Shackled (The Lord Series) by Carlos
176. Unknown

**Unknown**

In the beginning, it was God and I. He loved me and I loved him. Life was peaceful. We didn't need anyone. Or so I thought. When he started creating the worlds before the ones that exist now, I stood by his side. When he destroyed them because they rebelled, I turned them to ash alongside him. Endless times. Then he created everything that exists now, including his beloved angels and demons, and he had them live in every world and Universe he created. Then he forgot about me. He spent most of his time with Lucifer, Michael, and Pandora. Especially Pandora. While jealousy my soul.

When I became nothing to him, I decided to take matters into my own hands. Wanting to hit him where it hurt most, I took an angel and a demon and fused them together, creating something new. Warriors who obeyed my every command. Together with an army of such warriors, I started oblitherating what God created.

All was going according to plan until I faced Pandora. We fought for an eternity. And we would still be fighting if not for Lucifer, who created a box, a prison, in the deepest of Hell. A Dybbuk Box. From Heaven came two twin daggers and Pandora put all her divine power in them. She defeated me, trapped me and locked me inside that awful box, together with many of my warriors. The rest were stripped of their divine powers and sent to the ends of the worlds. From inside the box, I could feel them and countless times, I waited for them to find me, to release me. They kept demolishing everything in their path, world after world, creation after creation.

Before they could reach me, I was set free. The warriors that were with me spread open their wings and scattered all over Earth, searching for Pandora. When they find her, I will seal her in that horrendous box just like she did to me, and hide it in a place no one can find it.

A snowstorm has been hitting Veross City since yesterday, forcing me to stay inside. The Dybbuk Box has robbed my warriors and I of most of our powers. When we were set free, a fight between the one guarding the box and us started and we almost got sealed back in, we fled, leaving the box behind. So, for the past six years, I have been living as a human, waiting for the day when the rest of my warriors find me so I can recuperate my powers.

I step on the balcony of my apartment and look at the blanket of snow covering the city.

The harsh wind whips around my body, but it doesn't bother me. Inside the Dybbuk Box, my warriors and I endured endless torture and living nightmares.

A knock on the door has me frowning as I am expecting no one. When the knock gets more insistent, I go to the door.

"Who is it?" I ask.

"The mailman."

The mailman?

"I have a special delivery for you. From Mr. Halo."

From my boss? That's strange.

Despite knowing better, I open the door. Because even villains make mistakes. Stupid, foolish mistakes. Especially when they are overly confident in their powers. Only I don't have mine anymore. When forced to live among humans, you have to act and think like them.

Immediately, I am pushed inside my apartment by a man with the number 917 tattooed on his left cheek. Gloves are on his hands. I don't get to fight as I feel a sharp pain in my left arm, and the world fades away.

I might be older than dirt, but I didn't learn a thing.

****

The man in front of me has a pair of white wings, but they are twisted at a strange angle as if someone tried to rip them out of his back.

"Who are you?" I ask him.

"Your creator. You will go out in the world and conquer it for me."

**Wasp**

*Veross City Sanctuary*

I adjust the mask on my face before I meet the new hellstar Bettle brought in yesterday. As much as I would like to step out of my office and let everyone know who I really am, my identity must remain a secret no matter what. So much is at risk if the Dukes and the Lords find out who I am. Even the other hellstars. My experiences have taught me not to trust people.

The Blight that is spreading across Universes and worlds is almost here and we are not ready. Through my research, I learned that there is only one way to stop the Blight- Pandora's box. The myth of Pandora is true, yet the truth about who she is and what the box contains is different from what we were told. It contains the answer to how to stop the Blight.

The Blight is looking for the box. The Guardian was the only one who could have kept it safe and hidden from the scrutinizing eye of the Blight. With the Guardian dead, everything is at risk.

I have yet to give up. Each day, I search to see if a new Guardian has been born. So far, I have had no luck. But... from what I've learned about Guardians, there should be one born soon after the other dies, as the boxes can't be left unguarded for too long.

From the window of my office, I watch the sunrise. Another day starts. I pick up my cup of coffee and quickly scan some papers on my desk. I have done so much, and still, there is so much more to do until the Blight reaches us. Everything I have done has been to delay its arrival and prepare this world.

I only hope everything is ready by then.

My phone rings, and I glance at the screen before I take the incoming call. My heart races. For years, I've waited for this phone call and I started to lose hope it would ever happen.

I answer and wait for the other person to speak first.

Seconds pass without hearing anything. "Hello?" I finally say.

Another hesitation then, "I am in."

Despite my visible excitement, I say, "What made you change your mind?"

"Indy is dead."

"I am so "

I am cut short. "It is for the best. At least she is not suffering anymore." A pause of a few seconds, then, "I have information for you."

After drinking more coffee, I ask, "You do? About?"

"About the Guardian." My pulse quickens. "We need to meet."

I look at the calendar on my desk. "I am free two days from now."

"I will see what I can do."

The call ends.

I stare at my phone while I think. Could it be that a new Guardian was born?

If so, I need to find them before Azael does.