INTERMISSION
In the distant cosmos, two cosmic ent.i.ties were observing a game board that was shaped like a universe. One was a masculine figure dressed in red armour and a burning crown. The other was a hooded female dressed in black.
Though the facial features of the woman was hidden by the shadow cast by her hood, one could feel that she was frowning. A wave of displeasure emanated from her being; an oppressive black aura that swept across the board.
An incalculable number of higher level beings that dwell within the universe-like game board shuddered with dismay; creatures that were the pinnacle of their respective worlds of existence suddenly felt the black wave wash over them. They called themselves G.o.ds and deities of their respective realms; yet when the wave touched they knew that they were utterly insignificant. Now they realized that was something greater.
Some were driven mad, wreaking havoc upon their own lands. Others who had struggled for a million, billion years; painstakingly cultivating and surmounting unimaginable hards.h.i.+ps… they could only cry in despair or laugh in excitement at the sudden insight of their ignorance.
It was as if tiny insects had discovered the concept of the universe, such was the overwhelming feeling.
Yet, they were the fortunate ones.
Slightly lesser creatures who were on the verge of stepping into the higher planes to join those G.o.d-like beings were simply erased, their lives snuffed out before they could even begin to resist what was happening. Countless lives and dreams winked into oblivion, their pa.s.sing causing chaos and destruction to the ordinary mortals that had witnessed their disappearance.
The Red Ent.i.ty looked away from the board to glare at his counterpart.
“What are you doing?” he demanded.
The Black Ent.i.ty head tilted accussingly towards him.
“You cheated,” she stated.
“Watch your words,” the Red Ent.i.ty growled menacingly.
The point where their glares intersected burst into cosmic sparks; their clash of wills threatened to tear the fabric of s.p.a.ce apart. s.p.a.ce and time began to rend asunder, and if a lesser being were to peek through the holes they would be driven insane by the sight.
Suddenly, a third ent.i.ty appeared.
Unlike the previous two which were humanoid in appearance, this one was simply a round ball of blue with no distinguis.h.i.+ng features. It was like a blue pearl, an azure moon that hung above the game board between the Red and Black ent.i.ties.
“Are you two still playing the game?” the ball asked in a crystalline voice.
“You are not welcome,” the Red Ent.i.ty said brusquely.
The Blue Ent.i.ty glowed brighter. “I only came to fix your mess,” it spoke with a tinge of indignation. The blue ball extended several tendrils to fix the spatial tear, and the unimaginable gaps were quickly sealed.
Once it was done, the tendrils were retracted. The Blue Ent.i.ty remained above the game board, as if in expectation.
“Leave,” the Black Ent.i.ty said.
Even though the blue pearl was featureless, one could feel the anger from the Blue Ent.i.ty. It glowed brightly to the point of being incandescent… then suddenly it dimmed and shrank and shrank… and disappeared in a small shower of little blue droplets that rained onto the game board. It was the ill huff of a cosmic ent.i.ty.
“A tantrum,” the Red Ent.i.ty scoffed. “The game resumes.”
The Black Ent.i.ty said nothing, but a simple movement of leaning over the game board was acquiescence enough.