Harvey Brenton's Office, Sleepy Oak, Minnesota, April 30, 2021
*We return to the office space of one Harvey Brenton, a man of Humanity's past, and one who Brian had met previously, though in another world... The two of Brian/Humanity and Harvey are gathered around his desk, the Mundi Deglutiens, a vile book of death and destruction placed in the center of the table.*
Harvey Brenton: Well, Brian, what has Mortis told you, exactly?
Brian: I have to admit, not a damn thing. I don’t even know what Mortis is?
Harvey: Shocking, Mortis being intentionally vague.
*Brian's face warps into that of the visage known as Humanity, or in this case, Mortis. Brian's blue eyes shift to a dark brown, and his face grows harder. A more stern and calloused expression grows on the face, signifying that Humanity is in control now. Brian and he switch off control for when they wish to speak.*
Humanity: I’m not sure I appreciate the insinuation.
*Harvey shakes his head and merely continues, ignoring the vague threat of whatever it is inside Brian.*
Harvey: Listen, Brian; that thing inside you, this other person: Mortis. Mortis is what he’s called- they call him many other things throughout history: Death, the Grim Reaper, Thanatos, Morta, Osiris, Nergal, Hel… but he is Primus Mortis, the “First Death”. You have in you, for all intents and purposes, an eldritch monstrosity of death.
*To Harvey's own surprise, Brian merely nods and shrugs.*
Brian: Well I knew that much; have you seen what I’ve been through with him?
Harvey: You’re… not surprised?
Brian: No, I’m not surprised. I’m a wrestler, Harvey, he’s put my body through things that would kill a normal man just for fun.
Humanity: He’s not wrong. I did it for pleasure too.
*Harvey is slightly repulsed at Humanity for that statement and shudders.*
Harvey: I didn’t need to hear that part, Mortis.
*Brian taps down on the book, Mundi Deglutiens, trying to move the conversation along.*
Brian: So what does he have to do with this book?
Harvey: I’m getting to that- Mundi Deglutiens, we call it. Have you ever heard of Ammar before today?
*Brian pauses and thinks to himself. He has heard of Ammar once before, in that place...*
Brian: As a matter of fact- Yes, from you. In that destroyed library.
Harvey: I see- What do you know about Ammar?
Brian: Not a damn thing. You and… Mortis… keep going on about this thing and nobody ever explains any of it.
Harvey: Well, since Mortis is too stubborn to talk about it, perhaps I will.
*Harvey sighs and lights up a cigarette, he takes a few puffs from it and rubs his eyes before proceeding to spin a yarn of what exactly is going on. Brian anxiously listens in, as his curiosity compels him to continue to stay.*
Harvey: They say it was born from the nothingness of the mawing universe. A creation of destruction. This thing, a world-eating planetary beast of endless corruption. According to ancient religious texts, this Ammar was an angel; it was an angel of destruction. This angel fell into the sin of gluttony, its appetite for destruction too powerful. God had to stop it from devouring its creation of Earth and man. God pulled Ammar from the universe and had pulled it from the expanse of everything into the crushing pit of nothingness. There Ammar lay, in a dimension where nothing lives, but nothing dies. That’s… the Abrahamic story, at least.
*There's a tense moment of silence for Brian to process everything that he's heard. He starts to speak slowly.*
Brian: So we’re fighting an angel?
Humanity: Hardly. Ammar is no angel, that’s for sure. Just a hungry bastard. How do I know this? Well- it’s my sibling.
*Brian bursts out laughing nervously, completely shocked by what his other half just said.*
Brian: It’s your what!?
Humanity: Sibling. We’re born from the same miasmic being. I call it a sibling because, well, we really don’t have a gender, either of us. Gender is a human construct to us; it doesn’t really exist anyways.
*Harvey, being a man from the 1940s, doesn't agree with that, but isn't willing to fight a literal personification of death over it.*
Harvey: Er… sure. Anyways, Brian, we’re not fighting an angel here. It’s far… less angelic than you think.
Humanity: If you saw what Ammar really looked like, you humans would all probably die of fright. Just know he’s something akin to… what is that called, “Hellstar Remina”?
Brian: … The Junji Ito story?
Humanity: Yeah… I might have given him a little inspiration for that. How else do you think he’s such a good author?
*Harvey looks on confused and isn't sure what they're talking about.*
Harvey: I’ve never heard of this Ito fella.
Humanity: He’s Japan’s Lovecraft.
Harvey: Gotcha.
*Harvey nods his head then, and Brian just stares off into the distance.*
Brian: So we’re talking- a giant planet that eats other planets…
Humanity: More or less. It doesn’t just eat whole planets. Stars. Galaxies. Hell, the only reason you’re all still alive is that it tried to eat a black hole. Needless to say, it failed, miserably. Now it’s stuck in a pocket dimension where he is neither alive nor dead. Even then, in that expanse of nothingness, he’s begun to devour the nothingness and gain his power back so that he may one day escape. To do so, at the advent of humanity's rise as an intelligent species, Ammar did something that I’ve done in the past. He made a smaller copy of himself; a vessel, so to speak.
Brian: So… he made someone like me carry him around inside his head?
*Harvey puffs from his cigarette and shakes his head at this statement.**
Harvey: Not quite. I’ve met his vessel more than a few times. Ammar’s power is so great that he could mentally project and create an entire human out of nothingness. Brian, have you ever heard the name Ammar Abd Al-Allahmayit?
Brian: I have never heard anyone by that name.
Harvey: It’s an Arabic name. Originated from the 9th Century; it means, “Long-Lived Servant of the Dead God”.
Humanity: Ammar isn’t the most clever of folks, I’ll tell you that at least.
Harvey: I have met Allahmayit. Not only have I met him, but I’ve also fought against him. The reason you had to travel to another world to procure the Mundi Deglutiens, was because I destroyed it before he could free Ammar from his prison. He changes his name, and his appearance every few decades to throw off suspicion. Last I knew… he was Calvin Bullard, a professor of Semitic Languages at Sleepy Oak University. He used this job as a cover to reproach and collect more ancient texts to rebuild the Mundi Deglutiens from scratch. I shot him in the head four years ago.
Brian: So we’re safe right?
Harvey: That didn’t kill him. I’ve been shooting him and trying to kill him since… 1948.
*There's an exasperated expression on Brian's face, as he cannot quite believe what he's even hearing. This man, who looks barely over forty, has been trying to kill the same person since the 1940s!?*
Brian: Wait, hold on, how old are you?
Harvey: Age no longer matters with me. If you must know though… I was born in 1922.
Brian: You’re telling me you’re 99 years old?
Harvey: 98, actually, I was born in October.
Brian: I have heard it all now- You hear that!? We’re talking to an old ass man who still looks like he’s in his forties!
Humanity: Does that surprise you? I gave him his agelessness.
*Brian has so many questions now. Not only is there an all-devouring god, the personification of death, but immortality is real and can be given away like candy. This leads to his next question.*
Brian: I- Wait. Does that mean I’m ageless?
Harvey: Let’s hope not. Immortality fucking sucks, friend.
*Brian stands up quickly and just smacks the desk in front of him. Too much information and not enough actual answers.*
Brian: Can we please just get to the point! What does all of this mean!? If this Ammar Abd Al-whatsit fella is still alive and looking to get *that* book, why the fuck are we bringing it to this world!? Just leave it in the other world!
Humanity: You would think it’s just that simple, Brian. Did you ever think for one second that because we can move through time and dimensions, he could too?
Brian: I- Well- Th-then why don’t we just light this book on fire and be done with it- Problem solved right?
Harvey: Hardly. We can’t just solve it by burning it.
To prove his point, Harvey pulls a lighter out of his jacket, and flips it on, resting the flame under the book. As if by some magic, the book refuses the flame, not even darkening from the intense heat of it. When Harvey puts the lighter back in his jacket, he presents the book, completely unharmed.
Harvey: Normal flame doesn’t do jack shit to it.
Brian: It’s a magical book, I get it. So how exactly do we destroy it?
Harvey: We’re going to have to perform a ritual to destroy it.
Humanity: It’s called the Ritual of Destruction. Remember, Ammar is a being of destruction, Brian. The only way to destroy it is to pay a tribute of destruction through ritual… It’s ironic, in a way. We’re siblings, two sides of the same coin, but the biggest difference between us is that I represent the graceful nature of death, and he, the destructive nature of death.
Brian: Graceful nature, my ass. You put my body through hell and tore me a new one just for fun.
Humanity: Trust me, Brian, if it comes between Ammar and myself, you’re going to wish I continued to put your body through that.
*Harvey frowns at the bickering duo and claps his hands together to get their attention.*
Harvey: If you two are done… I would like to hold onto this book for a while. It will be safe under my protection here. I must ask that you two help me, however. Before we can do the ritual, there are a few things here in Sleepy Oak that are of importance.
Brian: Is it about these missing kids?
*Brian points to the notes strewn about the wall: newspaper clippings, articles, and documents regarding the sudden disappearance of 14 children in the Sleepy Oak Forest in 1957. Harvey sighs as if he's remembering all about that case and how it still haunts him today.*
Harvey: That- is just one of them. I’m not asking for much, but if we’re going to get the ritual done as soon as possible, these have to be done first. They’re linked to Ammar and his cult- I just know it is.
*Brian reaches his hand out to meet Harvey's own, and the two slowly shake hands. Brian feels a piece of regret for what he feels is a mistake here. Perhaps he should just... run. Is this really worth it? After everything he's heard, can he really stand by and try to fight forces he barely even understands? There is this great feeling in the pit of his stomach as he shakes Harvey's hand... it's a feeling that moves men and ends civilizations: dread.*
Brian: It doesn’t look like I have much of a choice, do I. Very well, Harvey, I will help you. |