man in all the galaxies, a living legend; however, he died without even being able to fight. This had been Ether's lowest blow; not even Rhinorius would do something like that.
Pigledo drew his spare sword, Alénea, and pointed it at Ether's neck.
"So you don't want to answer me... Anyway, it doesn't matter. Put that aside, but don't forget what I just told you. And a few hours ago, why did you stop time?"
"I wanted to... 'teach' the boy a lesson. He is..."
"I know what he is. But you don't have the right to kill him, do you hear?"
And, very reluctantly, Ether answered with contained anger, for he knew perfectly well that even if the god could not touch him directly, Pigledo could, and if he did, he would die:
"Yes, my sovereign."
"Very well. Then Rhinorius and Sungrath are the only ones missing. I would like to wait for them, but I don't have a lifetime for that. Bring the accused, servant."
The servant went out to look for the accused, and Pigledo removed the sword from Ether's neck. While the first great god spoke with the other eight great gods, Ether suddenly turned to Pigledo.
"Lueriu was there. In fact, the ship I stole to trap the kids in my psychological domain was his father's ship. I think your boy was looking for your sword, Lilith-oink, wasn't he? You don't need to answer. Just tell me: do you want me to lend you the celestial transport?"
Pigledo looked at Ether with a face of disgust. The offer was very tempting; only the equivalent — or a pure traveler, like Lueriu — could use teleportation without restrictions. That was one of the many powers of Sungrath, the pure traveler. He was like the Z family, with the only difference being that his equivalence powers were much weaker. His name was Sungrath, and besides him, the only possible way to teleport or travel was the celestial transport. But then, Lueriu wasn't a pure traveler; couldn't he do the same? Yes and no: traveling is not the same as teleporting, and the traveler can only travel. The equivalence can make two people swap places, and that's how Sungrath teleports. Now, traveling does not require equivalence. Of course, one could say that anyone can use teleportation — which, in itself, is not very difficult — but the price to pay was the main problem. And, yes, it is necessary for anyone who is not a traveler or an equivalent to pay to teleport. That price was too expensive, even for an immortal like our little pig. The powers that normally did not require payment were reality breaks, but that's for another day...
"So you killed a father and now you torture his children? Do you think I want anything from you?"
And Pigledo drew Alénea again to point at Ether's neck. The latter laughed and raised his hands in surrender.
"Ha-ha. Calm down, friend."
"Friend? You're different, Ether. I thought you were smarter than this, and it's the dumb pig telling you that."
"Oh, really? If you say so. But tell me, Pigledo: what's the story behind that crown and that blood-red cloak of yours?"
"Son of a bitch." The crown that Pigledo couldn't remove from his head was one of the things he hated most in his life. It reminded him of his pigsty past, literally — his hidden and disgusting past, which he did not wish to remember. His past full of sorrows and hatred, full of even more sorrows and hatreds, apart from the betrayals. He still remembered them, the two of them, smiling at him as if nothing had happened.
"You know what, Ether? Shut up!" And so he removed the sword from his enemy's neck. "But know this: if you harm Lueriu..."
Pigledo didn't need to speak; at least that's what he thought. But Ether recited in his angelic voice:
"You know I can very well appear in front of Lueriu and cut off his head, right?"
"And you know very well that Rhinorius isn't the only one with enough power to commit the 'accident,' right?"
The Eternyures and gods present in the room — or hall — trembled abruptly. Even Ether was visibly shaken by that. That threat was very "real" in everyone's eyes. Pigledo could, in fact, do the same, despite not being as evil as Rhinorius in ancient times. And people saw Pigledo as a monster because of his power and his way of being and speaking. Fortunately, our little pig eased the situation afterwards.
"Ha-ha-ha! Why are you trembling? Do you really think I'm going to destroy an entire world just because of the death of a kid? Calm down, no one is going to die today." — "Liar. If my little bird dies..."
"Ha-ha. What... a funny joke, Pigledo..." The first great god proclaimed, trying to ease our little pig's bad-taste joke. And it was possible to tell because the first god usually called Pigledo Little Pig or Piggy. "Let's continue, then, with this trial. The servant should be arriving with the culprit."
And, indeed, they came back in at that very moment with a man. Now more servants came, each with beautiful golden dresses like the hair of the princess of Z. They carried a handsome man without a shirt, his huge, muscular chest marked by the most heinous aspects of war, shining in the light of the golden coats of arms. This man was, obviously, in chains. "How strange... I feel like I've seen this man somewhere. But where?" It was true: this man wore the trousers of a chief knight that Pigledo had known in galaxy S.
"But who is this man?"
"Don't you recognize me, Pigledo?"
"Wait... Sindél? What the hell are you doing here? You're a great knight. I don't understand."
"I didn't do anything wrong, Pigledo. So I don't even know why they've arrested me, and on top of that, they've taken off my shirt for no apparent reason."
One of the servants blushed slightly. Pigledo turned to the first god, waiting for him to say something.
"Ahem. As you know, a person is only called here if they kill someone very important. And there, instead of judging them, if we had proof that they committed the crime, we could have killed them — that is, if the universe hadn't given them the Graduator. Which means he is now one of us, and nothing too serious, like killing him, we can do. We all know what the Graduator does."
"Rhinorius!!!" Rhinorius had been the last and the first to have the gradual power. Hence the fear of those present in the room.
"So he's a graduator... just like that son of a bitch." But, deep down, Pigledo knew that Sindél Murretéris was not the type of man capable of using that power for evil. Sindél was like him — a good man.
"My sovereign, are we actually judging him for what he did to his king, or for the fact that, in a few years, he will have the power to kill us all, after much genocide?" Ether proclaimed with contained anger. The truth was that no one wanted to get close to someone with such monstrous power.
"Slander Fernander was a bastard who skinned children for fun. We cannot judge him for killing someone so deserving of death as him. Therefore, yes, we are judging him for the universe's blessing. We need to take measures, and this is where I come in with my idea. I need someone to watch him for me. Do you want to do that, Ether?"
"No, my sovereign."
"Very well. Then who gets that duty?"
"How about me, darling?"
"Damn!" This was Madame Seduction, the person our little pig wanted to see dead most, after Ether.
"Look at it this way: he is a man, darling, and I am the one everyone desires. If he stays with me, he won't be able to disobey me, because if he does, he won't receive my lust. How does that sound to you?"
Everyone was going to say yes, until Pigledo said no. Since Pigledo was the most powerful, he ended up being the one to stay with Sindél Murretéris.