Shadow Slave

As they walked through the corridors, Sunny kept clearing their way with the help of the Crown of Twilight. Of course, they could easily swim through the flooded portions of the temple - but why would they, if there was an easier way?

The walls of the narrow corridors glistened, reflecting the light of a luminous Memory Nephis had summoned. Soon, Sunny noticed a subtle change in them. If the ancient stone was unadorned before, now, it was covered by the remains of beautiful murals.

He couldn't quite understand what was depicted on them, though - partially because the murals were heavily damaged, partially because the images were quite strange. They were more symbolic than descriptive... at least that was the conclusion he made.

"...What's that?"

Noticing that Nephis seemed to be interested in the murals as well, Sunny finally gave voice to his curiosity.

She hesitated for a few moments, then shook her head.

"I'm not sure."

In front of them was an image depicting a vast black field that looked strangely terrifying. In the middle of it, a mass of golden flame was burning, illuminating the darkness with its radiance.

Cassie slowed her steps and turned slightly, facing the mural. After a moment of silence, she said matter-of-factly:

"It's the myth of creation."

The two of them looked at her with some confusion. Feeling their gazes, the blind girl sighed, then smiled lightly.

"The inhabitants of the Dream Realm had a myth of how the world came to be, of course. Actually, many of them. Most shared common points, though."

She pointed to the mural.

the beginning, there was only the boundless void

tilted his head a little, remembering the description of a Memory he once possessed... the

course, Cassie was slightly altering the meaning due to the difference between the language of the waking world and the runic language the Spell

had been the same in the human language once, as well. These days, when someone said "chaos", they wanted to describe some sort of a huge mess. But the initial meaning of

saying that there was only the void meant

apparently

Cassie, meanwhile, continued:

everchanging. Terrible beings dwelled within the void, as well. But then

pointed to the

last words were exactly the same as in the description of the drop of

I've heard something similar before. But, to be honest, I never really understood what all of it actually means.

not Cassie, who

paradox, but a rather simple one. Since the void was eternal, limitless, and forever changing, it was inevitable that sooner or later, it would produce something that contradicted its fundamental qualities. In other words, something unchanging. That was desire. A single constant in the

and then added with

that was how it was explained to me. But if you think about it, it makes sense. A desire can't change, because if it does, it

blinked a

too complicated for me. What a weird myth! I like the ones you tell way better - you know, the stories about

subtle smile appeared on

it, then scratched the back of his head and

get the idea. Desire was the first unchanging thing born from the everchanging void, so it was in contradiction to the

She nodded.

desire also can't exist by itself. It needs a subject. You want something, strive for something, dream

looked at her

"That... strangely makes sense."