★261
I emerged into an endless expanse of blankness. It wasn't void. No, this was something else entirely. There was no sound, no light, no sense of direction. Even Energy itself seemed stripped away, leaving behind a darkness beyond comprehension, pure & absolute | |.
'This is...'
'An unreality, an anti-space where reality is neither suspended nor destroyed but simply irrelevant.'
'Sounds like the work of Ereshkigal."
"What do you want?"
She asked, after all, I'm the invader here.
"I..."
"Leave."
She interrupted and for some reason, I allowed myself to be kicked out knowing I'm not fully prepared to confront her yet. Not in battle though.
I saw the light on the other side and immediately caught a glimpse of Erekayla next to me holding Towa.
'We need to talk.'
I told her, just before pulling her in, not into her abyss, but into an isolated space I had created myself. The moment she drifted into it, the realm convulsed violently, its foundations trembling beneath her presence. I expected nothing less.
I waited, calm despite the chaos, as the space cracked and strained under her presence until it finally gave way. In its collapse, she dragged me into her own abyss.
Unlike Ereshkigal's, this one was pure white, carrying the same underlying properties as the sisters, yet stripped of all contrast.
"You should be rejoicing, Antares. You're going to be a father."
"You can't imagine how much I'm holding back right now."
I replied, eyes closed, arms folded, my Battle Form still active.
"I can't afford to drop my guard, not when the war is at its peak."
The war wasn't over, and anything could still happen at any moment. Beyond that, I hadn't achieved what I set out to do. I needed to reach it before everything came to an end.
It wasn't something I should admit, but I was almost relieved that the second Twin Star had not appeared yet. There was a sense that something was coming, something inevitable.
Before any of that, I needed to awaken it.
"You're right, but rest assured, our victory has been sealed."
"Fate becomes unstable when Twin Stars are involved… but that's not why I called you."
"I'm listening."
"The Art of Creation. Tell me everything."
I didn't hesitate, going straight to the point.
It wasn't that I lacked time. Time itself had already lost its meaning in the face of inevitability. Even with Meta Time within my grasp, something I could bend at will, I knew better than to waste it.
What was coming could not be delayed, only met. That's how unstable Stars are. We claim to warp Structural Concepts but can't do anything before inevitability.
"That again. Where.."
"I'm short on time, Goddess of Creation. Please don't waste any more of it."
I straightened, my azure eyes fixed on hers without wavering.
She studied me for a brief moment, then gave a small nod.
"Alright.
When Mother entered this Shell, it was already occupied by something… beyond her comprehension, yet not something she could define. It was neither presence nor absence, but there was something there."
She paused briefly before continuing.
"Once she understood what it was, she moved forward without hesitation. The Daughter of Void, another Secondary Fragment, sought dominance over this Shell as well. But despite all her efforts, she couldn't claim it, and in the end, she gave up."
"Are there more than two Secondary Fragments?"
I asked, and she answered with a quiet shake of her head.
"Only two."
She said.
"They are not dualities, but rivals. After completely securing the Shell, Mother spoke the first words."
—Let there be Light—
"And Light, not as illumination or heat, but as Presence, came into being. Shortly after, from the stillness of that Presence, Absence was born. They may look like dualities, but they are not. Each stands on its own, complete and distinct."
She continued without pause.
After that, she created two Arts, the Art of Creation and the Art of Destruction, before giving them vessels to inhabit, though they never needed them. The names Erekayla and Ereshkigal were spoken, and we came into existence bearing those Arts.
"With the Art of Creation, I, Ishtar, was given dominion over creation alone, while Ereshkigal was entrusted with destruction."
Her tone remained steady, almost distant, as if recalling something far older than memory.
"From there, I shaped a system based on my own design, the Ontic Layers, the layered structure of Realities within Existence. Each Layer contains at least one Realm. But in total, I created six Ontic Layers and eleven Realms."
The Alpha-Prime Layer, a place of pure energy. The Beta-Omega Layer..."
"Skip the Layers and focus only on the Arts."
I pointed out, not ready for this boring cosmology hierarchy:)
"You need to understand the Ontic Layers to comprehend how the Art of Creation functions. Above the Beta-Omega lies the Gamma-Time Layer, followed by the Delta-Singularity Layer, the Epsilon-Multiverse Layer, and finally the Zeta-Observatory Layer."
Back then, I was at the top, observing everything from the Zeta-Observatory. Mother's Layer existed above mine, uninhabitable even to her. She named it Eta-Genesis Layer and entrusted it to me before departing. The Zeta-Observatory became its eye while I resided within Eta-Genesis.
"Where did she go to?"
"I don't know. But when I needed anything, she's here. Even now, she's listening."
'Just when I thought everything was easy.'
Upon my accession, I created Alpha Realm, the origin and source of all Realities. It governs the Shell and is part of the Book of Beginning, which oversees all creation.
With Alpha Realm forming realities for each Layer, I wrote the Planes of Existence, from Meta down to Elemental. Nothing I create works in Eta-Genesis, not because of its primordial state, but because of who made it.
These Layers allowed the construction of cosmic bodies, Meta Notions like Time, Space, Causality, and Magic, and even their underlying Concepts. I distributed what each Layer and Realm needed to ensure balance. All that remained was populating them.
I created species and entities, microscopic, physical, spiritual, even fictional ones from the Originverse to fill the Layers as I saw fit. I'm not just the source of creation, but of happiness, joy, love, hope, order, light, life… all that is good.
Afterwards, I assigned Overseers to each Reality, except Alpha-Prime and Eta-Genesis. The Overseers prevent Ascenders from lower or higher Realities from tampering with my balance. Each Overseer is powerful enough to crush their Reality and all below it. Good luck to anyone trying."
'Come on girl, you're not saying anything about the Arts.'
"What about Ereshkigal?"
"I'm not done yet."
She replied.
The Art of Creation is a power drawn from a different source, one that originates from Mother herself. It is expressed through Qìnéng, of which it embodies ninety-eight out of one hundred per cent of its total capacity.
In short, I can control all the Creation aspects of Qìnéng while Ereshkigal controls the opposite.
"Now, let's talk about my sister, the Goddess of Destruction, Ereshkigal. She's basically just my polar opposite,
I create, she destroys,
I being love, she brings hatred,
I give hope, she offers despair,
I write an order, she paints chaos,
I cast light, she spreads darkness,
I create life, she takes them,
I'm the beginning. She's the end.
All in all, she can end all my Creation as she's the Omega Reality herself. Remember, she can't create, so she embodied Destruction itself.
Since birth, I have never seen my sister. I only knew her through what Mother told me, and our only form of interaction was through our Arts. Wherever she is, I cannot be. Two sides of a coin can never exist simultaneously. That's how we are made."
"But you took shape in her World of Doom."
"That's Towa's domain, not Ereshkigal's. I was only able to manifest due to the likelihood that her domain would withstand my true form. What awaited us there was Ereshkigal's driving Towa. My being can't partake where she has manifested."
"Thanks for the knowledge. I'll get straight to the point..."
"You want the Art of Creation?"
She asked.
"Good. I'm glad you know that."
"That's risky on its own, not to mention that thing telling you to merge the two."
"That's Ether speaking to me through White, my weapon."
Her eyes widened at that.
"That…"
"Exactly."
I cut in.
"I've been planning something very unusual lately, and I don't intend to stop."
"You're not compatible with wielding it. Who knows what will happen when you take it into your body?"
"So you can hand it over. That's good."
"I'm serious here, Antares. You clearly can't handle such power."
"I know. I'm just a fictional mortal in the lowest Realm of the second-to-last Layer. I can't comprehend the power that shaped existence, so I'll perish, won't I?"
She fell silent, unable to say anything. She probably thinks I don't know it.
(Yeah, the Originverse is the fictional verse in its entirety.)
'She's not answering. Just like back when I brought about it when I was young.'
"Well, rest assured, it'll only cost me. Just one meaningless scum in the depths of existence."
"Even for the sake of your future family, I won't hand it over."
"How am I supposed to protect the world and the people I care about when cosmic threats exist everywhere around us?"
"The war is ending. The Dark Stars are losing. You won't have anything left to fight for."
"Fictional characters?"
She froze at the question. I repeated it, letting it stand on its own.
"How did you know?"
I pointed at my azure eyes, letting her understand the answer without saying anything more.
"I took Spectre's God's Eyes of Detection and saw the boundaries. I thought it was a lie, but the Energy Fragments proved otherwise. I'm fictional."
The word came out heavy.
"A work of someone from in the Megaverse. My whole life is being written, and my words are being scripted! This whole thing has been written in a file and saved! When deleted, I'm gone! I'm forgotten! I don't have a will of my own!"
I answered, enraged, but I held everything back.
(How do the Fragments contribute? Auranthys shows how he's pursuing something bigger than Ether itself. Clarivide reveals that the boundary between Megaverse and Originverse, the Ethereal Filaments stretch from the former to the latter, as a result creating Fictarions, the fictional reality he's living.
However, fiction can not be fiction without Imaginari to think about the fantasy, Narravine to create the narrative & Mythaeon to create and bind that narrative into a narrative reality as part of Fictarions.
Metanir provides that Meta awareness, keeping the two impossible awareness intact. Ontospheres & Ontologions determines & solidifies that the Star, the Anomaly, the Paragon of Transcendence, the Misfit Scourge that goes by various identities namely; Nyxon, Wú Jí, Asteri and Antares is merely a fictional character.)
"T..that's not how it works. The humans in the Megaverse are indeed responsible for the creation of fictional worlds, but even when they press the backspace, erase the word, or end the story, you won't be entirely cut off.
The Overseer simply severs the connection between them and the story. To them, the story has ended, but your life & your world continue. That's how I created the system. I am Creation. I reject closure and endings."
"I don't care about that. I want my own body and mind to operate on my own. I don't want my children to become puppets of some pathetic human. I want us all to be free. Now I get why Entares said our journey this time is freedom."
Everything started making sense lately. Above all, Entares knows. Just how much does he knows.
"I...I'm sorry I can't do that."
She rejected.
"But I will go against order to protect you and your family personally. In the name of the Art of Creation, I'll keep my word."
"I don't need your promise. You're the Creator, so you probably won't know how I feel right now."
I said, my voice wavered, barely holding together. She stepped forward without a word and pulled me into her arms.
"I don't, but please mark my words. I will protect you."
I used the Aether Move and appeared feet away from her, my back towards her.
"I'll ask two questions, and I'm going to need your honest answers."
I said.
"Anything you ask."
"Are you giving me the Art of Creation or not?"
"Not that again."
"Just answer the question."
I straighten out, my mechanical form taking shape.
"I'm sorry, but I'll have to decline."
"Good. I'm grateful for your honesty."
I spoke as I raised my hand, my fingers stained with Silver Dust, five threads extending from them and binding themselves to her body.
'I faked being emotional to get close to her, and as expected, it worked. It always does.'
"What.."
She flinched as I lowered my arm, pulling forth the Art.
It bloomed around the threads, a formless brilliance that refused identity, shifting through colours and states beyond comprehension. Its radiance pulsed like the heartbeat of Creation itself, which it is
"What...are you?.."
She asked, her face covered in disbelief.
"You said the Art was made up of eighty-nine percent Energy. What makes you think I can't rip it off? Besides, I already made that clear."
I said softly, as the Art flowed into me, merging with my form. Its radiance threaded through my veins, threatening to dissolve flesh and thought alike due to incompatibility and rejection.
It crawled beneath my being, cold & alive. My body twisted with each pulse, reality bending in brief convulsions of radiance. The brilliance was tempting to devour my form and thought until I could no longer tell where I ended, and it began.
It was rejecting me, yet destroying me would contradict itself as an Art of Creation. Nothing my leverage, it calmly settled down as if thinking of a way out without contradicting itself.
"G… give it back, Antares!"
Erekayla moved towards me, but I severed the Filaments and broke free from her abyss.
"Don't worry. Creation will hold as long as I have it. You'll simply return to how you were at birth, without the Art."
I said as I escaped.
"You… you can't do this. Mother, please stop him!"
She called out, but there was no response.
"Everything is happening right under her nose. If it's worth interfering, she will."
I replied with a grim expression, my voice fading as I drifted back into Ereshkigal's unreality.
To be continued...