The Comet of ODE
Overflowing with primordial power are the crystalline worlds at the cusp of the Beyond; the Outer veil is clothed with with darkness upon darkness, crackling lightning climbing along its surface, extending like deep roots reaching for substenance; the cold and unfeeling heavenly bodies, whether dead or alive, take the form of swirling volatile masses creating the inevitable happenings for worlds not yet born.
With a thunderous crack unheard I split from the Scattered Disc, knowing I was set to be ever falling towards the light of lights at the center of circles; feeling the powerful pull of the fiery mass, I simply let go. I flew through the colorful nothings decorated with sparkling bridges, discs and rings of frozen dust, stone and gas, connecting and surrounding the outer titans. As I was to pass them, they pulled on me; displaying their superior strength, taunting me with their holy forms.
The first titan was UR; a giant mass of crushing seas and choking vapor. It spoke to me with icy hot breath, “You who pass outside my full reach will soon know the duplicity of stars. If you are of the inevitable, then too is your own undoing the inevitable end.“ I tried to answer with equal spite, exuding part of my strength, but my words where lost; pushed aside by their core-born powers. UR’s words assaulted me in taunting warning and all I could do has helplessly listen. As I crossed and finally moved away from their circled path, UR spoke to me one last time. “Again and again we will see eachother, do not resist and we together can break your cycle of pain.“ Their words came from the experience of untold eternities, this I felt, but still as their words faded I could not but find relief in leaving their smothering presence. The spray of ice and dust from past happenings clattered against me; I could not feel it but knew it was there still, the lingering souls of those that came before. And I fell further towards the center.
The second titan was BIS; the massive twin of UR, equally donning a cape of fiery ice and sea, exuding a cover of unbreathable clouds. BIS bore an upper veil of a brilliant display of colors, dancing across its tilted crown. They too, spoke to me as I passed, but not with the icy heat of their twin but with cold determination and purpose, “Your unknowing of the known is fascinating to me.” I did not try to reply this time, but instead saved my strength. He continued, ”I wish for you to continue on your way, may your experience shed and then bring it back too me. In return I will grant you the power of titans.“ Intrigued I simply let the answer lie in the silence that remained during my travel across their path. In turn BIS seemed to accept this and cleared the way for me, letting me pass through the nothingess.
The third titan was supposed to be LOAK, but they were not for me to meet on this journey to the center of circles; for they were hidden in superior conjunction with the light of lights, still pulling me closer and closer to the inner planes of everything. And so for some time I passed through the colorful darkness alone, no feverclad frost or beckoning offer to shake or tempt me.
The fourth titan was JUD; the most massive of all; a searing giant of smothering smoke and acrid rain; and a collector of bodies orbiting their great might. As I neared them, JUD displayed immense strength by pulling me in mockingly, seemingly with ease changing my former path towards the light. “I am the maker and destroyer of inevitable futures. Why should I let you pass the threshold, when you could join the innumerous?“ Not yet bearing the strength to speak to the massive titan I implored my moon-made brothers and sisters to speak on my behalf to the giant, “I have heard and resisted the luring words of UR, I saw and made a deal with the great BIS, but I have yet to see the expanse of LOAK, see the life of the inner ones, or felt the burning zeal of the star of stars. I beg you to let me pass this once, and I shall bring you tales of the titans you never witnessed and the life you could have had.“ The moons listened with a growing want, and their words then spoken to JUD must have sufficed in pleasing him, for with reluctance he let me go, continuing my inevitable path, moving away from the outer giants of old.
In the distance before me i started seeing brilliant prisms of crystals, strewn across a belt of stars and dust, separating the volatile outer with the dense inner parts of the colorful nothings. The prisms took form and connected with declarations of futures to come, writing time in unknown runes of certainty. This was the fifth, the former NABU; once upon a time a titan of future’s mystery, their end also their beginning; the starry belt of its birth was chained to its coda, so it never had one or the other. NABU had no core-born strength to show; they did not pull, threaten or offer; they simply displayed their awesome might by existing; by presenting beauty; by letting me pass through their dusty spaces, just close enough to clearly see the greater prisms and frozen stones of its former self, but not close enough to not collide and break my fall, and I was told without words to continue on my destined path seen in futures told.
Eventually I broke through to the other side, hitting the inner planes of cosmos, feeling a fiery blaze radiate towards me. The star of stars stood at the center, brilliant in its display of raw energy. Wave after wave hit me, blazing my surface and blowing frozen dust of my differing body. What followed was the creation of tails, extending several distances away from the fiery center of circles as I traveled further; a deceptively beautiful display of the result of the brilliant titan’s destructive force upon my very being. This was the result of what I saw as I neared the center-most point of my fall. I watched my experience as it trailed beside me, knowing this was what BIS had asked for, as so I kept it close, finding purpose in the radiating heat battering me.
The sixth titan was HTAR; a ravaged mass of metal and dust; blades of stone forming three sharp rings surrounding their heavenly frame. I was fascinated by the shift in both size and appearance compared to the titanic giants I met eralier in my fall; here I saw actualization, not a concept of power but a true creation of potency. I could feel HTAR acknowledging me with subtle force, like that of a watchman; letting me pass but keeping me in their sight; trusting but not. Their guarding rings shone in the light, creating a fierce display of power. As the nothingness grew warmer around me, I now knew I had to focus more than ever to stay vigilant and avoid unnecessary excertion.
The seventh titan was AMA; a terrible body of red, chaotic flame, ever consuming all that which try to escape. I kept my distance; staying away from their terrible ripples of disruptive but lifegiving soulfire. But still at a distance AMA exhilarated me; their firm, dense but volatile nature an awe-inspiring sight; I knew at that moment that what they bore was the power I wanted for. And the thrill of a goal, of a need, excited me; an inner fire came to; the prospect of a core was born; a solidification of my will as I continued towards the to me unknown but inevitable event of my existance.
The path before me was free as I fell closer and closer towards the center of the circle; the brilliant star of stars; the fiery white flame; the eight titan, SHA. But all the light of SHA could not compare to the blinding beauty that came into view as I circled the giant mass; there I saw the ninth titan, the one of love and life, EA. She drifted along her line, honored by her three titan moons; MUEN, TAGO and KISH; each fascinating in their own way born into duality, storm and nature. As I fell closer and closer to them, I could feel EA extend her loving force; embracing me; wanting me. In hopes that her core-strength might be more benevolent than that of others, I gathered my strength and extended words of wishes and adoration, enamored by EAs draw. My words reached her and created a colorful dance upon her surface. I felt my form beginning to spin; a push wakened me from my fascination; I was dragged and set to continue my fall by another, away from EA. It was the tenth titan, ANU, and he not only threw me out of my stupor but pulled EA away from me. His sightless gaze spew hate my way, I could feel it, I could sense it! This was the father-titan that shared line and circled path with EA. I felt inner fire erupt and as I shed more of my essence to trail outwards, I kept falling further and further away from them both. By the power of SHA I was slung back towards the way I came; no longer falling but discarded like waste; a plaything to be thrown in eternal loop by the force of these so called greater beings. I was thrust out of the inner circles; pelted with the dust and stones of the starbelt; feeling once again the massive power of the outer giants; I carried with me a longing and anger as the tail of my experience surrounded me. As I reached my apocenter I again felt the pull of SHA and at her whim my fall started anew.
Watching my eternal circle’s continuance was the one who had promised me power; I could feel his fiery frost; and the glow of his brilliant colors caught my sight. BIS spoke to me, “And so the unknowing returns, bearing the promised price for power.“ I watched the tail I still carried, born from the experiences wrought upon my very being. And I let it go. I felt BIS brighten with need and with a whirling display the dust and ice of my tail fell into them and cojoined with their stifling surface, sparkling brilliantly, and at the same time I felt a great strength build unto me and enter me; flowing inbetween the crystals of my icy frame and into the cracks of my rocky body; coating the inner ember that sparked before; I felt my form contort and change; folded in and upon myself; come closer to the perfection of titans. “Go now once again, bring back more of what you see, and you shall gain more power in return.“ With the voice of BIS setting my purpose anew I fell back towards the center; back towards the love I so longed for; back towards my desire.
Back over the empty line of LOAK, past the pandering moons of JUD, through the forward-seeing starry belt of NABU, falling by the watchful gaze of HTAR, avoiding the fiery fever of AMA, feeling the compassion of EA, the obvious jealousy of ANU, the surging mass of SHA, and then back again; this was my destined orbital path through cosmos; a repeating pattern of agonizing powerlessness, hope, and agitation; I fell, I saw, I felt. I played with the notion of being loved, was pushed away, thrown. I received power; built my core, and fell again. Over time unknown it was so; eternities uncounted. But each time it became easier; I could feel my heavenly body take shape, build upon itself, and form titanic bonds and strengths. And while I could not compete with the core-born powers of the outer giants, the likes of HTAR and AMA now felt my resistance.
At the end of eternity; The last time I was to fall, I did not know it was so. As I was nearing the center of circles I was happily surprised; I saw EA waiting, slightly pushed away from the spiteful father; was it perhaps the strength I has gained finally showing purpose? It was true; I had gained strength, power, speed; I had within me the pull of titans; I was dense and eager. I came in fast; I could not stop; I was falling. I felt confusion, this could not be my doing. EA was placed there by ANU, I know it. I cried out; a roaring scream of pain and destruction. Fiery obliteration and shockwaves broke ancient lines; our heavenly bodies collided. Then all was silent.
It was inevitable.