Between Shadows and Sprouts of Light

Long before the present settled upon its current foundations, life and the laws of existence were already flowing through the infinite omniverses...

(It is so familiar...)

However, in those distant times, all of reality awakened each day submerged in a suffocating nightmare.

(... This feeling... It is very similar...)

Because of this, that era was known as the Dark Era, a tumultuous period in which Creation, Destruction, and Chaos danced hand in hand without restraint or governance, intertwining in a frenzy that threatened to tear everything apart.

(... They must be watching... Yes, now I remember...)

Yet, the root cause of such imbalance resided in the release of three fundamental taboos; three primordial manifestations that should have never taken shape within the weave of existence.

(... But... why is it familiar...?)

One of them was deeply yearned for by souls; another, feared in the darkest corners of thought; and the last, a force that represented a danger of incalculable proportions.

(... Warm... But... also cold...)

Under their influence, the cosmic weave constantly twisted, leaving every life form at the mercy of an endless storm.

(Ssssshhhhhiiiiiiiiiuuuuuuuu...)

Until the miracle occurred.

(... Flora doesn't understand... What is... happening to me...?)

That was a miraculous and merciful event that intervened in the heart of the maelstrom, appeasing the unbridled forces and allowing those uncontrolled sources to finally settle.

(... Hey... Do you know what is happening to Flora...?)

As a result, from that sudden calm, an omniverse without limitation was born, expanding and diversifying in all directions like the branches of a colossal tree.

"......"

And it was there, at the exact instant the cosmic waters found rest, that a consciousness emerged from the depths of absolute blackness.

(¡...Clac... clac...!)

Without violence, without thunder, and with the serenity of one forever destined to exist, the True Death opened her eyes to creation...

«Good morning»

Until, with a gentle greeting, her journey began.

"... We are chatting."

Yet now, in a domain suspended outside the ordinary flow of time or space, where no wind existed, nor the thunder of the elements, that entity, in service of the end, gazed upon the fragility of a tiny fairy.

(... Mmmgh... Is that what we are doing...?)

In that place, the weight of pain did not exist; instead, the entire environment remained wrapped in a deep, serene blackness, like a warm twilight that instilled no fear, but an almost absolute calm.

"... Yes... That is what we are doing..."

In turn, the ground was neither stone nor cracked earth, but the surface of an infinite pool whose waters, dark as jet, remained motionless, reflecting nothingness with peaceful purity and stillness.

(... There is no noise... Everything stopped...)

Consequently, for the little spirit princess, the transition into that place had been almost imperceptible.

"... Eventually... Everything always... stops..."

In that place, the fury of the outer apocalypse—the flames, the magma, and the ice that moments before had threatened to destroy her fragile existence—had completely vanished, replaced by a stillness so dense that the silence itself seemed to possess form.

(... Where is mommy...? Where is everyone...?)

And it was in the midst of that immensity that the True Death, having evoked from the depths of her consciousness the distant memory of her own origin at the dawn of creation, finally answered the doubt floating in the void.

"... Little sprout of life... everything continues its course, neither too slow nor too fast... only at the rhythm it must be..."

And following that murmur, which neither rumbled nor shook the twilight, the entity's voice emerged as an extremely low, deliberate, and subtle whisper, letting her words float gently in the soundless air.

(¡...Clac... clac...!)

Thereupon, the gigantic skull of polished, bleached bone descended slightly into the void, casting a monumental shadow that, nevertheless, lacked any hostility.

(... It is so tall... Like a big tree...)

And immediately, with her empty sockets—dark as the primordial abyss from which she had emerged with that very first greeting—she fixed her gaze with absolute serenity upon the tiny silhouette of the little floral fairy.

"... Hey, little one... Are you... afraid...?"

There, in the vastness of that black pool, the tiny fairy floated like a faint speck of fluctuating green light, flickering with the fragility of a flower on the verge of wilting...

(... But it isn't scary... It feels... peaceful...)

Yet, despite that, there was no fear.

"... I see..."

Because of that, in response to her thought, a faint murmur floated through the soundless air, a calm, almost affectionate affirmation toward that light.

(... Huh...? What did you say...?)

And it was at that precise instant that the environment began to respond to the ancient being's will.

"... Nothing important."

At that moment, the immense skull floating in the twilight began to change.

"... I just... thought it was uncomfortable..."

The space around her seemed to fracture and contract in a fluid, silent motion, compressing the entity's majestic scale without disturbing the pool's calm.

(*... Waaaah...! It is getting smaller...!)

From the base of the pale osseous structure, the very matter of the twilight began to weave itself.

"... In this case... A smaller... form is necessary..."

Perfectly polished bones, clean of any trace of earthly life or death, emerged and assembled one by one in absolute serenity as the spine, ribs, and limbs took shape with harmonious precision, giving rise to a complete skeletal body that settled upon the dark waters.

"... This should... suffice..."

Thus, immediately after, from the very blackness enveloping the place, a fabric of ethereal appearance emerged.

(Ooooooohhh~!!)

As a result, a robe of a black as deep as space itself, speckled with tiny specks of light reminiscent of a starry mantle, sprouted to drape over the skeletal frame with elegance and ancestral gravity.

"... This is better... for talking..."

In that manner, before the fairy, the mantle fell in soft folds until touching the surface of the pool without generating a single ripple upon the water, while standing with serenity, a calamity patiently returned her gaze.

(... Incredible...! That was super incredible...!)

And in response, the little sprout of green light fluttered enthusiastically in the soundless air, marveled by the transformation she had just witnessed.

"..."

To which Death, in her place, extended a long, polished bone finger toward the tiny creature with a soft, majestic pause, as the tip of her finger brushed against the fairy's warm luminosity, stroking her soft figure with a paternal gesture.

(... It is so... soft...)

Yet, at that moment...

(Look, mommy, look what she can do...!)

Driven by the instinctive impulse of childhood, Flora spun with joy in the void, looking up to seek the person with whom she always shared every small discovery.

(... Huh...? Mommy...?)

... Only to remember the sad truth.

(Where... is mommy...?)

Around her, there was no mommy.

(... Mommy... Where are you... Mommy...?!)

Only upon noticing it and digesting it entirely did her childish enthusiasm fade into a sigh, as the little light flickered hesitantly while scanning the infinite darkness surrounding them.

(Do you know where mommy is?!)

Thus, in total panic, the little one begged, filled with sudden desperation.

"... Do you want to know...?"

To which, in response, the ancient being took a slight, subtle step forward.

(PLEASE...!!)

As a result, the movement of her foot upon the surface of the water broke the pool's stillness, generating a series of circular ripples that slowly expanded across the liquid jet...

"... Then... I shall show you..."

And as the vibrations traveled across the pool, the darkness of the reflection began to distort, dissolving the absolute black to give way to vivid, tumultuous images of the physical world.

"... However."

In that manner, upon the ripples of the pool, what was revealed...

"... You probably... might not want to gaze upon it..."

... Was an absolute purgatory where the fundamental laws of reality crumbled and collapsed into one another.

(Huh...?)

Matter itself twisted: the air burned in fuel-less blazes, the earth dissolved into fissures of magma and aberrant ice, while the heavy atmosphere seemed to scream under the pressure of incompatible forces battling out of control.

(... Mommy!)

And at the center of that desolate chaos, a chimeric silhouette rose among the flames...

(It's Mo—...!)

That image reflected in the water, that silhouette holding an entire arm freshly torn off.

"¡¡GRRRR!!"

For the tiny fairy, even if the form had changed, it was impossible to mistake the essence from which she had sprouted.

"... What a nostalgic gaze... It seems... It will happen once more..."

Amid Death's whispers and a look of horror, devoid of a single speck of humanity, the beast began to defile and crush the very energy until it collapsed.

"... How was... that event known...?"

It was at that precise instant...

"¡¡¡¡¡GWRAAAA-SHWIIIING-GROOOOOOOOO-GWAARRRGHHH-AAAAAAARRRGHHH!!!!!"

When the creature straightened its torso and unleashed a deafening roar that seemed to crack the very reflection on the water.

"... Aaaahh, now I remember."

... Only a gaze was reflected.

"Walpurgis."

Multiple mismatched orbs and pupils, devoid of sanity and vibrating erratically within an abyssal void, pulled back the curtain once more.