The Darkness

**The Darkness** is one of the paracasual forces in the World of the Exceed. It had been briefly mentioned in the Strophalist scriptures as one of the dark forces before making its appearance as the terrorizer of River City.

## Appearance

The darkness is a paracasual force beyond any known existence. Although not "alive," the darkness can still speak as if it was. It's form takes many shapes, from the Taken, to shadows, and even dark places themselves. The darkness takes the from of mysterious pyramid-ships in ancient legends, although these supposed pyramids have never been sighted.

## Personality

Saying the darkness has a "personality" is misleading, although it does have one more or less. Manipulative, the darkness is the embodiment of false hope, although at the same time, is the only hope. It can form illusions of lost love ones and even bring them back from the dead, using a warping process called Anthem Anatheme. The darkness then controls the souls of the dead, using them as puppets to entice people into joining its unknown cause. Although thought to be evil, the Darkness claims it is neither ally nor enemy, and is simply salvation. It has a vendetta against the Light, another paracasual and equally powerful being. Its power of manipulation is beyond most, as it was entirely responsible for the Hive uprising and the forming of the Taken.

## Relationships

The enemy of the Light, and a friend to all who believe its ideals. Because of the Hive's Sword Logic, they often associate with the darkness and are considered direct disciples. Many cults within other races or nations, such as the Dark Dagger, Antiochus, and the Sol Divisive, also associate with the Darkness. It also communes with the Wyrm and Serpent Gods, and even with Malkor, the dreaded Excersian who created the Hive. It tends to work behind the scenes, and takes interest in those powerful enough to defeat its disciples, such as Vlad and Matsuri, even going as far to offer to revive their friends in exchange for their allegiance.

### Early Life

Very little is known about the Darkness, but Excersian records say that along with the Light, they were created before the universe itself.

The Darkness first appeared when the Hive were created, and it is speculated that Malkor may have been banished due to allying with the Darkness. It gave the Hive the ability to Take, and let them ravage the world. Alongside Malkor, it helped to create the Whyte Wyrm, and the Serpent Wrym Gods. It went dormant after the Hive became more powerful, however it reappeared when the Quantriux arrived.

It sat there idly, behind space and time, watching the Hive getting slaughtered by the Quantriux, amused. It sought to ally with the Quantriux because it thought the Hive were weak, but CEVA prevented the Darkness from speaking to the Quantriux. It then once again vanished, and reappeared thousands of years later when Savox and his siblings tried to commune with the Darkness. It tested them on their loyalty and strength, and when they passed, gifted them the powers of their ancestors.

### Throughout World of the Exceed

Over the years it allied with races who worshipped it as a God, or those who worshipped Malkor. Yet it went dormant again during the time Savox expanded the Taken through G&G, most likely watching from afar. Upon the crumbling of the Hive once again, the Darkness reappeared, giving them new strength. But it wasn't enough. Savox's siblings, sons, and daughters perished at the hands of two humans, who also slew the Wyrm Gods and even the Uktena. This peaked the interest of the Darkness, who then attempted to get them to join its cause.

After much manipulation through dreams and visions, it was ultimately unsuccessful, and the two humans, Vladimir Gladkov and Matsuri Misaka, allied with the Light instead. When the Darkness tried to manipulate them once again, Matsuri and Vlad destroyed the Void Crystal that allowed the Darkness to exist on the planet, banishing it from Adrioth forever.

Upon this, both the Excersians and Kraavosakar detected an unusual surge in dark energy outside the galaxy, and identified the mysterious surge as the Darkness Fleet, a massive fleet of Pyramid-like ships with a surprising resemblance to the depictions of the Darkness in ancient times. And the fleet is headed straight for the Solar System.