Chapter 40: Stories and Truths
"For Hypnos!"
It was truly for Hypnos. Nyx devoted an entire night of the year to him. And she didn't stop there, cooking all of his favourite dinner dishes, even going so far as to prepare him the eternal ale brewed from the stars. A warm feeling spread through his entire primal being.
"Thank you, mother," Hypnos smiled.
"I made the ale, son," Erebus noted, "don't just give your mother all the credit."
"Of course, father," Hypnos laughed, turning to face both of his parents, "thank you for everything."
"What about us?" Thanatos raised his brows.
"Okay," Nyx said with finality, "let's stop teasing your brother, shall we? And let the celebrations begin!"
So it began. The dinner was filled with joy. Hypnos told stories about his quest, how he led the gods, how he faced Gabriel (which raised a lot of eyebrows), how he took a break in the middle to travel to Egypt, how he single-handedly pushed the beginning of a new era, and so on, but he purposefully avoided any tales about him and Hera, much to the disappointment of his siblings.
Their dinner continued in this manner, between stories and tales, and Hera even voiced one, at the prodding of Hypnos and Hemera. She described the final battle and how she and her siblings triumphed over their crooked father. She even thanked Thanatos, Hemera, and Aether for their help in the war.
And before they knew it, their plates were empty, and the dinner was over. Immediately, Nyx and Erebus dismissed everyone except Hypnos. The Lord of Dream recalled the promise his parents made to him a year ago. He also assuaged Hera's concerns, who clearly wanted to stay with him, but the knowledge of the cosmic secrets about to be revealed was fatally dangerous for all below the Primordials.
Hemera, being as considerate as she was, recognised the situation and dragged a hesitant Hera along with her first, while inquiring about her relationship with Hypnos to make her feel at ease. Aether exchanged "warm" words with Hypnos and left with his wife. Thanatos simply patted his shoulder, nodded, and strode to the entrance as well. And they didn't forget to take the gifts he had bestowed upon them.
As the doors slammed shut, Nyx waved her hands, sending the empty plates back to the kitchen, and then she looked at Hypnos, "Tell me, Hypnos," she said.
"What?" Hypnos, who was preparing for the reveal, blinked.
Nyx elaborated knowingly, seeing his confusion. "You aunt, how did things go with her?"
"Ah, Gaea," Hypnos understood, so he began to report briefly on his meetings with Gaea, while his mother listened attentively and his father slouched with a listless expression. Then he expressed his doubts about Gaea's motives, which made his father immediately lose his listlessness, and he finished by describing his uneventful parting with the Earth Mother. The implication in his words immediately created a heavy aura in the hall.
"Gaea is a mystery to us as well," Erebus said, breaking the silence between them. "In the past, she made a lot of decisions that made no sense, similar to the one she made with Titanomachy. Whatever her secret was, she was extremely sensitive and protective of it. But that doesn't stop anyone from making their own guesses."
"Tell me your guesses," Hypnos said, perking up.
"There are several, but your mother and I believe one is plausible enough to be close to the truth." Erebus stared at Nyx.
Nyx took over from there, reclining in her seat and said, "Remember that title of Gaea?"
"Mother of All," hummed Hypnos.
Nyx nodded, fell silent for a minute, as if deciding how to phrase her words, and then she spoke ethereally. "Gaea is the embodiment of the nature of the Cosmos. In some ways, she can be considered the mother of creation itself. It is her true essence, and it provides her with nearly limitless power. She is arguably the most powerful of us all—"
"But the Lord of Time?" Hypnos' brows disappeared into his hairline.
"Chronos? He is mighty, but not the mightiest," Erebus snorted dismissively. "And those rumours about him are just that: rumours spread by lower beings."
Hypnos felt somewhat dubious, considering the strained relationship between his parents and the Primordial of Time and Destiny.
Nyx continued, finally revealing their prediction. "But your father and I think her distinct power comes at a price; her nature as the mother also shackles Gaea, making her fulfil her duty, even if she doesn't want to. This is also consistent with what she said to you, Hypnos."
"My title, Mother of All, is both a blessing and a curse.." Hypnos repeated, his heart sinking into the dark pits of Tartarus. If the guesses of his parents turned out to be true, then this was truly screwed up on cosmic levels. "How is this possible? She is the first Protogenoi," he asked, feeling unusually uncomfortable at the likely truth.
Nyx and Erebus exchanged glances for a moment, as if debating whether to tell him more of their guesses, and then the Primordial of Darkness spoke up, a solemn look in his eyes. "Our mother, Khaos, is the only one who could bind Gaea to this extent. Though I highly doubt "She" saw it as a shackle." He continued right away, not giving Hypnos any chance to press further. "Anyway, Hypnos, you should really concentrate on the upcoming war with Gaea. Your beloved is an Olympian Goddess. And Gaea will exact vengeance on her for banishing and killing her children, as is her responsibility as a mother."
Hypnos was still uncomfortable about the entire situation. "Is this the only way?" He drawled into a heavy silence.
"Yes," Nyx replied, but clearly sensing his discomfort, she continued in a soothing tone. "I can feel your unease, son, but this is the only path for now. You could try to confront Gaea about this guess, but as we all know, it can end up making things even worse.."
Hypnos nodded in accord, though a part of his mind betrayed him, already attempting to infer an alternate solution to end the coming war before it could begin, as he had a disturbing feeling what was to come would be something the cosmos hadn't seen in aeons, and he decided to voice them to his parents:
"This coming war, there is the possibility of escalation, isn't it?" he ventured a terrible guess.
"Much, son," Nyx said, his gaze fixed on him. "Gaea could really decide to enter the war herself given your existence, and that is all that is required; Destiny will take care of the rest, leading one thing to the next and paving the way for a war of primordials."
War of Primordials…
Hypnos could see it happening; his family would join his side in the war, and Gaea would almost certainly seek allies among the Primordials as well. And with that, sides would be chosen, escalating the war until its bloody fire engulfed all of creation. He didn't want that to happen unless there was no other way left.
He did not believe that war was the only option. There had to be another way, and he'd find it one way or another.
"Mother," Hypnos said firmly, his gaze fixed on his parents. "This is a dreadful path that I do not wish to take; I will seek another, less cataclysmic and more peaceful."
"We expect nothing less from you, son," Nyx said proudly.
"Wait.." Hypnos blinked, recalling the way his parents revealed the truth to him: "Don't tell me this is another one of your tests."
"No, Hypnos," Erebus replied with a smile , "we were just stating facts."
"Well.." Hypnos smiled, but his heart was still troubled about the domain's future. "Keeping believe in me, I will make you more and more proud."
"Put down your worries, son," Nyx said, seeing through his true feelings. "We also won't let the situation escalate to war; in fact, most cosmic beings wouldn't want to see this happen, unless there is no other way," she said as she looked at Hypnos and Erebus. "But we will try to find one together,"
"We will," Hypnos stated emphatically.
Nyx smiled and continued. "And we have plenty of time for that—Gaea probably won't make her move until the planet regains its stability and the new era is fully underway—so let's now focus on the untold secrets of the cosmos," she said, bringing up the elephant in the room.
Hypnos leaned forward in his seat, preparing himself thoroughly for what was about to be revealed. Then he gave his parents a firm nod.
His parents nodded and began to tell him the earliest of earlier stories: in the beginning, there was only nothingness, endless and absolute nothingness, and then three beings were born from within it; they were Yesh, the Almighty, Khaos, the Lady of Nothingness, and Azathoth, the Supreme Arch-type. With their birth, other entities such as Ayin, the Great Evil Beast; Aeon, the Lord of Infinity; and Barbelo, the Lady of Silence, immediately followed, and emptiness grew less empty with "Their" ineffable existences.
For a time, the pre-existential deities went about their business, doing whatever they wanted in that time of nothingness, until Yesh, now proclaimed as God, didn't like the static void and began creating an infinite number of worlds throughout the nothingness, which other pre-existential deities didn't take well at all, such as Azathoth, Khaos, and Ayin, who noticed strange bubbles all over "Their" bodies and began destroying them.
God, on the other hand, was still intent on creating worlds to demonstrate to other creators that "They" didn't have to be alone, but "They" continued to destroy each new world that God created. The Almighty's patience was not unlimited, so "He" decided that "He" was going to start creating one way or another, even if it meant going against all other creators.
Barbelo, the Lady of Silence, disliked the nothingness of the void as well, so "She" sided with the God.
And so the Almighty declared war against Azathoth, Khaos, and Ayin. Thus began the War of Creation, a truly indescribable, inexpressible, and ineffable war. God, despite "His" limitless might, was still at a disadvantage when faced with three pre-existential deities at the same time, but after countless battles, Khaos suddenly betrayed "Her" side and joined hands with the God; nobody knows what truly pushed "Her" to make that decision, but it was all that was required to turn the tides of the war.
Khaos and God first confronted Azathoth and totally defeated him, imprisoning "Him" in the abyss of void, while Barbelo prevented Ayin from assisting Azathoth.
Then the final battle began; rather than confronting Ayin, "His" antithesis, God decided to take a different approach; he declared "Let there be light!" and created all of existence, which in retrospect nearly destroyed Ayin, who represented non-existence, and then God banished whatever remained of Ayin into the deepest depths of the infinite realm that the Almighty had specifically created to imprison "Her" essence. That realm was now known to all as the infinite hell.
With the banishment of Ayin, the war of creation ended, for all intents and purposes. The Almighty welcomed "His" allies into "His" creation, even inviting Aeon, who had remained neutral throughout the war. And all accepted God's goodwill, making the creation "Their" home as well, fostering peace among creators.
But the relationship between God and Khaos grew strained when the Lady of Nothingness suddenly dabbled in powers of creation as well, intruding into the domain of God. She created the archetypal abstractions from the waters of Nothingness, who now go by many different names, including cosmic entities, higher divinities, and, ultimately, the Primordials.
God obviously didn't take "Her" intrusion well, leading "Him" to confront Khaos, but instead of another primaeval war, which both Barbelo and Aeon feared, God and Khaos reached an agreement because a battle at "Their" level would surely destroy all of "Their" creations, which both of "Them" greatly valued.
Khaos proposed that "Her" creations would acknowledge the rule of God and even serve in "His" cosmos in exchange for their freedom from "Him". After much deliberation, God agreed, but under one condition: Khaos would not interfere with "His" domain again, which the Lady of Nothingness also agreed to. And thus, both creators shook hands, and peace remained in the cosmos.
With that agreement, the pre-existential deities exited the stage of the cosmos entirely; Khaos fell into eternal slumber; God retired to "His" timeless hall at the Core of Heaven, accompanied by Barbelo, who had become "His" consort; Aeon built a cosmic library and shut himself inside. All of them began to reduce their contacts with the cosmos, and when it reached maturity, they stopped altogether, leaving the cosmos in the hands of the next generations, the Arch-Angels and Primordials.
Even without the oversight of pre-existential deities, the cosmos thrived under the leadership of Arch-Angels and Primordials. Though they never saw eye to eye, they didn't let their differences interfere with the duties that their creators had assigned to each of them, fulfilling them to the best of their abilities.
Everything was fine until that happened: the great rift, as all higher beings dreadfully alluded to it—the abyss that held Azathoth—cracked, revealing the horrifying truth to all.
The Blind One was not ideal during his imprisonment; he fell into a slumber, beginning his own boundless creation in his dreams, and from within it, he realised the Old Ones into existence to exact his vengeance on Khaos and God, as well as all of their pesky creations. He wore down the seal they placed on the abyss until it produced a single crack, and immediately he and his children began to extend a silvery strand of their influence into the cosmos.
The Primordials and Arch-Angels reacted quickly, defending their home with all their might. They were able to eliminate almost all of the corruption from the abyss and seal the rest away, but the core problem remained—the crack in the abyss. Azathoth would most likely weather the seal until his prison was completely destroyed, and then he would be free to spread his madness throughout existence.
But sealing the crack was easier said than done; none of them possessed the might to do so, so they sought their creators, pleading with them to act immediately and seal the crack, but all they received from their creators was silence.
Appalled and perplexed, the Primordials and Arch-Angels were forced to take the only option available: protect their home from the abyss by themselves.
But, as the aeons passed, the crack in the abyss grew, and the extent to which the Old Ones could send out their power grew with it, sometimes even bypassing them and affecting the world. Even the effects of finding a way to seal the crack on their own yielded no results.
The situation was deteriorating very quickly, but still the pre-existential deities kept their silence, much to the utter confusion of the cosmic beings, and if nothing was done to stop Azathoth, then the End Times would truly be upon them soon…
"That's the end," Nyx finished. "No, it will be appropriate to say, that is the beginning of the end."
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