Oblivion

“In the beginning, there was Nothing.

And they were alone.

Empty and hollow was their life, for all they knew was loneliness.

But suddenly, there was another.

Out of Nothing’s loneliness came a being named Infinity.

A perpetual being, they were endless and beautiful.

And Nothing was alone no more.

Together they were the first true immortals. The First Beings.

And over time, they grew to love one another.

In their love they created Existence, a place of being and belonging; a place for them to share their love.

“Let us not be alone so long as we are together.” Infinity said.

And Nothing was happy.

To give their Existence shape, The First Beings gave birth to five laws–five pillars to maintain balance.

Nothing gave birth to Life and Death–two children forever linked in an endless cycle of beginning and end.

And in that cycle, as they were brought into Existence, Nothing said to them:

“You are my children. From Nothing you are born, and to Nothing you shall return.”

They embraced each other, and Nothing was happy.

But Infinity chose a different path and said:

“I shall become a part of our beloved Existence. To watch over and guide it through the Eons.” 

And so Infinity split themself in three pieces. 

And these pieces became known as Fate and the Twins of Time: Time in Motion and Time as Action.

Thus, Infinity ceased to be as their children were born.

And Nothing wept, for Infinity had sacrificed themself completely to create them.

And without Infinity, Nothing felt alone once again. The last true immortal.

Even surrounded by their children, Nothing lost themself in grief and loneliness.

And in that pain, Nothing grew resentful towards Existence.

For Nothing believed it had robbed them of Infinity.

In their grief, loneliness, and resentment, Nothing grew mad.

They cast off their name and became Oblivion.

And vowed to make Infinity whole once again.”

Siren closed the manuscript and placed it on the bed next to her. Drax’s massive, muscular frame straightened upright as he sat cross-legged on the floor. His eager eyes stared up at her with rapt anticipation.

“What happened next?” Drax asked anxiously.

Siren shrugged.

“That’s it. That’s the end of the translation.” She said plainly.

Drax frowned and slumped with disappointment. Being a Pit Fiend, the room shook from even the slightest movement of his muscles. 

“Aww c’mon! It was just getting to the good part.” Drax mumbled, his booming voice resonating around the room.

Siren chuckled and blushed thinking about Drax and his largeness. She really loved him–the big oaf. He made her feel safe and appreciated.

“We still have more tablets from the dig site to translate.” She explained, moving to sit on the floor next to her large, saddened boyfriend. “Maybe one of those will tell us the next chapter.”

Hope lit up in Drax’s eyes. He pulled Siren into a four-armed bear hug and kissed her.

“Ya think so?” He exclaimed.

Siren’s face reddened as Drax’s grip started to suffocate her.

“Babe! Lemmego! You’re...crush-ing...me!” Siren choked with a laugh as she tried to push Drax’s face away.

“Oops, sorry! Hah...” Drax blurted, blushing and releasing his grip on his girlfriend. “Guess I don’t know my own strength.”

Siren rolled her eyes and pecked a kiss on Drax's cheek.

A big oaf indeed. She thought.

Her eyebrows suddenly shot up with realization.

“Oh, wait! I do have another transcript. Hang on!” She said as she scrambled across the bed to fetch her backpack.

Digging through the back pocket, Siren produced a second stack of stapled papers.

She resumed her seated position on the bed above Drax and cleared her throat ceremoniously.

“Ahem! Are you ready for the Second creation story?” Siren asked enthusiastically.

Drax nodded his head so fast he became dizzy.

“Alright, here we go…” Siren said as she began reading the first page.

“Out of Existence, came the Creators. They were Divine–gods and goddesses–and they were many. 

They fanned the Flame of Life in our universe and created many wonders.

But one Goddess stood higher than the rest. 

And her name was Apocrypha.”

Drax’s eyes lit up as he recognized the name.

“Oh I know this one! Apocrypha, the Goddess of Hell, right?” He asked quizzically.

Siren nodded and shushed him to let her continue.

“Unrivaled in strength and beauty, Apocrypha created what the others of her kind would call The First Dimension.”

Entire galaxies and star systems poured forth from her fingertips as she painted the cosmos with light.

There, surrounded by twinkling stars and wondrous astrological bodies, her flames lit up the empty reaches of space. 

From a newborn star, Apocrypha molded herself a physical body so that she might walk amongst her creations.

And so she Ascended. The first of her siblings to transform and become flesh.

But these siblings, boundless in their jealousy, saw this act as heresy.

Together, they cast her from the celestial plane. Then they claimed her creations as their own.

And as she fell from the stars, Apocrypha wove the space around her to form a cradle for her new body. 

From this cradle, the first planet was born. And so it was named Earth.”

As Siren continued to read the fable, Drak’s eyes grew wide with wonder. Even though it was little more than a demonic fairy tale, he imagined all of it playing out in his head exactly as she described it. 

Siren could see it on Drax's face–her boyfriend’s thoughts lost in ancient battles between gods and goddesses vying for their spot in creation. She pictured his imagination recreating it like a battle depicted in one of those ancient tapestry mural things you’d find in a museum.

Drax propped himself up on his left elbows and traced his right index fingers up Siren’s legs.

“Hey!” Siren said as she flicked Drak’s forehead right between his eyes. 

He winced and looked up to find Siren casting him a scolding glare.

“Are you even listening to the story?” She snapped, narrowing her eyes in irritation.

Drak chuckled, “I’m sorry babe–I’m listening. Please continue.”

When she finished the tale, Siren grabbed a folder from her backpack. She flashed a series of dig site photographs to Drax. In each of the images was a series of stacked glyphs written in an ancient language.

“These markings are Enochian phrases written in sequence–kinda like in a pictogram.” She explained, tracing the photo with her finger. “We catalogued them from the tablet this story was translated from.”

“Enochian?” Drak asked, raising a curious eyebrow. “You mean like Angels? The tablets are angelic relics?”

Siren nodded.

"What are they doing in Hell?" Drax asked skeptically.

“That’s the thing. It’s definitely written in Enochian, but the tablets are older than anything on record in any of Hell’s archives.” Siren replied.

She showed Drak an aerial photograph of the dig site from a hollowed-out cavern in the 3rd Circle of Hell. 

“We carbon-dated the dig site–the site these tablets were unearthed–and it pre-dates the founding of the Kingdom of Heaven.” Siren explained in hushed tones.

Drak’s eyes grew wide with excitement and realization.

“Wait, what does that mean?” He asked, confused.

“It means something put these stones here before Heaven was created.” Siren replied cautiously.

Drak’s jaw dropped.

“Unholy shit.” He breathed.

“Right?!” Siren exclaimed, “So the Gods might’ve created Hell first. But if so, then why?”

She kissed Drak and pulled out a second photograph.

“This is where things get really interesting.” She said excitedly.

In the photograph there’s a large stone object resembling a massive broken gate. The stones forming its doors lay cracked and splintered across the floor.

“What the heck is that?” Drak asked, holding the picture close to inspect it.

“It’s the remnants of an old gate.” Siren said, showing several other photographs of the structure from different angles.

“A gate? In the middle of a dig site?” Drak asked skeptically. “That’s super weird.”

“There were broken bones scattered all over, too. Talk about nightmare fuel. It took the excavation crew hours to remove them.” Siren said with a shudder.

“But what about the other tablets?” Drak asked curiously. “Didn’t you say you translated others?”

“Yeah, but here's where it gets creepy." Siren said as she shuffled through her papers to find the right report.

She showed it to Drax.

"It’s the same word written over and over again, using different characters in Enochian to produce the same sound.” She explained with eerie suspense.

“What does it say?” Drak asked, anxiously.

“...Oblivion.” Siren replied, wiggling spooky fingers at him.

© James Schleisman October 2020 All Rights Reserved