"Apophus." Came a voice in the empty void of space. Even though there was no sound in space, the voice still found its way to the serpent's ears.
The massive coiling beast halted its advancement, its head turning to face the newcomer.
"Sssention…' the serpent, Apophus, hissed.
Sention, one of the nine Genesis Gods, being greater than that of gods or Titans or demons. The Genesis Gods are the ones that created reality and created the gods and Titans, who, in turn, gods made the stars, and Titans forged the planets.
Apophus was also one of the Genesis Gods, his job was to destroy any threat to reality. This was the first time he's ever woken, nothing has ever threatened reality before. Azazel was close, but not quite there, but Akuro… his presence was the greatest threat to exist.
Sention watched over the paths of reality and knew all futures, his job was to avoid the end of reality by interfering when needed.
"Why do you cross my path, Sention?" Apophus hissed.
"Because. This isn't the move. You will have a part in this, but not yet." Sention spoke.
"What? The longer that thing exists the stronger it gets.. soon even I will be unable to exterminate it."
"You don't need to do anything yet. Fate is already out, the strings are taught and the path is set. We don't even need to lift a finger, not until the right moment." Sention explained.
Sention was a beautiful being, his skin was a dark complexion and he had the presence of a king, exuding confidence with every fiber of his being. He had long, braided black hair and gold rings hung from his ears and were about his fingers. His eyes were azure while he wore black robes with gold and azure lining. A thing ribbon was wound between his arms and flowed around his back. Tattoos could be seen covering his lower arms, as the sleeves were rolled up, while golden bracelets were about his wrists.
On all sides of them, all you could see were the colors of the galaxies, so far yet so vivid. The stars glimmered against the black canvas, some brighter than others.
Apophus coiled it's body over itself. "Fine…" it hissed, "I shall play along."
•
•
•
Void sat in the stone chamber alone. The room was vast, the craftsmanship of the building exquisite. The air was cold and shadows clung to every wall. A boy sat across from her, wrapped from head to toe in cloth, a hood pulled over his head as the light of his green eyes lit his features. Void wore a similar outfit, except her eyes gave off a nightshade blue light.
A soft hiss resounded through the chamber as a vortex of black aura formed in the center of the room. Through it came a figure, Akuro, followed by a girl, Emma. Then came Azazel, the vortex cackling before it was sucked into the Demon God's hand.
"Took you long enough." Void said, her voice like church bells on a spring day.
"Sorry, I was having some fun with my little pets." Azazel hissed.
Akuro's eyes were locked on Void. He was unable to look away, his cold crimson locked on her dark blue.
"Can I help you?" Void asked, pretending not to know who Akuro was.
Akuro looked her up and down once, then averted his eyes, observing his surroundings.
"Where are we?" He asked.
"The Obnirealm." The boy who sat across from Void spoke.
"The Obnirealm?"
"Yes." Azazel said, "have you heard the saying 'As Above So Below'?"
"Yes. It has to do with hell and earth."
"Yes, at least to mortals it does. What I really means is the reverse realm, the shadows of light. The normal world, where you are from, Midrealm, is the above. This," Azazel motioned to the whole chamber, "is the below. Basically everything here is opposite to there."
"Every thing here is dark cold and bloody. Death follows every corner and suffering is sowed into the land, while shadows are stitched into every wall." Void explained. "This is basically just the dark reality. It's our hideout."
"Why am I here?" Akuro asked. He understood what they meant, he just didn't know the purpose of coming there.
"To tell you everything." The boy spoke. "Also, my name is Kasziel. I am one of the Genesis Gods."
"Genesis Gods?" Akuro inquired.
"While the gods may have created the stars, and the Titans created the planets, have you ever wondered who made them?" Kasziel explained. "The nine Genesis Gods are the original beings. The first things to exist. We literally created all realities."
"Nine?"
"Correct. There are nine of us, although, I'm kind of the out cast. The others hate me."
"Why?"
"Because." Kasziel's voice went cold. "I want to destroy what they made."
"Kasziel is the one who organized everything." Azazel explained. "His is our leader, our voice."
"And what exactly is the purpose of destroying everything?" Akuro asked. "I don't understand, it just seems like senseless chaos."
"Wrong." Kasziel said. "There is a reason. All of the realities are flawed. Do you know why?"
"Explain."
"Do you know the never ending pattern of every reality? It starts as nothing, then the gods create stars, the Titans make worlds, yada yada. But, every time this happens, every thing comes to end. Whether it be by war, conflict, or natural disasters, such as black holes, everything ends. I don't know why, none of us do. Reality breaks, and then splits off and makes new ones, starting over. But that's not the purpose of creating reality.
"There were never meant to be multiple realities, there was only ever meant to be one, and the more there are, the more my mind falls apart and my power wanes.. soon, if realities keep being created, my mind will shatter completely. And then everything will end. Including the Genesis Gods."
"What do you mean?" Akuro asked. "Is reality linked to you?"
"Yes." Kasziel answered. "It's kind of how you are linked to the element of death itself. But you see, I am the creator of reality. Every single one of the Genesis Gods has a purpose. Metrina keeps balance between the power of the Genesis Gods, Velistan is the creator of aura and life, all aura you possess comes from him, while Sention controls the futures and his job is to avoid ultimate end to reality. While Apophus is the interference, his job is to eliminate all threats to reality. My job is to keep reality in tact.
There are others. But that gives you the main idea. The original idea was to make one reality, where we could focus our attention on creating the ultimate universe of peace and joy, but conflict rose between the gods and the Titans, resulting in the end of the first reality. But, when a reality ends, three more are made, sometimes more than that, and every one of them repeats the same events but with different actions or results, but the ending is always the same, he reality ends. I can't handle all these realities. My mind will break. And everything will end.
"That's why I have you all to help me. I need your help in my goal to end all realities, reset everything, and then recreate one singular reality."
"Why can't you choose one to keep and destroy the others?" Akuro asked.
"Because, conflict is down deeply into all of them. Especially yours. They all need a factory reset."
"The beginning to a new ending." Azazel spoke. "We end everything, to create a new story, with a new result."
"Huh." Akuro glanced at Azazel. It wasn't right. Akuro clearly remembered Azazel saying something about wanting to destroy reality and recreate it in his own image.. he had alternative motives. Not that it mattered. Akuro could care less. All he wanted was strength.
"I do have bad news though." Kasziel said. "Apophus will come for you soon. He is not very intelligent, he acts purely on instinct, a predator, and his job is to kill beings like you since you threaten reality. Even if we have a good goal in mind, he will come for you soon. I am too weak to fight him. The goal here is to make you strong enough to hold him off."
"Hold him off, huh?" Akuro spoke. "How would I get enough power to do that?"
"You already have the power. Reality bending is unique and an all powerful ability. Not even the gods possess it, even if they pretend they do. I am truly the only being to have that power.. until you." Kasziel spoke.
"You are the one, Akuro, the one we've been waiting for. You are the answer to it all, the ender of all things, and the creator of all things. You truly are death incarnate." Void added.
•
•
•
It's been two days since Akuro had left them. Deeming Fort Arashi's current position unsafe, the base was moved. Now they hid out within the vast deserts of Egypt, somewhere within the Sahara. It was in the middle of nowhere and the new fort was built into a large rock face, making it difficult to spot. Kessana's aura shrouded the fort, making it impossible to sense it. This way they were safe from gods or anything else.
Inari had not left her room since the move, she has stayed hidden away behind a shut door. Both Onoma and Darius had attempted to speak with her, but she didn't answer any of them. She felt broken to her core. She felt like a part of her had been taken when Akuro left. Not just that but she felt guilt. She knew it was stupid of her, but she couldn't help but feel guilty for Zealous's death. When she saw the state Kessana, the twins, Tetsuno, Xell, all of them, were in, she couldn't help but feel guilty. Like it was her fault for being unable to stop Akuro from the start.
She lay on her stomach, sinking into her bed, face buried into the pillow. She wrapped the blanket about her tightly and tried to sleep. The curtains were drawn, blocking out any light and making her room dark and dreary. Her pillow had been soaked in tears, and now her head hurt and her eyes were tired. She probably should get up and get some water, maybe some food, but she didn't have the energy, even though her stomach growled at her and she felt like it was eating itself.
She lost all will to take care of herself. She didn't mover from her bed since the day they arrived in the new location, and she didn't plan on moving anytime soon. All she could think of was Akuro.
She didn't understand how she could feel this way for someone who had always kept her at arms length.. but she knew, deep down, he had done that because he didn't want her to be hurt. He was protecting her. His eyes were cold, but they always had a softness to them, a specially when he looked at her. She knew he cared… but when he changed that day.. his eyes.. they were sharp, cold, and emotionless… soulless. That wasn't the same Akuro she loved. Did she love him? Is that what this was? Love? Is that why her heart hurt so much? Because she loved him..? Is that why she missed him so much? Missed his voice.. his face.. his eyes.. his confidence.. his warmth…
New tears welled in her eyes. Most times crying was relieving, it felt good, but sometimes, when you cry so much, it just hurts. Your head hurts, your eyes hurt, your heart hurts, you can feel yourself breaking, feel yourself losing a grip on everything and falling to piece. You can feel as each and every crack splits across your heart until it eventually shatters and breaks. Hot tears rolled down Inari's cheeks, soaking the pillow yet again.
Why did she hurt so much… why.. why.. why! Why did Akuro have to go! Why couldn't she stop him! Why was she so in love with him… why was it so one sided..
She screamed into her pillow, and outside her room, Darius's hand stopped a breath away from her door. He could hear her pain, and he felt wrong, he didn't think he was the one she wanted to see, even if he wanted to see her. He lowered his hand, and walked away.