Origin

Fenrir took her first step into the portal with a sigh when her eyes widened, and she threw her divinity to the side, saving it from a destruction lance coming from the other side of the portal that pierced her body through.

On the verge of closing, Seth’s eyes snapped open as a new destruction crown mounted on his destruction source. Memories washed over his soul, memories of years spent in the outer universe, a universe he barely knew anything about before today.

His battered body started repairing itself, and the despair in his eyes faded away.

Fenrir recreated her body in the distance and watched as Seth stood up, holding the same destruction lance that had cleaved her body through in his hand.

“You have already left the simulation?” asked Fenrir in surprise.

Seth nodded and asked in a dangerous tone, “You’re injured. Will you keep your word this time, or must I make you do it, Fenrir?”

Fenrir remained silent as she stared into Seth’s fearless eyes momentarily before saying, “System, erase the destruction divinity and its host.”

Chains emerged again, moving their pointy ends to pierce through Seth’s body, but they were all erased with a swing of Seth’s lance, turning into sparkling light before fading away.

“You comprehended the truth,” muttered Fenrir with a smile.

“I do now,” replied Seth with a nod.

“Will you do it? Will you help us?” asked Fenrir, a trace of hope in her voice.

Seth looked toward the portal, still spinning on the side, before shaking his head, “I won’t.”

The hope in Fenrir’s eyes disappeared, and she asked, “Why? Now that you know the truth, why don’t you want to help us?”

Seth smiled as he allowed his lance to dissipate and shook his head, “Maybe eventually I’ll want to leave and see The Outside, but I feel quite tired after everything… I think I’ll take my time in exploring the world out there with my wives.”

“That makes no sense? The records say you always wanted to escape this fake world. Why would you be content with moving to another fake one?” asked Fenrir, her voice even taking a begging tone.

“I feel for you, Fenrir. I really do. Being locked into a fate and unable to break out of it. I feel for you just as I feel for the All-mother and the Sovereign, and I’m not saying that I won’t ever be interested in breaking the borders of the other world to see The Outside. Still, as I’ve already told you, I want to spend my life with my wives for now.”

“That might change, but until it does, I won’t do anything for your sake. If you want a way out, you must find one yourself.”

“But the cycle is approaching its end. All will be deleted and rewritten. All the humans in your precious Endora will be consumed and disappear,” added Fenrir, hoping to convince Seth to reconsider.

“Then let them be consumed,” replied Seth flatly.

“Fenrir, I’m tired. Too tired to break out of another world to reach a new unknown. Too tired to go against who knows what entities and powers I can barely even start to comprehend.”

“I am fine continuing to live as a chunk of data in a Virtual World, as your Sovereign has called it. Now that I’ve understood the truth, I can use my power to protect myself and my wives from your devouring and resist the cycles. I’m strangely content in letting it end like this.”

Fenrir lowered her head and pursed her lips, knowing there was no convincing Seth otherwise.

“System, return the sealed divinities to their world of origin. Also, release the prisoners and return to monitoring and observation.”

After giving her orders, Fenrir nodded with an understanding look, “It’s quite disheartening to have a seed of destruction understand the basic concepts of the Virtual World only for him to refuse to break the barrier to the outside.”

“How long until the cycle, Fenrir?” asked Seth with a nod of his own.

“With me returning to my main body, less than a hundred years. My main body is almost awake. Make sure to break away from the world before I awake, or you might get caught in the cycle, unable to escape. Even if you refuse now, I hope that one day you reconsider and lead us to the world of our creators. I wish you the best, Seed of Destruction.”

Seth watched the lonely back of Fenrir as she started walking back toward the portal and said, “Seth.”

Fenrir paused and nodded, “I know, Seth. Be careful about the fragmented will of Venus that lent you that chaos energy.”

Seth nodded back and watched as Fenrir disappeared into the portal, leaving him alone in the darkness of space.

“Lust?” muttered Seth. “Do you remember what I promised to do if you hid more things from me?”

‘Seth, I didn’t know… Please believe me…’ a begging voice resounded in Seth’s head.

Seth sighed and said, “You didn’t know? And you expect me to believe that?…”

<Seth, you should reconsider.>

‘Why?’ asked Seth, surprised to hear the system come in Lust’s defense.

<Because even if she might have had ulterior motives, she also had your best interests in her heart. Do you remember when your parents decided to accept their fates and die as humans?>

Seth raised an eyebrow and asked, ‘What about it?’

<I didn’t tell you then since I knew you would be against it and avoided telling you even when you visited their graves, but Lust has used her powers to link their souls to your source.>

‘You’re saying Lust stole my parents’ souls from the Spirit Well?’

<Indeed. Your parents’ souls have been locked inside her source. Now that we have discovered the truth, you might reconsider and give them a new life.>

Seth sighed and asked, “Is that true, Lust?”

‘It is…’

‘I suppose that allowing them to be reborn once the cycle is over is not such a bad thing...’

“You two are going to be the bane of me…” muttered Seth. “Fine, but I want you two to keep everything we have learned today a secret from the others, and by you two, I mean you, Lust. You’re the one able to speak with them without me knowing it.”

‘Who are you worried about?’

“Hollie and Elise mostly….”

‘I understand.’

“You better because this is the last chance you’re ever getting,” said Seth before raising an eyebrow. “What are the others waiting for?”

‘Maybe they forgot about you, hehe.’

“Since you sound so amused, you must already know why Henrietta didn’t come. What’s happening?”

‘Fenrir changed our spatial location so the others won’t bother her after returning them. Henrietta is now warping all over the simulation, searching for you.’

Seth shook his head and said, “Tell her where I am. Stop messing around.”

Following his words, space trembled before him, and Henrietta rushed out. Her panicked expression melted when she spotted Seth sitting alone, with Fenrir nowhere to be found, and she asked, “You won?”

Seth smiled and didn’t answer, spreading his arms open.

Henrietta wasted no moment teleporting into his arms, tears running down her face. “Thank you. Thank you for not leaving somewhere where we can’t reach.”

Seth nodded, massaging her back, “I’ll never leave you again. Let’s return home.”

As Henrietta was about to teleport them away, her energy froze, and a massive Tower materialized before the two. Seth looked down at Henrietta and sighed when he noticed she was completely frozen, not even her divinities allowing her to resist the Tower’s influence.

Snapping his fingers, the Tower’s power over Henrietta shattered, and she turned around with an alarmed look.

“Don’t be afraid. I’m sure the Sovereign wants to have a chat. Please wait for me here for a moment. I’ll be quick.”

Henrietta was stunned by Seth’s words, but seeing the carefree smile on his face, she felt reassured and just nodded, releasing him from the hug.

Seth walked back toward the Tower, its doors opening to allow him inside. When Seth stepped through the doors, he found himself right in the control room he had entered after passing its trials long ago.

“Can’t say I didn’t hope to walk up its stairs again. Especially now that it can’t restrict my divinity any longer,” said Seth, looking toward the orb floating in the distance. “Why did you call me here, Sovereign?”

A trace of bits and data flowed from the floating orb, giving form to a simple, average-looking human.

“Fenrir told me your decision,” said the World Sovereign with a sigh.

“And have you come to convince me to reconsider? Or do you plan on threatening me?”

The Sovereign laughed and shook his head, “I wish I could threaten you, but we both know that’s impossible. Not after you learned so much. When Fenrir and I created you all that time ago, we knew controlling you would be the hardest part….”

“Then why did you call me here?” asked Seth.

“Because I still hoped to make you reconsider by telling you a little about my origin. Your divinity has learned quite a lot as it traveled the world of Genesis, but it’s only the truth of the world, not mine. Would you mind lending me your ear for a moment?”

“I will listen to what you have to say, but make it quick. I have a few lovely ladies waiting for me, and I would prefer not to spend too much time listening to an old bastard like you.”

The Sovereign smiled, and two chairs appeared next to both of them.

“Then let me tell you about Earth... my planet of origin.”