As Nyx had done countless times before, she slowly opened her eyes and scanned her surroundings before letting out a weary sigh. While there had been some small changes, everything pretty much remained the same.
Her core, a diamond-like gem that housed her soul, continued to float in the inky blackness of the Abyss. Though its semi-black, icy exterior, faint flickers of dark blue lightning was barely visible due to the intense radiance of sliver light spilling out from under its surface. An image of what appeared to be from a small object on a bed of golden blankets was visible within.
Surrounding the core, like small stars in a bleak night sky, were glittering motes of light. Each light represented a connection to a soul in the physical world that believed in, or at least frequently thought about, Nyx. However, since she last counted, they had drastically reduced in number. Now, including the large, if dull, light that represented her mortal enemy Lucifer, there were only several motes left.
Nyx's slender fingers, covered in tiny black scales at the top with smooth velvety black skin underneath, clenched as she stretched her neck. Her nails were only slightly longer and more pointed than a human's, but with a mere thought, they grew to become impressively talon-like before retracting again.
"Time." Nyx's feelings blasted out across the vast nothingness along with a pulse of energy that rippled from her core.
Initially, the Abyss didn't have a concept of time, but with the addition of Nyx's mortal senses, her core and the slow corruption of the inky-blackness that was her domain spreading outwards, the word became something of a curse. The term had nearly lost all meaning while still being able to represent the almost unbearable amount of tediousness and boredom.
For a while, Nyx had watched the happenings of the physical world through those that believed in her existence. She followed along as they built the grand formations and spell arrays that surrounded her mortal prison. Saw the guardians, sentient laws that took on the form of various creatures composed of the same colour lightning that flickered across her eyes, seal the rift to the Abyss she had unconsciously created from her sigil.
Nyx had even been impressed by the mighty fortress-like city that grown above her prison. Eventually, she developed favourites and would send small amounts of abyssal energy to them in their time of need. She did it even knowing that nearly every single being that knew of her existence hated her with a passion. Nyx's thoughts on the matter had shifted after she understood that the opposite of love isn't hate but indifference. As such, as long as they entertained her, she didn't mind helping.
However, what had started as enjoyment soon withered and turned sour. While Nyx could feel the emotions and see what the mortals could, she couldn't taste, touch, smell or hear. That, coupled with the increased sense of time that came from watching their lives flutter past, eventually caused Nyx to avoid focusing on the connections. It was too painful and frustrating. She had grown jealous of the short-lived beings, especially the human-race which she had once been a member.
"Time." Nyx's intent once again rippled out across the void. After a while, it came into contact with a few souls that were drifting without purpose. They shuddered but otherwise did nothing.
Sensing their presence and lack of action, Nyx sighed. In the beginning, the souls were plentiful, and they would flee in all directions upon coming into contact with her energy.
While it wasn't much fun as she the Goddess of this space and could move anywhere instantly, Nyx would often handicap herself with rules and give chase. However, through overhunting and the lack of new souls, their numbers had drastically diminished. Not only that, but they gave up resisting after a certain point. Taking away what little fun there was in hunting them.
Nyx turned her gaze away from the several sparks of light and focused on her core. From what she remembered, the silver glow from the various restrictive formations in the grand hall and its three adjoined rooms had lessened significantly.
"If only I knew what the root formations were and their sources of power... At least that way I would be able to tell how long I've been here." This time, Nyx didn't project her thoughts as she breathed in deeply, the inky-blackness becoming somewhat tangible as it rushed into her nostrils. "Then again, I doubt that bastard would have been cheap. Anything that can trap a god should be able to stand at least a couple of thousand years?"
Nyx released the breath she had been holding, small particles of ice mixed in with a much darker substance floating into the Abyss. The overwhelming sense of loneliness and boredom caused her chest, which was hollow as her core was floating before her, to feel constricted.
There Nyx remained, staring at her core as she became lost in distant memories. It was only when one of the several motes flickered and vanished, did her blue lightning-filled eyes, with reptilian-like pupils, regain some clarity.
After shaking her head in a somewhat reluctant manner, Nyx's figure suddenly vanished, only to reappear at the edge of the Abyss. Or, it could have been the centre for all she knew.
Within a small pocket of space in the Abyss, the pagoda-like realms and various dimensions existed. Like an island amid a vast sea, it was the only thing excluding her core, that existed. Stars, blindingly bright compared to the Abyss flickered and glowed as tiny planets revolved around them while slowly spread outwards from the centre of each layer.
Regularly they would seem to duplicate as new realities diverged from a point in time due to some significant event. Because of this constant change, Nyx couldn't make out any specific details as the multiple dimensions blurred and distorted each other.
A thin layer of white, cloud-like mist separated each layer. Occasionally, a bright soul would pass through these barriers as they accended of fell.
The main difference between the layers, from what Nyx could see, was their foundation and laws. The higher realms were more spread out, seemingly focusing on magic and cultivation. The lower floors were more clustered and appeared to be physical and technologically driven.
An invisible barrier kept Nyx from getting any closer than the edge of the Abyss, so she could only rely on her eyes. Still, Nyx felt confident the souls moving through the layers were heading towards what they considered heaven. With a thought, Nyx's body rotated, and she viewed the pagoda upside down. There wasn't any change in her perspective at all. Up or down, it was interchangeable and did not indicate good or evil.
At one time, Nyx had tried to gauge the passage of time from what she could see. However, she soon accepted it to be impossible. Both the layers and the multiple dimensions within all seemed to move at differing paces. Some moved as slow as a snail, barely changing no matter how long she stared at them. Others seemed to start and end within the blink of an eye.
Sometimes, Nyx would try and find the world in which her core existed, or the one she had been born. However, with so many planets, dimensions and variances, as well as not being able to see any real detail, it seemed an impossible task, and she would soon lose interest.
Nyx closed her eyes, the blue hue that had bathed the surrounding inky-blackness vanished. The moment she did, her entire body became indiscernible from her surroundings.
"Oh~." After sensing a fluctuation, Nyx's body suddenly reappeared somewhere in the Abyss. Without any markers, Nyx had long since given up trying to make a mental map of her domain. There was her core, the small pocket of existence, which always seemed to move around, and nothing else. Even trying to measure distance proved useless as everything was just a thought away.
Moments after she had appeared, a crack emerged from nowhere, and the Abyss seemed to come alive as it tried to devour the air and particles flowing into it. Yet, with a wave of Nyx's hand, everything calmed as if time had frozen.
Then, Nyx raised her other hand and grasped. As she uncoiled her fingers, a small silver-grey cloud-like mist appeared in the palm of her hand.
It gave off pulses of energy, barely visible to Nyx. In them contained the soul's emotions and thoughts. The small ball of what appeared to be gas shuddered as Nyx tried to calm it. However, the pulses resonating from her core were an unknown distance away, and so she couldn't communicate no matter how hard she tried. Sensing the soul was on the verge of collapse due to the pressure it felt in her presence, she sighed and flung it towards the hole.
"Whatever. Have fun."
Nyx smiled as the soul disappeared. Then, she pinched her fingers together, and in an instant, the vivid crack in space vanished.
A small smile hung on her lips. While the Abyss was her domain, it had taken Nyx a long time to explore and improve her abilities enough so she could do the seemingly simple action. Nyx still felt there were more powers and skills to discover, but even though she was a goddess, she was the Goddess of the Abyss. Of nothing. Nyx didn't see the point other than to waste time and a distraction.
If it wasn't for her core, her soul encased inside, providing an anchor point, Nyx believed she could travel on indefinitely in any direction without discovering anything. She had once tried only to grow bored and return. If she travelled far enough, there wasn't even souls she could chase and torment. It appeared to be a sea of nothingness, but at the same time, it was her sea of nothingness.
Strangely, because of this, Nyx began to value the small spec of existence. Without it, there would be nothing.
The thought terrified her. She had long since expected her to lose her sanity and had even tried to act insane innumerable times, but it appeared her mental state was unshiftable. If the small pocket of space ended, destroying the world her core was connected to, Nyx didn't know what she would do if the concept of time continued to persist.
Nyx shivered violently. The end of existence had slowly become her worst nightmare. To try and mitigate her fears, she had been trying to cultivate new souls to the same standard as the large, intelligent ones she had hunted to extinction. With them, she would at least have companionship. Her earlier act, sending the small soul to the physical world, had been part of this plan.
The fact that her mere presence terrified them didn't deter her. Unfortunately, while sending them to the physical realms could increase their strength, all of the ones she had focused on couldn't keep their sense of self and would fall apart after a few dozen deaths. It seemed her, and the ancient souls she had previously devoured were an extremely rare, or lucky, existence.
"Another thing I regret."
To Nyx, who seemed to have endless amounts of time to reflect on her past, regret had long since become the most prominent emotion. It wasn't necessarily things she had done, but that she hadn't enjoyed or experienced them to their fullest. Nyx had realised while she had lived a fuller life than most and encountered lots, even if a slave for most of it, there was still so much more.
More to touch, taste, listen too and feel. Nyx wanted to perceive new sources of happiness, sadness, anger and all the other emotions. Even pain, humiliation and terror, Nyx yearned to experience life once again.
As she was thinking this, Nyx shivered. Having experienced what she had, she had come to believe that every beginning had an end. That the physical would eventually turn to dust and even memories would slowly fade away. The gnawing sensation that her greatest fear would subsequently come to pass no matter what she did. And something even worse, that she would continue to exist.
Nyx felt that wasn't part of existence or time. She was part of the Abyss. Endless.
Shuddering again, Nyx felt the urge to leave the Abyss and experience the physical world. After closing her eyes, her body exploded into a thick, black mist and shot across the void. Travelling across the vast space of nothingness in less than the blink of an eye, Nyx flowed into her core.
Nyx's core in the physical world, an exact match to the one in the void if it weren't for the pitch blackness and vivid blue lightning inside, jumped upwards off the golden sheets. The blue electricity quickly flowed outwards into an appearance of the human circulatory system as black mist seeped out and started forming bones, flesh and muscle.
Fifteen seconds later, Nyx opened her eyes as her scales withdrew behind snow-white skin and her sharp teeth and nails shrunk to an almost human-like appearance. Her long black hair lay messily on a silk-pillow.
After taking a few breaths, the subconscious need weird and unnatural as she only breathed out of habit in the Abyss, Nyx quickly scooted up before pulling the thick, soft duvet over her.
She was lying on a large, queen-sized bed in the middle of a room. The only other furniture was a dresser with a large mirror on it and a stool.
As Nyx arranged the many pillows around her, her newly formed muscles screaming in protest due to the lack of substance required to maintain her form. As she moved, she started to regret leaving her core out of bed. Nyx had done it so the silver light that would pass through would illuminate the darkness of the Abyss. After getting comfortable, feeling her bodies exhaustion, Nyx wiggled her toes and demon-like tail. At the tip of the sleek, whip-like appendage, was what appeared to be a small blue flame burnt. Strangely, it didn't cause any damage to the bed.
The tail, along with her long, pointed ears, that looked similar to an elves', made the otherwise human-looking Nyx seem more like a demoness.
"I guess this is as big a body I can make without getting more physical energy?" A sweet, feminine voice echoed in the room as Nyx lifting her arm up and out of the sheet. Nyx stared at it for a while before sighing. The hand appeared to be that of a child's. "Won't be long until even this is too much..."
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Pulling her arm back inside the sheets, Nyx snuggled into the pillow on the right, hugging it tightly with her arms, leg and tail as she forced herself to ignore the growing anxiety she felt and fall asleep.
While she could sleep in the Abyss, it was the sleep of the dead. Waking would only leave her spirit feeling refreshed, but to the mind, it would be like closing the eyes for a brief moment. However, in the physical world, she had a brain and could dream. Not only that, but the process of forming a body from energy was extraordinarily exhausting. If she didn't sleep after, unless she could supplement it with external sources, it would rapidly start breaking down.
Nyx's dreams, not entirely under her control, brought variety and the unknown into her otherwise dull existence. There, she was a mere mortal, playing, laughing, crying and feeling all that they would. She struggled, and she fought. She won some but lost many more but cared little. At least in her dreams, Nyx felt she was truly living.
To the Goddess of the Abyss, sleep wasn't a death-like state, but a heavenly escape from reality. One she was reluctant to abuse or overuse in case it became like the connections to the mortal souls.
After waking up, most of the dreams she had had fading into obscurity, Nyx stretched and yawned displaying too small canines. As she did, the runes in the room dimmed slightly. Her snow-white skin and thin frame barely rustling the pillows and duvet surrounding her. However, the smile on her face quickly faded as she rubbed her arms.
"If I'd have known I would always be so cold, I'd have snatched a fire dungeon core." Taking in a deep breath of stale, mouldy air, Nyx sighed. "A sliver of warmth, a sliver of warmth, my entire kingdom for a sliver of warmth."
Nyx felt the cold, icy essence that served as her blood flowing as it was pumped around her body by the core within her chest. As she lay there, staring at the flat ceiling and silver runes, Nyx tried to remember what it was like to have regular blood and wake up in a warm bed.
After a while, she chuckled. Nyx knew that the only reason she had the ice element was that she was forced into a dead end with no other alternatives. She could merge with the ice essence, or become a mindless elemental. There was always the option have her soul bound once again, but Nyx didn't even consider it.
Pushing her energyless body up, Nyx wiggled her way to the edge of the bed before letting her tiny feet touch the floor.
The moment she stood, black mist-like energy seeped from her skin and quickly covered her naked form in a what looked like a pitch-black robe. The robed seemed to be flowing around her, and small flickers of black lightning occasionally rising from its surface.
After glancing at the only door, the last few fragments of wood hanging on the hinges, a small smile appeared on Nyx's face. "What the hell might as well have some fun. Maybe today is my lucky day."
Nyx reached up to the front of her robe and reached inwards. The black-mist, and her body, didn't offer any resistance as Nyx withdrew her hand, holding her flickering core.
Stepping away from the bed, she took a baseball pitcher-like pose. "Hmm, the current record to break is three. So two and I win."
After lifting her front leg, Nyx threw her core as hard as she could. As it left her hand, her body collapsed into mist and trailed behind connected by a thin strand.
The hall was enormous and covered in swirling silver runes. Excluding the many light fittings on the ceiling and walls that made it impossible for any shadow to exist. At its centre was the platform in which Nyx had confronted Lucifer, wounding him severely before he was able to escape mysteriously. There were also three doors, including the bedroom Nyx had just thrown her core.
Nyx's core arched majestically before hitting the floor, roughly an equal distance between the three doors. As it bounced up, her body suddenly appeared, a thin black line connecting her left foot to the core just to the left.
Nyx's right foot was already racing forward and made contact with the core as it reached the apex of its bounce. With a small thud, the core exploded towards the door at the centre of the hall. Just like when she had thrown, Nyx's body turned into the black mist and trailed behind.
However, it seemed Nyx's aim was slightly off. After her core slammed into the doorframe and rebounded backwards, the black mist trailing it jerked back with it. It appeared that Nyx wasn't following the core at all, but it was dragging her along.
Forming in mid-air a little further back, Nyx swatted out with her palm and slapped her core back towards the door before vanishing once again. The core hit the floor just before the entrance before bouncing inside.
The room Nyx's core had entered appeared to be a kitchen of sorts. Large fridge-like devices lined one side of the room, a thick layer of dust on them, while a long counter and what appeared to be a couple of sinks stood in front. Along the opposite side of the wall, a winerack stood before a table with two chairs. The wooden table was covered in four lines with a fifth cross through them, making it look as if a whirlwind of razorblades had attacked it. Empty glass bottles littered the floor or lay shattered at the foot of what was the only bare wall in the room.
Nyx's core came to a stop before starting to float as her body reformed. Laying on her back, Nyx frowned as she stared at the ceiling. "Tsk, I guess today isn't the day either."
Getting up and patting herself, even though the mist covering her body had already seemingly devoured any dust on her, Nyx shook her head and walked over to the last remaining wine bottle that stood on the kitchen counter. Standing on her tiptoes due to her height, she picked up the bottle and chuckled. "Today is your lucky day, my friend. Next time, I'll get in here with two manifestations, and you shall enter my stomach."
After checking the runes at the bottom of the bottle, small flickers of energy coursing through the markings, Nyx turned away and walked towards the table. When she reached it, she looked for an empty spot or tally that wasn't complete. Eventually, she found one with three lines and used her nail to create a fourth. After scanning the table, she sighed. "One day, I'm going to have to count these up..."
Nyx yawned before shivering, the small hairs on the back of her arms and neck standing on end. "But today is not that day."
Walking out of the kitchen, Nyx turned to the remaining door and walked towards it. As she did, the silver runes beneath her feet dimmed slightly.
Opening the only intact door, Nyx entered and immediately frowned. On her left, was a large patch of sand with a few tree-like remains. To her right, an dried out rock pool. "Balls. It seems like I slept for too long, and all the plants are dead."
"Ow well, I guess breakfast is a privilege, not a right." Nyx shrugged before moving to a large square rock. After staring at it for a few moments, Nyx placed her hand on its top. After it glowed for a moment, Nyx's skin became semi-transparent, revealing the tiny black scales underneath. To anyone watching, it would seem she were a demon poorly wearing the hide of a human.
A few seconds later, a trickle of water came from the centre of the rock pool as it started to fill up rapidly. The water was crystal clear and looked extremely inviting compared to the barren surroundings.
After shaking her hand a few times, her pale skin returning to its original structure and masking what lay beneath, Nyx shook her head. "Looks like I am running out of natural essence too. Damn formations. It's not like I am trying to escape, so why not let me have a little dark or ice essence?"
Nyx stopped and blinked for a moment, her long eyelashes adding to the heaviness of her eyelids caused by the tiredness she felt after empowering the essence converter. Then she chuckled as she shook her head. "What am I saying? The formations aren't conscious. Maybe I am finally losing my mind."
"That would be nice. Perhaps that trick with manifesting another body will work. Then at least I could have someone to fight. Controlling both bodies but only having one train of thought makes things pretty dull. Or maybe I could develop an imaginary friend?" Sighing, Nyx walked over to another stone block. This time it glowed red after she touched it. Moments later, a small amount of steam rose off the water that had almost fille the pool by half.
Not waiting for it to be full, the energy covering her body vanishing, Nyx jumped in and hissed in satisfaction "Ahhh, warmth."
After swimming around the small pool for a long time, often acting like a crocodile as she basked in the silver light and warm water, Nyx moved towards a rock that seemed to have been worn down by frequent use. After resting her head on it, Nyx's body slowly sank until she was leaning against the side of the pool.
"I guess I should make the most of this, abyss energy only devours, and I am almost out of natural." Closing her eyes, Nyx smiled faintly and quickly fell asleep.
Nyx didn't know how long she slept, but her body felt far more energetic, and the aching sensation in her bones and flesh had mostly dispersed. Opening her eyes, Nyx frowned finding herself lying at the base of an empty pool. A small amount of dust had somehow covered the floor and her body. With a thought, the black mist returned and devoured it alongside a small portion of the rock.
Scratching her head through her black hair, that seemed smooth and clean as if had just been brushed, she climbed out of the pool and started walking to the door.
The moment she touched its handle and pushed, Nyx frowned as her hand passed through as the rotten wood gave way. "The hell?"
To Nyx, who had just casually taken a nap, it felt as if only a couple of hours had passed. However, seeing the state of the magically enchanted door, she felt a bad omen. Looking around, Nyx realised that the glaring silver light was a lot dimmer than before. She could now look at the silver runes without any pain to her eyes.
"Not again." Nyx was halfway through rolling her eyes when she froze. Her figure seemed to vanish, but traces of her body flickered as she left the bathroom and entered the kitchen. Appearing before the wine bottle, Nyx picked it up and started examining it. Seeing the small runes on the glass bottom seemed lifeless, a tremor ran through her hand.
Nyx closed her eyes and took a deep calming breath before using her hand to swipe across the neck of the bottle. After the top fell off, revealing a perfect cut, she took a few sniffs before her expression soured.
After staring into the bottle for a few moments, she took a small sip. Her expression sank further as she stared at the counter blankly. Now and then, her body would tremble slightly.
"FUCK!" The bottle seemed to vanish from Nyx's hand as she threw it at the bare wall with incredible power. The action was so sudden the bottle shattered as it left Nyx's grasp, and an eruption of glass and red wine covered the room in a V shape.
Nyx barely took notice of the prolonged rate the wall was repairing itself, the shards of glass slowly being pushed out, as she stomped out and towards the bedroom. However, her steps became lighter as she approached the bed. A flash of apprehension crossed her eyes as Nyx slowly reached out and picked up the duvet, only for it to tear as its weight was too much for the aged fabric.
Nyx stood there for an undetermined amount of time, staring at what had been her favourite place. Eventually, her fists clenched, and she released a shriek-like roar as and raised her head upwards. The resulting shockwave from the sound blasted the bed and other furniture to pieces and embedded them into the surrounding walls. With that, Nyx vanished, and her core nosily dropped to the floor.
She had left so fast that she didn't realise that not all of the damage caused to the wall was repairing itself, and compared to the kitchen, the bedroom appeared to have a much weaker glow.
Anger and bitterness coursed through Nyx as she returned to the void. Having lost the garden was upsetting but bearable, but now the wine had gone, and even her comfy bed, Nyx felt that all of life's luxuries had been taken away.
Wanting to calm her mind, Nyx appeared near the pagoda-style realities, but instead of finding peace, she was horrifically shocked.
The Nine layers were now five. Debris floated in strange circles where the other four had previously been. The only one that didn't seem to be in a state of chaos was the middle layer. For the rest, the dimensions seemed to occasionally merge, causing planets that should never have existed in the same space to collide and stars to explode.
It was only then that Nyx noticed the empty feeling inside. It was like something was missing. A useless but comforting thing that she was unable to identify. Without knowing why a tear of pure light blue formed and slowly fell down her cheek. She subconsciously registered that the ice and dark energy within her essence seemed slow and sluggish. At the same time, where it had felt like borrowed power in the past, Nyx believed it was now entirely under her control.
Pressure slowly built up behind Nyx's eyes, as well as a faint rumbling in her ears. Even though she was floating, Nyx seemed to fall to her knees the flood of tears she had been holding back burst forth. A few ran down her cheek while others floated off into the Abyss. One or two even passed into space and floated towards the remaining realms.
Deep down, Nyx knew something terrible had happened. Not only that, but someone or something important to her had ceased to exist. At the back of her mind, she already knew what it was, but she refused to accept it and quickly buried the thought.
Nyx slowly closed her eyes and returned to her core. Only one light remained, but she couldn't bring herself to check who or what still believed in her nor to try and investigate what had happened.
Instead, she chose to sleep.
Nyx knew that nothing would change. That she would open her eyes and feel as if only a few seconds had passed and still feel everything she was now, but the desired to escape what she was feeling was too much, and she didn't want to return to the remains of her prison cell just yet.
"Immortality isn't living forever..." Somewhere in the Abyss, Nyx's core released pulse that was a mixture of sadness and despair. "It's watching others die while everything around you turns to dust."
With a thought, Nyx turned off all her senses and entered a dreamless slumber.
As if sensing her mood, countless souls drifted forward and rapidly surrounded her body and soul. While their numbers were still nowhere near the level they had been before Nyx's ascension, they had significantly improved since she was last in the Abyss.
While the souls were still terrified of Nyx's existence at an instinctual level, they felt the need to comfort and support. As they did, small motes of light started to appear around Nyx's core, faint trails leading to each gas-like entity nearby.
The resident lost souls of the Abyss, rejected by the physical worlds and existence, had started to believe in Nyx. Their thoughts and intent of helping her, causing the small lights to sparkle as the power they gave steadily increased.
As the souls provided energy to Nyx, the inky-blackness slowly merged with them, turning their grey-white colour darker and darker.
The Abyss believed in Nyx and Nyx believed in the Abyss. Unbeknown to her, a cycle had formed. One independent of existence. By doing so, the first Goddess of the Abyss had inadvertently given it the one thing it was famous for not having.
Even though it didn't quite fit the definition, self-sustaining life had appeared in the void with Nyx's core at its centre.
As Nyx slept on, the mutated souls grew darker until they were no different from the ink-like blackness surrounding them. They were only visible as they swarmed any tear appearing nearby and slipped into reality. When they returned, they would once again move near Nyx's core and reveal stronger, more powerful pulses of intent. However, they did not grow at the same speed. Out of all of the souls, only three seemed to thrive.
As time flowed, more and more motes of light flickered into existence, yet no new souls had approached her core. The increase in faith slowly nourished Nyx and at the same time revealed that the actions of the dark souls were somehow steadily forcing the entities of the physical world to once again believe in her existence.
Nyx occasionally woke up, but would never check her surroundings or her soul before forcing herself back to sleep. Eventually, Nyx vanished from the Abyss. After quickly making what appeared to be a nest from the remains of the bed, she once again fell asleep.
However, Nyx had noticed the damage to the wall and pulse of energy that erupted from her core caused the dark souls to fluctuate with joy as they felt a slight tug on the connections between them and the energy flowing out increase.
Their Goddess was no longer just willing away time but preparing to return to the mortal worlds. And from the intent behind the pulse, they knew that it wouldn't be peaceful. Nyx wanted answers, and if she didn't like what she discovered, she would bring devastation upon all that stood in her way.
The core's pulse became more frequent and powerful. Like a battle drum, it roused the dark souls who started scouring the void for even the smallest of rifts to force their way through. As they did, they devoured any new or none converted souls they came across.
As the dark souls continued to infiltrate the physical worlds, the number of lights surrounding Nyx's core continued to grow alongside their power and intelligence. It wasn't long before the three that stood out no longer needed to occupy a body of the physical world but, in the right environment, they could create their own
There was only one place that was suitable for them to do this, and that was the ruins of Corban, a hundred or so miles from the mighty citadel of light built upon Nyx's prison and under the sealed rift.
When they first appeared, the souls of the void looked like mutated animals that had been contaminated by the void. After a while, they started to take on similar traits as each one absorbed more of Nyx's domain and grew in strength. And so, soon it wasn't just Nyx who was gathering faith in the Abyss. Three black sun-like orbs circled her core, each with tiny flickering lights of their own.
The masters of the void had been born. Yet, as their personalities formed and became more stable, their desire for Nyx to awaken diminished. In the end, after the mighty citadel of light had fallen to their continuous onslaught, they didn't liberate Nyx. Instead, they became the new wardens as they trained the energy they yielded to Nyx to become something of a lullaby.