Darkness.
Not the comforting darkness of sleep. Not the gentle void of unconsciousness.
This was absolute.
Cold. Vast. Eternal.
I floated in nothingness, stripped of form, of sensation, of everything that made me... me.
Am I dead?
The thought echoed through the void like a stone dropped into an infinite well.
Of course I'm dead, you idiot. That truck didn't exactly tap you on the shoulder.
Even in death, my sarcasm survived. Figured.
I tried to remember, my life, my name, my face, but the memories felt distant, like watching a movie through frosted glass. An ordinary existence. Twenty-something years of mediocrity. A corporate job I hated. An apartment I could barely afford. A family I'd disappointed.
And then... headlights. Screeching tires. Impact.
Nothing.
So this is it? Eternal darkness? No pearly gates? No reincarnation lottery? No hot goddess offering me cheat skills?
I would've laughed if I had a mouth.
But then--
CRACK.
The darkness shattered.
Not metaphorically. The void itself fractured like glass, spiderwebs of luminescent cracks spreading in every direction. Through those cracks, I saw... everything.
Galaxies spinning in cosmic dances. Stars being born and dying in spectacular supernovas. Civilizations rising and falling across a million worlds. Dragons made of pure starlight battling entities that defied description. Floating cities that dwarfed planets. Magic and technology intertwined so seamlessly they became indistinguishable.
And threaded through it all, a silver light. A system. A framework underlying reality itself.
[INITIATING...]
The words appeared directly in my consciousness, glowing with ethereal light.
[COMPATIBLE SOUL DETECTED]
[VESSEL PREPARED]
[BEGINNING INTEGRATION]
Wait, what?! Integration with WHAT?!
[WELCOME, REINCARNATOR]
[YOU HAVE BEEN SELECTED AS THE FINAL NYXION]
[INFINITE EVOLUTION SYSTEM: ONLINE]
Before I could process those words, I was falling.
No, not falling. More like Becoming.
Sensation returned in a violent rush. I felt... small. Confined. Warm. Wet. Every nerve ending screamed with newness as awareness crashed into me like a tidal wave.
I was enclosed in something. An egg? A membrane?
Instinct, raw and primal, surged through me.
Break free.
I pushed. Clawed. Bit. The membrane resisted, then gave way with a wet tearing sound.
Cool air hit me.
I gasped, actually gasped, drawing breath into lungs that had never existed moments ago.
Light filtered through my barely-opened eyes. Everything was blurry, oversaturated, wrong. But I was alive.
[BIRTH SUCCESSFUL]
[NYXION INFANT FORM: ACTIVATED]
[BEGINNING INITIAL SCAN...]
I tried to move, to stand, but my limbs, four of them, I realized with detached horror, wouldn't cooperate. I flopped onto soft moss, my body trembling with exhaustion.
What... what am I?
As if answering my mental question, a translucent screen materialized before my eyes.
---
[STATUS WINDOW]
NAME: ??? (Undesignated)
SPECIES: Nyxion (Voidborn Cosmic Beast)
CLASSIFICATION: Primordial-Class Bio-Weapon (Prototype Series: FINAL MODEL)
CURRENT FORM: Infant Stage
LEVEL: 0
EVOLUTION POTENTIAL: ∞ INFINITE
[PRIMARY ABILITIES]
- Soul Imprint (INACTIVE - Awaiting Bond)
- Devouring Evolution (LOCKED)
- Void Sense (BASIC)
- Adaptive Regeneration (PASSIVE)
[CURRENT STATUS: Critically Weak | Seeking Imprint Host]
[SURVIVAL PROBABILITY: 0.03%]
[WARNING: Without Soul Imprint within 72 hours, host will perish.]
---
I stared at the screen, my newborn mind struggling to comprehend.
Bio-weapon? Voidborn? What the hell is a Nyxion?
[NYXIONS WERE ENGINEERED 50,000 CYCLES AGO AS ULTIMATE ADAPTIVE PREDATORS]
[DESIGNED TO EVOLVE INFINITELY BY DEVOURING COSMIC ESSENCES]
[CLASSIFIED AS GALAXY-LEVEL THREAT]
[PRODUCTION TERMINATED AFTER THE VOID CATACLYSM]
[YOU ARE THE LAST]
The weight of those words settled over me like a shroud.
The last of my kind. A weapon so dangerous its creators stopped making them. And I had 72 hours to find someone to bond with or I'd die.
Great. Just great. Reincarnated as an endangered cosmic nuke with a doomsday timer.
I forced my eyes to focus, taking in my surroundings properly for the first time.
I was in some kind of chamber, ancient, crumbling, covered in luminescent moss and strange geometric patterns that hurt to look at directly. Broken pillars reached toward a ceiling I couldn't see. The air hummed with residual energy, making my fur stand on end.
Fur.
Right. I had fur now.
I looked down at myself, or tried to. What I saw made my breath catch.
I was tiny. Maybe the size of a large housecat. My body was covered in impossibly soft dark fur that seemed to absorb light, but scattered throughout were tiny specks that glowed like distant stars. A fluffy tail curled beside me, its tip emanating a faint nebula-like shimmer.
When I flexed my paws experimentally, I saw small retractable claws, black with a violet sheen that screamed "danger."
I'm... actually kind of cute?
[NYXION INFANT FORMS ARE BIOLOGICALLY OPTIMIZED TO APPEAR NON-THREATENING]
[THIS INCREASES SURVIVAL ODDS BY 340% DURING IMPRINT-SEEKING PHASE]
So I'm literally designed to be adorable as a survival mechanism. That's... actually pretty smart.
A sound echoed through the chamber, distant, metallic. Footsteps?
Every instinct in my new body screamed danger. I tried to move, to hide, but I was so weak I could barely lift my head.
The footsteps grew closer.
Multiple sets. Voices followed, speaking in a language that should have been incomprehensible but somehow translated automatically in my mind.
"—shouldn't even be here. If the Admiral finds out—"
"Relax. One quick scan of the Vault and we're gone. These ruins have been dormant for centuries."
"That's what worries me. The Dominion doesn't classify sites as Void Corrupted without reason."
My hearts, plural, I realized with a jolt, hammered in my chest.
[WARNING: MULTIPLE LIFE SIGNATURES DETECTED]
[THREAT ASSESSMENT: UNKNOWN]
[RECOMMENDATION: REMAIN HIDDEN]
No shit, system. Thanks for the groundbreaking advice.
I pressed myself against a broken pillar, trying to make myself as small as possible. My oversized eyes tracked the approaching lights, some kind of hovering illumination devices, casting dancing shadows across the ancient walls.
Three figures entered the chamber.
Two were clearly soldiers, armored in sleek, form-fitting suits that shimmered with protective barriers. They carried weapons that hummed with contained energy.
But the third figure...
Even in my newborn state, I knew she was different.
She was young, maybe late teens, with dark hair that held subtle sapphire highlights, like the deep ocean touched by twilight. Her eyes, sharp and intelligent, scanned the chamber with a mix of curiosity and caution. She wore elegant but practical clothing, and on her shoulder was an insignia I didn't recognize but instinctively understood meant authority.
[SCANNING...]
[DETECTING COMPATIBLE SOUL SIGNATURE]
[MATCH PROBABILITY: 99.97%]
[SOUL IMPRINT CANDIDATE: OPTIMAL]
My breath caught.
The girl moved through the chamber like she belonged there, her fingers trailing across the ancient carvings with reverence.
"These markings... they're from the Primordial Era," she murmured. "Before the Dominion. Before the Stellar Accords. This site could rewrite everything we know about—"
"Lady Rayna, please," one of the soldiers interrupted nervously. "We really shouldn't—"
"I know what we shouldn't do, Sergeant Corvin," she replied, a note of steel in her voice. "But I'm not my father. I don't believe in keeping knowledge buried because it's 'dangerous.' How else do we learn? How else do we grow?"
Rayna.
The name echoed in my mind like a bell.
She moved closer, closer to where I hid, and then she froze.
Our eyes met.
Time stopped.
Those golden-teal eyes widened, not with fear, but with wonder. She saw me, truly saw me, and I saw her.
In that moment, something ancient and primal surged through my veins. Every cell in my body screamed YES.
[SOUL IMPRINT ACTIVATING]
[HOST APPROACHING]
[DESTINY CONVERGENCE: IMMINENT]
Rayna took a step forward, ignoring the sharp warnings from her guards.
"Lady Rayna, that creature—"
"Is not a threat," she said softly, never breaking eye contact with me. "Look at him. He's terrified."
She was right. I was trembling, my weak body barely able to support itself.
But beneath the fear was something else.
Recognition.
She knelt down, slowly extending her hand toward me.
"It's okay," she whispered. "I won't hurt you."
Every survival instinct screamed at me to run, to hide, to do anything but trust.
But I was dying. Three days at most.
And something deeper than logic told me...
She's the one.
I took a trembling step forward. Then another.
The guards raised their weapons.
"Lady Rayna, step back! We don't know what that thing—"
"Stand down," she commanded, authority ringing in her voice. "That's an order."
Another step. Then another.
Until finally, I was close enough to feel the warmth radiating from her hand.
Our eyes met one final time.
And I made my choice.
I pressed my head against her palm.
[SOUL IMPRINT: INITIATED]
The world exploded.
Light, pure, searing, silver, erupted from the point of contact. I felt her essence crash into mine, her soul intertwining with my own in a bond so deep it transcended physical reality.
I felt her surprise. Her wonder. Her immediate, instinctive protectiveness.
And she felt me, my fear, my determination, my absolute conviction.
I will protect you. Always.
[SOUL IMPRINT: COMPLETE]
[BOND ESTABLISHED WITH: RAYNA AZURIEL]
[SURVIVAL PROBABILITY: 87%]
[EVOLUTION PATH: UNLOCKED]
[INFINITE EVOLUTION SYSTEM: FULLY ACTIVATED]
[DESTINY CONVERGED]
[WELCOME, COSMIC OVERLORD]
As the light faded, I collapsed into her arms, exhaustion finally claiming me.
But before darkness took me, I heard her voice, gentle, warm, confused but caring:
"Don't worry, little one. You're safe now. I'll figure out what you are... and I promise, I'll protect you."
How ironic, I thought as consciousness slipped away. You think you're protecting me.
But soon... I'll be the one protecting you.
From everything.