20 Nyx: Reminiscing The Past?
But our reprieve was short-lived. The effects of the battle and the strain of maintaining my true form were overwhelming. Sensing the familiar pull of the underworld, my only safe haven, I channeled the last vestiges of my strength. The world swirled once more, and then we were there, in the cold, familiar embrace of my domain. My vision swam, and I collapsed onto the hard stone floor, darkness claiming me.
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[Nyx POV]
Looking at the firstborn son of Cronus lying unconscious on the ground, I reminisced about the past and wondered why history always repeated itself. I even questioned whether a primordial of fate truly existed.
It made her remember the earliest days of creation. Back then, being immortal was very boring, you know? And being a primordial took the boredom to a whole new level. As we were technically part of reality, even if we were miraculously killed or died countless times, we would always be resurrected.
I and the other primordials spent most of our time sleeping until a new species, the dragons, came into existence. The earliest of the dragon kind were the Dragon God of Infinity and the Dragon God of Dreams. These two never interacted with anyone and remained in the dimensional gap, which was supposedly their birthplace.
However, the original dragons were born soon after, very similar to the primordials except for having a certain degree of authority over aspects of reality. In contrast, the primordials themselves were those aspects given life.
These original dragons were born in areas with abundant magical energy and a high concentration of specific elements. It was in these places that the Dragon Kings were born. At that time, no other species could match the dragons' might. Due to this, the dragons grew rampant, conquering lands and turning them into their own domains. Ruling as they pleased, the primordials remained unconcerned as they all had their own dimensions to reside in. But things soon got out of hand.
With no end to their greed, the dragons began fighting amongst themselves. Their children, following in their parents' footsteps, caused havoc everywhere to prove their strength. Due to this chaos, the original dragons were either hailed as the strongest or surpassed and overthrown by their own kin. This marked the beginning of the decline of the dragons.
These continuous internal conflicts weakened the overall strength of the dragons to a great extent. The total number of true dragons had dwindled to a few hundred, down from their original population in the thousands.
Some of my siblings, the other primordials, were also inspired by the dragons. Although the glory of the dragons was short-lived, they did make this boring world a lot more colorful and fun. Thus began the era of the gods, where we primordials started to get involved in the world's affairs and guided evolution.
Yahweh, the primordial of light, was one of the earliest to be involved. He started by creating a new realm called Heaven and a race called angels.
After Yahweh, the cosmic Trinity (Brahma, Vishnu, and Maheshwara) also decided to create new life. They first established their divine abodes: Brahma in Satyaloka, Vishnu in Vaikuntha, and Shiva in Kailasha. They then envisioned two species: one representing the power of light (creation), similar to Yahweh's angels, and the other representing the power of darkness (destruction).
Brahma created Aditi, who bore the power of light. Shiva created Diti, who bore the power of darkness. Vishnu then created Kashyapa as a balancer between the two. Aditi and Diti then married Kashyapa. The children of Aditi became known as Devas, and the children of Diti became known as Asuras.
Indra, the eldest Deva, with the help of Brahma, created Swarga in the sky, while the Asuras took residence in the underworld. Soon, the never-ending conflict between the Devas and Asuras began.
Ymir, the primordial of life, did something unexpected. While his aspect wasn't ideally suited to creating a realm comparable to Heaven or Maha Loka, Ymir used his own body to create Asgard, Álfheim, and finally Niðavellir. Through his blood, new beings were born – the Asgardians, including the Æsir, elves, and dwarves.
Lastly came Gaea, who created Uranus with whom she later married. Their union gave birth to the Titans. As time passed, Uranus grew extremely cruel and hungry for power.
Gaea then encouraged her children to rebel, and she was slightly surprised when the youngest, Cronus, took the lead.
Cronus, leading the rebellion with his siblings, slowly weakened Uranus's influence. Seizing the opportunity, Gaea poisoned Uranus, greatly weakening him. Cronus then killed him, but not before Uranus used all his power to curse Cronus, prophesying that he would be overthrown by his own children in the same way.
At first, Cronus ignored the prophecy. However, as his firstborn was about to be born, he became anxious and began to believe it. His behavior grew increasingly like Uranus'. The day his first child arrived, even I couldn't help but wonder if the prophecy would come true. The child, a high god by birth, was the last straw.
Consumed by madness, Cronus swallowed and sealed his firstborn within the prison realm created by Uranus to torture his enemies. He was clever, though; he connected the realm to his own being, making entry possible only through him.
After the imprisonment of Hades, Rhea, consumed by rage, attacked Cronus. He, however, ensured she learned a harsh lesson about defying him. Soon, their other children were born. Unsurprisingly, Cronus swallowed them whole.
Pity gnawed at me for Hades. Confined to a realm designed to cripple his powers and will, even Hades, with his potential to become a primordial, might be forever weakened. Then came Zeus, their youngest. With Gaea's help, Rhea managed to save him.
Realization dawned on me then: Zeus was the one spoken of in the prophecy. Just as Cronus' siblings aided him against Uranus, his own children would surely aid him.
Imagine my surprise when I felt a portal forming within the prison realm! My astonishment grew as I witnessed the battle between Cronus and Hades. I knew then, with absolute certainty, that Hades would be the first to ascend to primordiality, if he could survive.
As the boy vanquished Cronus' avatar, exhaustion overwhelmed him. Sensing his impending collapse and the outbreak of spatial storms, I decided to intervene. But before I could act, the boy, in a surge of desperate power, managed to get himself and his siblings out of that realm. With a final burst of will, he teleported them to the underworld before collapsing.
And now all I can see is history repeating itself. Every pantheon, driven by greed and power, seems destined to follow the dragons' path to ruin.
Shaking off these unsettling thoughts, I decided to intervene. The godlings, completely clueless about their predicament, needed my help.
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Chapter Length- 1,054 Words
Author's Question: Since this is an AU, this is my take on the evolution of life in the DxD verse and let me know your thoughts on how this was...
