> In her waters, deep and true

> Lie the answers and a path for you

> Dive down deep into her sound

> But not too far or you'll be drowned

> -“All is Found,” Frozen 2

The young kitsune kit stood on a flat plane of pure white light that seemed to rise up out of the ground like heat radiating off the scorched sands in an eternal desert. Above, the sky was a swirl of brilliant white and soft blues, no less eerie than the land below her feet. Up ahead, shimmering in the heat waves, a crystal city rose up from the flat expanse. Tall towers speared into the dark sky above, their crystalline walls reflecting the light - and the heat - away from the city. When she squinted her eyes, the kitsune could barely make out figures moving among the structures ahead.

Huli rolled her shoulders and picked up her feet from the scorching ground. She could already feel the heat burning her skin, so she picked up her pace, aiming for the distant city. By the time she reached it, her entire body was flushed from the scorching heat and her lungs felt scorched. The moment she entered between two of the towers, she immediately felt relieved. The temperature dropped to war, but not unbearable levels, and she could breathe again without feeling the air searing her lungs. Pausing to regroup, she glanced around for the figures she had spotted earlier.

Nearby, just inside the ring of towers, Huli found an orchard of trees that looked like large, glowing jellyfish, their tentacles dangling with blue orbs. Among the jellyfish-trees walked humanoids covered in brilliant orange and red feathers, like phoenix feathers. They moved between the trees and plucked the blue orbs from them before carrying them behind buildings and out of sight.

“Excuse me?” Huli asked as she approached, but the phoenix creatures shied away from her, refusing to make eye contact. Disconcerted, Huli decided to leave them be and she pushed further into the city, looking for answers.

As the newest of its heroes, it had fallen to Huli and her friends to find a way to save their world against the coming catastrophe. An ancient prophecy foretold of the time when the old gods would awaken and cause the end of the world. These old gods weren’t the same as the deities her people worshiped, but ancient, unknowable, eldritch beings, and it was imperative that they continue to sleep, undisturbed, else they would destroy reality itself. Now, all the signs suggested that the old gods were waking. The end was coming, and time was running out. And so, in desperation, Huli had come here, to the elemental plane of positive energy. The source of the lightwell, where gods were born, and heroes came when they died.

As Huli walked through the city, she found herself drawn to the center of town where she stepped into an open courtyard, the very ground made of glass paving stones. In the center was a deep circular hole, a pillar that dove down into the earth, and all around the edge of the open area were more of the jelly-fish trees. At the edge of the hole from which the light bloomed, a man sat. He was blue skinned with four arms and a long white robe, and he sat cross legged at the edge, both pairs of his arms crossed over his wide chest. His back was to her, so Huli couldn’t see his face, and she moved closer, cautiously and reverently.

As she approached the edge, Huli’s gaze was drawn from the man to the hole before him. Inside the column, in stark contrast to the world where she was standing, Huli stared at the deep void of space. The light circled down in a spiral through the darkness. Periodically, the light was spin off into blue orbs and Huli could see more figures similar to the phoenix people collecting them. Some of the larger orbs were carried away to become new gods, their energy and light enough to reach the levels of immortality. Others would be mortals newly born into the world.

For a long moment, Huli stared down into the hole, fascinated by the process and the ramifications that it had for her own understanding of the world. Then, she turned to face the mysterious four-armed being. She was trying to decide what to say when he spoke first.

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“I was wondering when you would return. Sit. Meditate with me.”

Return? Huli pulled back, confused. She had never been here before, and she had never met this creature. But rather than question him, she simply did as he bid her, sitting down on the ground next to him and closing her eyes. She let her breathing even out, the way Kali had trained her, and fell into a calm, meditative state. For several moments, she sat there, taking in the light with every inhale, releasing it with each exhale. Each of her nine tails shone with the pure energy that imbued the entire realm, and she took the time to place herself back into balance with the light around her. Inhale. Exhale.

“Indeed,” the being mused, as if hearing her own confusion. “You were always my favorite student, but that time has not yet come to pass for you. One day you will understand, my pupil. I remember when Duathar brought your soul to me. It was so small it fit in the palm of my hand.”

His words only served to deepen Hui’s confusion and she furrowed her brows, but did not open her eyes. Finally, she replied, “I would be honored to learn from you, my teacher.”

The being nodded, though he did not look at her, his own eyes closed in meditation. “What,” he asked finally, “is a soul?”

“I… I am not sure?” Huli stumbled, frowning. “I used to think that they were the part of each being that is eternal, indestructible, though malleable in certain circumstances. Lately, though… I’ve come to wonder.”

“Look around you,” replied the four-skinned being with his deep rumbling voice, “this is the essence of the soul. The soul is life incarnate, pure energy.” As he spoke, Huli’s vision zoomed in, giving her a vision of the process below her at a microscopic level. Within each blue orb that was collected, she now saw a matrix of interlocking strands of white light. “The new souls grown here are pure,” her teacher continued. “They are highly ordered and harmonically resonant. Over time, they may become disordered and chaotic, or unharmonious and evil. The substance, however, is the same regardless of the structure. Gods may have more soul but the structure remains largely the same.”

Huli’s mind raced at the revelation, the implications. “So… the longer people live, the more time there is for their souls to become disordered, unharmonious, and evil?”

“Yes,” came the answer. “The greater the soul, the longer the journey, but disorder and darkness - the dark gods and the negative plane - are the natural state of the universe. Life is the blessed aberration.”

“And the gods?” Huli found herself asking next, “If they are immortal, how do they keep their souls from falling into disorder and darkness?”

“They do not.” At that Huli’s eyes opened in surprise and she looked up at her teacher. He kept his eyes closed, but continued, “All gods will eventually go mad after eons have passed and even the flame of life itself will eventually fade.”

Huli felt her heart twist. “Then all of this… is just to buy time?” It almost hurt to say it.

"Do not misunderstand my child, this is not the only flame, and this flame will itself last for time beyond reckoning." The being fell silent for a long time and Huli thought he would say no more but eventually, his words came again. "Still, the flame is not the natural state, it requires energy and fuel to maintain. Even in the recycling of souls this cannot hold forever. Each time something of every soul is lost before the greater part returns."

Slowly Huli nodded. "I see. It is not a limitless resource. I think I understand."

Now her teacher opened his eyes and studied Huli. Finally, he said, “Speak, child.”

The kitsune took a deep breath and let it out. “What are the old gods? Why do they hate us so?”

In response, the being gave an indulgent smile. “You attribute an emotion where there is none. The old goes are the essence of creation. Their dreams allow us to diffuse light into the darkness, making sense of the chaos. When they wake, the darkness returns.”

“So… there is no way to stop them from destroying everything?”

The blue-skinned being did not answer immediately. He sat, staring into the void, contemplating. “You asked that in the before, and I answered. Now, you are not ready. First, you must meditate. When the time comes, you will hear her.”

“She?” Huli leaned forward, “Who?”

But the creature was gone, as if he had never been there. Huli was left sitting alone, staring down through the pillar of creation into the cosmos below.