It was a normal, average day, in Reika's opinion. She and her siblings stood outside the Four realms, each positioned at a cardinal point relative to the Realms while facing their stalled constructs. Angels and other beings who had been helping them had long since been cleared off, returned to their previous duties as the Big Four prepared themselves. Well, her siblings did. She turned her attention to her ho while she waited.
The Four Realms itself spun slowly in the center of the shell of seemingly random material that branched out of and off of it, their creations discordant and unfocused. The Primordial Chaos that surrounded the Four Realms still looked thin compared to what it used to be - but that wasn't because there wasn’t enough. It was simply because without the Void constantly eating away at it, creating the Abyss which generated Sothing from Nothing, there was no natural engine to feed the Primordial Chaos' growth, and as such it had not been healed as much as the rest of the Realms.
Mother had gotten around this by leeching Primordial Chaos from the One World, but said Chaos still had to be converted into material usable by the Four Realms. The One World’s stuff was foreign, and held strange taint that was siphoned off and returned to the One World for other uses.
Beyond that shell, she knew what lay. The Four Realms proper, with the Realm Sun and Lunar Star circling the four realms she and her siblings had created, built from the Primordial Chaos Mother had made with Her own hands. A Mountain, Valley, River, and Tree. A forest, a land for them to grow up in and beco everything they were ant to be. A promise they would fulfill today.
Reika sucked in a deep breath.
Change had co to the Four Realms and the One World. It was ti they changed with it, took advantage of the chaos and beca more.
"Would you quit acting like that?" Keilan asked, distraction coloring his distant voice. Her brother stood nearly on the opposite side of the Four Realms from her, his karmic strings slowly stretching out of him like a net, twisting this way and that as if they had minds of their own. Reika cocked her head to the side curiously.
"Like what?" She asked innocently.
"Like you had anything to do with us figuring it out." Elvira explained, every other word softer than she likely intended as she fell deeper and deeper into her ditative trance.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," she said smugly, because they were wrong about why she was being so cavalier about what was about to happen. It wasn't because she'd helped them figure it out; no, she hadn't done anything. She was smug because she'd figured it out first.
She half expected a retort but, predictably and a little sadly, there was none. The others were too far gone, slipping too fast into the trance to give her a proper back and forth. She sighed dramatically, even if only for herself. Once again, she was waiting for them to follow behind her…
She smiled privately, closing her eyes and drumming up the word she had chosen to be her first.
It was not as easy as she made it sound, nor as easy as she let her siblings see. Her domain fought against her every step of the way, constantly demanding she change, that she not follow any path she had pre-set for herself. It demanded she change it, for what if that was not the best option? Change happened whether you liked it or not, and she could change as well.
She squashed such thoughts maliciously, relaxing her shoulders and falling into a deeper trance. The fear and doubt about her chosen word ca not from her domain, despite how it sounded, but from the outer parts of herself, the parts that were too tied into other things, outer things, that the truest silence of her soul was muted in the worst way. For it was in silence that one learned about one's self, and could hear your own voice the clearest.
Maybe that was why Mother had started out in the Void. There was nowhere quieter than that - no, bad Reika, be quiet. She banished those thoughts, and sank deeper, past the constant hum that was her running waking mind to the depths of her very being. Her domain aided her, questioning her, demanding she change – but each question, each demand, only served to prove her decision correct. There could only be one first word. One desire for what she wanted out of her very first true creation.
She grabbed that single most desire, and held it tight, and waited. Her siblings had to speak theirs first; it had to be done together. Separate she was unsure if they had to power to pull this off, to get what they needed. That’s what her instincts told her anyways.
Alexander's ca first, and it was simple. His was a roar that split the air, but that single roar carried with it his entire being. The protector, the defender, the spirit guide and friend - the mighty being who never denied you your destiny, and always watched. His castle, his treasure, had to be what it was to be his treasure.
Keilan's ca next, and it was more complex, but only slightly. He spoke of connections and everything that made things worth rembering - past, present, and what may be in the future. His was boats and oceans and libraries of fond and not-so-fond mories, all ready to be called upon and visited at a mont's notice.
Elvira's was last, and it was foundational. That was the only word Reika could use to understand it. Sothing that seed eternal, a structure to hold everything up, an ideal of what it should be. Her truth was her own heart, what she strived for and to create - and had created.
Reika opened her mouth. Hers, was the sa as all of theirs, just with more chaos. Four very different beings, had all selected the sa [Word] for their first creation.
And she spoke, drawing upon the power of Mother to fuel her understanding.
And in the beginning there was nothing.
“HO.”
And suddenly, there was sothing.
***
I stumbled. Not in a stubbed-your-toe kind of way, but in a holy-shit-I-can't-see-straight kind of way. My entire existence was yanked sideways as four souls called upon everything I was, my Heavenly Dao open to all beings to touch upon it as usual, but never tried like this before.
"Are you alright?" Atreum and Inesa and Xing Wu and Fang Xu and Gilles and Astraea and the Four Realms and the One World and the faint consciousness of the Oshun and all of reality asked at once, my vision blurring and blending as all my incarnations flickered, eting the eyes of those before and my incarnations and assuring them I was, in fact, all right when I was, in fact, unsure I was.
The only one to not ask that question was the Rival, who grabbed my arm to steady .
"Easy," he muttered, searching my face, his face overlapping with hundreds of others as the hive-mind of my incarnations blurred at the edges.
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"That is -" my words died in my throat as the call deepened, my gut twisting and writhing, my domain of balance screaming at about...sothing. I couldn't focus enough through the shouting my head to make heads or tails about what my domain demanded, a single word echoing in my mind. Ho. HO. HO. [Ho].
My gaze snapped to the space between the Four Realms and the crust of the One World, where my four children were constructing their works. My power of creation was all but completely drained away by them, the Heavenly Dao and my very soul recognizing their silent request for help and providing it without my conscious consent.
I ground my palm into my forehead, a quarter dozen incarnations that were doing various nial tasks – mostly maintenance on the Four Realms, like oiling up an engine - popped, their power redirecting to only to be imdiately siphoned off by the Big Four. More incarnations imdiately started vanishing, my mind slowly clearing up, bit by bit, my true body's grip tightening on the Rivals' arm.
"Breathe. What's going on?" He asked far too calmly, practically holding upright as I dedicated all of my prodigious might to satisfying this need. It was too late to stop it now – I had to let them forge ahead.
"The kids are asking for too much," I muttered, wincing as my divine power drained faster than I could refill it - no, my power was still my own. That which was called “divine power” remained largely within , untouched. What was happening, then? The haze strengthened, then faded slightly as I killed off a thousand more incarnations, just enough for to focus through it and see what was going on. Streams of my Authority remained in the Four Realms and One World. My divine power curled around protectively, almost as if it was afraid of being attacked. Droplets of my power drifted down to the Big Four and whatever they were doing, not overwhelming them, but coloring their own powers of creation and giving it a boost - like nitro boost in a race car.
What was giving a headache and fogging up my mind was their need for understanding. The knowledge - the thing that made different from all the others, beyond rely my sight. My Heavenly Dao, that epheral thing that radiated from and soaked into all I knew, that all people touched upon and used as a guide to help them live their lives and understand their own place int he world, was being drawn upon in totality by my children.
All they needed was a few drops of my power, to unlock the true powers of creation within them. What they needed the most were [Words], and understanding of reality so deep that they beca that which could create sothing out of nothing.
I had only a few words. [Light], [Silence], a few others, and those had co from Mr. Boxes. My children were asking not for those, however. They were asking for my words.
"Ok, hold on. Jesus Christ," I grumbled, finally managing to right myself. Atreum watched my incarnation in confusion and worry as I pushed myself off of the wall of the hallway I had been walking him down, informing him about his new duties. Inesa hovering over in concern as I held my head in my hands, and Randus, dear Randus, appeared by the side of my true body with a cup of steaming tea already in hand.
I drained it gratefully, the familiar, comforting flavors grounding . And power surged again, as the concept of ho, my concept of ho, fueled the concepts known by those calling upon for aid, providing a foundation upon which they could stand. Yet it was shaky. Too shaky.
"What in my na do they think they're doing?!" I grumbled, more out of surprise than any true irritation, my rational mind gaining enough ground to fuel those emotions. The hells had given them this idea?! To say I was completely blindsided would have been a flat lie, as so part of had known they were searching for sothing deeper to create their new worlds with, but here? Now? Like this? I'd expected them to co to and ask about the Void, and a thousand other things! I’d had entire books and lectures written up for them to listen to and study! Not just start right away, in the middle of two universes! What were they thinking?!
"Statera?" The Rival asked, laying steadying hands on my shoulders. “You’re swaying. Are you drunk? What did you drink, and why didn’t you share any if it left you like this?”
"Is everything alright Marm?" Randus pressed . Another twenty or so incarnations faded, the numbers dwindling into the double digits for the first ti since I’d been knocked out.
"Your older siblings are being difficult," I growled out to Randus, taking a deep, shuddering breath, brow furrowed in concentration.
The Authority of the One World pressed upon , twisting in my heart like a serpent as it sensed the difficulty I was facing. I had to sit down, even, incarnations snapping their fingers to get more people to cover for . The incarnation guiding Atreum was replaced by Gilles and Argent, the God of tal, both of whom eyed the war god suspiciously. Inesa waved off, her eyes shining knowingly when I looked heavenward relative to her position, at Keilan specifically, in response to so question she’d asked.
The One World's Authority pulsed more insistently, my attention, however briefly, studying it.
But no. Distrust ran deep, and I waved it off, sitting cross-legged on the ground - or air - to close my eyes and focus.
"Statera, seriously," The Rival said, kneeling beside and laying a hand on my shoulder.
"Not now, I’m ok, can’t talk," I ground out, fists clenching by my side. mories flooded through , thoughts and recollections of what I considered ho - and that was people. Places were wonderful mories, I could recall all the things I had seen in my old universe, all the places I'd been as well, and the things I'd built in the Four Realms. But my ho would always be my children, and my creations, and the people who made the ho worth coming back to.
In that way, Xing Wu and I were almost identical.
The Big Four were not. Reika viewed her ho as the people within it, but also the things it had been and the path forward. That constant, revolving wheel of change that drove everything forward, even if it was just spinning in place. Her ho was the events that took place within the walls, in a way the mories, that made it a place you could live in.
Alexander saw his ho as his castle, his horde, the things and beings he collected to keep as his. His ho was a place to protect, a place for him to rest, not to fight from the walls of, despite calling it a castle.
Keilan, saw a ho as the mories made there. Even as everything changed, even as he moved on with his life and drifted away from others, or they from him, mories still held a place. The connections ford between people and places; an honorable connection.
And Elvira? She saw the hoe as the foundation of everything. If you had a good ho, or a bad ho, or anything in between; it was from the ho that all decisions were first made. In that way, she and Keilan were actually very similar. It was the mory of what a ho was, and could be, that drove many a decision.
I understood their concepts. but, with a start, I realized what they were actually doing. This wasn't just a project, or a universe of their own under my own banner like I had expected. They were creating their own Dao Stars, in the style of an entire universe. This was sothing I had been waiting for, for a long, long ti, and I was not ready for them. My understanding was still a touch too shallow.
"Statera," The Rival said softly, and my brow furrowed. “Breathe.”
"Not now, sorry," I apologized again through gritted teeth, casting my senses outward. Once again, the One World offered its aid, its understanding, and once again I rebuffed it. Instead, I turned to the other gods of the Four Realms, and added their understanding, the bits and pieces of their Daos that they had created to my own, channeling that.
It still was not enough, the hold between the Big Four and my fledgling [Words] beginning to tremble, and I turned my eyes to the last place I could.
Mr. Boxes. We hardly spoke anymore, which was by design I supposed. He was a busy being, managing an entire multiverse, and the system was designed to build us independence. But he always answered when I asked. At least for now.
And answer he did. In my mind’s eye I was struck by a single word, the concept of the word [Ho], from every conceivable angle and an infinite number of impossible angles. That one word that Mr. Boxes presented was as complex and simple as it could possibly be, a paradox of truth and lies, and far greater in concept than my own understanding. I felt for the first ti in a long ti, once again like a child when presented with this full truth. What a ho was, everything it was not, everything it could be and shouldn’t be but is anyways.
I did not use it exclusively to show my children. In fact, I held most of it back, despite the strain on my mind and power - letting only a trickle through, practicing what I preached. Mr. Boxes was the understanding of the universe I had grown up with and understood, yet like Xing Wu I had developed my own Dao, separate from his. It was fledgling in comparison, but still enough to be called my own; not out of arrogance, but simply because this is how I did things.
I would not deny where I ca from, and that Mr. Boxes was my "creator."
Disappointnt radiated through Mr. Boxes for just a mont, a flash that had confused - until, suddenly, the creations of my children exploded in power and size.
And the first of seven words was officially said. And Mr. Boxes felt disappointed no more.
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