My sword split with a thousand colors and hues. A gaping line appeared at its middle point, then widened, and the former surface shattered. A glorious blade appeared from within, cackling with energy. I grasped it with trembling fingers, then steadied.
I handled it eagerly, swinging it toward the black floor beneath me. The impact was great: the tiles broke apart at first contact, and a fiery flame lit the length of the blade. A pure weapon of destruction. It danced with warmth, for it was forged in the light. It would only serve me when I destroyed the evilest of the shadows. Yet it would obey me to the end of all eternity, I knew.
I approached my enemy warily and kissed the helm of her cloak. We linked swords, and brilliance jarred through the metal, penetrating and illuminating the night. A billion stars flickered, falling from the sky and swirling around us, creating their own dance.
She pointed the tip of her weapon on my forehead, and when steel and flesh should have met, infinite power and might embraced. Lightning swept through the air, and touched me in an iron grip. My rival began her blessing.
“Be a light in the universe.
Yield your power when there is none.
Remember your strengths and heed your weaknesses.
Be a forever burning beacon of goodness.
Rule one with humanity.
Reign with strength.”
The stars swept among our spirits, whisking away all feeling, taking a part of me to shine in the galaxy. My rival struck with the hilt of her sword, the concluding rite of my ceremony. The stars marred the canvas of the night one last time, then faded into the shadows. She too melted from this living world, scattering but a chink of herself to forever embed into my memory. It was silent for a long time.
**~::|::~**
A perpetual twilight ruled the atmosphere mercilessly, tentatively linking the evening to day for eons to come. Nothing stirred but I, who was on my quest to discover my rival and ally, who fled this earth many years ago.
I roamed this world, alone, utterly alienated. In my darkest days I retreated to the very core of my existence, refusing to feel any longer. Walking within the spanning bridges and corridors of my barely conscious mind, I grasped ancient secrets built inside the center, so old they were a part of the youthful universe itself, interwoven among the deceitful architecture. They were given to me when I joined this realm as a god, so I may keep them until the very end of the eldest celestial bodies, when the last suns shed their final radiance. It froze me with the density of the massive volumes of knowledge, crushing me when I attempted to pry open the smallest memories. Kept, not read. It was to be buried there till the closing of all times.
The absolute void of insanity penetrated through every hallway, and I was faced with the unloving truth that even the secrets of the universe could not hide me from its hold. That was why I set out to find my enemy, to seek out the only thing to tether me to this still world.
When I rose from my slumber, I was weak. If I was to lose the will to stay a god, I would cease to exist. My body had nearly evaporated, leaving only a ghoulish cloud of vapor to act as the mesh barricade of my fragile mind. It took me a long time to reform into a sustainable life force. When it did, I began my journey.