Happiness and Fear

About the same time as our protagonist wakes up, as he leaves the chaos sea, a shock spreads across the known multiverse...….

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In a realm made entirely of ectoplasm, the source of souls itself, where abstract concepts and symbols exist everywhere, a strange scene was taking place. It was as if the realm itself was celebrating. Celebrating the awakening of its creator and owner, whose throne now lies empty. The common scenes of psionics or magicians waging battles of the mind were nowhere to be scene at this very point of time, as if the very realm itself was rejecting their entrance into it in order to celebrate. Yes, it was a cause worthy of celebration indeed, for the realm had been waiting for the return of its lord for uncountable eons. The realm which is both illlusory and real, which wraps around all of reality, had already experienced the births and deaths of the multiverse. But it waited for its creator to return and reclaim 'His' rule over it. This was the realm of the mind, the astral plane.

Beside the empty throne, one of the oldest beings spawned by the earth, the elder god Oshtur opened her eyes. While her face was largely expressionless, one could see a gleam in her eyes. And why not? For her who was revered as the 'Omnipotent Oshtur', a goddess in her worshippers eyes, the astral plane was thought to be her temple. This displeased her deeply yet she did not voice out her displeasure but quietly waited in patience, managing her duties wherever required. This was because she knew that mortal minds across the multiverse did not know 'His' existence. Even most self-proclaimed gods did not. For only cosmic entities were like to know 'Him', save for a few others. 'He' was one of them after all. And 'He' was the creator of the astral plane.

The reason she would know of 'Him' who was long buried in the long river of time, was due to 'His' helping her. She had been placed in charge of the astral plane if he were to ever be absent and she accepted gladly. For her, staying here was no longer exile as ordered by the Vishanti. It was now her sacred duty and atonement. She considered herself to be one of the only angels remaining besides her lords throne, who only had a few remaining besides her. And for the first time after a long time, her displeasure ceased to exist as she also felt the return of her lord. Yes, her lord, the creator, the lord of the astral world, the 'God Almighty'.

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In the dream dimension which was located somewhere near the astral plane, the fear lord's face was gloomy. This dimension which represents the collective subconscious of the living was once a part of the astral plane. That was before Nightmare rebelled and usurped power from his absent creator and great old one.

Nightmare had always been ambitious, for he was the manifestation of humanity's collective psyche. All their evils, their fears, were what made him what he was. The God Almighty created him to manage an aspect of his infinite power. He was only meant to manage a sub-aspect of 'His' powers. Of course, those related to nightmares and the subconscious mind. But the nature of his existence made him made him to not be content with the status quo. For he was in a sense, an embodiment of sins. A demon lord as they now called him.

The God Almighty leaving his throne gave him the opportunity he needed to realize his desires. And….he succeeded, if only partly. It would be more appropriate to say he has obtained the possibility to truly succeed in the distant future.

Why? Because, after a long search for the remnants of his creator, he stumbled upon the edge of a sea by mistake. It was chaos embodiment, if he had to describe it. As if to represent the beginnings of creation and…also his creator. The nightmare was no fool. He clearly felt the resemblance, the resonance with of the God Almighty with the 'chaos sea'. He also came up with guesses as to what it was, most of which were close to the truth. Though he did not know that. And he could not as he was.

He did not dare to investigate any deeper as he was too weak for that. Yet after numerous efforts, he somehow managed to obtain a characteristic, a 'piece' of his creator. Yes, he could clearly identify it as the power of the god almighty, as he had also been created by the same power. He could not manage to explore more than that, nor could he know again where the 'chaos sea' was after he left it.

Though this was the case, he would not worry about it then. The lord of nightmares was content at that moment. If things were as he guessed, he might succeed in something far more than he originally imagined. Yes, he could replace the god almighty after consuming 'His' other characteristics wherever they were. He was not in a hurry. Beings of power often had extraordinary patience after all. He was no exception to this.

Nightmare began to put his plans into motion. While he had obtained one characteristic, it was only one after all and the power it brought was limited. Yet, using his new found power, he separated the dream dimension from the abstract plane. He was not the God Almighty, so even if he had some of 'His' power, he was not the owner of the abstract realms. While this hindered him, he did not stop. Thanks to his efforts, he corrupted a major part of the dream dimension into what he now called the nightmare realm. The dream dimension which was already messy and chaotic was further distorted into something which mortals deepest and darkest nightmares would also be afraid of.

Yes, he became a true fear lord. But this was never enough. Especially after he tasted the sweetness brought by the newfound power. And just so, the nightmare lord's hunt for more of the characteristics began. He was determined to replace the god almighty and he knew that some of 'His' other creations also began to try and reach this lofty goal. Albeit, they were still far behind him.

But just when he was basking in the feeling of an early victory, he felt it. The fear lord instinctively knew, 'He' had retuned. As the fear lord, he felt the instinctive fear he was not supposed to feel. The feeling of a weaker being in front of a predator higher up the food chain. Yet at the same time due to having consumed one of the characteristics, he vaguely understood that the lord who returned was far too weak at present. 'He' did not even hold a fraction of his past power.

A dangerous gleam passed through the eyes of the nightmare. Even if the lord had retuned, no one would get in his was and stop his plans. He would succeed. He was bound to. He would be the new lord of the astral world, the new God Almighty.