An Innocuous Figure stood at the very precipice of the Outer Sanctuary, a force preventing him from stepping past.
Behind him was a sanctum, meant to house beings similar to himself. Now it was empty, abandoned. Only two remained in its expanse. The figure was motionless, but the air surrounding him trembled as if shuddering under a dense pressure.
He watched as the place he called home, his world, Nouc, be greedily devoured by two realms.
"I knew it was to come. I had a million plans and a million chances to prevent this, but I couldn't while trapped in this cage."
The words weren't spoken to himself, rather, it was directed to the floating mass of eyes by his side that dwarfed him by comparison.
"Why did you stop me, Ơ̵̟ç̷̈u̴̥͂l̸̢̃ǘ̸̦s̵͖̐? Why did you trap me? Will you also not die?"
Ơ̵̟ç̷̈u̴̥͂l̸̢̃ǘ̸̦s̵͖̐ didn't speak as it had no mouth to translate words, but the figure nodded as Ơ̵̟ç̷̈u̴̥͂l̸̢̃ǘ̸̦s̵͖̐ conveyed a message through other means.
"You had good intentions, Ơ̵̟ç̷̈u̴̥͂l̸̢̃ǘ̸̦s̵͖̐. But as someone who was once a human, I have connections I can't disregard. I know you don't understand."
The figure mimicked a breathing motion.
"You see, humans are single-handedly the most selfish things in the universe that you will ever encounter…And I am one of them."
The figure faced Ơ̵̟ç̷̈u̴̥͂l̸̢̃ǘ̸̦s̵͖̐ their eyes meeting.
"You spent your life force to erect this barrier. And its destruction will cost you your life, and for that I'm sorry for my next actions. I will not justify myself, for I am purely selfish. I thought long ago I discarded my selfish desires, but selfishness is an innate trait of humanity, and to discard my selfishness is to discard my humanity."
The figure's heart ached.
"Goodbye, old friend, let us meet again in the next life."
Ơ̵̟ç̷̈u̴̥͂l̸̢̃ǘ̸̦s̵̐ didn't move, didn't reply, didn't stop the figure. It allowed the figure to step forward, effortlessly shattering the barrier it had erected, along with its life.
TINK!
The prison entrapping the figure fell into numerous shards, together with Ơ̵̟ç̷̈u̴̥͂l̸̢̃ǘ̸̦s̵͖̐, who collapsed into a swarm of eyes. The force holding its body together losing support and tumbling over the edge of the outer sanctuary and into the endless void of space.
The figure never turned back. He simply moved forward, covering a world's distance with each step.
Space debris the size of a moon pecked at his massive body, disappearing into the world within. It had no affect and was merely an ant's bite to him.
He stopped a fair distance from the chaos that unfolded.His world, it was being torn in two by invading realms, and he realized he had to make a choice.
The figure looked toward the left side of Nouc. It was where he was born, where his parents passed, and where he began his life.
The figure looked toward the right side of Nouc. It was where his connections lay, where he built his home, and where he left his people.
The choice was simple, the decision was hard. So the figure didn't choose.
Instead, he gambled, gambled with his life. An ability one gains when they awaken their consciousness. The act of splitting that consciousness into two halves. It was guaranteed for one half to live, but for both, it was merely up to luck. But this was the only option he could use if he didn't want to choose.
The reason no one split themselves often was that it was the same as ending their lives and halving all their accumulated consciousness with a chance of failure. In addition, it was an excruciating process that, while not long, would feel like it stretched on for eternity.
The figure hesitated, but the moment he laid his eyes on his world and caught sight of the very grave he buried his own friends and family in crumple. Resolved burned within his heart.
With a wave of his hand and a bending of his will, he ingrained within his heart a purpose for the future. He constructed two cocoons to protect his future selves in case they became too weak to protect themselves. Splitting wasn't just one turning into two, but the creation of two life forms from another's base.
"Today I will cease as another is born, I will fail, I know it, but I have established more than enough of my being to try again and again, and if I fail completely, at least I tried. And if I succeed, then once more, not I, but a part of me will walk, and walk that part of me will, until the end of that path I laid."
He pulled his consciousness within, along with everything he had ever accumulated in his lifetime. He turned truly into one with his body, mind, and consciousness. Then he shook, a gruesome, unheard sound erupted from the figure's body.
First, he felt his mind split in two, then everything faded, his body split in half vertically down the middle, and he became two. His vast consciousness became less than half its size.
Space distorted as a birthing process was enacted.
The tremors slowed, gradually settling into a calm nothingness. The figure was no more, instead, in his original place were two identical, smaller beings.
One of the figures snapped awake, brief confusion visible on his face, then an influx of splintered memories pervaded his fractured mind.
"I am alive."
The now lighter figure looked to the side, a chuckle arose from him.
The other half… It was lifeless.
"I am not moved, as I was ready for this. Let me try again, luck will eventually join my side."
The figure winced, repeating the same actions as the original had done. Two more took his place. The vast consciousness that engulfed everything now grew smaller.
"I failed again."
A figure that now took a humanoid form stared wistfully at his dead self drifting next to him.
"Urgh!"
The consciousness that once deterred all those ancient monsters, now became a delectable-looking meal in their eyes. If one were close by right now, it would thank fate for giving it such a fine meal.
"I have two more chances, and very soon the realms will finish consuming my world, and I would once again lose the chance to… Wait, what am I doing again?" The human frowned.
"Who am I?"
The human rattled his head, both hands clutching his temples. There was a reason, it had a reason… But what was it?
When his mind clouded and his intent lost, a warmth spread from his heart, calming him down. It brought with it purpose.
"I see."
He invoked the act of splitting once more.
"AURGHHHH!!!"
A piercing pain enveloped his body, but his mind was far too strong to yield, his consciousness too pure to falter. There was a pause, then a somber laugh, followed by yet another horrifying moment of agony.
A human boy who emitted an aura less than a fly and a consciousness like that of a wilting flame, barely filling his body, opened his eyes. The eyes beheld in them lost, only when a warmth spread within did those eyes light up.
The boy hurriedly looked to the side, his heart skipping a beat as another pair of eyes stared back at him, holding a similar spark of light in them.
"We did it."
"We did."
"Do you remember our purpose?"
"I do not."
"Then how will we know what to do?"
"I also do not know. But this feeling in my chest tells me that we will naturally do what we must."
"You're right, I can feel it. The light our predecessor left for us."
The two boys faced forward, as a split world reflected in their vision.
"We do not have much time."
"We do not."
A cold glow slowly began to engulf them, it was the cocoon left by the figure.
"We will be leaving soon. What will be our names?"
The boy on the left side pondered for a moment, his hand touching the tip of his chin.
"Our predecessor's name, what was it?"
"I do not remember?" The boy on the right shook his head.
"Find it within you."
There was silence as the cocoon slowly covered their vision with a blue light. Right before the light separated them, the boy on the left spoke.
"I found it, his name, our name."
"What is our name?"
"W̸̺̃i̴̥͐l̶̯̒t̷͑ͅu̸̞̅r̸͎̊." The name spoken made the cocoon quake as it beheld a power of its own.
"W̸̺̃i̴̥͐l̶̯̒t̷͑ͅu̸̞̅r̸͎̊… Yes, that is his name."
"If W̸̺̃i̴̥͐l̶̯̒t̷͑ͅu̸̞̅r̸͎̊ is his name, then my name will be Wil."
"Then Tur will be my name."
BOOM!
A distant, colorful explosion sent parts of a fragmented world flying in their direction. Instinctively, they both raised their arms to brace themselves, but the debris bounced off the cocoon protecting them.
The cocoon fully glowed in a blue hue and covered their sight. Wil could no longer see Tur, and Tur could no longer see Wil. Still, they spoke to each other past the wall.
"I guess this is goodbye, Tur. Let us meet again when we have fulfilled our purpose."
"Goodbye, Wil. When we meet again, let us meet as friends with a story to tell—"
Tur never finished his sentence as the cocoon shot off like a comet, detonating in a burning of will.
Wil headed for the left hemisphere of Nouc. Where a realm dark and eerie was in the process of devouring it.
Tur headed for the right hemisphere of Nouc. Where a realm bright and lively realm was in the process of devouring it.
Wil and Tur were forced into a deep state of sleep in order not to be influenced during the travel.
The world, Nouc completely split in half, as the two realms' greedy fighting hit its climax. The rifts in space began to close, and just before they fully sealed themselves, two blue comets pierced through the opening.