RE: Deity - The Breath of Creation

The constantly shifting flows of time was nauseating. There was absolutely a rhythm to what Nyxteria created; time flowed like a current through the vast, starry ocean that was its universe, twisting this way and that in a clear symphony of creation. But, just like in an ocean, this current varied. Sometimes something stood in the way of the flow, forcing time to flow around it, creating new streams. Timestreams, a million billion of them, all of the same universe. Sometimes it swirled into eddies, time flowing backwards in places for a brief moment before righting itself…

And none of that was even to mention the layering of space, and how time interacted with various dimensions.

The way Nyxteria had layered space upon itself was like having a sea fit inside of a pond, that moved along through a river, that connected to an ocean that inevitably fed back into the pond. I could see the strings tying everything together, but the way time interacted with it made it incredibly disorienting. Time should not flow like that, and it took every ounce of my willpower to keep my aura restrained, to not, as Mr. Boxes had put it, attempt to subvert another origin deity's authority within their own universe.

I just could not fathom who would make a universe like this, or why.

"I did not think your domain had any relation to time, Statera," Yueya said, laying a gentle hand upon my back. The red-haired elf's eyes were full of concern as she looked me up and down. I smiled weakly at her, only half paying attention to Nyxteria's poor attempt at an explanation.

"Time goes 'whoosh!' and Nyxteria doesn't like it so with a flap of Nyxteria's wings it is put back into place! Or put somewhere else!" The great bird cawed, flapping its wings for emphasis. Shin met my eyes from across the small group of origin deities that had assembled in this Realm, exasperation clear on the skeleton's normally expressionless face. How a skeleton could even look exasperated was…telling of Nyxteria's descriptive skills.

…yeah, seeing for myself would be better than listening to whatever that is.

"You are correct, I don't have a relation to time in my domain." I agreed with Yueya, taking a moment to look away from the churning currents of time and sucking in a deep breath. "That is why Mr. Bo – I mean, the Overgod, allowed me to come here in the first place. Otherwise I would not have been able to come, lest I disturb Nyxteria's universe. It is just…the currents of time here are aggravating to my personal Dao. I'll get over it."

"Nyxteria does not understand. Time cannot effect origin deities, so how does it aggravate you?" Nyxteria suddenly interjected, poking its head up over the other origin deities and cocking its head to the side curiously. I opened my mouth to reply, but found the words felt cheap upon my tongue. I simply did not like the concept of time flowing backwards, for anyone, including myself. And I would, honestly, refer to the god of time itself for any sort of expertise involving time shenanigans.

"Time does not affect us? How so? I can quite clearly feel the flow of time about and through us." Yueya asked. Nyxteria clacked its beak once, cocking its head the other way and doing a little hop-skip over to the side of its nest, to look down upon a part of its collection. Dozens of timeless crystals lay together haphazardly, one containing an entire space-ship filled to the brim with sentient machines – or they would be, were they not frozen in time.

"We are fixtures in time and space." Nyxteria began, bending down and plucking a crystal out of the pile with its beak. "If Nyxteria were able to rewind time for the entire ocean of stars, Nyxteria would still be as Nyxteria is now, even back in the beginning. If you were to travel back through time to the moment of Nyxteria's birth, you would meet Nyxteria, as Nyxteria is now. Origin Deities do not regress. We exist in our own time." To illustrate the point, Nyxteria twisted time with a cock of its head, space folding around it like a kaleidoscope as the dawn of time was revealed in a localized spot around the great bird.

Even to my eyes time appeared fresh and new, a clock just beginning, in a hazy area just around Nyxteria. But the bird itself was unchanged – wait, had it been trying to rewind its own time?

"See?" Nyxteria asked, letting time snap back to normal with a shudder. In a matter of seconds the space around Nyxteria re-aged back to what it had been, like a rubber band that had pulled taut, then released. I blinked and shuddered, imagining what it would be like to live through that, as a mortal. "Even Nyxteria struggles to rewind time for so long. Time, like a river, has to flow. It doesn't even matter if it is backward, so long as it flows."

"…but how does time flow backwards?" MR-10 asked, directing the conversation back to itself. Nyxteria squawked and started its impossibly difficult explanation once again, leading me to shake my head and turn my attention back to the world about us. Ignoring my issues with Nyxteria's manipulations of time, its usage of space was truly fascinating. The shifting, twisting, turning dimensions were chaotically beautiful. However, there was something off with it…

Yueya moved her hand from my back to squeezed my arm comfortingly.

"Morgan is right, you worry too much about others. That's where your aversion to time is coming from. It is adorable, but focus on yourself a little, too." She said softly. I raised an eyebrow at her.

"You've been talking with Morgan?" I resisted the urge to peer at where my child had run off to, letting the rebellious wolf have a little bit of freedom here. Of course, a part of me did keep watch on Morgan just to ensure they didn't cause any problems, but that was all they were doing. I got no other information besides that.

"Astraea and I have," Yueya nodded, linking her arm in mine. "It's quite cute how she tries to hide her concern for you behind that rebellious attitude. Morgan may be a bit prickly, but she's got an eye for detail."

"Morgan is a troublemaker, is what they are," I grumbled, relaxing my shoulders and fixating my gaze on a comet as it hurtled through Nyxteria's ocean of stars. Unlike many other features, this one passed through the flows of time and borders between dimensions without pause, freely passing through space.

In this folded space, Nyxteria's ocean looked no larger than the Four Realms. But if I laid it all out, smoothing out the creases and adding on the spaces layered atop each other, it easily dwarfed my Realms. Was there a way I could use this to bolster the Four Realms? Morgan's hidden realm reminded me of Nyxteria's universe in many ways…

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"What do you see, when you look out there?" Yueya asked, cutting off my thoughts. I furrowed my brows as she pointed toward a particular flow of time that swirled in a whirlpool, asteroids stuck within the motion wavering back and forth between regressing and progressing.

"Stagnation? Chaos. Pointless time. But maybe I could use the folded space in the Four Realms. And a Shadow…space, too much space in too little area, time…I can't make heads or tails of it." I admitted with a shrug. Yueya hummed, a low, melodious thing that sent a shiver down my spine from the attention it drew from me. Forced from me.

"I'll tell you what I see. I see a whirlpool. Ice freezing and melting in moments, just like Chaos, glittering in the light of a thousand stars. I see time wobbling back and forth in a way I never considered, space folded against itself and painted in a thousand different colors, like a stained-glass window. I see the same point in space mirrored right beside itself in time, one older, one younger; a before-and-after photo memorialized forever, or until the whirling ends. There is beauty here." The word beauty struck a chord in my soul, and for a moment my vision cleared, my nausea stilling. "Your insistence on helping others is admirable. Your focus on the ideal outcome is funny and silly. But take a step back with me, Statera, and let us simply enjoy the day for what it is. Is that not what you've been trying to do, by removing yourself from karma?"

I let out a breath, shaking my head even as my shoulders relaxed, the tension in my neck and head slowly fading. Nyxteria's cawing explanations washed over me like the tide, adding to the simple nature of its universe, while Yueya continued to softly explain the little works of art she saw, beautiful moments and gorgeous eternities, all contained within this universe.

I let my thoughts leave me. I let my breathing even out, and a small smile dance across my lips. I would never create a universe like this. But…I supposed, I could at least appreciate it for what it was. It needn't grate against me so; this was not like Sehuyun, who challenged me. This was me just not liking something.

But at least here, for a moment, in welcome company, I could let time just slip away.

***

It was rare for Astraea to feel smug, but smile smugly at the obnoxiously hostile Morgan she did. The mangy wolf scowled at her, all eight eyes narrowing in irritation, spider-like legs bristling.

"See?" Yueya's incarnation asked from where she sat cross-legged beside a living sun, one hand placed upon its surface. Astraea knew she was holding another, separate conversation with the being, though her face gave away none of the fact that she was. "Sometimes all it takes is a gentle touch, to correct a misunderstanding." Morgan's scowl deepened, a frustrated growl rumbling in the back of her throat, but even she couldn't deny the results.

Astraea looked up at where Yueya's true body was talking with Statera, standing on the edge of Nyxteria's nest to gaze out over creation. The purple-robed god had been tensing up with both Morgan's presence and the temporal anomalies that were so pervasive in Nyxteria's Realm. But now he was relaxing a little – at least, to Astraea's eyes. His aura was no longer so carefully controlled, freely spreading out to explore and feel the nearby universe. And once again his stature was muscular and filled with vitality, even if he switched between male and female at random.

Knowing Yueya, she was likely convincing him to view the temporal anomalies as mere curiosities rather than…whatever he had been seeing them as. Astraea admitted they were odd, but enough to make her nauseous? Not quite.

"I do not do gentle." Morgan spat. "Subtlety has its place, but gentle is beneath me. Enough power fixes whatever problems you claim gentleness can."

Astraea adopted one of Yueya's favorite expressions; tapping her chin thoughtfully with one finger, lips pursed and brows furrowed in mock confusion. "Oho? But is not the time you have been so enamored with not gentle?" she asked.

"What?" Morgan demanded, and Astraea smiled her own favorite, mysterious, knowing smile, and began slowly advancing toward the wolf spider.

"The relentless march of time, slow and gentle." Each word was punctuated by a small step forward, yet space was twisted here, and each step closed the distance between the two with surprising swiftness. "It moves so slowly, acts so gently, that no one can feel it or notice its passing. Its movements are so gentle you do not realize it has arrived until its hands are on you shoulders; and by then it is already too late. Your time has come, and you did not even see its approach." Astraea ended her statement with a flash of silver light, appearing just before Morgan to loom over her. To Morgan's credit she did not flinch, merely leaning away suspiciously and deepening her scowl.

But there was a flash of understanding in her expression and, point made, Astraea stepped away. Morgan sat back as well, spider legs tapping together as the wolf thought, eyeing them. For a moment the wolf's power wavered as if she had been enlightened to some truth, but then it stilled and settled back to the aggressive thing it had been.

"Why are you helping me?" She demanded, eyes flicking between Astraea and Yueya.

"Your parent is frustratingly stubborn, and has resisted most all of our efforts to aid him. Not that I believe he even noticed our attempts. So, those of us who feel the need to repay Statera for her insights have set our eyes to his children." Yueya explained, twirling a lock of hair with her free hand. "It seems the most effective action, as we have yet to see her universe, and he seems grateful for our guidance. To the children, at least.'

"The Great One does not need your help. They are no mere godling like yourself, or dragon, or filthy machine, or stupid bird. They are all and everything. That Which is Above." Morgan snapped, baring her teeth.

"Great One? You do not call Statera parent, like your siblings?" Yueya asked. Morgan spluttered and Astraea sighed. The conversation was now utterly derailed – a pity, too, as Astraea wanted to understand more about this Morgan character.

"I have no need to play pretend with the others! They do not understand, and refuse to even try!" Morgan hissed, hackles raised. Yueya smiled, placing her one free hand on her cheek.

"Oh, are you in your rebellious phase? Is that why Statera is so cautious with you? That's so cute! Don't worry, I'm sure you'll come around eventually, dear." Yueya's smile sweetened as Morgan huffed and spluttered more, puffing up indignantly, grey fur puffing up. Then, with a derisive snort, she leapt to her feet, turned, and stalked off through the depths of space.

"I do not have to sit here and take this. I am not…bah!" she grumbled as she fled, tail metaphorically tucked between her legs. Astraea hid her mouth behind her hand as she smiled, shaking her head.

What a silly puppy.

"I will follow," she said, letting her amusement show clearly to her creator, moving to follow the wolf.

"No," Yueya stopped her with a quick shake of her head. "Let Morgan be bothered by the other Origins for a time. I know Reilly has been dying to get some one-on-one time with the wolf, for whatever reason. You go explore this space for yourself until it is time to leave. Our One World is next, and you know I will be relying on you for aid." Astraea bowed her head in acceptance, backing away from the fleeing wolf – who now had a tail in the form of Reilly, the drunkard god flying above her and peering down at her in interest.

"As you wish." She said, and teleported away in a flash of starlight, letting her expression, of which she usually had total control over, fall back to its normal impassiveness.

It might have been difficult to navigate this space for another, but she was the stars themselves, and these stars were no different. Even if they did serves as nexuses for Time itself to flow into, reorganize itself, and flow back out again. They were her guides, and she was never lost as she drifted between the depths of space and time.

But her mind drifted back to Morgan again, and again.

Yueya had not noticed, it seemed. Or she was simply playing coy. But Morgan was the opposite of Astraea.

She, like Randus, had been born involuntarily to aid their Parent – though she dare not call Yueya her true parent. So then, what was Morgan to her?

…more importantly, she got the inkling she knew what Yueya's Morgan was.

And in many ways, she feared it.