Chapter Text
Once upon a time, in the far distant past, there existed nothing at all. And then, as if by magic, there was something .
This something had no name. It was everything and nothing, all at once. And, with time, it grew into a they .
Soon, they had an entire realm all to themself. But they were lonely, and the being found within itself the power to create. It created all things, eventually; the bits of the universe that come together to form the whole - including a pair of godlings.
The three were happy together, for a time. But the being grew bored, and so they continued to create and create. They created the world, plants and animals, air and water. Eventually, they created humans, and other godlings, and the entirety of creation existed in harmony on a singular plane of existence.
The nameless one was content. An entire existence hung at the tips of their fingers, bending to their will, and it was perfect.
But, as with all things eternal, not even the nameless one could escape the fate of infinity. As time passed and the world grew older, the nameless one grew colder - distant from their creations. Always prone to flights of fancy, the nameless one found that their gift of creation could be stretched. Their creations were…malleable. Existence, after all, bent to their will. What was made could be unmade, or made differently.
Infinity, a blessing and a curse both, drove the nameless one mad.
This change came on slowly. It began with a simple creation - it’s a creature that explodes upon being threatened.
‘What a tragic existence,’ one of the original godlings says, ‘How terribly sad.’
‘It is lovely to watch the sparks smolder out.’ The nameless one says, and goes on to create more. The creatures begin to grow…worrisome. One, for instance, can only be comfortable when nearly fully submerged in lava; otherwise, it shakes and shivers until it eventually perishes from the cold. Others are doomed to never leave the water, for they can’t breathe air like most others can. The nameless one forms human bodies but refuses to give them the spark of life, resulting in soulless, rotted flesh shambling in the dark corners of the world, or cackling, picked-clean bones yearning for completion and willing to tear living beings asunder to find it.
Eventually, the nameless one grows bored of creating new beings and turns their attention to remolding what had already been created. The nameless one unleashes magic into the world, wild and unsparing. New beings were formed via sheer chance, resulting in some that thrived - such as the human-blaze hybrids - and some that failed - human-fish hybrids that suffocate upon being born if they are not immediately submerged in water. The magic impacts the lands, too; it warps the world in some parts, turning green trees red and water into lava, or disappearing entire swaths of ocean to leave behind sandy, hot deserts.
In the wake of a creator that did not care, the world trembled in anticipation for when the nameless one would grow truly bored and decide to wipe the entire universe clean.
Within this world existed the two first godlings. Created for the express purpose of alleviating the nameless one of their boredom, the two could be considered the prototypical friendship. Where one was, the other could be found. They often spent their days and nights together, discussing anything and everything. Sometimes they agreed - more often, they did not, but every argument ended in laughter and the understanding that through it all they would have each other.
‘Will we die, too, do you think?’ One asked.
‘Perhaps.’ The other answered. ‘If we do, it will be yet another adventure to share.’
‘That would be lovely.’ The first sighs. ‘But I would be so disappointed to see the world disappear. It’s beautiful, isn’t it?’
This godling, in contrast to her friend, had fallen deeply in love with the creations of the nameless one, particularly humanity. She had even gone so far as to make human friends and gain a human name - Kristin. Her friend did not care much for humanity, but she cared very deeply for Kristin and knew the depths of love that Kristin felt for the mortals, and so when Kristin asked her to help Kristin save them, the godling agreed without hesitation.
Together, they convinced their creator and friend, the nameless one, to start fresh in a new realm separate from the one that they had already filled. The nameless one, fond of them and having grown disinterested in their original realm, agreed. Though this realm was the original, it was not the only realm to exist - the nameless one opened the End to the godlings. The End was where the sparks that died went, though each would eventually pass on into a place that even the nameless one dared not touch.
The End was an eternal void. The nameless one soon begins to obsess with exploring it and often disappears for great lengths of time, simply wandering.
With the nameless one’s distraction, peace drifts over the world again.
Kristin and the godling were pleased that their plan had worked. But while the godling was content to exist in the End, Kristin was restless. She missed the other realm - the overworld, as she began to call it - and the mortals. Though the End is beautiful in its own way, it does not have the same plethora of creatures for Kristin to enjoy.
The godling saw that her dear friend was not happy in the End and went to the nameless one with a request. She asked that the nameless one use their gift to create a creature that Kristin would be able to call her own. The nameless one agreed, but asked a price for the deal. In exchange for this gift, the nameless one asked that the godling sacrifice something in return.
The godling, desperate to make her friend happy again, agreed and paid the price.
Soon, Kristin was gifted an egg. With wonder, Kristin cared for the egg until, one day, it hatched. Within the egg was a dragon with scales as dark as obsidian and eyes as bright as stars.
She radiated power, her very core a pulsing mix of magic not unlike Kristin's own core. Kristin recognized this power as her friend's and confronted her. When the godling confessed what she had done, Kristin was moved deeply. Kristin loved this gift, which she named Vespera. And Vespera loved her back - love for Kristin was baked into the very magic that made her, after all.
The godling was also fond of Vespera, though she had sacrificed much to make her. And so, for a time, the three of them and the younger godlings and the nameless one were happy and at peace within the End.
Unfortunately, that peace could not last.
Though the void was endless, the nameless one eventually grew bored. They turned their attention back to the overworld, and they found it lacking.
The nameless one began to wonder how far they could push their own powers. Infinity had eaten the last of the nameless one's sanity and all they saw was destruction.
Neither Kristin nor the godling could bear the idea. The godling knew that the nameless one would not spare them in their quest to wipe the realms clean. She had tasted what it meant to create when she'd used half her heart to give spark to Vespera, and she did not want to see all the sparks in all the realms extinguished. And Kristin, who loved each being and knew each life's precious story by heart, did not want to give up her growing library or the billions of stories still to come.
With grief in their hearts for their creator, Kristin and the godling united forces against the nameless one and turned on them. They pulled the other godlings along with them, some loyal to Kristin and some to the godling but all working together to defeat the nameless one.
Unfortunately, even their combined might was not enough to wholly defeat the nameless one. Though they managed to keep them within the End, it was a harsh fight. The godling was not able to stand equal with Kristin with half of her heart gone, and she was still recovering from so much of her power going to form Kristin's gift.
Vespera was a great asset in their fight. As she grew in size and might, her power grew with her. She stayed at Kristin's side, bonded to her, a guardian to the End and Kristin both. Kristin loved her as one might a daughter and Vespera was loyal and powerful.
It was that loyalty and power that marked her doom. For this fight was one for all of creation and Kristin knew what needed to be done.
The godling begged Kristin to spare Vespera. She believed that they would win without consuming her power.
Kristin would not be swayed, though. Kristin struck her guardian down, despite the godling's attempts to save her. Vespera perished, leaving behind only a small, dark egg. Vespera's death unleashed the power that had fueled her life. Kristin consumed this power. The godling secreted the egg, the half of her heart she had traded away, from Kristin's hands, her trust and heart broken.
With this new power at her fingertips, Kristin and the godling were able to defeat the nameless one. Together, they tore the nameless one's power from their core and the nameless one, for the first time in existence, no longer was. Kristin and the godling did not know what to do next; they had the godhood of an eternal being the likes of which would never exist again. The godling proposed that they let the magic go and do as it will, but Kristin believed that to do so would be irresponsible. Instead, Kristin asked her friend to split the nameless one’s gifts between the two of them so that they may rule together. At first, the godling did not want this power, but Kristin was persuasive and earnest in her belief that they would do right by the realms and their loyal armies. So the godling agreed and they consumed the nameless one’s gifts together.
Kristin, who loved each spark's story and had grown to understand the importance of things coming to an end, took the responsibility for Death and destruction. She named herself Queen of the Other Side, where souls find peace.
The godling, who cherished the birth of each creation and had grown protective of each being's will to live despite even the worst of conditions, took the responsibility of Life and creation. She named herself the Blaze Empress of the Inbetween, the place between Life and Death.
Together, they began their rule. Kristin hoped that, with the ending of the conflict with the nameless one, she and the Empress could return to as they once were. But the Empress was cold to her, and would not spend time with her as they once did. The Empress would not forgive Kristin for the death of Vespera and Kristin grew to resent this coldness, believing that she had made the only choice she could.
And perhaps, one day, the two would be able to reach an understanding, if not for the magic permeating the overworld.
It was their first order of business as joint rulers; what to do about the magic that had spread throughout the world. They agreed that it would be best if they slowly reeled it back in to better control the chaos of wild magic loosed on existence - but their agreement ended there.
Kristin yearned for the world before the nameless one lost their sanity. Life was simpler and kinder, then. She wanted to cleanse the world of the effects that the wild magic had left - reverse the deserts and the warped forests, and put an end to the hybridizations now roaming. Kristin argued that existence was painful for many of them - fish-mortals who would never be able to leave the water, bird-mortals with wings too small to fly, boar-creatures who shivered to death in the chill of the overworld, beings who simply could not thrive in the realms in which they existed. Kristin wanted to cut the magic off from the world and let these lineages fade out and return existence to what it once was.
The Empress knew that they could never go back to the times before; her heart had been broken in two and her gift destroyed for her power to be consumed. The Empress wanted to move forward and forget the past. She argued that the magic did not act without intent - it chose to let live those which may have not otherwise had the chance, to give opportunity where it otherwise could not be found. If a creature could not breathe air, let it build cities under water. If a bird could not fly, let it glide. If the overworld was too cold, then they should open the third realm, where life began, and allow those beings to live there, instead. Though the nameless one had lost their sanity, the magic had not and nothing it had changed should be reversed.
Kristin begged the Empress to change her mind, but the Empress would not. While Kristin wished to be together and happy once again, the Empress was once bitten, twice shy and would not yield to her old friend. When begging did not work, Kristin, in her desperation, grew angry. She attempted to force the Empress to see her side of things - was it not because of death and destruction that they turned on the nameless one? Were these not the most powerful of all their gifts? Was Kristin not stronger than the Empress, with the power that had made Vespera now in Kristin’s core and all of Death in the palm of her hands?
The Empress could bear much. She had sacrificed half of her heart and lost much of her power, only for her gift to be destroyed by the one she held most dear. She had watched the first life she’d ever given be snuffed out in order to help defeat her creator, whom she loved. She had accepted the responsibility of ruling the dominions of Life and Creation and the Inbetween at Kristin’s side because she truly believed that they would make a fair and just pair. But an attempt by her partner to subjugate her? To force her to comply? It was a humiliation that not even the nameless one had had the gall to attempt.
Kristin realized her mistake and attempted to take back her words, but the Empress does not forget and she does not forgive.
‘Once, you held my entire heart.’ The Empress declares for all the godlings residing in the End to hear, ‘But your hubris knows no bounds, just as our creator’s. I am not a mortal for you to play your tricks with, nor am I a loving dragon willing to bare my throat to your selfish claws. I am life and I owe no loyalty to those who would attempt to imprison me.’
Kristin could only watch, helpless, as the Empress used her new gifts to rip open the third realm, where life began. It was called the Nether, and the Empress took herself and those most loyal to her and claimed dominion over the fiery realm where the sparks that gave life were formed. The Empress took many of the creatures that struggled to survive in the overworld and brought them with her, intent to give them a home where they would thrive. She allowed her magic to roam; even if Kristin attempted to call back that wild power, she would only be half successful, as the Empress showed her no quarter or mercy.
And so, the three realms were linked and the Queen of the End and the Other Side and the Blaze Empress of the Nether and the Inbetween began their eons-long rivalry.
At first, Kristin attempted to re-establish their previous relationship. She sent gifts and letters, apologies and platitudes. But the Empress was harsh and final. Kristin’s tributes were returned, sometimes only ashes remaining.
The next centuries were petty and cruel. The Queen and the Empress were much like their creator in many ways, as they were their first creations and friends. The Empress’ magic gave life to beings that were rightfully meant to be Kristin’s at much earlier an age. In return, Kristin’s magic strewed misdeeds that often resulted in misfortune for those the Empress allowed life where it had not previously been.
They were separated, their relationship fractured. Both godlings-turned-goddesses were very lonely. They had entire courts - and they grew, as both settled into their powers and understood how the magic gifted them followers - but no one that they could call friend, equal, or partner.
And then, one day, the Empress met a mortal. This mortal was quick of wit and on their feet; this mortal, for the first time in a very long time, made the Empress laugh. This laugh was a rare sound and had been for some time; even Kristin only pulled laughter from the Empress sparingly in their youth, for she had always been a stoic and quiet being. But this mortal was charming and funny and willing to brave journeying through the Nether to speak with the Empress as her castle was built upon the roof of the Nether.
Rumor of this mortal, who entered and exited the Nether at will through a portal made in the overworld, reached Kristin through her various Allay. The news frustrated Kristin. The Empress had always looked down on the mortals when Kristin spoke fondly of them; she had never appreciated their lives as Kristin did. Kristin spent most of her near-infinite life flipping through their stories, reading of their lives, speaking with them when they passed through to the Other Side. Kristin was even able to invite the truly remarkable ones to become one of her Allay and stay within her court. What right did the Empress have to suddenly grow fond of one, when she had always turned her nose up to them before?
The mortals were Kristin’s favored creature, not the Empress’!
And yet, Kristin continued to hear of this mortal, who made the Empress happy when Kristin was not even able to exchange cordial letters with someone who had once considered Kristin to be the dearest person in the entirety of existence.
And so, in a pique of resentment and anger, Kristin waited for the mortal to return to the overworld and her gift visited this mortal. Though this mortal’s story was set to have many pages, Kristin’s displeasure cut the chapters short and the mortal was left with only a rather succinct epilogue and a closed cover.
Kristin knew that the Empress would grieve, but did not care. Her anger was sharp and fulfilling and righteous - because if it was not, Kristin might be forced to contend with the fact that she had made many mistakes in her attempt to run from facing up to what she had done.
That swift and powerful anger, though, was snuffed out when, upon hearing what had befallen her favored mortal, the Empress sent Kristin a gift.
It was received by a visiting Vex, one of the Empress’ loyal followers. The Vex wore a mask with a carved sigil and a cloak that obfuscated their form. They brought only a small box wrapped in rough twine. It was sealed by a wax thumbprint.
Within the box was a familiar egg and a note.
‘Is this what you desire?’ The note demanded. ‘The chance to bleed my heart of life once again? Have at it, then, you cruel thing. It is forever tied to your line, after all. But know this, Queen of the End. Neither this egg, nor my heart, shall ever be yours again. You are unworthy of either.’
Kristin stared at the note for a very long time. Her anger was as a wave; it crested and left devastation in its wake, but when the ocean of her emotions was calm again, she was left with a mess of her own making. This note and the egg - cold and unresponsive to her touch - told her that she had truly lost the Empress and would never have her again.
And so, the two settled into existing separately. Kristin, mellowed by the loss of her dearest friend and finally willing to admit that it was by her own haste and pride that she now sits atop a lonely throne, stays within the End and rules her kingdom. The Empress, distant and cold and disenchanted with love, kindness, friendship, and unwilling to bear the half of her heart she has left, stays within the Nether and rules her kingdom.
And never did the two see each other again.