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The air folded around me, space bending and dissolving as reality itself struggled to hold its shape, as if it could not decide whether I should exist within it.
"You came back? Leave."
She spoke with command in her voice, expecting compliance, expecting hesitation.
I did not give her either. I stood my ground, unmoved, my gaze steady as the pressure of the collapsing space washed past me without effect.
"..."
"I purposely let you kick me out earlier. But now, I'm back, and I'm not leaving until I get what I want."
"What can I possibly give you, Antares?"
"Dropped the Two Law God title? Hmm, the question is, what do you want, Ereshkigal?"
I asked, stepping closer. She didn't move, not even a glance. So I stopped behind her, her back turned toward me, arms wrapped around her knees in silent stillness.
"What do you want?"
"I'm here for it, and I'd like to give you something in exchange."
"As I said, there's nothing you can give me. As long as it's created by Erekayla, it won't work on me."
"Who said anything about her?"
I asked, and she felt silent. There's no need for an answer after all, so I continued.
"I heard you've never been outside of this place."
It's possibly a lie, but given the fact that the two Goddesses can't materialise on the same ground, this is a logical point.
"Nothing can hold me except my mind. I simply can't exist anywhere but here. All I can do is spread chaos, destruction, take lives."
"And you're satisfied with that?"
"You want me to go against the Art?"
"It can exist without you, why not? Besides..."
I paused, walking to stand in front of her before pulling out the Art of Creation. Its radiance illuminated the anti-space, and she immediately reacted to it, raising her head to confirm.
"Wh...it...it can't be. You..."
"Ishtar is still alive, and everything is still intact."
"Do yu plan on becoming the God of Creation?"
"That won't suit me. I am simply experimenting on something."
"A lesser person like you..."
"...can't contain & withstand its powers, huh? I get that. But I'm giving it a try. To prove you all wrong, at least."
"I won't give you mine. You'll have to kill me to take it, and even then, you won't be able to pull it out."
She declared teleporting away, but she's still within this unreality.
In fact, I know where she is. Chasing her won't do any good, so I remained in my position and relayed my message. This is her abyss so she can pick up even my whispers.
"Are you going to keep causing harm to innocent lives? Corrupting us, making us turn against each other? Be the source that separates a newborn from its mother? All the negative impact you create, don't you think they resent you?"
"It is the way of life."
"And you're the way of death?"
I paused for a moment. Finding the right words.
"I'm sure no one told you to interfere with Erekayla's Creations, just as no one told her to create the Ontic Layers and all that.
She probably did it out of interest, and if that's the case, then you're causing chaos for the same reason. That means you've contradicted yourselves. Gods, no."
I paused, it's wrong to call them gods.
"Creatures like you guys aren't meant to have feelings, emotions, or anything like that. Don't you think you're going against your own Art?"
I struck from that opening without hesitation.
"You have a big mouth for a mortal."
"It's just facts."
I raised both hands, waving.
"You people claimed to be devoid of anything and simply live to fulfil your duties, yet something else arises within you. Aside from the fulfilment of causing destruction, deep down, you're feeling something."
"..."
"You've been living in a basement while Ishtar took the house. From my own perspective, no, in reality, Erekayla was and is currently Mother's favourite. And for your own information, it'll remain that way. Forever."
Hearing the name of the Supreme Mother, she flinched, and I felt it despite not being close to her.
"I...it's a lie. You're making this up. You can't comprehend what we think."
"You are free to take it however you want. But deep down, you know the truth. You're lonely,..."
"Stop..."
"...you want to be seen, heard, and most of all, you want to participate."
"Shut up.."
"You look at other realms in Creation where the Goddesses of Creation and Destruction exist together, maintaining balance, yet here you are, locked away since birth, acting blindly just to be acknowledged."
I pressed the attack without giving her space to respond, closing the distance as I moved in.
"Your eyes see nothing but the inevitable end of everything. Reality itself can't escape Destruction before your scared eyes."
"I have destroyed countless people, Spirits, Demons, Angels, even the Overseers themselves. The end is a predetermined fate of everything and nothing. The end of everything happened because of me. That's how it's meant to be. I am inevitable!"
She counted, and judging from her voice, she's about to break down.
"No, the world is ending, and species are dying because you will it. You did what you did because you thought it was the way to maintain balance. But you are wrong..."
She caught her breath and paused, curious about what I'm about to say.
"Yes, because of you, life cannot last forever. All negative causes can be traced back to you. But I'm here to end your suffering, Ereshkigal."
I told her now, standing in front of the Goddess of Destruction whose amber eyes were filled with sadness, loneliness, and tears.
"Do you hate me because of who I am?"
She asked calmly, and I gave her my honest answer.
"If jt weren't for who I am, I'd perish long ago. My subordinates would've perished, but on my side, we survived.
However, I can't say the same back at home. My fellow Stars are dying because of you. We don't have families, but they need to live."
I don't deserve to say this, not after all I've done.
"Cute young stars who know nothing about the world are faced with war at a young age. So yes, I hate you, Ereshkigal. You don't deserve forgiveness any bit, but... I'm willing to forgive you on my part."
I reached out, offering her my palm, cosmic light rippling across my skin, stars, and nebulae dancing in silent motion around it.
"But I can't guarantee the atrocities Phoenix and the rest of the World commits. Despite that, I won't let anyone take you, because I came for you first."
(Currently, I'm using World for Reality.)
Hearing this, Ereshkigal smiled happily and looked me in the eyes.
'Shit, don't tell me it didn't work.'
I cursed, but her next words caught me off guard.
"I've been waiting all this time for someone to come here. Endlessly destroying everything, I wished that someone would come here who would hate me. That he will walk freely in my abyss and reach me. After waiting for beyond eternity, I resigned myself that this won't happen and that I'm stuck here forever.
I remained here trapped within myself where there's nothing but myself. If I were to go out, everything would change. As you've said, before my eyes, only the end stretches. The moment I set foot in reality, the inevitable Omega will replace the Alpha. Knowing this, my feelings burned off the spark of hope I was clinging to. But you of all people came."
"Were you expecting some charming hero?"
I teased, and she chuckled slightly, taking my frozen hand.
"I'm not the princess he'll fall for."
Unexpectedly, I pulled her close and hugged her. Our size varies, but it's not a problem.
"But I'm the one who'll save her."
Experiencing her first embrace, she clings onto me tightly.
"What experiment are you conducting that requires the powers of Mother?"
"An experiment that wil reshape the World."
I told her, and she transferred her Art of Destruction into me without hesitation. Unlike Ishtar, Ereshkigal doesn't fully obey Mother, probably become what I said.
"It's dangerous, but you are the Two Law God. Impossibilities are irrelevant to you."
She finally let me go, and I felt the two Art fighting against each other already within my body.
When she transferred the Art of Destruction, it did not merge like Creation. It invaded, like a principle rewriting Creation. My body, already saturated with Creation's energy, reacted violently. Every cell, thought, and Essen oscillate between becoming and unbeing.
Where Creation expands, Destruction contracts. Where one weaves, the other unravels. With that, my cosmic flesh and Essen are constantly shimmering between states. Essereos flickering in and out of form, body pulsing with collapsing starlight. It's not pain in the mortal sense. It's erasure trying to coexist with genesis. I have to live with this for...
'How long will it take to form the Heart?'
I asked White. It took longer to answer, as if not expecting me to make it.
'Probably a thousand years. But with your stubbornness, anything can be possible. I'm surprised you're still alive."
Surprised? How and why? I'm meant to wield this, so why? Why did it take longer to respond? For an omniscient ego, that's so wrong. Unless...
'So that's how it is? I see.'
My head kept spawning isolated thoughts and possibilities as to why this was happening. Why is an omniscient ego reacting this way. Am I been manipulated?
"I want you to meet someone."
I said, summoning a portal to which the Goddess of Creation walked. She's supposed to be furious at me, but her eyes landed on her sister, and I was completely ignored.
"E...Ereshkigal?"
She asked, stunned.
"Ishtar."
Erekayla rushed, and they collided into a hug.
"I've wanted to meet you all my life."
"I know. I've been trying to reach out to you directly without interacting with our Arts, but nothing worked, I'm glad."
They melted into one, and all I could do was watch.
'Goddess or not, there are sisters whose freedom was stolen. At least, that's what it looked to me. Hmm, how I wish they'll sandwich me...'
My wild thoughts were severed the moment she asked.
"B...but how?"
Ishtar asked. She glanced around, and her eyes eventually landed on me.
"Antares?"
"Yo, Lady Erekayla."
I flashed my teeth, as if I didn't steal her Art and crush her moments ago.
"How did you?"
"By tempering with Ereshkigal's anti-reality, I made it possible for her to walk within reality without destroying it."
"H.. how? That's not possible."
"Lady Ereshkigal, didn't you tell her that nothing is impossible to me?"
I folded my arms, puff my chest.
"Well.."
"I very much know you better than anyone, Antares. But this..."
"Ether decides everything. With the right amount of power, nothing is impossible. At least for me."
I was reassured by keeping it cool on the outside, but I was experiencing real torment from within.
'In reality, I used Entares's void and Silver Dust constantly negating her Anti-Existence state.'
The Art of Creation is something no one can handle apart from those intended to. I'm nothing but a mortal to it, and its power should've torn me apart, but this means it'll contradict itself since it's only capable of Creation. As if possessing a mind of its own, it didn't go against itself.
Art of Destruction, on the other hand, was literally dismantling Essereos, bringing me towards complete Destruction, but with the Art of Creation, my body has resistance to such Destruction. They fought, and their powers were without a doubt something otherworldly. But the fact that I'm still alive means I can make it. But still a, thousand years. I'm barely three thousand years old. I can't wait that long.
Meanwhile, on the other side, with White's sluggish guardiance, I, along with Void Eater, was trying to merge the two to give birth to the Ether Heart.
I was one hundred percent confident that assimilation should've been completed by now, but...something wrong.
'White, the assimilation?'
'The more you use Ether, the more you slow down the assimilation process. After using Silver Dust to interact with Ereshkigal's non-essence, we're back to level one. I'm kind enough to lift the time duration, so thank me.'
Now that Entares is inactive, his real void is absent, and I can't use the True Void Singularity. That's possibly why it turned out this way. If not, I'd be in STEP 3: EQUILIBRIUM by now.
'No thanks.'
I rejected. Even without Entares' help, I should have completed this. What I am not alright with is White's behaviour. I know it despises me, but why take thirty-eight seconds to give a three-word answer?
Maybe I am overthinking it, or maybe I am not. But if it turns out I'm been manipulated, I'll be really mad.
"I...I see."
"Now that Ereshkigal can walk freely, what do you think Mother will say?"
"As you've said, she knows what's currently happening."
"Good. I want to see my wife."
I teleported away, merging with the version of myself outside, the one with Towa on a floating bed.
To be continued...