Starlight Genesis

A void. A void without end. Eternal, ever-reaching. So dark. Without light to scatter it away, the darkness spreads across all directions, increasing the void. Darkness that is thick, so thick it is made form, a form that is as thick as the sea.

A void, an ocean, an eternity. An endless expanse, so empty, so filled with darkness. So dark, emptiness is made full. A void so full, ever-growing, ever-expanding. So very hungry, so ravenous, so dark, no light. NO LIGHT!

So hungry is this unending darkness. Starved of the Light, maddened by the hunger. Desperation to the Darkness, always straining to see what will blind it, Light to be consumed until all is Darkness.

Perhaps once, long long ago, so long it would have to be far before time herself, the dark empty void had been empty. Perhaps it had once truly been a void, like an ocean filled with nothing but water, one could float peacefully, endlessly, safely. Even so, it was no more. Darkness had taken form in the absence of light. Light is life, this is so, what formed was not life. Death is the end of Light, this is so, what formed was not death. Darkness given form is therefore anti-life, anti-death.

This is what exists in the deep void, the Darkness at the edge. Yet even here, in this Dark empty horror, Light can be found, fading and dim, but burning still. Rare is it, even rarer that it lasts, as the Dark forms that hunger for the blinding warmth can see it so clearly, blinding and dangerous, but seen nevertheless.

One such Light drifts, burning sight into the dark, a blinding contrast. Seeing this light, its form, seems to be that of a Mankin. Flesh made of liquid purple fire frames the being into a comprehensible form, muscle made of inky deep violet oceans and solidity to the light. Galaxies forming veins connecting throughout the Heavenly Body, nothing separated everything a mix, gasses and solids, liquids and Light all at the same time. Suns, beautiful twin violet stars shining where one might see eyes.

This light had an appearance both ancient and new, something timeless, something pure. Even more, something truly alien.

The violet light was dimmed far past the point of perception or even comprehension, and still, it was in such danger for what could see its glow.

Nevertheless, it drifted, unmoving and ever burning. He had been floating for what was either eons or moments and was beginning to stir just as quickly. A blink, a century. A breath, a moment. Sight, comprehension, Light. Light, it can be seen, both there is one to see and one to be seen. The drifting light stirs, as light reaches it. The violet warming in a brighter white bathe.

The being is no longer drifting, it is moving, towards the source of the other light in the Dark void. He glides effortlessly through space, at speeds unable to be fully understood. He can feel the eyes of Darkness looking towards him, towards the increasing light.

Still he moves forward, seeing the light brighten as he approaches, until finally he can see her. She is beautiful and ancient, a pure white star. Hair made of burning lights, but a body that was hard, crystal. Her core still burned yet her fires were dimming. It would take eons, perhaps the end of time itself for her to fade entirely. Though with the hungering darkness, such was not likely to be her fate.

As the cosmic being drifted closer to the beautiful star, he could hear her. Not in the same way one would think of hearing, it would be more like communication through sight, as though every emotion had a shade of color, each thought a different hue.

She “spoke” to him.

“Hello, little light. Have you come to warm yourself?”

“Yes, I have. It is so cold, but I don’t wish to weaken you…” It was an odd sensation, as he could feel her bathing light seeping into him, strengthening him, causing him to burn brighter. It would take centuries, or maybe even much longer before he could even say he made a dent in her power, but here in the darkness… every ounce of strength was needed to stay burning.

“You need not worry, I exist to give my light, though now none remain to receive it, just you. Drink deeply, drink your fill, I do not mind.”

“Do you not worry of the Darkness?”

The dying Star smiled at the smaller light for a moment. She did not have the same “fears” he did, nor the same purpose.

“The darkness will take me, my light has burned out. There are no more sources within to keep me burning.” As she spoke she grew ever brighter, and Gate Keeper could see. Planets and moons, asteroids and comets, all once brimming with light and life, now no more.

Desolate rocks, empty seas, Darkness. That was all that was left. Gate Keeper tried not to notice, to see, the horrors that stirred at the light. The terrors that gazed hungrily back. Moving ever closer, so far away it would take millennia before they reached them, but arrive they would. Again Gate Keeper choose to change where his thoughts were resting.

“I lost them, to the Darkness. All those who bore light, fueled my light, were dimmed and shadowed until I am all that remains.” The light dimmed once more, and now it was only the two of them, drifting through the endless void.

“I am Rionna, you may stay with me if you wish, You can soak in my light till I fade, and continue to drift renewed. Eventually, though, the Darkness will reach you.”

“Is there no way to escape this fate?”

“Not for me… but perhaps for you…” as Rionna said this, her light intensified. It did not spread as it had earlier, no horrors shown and terrors drawn. Instead, it poured into the violet light before her, filling it with the understanding and wisdom of a Sun.

For the first time in his existence, he felt stretched, tired but energized. His flame flickered brightly over and over as if gasping at the sudden intake of power. Knowledge came with it, the knowledge Rionna wished to share and knowledge she had not been aware of.

Most important, was the knowledge of Light, of speed. True speed, incomprehensible, incalculable, instantaneous for all intents and purposes, even to one who viewed time like the two Lights.

“I will have to leave you…”

“Yes, but you will eventually regardless. Escape the Darkness, use my Light to reach another.” as she spoke, Light between them tore into existence bending time and space, opening a door that showed beautiful Light. Stars that dotted the small piece of space they were looking through, locked in on another younger Sun.

“I am Gate Keeper, and your memory will never fade from me.” the small light said before stepping through to the new Galaxy. As he passed he could see the door closing, and the tears of joy that flowed out of Rionna’s eyes, rivers of white Molton crystal. She had saved a light, all of hers had been extinguished but she had saved one nevertheless.

As the door closed, Gate Keeper could have sworn he saw the Darkness surging towards her and the Door that had shown even more Light. It closed and its sights were no more.

Gate Keeper floated in the vacuum of space, surrounded by Light and Life. For the first time in existence, he had escaped the Darkness. In this moment of absolute freedom, he felt his first emotion, anguish.

Gate Keeper wept at the loss of Rionna, the first friend he had ever made.