["Failure after failure.
How did the Gods create life? I asked myself this a number of times. How did they create the body, the soul?
Why could those creatures whom the Gods created able to propagate, giving birth to new souls? What was the secret? There was no answer I could find.
Even as a master of the soul and a craftsman since creation, I didn't understand."]
[Your Aspect Legacy: "Seeker of Truths" has uncovered a Truth.]
'So... he wanted to create life? Why?' Asteria mumbled, her voice sounding faint as she tried to balance the heavy torch in her trembling hand. 'Is that what the stone saints are? And yeah, I don't care, I'll read it later, Spell.'
Moving onto the next set that was engraved in the wall...
["Why does the flame wane?
I asked the Black Skies, "What is life?"
The skies answered in a subtle voice, "A mother is watching her children die slowly of starvation. There is only enough food for one of them, but she is hungry, too. That is life."
"The war is over, and those who discarded their weapons to surrender are made slaves. They are brought to an arena and told to kill each other. A young warrior looks at a sword, his hand trembling. That is life."
"A man loves his wife, but feels lonely in her company. One day, walking the market, he sees a beautiful stranger smiling at him sweetly. He hesitates to return the smile. That is life, as well."
I pondered.
"So… life is a choice?"
The skies laughed, "Life is desire. It is a desire to be alive."
The skies were illuminated by a myriad of stars, burning in the beautiful darkness.
Like the flame of desire had burned in the hideous void, giving birth to the seven gods.
Why does the flame wane?"]
[Your Aspect Legacy: "Seeker of Truths" has uncovered a Truth.]
Asteria's confusion grew worse, a cold bead of sweat rolling down her dust-covered cheek.
'Who is the Black Skies? What is the Flame? Desire, like Hope? No... The Flame of Desire, yes...'
Her mind was racing, her fingers twitching against the smooth stone of the wall. 'The Flame of Desire birthed the Gods and the Gods birthed life, meaning the Flame birthed life... But how is it connected? How... '
Asteria's cluttered and confused eyes gazed at another set written by the Daemon of Destiny himself, her breath hitching as the light from her torch flickered against the deeply carved lettering.
["Gods created all living creatures, but not all creatures they created carry a divine lineage. Only those born of the Gods do, and those born of their descendants. Why have the Gods forbidden us seven to sire offspring? Why are we destined for loneliness?
Is it because we are of the Forgotten One, who slumbers in the Void?
Where is the Void, and where is its Gate? How did Weaver enter it, and what did Weaver see?
Why did Weaver decide to break the will of the gods and create a lineage?
Blood, bone, flesh. Soul, spirit, mind. And shadow.
The gods shall discover the transgression, but they cannot.
That is because, having created a lineage, Weaver does not possess a lineage. It has been lost and will be lost, therefore having never been in Weaver's possession. One cannot be punished for something that has never been.
A piece is lost to fantasy, a piece is lost to fear. A piece is lost to respite, a piece is lost to darkness. A piece is lost to sorrow, a piece is lost to rot. And finally, a piece is stolen by a thief.
Weaver's defiance is elusive, just like Weaver is.
But mine will be different."]
[Your Aspect Legacy: "Seeker of Truths" has uncovered a Truth.]
[Your Aspect Legacy: "Seeker of Truths" has uncovered a Truth.]
The Queen of Nightmare had nothing to say. In fact, she had a lot to say and even more to think about, but the words wouldn't form in her aching throat, nor could she find a way to drag them up into the quiet air of the arena.
She was confused. She was enlightened. She was scared. So scared.
Fate has been pulling the leash around her neck, Fate has been guiding her directly to these ancient horrors. Why? Why does she have to know? Why? Why? WHY?
Asteria almost didn't want to read the rest of the writings on the walls. She shrank back slightly, terrified about how much more the dark stone would reveal to her.
["What can contain the Void?
Nothing can.
Gods used Nothing to envelop the void, and placed the cage of Desire above it.
In the places where the cage is thin, Nothing slips through its seams. The Underworld is one such place, shrouded in nothing.
It is like mist.
However…
Nobody can exist in the mist.
Nothing can contain the Void, and nobody exists within it.
I am wary of nobody, and fear Nothing."]
[Your Aspect Legacy: "Seeker of Truths" has uncovered a Truth.]
"Wh... What am I supposed to think?" Asteria whispered, her knees shaking as her mind reeled with shock and growing horror.
"The Daemons couldn't have offspring because of the Forgotten God so they were destined for loneliness, and they couldn't have a lineage either. So Weaver created a lineage they lost therefore they never had a lineage and so Nether created the Stone Saints as a way to rebel against that law?" Her frantic thoughts suddenly snapped to one specific person.
"Sunless. Where does he fit into all of this?"
Asteria read the final runes on the wall, the writing here was thin and felt entirely rushed to her eyes.
["The Gods used Desire to create life.
But the Gods were not above Desire.
The Gods used their Flame to create Life as they were products of the Flame and so their children had to be, too.
I have found a way to create my children, I laughed. The Gods aren't the only ones who have this ability, are they?
I placed my Flame within each of my creations... and they lived, they breathed, they were real. They were alive!
I had done what we children of the Forgotten deemed impossible to recreate.
I had created life."]
[Your Aspect Legacy: "Seeker of Truths" has uncovered a Truth.]
Asteria stumbled, visibly stumbled over her exhausted feet, her boots scraping loudly against the broken pieces of stone. She scrambled for grip against a nearby pillar, letting out a ragged breath she didn't know she was holding.
"He created life." She began to laugh, a dry, hollow sound that quickly grew louder and almost manically echoed through the dead hall. "He actually did it!"
Asteria dropped to her knees, grasping a sharp piece of shattered stone. She began to write frantically into the soft soil where the rock floor had been completely destroyed in the fierce conflict between her and the Onyx Saint. Her hand moved desperately, carving her chaotic thoughts into the dirt.
"Nether failed to create life and he didn't understand what life entailed."
"He pondered this question with the Black Skies — a God? — and he was told it was Desire. This means it was ultimately desire as an emotion and Desire as an item, the Flame of Desire which everything was created from."
"What is his relationship to the Black Skies? Is that the God who he waged war on and fled to the Underworld because of?"
"The Gods created life with their Desire but not everything had a lineage because they weren't true offspring of the Gods. Is this an interpretation that the Flame is power to ones being and advancing means you accumulate more?"
"The Daemons couldn't sire offspring, life or a lineage due to their connection to the Seventh God, Why? Why was it Forgotten? Why do they slumber in the Void? What is the Void? Is it a counterpart to the Flame?"
"Where is the Void? Did Weaver see the Forgotten God and decided to break the law of not possessing a lineage? Is that why Weaver wanted to break Fate and create the Spell? Is that why their lineage was Fated to be lost?"
"Is that the pieces of Weaver's lineage? Are those locations? Why? Sunless possess it. How much? Which? Why?"
"Nothing? Like the mist on the Hollow Mountains? Where does it come from? Why is it sealing the void? Why is the Forgotten One sealed in the Void? Aren't all the Gods born from the Flame?"
"Why does Nether fear Nothing? What is hiding in the mist of Nothing? Why can nobody escape Nothing? Why?"
"Nether... learned the truth of his creation, and thus learned the truth about how life is created. Therefore he broke the will of the Gods and created life... The Stone Saints."
Asteria's frantic writing finally stopped, her fingers raw and caked in dark grey dirt. She stared down at the mess of words, her chest heaving. She had far more questions than she had answers to, and nowhere near enough time to uncover it all. She shook her head nervously and let out a breathless chuckle to herself.
"Did I just open pandora's box?"
Finally... the silence was broken as Asteria heard the familiar, annoying voice of the Spell chime once again in her mind.
[The Third Truth: Nether, Daemon of Destiny has been realised.]
[Queen of Nightmare, claim your boon!]
"That was enough, huh?" A dry, bitter chuckle escaped her lips as she leaned her head back against the cold pillar.
Firstly, Asteria noticed the text for Weaver's section in her runes had updated slightly.
First Truth: Weaver, Daemon of Fate:
[Weaver, Daemon of Fate's Truth: "Your benefactor, the one who blessed you and your creator, was Weaver, the Daemon of Fate.
A being who resided above lies and deceit, as well as the one thing all beings feared despite it having no power: Fate.
The Daemon of Fate was said to have visited the Void — to where the Daemon's progenitor lay. The Forgotten God was set to slumber within the Void, sealed away by Nothing.
Nobody knew what Weaver saw specifically or how Weaver got there. However, Weaver broke the will of the Gods and created a forbidden lineage.
Weaver never possessed a lineage as Weaver never created a lineage — they were scattered amongst the Tapestry of Fate to be lost forever.
Blood, bone, flesh. Soul, spirit, mind. And shadow.
A piece is lost to fantasy, a piece is lost to fear. A piece is lost to respite, a piece is lost to darkness. A piece is lost to sorrow, a piece is lost to rot. And finally, a piece is stolen by a thief.
What did Weaver do and what did Weaver see?
Queen of Nightmare, you have learned that Weaver's schemes have been set for thousands of years, and yet you are but a small pawn. Drive this arrogance, your inflated self-worth, into the ground; and learn what your benefactor did."]
Asteria nodded slowly, her mind struggling to process the sheer weight of the information... barely. She forced her gaze, entirely reluctant, to the next prompt.
Third Truth: Nether, Daemon of Destiny.
["Nether, the Daemon of Destiny, was also recognized as the Daemon of Choice or the Prince of the Underworld. Nether was a Daemon who enjoyed craftsmanship, who constructed many grand creations out of whatever materials he had on hand.
The Daemon of Choice was the very first of his kind to spill the blood of the Gods during the cataclysmic Doom War.
But why did Nether wage war against the Gods with his siblings?
Nether painfully learned the Truth of the Daemon's creation and the strict limitations placed on them; that they could not sire offspring, children or a lineage — or even be worshipped, as seen by his sister, Hope.
The Black Skies and the Daemon of Destiny had a complex relationship — and unknown to history. The Daemon waged a war on the God of the Storms and unfortunately lost his rebellion and decided to flee to the depths of the Underworld in solitude.
The Black Skies told Nether life was created with Desire, thus he pondered and experimented snd created until he placed his own Desire into his creations — giving them life.
The Daemon of Destiny broke the will of the Gods and created life.
The Daemon of Destiny gave his creations the face of his beloved — the Black Skies."]
'This is too much to take in... and you're telling me I have a legacy relic to claim and a memory to look at...' Asteria thought. Her head rolled back in absolute despair, her whole body trembling as she reached her limits of information, knowledge, and most importantly — sheer, crushing stress.
Looking at the glowing text of the Aspect Legacy in her runes, Asteria finally managed to force a single, shaky word from her lips.
"Claim."
[You have received a memory: Blade of Destiny.]