In the Beginning… (A Creation story from Io)
A Voldair perspective on the Creation of the universe, the gods, Y’agatoth and Biora.
In the beginning, there was the Void. The Void is a seemingly endless expanse that is the closest thing to true nothingness. Yet, things still happen in the Void- random gurgles, bubbles and ripples occur all the time but they almost always fade to nothing, and the Void returns to its true state: still, black, and cold. Almost always. In one moment in the endless eternity, a random gurgle caused an unpredictable explosion, an explosion so large and violent that the membrane of the Void weakened and threatened to tear. This explosion birthed two beings. The twins Axa and Aixo. Axa was embodiment of balance. She thrived in the grey spaces, the truest essence of neutral. Aixo, in contrast, was the embodiment of endless Creation. She was a contradiction in the Void as an advocate for somethingness. In the darkness of the Void, she imagined all the stars, the worlds and the lesser beings that she desired to bring into existence because in her heart, she knew that she had the power to do so. The fact that Creation was impossible in the Void tormented Aixo for eons and she grew bitter in her sorrow and her loneliness, for Axa desired peace and considered her sister’s desire and dreaming to be detrimental to that peace.
As time passed, Aixo worked on a plan, and for aeons, she secretly gathered power from the deepest sections of the Void with the intention to end the nothingness. When she couldn’t contain the power that she had stolen from the Void any longer, she ignited an explosion of her own and filled it with her Will. This one was smaller and less violent than the last. When the explosion cleared, Aixo felt the last spark of hope fade as she saw that nothing had been created from it. In despair, she turned her back on the site that she had placed all of her hopes, and to her surprise, fell through a new unexpected crack in the membrane of the Void. On the other side of the membrane, she discovered something new. Similarly to the Void, it was expansive and utterly dark, but Aixo felt no restraints here and She knew that this was the place that she could Create. Aixo was overjoyed by her freedom and started Willing light into the darkness. She made her first true Creation by exploiting her link to the Void. This first creation was the Sun. She had never seen the light or felt warmth and it made her heart break with joy to see it’s beauty and to feel anything other than numbness. She created the day and relished it. She thought of her sister and decided that some balance was necessary. In Axa’s honor, she Created the night and the moon and the stars, ensuring that both could be enjoyed indiscriminately and apart from each other.
Unknown to her, Axa had already followed her twin through the crack and had been watching Aixo Create with abandon. She realized that her twin couldn’t stop Creating and that this new universe was becoming unbalanced and was rapidly descending into chaos. She also knew that she couldn’t confront her sister or destroy anything that she had made herself, so she came up with a plan. Axa approached Aixo, who embraced her and displayed the universe that she was still Creating and would never stop Creating with pride, “Axa, my dearest sister.” she said, beaming at her, “Look at this universe that I have made for us. It is so beautiful and so full of wonder. You and I will do amazing things here.” said Aixo, her joy was clear on her face, yet there was mania in her eyes.
“This is wonderful, you really have made everything.” Axa said as she purposefully broke her mask of neutrality and emulated as much enthusiasm as she possibly could. “There is, however, something more that you can do.” Axa said. She was determined to let her sister believe that this universe was something that she wanted and not something that she had been forced to take responsibility over, for she knew that Aixo had no intention of sustaining the things that she had Created. Axa knew that she would have to eventually fix this mess if it was left unchecked. “I think it’s time that you Create more of us. It must be tiring to be the sole source of Creation in this universe, the power of the Void will drain you. You can’t do it alone.” Axa said.
Aixo liked Axa’s suggestion, the logic of it was sound. She knew that the presence of more lesser creators in this Universe would lead to more Creation. Aixo delved deep into essense of the Void and called on her desire and hunger to channel it. Unbeknown to her, she had unconsciously channeled some residual anger and hatred for the Void into her Will. When she was done she beheld what she had Created, the first living thing in the universe, and was repulsed by it. He wasn’t beautiful and full of light, like the sun, the moon and the stars. This thing was hideous and oozing with hatred and malice. Aixo named him Y’agatoth and she shrank away from him when he reached out to her. Enraged by this rejection, Y’agathoth ran away from his Creator and immediately felt the pangs of hunger and the desire to destroy. He started to devour and decay parts of Aixo’s universe, and he couldn’t stop… he didn’t want to. As a star was dying in his wake, Aixo attempted to stop him, but Axa restrained her, “This is what the universe needs” she said, “It needs the death, decay and destruction that Y’agatoth is Creating. For that’s exactly what he’s doing, creating. You have to understand that what he is doing is important for the balance of this universe”.
Aixo felt angry at her sister’s words, “Why is it always about balance with you? Why is it so important?” She snapped at her sister. She was exasperated and bewildered at what she assumed was her sister’s wish to put a stop to what she was doing. “Why can’t you see that this is good? That this is right? Let me stop Y’agatoth and put an end to his destruction.” Aixo said. She was furious at her sister and devastated that the first form of sentient life that she had Created was as hideous, hateful and greedy as Y’agatoth was.
“You can’t, Aixo.” Axa said, her voice remained neutral despite her sister’s rage “we both know that you are unable to destroy or end anything.” Axa gestured at the parts of the universe that Y’agatoth hadn’t reached yet, the areas where chaos was reproducing in conjunction with Aixo’s Creation. “I know that you intend to Create more life, and I won’t stop you. Take a moment to think about what this endless chaos and Creation will do. Your universe will lose its beauty and light, and your lesser beings with thought and Will, will suffer for it. You need to take responsibility for what you Created.”
Aixo relaxed and saw that Axa was telling the truth. She was still angered at the fact that her Creations would inevitably face destruction, but she knew that she couldn’t resist her sister- who had a secret power of her own that Aixo couldn’t understand that scared her.
The sisters parted ways then. Axa returned to the Void but remained close to the rift in its membrane, acting as an unofficial overseer of the Creation and destruction of the universe and ensuring that balance was maintained, for neither Aixo nor Y’agatoth intended to employ restraint. Aixo remained in our universe. After parting from her sister, she gathered a final wave of the Void’s power and Created three new gods who would help her in the process of creation. She named them Sata, Sabor and Daya. In each of them, she granted Will and the capacity to create, along with their own special connection to the Void. She tied their life forces to hers, in order to ensure that Y’agatoth couldn’t touch them with his grotesque hands. She then Created worlds, and she Created lesser life on them- sentient and otherwise and was content. All the while, Y’agatoth was never far behind her, waiting to destroy, waiting to devour, waiting for death and decay.
And so it was that the universe, the gods and Y’agatoth were Created, and balance was sustained in the universe, for a time…
