Chapter 334: The First Progenitor Arrives

Nyx stood at the threshold of the starfire realm and pushed one hand forward. The defenses Aeloria had created in her centuries of preparation resisted her for a fraction of a second before the darkness around Nyx devoured them. She stepped through the opening with no hurry at all.

The hidden realm opened before her, revealing crystallized memories suspended in mid-air as islands, rivers of flowing starfire, and the peace of a domain that knew no visitors.

Nyx’s black eyes narrowed slightly.

"Still hiding in your own garden, Aeloria"

Aeloria was already aware of the intrusion.

She stopped Lucifer from finishing his workout on the wide platform of condensed starfire as soon as she sensed the change in the balance of power within the realm. The new presence pressing at the edges of the domain was massive, impossibly old, and had focused its attention on them.

"Stay here" Aeloria ordered

Lucifer’s crimson eyes followed her as she left the safety of the platform. "That presence..."

"Stay here."

She didn’t wait for his permission. Aeloria met Nyx within the confines of the inner boundary of the realm, where the rivers of starfire bent away from a large expanse of dark glass. The two women faced each other across the empty space; silver streaks in Aeloria’s hair, the living darkness pressing against Nyx’s own.

It was Nyx who finally spoke "You sealed me away"

"You tried to burn the garden down. You created the Adversaries, turned on every seed that fell after you. I did what I had to do"

"You did what was easy for you" said Nyx, her voice as quiet as ever. The darkness pressed closer. "I was your experiment, Aeloria. You planted me, and I grew for you, until you locked me away the moment I refused to stay little. I have been aware through all those centuries. I know what you have done to my seed. You hid what belongs to me"

"I have stopped you from doing what you wanted to do to the Loom" Aeloria’s voice was as cold as ever. "Congratulations. Now go home"

"I will not" said Nyx, her words sending shockwaves through the starfire rivers closest to where the women stood. "I felt the Reavers arriving. I felt one of them dying, and the local forces that answered their call. I felt Vaelor sending his Personal Elites, and I saw their bodies turn to ash when you ordered it. Something that happened within your domain has drawn the Loom’s attention. I will see what it is"

"You will see nothing" said Aeloria. "This realm does not permit visitors"

"Irrelevant" said Nyx, advancing on the dark glass with slow steps. The darkness pressed closer. "You are weaker than you used to be. I can feel it. This entire argument is a manifestation of your own inadevacy. You had strength enough to imprison me once, and now you have just enough to hide one dying seed behind an army of your own making"

Aeloria’s fingers curled into fists at her sides, starfire coiling around her knuckles in tight, controlled columns "Try me and see how much strength it takes to devour you"

The tension in the room was enough to send the floating islands spinning away from the confrontation. Opposing forces of sheer will balanced themselves, neither woman advancing fully or stopping.

Lucifer stood on the training platform, motionless, for several more seconds. The presence beyond the inner boundary was overwhelming, heavier than anything he had felt in the domain, and deeper than even the realm itself. His True Divine senses stretched to grasp at it, finding no beginning or end within this universe

He had been ordered to remain where he was

Lucifer pushed off the platform and walked to the edge, the black hair at the back of his neck flying with the sudden increase in pressure. His crimson eyes remained fixed on the place where Aeloria had vanished inside the domain. The Divine Blood Core at his center rotated, slow and deliberate.

He did not know what the conversation between the two women was about. He did not know the name Nyx or the ancient history between her and Aeloria. He knew only that something immeasurable had breached the realm and that Aeloria was facing it alone.

That was enough

The standoff continued at the realm’s edge.

Nyx’s black eyes swept past Aeloria’s shoulder, finding the approaching visitor. "There. The center of it. The late seed. True Divine already. You have been busy"

Aeloria turned her body so that she blocked the view of the man approaching at the other side of the expanse. "He is not your concern"

"Everything that blooms loudly enough for me to hear in my own universe becomes my concern" said Nyx, spreading her darkness over the dark glass. "You sealed me away once. You will not do it again. Stand aside or show me your strength, Gardener"

Aeloria responded by sending a wave of power rippling forward, dense with starfire. Nyx’s darkness met it and held firm. The women stood their ground, neither one pressing the attack, but both clearly capable of doing so at any moment.

Behind Aeloria, Lucifer’s presence grew stronger with every step.

Nyx’s lips curved into something like amusement "Three of us, then. How long has it been since you allowed another to witness one of your private productions, Aeloria?"

Aeloria made no answer. Her attention was divided between the First Progenitor before her and the hybrid at her back. Between the one who knew her past and the one she was trying to protect, still unaware of everything she had done.

Lucifer arrived at the front of the expanse and stopped. His black hair moved with the wind, and his crimson eyes narrowed at the sight of the woman cloaked in darkness. He saw Aeloria watching Nyx, and the tension in his shoulders relaxed slightly.

The starfire realm seemed to hold its breath as the three met each other’s gazes