1 Makings of a Demon

Before the world is what it is today, it was void, infinite without form. But there can only be so much of nothing before it becomes something all its own. The infinite gave birth to the finite, which took the form of an ever-changing cloud of energy. The energy cloud gradually condensed into an orb, growing and condensing until it destroyed itself, an event so cataclysmic that the infinite shook. From this event, a being of energy was born split but of one whole, a being whose consciousness is not as far from humans as one might think. One side brighter than any star born after, thought itself alone, the other darker than the infinite itself was aware of its opposite but had no thoughts on it. The light seeing nothing but itself decided since there were none others like it, he would make companions and a place for them to stay. Such is how this universe and its first inhabitants were made. The light did not realize it had pushed the darkness into the infinite with his actions. He would later realize the consequences of his actions.

And so time went on, worlds progressed, and others died. Then came one of the favored worlds of the light. A small blue world cut off from the rest, not intentionally mind you, just unnoticed. This world, while not one of the fastest to progress, had many unique individuals. As time went on, there were philosophers, scientists, men of learning, of magic. While the light had not truly favored his creations one over the other, he seemed to gain more pleasure from those who did actions that benefited the world as a whole, even if it was just a small part, people with greatness in them. Many amongst the small blue planet's inhabitants continue to be beneficial to the populace while committing seemingly amazing feats. These people were coined by the populace as heroes. But with heroes came its anti-thesis, the villains of these stories. Because for each action, there is a reaction. Whether that reaction is good or bad is not defined. There is no true evil, for it in itself a concept created by men there is power without wisdom, and there is wisdom without power, but only together will these make each other stronger without true negatives. Ancient heroes were defined by how well they protected their tribe, their loved ones, their wealth. Only later, as tribes grew into kingdoms, did these heroes become defined by codes, actions, as well as what and who they stood for.

While the light was enjoying watching history pass, the darkness was inactive. When it was pushed into the infinite, it saw no reason to move, so it slept. On this little blue planet, a gathering of cultists, having somehow gained knowledge of it, decided to awaken the darkness, hoping to destroy the light and reshape the world. Many heroes tried to stop this awakening as well as armies of heaven and hell. The darkness was soon awakened but, unsure of its purpose, looked over what the light had created. Some convinced it, it was evil, the first evil, the origin they taught it revenge and convinced it to turn against the light. Just as it turned its aggression towards the light, a champion of the Kingdom of green conversed with the darkness and convinced it that good and evil were intertwined. They could not exist without the other. For if all is evil, what is good? Convinced by this, the darkness reached towards the light, and surprisingly the light reached back. But what went unnoticed by all, was between the intertwining hands of the light and darkness was a soul unknowing of how it had come here, confused and in pain. It was bathed in both the light and darkness. The two parts merged and became one, all while this unknown soul was trapped between them, but before the merge finished, the soul was gone. And the world went on none the wiser, at least this one did.

Souls POV

Well fuck. As I stare into the infinite void, I wonder what point in my life brought me to this moment. I mean death, obviously, but what steps could I have changed that would have led me to something better than dying fresh from the service. Thinking this, I go over my life.

Born in the late nineties, there wasn't much to worry about. Go to school, hang with friends, explore. But then you hit that moment where you realize you have no clue what you'll do afterward. In my case, it was more necessity than anything that drove me to join the service. To some, the service was a lifestyle, but to me, it was a buffer. I could serve my country and get paid while I figured out how to be an adult. After all, when the standard of living is going to work, go home, find a hobby until you die. You want to find something you enjoy, right? After a few years and a few flings, but never a meaningful relationship, I became used to being on my own.

Finally, I had a plan. I bought a few houses near universities and military bases with the money I had saved up and rented them at dirt cheap. Making a decent nest egg for myself. So, I got out thinking I'd open a bar on the side and live and let live.

Little did I know the world had other plans.

Opening his eyes after sleeping eight of the fourteen-hour flight back home from out of the country, Nox Bludd was both tired and unhappy. He still had two hours until he was going to get picked up by his oldest friend to start his life as a veteran instead of a soldier. He decided to spend at least an hour of that time in a pub in the airport.

1 hour later...

There I was sitting at the bar eight beers down, fork and knife in my hands and a half-eaten steak in front of me watching a game that I didn't care for, and all I could think of was 'what the hell am I going to do with all the free time I have now?' Suddenly I heard arguing behind me. Deciding it was none of my business was probably the worst mistake I could've made.

As I looked down to eat another piece of my steak, the arguing got louder, and then I felt a sharp pain from three places almost simultaneously. One of these morons had managed to throw a beer at the perfect angle to hit me in the side of the head. Pushing me to choke on my fork and stab myself in the chest with my steak knife at the same time. Now under most circumstances, I'm a pretty calm guy, but knowing in my mind that I'm almost guaranteed a first-class ticket to the afterlife at this point, I was completely enraged. In my state, I made another dumb choice. I decided if I'm going, I'm taking those two with me. I grabbed a couple beers, broke the bottoms off on the counter, turned to get up only for the one who came to apologize to bump the knife in my chest, cutting an artery.

As my vision started to fade, I stared at the man in front of me, unable to understand why my end turned into such a joke. The last thought that went through my head was, 'well, they do say the road to hell was paved with good intentions.'

Nox woke up from thinking about his life. Deciding probably wasn't the best place to be having a mid-death crisis, he decided to look around to see if he could find anything in this infinite void. Nox searched and searched, but he could not find anything. After an unknown amount of time staring into the void, hoping for something, he was discouraged. Turning his metaphorical head, he snapped to the left positive he had seen something out of the corner of his eye, only to be greeted with the infinite void. Further discouraged, he was going to continue turning, but he saw it again. A singular light in this infinite darkness flashing as if a star dying slowly. Nox chase the seemingly dying star, not knowing what awaited him. He reached it, a tiny orb flashing silver.

Staring at the orb, I thought to myself, 'I have no clue what it is. It could be an actual star, some sort of portal, or one of those gifts from God like I read in those stories... Screw it,' Reaching for it, I suddenly felt an attractive force pulling me towards it, into it. Resisting the best I could, I was pulled in and through. The immediate thing I notice what these blinding flashes. I tried to close my nonexistent eyes, but it did nothing. "AAAGH" I screamed, feeling like I was being crushed, burned, and frozen. I felt flesh grow from seemingly nothing, be destroyed, and grow again. This feeling went on for what felt like hours, but I know it was only an instant. Released from the feelings of pain and terror, I immediately passed out.