Perspective of Athín Noctuas

Nowhere, 0

Darkness swallowed me, but not all at once like you’d expect. It began how all things begin; I was bored. There was nothing. All around there was a vast amount of nothing. No darkness nor light. No sound nor silence. Simply an existence, or rather a consciousness, in a vacuum-like reality. I was alone in this vast existence, grasping at memories just beyond reach.

Unknown eyes watched my cosmic body, as I descended into an empty green plane where the only sound was the rustling of wind through shallow grass. This lifeless place screamed my name, a word I had long since forgotten in my solitude. I followed the echo until it became less than a whisper. A whisper from the jaws of a great beast, even older than I. They whispered to me my own secrets as their eyes snuck into my chest. Rapturous voices wallowed through my head, screeching future’s words. A future where the wisp mother leads her army of the dead to rip the life from the land and shred the fabric of the universe. A future where her cold hands roam my chest, and rip my heart out. The beast then opened its mouth, so wide I could see down its throat, and it swallowed me whole.

I couldn’t stand this empty vastness anymore. The panicked solitude. I opened my eyes for the first time in many millennia and carpeted the vastness around me with flecks of light. They shone and twinkled against their black background, bringing me the gentlest comfort. Somewhere away from the hell I’d created. My dream was right, as dreams usually are-- I couldn’t exist this way forever. Sooner or later, something big would come, and it would consume me.

I shaped a leading star and beautiful planets pulled in orbit around it. One though, was special. I protected it with a soft layer of air, allowing gentle, swaying plants to take over the land and the seas. It still felt empty…

I touched the land which nursed its newfound flora. I tore small parts of my body and shaped them. Their lungs, eyes, heart. I spread these new forms of life to every corner and crack of the land. I myself took a new form, one that could easier benefit from this place I’d created. Something simple, feral and strong. My home, Melnia, grew through my paws and cushioned my feet. There was one last thing I needed: company. Though the strength of my powers was lost through my transformation, I was not yet finished. I decided that I’d simply find another way. I tore away parts of my body, each soaked in my blood. I formed these into the gentle form of my beloved. Her body was soft, yet strong. I formed her long willowing fur and put the sparkle of the stars in her eyes. When I had finished, I breathed an equal amount of life from me into her, and curled by her side to rest.