Noriko Null is used to having trouble sleeping: her brain doesn’t work like a human one, and if her mind is good at one thing it’s keeping her busy. But she’s still human, and there’s only so much she can take before her body simply crashes under the stress.
She had the good sense to return to the Ragnarok warship, which is still laying on the shore of the Tiresian Sea on planet Takama. She could’ve used any of the rooms in the Divine Palace, but the Ragnarok is her little piece of home, even 45.000 light-years from Earth.
Her trademark green leather jacket is on the floor of her cabin, next to her boots and pants. She’s laying on the bed in her black T-shirt and underwear, when the first rays of sunrise land on her eyes. She rolls over, trying to enjoy a few more minutes of rest, when the sun becomes as bright as it should logically be much later in the day.
<What is it this time?> she mumbles, getting up and immediately raising her hand to shield her silver eyes from the glare passing through the ship’s windows. It doesn’t take much to understand it isn’t a normal sunrise, even for an alien planet: the sun is too bright, too red, morphed into the shape of a woman’s head, and it talks.
<My blessed children. I am Amaterasu-ōmikami, but I am no longer the Goddess of the Sun. I have failed my duties as a supreme being, and I shall atone for my sins. I have conquered the Helios, the First Sun, but sadly I have been conquered by those who surpass me in wisdom and cunning. Because of this, I release you all from your vows to worship me, and as my final act as the Third Sun, I call upon my faithful to recognize Apollo as the one true Unconquered Sun.>
<What the fu##!?> is Noriko’s immediate reaction. She doesn’t even try to find an explanation on how the entire planet’s hearing the voice of Amaterasu: she has much bigger concerns.
<Amaterasu has the brain of a five year old! Without Viper, who wrote that little speech? And where the heck are my pants?> she says, losing her balance when the floor disappears.
Not only that, but the entire world around her vanishes: the ship falls into darkness, gravity ceases to exist, and suddenly there is no air left to breathe.
It doesn’t take much to realizes she’s suddenly in outer space, even though she didn’t feel the teleportation. All she knows is that she won’t survive here for long: not for the cold, contrary to popular belief, since there is nothing to conduct heat here, or by suffocation. Thanks to the difference in pressure, her lungs will explode long before she can do anything about it.
<So you really are a mortal> she hears a woman say, a voice that booms in the cosmic emptiness.
Gravity returns with a vengeance, and Noriko falls on a solid bedrock. She coughs violently more than once, thankful for the breathable atmosphere but still utterly confused.
She tries to process her situation. She’s not on Takama anymore: there’s a star just above her that covers nearly half the sky. Her superhuman brain quickly reminds her that Takama is not the only planet in this solar system: among others, there is one much closer to its parent star. What little she knows about it tells her that she shouldn’t be able to survive here.
Looking around, all she can see are rocks and two extremely unusual life-sized statues. One is made of diamonds and looks just like Amaterasu, hands clasped together in prayer. The other statue is made of wood and it represents Vesta, surrounded by flames, her image captured immediately before releasing a blast of fire.
<Just when I thought I’d seen everything. Is anyone here? I’m freezing my butt waiting!> Null says.
<You are the Slayer of Gods> the voice continues, this time coming from the star… or rather, from the shadow that is now covering most of it. The shadow of a woman, whose long hair flow in the nonexistent wind. Noriko watches her take a much smaller form, the size of a regular woman.
She approaches her, still darker than space, a living silhouette moving gracefully.
<I am. I didn’t catch your name, can we… hey!> Noriko protests when she’s telekinetically lifted off the ground. The goddess gestures towards her, and she feels the laws of physics unraveling.
<I am Nyx, Primordial Goddess of the Night. Show me the Nexus> she orders the universe, pointing a finger at Noriko’s head.
Her skull cracks itself open without spilling a single drop of blood. Her brain floats into the air, her gray matter is disassembled into individual synapses, and the Nexus reveals itself: a piece of metal twisted into the symbol for infinity, still clinging to the strings of human cells that still refuse to be separated from the Drylon artifact.
<Yes, it’s the real one. I haven’t seen it in over five billion years, but it hasn’t lost its beauty. You are worthy of addressing me> she concedes, releasing her control over Noriko’s body.
The Nexus returns in its place, her brain reassembles itself and her skull closes again: it’s as if nothing really happened. But it was so sudden, so outside of her control, that even Noriko Null is feeling the shock of the experience.
<Never. Do that. Again> she says angrily.
<I have been informed that you killed Tiamat, the Celestial Dragon of Destruction and my fellow Primordial. A legendary accomplishment for any god, let alone a mortal. I find this… intriguing> Nyx says, moving towards Amaterasu’s statue.
Noriko realizes it’s no statue at all: the young goddess becomes flesh and blood again, only for Nyx to change her form. The kimono she wears evaporates, and so do the skin and muscles beneath it. All that remains is a skeleton with a glowing orb of light where the heart should be, an orb that Nyx extract and keeps in her hand.
<The last breath of a Primordial, used as seed for a new life. I begin to see the fascination Zeus has with the current generation of mortals> she says; once she walks away, Amaterasu’s body reconstructs itself from the skeleton. The young goddess looks almost as confused as Noriko, while touching her chest realizing she’s lost something.
<You took my spark! Give it back!> she complains.
<A god’s power is not a toy. Now be silent> Nyx tells her. Without any visible display of power, this causes Amaterasu’s mouth to simply vanish.
“I better be careful. She must be immensely powerful” Noriko thinks, feeling surprised when Nyx answers out loud:
<Indeed I am. My whisper can turn off all the stars in the sky. I have extinguished the light of galaxies, crushed black holes with my bare hands, worn supernovae as jewelry. I am a Primordial Goddess, one of the cornerstones of existence itself. I am…>
<Yeah, yeah, you’re hot stuff, I get it. Listen, you’re not the first goddess who gives me the sales pitch, so why don’t we get to the part where you ask for my help?> Noriko interrupts her.
<Zeus has disappeared. I cannot find him in any of the Twelve Galaxies.>
<Yeah, I’ve heard about… wait, twelve?>
<Nine ruled by the Greek, Egyptian and Sumerian pantheons. The Middle Galaxy, where Hell resides. The Dark Galaxy, the grim realm of Baal. And the Celestial Galaxy, which no mortal has ever seen. A tiny part of the Drylon Empire, certainly, but I cannot find Zeus there.>
<It’s a big universe. You are aware that there are hundreds of billions of galaxies, right?>
<There is no speck of the cosmos that can hide from me. Unless by using the Helm of Darkness, which belongs to Hades… who tells me the Helm has disappeared.>
<Maybe he’s lying. No offense, but Greek gods are notorious for betraying each other.>
<He speaks the truth. And without Zeus, nobody is guarding the Key of Heaven.>
<The key of what!?> Noriko asks, once again taken by surprise when Nyx changes the scenery: it’s impossible to tell if this is an illusion or if she’s truly teleporting her, but everything around her disappears again. Fortunately for her, Nyx seems to remember that she needs to breathe, so there’s still air, but she’s floating in absolute darkness.
Until something appears in front of Nyx, enough to provide the slightest amount of light: it’s twelve galaxies, arranged in a circle. Noriko recognizes some of them, including one that she deduces is the Milky Way. Two are radically different from the others: one is an extremely bright elliptical galaxy, the other one is mostly made of dark clouds with just a handful of stars.
And in the middle of the circle, three keys. One of gold, one of silver, and one of bronze.
<When Kronos was Emperor of the Universe, his power surpassed that of any other god, including the Primordials. The weapon Zeus used to dethrone him was powerful enough to destroy the entire universe. To prevent anyone from using it again, Zeus used the Key of Heaven to lock the weapon in a realm that no god or mortal could ever reach. Then he split the Key into three separate pieces, hiding them somewhere in the Twelve Galaxies.>
<And now that he’s disappeared, you think someone is searching for the pieces> Noriko deduces.
<The Key of Heaven cannot be allowed to be rebuilt. You have fifty years to tell me the names of the three keepers of the key’s fragments, Slayer of Gods. If you fail, I will destroy the Twelve Galaxies, starting with the one where you were born.>
<No pressure, right? Why me, exactly? Not that I want to be humble, but…>
<You are the current host of the Nexus, and the Key was forged by one of your predecessors nearly five billion years ago. It is time to close the circle.>
<You had me at “destroy the entire universe”, but “twelve galaxies” doesn’t exactly narrow it down: can you give me any clues?>
<If I knew where to look, I would’ve done it myself. But I have a debt to repay, for taming my rebellious daughter Eris and for taking care of the irritating Tiamat. And the night always pays her debts> Nyx says cryptically, making the galaxies disappear.
Gravity hits her once again, and Noriko falls on the floor of her room on the Ragnarok. She’s not alone: next to her bed there is the diamond statue of Amaterasu, hands clasped in prayer, with a glowing light where her heart should be. She has a peaceful expression on the face.
<What just happened?> Vesta asks her, half of her skin still made of wood. While her immortal friend fully returns to her real form, Noriko checks the clock.
<I was gone for five minutes. L.O.K.I, status report!>
<Structural integrity at 100%. All engines and weapons online and fully charged. Neutral matter armor deployed. Warning: unable to locate the Eris containment field.>
<Nyx must have let her escape. Wait a sec, “neutral matter armor”?> Noriko asks.
<The Ragnarok’s outer shell is now made of neutral matter. I assume it was a recent addition.>
<So that’s the gift Nyx had in mind. It’s sure gonna save me some… hhnn> Noriko pauses, suddenly grasping her left artificial arm with an expression of pain on her face.
<What’s wrong?> Vesta asks, coming to her aid.
<Dunno… it just hurts… like hell> Noriko says, disengaging the prosthetics and exposing the stump that ends with her elbow. She screams in pain as what remains of the arm reshapes itself: she can feel the bones and the muscles and the flesh stretch themselves slowly, until gradually they grow into a fully new, fully human left arm.
<Freakin’ showoff> she comments.
Several light-years away
Adrestia is a very hands-on goddess. Gaining a new sector is not enough for the daughter of Ares: she has to be on the frontline. She’s on the throne of the bridge of the HDS Execrable, surveying one of the many star systems that used to belong to Artemis before Null killed her.
Suddenly, the ship stops. Before her subordinates can figure out what happened, a man appears on the bridge: he’s wearing a white military uniform, with a golden badge representing the Sun.
The soldiers shoot at him, naturally, but the blasts phase right through him.
<High General Adrestia, you are trespassing on the territory of the Sun God. As Grand Oracle to Apollo, I command you to keep your troops away from the Lemurian Cluster.>
<I answer to no mortal. Apollo has no claim over these stars other than the call of a fake goddess.>
<Who do you think crafted that message, High General? The Sun God mercifully allowed the followers of Amaterasu to retain their pride and their lives. I humbly suggest you to do the same.>
<Are you threatening the daughter of war?>
<You misunderstand, your grace. The Sun God does not issue threats> the Oracle explains calmly, making a grand gesture towards the viewscreen: several stars are suddenly far brighter than before.
<The Sun God rules everything His light touches. Any unauthorized ship moving within 5 light-years of the Lemurian Cluster will trigger a star to explode. Have I made myself clear?>
<Of course you realize this will lead to war> Adrestia explains calmly.
<War is the domain of your father, your grace. All he can do to the Sun God is look at His power and hope he is not blinded> the Oracle answers cryptically, before disappearing into nothingness.
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