P I N G S : @ClickClips @TheOceanSeeker @Chewbyham @HalfFilledCup

Chapter 8 - POV : Ranboo

I found myself in nothingness. An ethereal voice, sort of like a narrator, echoed throughout the chasm. In the beginning, there was nothing, boomed the voice. But then, Apollyon, a god of justice and equality, emerged from the darkness and created the universe- “This sounds awfully religious,” I muttered to myself. DO NOT INTERRUPT WHEN I AM SPEAKING! the voice thundered. My voice died in my throat. Much better, the voice sighed. Now, where was I? Ah, yes.

Apollyon appeared, but it looked different. Its robes were white, and it had blonde hair and skin the color of marble. Its robes were the color of the clouds, and it seemed to be made of clouds, too. It had warm green eyes and a welcoming smile. THIS is what Apollyon originally looked like? I thought to myself. There’s no way. Ah, but there is, the voice responded. I’ll get to that bit later.

Apollyon moved its hands in a circular motion. With every rotation, more of the universe was created. I looked around in awe as I watched stars, planets, and asteroids appear in a shining display of color and light.

After Apollyon created the foundation of the universe, it went in and selected the planet that it thought was most suitable for life : Earth. Apollyon seemed to float around through each section of the galaxy until it found a barren planet that seemed to be just the right size compared to its planetary brothers and sisters. It began by creating the elements : earth, sky, fire, water, wind, the narrator went on. Apollyon snapped its fingers, and before me, the planet became what Earth looked like today. The terrain, over time, morphed, creating mountains, valleys, hills, volcanoes, all of the landforms we see today.

Apollyon then stroked its chin, eyes clouding over with thought. Apollyon wasn’t sure what to do next, the narrator informed me, but after much thought, it finally decided to create life forms, including the first humans. Apollyon went to work, using bits of its robes to shape animals, plants, and lastly, the first group of humans. To my great surprise, they seemed to be genderless. I’d always been told that the first humans were a man and a woman. Yes, reader, the first humans were indeed agender, the narrator confirmed. Gender didn’t come into play until the next generation of humans was created by the gods. “Gods, plural?” I said aloud. Let me get to that part, the voice sighed.

Apollyon wasn’t sure it could run the multiverse by itself, the narrator continued, so it created a pantheon of lesser deities to assist with keeping everything in order. With a wave of its hands, Apollyon ushered nine new gods into existence. Their faces were shadowed, and it was hard to discern features in the lighting, but I made out distinct symbols on the robes of each figure : they were each the flag of a different gender ; male, female, nonbinary, transgender, demiboy, demigirl, pangender, bigender, and genderfluid. On the robes of Apollyon appeared the agender flag, representing its gender identity. Apollyon was shocked by the amount of gender identities that had been created, but it instantly accepted them. “Good to know the first god in existence wasn’t transphobic or homophobic,” I murmured, being nonbinary myself.

The gods debated how they were going to divide power, and what they were going to do next. Eventually, they all decided that each god would be the protector and guardian of humans of their own gender. This seemed like a fair split of power, but keep in mind, at the time, the only humans in existence were agender, meaning Apollyon held all the power. To fix this and prevent an all-out war among the gods, Apollyon created two humans of each gender identity that was currently in existence. The gods were satisfied, and disagreement died down.

I honestly liked this version of the creation of the multiverse better than the other ways various civilizations had described it over time. It seemed to have more of an equality aspect than other versions of the story of creation.

The gods decided to rule equally over the multiverse, the narrator went on, but over time, as humans discovered who the gods were, they began to worship Apollyon more than the others, since it was the original god who created everything. This made the other gods envious. While the gods were divine, they weren’t perfect. They began to wonder if Apollyon was trying to become a dictator. Apollyon, only wanting peace and equality, argued that none of the gods were more superior than the others, but no one believed it. They all began fighting for power. Finally, in a stand against the god of justice, the pantheon exiled Apollyon to the Nether, sentenced to fend the demons away from the human world for all of eternity. The scene played out in front of my eyes as the narrator spoke.

“That seems a little harsh,” I murmured. You’d be correct, the narrator admitted. The gods judged Apollyon unfairly. But after spending centuries in the Nether, it became bitter, cursing the other gods for their injustice. Eventually, Apollyon was too busy wallowing in his anger to fight off the Nether demons. They began to escape from the Nether, bringing death, sickness, and other plagues to the humans. The gods couldn’t care less about Apollyon, but they didn’t want the civilization they had created to be obliterated. They worked together to expel the demons back to the Nether, but the lasting impact the demons made on the human realm continued to affect humankind.

One day, the king of the demons decided to take advantage of Apollyon’s rage. He visited him in his prison. The king of the demons looked like a cross between a zombie and an Enderman, but ten times as horrifying. “Hello, Apollyon,” the beast hissed. “I see in your heart that you want to get revenge on the gods.” “I do,” Apollyon replied. “They have caused me injustice, and I shall repay it to them!” “Well, I can help you with your predicament,” the king buzzed, the sound of his voice vibrating the cave. “All you need to do is take my hand, and I can release you from this place.”

Apollyon looked up in shock. “You can? But no magic can beat the power of the gods.” “The gods have never met me,” the creature snarled. “Just take my hand.” I wanted to scream out, warn Apollyon of what was happening, but it was too late. Apollyon grasped the demon’s hand. Apollyon trusted the king, but it was a trap. The demon invaded Apollyon’s body, merging his own essence with the god’s. I watched in horror as Apollyon’s appearance shifted into the form that it had used when it had visited me in my dreams. It then used its newfound divine power to break free from the Nether and slip into the human realm.

It looked around, the narrator said, searching for someone or something to possess. After years of searching, it found a particularly evil, yet powerful, human named Thylan. Apollyon whispered into Thylan’s mind, controlling his actions.

I watched, paralyzed, as people died and the earth was nearly torn into pieces. Entire countries were reduced to ashes. Thylan ended up letting demons and Endermen into the human realm, blowing up several shrines to the gods, and wreaking all sorts of havoc. Once Apollyon had used the last of Thylan’s power, it moved on to a new puppet. And so the cycle has continued to this day. Apollyon continues to roam the earth, searching for its next prey.

However, there is one way to return Apollyon to its original state. You must rid it of its possession and slay the demon inside of it. Only then will it be able to ascend to the heavens and sew all it has reaped. The narrator’s voice went silent, the scene fading to black.

My eyelids flew open, snapping out of the trance I was in. Sweat beads had popped up all over my face. I was gasping for air, as if watching the story had made me suffocate. “I need to tell Technoblade,” I exclaimed. I got up out of my chair, closing the book, and raced out the door and up the cobblestone stairs.