PRIMORDIAL GODS

A town cast in darkness, blanketed in deep, invasive silence. Its borders seemingly blended in into the surrounding nothingness. There were no sounds, making it seem as if it was all dead, empty and gone.

Two whole days had passed since the town was eclipsed in darkness. Within the inn, everyone was asleep except Lynne, who was on shift for guard duty. Each time Fen’er or Leana would wake up, they’d try to attack the others, so someone had to always stay awake to quickly put them back to sleep.

Lynne stared into the ceiling somberly; food and water were just one of many problems, and this had no seeming end in sight. He gently laid Thalia onto the floor as he walked over to the window – which they had unbarred – and looked into the two suns in the sky. A strange feeling would always surface throughout when he’d look at them, but he didn’t – or rather, couldn’t – understand why.

“You guys came up with anything?” he asked the Spirit and the False God. For the past two days, both have been quite evasive of the question, as if they had figured something out but refused to share it.

“…”

“Ah, come on,” Lynne grunted, impatient. “How bad could it possibly be? If I’m going to die in this hellhole, I’d rather die knowing how and why.”

“… ah, we… we don’t think it’s that simple,” the Spirit said. “Even the dying part isn’t that simple.”

“What do you mean?” Lynne asked.

“We think that no one has actually… died, at least in a sense,” the False God elaborated slightly. “We think that it’s as you suggested – that the entire town had been transported elsewhere. Or… uh… more specifically, another dimension entirely.”

“Eh?!!”

“Uh, not exactly ‘transported’…” the Spirit said nervously. “More like… copied into. Consider this place a ‘projection’ of yourself.”

“… this place? What the hell is this place? What do you mean another dimension and why haven’t you been saying anything?” Lynne resorted to anger, but forcibly calmed himself down by the end.

“Because, if we are correct – and I’m not saying we definitely are,” the False God said. “There’s… there’s no way out of this situation.”

“Hm?”

“There’s a myth among people,” the False God continued, sighing. “A myth that had embedded itself so deeply in your knowledge that it became a mainstay idea… which is that you kind had met, fought and even defeated Primordial Gods before.”

“… you’re aiming to say that all of those supposed Primordial Gods were, in fact, just slightly larger False Gods?” Lynne said, frowning.

“Yes,” the False God said. “False Gods are birthed from partial understanding of the Law… that’s all. They don’t come from dead Primordial Gods… just from fleeting understandings and knowledge. We are ‘born’ by accident, really, and it can happen virtually anytime and anyplace.”

“And that incredibly useful knowledge you never shared before is relevant how?” Lynne said as she sat down, lowering his head.

“We think,” the Spirit said. “That we’ve been dragged, forcibly, into another dimension… a dimension of a Primordial God.”

“… fucking fantastic. Ugh, this just keeps getting worse and worse.” he exhaled deeply as he looked back up onto the two eyes. “What does the prick even want with us?”

“…”

“…”

“Ah, bugger off. If he plans on killing us, I won’t bother trying to be polite.”

Lynne suddenly felt his heart freeze as his eyes widened. He found himself unable to breathe as he felt his very soul being ripped forcibly out of his body, dragged upwards. Bit by bit, his body went completely limp as it fell over, his Soul being dragged upwards towards the sky. He screamed, but no sound came out. He fought, but to no avail.

Cascading up, he cast a glance down onto the town drowned in complete darkness as shivers enveloped him. Soon, he found himself growing nearer and nearer to the two suns, until he was right before them. They were gigantic, and he wasn’t even akin to an ant before them… but even smaller. They seemed all-encompassing and infinite, but, most importantly, they were moving.

As his soul was floating just beneath the two suns, he found himself strangely at peace. He felt neither dread nor fear, but also not hope or joy… just strange indifference. As if the following course of events won’t matter, or have any impact on anything. Then, he was pushed inside the two suns directly.

As he opened his eyes, he found himself in strange infinity. There was nothing; or rather than nothing, there was only darkness. He didn’t know how long it stretched, or what it even was, just that was standing someplace, his eyes unable to discern even a finger before them. Then, two suns appeared above them, but much smaller, akin to size of a moon in the distant sky. They danced around him, back and forth, seemingly inspecting him, but gave off no shimmer to cast light on the surrounding.

“… uh,” Lynne stuttered as he followed the two suns around. “D-dear, Great Almighty Super One, can I humbly implore why have you dragged me here? Hai, the Great, Absolute, Beloved, Awesome One, please don’t take offense!”

“…”

“Yeah, I imagine such fake ass-kissing wouldn’t work,” Lynne chuckled nervously. “Ai, but you should know, I’m really worthless. So worthless, actually, that I’m not even worth the time it takes to kill me. But I am worth the time it takes to let me go.”

“You asked,” a voice, or a choir, or something far greater that has neither words nor sounds, just projections Lynne understood as a voice, spoke out, voice all-encompassing and devouring. It was everywhere and nowhere, silent and loud, short and endless, terrifying and calming at the same time. It was everything… and it was nothing. “What do I want with you?”

“… uh, t-that was a joke, honestly--”

“Nothing,” the ‘voice’ interrupted, formless, indifferent. “You, and all others beneath, are nothing. Someone sent you here, to My realm. That is all. Inconsequential. Dismissive. Irrelevant. We have given the World tools to find their purpose, and We have left.”

“Wait, did you say someone sent us here?” Lynne asked, frowning. “What the hell? How didn’t anyone realize it beforehand? Uh, I mean, thanks—thanks for telling me the Great One.”

“What do you call Us?”

“… uh, Primordial Gods? I suppose.”

“Why?”

“Beats me. Because, eh, you’re Primordial… and you’re Gods?”

“We’re nothing of the sort,” the two floating suns drew closer to Lynne until they were right in front of his eyes. “We are Knowledge. I suppose in your primitive understanding of the World, the Knowledge may be considered a God.” Oi, oi, why the hell did you even drag me here? To brag about how irrelevant I am and you’re not? Hai, come on!

“I summoned you here,” the ‘voice’ echoed on. “Because I am Knowledge of Darkness, and you seek answers.”

“… you can read minds? At least let me know before I embarrass myself…”

“You seek to prevent others,” the ‘voice’ continued as the two suns distanced themselves slightly. “From learning the Knowledge of Time… and Knowledge of Creation. A noble – if foolish – cause. Futile one, nonetheless.”

“Why?” Lynne asked.

“We are Knowledge,” the ‘voice’ said. “You don’t chase Knowledge, you understand it.”

“… okay, this might be my, you know, primitive brain speaking, but what the fuck are you talking about? Are you guys real or imaginary? Do you exist or, I don’t know, kind of exist? I don’t appreciate when people talk in riddles! Wait, you’re not people- I don’t appreciate when things talk in riddles either!”

“Does Knowledge exist?”

“… really? You’re just gonna ignore my plea and keep up with the riddles?”

“It’s a simple question.”

“… no, it’s not,” Lynne grunted, somewhat annoyed. “Again, this may be my primitive brain speaking, but what do you mean by exist? As in, I can touch it or something else? See, you can’t talk like that to primitive brains.”

“Your feel your pride is hurt.”

“…”

“I don’t see why,” the ‘voice’ continued. “It’s only natural you should know less than Us. You – as all others around you – are irrelevant. You seek higher purpose, whereas there is none.”

“So you really did drag me here to just insult me, and inflate your ego.” Lynne chuckled.

“This is why We chose to disappear,” the ‘voice’ spoke, with first slip of emotion appearing within the echoes. “And why I say you are inconsequential.”

“What do you plan to do with us?” Lynne quickly changed the topic.

“You don’t wish to learn anything more?”

“I got the gist of it,” Lynne said in an annoyed tone. “You gave us this Knowledge, we abused it, refused to accept that we’re lesser than you, so you guys disappeared, and if you wanted to, you could erase us all from existence without even lifting a thumb. Great. Lovely.”

“I will give you a choice.” the ‘voice’ broke the short silence between the two.

“Fantastic.”

“I can return you back, alongside everyone else in the town, all alive and well as if nothing had happened,” the ‘voice’ paused for a moment. “All except you friends, that is. Or, I can return you and your friends, while everyone else within the town will remain here, forever.”

“… ha ha ha,” Lynne suddenly broke out in maniacal laughter. “Why are you even offering me any choice? Ha ha ha! Fuck you! You hear me? Screw you! I finally realized why those people far back middle-fingered you and refused to be lesser than you: because you’re fucking pricks. Hah! What the hell do you gain by making me choose, huh? Is this supposed to be some lesson? Hah, what a shitty lesson it is! Why even propose a choice when you know what I’ll choose in the end, you deliberate asshole!”

“…” for a brief moment, Lynne could have sworn he had seen endless pain and sorrow flash through the two suns before him; ones running so deep and for so long, they had turned into something far greater, something that defines eons of time. It caused his heart to stir, and his mind to be taken aback. “In the end, as all others, you have failed,” the ‘voice’ spoke as it grew distant and as the two suns slowly began disappearing. “Failed to understand the Knowledge. You have failed to understand the intent, the cause and the effect.”

“… the threat isn’t inconsequential,” Lynne’s eyes suddenly flashed with glint of understanding as he focused on the two suns. “Wait, hold on! Is it true? Are the Time and Creation in danger?!”

“…”

“Ah, come on! Don’t be a grumpy old man!”

“You have failed,” the ‘voice’ spoke. “But You understood. They will forget, You shall not. Remember, We are not Gods. We are not Primordial. We are not the Children of the Source. Time never stops. Creation never creates. Onward they will forget, but You shall remember. Go now,” the two suns slowly began disappearing into nothingness. “He awaits you.”

“… not Children of the Source,” Lynne muttered as the world around him grew distorted and ripped apart – seemingly by hand. The image of the town slowly began forming from rips, and tiny specks of light began morphing into figures. “But the Source itself…” jolted back into reality, Lynne found himself on the streets of a familiar city, bathed in the light of the sun, as people moved on with their day as if nothing had happened. They had forgotten… but he remembers.