There was no time, there was no space.
In the unknown place only the Being resided, there was no space for anything else.
The Being was DEATH, as all souls came here after their vessel disappeared.
The Being was END, because every soul turned into nothingness once it arrived here.
Every single soul-....wait....what if.....not every single soul did?
What if the soul of an existence whose strength couldn't be defined by mere words arrived here?
What if not only the soul arrived, but the whole vessel?
What if this miraculous yet impossible occurrence happened?
What if this impossibility was broken by the sheer strength this existence carried?
This existence couldn't fight against the nature of the Being, his vessel disappeared under the strength of the Being, and his soul was promptly dissolved.
That was a fact, nothing, no matter the Plane of Existence and the Power they held, could exist here other than the Being.
But this impossibility made a reality due to the nature of the existence that arrived, created a miracle, such was his nature.
A miracle within a miracle, the impossibility inside the impossible.
What if a little fragment of the soul of this existence was held together?
What if after getting separated and dissolved, the tiniest fragment still had a will of its own?
What if this fragment still had a desire?
What if this desire was to explore the unexplored, see the unseen and know the unknowable?
What if this desire allowed this mere speckle of the soul to resist being sent away from the Being, just on pure instinct?
What if this fragment, in its struggles, took away a little bit of the being within it when it was sent away?
What if the vessel this fragment, now with a tiny bit of the Being adhered to it, somehow adapted to it?
What if, in one of the infinite realities and universes, all these 'what ifs' were fulfilled?
Wouldn't that mean that some existence would carry not only his own soul but a bit of the Being within it?
Wouldn't that mean that this vessel had something in common with the Being, something that would allow him to do things no one else was able to?
What if.....this vessel was called Kenshin?
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"I'm going" the Will of an existence was transmitted through reality, as mere space would crumble from their words.
":´`!"
"I know" receiving the Will of the existence in front of THEM, THEY nodded. "But this is my PATH."
"+/**-´´-"
"Even if WE disappear."
"^´çÇ*
"Even if WE cease to exist"
"*`?¿`+´´+Ç"
"Even so"
"....."
"This is my PATH" THEY smiled fearlessly, or that is what a normal person's face would have done. "Akivili, the Aeon of the Trailblaze, will always strive for the unknown, opening a way for those who follow."
"!*"
"I'm sure"
"....%&*"
And THEY crossed through the path the 'something' in front of THEM opened.
.
.
.
.
"So this is the end of all Paths" that was all the being mortals called Akivili said.
Akivili looked at the Being in front of him, and instantly knew what his fate would be.
Total disintegration, both body, mind and soul.
But it was not something to fear, Death was only a new Beginning.
Akivili saw his existence slowly crumble, nothing could remain here.
But that didn't mean he couldn't do anything.
Of course, not fighting, the Being in front of him couldn't be killed, maimed or hurt.
It was a TRUTH of the universe, a fact, a reality not even the power of those who held within them a Concept could change.
Akivili realized that this was the final frontier, the end of all roads.
And he was the one who conquered such places.
"This one is no different" Akivili fearlessly said.
He had seen frosty plains, volcanic eruptions, wonderful plains of every single color possible, flying mountains, breathing planets, living galaxies...
But his Path of the Trailblaze wasn't limited to that.
He had seen pain, he had seen happiness, he had seen sadness, he had seen euphoria.
And he had conquered all those places, everything that existed had already been conquered by Akivili, the Aeon of the Trailblaze.
And that gave the ones who followed his will, those who belonged to the Path of the Trailblaze, the strength to overcome everything.
Because Akivili had already paved the path for them.
And despite not being able to fight or hurt the End Of All Things, he didn't need to, his Path was not one judged by victory or defeat, by wins or loses, by violence or peace.
All he needed to do was to pave the way for those who would follow.
And in this case, what those who follow needed was a way to reach this place, and to go back home.
That was the entirety of what the existence called Akivili was.
So instead of regretting coming here, or lamenting leaving his followers behind, Akivili smiled, ready to leave his mark in this place where nothing could exist but the TRUTH in front of him.
"Let it be known" his Will travelled through everything in this place. "This is the final destination. If you arrived here, be proud, for this is the End of the Road."
He used all his power to conquer the unknown, and as such, something was created inside this place where nothing else could exist.
A mere thought, a mere thread, connecting the place he came from to this place.
A thread that for as long as people with the will to explore the unknown existed, would continuously appear.
Spending all his power, Alivili met his end with a smile.
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Kenshin's soul was absorbed by the portal that appeared in Teyvat skies, and brought to the place it once came from.
His soul slowly dissipated, all memories forgotten, and with it all the affection and love he could have once held for his loved ones.
His soul was the strongest one Teyvat had ever seen, it was not the biggest, but it was the purest one.
After all, he carried a bit of the Being within him that allowed him to see and manipulate souls, there was no way any soul could be purer than his.
But even his soul couldn't resist the pure nature of the Being.
Was the Being an existence that nurtured himself with all the memories these souls had, and that dissipated when getting dissolved within it?
Who knows.
But the fact didn't change, Kenshin's soul dissipated.
But....what if, just before disappearing completely, a faint threat touched it?
A miracle, obviously, inside the infinite space, the probability of encountering such a thread was as big as getting the exact same glass of water after throwing said glass of water at the ocean and filling the glass again after a thousand years passed.
And yet, those were the kind of existence Aeons were, existences that made the impossible a reality.
So when the soul of the being called Kenshin touched this thread... something happened.
A desire was born in this tiny fragment, a desire to move, to not surrender to this place.
And this desire is what made the soul follow the thread.
It was extremely tiring, as the fragment had to dig its way outside the Being, but the thread was giving it strength.
A strength born out of the will of those followers of Akivili, that allowed this fragment to slowly advance.
There was no time and space in this location, so no one could quantify the time it took for the little fragment to escape.
A second, a million years, a month....
Time is a concept sentient beings created to put some order in their life, but it held no meaning here, after all, no sentient being could be here.
But the fragment finally reached the end of the thread.
If we had to explain the situation the fragment found himself in, it was in front of a wall.
The thread that the fragment had been following had suddenly ended, so the fragment couldn't follow anymore.
But something within the fragment held the answer.
If the Path has no road...you build it.
Something told the fragment that this was its purpose, its reason for being.
To create a Path for others to follow.
With this, the fragment finally knew what to do.
It tuned INTO the thread, and kept advancing.
And the wall broke, sucking the fragment away from the Being, and closing immediately after.
.
.
.
.
.
A wave coursed through the universe following the apparition of this portal that closed immediately after the little fragment closed.
A wave only the highest echelon of power was able to discern and identify.
But for a second, every single being with a soul shared one feeling, fear.
Because everyone feared the End.
Not death, many people wanted to die for one reason or another, but the End was something every soul feared.
Those strong existences felt different things.
Some of them fear, others wariness, others curiosity, others hatred, others happiness, but only one felt nothing.
THEY were Nihility after all.
But as the feeling left as soon as it came, it all ended in a scare. A scare that made those powerful existences take note of it.
The little fragment felt exhausted, opening that portal so small that even trying to measure it was already going overboard, was too tiring.
But the thread that had guided him out of the Being was now a huge rope, as those who inherited the Will of Akivili were now in the same universe, and it gave the little fragment energy enough to sustain itself even in the absence of a vessel.
But of course, if you pull from a thread, the other side will notice.
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"Huff" a red-headed teenager fell exhausted in the lavishly decorated wagon. "To think it would be that tiring..."
"You dirtied the floor again!" a little being with rabbit ears and big blue eyes shouted in anger.
"Sorry Pom-pom" Himeko apologetically said. "I was too tired after negotiating with those stuck-up merchants."
"That is not an excuse to make the train dirty!" the little being called Pom-Pom wasn't swallowing such a weak excuse.
"I will help you clean" offered Himeko, who even after 10 years traveling in the Star Rail, a relic built by the Aeon of the Trailblaze himself, wasn't used to making the little adorable creature angry.
"No!" despite offering to help, Pom-Pom shouted in anger. "Cleaning is MY job!"
"Okay okay" Himeko wryly smiled raising her hands.
But before she could continue, a shiver passed through her body. It was very brief, but the old her body felt was the only proof she needed to know that she didn't imagine it.
"What was that?" she had seen a lot of things the little scared girl who found the damaged Star Rail couldn't have even imagined, but it was her first time feeling something like this.
But just after, another sensation assaulted her.
It wasn't fear, sadness or happiness.
She suddenly felt.....at home.
As if something dear to her had appeared.
Of course, not dear as the feeling of love, but something important nonetheless.
"Pom-Pom?" a confused Himeko asked, hoping that the little creature knew something.
But Pom-Pom was looking at the space in a certain direction, unmoving and alert.
The whole wagon trembled making Himeko fall to the ground in surprise when the Star Rail started moving without her input, something she knew was impossible as she was the one this relic recognized.
"Master...."
Pom-Pom's words made Himeko open her eyes in surprise.
She was the one the Star Raili recognized, what did the appearance of someone with more authority over the train than her meant?
'No no' Himeko thought with determination blazing in her red eyes. 'I spent years repairing the Star Rail, I'm not giving it away'.
"We are here...." Pom-Pom distracted voice made Himeko jump again in surprise.
"It's been 5 minutes, what do you mean we are here?" asked Himeko, looking outside the window. "There is nothing here."
"I followed the thread" was all Pom-Pom mysteriously said.
Pom-Pom quickly left the wagon and Himeko followed him, not willing to lose the one in charge of the train that easily.
But by the time she caught up with the deceptively fast little creature, her lower jaw hit the floor.
Because there was a shining purple thing on Pom-Pom's paw.
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Once upon a time, there was a Plane with green grass, a cool breeze and a stony floor under the soft soil covering it.
Now, only a dried moor was left, not a single speck of green remaining.
A dried-up trunk was all that remained from a majestic tree that had once covered the whole sky with its purple and golden leaves.
The colorful orbs that had once danced around in happiness were immobile and dulled, almost as if they had no connection to whatever was giving them energy.
But....one of them had the tiniest of glows.
A deep purple one, strikingly similar to the one the leaves once had.
And on the branch above it, a single purple leaf came back to life.