3 Chapter Three

Nothing.

I was surrounded by nothing. Nothing was everywhere and everywhere was nothing. I could feel the cold emptiness besieging me, seemingly insulted to be in the presence of something. I held on as my inhuman body was unceasingly assaulted.

Slowly opening my eyes, I observed my surroundings.

Nothing.

I wasn't surrounded by an endless darkness or an eternal white, just...nothing. I closed my eyes and gathered my thoughts. I had royally messed up. Before arriving in this place I clearly had the ability to see into the past and the future. However, this situation wasn't in any future I'd seen. Was it perhaps everything could be flipped on its head by the Locket? No matter how far I looked in time, the Locket was never there. The thought that countless futures and multiple possibilities could be erased by a simple wish was...terrifying. The Locket seemed to have ripped a hole in the universe and I...was cast out.

I sent out my senses to try and determine the gravity of my situation. It was grave. I couldn't sense anything as there was nothing to sense. With my stomach sinking, I attempted some magic. No effect. Even the knowledge of omnipresent space was of no use. I felt a sinking feeling as fear threatened to overwhelm me. A little while ago I was bragging about how I was an all-knowing divine existence. Simply recalling that made me want to bury my head in shame. All right. I was an insanely powerful being trapped outside space-time. If my abilities only worked within a universe, all I had to do was make one.

Simple.

I raised my palm and focused. For the first time, I performed the only spell of my Aether magic, Big Bang. Nothing happened. Goddamnit, why'd it not work?! The answer instantly appeared in my mind. An incantation. All spells required incantations but due to my high intelligence and mana pool, I could perform them all on a whim. Yet my own magic was too high level for even me to ignore its incarnation. Once more I raised my palm and spoke:

"BE."

And it became.

Immediately after reciting the incantation to the aether magic, I witnessed the moment before creation which mortal minds could never comprehend. With me at the centre, something appeared. Something then began rapidly expanding, devouring nothing. I once more felt the cold familiarity of space. Relieved, I watched as my universe expanded, the newly formed spacetime expanding into itself. Manifestations of energy in the form of particles immediately started to interact with one another. Curious, I began observing the spot before me. In my previous world, scientists were constantly trying to find an answer to the phenomenon I was now witnessing.

All these events took less than second to occur. I let out a maniacal laugh as everything started making sense to me. Every single event or secret of the universe scientists were struggling with in my previous world, I knew. I knew everything.

Right before I could collect my thoughts and revisit that moment, a blinding light caught my attention. It was nothing like the birth or death of stars. I could feel a slight sense of familiarity emanating from it, so I approached. It was then that I saw the one and only object I had no power over. From where I stood was The Locket. The Locket of Fate came into existence after the birth of the universe. So my universe birthed a Locket of its own? Relief washed over me as I reached out to grab it.

…As I reached out to grab it.

…

Why couldn't I grab it?! The moment I came into contact with it, it passed through my hand as if I wasn't there. Something was seriously wrong. I observed myself in detail before discovering the cause. I seemed to be shrouded in a layer of nothing. My mind rapidly came to the conclusion that there couldn't be something without nothing. And so I became that nothing. I almost burst into laughter at the irony. I created the cause of my problems while I became nothing.

Grinding my teeth in anger, I could only watch as my creation grew. I watched as stars were born and stars died. I watched as planets formed and gave birth to life. My sense of time became warped as billions of years passed by. I focused on a particular planet in a solar system that was beginning to stabilise itself. The only reason my attention was on this particular lump of rock was the Locket. I had followed its aimless journey through the universe before it finally landed here.

It was then that an idea slowly formed in my mind. If I could not physically interact with anything in this universe, all I had to manipulate something that could. So I put my theory to the test. I waited years before life finally began sprouting on the planet. I witnessed how this rock turned hospitable and how life began as well as how it evolved to form a multitude of complex creatures which would voyager this planet. Pretty soon, intelligent life in the form of enormous reptiles with minds I could control appeared.

As soon as I thought they were ready, I attempted invading their minds. It was futile. I ended up only causing chaos, as my own universe seemed to reject me. It...lashed out, wiping the reptiles from existence, once more forcing me into waiting. At this point, I started to wonder whether or not I'd ever be able to obtain the Locket ever again. After a few hundred millennia, humanoids appeared, igniting a hope in me I had long since forgotten.

I once more set my plan into motion, only this time I would do it differently. This time, I would shape their minds into accepting my manipulation before invading them. So I discreetly began my task. I seeped a minuscule amount of consciousness into their bodies and got to work. It took several hundred years before the fruits of my labour began to sprout. Their intelligence rose and their forms underwent some changes. This was because the mind and the body were closely linked. One affects the other and vice-versa. Shielding the Locket from them, I watched over their growth as they went from building shelters, to building Empires.

I had performed several experiments over the years. I attempted manipulating a few but the results were disappointing. Many would die immediately while others would simply break. There were a few cases which gave me hope. Some of my intelligence would seep into them and give them knowledge. They would call themselves gods and greatly helped advance their civilisation. All I had to do was make sure some of my will entered their minds. Too much and my universe would put an end to it. Too little and I would fail. To make sure I succeeded I needed the hosts' mind to be as close to mine as possible.

So I began manipulating their genetics.

This was in hopes of creating a humanoid with DNA as close to what mine once was. In doing so, I also had an effect on history. It seemed to be getting more similar to my old worlds one.

After years of work, the day finally came. My 'parents' were in a hospital, my 'mother' giving birth to my clone. The Locket was buried under a shack. I needed this shack to be in my clones family so with a little interfering, I got the grandfather to purchase it. I then began manipulating my clones growth. The mind was also deeply affected by memories. I had to shape this mind to be as close to mine as possible. So I somewhat awkwardly arranged the death of my 'parents' and turned 'myself' into a fantasy-loving freak. The day slowly drew closer until finally, after sending the old man off, my clone made his way to the shack.

I was barely able to contain my excitement.

Soon.

Soon I would be free from this prison.

I watched as my clone discovered the Locket. The time had come. I sent a carefully controlled strand of will into the mind of the clone. The moment I drew close I was stopped. An indomitable veil prevented me from entering the mind of my clone.

Furious, I attacked, increasing the power of the strand. The veil didn't even quiver. No longer acting discreet, I sent the full force of my will.

Failure.

The universe didn't even seem to notice my actions at it didn't seek retribution. Something was barring me. It was then that it hit me. The Locket. The one thing that operated outside of the universe was possessing my clone. The mind that I had painstakingly shaped was now a host of the accursed object that had caused my predicament. It was preventing any outside interference with its host's wishes.

I watched in dread as my clone wished for the same things I had all those years ago. I watched as my clone grew in power before entering stasis. I watched as the humans I had shaped went to war over 'me'. I watched as my clone woke up once more to make his final wish. The same portal that had once appeared before me, now appeared before him. It was then that I heard something that I hadn't heard since time immemorial.

[Loop: 430,563,963,849 complete]

[Next loop initiated]

This was the last thing I heard before ceasing to exist.