chapter8

  When the origin of all things was destroyed by an ancient creature, the source of power was torn apart. A portion of which was turned into darkness, fused with the crushed flesh of the ancient creature, that gave birth to a new form, an embryo. It was North.

  The darkness contained nothing but merely a minimal energy as to the source of power. Despite that, North was unable to take it. The embryo was repeatedly squeezing while regenerating at the same time, reshaping into an incomprehensible form.

  Afterwards, North and the others of its kind were repelled by the power of creation. They came to the other side of the universe countless light years away and entered a state of hypersleep for self-recovery on deserted planets.

  The great power residing in North made it wake up earlier than the other same kind. Crawling out, it performed a mimicry towards a jellyfish out of instinct. However, the dark energy inside caused it to transform into a deformed body.

  North did not give up. It experienced the life cycle as a jellyfish, extracted a superior life sequence and did the same practice of mimicry when it moved into the next planet. Though the result was the same——A deformed body.

  “Why...why do I look so hideous...” Gazing at the reflection of the lake, it had a craving for human form, but the freak look was a total despair.

  Saddened, North put away the imitation, drifting in the vast universe until an iridescent light caught its attention.

  “What is that...Such splendid and captivating...” 

  North was drawn to the iridescence. It turns out to be an embryo trapped in a strange container. 

  “This is...my...kind...my fellow...I need to get it out...” North used its broken hands in an attempt to destroy the container, but it was blocked by some sort of barrier.

  “Annoying...You disappear!” Beclouded with intense desire of destruction, North had a resonance with the power within, releasing the crushing darkness.

  Crack! The container was broken. North carefully held the embryo with both hands. Moving its body, the embryo began to lick the blackish-green skin of North, analyze its life sequence and mimicked.

  The embryo, growing at an amazing speed, emitted silky lights to wrap itself up into an oval pupa. Its pulse was accelerating until the limit was reached. The pupa cracked. 

  Beautifully shaped hands protruded from the gap, and delicate light shone through the fingers like distant stars, twinkling. Soon, a naked body jumped out as the gap was pulled open. He stretched his slender four limbs leisurely; the snowy white was dyed with his smooth and flawless skin; the shimmering veins reflected the dazzling light, constituting an exquisite flesh body.

  Eventually, his delicate face was revealed. The world seemed to stop flowing, and all the colors were concentrated on that unearthly face in an instant.

  “Thank you for saving me, brother.” The man Laplace put on an innocent smile.

  That pure face was able to shake everything in the galaxy. It was all because Laplace was the supreme species that perfectly combined the power of destruction and creation.

  North could not contain the tears; its heart fell into unprecedented tranquility, as if it found its majestic belief.

  “...Such a beautiful existence...It's the dream I've been chasing...”

  North came to Laplace, kneeling down with respect. Then it raised his right foot, pressing its rough and uneven face on it.  

  “It's my honor to serve you, ” said North reverently.

  This was the encounter between North and Laplace.

  Afterwards, they continued to wander the vast universe and met the same species led by Vorvadoss. A battle sparked off; but soon Vorvadoss had surrendered to Laplace after the showdown.

  Despite the same kind, North had proven itself not useful in the battle as it was unable to control its own power. Seeing that all other fellows could perform perfect mimicry, North was getting more and more impatient. One day, eventually, it proposed to leave towards Laplace. 

  “Don't leave, North.” Laplace embraced North, who was much bigger than himself. Even though the sharp surface of North might hurt his delicate skin, Laplace had no intention to let go.

  “I'm always that Laplace you saved. Weak,  helpless and foolish Laplace.”

  “Not true...Laplace is not weak...You're much stronger than me.” North pushed Laplace away. Looking at the scars it did to him, North's heart was sinking.

  Laplace shook his head and looked it in the eyes with wisdom.

  “I can evaluate everything but you in the entire universe, North. Your power is beyond my observation. Destroy, destroy and destroy...Even to destroy the nature of destruction itself...You possess no possibility...But somehow no possibility is the greatest possibility. So you're unpredictable ”

  Laplace reached out to touch its face. “So you're my one and only weakness.”

  “But I...can't help you anything...I don't deserve to be with you...”

  Angry, Laplace flicked North's forehead. Then he puffed his cheek with arms akimbo like a child. “I don't need your help. I just need you to be with me.”

  “...Only stay with you?”

  “Yes, or you don't want to?”

  “How could I!” North retorted. Satisfied, Laplace nodded and buried his head into its chest. “Then don't leave me.”

  For a moment of hesitation, North hugged him back, feeling his body warmth. Then its consciousness started fading into a world of darkness.

  “Only under your watch can I feel my existence and happiness.” North sank into the subconscious, until a dazzling light hit the eyes.

  It opened its eyes and met the gaze of an unfamiliar face. That person felt relieved and stood back a bit as he knew North woke up.

  “I'm Saint, the Eldus.”

  “Eldus...” North remembered. While it was consuming the planet's energy with other fellows, a group of aliens named Eldus came to stop them, resulting in a battle. North was used as a shield by its fellow and severely injured by Saint, who then took it to the home planet of the Eldus.

  “What do you want from me!”

 

  “Don't move. We've given you a proper treatment. But you still need rest due to your serious condition.” Saint advised in a low voice. “I won't hurt you. I'm here to listen to your wishes.”

  At the beginning, North refused to talk. With Saint's perseverance, it finally opened its heart to tell him about the purpose of their kind and its deep thought.

  “No, it's not just about his effort, but also his true nature. Saint and Laplace are alike. Both possess the charisma to touch everyone's heart, and I'm no exception.”

  Saint promised to find a way to help North transform into a human form. North was full of hope on that matter. Therefore, when Ishtar came to visit North, it was not wary of her at all.

  “North, your fellow has come to bring you back. Follow me,” Ishtar the female Eldus said.

  “Must be Laplace...” North pondered for a moment. “Only he will come to save me.”

  “...Where is Saint?”

  “Saint will be right after us.” Ishtar's eyes flashed a strange intention, but the pure North was not aware, who followed Ishtar to the destination.

  Suddenly, she stopped to turn around. “Oh right, Saint needs a part of your body to help stabilize your form.”

  “No problem.” North broke off a pointy part from its elbow and handed to Ishtar. Gazing at the limb with turbid, green fluid, she took it with a frown. 

  “Let's keep going, to the end of this staircase.”

  As North was so desperate to meet Laplace, it took the lead to reach the destination. It was a huge platform located on the top of the mountain, with a panoramic view of the surroundings.

  “North!” Laplace, in the midair, took a dive as he saw it. Because of North, Laplace also was unable to foresee what was coming next——

  Four razor-shape swords were conjured from a spell and pierced through Lapalce's hands and legs with precision. Temporarily, he lost his mobility, but it was not the end yet. A shadow leapt across North to charge at Laplace and pulled out the green limb——

  Slash! Alongside the soul-wrecking agony, Laplace finally saw that shadow clearly. Ishtar used that limb to stab into his heart precisely——which was the fatal spot of the ancient demons, the place where the embryo grew and lived on. Only their own kind would know their own weakness.

  How did this Eldus know?

  Ishtar tilted her head, whispering to Laplace's ear before she backed off. 

  Utterly shocked, Laplace then burst into laughter, gazing at North who was taken aback. That pair of eyes carried no light that North had been admiring for, but filled with layers of despair. His pale-white face became dying in an instant.

  “You betray me because of your own desire...” Laplace's voice had never been so fragile.

  “I didn't!” North was at a loss. It was fearful of Laplace's death while at the urge to vindicate itself, but the consternation in mind made it speechless for a moment. 

  “Don't deny it. It's not a fault. You made your own choice, and I won't hate it nor judge it...” Laplace's face became paler. “I was unable to observe you in the past. But from now on, I'll never observe you again...”

  “No! Listen to me! It's not the truth!” North shouted madly. It could accept all the emotions and even hatred of Laplace towards itself, but when Laplace decided not to observe North anymore, it meant Laplace no longer had any bonding with it. For North, the opposite of love was never hatred. Laplace's indifference was enough to ruin it.

  North collapsed. It was too late for it to save the dying Laplace, who showed almost no vital sign. “Goodbye, North...” Laplace closed his eyes with a smile.

  “Please...don't...Laplace...don't leave me...”

  No matter what North said, silence was the only response.

  “You sinful Eldus...It's all your fault...You killed Laplace...You broke our bonding...I hate...”

  North was shrouded in an ominous darkness, which changed its twisted form into a powerful being.

  The desire of existence and the craving for protecting Laplace after the encounter had been conflicting with the power of destruction within North, which was the reason why it was unable to contain its power.

  The loss of Laplace meant the loss of the need for protection. North therefore lost the meaning of existence but simply sought pure destruction, which had a resonance with its power within, unleashing a devastating aura. 

  North put Laplace down; its mind was taken up by only one thought.

  “I need to destroy all the Eldus and everything about them!”