Crucible of Life

Ah, the Crucible...the primordial Birthplace of the universe. The seas of gold and towers of light...if only you could see it...see your futility...in the face of such Grandness...

 — Julius Kingsly to Leonard Mitchell

The **Crucible of Life** is the Sefiroth that correlates to the Sovereign of the Cosmos, the Above The Sequence for the Heaven, Star, Ruler, Rot and Empyrean Pathways.

The **Crucible** is unique amongst all other Sefiroth for having no clear origin. While the rest of the Universe believes it split from the Original Creator, Miquella and the Golden Order have found several sign of Void energy within the Crucible. This has led them to theorize the Crucible may have split off from the Void before the Original Creator found and consumed it, thus transforming it into one of "His" Sefiroth.

Shadow Kid is seemingly obsessed with acquiring the Crucible, enough to send the Second and Third String to acquire it along with 3 more Eternals. In the words of Gilgamesh, gaining the Crucible is just under conquering Earth in priority.

## Appearance

The Crucible has several forms, and changes depending on the wielder's perspective. So far, the Crucible has taken five forms:

* In the hands of Trinia Saint-Gold, it transformed into a giant, swirling sea of gold. Silver pillars rise from the sea randomly and collapsed arches are strewn about.

* In the hand of Miquella, the Crucible takes the form of a ginormous golden tree called the Erdtree. The Erdtree is 5,000 meters tall.

* In the hands of Gilgamesh, the Crucible becomes a great palace hall lavished in gold and wealth. There is a throne and a table, with seats for people to sit. Golden statues are positioned at even intervals in the hall.

* When Malenia and Miquella shared the Crucible, the Sefiroth became an altered Erdtree. Instead of all golden, the Haligtree is mainly ruby red with gold streaks running through the leaves and trunk. The height remains the same.

* When Paragon touches the Crucible, the Crucible is a liquid golden orb with various "things" moving underneath the surface.

## History

The exact origins of the Crucible are unclear and vague, even to the current holder Lazarus Asmodeus and its original owner, the Sovereign of the Cosmos. There are two theories:

* It was created alongside everything else in the current Cycle

* It was created in the Void and predates the current Cycle, thus making it the oldest thing in the Universe as it has been around since a previous Cycle. Somehow, the Crucible left the Void and the Original created devoured it, thus transforming it into a Sefiroth and taking its place amongst "His" Authorities.

Regardless of how it formed, the Crucible was split off from the Original Creator at the beginning of the current Cycle when the Sovereign was formed. It was brought to the Void Lands alongside the Sovereign. The Sovereign used the Crucible to isolate the corruption of the Void so "He" could study it without any dangers. The exposure to the Void caused the Crucible to evolve (some believe the Crucible already had Void energy within before this) and a shift to occur within its Authority. This shift enabled the Sovereign to become a semi-Pillar and build the Void Lands, as the Void's corruption was reduced. The Crucible remained in the Void Lands for millions of years.

When the Sovereign was eventually slain, the Crucible ended up in the hands of Zerothrial Atrazark, who then became the God of the Empyrean, Star and Heaven Pathways. Zerothrial lacked the necessary Anchors to retain "His" sanity and keep the Authorities under control, so "He" relied on the Crucible to forcefully supress them.

## Pre-Epoch

During the Pre-Epoch Era, the Original Creator awoke and began to Converge. This Convergence affected the whole Universe, and Zerothrial was no different. The Crucible and other Authorities began to escape from "Him" which caused "Him" to go insane and die. Pieces of the Rot Authority were lost, but the rest remained in the Void Lands.

The Crucible landed in the hands of Queen Marika, Zerothial's daughter and new Goddess of the Empyrean Pathway. "She" forcefully bound the Sefirah to "Herself" and used it to contain the Star, Rot and Heaven Authorities despite not being the God of those Pathways. "She" did not manage to claim the Ruler Pathway. Despite being bound, the Crucible still retained some form of sentience and independence.

When Marika gave birth to Malenia and Miquella, the Crucible intervened and forcefully changed Malenia's Pathway from Empyrean to Rot, gifting her the Rot Uniqueness. This act would be met with fury by Marika, who preached a strict Empyrean supremist agenda. Malenia was shunned and left to succumb to the Curse of her Pathway, of which there was no cure. As Malenia neared death, Miquella became desperate and contacted the very cause of the problem: the Crucible.

The Crucible struck a deal with the young Empyrean: the cure for freedom. Miquella accepted the terms and broke the Crucible free from its shackles. The Crucible stripped Marika of her Authority, giving the Empyrean set to Miquella and making "Him" a King of Angels at only 9 years old. Deciding it needed an Anchor, the Crucible also entered Miquella, using "Him" as a vessel. It then told Miquella how to cure "His" sister: either "She" becomes Sequence 0-Rot or Miquella becomes a God and cures "Her" "Himself".

Miquella and Malenia then gathered the holders of the Star, Heaven and Ruler Authorities before coming up with a plan. Deciding "They" need to flee regardless, as the Void was invading again now that Marika was no more, the 5 King of Angels bound their souls to the Crucible and let Convergence take "Them" to Earth, where the final Sequence 1 Rot Characteristics lay.

## 1st Epoch

The Crucible and 5 King of Angels arrived on Earth some time after the Outer Deities did: Mother Goddess of Depravity had already taken over the Moon. As "They" landed on Earth (by-passing the Barrier somehow), the Crucible began to break apart within Earth's atmosphere. A piece of the Crucible broke off and was taken by MGOD, who stored it on the Moon.

On Earth, things got further complicated. Malenia and Miquella were attracted to the sealed Western Continent due to the 2 Rot Characteristics there, trapping them away from the rest. Trinia Saint-Gold was injured on landing and began to lose control, forcing Gilgamesh to remove the Uniqueness from "Him". They then all entered hibernation.

## 2nd Epoch

When the Sun God began to rise in power, Gilgamesh used "His" limited control over the Crucible to join the Sun God's forces. Paragon and Gilgamesh eventually became two King of Angels serving the Sun God alongside Sasrir, Adam and Amon.

On the Western Continent, Miquella and Malenia used the majority portion of the Crucible that remained to create "their" joint Divine Kingdom. During this period, the Crucible took the form of the Erdtree and the Haligtree. The Golden Order was formed during this time, allowing the twins to segemnt "Their" rule over the Continent.

Trinia received the most damage during the landing so slept for longer. During "His" sleep, the portion of the Crucible under "His" control manifested as the Golden Sea and surged out, corrupting anything it touched. To contain it, Gilgamesh and Paragon built "Their" Divine Kingdoms on top of Trinia's sleeping place.

Paragon used the Crucible to revive "Her" twin children: Castor and Pollux

## 3rd Epoch

The Crucible made a slight appearance near the end of the 3rd Epoch during Rose Redemption's attack on the Sun God. Gilgamesh, Paragon and Trinia combined their Authority over the Sefiroth to weaken the Sun God and allow the others to kill "Him".

## 4th Epoch

Gilgamesh used the Crucible to purge the corruption gathering in "His" body and remain sane when conversing with both True Creator and the Outer Deities, such as Mother Goddess of Depravity and Mother Tree of Desire.

Gilgamesh used the Crucible to forcefully gather the Authorities of the Fool, Door and Error Pathways, using them to alter history as a pseudo Lord of the Mysteries.

## 5th Epoch

Gilgamesh, Trinia and Paragon made use of the Sefirah to complete their Godhood Rituals.

When Miquella and Malenia were freed from the Western Continent, Miquella went to the Moon and regained the split portion of the Crucible. "He" then used it to become Sequence 0-Empyrean.

He also used it to supress the growing influence of Zerothrial, the original Sovereign and the Original Creator. The Crucible was used to smelt down Gilgamesh, Trinia, paragon, Malenia and Miquella and give form to Lazarus Asmodeus. "He" then took the Crucible away from Earth and deeper into the Cosmos, awaiting the arrival of the Void.

## Powers and Abilities

The Crucible has many properties, the main one being a boost to the Beyonder powers of its Pathways. The exact boosts it gives are unknown, but the 5 King of Angels from the Sovereign Groupway (except from Trinia) possess power to rival Above the Sequence Gods after being continuously submerged in the Crucible for hundreds of thousands of years. Here is a list of confirmed powers:

* The Crucible can block out all forms of Divination and Prying

* The Crucible can supress nearly everything on Earth, ranging from Uniqueness' to Gods. The only thing it cant supress would be a fellow Sefiroth.

* The Crucible can boost a Beyonder of the Sovereign Group to Angel level without them actually being an Angel

* The Crucible can create Beyonder Characteristics up to Sequence 2 for any Pathway if enough Beyonder Characteristics are exchanged

* The golden water of the Crucible can heal anything such as corruption from the Abyss, Cosmos and even the Void.

* The Crucible can grant complete immortality to Beyonders by "grafting" their souls to it.
	+ If the Beyonder dies, their soul is transported to the Crucible where a new body can be produced
		- They don not keep their Characteristic(s)
		- If the soul is completely destroyed, the Crucible cannot resurrect them
	+ The Cult of Kosmos uses this to keep their Sages alive.
* At Sequence 0, Miquella was able to bind the souls of the others to form a collective conscious version of the Sovereign of the Cosmos.
	+ This was accomplished without the need for anyone to drop down: "They" can still separate, retain Sequence 0 status and use some of the power of an Above the Sequence.

## Risks and dangers

The Crucible possesses sentience and a malignant will towards Beyonders of the Sovereign Pathways. It actively stunts the growth of High-Sequence Beyonders and makes them unstable. This has led to none of the King of Angels being able to ascend to Sequence 0 without the risk of dying, going insane or being taken over the Zerothrial.

Even Miquella, considered the vessel and incarnation of the Crucible, is held back form Godhood. This leads to further instability within the Crucible, as it is fighting its urge to Converge into the Sovereign and also to stop people from becoming the Sovereign. Coupled with the Crucible being split into 2 pieces makes it mostly inaccessible and incredible difficult to accommodate.

* Those submerged within the Crucible suffer damage after being ejected
	+ The Sages of Kosmos all suffered brain damage or lacked humanity after being spat out
	+ Pollux became autistic after the Crucible revived "Her"
	+ Castor was forcefully switched to the Heaven Pathway, leaving "Him" unable to become a God under any circumstances

* Those who are connected to the Crucible are also under risk of scrutiny. If someone "hacks" into the Crucible's database, they can seize control of all the souls tied to it
	+ This allows you to view the person's memories and information without permission