Chapter Text
~This story starts, as it will end, in the stars.~
It started with a Big Bang, to be precise; and at the core of it, The Singularity came to existence. Formless, it attached itself to the newborn stars and devoured them, keeping darkness as the truth of the area.
The Great Devourer coiled around the empty space, turning and twisting until large tempests were born, and from the tempests, colours adorned the formless being.
A long mane of young, feisty stars being born and still learning to burn hot trailed down a long body undulating into the Empty. The form grew, until it engulfed and circled around a large enough part of the universe that it was given a name; a galaxy called Anguis.
When the name of that region was bestowed upon it, it was given the right to exist, and the Great Devourer settled on a shape.
Its maw opened, revealing long, numerous fangs shining with the stars it had eaten. Its eyes opened; they were shining brighter and exuding more heat than the Stars on its back, yellow like the oldest of Stars and were slashing through with two long, vertical slits of Empty in the middle. As the Stars running down its spine settled down, they formed the shape of scales and entered the long, sinuous body as it turned and turned, round and round in circles, becoming one with the Great Devourer and shining their lights under its skin.
Then, the Creature craved Existence; and gave itself a name.
The Starmaker unclenched its jaw and raised its head, letting out stardust and breathing life into it. Rise, my Children. Conquer this world and make it yours.
The Children ran into the darkness, and the Starmaker sighed in relief.
Existence and Creation had started.
As the Stars placed themselves and Time jolted to a start, masses collided until they formed meteorites, and moons, and planets. As the planets settled into their orbits, the stars bathed them into their light. With a final breath, the Starmaker allowed Life.
And Life grew as centuries went by and aged into millennia; and it grew as those millennia became millions, then billions of years. And it kept on growing, invading one planet after the other like a parasite, and the Starmaker’s eyes shone bright.
Life forced itself into existence, whatever the Starmaker would do to halt its progress; it was like a disease, refusing to bow to Destruction.
It thrived as the Starmaker rested; it thrived as the Starmaker thrashed against it; it thrived, and it thrived, and it thrived, until Sentience appeared as its mate.
The Starmaker resigned Themselves to a simple fact; this home had become Life and Sentience’s.
Adorning Themselves with the stars upon Their back, they fell down to one of the planets, and took the shape of one of its inhabitants.
The Starmaker found a name and a purpose.
Crawly, the Mother of All Suns.
Art by Quona
oOo
Fifty years before Crawly’s slumber came to an end, King Catarrh the Frost Demon appeared on the planet of the Thues, accompanied with an army meant to trample them until they submitted. Cor II, the Thue King of the time, had no other choice but to bend his knee to the tyrant. Sad and ashamed, he resigned the only way a warrior knew: giving his crown to his heir, he ordered his army to execute him. Let the Sun rest under the weight of the Frost .
His heir was given the title of Queen Ingen. Supported by her mate King Daikon, she led her men into what they knew best — destroying civilisations and selling their dead lands to wealthy criminals. For a generation, her people knew little change under the Catarrh Forces as they went back to their old habits, only wearing colours that were not theirs.
But Queen Ingen, as proud and powerful as she had grown, was not immune to death. As her Prince reached twenty-five years old and came to soon birth his own offspring, she led her army into their last breath. Planet Acherion ceased to be, falling upon itself as the Thues rested on its ground. Grieving and sour, King Cor III took the throne from his mother, supported by his mate, Queen Jala.
oOo
“My Queen, I beg of you, reconsider this madness—”
“Nothing less than I will do for this, Peno, and you know it.”
“But—”
“That is non-negotiable. To receive this necessary blessing, we have to sacrifice something in return.” The Queen walked forwards, her heart beating so hard in her chest that it threatened to burst out at any moment. Proud as she might be, the perspective before her was truly mortifying.
She and her men had been on the road, in search of their last hope for over ten years, going into the crooks and crevices of their planet whenever they had the ability to do so. They had been looking for a sign, any sign of the Goddess resting, somewhere on their soil. Ten years of digging, of frantic research; and at last, they had found something clueing them in the right direction. They were certain of it.
Queen Jala had quickly retrieved what she had needed in the chambers of her King to allow for the Awakening, and they had departed again, disappearing from the Capital for a month to do so.
oOo
Four years later only, as the heir Cor IV came to formulate his first thoughts, the ageing tyrant Catarrh visited the planet, accompanied by his own child, Talij. That child, who in an instant killed ten of the Thue warriors, was presented as the new ruler of the Catarrh Forces — renamed after him, Talij Forces.
This decision alone made the planet fall into limbo, as the ruling King Cor III refused to move from his throne, leaving his armies in the care of others. Passions and frustrations could be felt on the planet, but Queen Ingen before him had been smart, instigating an iron-clad rule: forget about the myth of the Ritual. Hide proof of it, do not speak of it, destroy any evidence of it. Let the Sun die under the weight of the Frost .
No Thue spoke a word of it, but all hoped for the Dawn.
oOo
Of all the places that Jala could have expected to find the Mother of All Suns, the cemetery of a remote village wasn’t her immediate thought; and yet, when she saw Her, there was no possible doubt.
A statue was standing on a pedestal, holding a sword in front of her legs. She had her eyes closed peacefully, her eternal beauty remained in her stone flesh, a lone ruby shining on her forehead like a diadem. Her hair fell like a veil from her head over her shoulders, arms and waist, circling her entirely.
Jala was certain of one thing; anybody who didn’t need her presence or believe in her would have passed this statue by without much thought, or might have just recognised the shape of the statue as an ancient former Queen of the planet. Jala however remained in awe before it for a very long time, pulled in by its magnitude.
She eventually closed the distance between them, climbing on the pedestal and rising to meet her gaze, raising a hand to stroke the stone cheek. “How long we have looked for you, my Queen,” she whispered, a tear breaking from her eye and trickling down her face. “How desperately we craved your presence.”
The statue remained lifeless between her fingers, but Jala smiled. The end was nigh.
oOo
As Queen Jala led the King’s warriors into battle, unceasingly attacking and conquering, forcing the vanquished to offer their planets to the tyrant above them, King Cor fell into the most peculiar state of fear; he sent warriors away, children and adults alike, should he deem them unworthy of his people or too powerful for his family to control.
He kept a close eye on his subordinates, who knew only of his rule that it was unjust.
He kept a close eye on his children, who knew only of his rule that it was not to be questioned.
He kept a close eye on his mate, who knew only of his rule that it had to come to an end.
oOo
“The bath is ready, my Queen.”
“Good. Prepare the Skywood.”
Jala stepped into the large bathtub and immersed herself entirely, taking one long breath and diving deep into the water. She remained there for a while, full minutes, the air coming out of her in small bubbles until she used it all and felt herself suffocating. Still she remained in the water, her body begging for oxygen and being denied, for as long as she was not done with the first prayer.
- Source of life.
- Source of death.
- Destruction.
- Creation.
- Starlights.
- The Devourer.
- Death, reborn as a bud called Life.
oOo
As Prince Cor started going away on missions for the Talij Forces, his father grew worried that he may be led to insurrection.
As Prince Cor captured the interest of the tyrant as a young teenager, his mother grew angry that the King did not budge to protect his own child.
As Prince Cor returned, almost an adult, the shadow of the years as nothing short of a slave in the service of Talij, the generals grew furious of the heir’s treatment and his Father the King’s reaction.
As Prince Cor returned, he came back to a home where his little brother too had been sent away. For protection, his father told him; for the protection of his own family pride, whispered the generals; for the purity of the family’s phantom power, his mother growled.
The generals were pointed towards the Talij Forces, who gave them missions away from the planet. Queen Jala was pointed towards a rich civilisation that was to be conquered with her best warriors, a mission that she was forced to accept. She left her Prince behind, under the care of a father too afraid of change to properly protect him.
Prince Cor grew angry and sour. Meanwhile, the rumours pushing for his mating had started. As he would walk, run and fly across his planet’s cities, he would hear names, meet people and get to know them. Upon his father’s recommendations, he met young, proud girls who wished to become his fiercest warriors as he would come to power.
oOo
Her thin body emerged from the water, gasping like she was taking the first breath in her life. Her soldiers were around her, kneeling down and bowing in prayer.
She stumbled out of the water, her long dress sticking to her skin, and her fingers wrapped around the bioluminescent piece of wood, shining in the moonless night like a small torch. It looked like it was almost breathing into her hand, its brightness swelling and receding like a beating heart. In the middle of the piece, there was a hole, and she brought her nose to it, inhaling it.
Out in the open as such, the light was reflecting that of the stars, shining in her hand like a small moon. It embraced her fully, covering her face with a thin, shiny dust as she breathed into it.
- Source of light.
- Source of darkness.
- Night.
- Day.
- Stars reborn.
- Planets dying.
- A black hole, giving birth to a Sun.
oOo
He heard whispers of a plot against his father that he let slip by. He entered into the deepest parts of the strangest cities to meet with the girls who wished to prove their worth. He fought them in street brawls as an anonymous child and in tournaments as the crown Prince, finding the best of them all and seeing them not only for their power and ambition, but for the people that they were behind that veil. Slowly, he found a few matches that suited him and that he recommended for expeditions to truly show what they were capable of, offering to accompany them as his weary father sat on his throne void of all meaning.
Looking for an escape, he found refuge in his companions, both male and female, growing not only a temporary harem, but an elite force whom he blindly trusted. On top of them all emerged a girl whose crimson mane shone like the sun above their heads. The dark scales devouring her amber skin left an iridescent light around them, only trumped by the galaxy of bright freckles devouring the large scars adorning her skin. She had a character sharp like the cliffs they were resting on and a voice coarse like the sand they were battling against, and yet her smiles had a light that brought the Sun to shame.
The Queen didn’t return.
oOo
“Give me the sword.”
She wrapped her glowing fingers around the red handle, adorned with shiny rubies, of a sword with a long blade that was dark as a moonless night. Carefully, she raised it in front of her.
The blade came to rest on her shoulder, and she made it press into her skin, cutting it open with a pained whine. The blood trickled down the sword, joining the rubies of the handle.
She remained still for a time that she couldn't measure, the blade deep into her shoulder, praying the ritual’s words for the Goddess.
- Source of peace.
- Source of war.
- Birth.
- Death.
- Children coming to exist.
- Old men reaching the end.
- A crimson thread, connecting the Universe.
oOo
Only a few months before he came of age to rule, Prince Cor found that the rumours of his settling for a mate had spread like wildfire. Gossips pointing to a select few women who had visited him enough to give doubt.
His forces kept their silence.
As the generals came back, only a few weeks before he came of age to rule, Prince Cor realised that the rumours of his settling for a mate were not so much about that as they were a list of the names of the King’s allies. Names that the people wished disappeared.
His forces smiled.
As the last week before he came of age to rule arrived, Cor felt a shift in the royal palace; people prepared for his ceremony, showed him a multitude of outfits and pieces of jewellery meant for the event. His training taught him that the Prince was to wear the Moon until the King gave him the Sun; whereas what he saw were pieces meant to reflect golden rays. His training told him to keep that information quiet.
His forces whispered words of encouragement to him.
Like the spring piercing through the winter frost, Prince Cor’s coming of age came with a special event: the killing of his father by the hands of his promised mate. His generals watched on and kept the secret until the former King’s head was rolling at his feet.
His forces roared like a united pride.
The Queen didn’t return; her Ritual had woken Crawly, bringing with her the brightness of a new star and the head of an unworthy King between her bloody claws.
Let the Sun rise from under the weight of the Frost .
oOo
She gasped after the words stopped echoing in her mind, feeling an unusual presence surrounding her.
“My Queen!”
“Don’t pity me. Everything is going according to plan. Are the embers ready?”
“Yes, my Queen.”
She placed the sword on the pedestal, resting it on the stone replica that the Goddess was holding.
She walked towards the large bucket emanating with heat that her men had prepared and sat down. “You know what you need to do,” she said, closing her eyes and clenching her jaw.
“My Queen, we cannot possibly—”
“That is an order, Peno.”
Thus, the soldiers did exactly what they were instructed; they grabbed the bucket, carefully lifted it, and poured its scalding contents on their queen’s body, letting the embers eat at her skin and scales.
It hurt, a seething torture until the nerves in her entire corporation gave way, burning up and dying away as time passed. She felt her skin peeling, her scales heating up until they were incandescent; and time kept on passing. The embers refused to cool down, only attacking her more and more and leaving a grey sheen all over her.
She prayed, refusing to be distracted by the pain.
- Source of growth.
- Source of loss.
- Warmth.
- Burning.
- A flickering flame illuminating a camp.
- The last light of a dying sun.
- A shooting star, fleeing from one galaxy to the next.
oOo
Collecting the crown from the King’s head, Crawly placed it instead on Prince Cor’s own and turned to the crowd of people swarming the gigantic city. In a movement like the winds in outer space, they all bowed before him.
Cor knew what that signal meant, and crafted his words to give hope for change to his people, promising to right his father’s wrongs and to bring the light back to the planet.
“He who preceded me did not wish to live the life of a warrior, and thus his inadequate reign had to come to an end. After many years under his rule, the frustration and anger of our race has been heard and will know an answer. His cowardice, unbecoming of a warrior King, has been stopped today, as he lays at my feet and his crown rests on my head. I have lived through his reign like you have, I have suffered from his decisions and have learnt of their consequences; I do not wish to inflict that any longer on my people.” Cor took a break, turning to their awakened Goddess.
“Our race will rise together as one, warriors strong, though it will take time to find our pace and our way forwards; I ask for your patience, but guarantee that you will find the peace of mind, the answers, that you have been lacking with this last reign. My anger has been brewing with your own, and will not find rest until the Sun returns to our planet.” He raised an arm towards Crawly, opening his fingers and receiving her hand like a blessing. “Give the time for the Sun to rise from its cold ashes. Let it shine upon our race once again and put an end to our harsh winter.”
He closed his hand and let his jewellery, reflecting the star of their planet, conclude his statement. The people who were now under his rule stood back up like a single man and roared a cry meant for battles, readying themselves for the years to come. Beside him, Crawly smiled and the generals bowed to their new King and Queen.
oOo
As she came to the last word of her prayer, her heart found an echo; or rather, she realised, the echo found a heart to possess.
Jala turned towards the statue; its expression was still, and yet she had spent enough time watching it for the past few days to notice something new.
The statue was sporting a smile that she was confident had not existed before.
She stepped closer, her limbs heavy as she reached the pedestal, and carefully climbed on it to get on the statue’s level. Her heart was beating quicker and quicker in her chest, the echo wrapping around it and making the rhythm its own.
As her trembling hand reached Crawly’s stone face, her chest felt as though it was about to collapse.
“Please, my dears,” she breathed out, hoping for her voice to reach her soldiers, “welcome our Goddess as she deserves.”
- Source of eternal home.
- Source of a broken life.
- Immortal.
- Frozen.
- The last words of a forgotten past.
- A star fleeing until its warmth is devoured by the World.
- The hard greeting of a planet, the throbbing of its surface wrapping around—
The final word — you — died in her chest as the statue moved, opening its cold arms and pulling her into a tight hug. For just a single moment before her vision blackened, she was met with the blaze living in Crawly’s yellow eyes, and she smiled. Her throat let out a pained whine as her body froze, tetanised by the stone eating it entirely.