#edax

And so I had arrived at the universe of the Black Star, a populated world, perhaps one I can find the cure to my condition. The cure to immortality. For so long had I ran away from my fate, many spoke of me as a hermit, yet I do have a good reason for my travels. Verum Esse's grasp cannot reach me everywhere, right? Not in every universe, not in every world. Everything eventually needs rest, everything eventually forgets, no matter if it takes generations or even longer! For such is nature of all living things, and even gods are alive. And so I walk through the countless streets and buildings, a land not yet touched by the gods. Is it odd? That I envy them, I envy their naivety, lack of knowledge. For if they knew? Their entire existence may be shattered. This universe housed many sapient species.. had they figured out dimensional travel? Many looked so alien, countless limbs and heads, millions of eyes.. yet they all lived side by side. It was beautiful I must say. Would.. humanity ever experience such freedom, such peace if only allowed to exist for longer than it ever knew? A mystery, even to one that lived for millions of years. Nobody knows who I am, nobody knows what I am, as families and couples pass me. As fathers, mothers, children and grandparents walk by my side.. nobody even knows what I am. My odd appearence does not terrify them. Is this what freedom feels like? I had loaned a small home in exchange for manual labour, which I am no stranger to. Still, the fact I am treated so.. normally, with basic decency feels odd to me. And so I arrive to my new temporary home, and.. I look forward. To what future may hold. Such simple joys, joys of normalcy. Yet, despite all? I still do not try to achieve any sort of connections, I do not wish to meet other beings, I do not with to make friends, acquintences or perhaps more. Millenia of wandering through the worlds alone takes a heavy toll. Why would I wish to make friends..? Even if the pale dragon does not arrive.. will I not outlive them? Will I not merely exist until the ones I Begin to love, to cherish turn to mere ash and dust? What is the point? At times like this, even I fear.

Even in such a tranquil universe, even in such a remote world, I began to see signs. Signs of what I had wished to never come. As the stars gleam in the night sky, I can't help but let go. A glass in one hand, a roast in the other. I missed it, to sit down, chat with people, even ones I do not know. I stare at the spacial expanse above me, telling tales of my travels past. And then, I hear it. A bell. The bell that tolls the end. No, please no. I had thought I was free, it had been so long since I was found! Why? Why had they forsaken me? Why has this happened to me? And yet the answer will never come. I must make peace, for I am not special. I am not anybody but another failure of these cosmic beings existence. I take a swig, and ready myself for what shall come. A bright star in the sky, approaching closer and closer to the planet's atmosphere, yet it is no star. But a being. The herald of the end, the being of order, one that hates me so. Verum Esse. Its grand wings illuminate the sky, thousands, no, millions of eyes peer out vacantly.. yet despite all, I know their gaze is on me. Many innocent beings laught thinking it is but a performance. Many scatter in fear. And even more freeze, staring at the majesty of a god. It roars, the tongue of millions of voices. I do not understand it, for its language is grander than any mortal tongue, yet one thing I know. Its rage is uncontrollable. And so it gazes up above, at the sky, and instantly clears all the clouds, all the ash and dust, all the things plagueing the atmosphere. And I see it, the sky full of stars, full of planets, I can gaze far further than one would normally. I can see galaxies, I can see black holes, nebulas. And worst of all? I can see its target. A planet not so far away from this one, most definitely big enough to aid its goal. It unhinges its jaws, so far away from us yet even I can hear that disgusting crack of bone and muscle. A light, like a newborn star emerges from its maw, and then shoots out. The impact of the lazer breaking out of the atmosphere deafens those around me, I can hear their screams of pain, I can see them clutching their bleeding ears, begging for it to end. I can feel the disgusting slime I've come to despise with my whole being droop down, down, down my ears. The beam impacts the planet, and then moves down, cutting it in half. The planet seperates, creating two halves. One rock, lava, core and minerals as one would expect, but the other? Void. Darkness. All black except for a single glowing eye at the end, and then another, and another. Four in total. The god has awoken, and it wishes a sacrifice of a world. It flies out of the planetary portal, a serpent the size of worlds, a devourer of all that is and all that will be, Edax. The bringer of the end. As its body swims out, the debris changes direction.. towards us. First small, then bigger and bigger pieces of the planet rain down on the land, the closest to the impact truly were the luckiest. Eviscerated the quickest, those the furthest? Burn alive. Their charred flesh assaulted my nerves, reminded me as to why I should never stay, why I should keep running, why I had caused this and nobody else. I hold a hand of one I've come to know today, a younger man of a species I cannot quite remember the name of. I see the fear in his face as he chokes on his own blood. I'm sorry I whisper, yet I may never know if he can ever forgive me. The serpent finally ceases its escape from the portal and spots me. Its face shows no emotion, no mind, no care for what it had done. As I reach down for my blade, I hadn't even realized I was burnt as well, my charred flesh and muscle clinging to my bones. My brain couldn't even register the pain, and yet I persist. I unsheathe the blade, and plunge it deep, deep into my being, before ripping it out. My blood, pools down, and forms a circle, before it opens. A portal, another escape route. I've failed this world by existing in it, and I will fail another by escaping. For that is the life of a hermit. For that is the life of a demigod.