Prologue
In a lonely shack on the Path of Black Leaves sits a man. The shack is ramshackle, simple, and bare, containing only a table and two chairs. After all, there is no need for anything else. Food, shelter, and other forms of sustenance mean nothing on the path. The shack simply serves as a place for meetings.
The man inside is a man with no name, and many names. He is no one, and he is many. He is a ghost, an idea, someone who cannot exist. Let us call this man the Oracle, as he has the sight to see his own pasts, presents, and futures. He wears a blindfold over his eyes--not because he is blind (though in some worlds, he is) but because he sees so much. His sight is so potent that his only way of retaining some semblance of himself is to filter it out.
You may know him as the Messenger. Or perhaps Justice. Or maybe even Alan. These are, however, only the ghosts of a person who exist within him--and yet, separate from him.
So, if you find yourself on the Path, standing at the door of the Oracle’s shack, will you step inside? And if you do, which Oracle will be inside waiting for you?
The Broken Man: Justice
What happens when a man fights and fights to stay alive and stay safe, only to lose everyone around him despite his efforts? You may already be familiar with this man named Justice, who was thoroughly broken and responded by giving up. He has let himself become an empty vessel, allowing him to easily tap into the powers of the Oracle to let the Slender Man speak through him. While there are several incarnations of Justice, it could be argued that it is primarily this incarnation of Justice that gives the Oracle his powers.
While Justice has allowed himself to become an empty vessel and has killed his past self, there are still a few things he bitterly holds onto--namely TE-119H, formerly known as Poe, the woman he loved. He specifically transferred the former caretaker, Eddie, to provide himself an opportunity to frequently visit her. He would sit silently by her for long periods of time, often holding her. In those moments, he allowed himself a fragment of lucidity where he became more of his former self. However, this only brought him pain, as the only indication that there was any trace of Poe left was that she would calm down when he held her.
Justice’s administration was a rough one at first. He often made decisions based on emotion, and saw them fail again and again. However, roughly a year later, TE-119H died. In addition, In addition, his former Handler, Tempest, was killed, and his aide Turtle ran off with Nee-chan, one of his best Hunters and the only person in the organization that he knew well. Justice knew his emotions had resulted in many of these decisions, and he killed his former self even further. His meditation upon the Path began to occupy more and more of his time, and he was able to successfully let the Slender Man speak through him. The divisions under his control very quickly turned around, and he was soon given control of more.
At this point, the Highest are considering welcoming him into their inner circle, but at the moment it is only a consideration. After all, he does not communicate well with others, and honestly, many of them fear his power a bit. It makes no difference to Justice. He simply walks the Path, seeking what needs to be done.
The Dark Messenger: Prophet
Humans are, at their core, creatures of fear and preservation. They lust for power not to sate their greed, but out of cowardice. The only true way to keep yourself from being at risk is to accumulate power. It takes a weak, weak man to so willingly sacrifice everything that doesn’t matter to protect everything that does. And the Messenger was a weak, weak man.
While the Messenger who became Justice was constantly torn, daring to push back against his oppressors, the one who became Prophet never allowed himself to question whether or not he was right. After the death of his friend Caper, he became afraid of what would happen to him if he dared to rebell as well. So instead of being indecisive and going behind the organization’s back, he began brown nosing. If Poe showed signs of hesitation, he would talk sense into her (or at least what he believed was sense). Poisoned by his fear, she became who he wanted and needed by his side. And he aided in her work. There was no thought of running in his mind, but he allowed others to believe there was. He put on a hesitant face for them, faking close bonds with them to gain access to information they definitely should not be telling him. As Poe was a Tracker, tasked with finding runners, he was essentially supplying her with a barrel full of fish to shoot.
But as he was, he could only do so much. After all, he was too much of a coward to take action himself, to put himself on the line like his coworkers did. So when the Oracle at the time offered to groom him for the position, he gladly accepted the chance to have more control over his life while still keeping himself safe. He took over the position of Oracle, and in the process, took the name Prophet.
Does Prophet still fear? Of course. More power only breeds more paranoia. But now, people fear him as well.
The Fugitive: The Messenger
What if the Messenger had decided to cut his losses? What if, instead of waiting until he lost everything, he took what he had and he ran? There is a Messenger who, upon finding out about Poe’s conflict with her partner Screwtape, ran. Fled the organization.
The Messenger was too gentle a man, had too much of a conscience to let the darkness swallow him. He, alongside Poe, became fugitives.
There is not much to say about this man, for his story was unfortunately cut short. The Fugitive Messenger is dead. Has been for years. Had he abandoned Poe, he may have lasted longer, as her unique nature as a former Husk drew the Slender Man towards them. However, had he abandoned her, the result may have been very much the same. After all, the Slender Man’s influence on Poe was something she was aware of. Call it instinct, call it prophecy, call it sixth sense, but she had an awareness that got her out of as many jams as it caused. The two of them survived for a little over two years before they met their end. It was two years of hell. But they never once regretted their decision, right up until the end.
While The Fugitive Messenger may be dead, a fragment of him still dwells within the Oracle. Like all the fragments, you may still find him as a ghost on the Path.
The Blind Man: Alan
Do you remember Alan’s brother, Kyle? Let’s suppose Alan never sacrificed himself for Kyle’s sake. Let’s say Kyle willingly joined the organization on his own. Kyle, unlike his brother, was a talented and charismatic speaker. He, like his brother did in so many worlds, took on the mantle of the Messenger and quickly became one of the faces of the organization. He quickly rose in the ranks and is currently studying to become one of the politicians the organization backs.
However, Alan does not live an ignorant life. Fate’s branches have ensnared him as well, and he has become the Abel to his brother’s Cain. Though unlike Abel, Alan still lives. His brother, despite being the one who has introduced the Slender Man into his life, is a persuasive man. He protects him, much like so many versions of the Messenger did for Kyle.
It seems that there is a fragment of the Oracle who is stupid enough to be brave. Alan engages in digital subterfuge, whether helping hide the online footprints of his fellow runners or outright sabotaging the organization his brother is a part of. He plays a dangerous game, but it’s one he’s managed to survive so far.
The Prophet of Justice: Apollo
Let’s say, by some chance, the man who became Justice...didn’t become Justice. Let’s say that, after losing everything, having his life fucking destroyed, seeing it all crumble around him...he fought on. He fell into the Path, and rather than being consumed, he clawed his way back out.
This man would be Apollo.
Let me tell you, the organization fucking hates Apollo. After all, he absconded with a whole lot of insider information. Apollo wasn’t supposed to happen. The Messenger wasn’t supposed to end up in the Path and somehow come out the other end sane.
Well. Relatively sane, at least.
After all, Apollo is as aware of his role as the Oracle as Justice and Prophet are. He just fights for the good guys. He knows a whoooooole lot. More than he should. That’s why he’s so dangerous to them. That’s also why he’s able to stay alive. Being able to see his possible futures, on top of being able to see through Dimensional Bleeding? Let’s just say it helps out in a pinch.
But fate can only be avoided for so long. Yggdrasil only has so many branches, and those branches only spit off into so many twigs. And let me tell you, I don’t think many of these branches bear fruit.
Apollo has the same issue that all of Oracle’s fragments has: his ability to travel the Path through time kinda hurts his ability to travel the Path through space. He can’t use it to teleport himself like so many seem to be able to do. Well, he usually can’t. He’s done it a few times. But it takes a lot out of him. That’s why, if he gets that rare chance, he has to use it to jump Branches. Usually it’s just through text. But his body has jumped Branches once before.
Well, twice now.
It’s not gonna happen a third time.
I’m Apollo, by the way. Don’t know if you’d picked up on that, yet. And I think I’m probably pretty boned at this point. I’ve run out of places to run. My luck’s blown up so badly that you should be calling me Apollo 13. So it’s time to announce myself to this Branch. It’s time for me to try to do one last bit of good.
Pretty sure this Branch has termites. I’m gonna do everything I can to prune it before it takes the whole fuckin’ Tree.
~Apollo