Before the first star burned, before the first world turned, before time had learned to move, there was only the void. The void stretched without beginning and without end, it was untouched by light, sound or life. There were no heavens above and no hell below. No past had been forged for nothing had yet happened and no future waited to arrive. Within this void of nothingness was The One. It was an existence that could not speak, that had no form as there was nothing that could lay eyes on it. No name was bestowed upon this existence, The One just simply was there.
For what seemed to be an eternity The One existed alone within this endless void. The One did not hunger as there was nothing for it to consume. Fear did not consume it as fear did not exist. Death could never be an option as the concept itself had not materialized yet. There was one thing that did affect The One, loneliness and from this loneliness came desire. The desire to see what did not exist, to hear a voice that was not it's own, to create something that might one day look into the darkness and wonder where and how it came to be.
So with this desire The One reached into the endless depths of it's own being and drew forth two cosmic eternal essences. The void trembled, silence was broken for the very first time and with that the first gods opened their eyes. Lynassa the Goddess of Creation and Vaelor the God of Destruction. They were born together, brother and sister, equal in origin yet opposite in nature. Neither stood above the other for both had come from the same eternal source and neither could fulfil their purpose alone.
Creation was radiant beyond measure. Light flowed from her like rivers from an endless sea, and within her rested the promise of all things that might one day live. Wherever her hand passed through the void, possibility awakened. Destruction was vast and terrible. Darkness gathered around him like a cloak, and within his silence rested the end of all things. He did not hate what his sister would create, nor did he seek to oppose her. His purpose was older and more necessary than hatred. For nothing could truly begin if nothing could ever end.
Lynassa looked upon the emptiness and saw what it might become while Vaelor looked upon what would be and knew that one day it must pass away. Together, they spoke the first law of existence.
All that is born shall one day end and all that ends shall make way for what comes after.
Lynassa raised her hands allowing light to enter the void. The first stars ignited, their flames tearing through the endless void. Universes unfurled across eternity like great celestial rivers while worlds formed from dust and fire before beginning their endless journeys around newborn suns. Lynassa walked among the stars and life followed in her footsteps. Oceans gathered upon barren worlds while forests rose beneath unfamiliar skies with creatures opening their eyes beneath distant suns and drew their first breaths. The silence of eternity was filled with voices.
Vaelor followed behind his sister. Stars turned into dust with mountains crumbling and creatures returned to the earth from which they had risen. Kingdoms that had once believed themselves eternal disappeared beneath the passing of ages. Vaelor did not act from cruelty, without death life would lose its meaning and without endings, beginnings would have no purpose. Without destruction, creation itself would become a prison that would eventually consume everything and throw the balance off.
For all living things in the mortal realm peace had endured for a thousands of years. Brother and sister maintained the balance, creation brought forth while destruction returned. Life and death followed one another across the stars and the One watched from beyond the boundaries of existence as the universe grew. However, with life came something the first two gods had not foreseen, choice. Every living being possessed the power to act. Every action created consequence and every consequence gave birth to another. One life could alter the future of thousands and one death could end a kingdom. A single decision made upon an insignificant world could echo across the stars for generations.
The universe began to divide into possibilities. Creation could give life a beginning while destruction could give life an end, but neither could guide the path between them. Countless possibilities spread across existence like roots beneath an endless forest. Some led toward peace, others toward war. Civilizations rose in one future and vanished in another. Worlds survived because of choices that had not yet been made, while others were condemned by decisions still waiting to happen. The balance trembled and once more, The One reached into itself. The act was not without cost, for every child drawn from it's essence, The One surrendered a part of it's own existence. Yet it saw the growing uncertainty of existence and understood that the universe could not endure without a force capable of binding its countless possibilities together.
From the essence of The One came a third child, the youngest brother of the trio. Aevor, The God of Fate. When Aevor opened his eyes, he did not see the universe as his brother and sister did.
He saw orange glowing strands that possessed stories, endless stories of pain and happiness. They stretched before him without number, threads of orange light woven through every world, every life, and every moment that had ever been or might one day come to pass. He saw the first breath of every child, the last breath of every king and he saw empires centuries before their foundations were laid and watched them crumble long before their rulers had been born. Past, present, and future were not separate things to him instead they were a single tapestry.
Aevor raised his hands and the wandering strands began to settle. Possibility became direction while consequence became order. The endless futures of the multiverse were woven together, not into a single path, but into a design vast enough to hold them all. Thus the three children of The One took their places within existence. Lynassa gave all things their beginning, Vaelor gave all things their end and Aevor watched over the path between them. For million years, the multiverse knew balance, but the multiverse was vast and even gods could not stand upon every world. Life continued to spread, civilizations rose beneath countless suns and began to look toward the heavens with wonder. Others looked upon their neighbors with envy, knowledge gave birth to power which gave birth to ambition and ambition gave birth to war.
The three gods watched as the mortals tore each other apart in pursuit of domination over the multiverse. Hunger would consume worlds cause civilizations to collapse under starvation all while advanced civilizations consumes world after world. With this the guardians and watchers of the multiverse were created. They were known as the Angelics. Radiant beings descended upon the mortal worlds carrying the authority of the heavens. They ended wars before kingdoms could be destroyed. They guided young civilizations away from paths that would lead to ruin and stood against those whose ambition threatened the lives of others.
For a time, the Angelics were welcomed. Mortals built monuments in their honor and kings listened when they spoke. Civilizations that had once waged endless war were forced to lower their weapons. Peace once again spread across the stars, life once again grew and flourished. Yet peace granted by a greater power is not the same as peace freely chosen. As the time passed, gratitude became doubt which became resentment and resentment became defiance. Mortals began to ask questions the heavens had never expected them to ask.
If the Angelics could decide which wars were permitted, who truly ruled the universe? If the gods could see the future, were mortal choices truly their own? If peace existed only because those with greater power demanded it, was it peace at all?
Among the countless worlds, one kingdom dared to speak these questions aloud and against the rule of the Angelics. This world was known as Arcadia. Beneath a blood-red moon, among towering black spires rising from crimson earth, a king stood before his people and looked toward the heavens. He refused to kneel before the Angelics. The Arcadian King declared that no god had the right to command those who lived beneath them. No celestial guardian had the right to decide which path a civilization was allowed to walk. Freedom, he proclaimed was worth the danger that came with it.
Mortals should be allowed to rise. They should be allowed to fail. They should be allowed to choose. Even if their choices led them toward destruction.
The words spread like wildfire. Across distant worlds, kings began looking toward the heavens with suspicion. Civilizations that had accepted Angelic guidance for generations started questioning the authority placed above them. Some called the Arcadian King a liberator, others called him a fool and the Angelics called him dangerous. Aevor said nothing, he just watched the strands. For the first time since he had begun weaving the futures of existence, the tapestry trembled beneath his hands. Threads divided as possibilities multiplied. In one future, Arcadia burned while in another, the Angelics fell. In another, war spread until the stars themselves became graveyards. The more Aevor searched, the more futures appeared before him and yet nearly all of them ended in blood.
The Multiverse stood upon the edge of its greatest war since the Demon War that almost consumed all of existence. The Angelics could not crush Arcadia without becoming the tyrants their enemies claimed them to be. However, they could not allow the rebellion to spread without risking the collapse of the order they had sworn to protect. The gods looked upon the growing conflict and once again, a new answer was sought. The answer wasn't gods or soldiers or new rulers. Instead it was something between them all. From divine power and the forces woven into the foundations of existence, four beings were created. Four symbols known as the Orions born from the cosmic energy itself, with power that held the foundation of all existence.
Andreia, the Orion of Light.
Renku, the Orion of Hope.
Zether, the Orion of Shadows.
Valak, the Orion of Chaos.
The multiverse had never seen beings like them before. They carried no crowns, but kings were expected to listen when they spoke. They commanded no kingdoms, but armies were expected to lower their weapons before them. They were not gods, however power flowed through them that few mortal beings could hope to challenge. They were created to stand where the Angelics could not. The Angelics looked upon them and saw protectors while the gods looked upon them and saw balance. The mortals looked upon them and saw hope and Aevor looked upon the four new strands entering the tapestry of Fate.
Andreia's pillar burned like the first light of dawn. Zether's moved through darkness, unseen yet unbroken. Renku's shone blue against futures that should have held no hope at all, then Aevor looked upon the final pillar. Valak, The Orion of Chaos. For a moment, the God of Fate was silent, then he reached toward it. The pillar trembled beneath his fingers. Across the tapestry, countless futures shifted instantly. Kingdoms rose, Gods fell and the heavens burned. However, as quickly as the visions had appeared, the pillar became still once more.
The Orions had been created for a single purpose.
To bring peace.
To restore balance.
To end all wars.
At least that is what they were told...
End of Prologue