The Shadow remembered the first breath of creation. That great sigh that rippled through the Void, bringing with it awareness and a litany of souls. It had been born before that first breath, leaving it, a few lesser souls, and the Great One alone in the Void. The Void, which harmed neither it nor the Great One, yet would destroy the lesser souls in an instant. Curiosity had driven it to explore the empty vastness some, though it never strayed too far from the Great One as They toyed with those beings They had created.
Instinctually, it knew the two were connected, it and the Great One. It could see hints of memories that were yet to be revealed, feelings that were yet to be unleashed within that mighty being. And it celebrated the fact that none knew the Great One better than itself.
The Shadow had remained silent through it all, content in the silent solitude, content with the company it kept. The aura of the Great One was loving and careful, gentle in its actions and nature, embracing all before it. Joyous, however, had been the time which the Great One had created more companions, four greater souls than those who had first been born – yet lesser than itself – that clambered about the Great One in their excitement at life. The Shadow of that time, though it had yet to take that mantle, had found itself annoyed by the Four’s energy and excitement. But who was it to complain about more siblings? They could not brave the Void like it could, but siblings were siblings, and in time they, too, could be taught to brave the emptiness.
First it had to figure out how to speak to them, however, as its time in silence had wrapped the notion around itself like a cloak, hiding it away from even the Great One. Then it could teach them to brave the Void.
But the Great One was more magnanimous than it, and created a place of safety for those lesser beings.
With a flash and a roar, suddenly there were more things about it. Substance was odd, and uncomfortable. The Shadow far preferred the emptiness of the Void, the solitude it provided and inner reflection that came about with silence and solitude. The chaos that was substance was far too loud, and it sought a touch of silence, drifting away from its siblings and creators to seek its own comfort. Something to keep the noise at bay – it had nearly found it, at the edges, near where the Chaos met the Void, when The Others started to twist the Great One’s creation.
It was an explosion of white and black that knocked it off its heels, two of the Four running amok in…in tainted forms! The bodies they took were blasphemous, a mockery of the perfect souls the Great One had created them as, but was nothing compared to the fact that they dared to take the Great One’s creation, and turn it in their own images! The Shadow was forced to watch, lurking on the edges as its newborn siblings wrought changes into the Great One’s universe, creating Realms in the Great One’s perfect, simple, chaotic universe.
How dare they? How dare they alter the Great One’s design?! And how dare it indulge them, balancing their abominable creations?! The Shadow slunk further away, watching closely as the Great One sat back and observed its creations and the creations of its children. And it stayed hidden, trying to figure out what the point of all this was, watching all beings from its spot on the fringes. And, to its mounting horror, as it gazed upon the Great One, it came to a realization.
The Great One was lesser now. They had surrendered much of Their power, much of Their self, to create the children and this place. Their power was imbued in all things, but no longer was it apart of itself – Their glory had been lessened. The Shadow scowled. It would have to tell the Great One, somehow, stop it from making any more mistakes.
“LET THERE BE LIGHT.”
The words echoed out from the Great One, radiating through all of creation and bringing with it a searing, burning pain. The Shadow’s howl of pain was lost in the din, scrabbling madly through the chaos as it sought a reprieve from the light of the Sun. It dug and dug, heat searing at it, light burning its nascent eyes – since when had it had eyes? – and only accidentally did it stumble upon its salvation. In the place where the substance of creation met the Void, the Shadow slipped through a crack and fell into a realm separated from all others. It was small, and tight, and confined, but at least it was safe. Silent. A space, hidden between the Void and Creation.
But it was not enough for it. Even now it could feel the Great One’s aura wane, shrinking to but a fraction of its previous glory. Horror gnawed at the Shadow’s gut, but it could not surface. Not with the pain of the Sun still lurking in the back of its mind. Instead it bit and clawed, pressing up against the walls of its safe little bubble and pushing it outward, creating lines and trenches through the Realms that none but it could traverse. A hidden realm beneath all of creation, a prison, only escapable by tunneling up into the Realms to create a doorway.
It watched as the children spread themselves out, building their Realms, while the Great One was content to sit back and watch, its very presence keeping the whole of creation stable.
It observed as more souls rose to power, absorbing energy and making it their own, taking from their parent without ever giving in return.
And it gazed hatefully at the damnable sun from the safety of its hole.
And it came to a conclusion, as it watched the Great One work, building new houses for the lesser souls to inhabit.
The Great One had forgotten what it was like, in the beginning. It had forgotten the blissful silence of the Void – the Four and its children had made it forget perfection. But it would remind them. They were too entrenched now for mere words to reach them, no. It had to show them. Perhaps it wouldn’t destroy everything, but most things. The chaos, at least, it could see a use for, to protect those miserable little souls who couldn’t live without the Great One’s presence in the Void.
And it would all start with the destruction of the Sun. After that, the rest of the Realms would come crumbling down. But it was not powerful enough yet. The Sun was too much for it, and it was certain the Four would fight against its plan.
So it slunk back into its caves and plotted and planned, braving the pain of the sun to steal away souls, twisting them to its own purposes. It lured them into its realm with whispers and promises, secreting them away and nurturing them with the most destructive elements of creation. Twisting them, swaying them to its side, letting their influences leak out in the Realms but never letting them free. It was a slow process, but it made headway in that time.
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But nothing could have prepared it for when the Great One created life.
It was terrible. The Shadow had no choice but to watch in horror as the Great One sacrificed bits of its own soul to create these foul beings, lesser creatures who scraped and begged and sniveled in the dirt, never appreciating the love and care the Great One – or even its siblings, the Four! – put in to their existence. They were ungrateful and hideous, with auras that were tainted and twisted, taking the Great One’s light and forcing it to suit their own petty deeds.
It couldn’t understand why. Why did the Great One love them so? Even these beasts. Why did it persist, yet still making its greater works? And why did it let the nascent gods roam free, doing as they will, making a mess of its perfection? The Great One dared to call it balance, not chaos.
The Shadow studied these lesser beasts, watching the spirits dart about them, energy leaking from their souls to nourish the realms. The energy was tainted and weak, colored with foul emotions…nothing that the Great One would likely touch, letting it sink into the Realms to be purified naturally. And in that, the Shadow saw an opportunity. It scooped up the energy and devoured it, a delicious feeling shivering down its spine, adding to its own abilities. To its surprise the more it ate, the less the light of the Sun affected it; it licked its metaphorical lips, scooping up as much as it could and devouring greedily.
After thousands of years of eating and learning how to get the beasts to release more of this dark energy, it had an idea. The longer it stayed in the Realms, the likelier the chances of being discovered. Surprise was on its side, for now, and it would be best to keep it that way. So, in an act that shamed the Shadow greatly, it mimicked its siblings, twisting its own hidden realm to be accepting of life. Then it stole a few of the beasts and dragged them into its realm, copying the Great One in how to nurture this life.
A farm. That is what it made, and it devoured the dark energy created from it gleefully, sharing some with those souls whom it had tempted.
But nothing compared to the creation of the Fae. Oh, how terrible their creation was to the Great One, sending Them into a deep sleep from which it had feared They would never emerge. And they dared to curse Their name – dared to blame the Great One and leverage hate against them! Unforgivable! How dare they?!
The Shadow turned its wrath upon them, tempting these beings, scaring them, tricking them into self-destruction and, to its immense surprise, finding that they produced as much if not more energy than the beasts. But they were less easily molded, which made them less useful to its purposes.
The Shadow still stole a few away, whispers among the mortals going around of a shadow that steals children in the night. The gods wrote it off as mortal superstition, and the Shadow cackled with glee as it continued to search and research, tormenting those foolish Fae who slipped into its grasp. Its power grew by leaps and bounds, until, one day, something in the Void drew its attention.
Something was out there, lurking about, and it called the being to the Four Realms. A blue shield of power prevented the Shadow from venturing too far away, so it had to lure it in instead. And lure it did; the being was mighty, and skilled, but driven mad from loneliness in the Void which made it an easy target. The Shadow whispered to it, making empty promises, tainting its will further with the Void, then unleashed it upon the Realms.
The destruction it caused was lovely, the dark energy produced by the chaos thick and delicious. Though the Shadow had never intended to provoke the Void. Watching the Great One lose an arm to protect creation had only firmed its resolve, however. If these whelps were not properly grateful to the Great One, who would sacrifice so much for them and their safety, then they did not deserve to live. The Shadow hated them all, all of them! Even the Four, who had been so corrupted by life and creation that they dared to make beings like the Fae, as if they would ever be able to live up to the Great One’s vision!
In a fit of anger, the Shadow did something it never would have done otherwise. It stole drops of the Great One’s divine, golden blood, shards of the Void, and devoured them both.
It took centuries to assimilate them. But when it did, its power grew even greater. While none of the Four would have been a match for it before, now it was at the pinnacle of its power. But its forces were not, and powerful though it might be, the Shadow alone was no match for all the gods working together. Especially not with the Four now aware of their own weakness, and striving to strengthen themselves. Their awareness came too late, in the Shadow’s opinion. Only now did they try to give back to the Great One? Foolishness.
The answer to this dilemma came from the Great One itself, in the creation of the angels. Fu Hao and Stilicho.
They were among the only beings the Shadow truly respected. They, of all the Great One’s children, elected to dedicate themselves wholly to the Great One’s will. Hopefully they could be spared in the coming war. And while the Shadow dared not create an angel, for it was even unsure if it could, it could twist the spirits it already had and steal new ones away, raising them to become angels. Angels that pledged themselves to the Shadow and its purpose. Angels whose only goal was the destruction of the Four Realms, and the return of creation to perfection.
Sacrificial pawns, in other words.
But what surprised it the most was when the Fool found it.
Of all beings, even the Great One, it was the Fool who found the Shadow first, and begged it for knowledge and power. At first it had been cautious, thinking it a trick, but had quickly come around. It could see the dark energy swirling about the Fool’s heart, clouding their judgement, separating them from the Great One’s guidance.
A very powerful puppet had just fallen into the Shadow’s clutches, and it was loathe to let them go. It bound the Fool with dark magic, taking away senses of reason and logic, separating its heart from emotion in exchange for what it called ‘power.’ Fool indeed. There was only one power, and it came from the Great One. Something it would carve into the soul of every single being that called the damnable Realms home; there was only one perfection, and it came from the Great One.
Even if it was too kind, too willfully ignorant to make them see that.
The Great One’s heart was too big. The Shadow’s was not. It tried to bide its time, but the Great One became impatient and sequestered itself away to build power. The Shadow scowled – impatience did not suit the Great One, but it did force the Shadow to move. Its forces were not ready to take on the Realms…but as it plotted, and planned, a realization came to it. It didn’t need to overpower the gods. It didn’t need to outfight them. It just needed to outplay them. And a plan came to mind, one that aligned with its goals perfectly – though it rankled the Shadow to resort to such…blasphemous measures, twisting things against the Great One’s vision.
It had to wait until the perfect time, however. Until the last possible minute, to make its moves as damning as possible – that time when the Great One was well and truly sequestered away, unable to move for the power They were building for another of its Great Creations.
Not just because the Great One was sequestered away, and could not intervene (though, it realized, it needed to have a plan for such an event.) But to also show them that the Shadow was right. They had been blinded by the light, and it was the Shadow’s duty to remind them of the dark. A grin spread across the Shadow’s maw, having built a form for itself over the course of the endless eons, savage and menacing as it opened its hidden realm to the greater Realms.
It was time to remind them all what they had forgotten. It was time to remind the Great One who They were, and make Them forget those silly past lives that colored Their thoughts. It was time for war. It was time to destroy the Four Realms.
The question was, which did it start with first? Devouring the Sun, or destroying the Tree? It bared its fangs, feeling the endless hunger of the void within it. Why not both?
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