Chapter 7: The Abyss

All that remained of our great tower following the Epic Cataclysm were two stumped remains, one on our world, the other still visible on Atreia's upper half. The majority of the tower had been destroyed, its remains left scattered over the two halves of our world.

One day, however, the earth around these shattered remains began to shift, and slowly the fragments levitated themselves into the air. We sent our bravest guardians to investigate the phenomenon, and they discovered portals leading to huge floating chunks of the Aion tower, in a bizarre realm where Aether flowed like water.

We labelled this world the Abyss, and slowly our Daevas ventured forth, exploring this new and volatile environment. They found a world rich in the Aether that Aion had granted to the Empyrean Lords, and which the Daevas had managed to manipulate when we were at war with the Balaur. Many Daevas were lost, though; these portals were unstable, and once closed seemed to stay shut, exiling anyone who had gone through.

One day another portal opened, larger and more stable than the others. A Guardian by the name of Deltras passed through it, and on the other side, he found something astounding. His legion were standing on the upper half of Atreia, and when they looked across the sky, they didn't see the shaded remains of the Aion tower, and the upper half of Atreia, but instead saw their own world of Elysea, bathed in warm sunlight.

Slowly, nervously, they moved on, carefully exploring this strange land which once was part of their home. It was now a dark and foreboding place, full of whispers and fleeting shadows. There they discovered the Asmodians, men and women who were once our brothers, but now had been warped into twisted and foul creatures. Even worse, these nightmares were led by one of the murderous Empyrean Lords, a cruel being named Zikel.

It was dark; our Daevas could not see well, and were soon captured by Zikel and his monsters. This being, who we had once revered alongside the mighty Ariel, threw Deltras to the ground, demanding he curse the Seraphim Lords for their "weakness". Deltras, brave and noble as he always was, kept the pride of the Elyos. He refused to curse the Seraphim Lords, and instead cursed arrogant Zikel to his face.

The Asmodians attacked, and those of us who were waiting on the other side of the portal saw only two of our number return, bloodied and injured.