#numbers0.

There existed two primordials. Birthed from ‘the nothing’ out of pure energy and willpower. Born full and complete, they embodied opposing forces; push and pull, an ebb and flow. E'kam was called of a God of wisdom, of unity, of calm and stability. His counterpart was the goddess E'rah, of cleverness, cunning, turbulence and chaos. They ruled over the nothing and in their eternal conflicts, they found purpose in the existence of their other half.

In a rare moment of complete trust and understanding, the two met eye to eye and joined in unity. Driven by the desire to see the extent of their capabilities, they concentrated their energy into one and performed what we now call Ze(x)al; a merging of spirit in order to create life.

From the foundations they created, they planted a seed that sprouted crystal and spread its energy throughout the earth it took hold of. Its power filled the universe and provided the potential for spirits to grow, slowly but surely. In agreement with E’kam, E’rah could test the waters and continue to mold and create as much as she pleased, on the condition that in good will, she would never take anything back. Seeing the importance and treasuring that which was shared between them or created and given life, E’kam created the Numeron Code, intending it to be a record of all things and a contract of their unique relationship. The passage of time would inscribe all events that had ever transpired into it, and all that was written there was the truest retelling.

E’kam held a deep respect for his counterpart despite their many differences. So much so, that he held a trust in her nature. E’kam closed his eyes with a clear mind as he provided respite from the natural chaos that came from existing. E’rah on the other hand, grew restless. Ages passed between them; each passing year eroding her. Leaving the ever thirsting E’rah desperate for more. For new. For different. Where E’kam was content with complacency, it beat against E’rah like a stone by the sea until she could no longer stand the normalcy.

Some Chaos cultists would argue that E’kam had bound her with routine and predictability. Or that he restrained her against her will. This only proves their misunderstanding of the nature of the two balancers and their relationship. Speculation and meditation on the tipped scales was encouraged, and yet coming to the conclusion that E’rah was anything more than wickedness and destruction has become heavily scrutinized in recent years by those that prefer to sit exclusively in E’kam’s shadow. It is this favouritism and ignorance that cast E’rah in a terrible light from the beginning despite having equal hand in creating love, diversity and beauty. However it did not pardon the unforgivable crime she committed while her other half’s back was turned.

Astral world was created as a place to house souls that possessed great will. To have an unwavering spirit in the face of adversity was greatly admired, as were many qualities that the Gods possessed. At the time, no other possessed E’kam’s patience as the Astral woman Ena, one of our elders. Blessed with some resemblance to E’rah herself, she was seen as most dependable when organizing the aimless, the lost and the new souls. Many gravitated towards her as a leader of the new and expanding community, but as it grew too great of a burden, Astral World decided that if there were no leaders present, they would create just as the Gods would. For company and for the balance of wills, we created two.

Eliphas was to be the embodiment of peace and his counterpart, Don Thousand who was dedicated to community values and spiritual strength. They were embedded with the will to do what was best for Astral World. Ena, who was relieved of overarching duties, still offered council and guidance on a small scale regardless. Many sages refer to our original leader and our leaders created from crystal and will, the three pillars of Astral World. Affectionately, the people called them the Mind, Heart and Soul. To honour and station our new leader, a great tower was built for them to oversee and govern from. It was built atop the sacred grounds where life was said to have first sprung, for crystal was strong and concentrated there.

Astral world flourished under the gentle Soul and kind Heart. Our city grew and there was a period of great harmony. Regrettably, it was not to last. There were no witnesses, but all felt the loss of E’kam by E’rah. The great betrayal sparked chaos and no one was immune. Shattered into oblivion, we lost the trusting E’kam. E’rah was left with no one to balance her and therefore, placed the entire universe at risk of collapse. Astral world was in mourning. But one hope remained, in the sole piece of E’kam entrusted to us by fate itself.

We could not bring him back, but we dared to try. With the piece of E’kam, it was decided that we would rebuild E’kam using the life force the Gods left behind. The specifications of E’kam’s reincarnation are known only to the upper echelon (the three pillars and myself by their graces) and remain highly confidential. Any and all attempts to recreate E’kam were met with failure until the end goal was altered to something more achievable by our hand. With the spirit of our starting foundation (Zero, or ‘Astral’ after our world) we created a great many pieces to embody the strength and qualities we believed necessary to avenge our fallen god. And with the act of Zexal, the first Number fused with the other components to rank up higher than any of us believed possible.

We did not remake God, but what we did do was create a weapon to wipe one out. The Shining Number enacted our revenge and killed E’rah without a hint of mercy. As soon as he had set out, he had returned, fulfilling his role to ‘protect Astral world from harm’.

But even with E’rah’s disappearance from our world, her chaos had not yet ended. It spread into the hearts of many, dividing Astral World in two, right up to the top. E’kam’s death set off a chain reaction that resulted in vilifying E’rah and all that she stood for. In the eyes of Eliphas, E’rah’s nature and all that embodied lead to E’kam’s undoing, and in turn would lead to the end of everything. He kept E’kam’s spitting image, Astral World’s personified Sword close at his side. Under Eliphas’ guidance, it was to be educated in the way he wished. The sword was to remain untouched by E’rah’s qualities. This did not bide well with the honorable Don Thousand.

Our leaders are not the same leader we created all those years ago. They have been changed by E'kam's passing in a way that I of lower rank could never understand. This change created a riff like none other, causing our leaders to argue with great frequency. The air of Astral World is heavy, like E'rah's solitary reign never ended.

He was made equipped him with everything he needed to defeat Don Thousand and retrieve the Numeron Code. His exact functions weren’t elaborated in great detail, but his original programming included instinctive knowledge of what he do, when he needed to do it. Unfortunately the part containing information concerning his capabilities were lost after his battle with DT, available only when whole (as Number S0). In manga verse, Astral would still have this knowledge.

Astral thus far has made no attempt to hone his skills and has no idea what he’s truly capable of.

* At his most complete he is Shining Hope Zexal. Strong enough to destroy a primordial goddess of chaos in one powerful swipe of his crystal energy sword. At his least he is Astral no numbers who can’t remember a thing and barely holds a physical form let alone a spirit.

getting physical:

Yes he can fly, float and hover in any direction he pleases.

physical form: At full strength Astral can be touched but he remains without a physical body and hard to perceive without the influence of Astral World energy, a heightened soul or a high level of spiritual awareness. He can pass through physical objects and vice versa. The purest form that his soul can take is that of bright blue energy.

‘physical’ extension: His arm’s reach can extend in one direction thanks to energy redistribution and lack of physical limitation. He can reach quite a distance to grab objects. This ability is easily thwarted by disrupting the flow of energy through the extended arm. Should this happen, the extension should disappear and Astral’s usual form would then be assumed.

embedding energy: Astral can segment portions of his energy ( or soul ) and place it within another being. Energy lent is temporary but soul pieces lent remain for as long as the borrower is in possession of it. Lending his soul ( or numbers ) detracts from his own abilities and memories so it’s extremely unlikely that he’d put himself at such a disadvantage without good reason.

power of bonds: Strong energy from other souls can in/voluntarily be absorbed and boost his own energy reserves.

psychokinesis: At his best he can probably lift as much as a small house, but you’d likely catch him using his psychokinesis to pull Numbers and play card games.

sealing: Requires an incredible amount of life energy and Astral at best has just enough to contain and neutralize either Don Thousand or E’rah. While he can seal another entity away in stone, the strongest seal is his own body. To permanently imprison Don Thousand or E’rah, he would have to seal them within his vessel then himself away in stone.

absorption: Every number can ‘consume’ and unite with another. The strongest number remains the one in control.

earth generation: Manga canon Astral has been shown to be able to create a bolder from seemingly thin air. Blog canon Astral has never tried and remains unaware of such an ability. Astral cannot make rock without the materials you’d expect to do so. As long as there is material to make earth, he is only limited by his own vitality.

* Shine is able to expertly manipulate crystal/stones/earth as well as create earth from drawing on other pre-existing materials.

its all in the mind:

mind infiltration: Works best when the one being infiltrated is consenting. Astral can enter the mind of one conscious or unconscious being at a time.

possession: Just like any other number, he is capable of taking control of a human body.

memory scan: As described, he can watch memories but only upon contact with the subject he wishes to scan. It is an incredibly overwhelming ability and takes the whole of his concentration. Viewing memories is incredibly overstimulating and would cut off his awareness of the going-ons outside the memory he is watching. Migraines and head pressures. Due to Astral’s lack of experience doing this, he has absolutely no idea of how to navigate through specific memories and find the ones he’s looking for let alone start the first step of this on his own. This ability has another downside, as it leaves Astral's own mind vulnerable for infiltration. Needless to say he’d prefer not to delve this far into someone else’s mind.

telepathy: He shares a telepathic connection ( holding a conversation between him and another through thought ) with his own pieces or alternatively, with those he has established a strong spiritual link with. The stronger the link, the greater his ‘speaking’ range. At best this ability is limited to about 1km give or take. Any further and the ‘reception’ is too poor to pick up a reply. *Needless to say a conversation at 1km would be awful and not recommended.

image imprinting: Sending images of what he can see to another through telepathic link. The conditions for telepathy apply.

empathetic sense: Only possible with completely open channels of telepathy or union. E.g.: He can sense Yuuma’s emotional state due to the sheer closeness of their souls. *This is reciprocal for whoever he is emotionally communicating with. This can also be involuntary. Willingness to express and trust are key factors in this sense being used successfully.

ZEXAL: In the midst of ZEXAL, the souls involved can use all skills under the category of mental ability. *It is possible for one part of the union to have complete possession of their physical manifestation. There is no pain involved unless one participant resists.