A Talk Between Gods. 

From the Darkness of the Void; Valgar the Void King surveyed the work of his children. The writhing mass of misshapen creatures with their long purple-tinged tentacles snaking out between the stars and across space towards the domain of his once-beloved Sister; Gaia. The World Tree Itself lay stretched out among the cosmos; the fruit of its power spinning like jewels at the ends of branches. Worlds. Hundreds of them. Each nestled within its own nebula. Each unique in their own way, filled with the magical sustaining energy of the World Tree. Energy that he wanted, needed, craved. Craved so much that he planned, plotted and then began his assault upon it. He tore his gaze away from the Tree. Even within the deep recesses of his chamber, it hurt his eyes. Once before he could gaze upon its full power with ease but now he could only look upon it a little while before the pain of its light drove his gaze back to the ordered madness below. As his children began to gather below; the number of them shifting like bubbling slime; a flash of light pierced out from the Tree; knifing through their numbers.

He held back the scream that wanted to tear from his throat as pain lanced through his own body threatening to overwhelm him as his children wailed silently in the cold vacuum; their voices unheard as their bodies vaporized under the sheer power of that Light. Their momentum was broken; their numbers scattered and Valgar cursed loudly; his deep Voice echoing from the Void as the pain from the death of his children receded.

"Damn you Gaia!"

“Greetings to you as well brother,” the smooth, melodious voice of Gaia echoed in the vastness of space. The beam of light shimmered, diminished and then unfolded into the tall graceful form of a woman.

“Brother...” Valdar sneered, finally rising up from his chambers and emerging from the Void to face her. His tall form was wreathed in smoky shadows that moved like living extensions of his body. “We both know that our relationship is no longer that genial Gaia.”

The glowing woman sighed and drifted closer to him, her light causing his dark shadows to recede from him but they flowed around her as if seeking to embrace her hungrily. She flicked one hand; her own powerful aura flashing out to dispel them. “Once,” she said, “Once when we embraced; when we could still have done that; the cosmos sang for joy because harmony existed in the Worlds and Beyond. There was nothing but peace within my realms and yours. Why Brother, why has it come to this? Why must I now be forced to vanquish your children and seek you out in the midst of pain and suffering?”

Her words spoken in her sweet voice did nothing but rile him further. Rage filled his chest and he felt like he would burst from it. He growled and rushed towards her, stopping mere inches from her face. His mouth bared in a fanged grin that held no warmth; his hands balled into fists. “Because I want your Worlds,” he hissed, “I want them, Gaia. I want to consume them all and I want the World Tree. Too long have your children basked within that power. Too long have mine had nothing but the scraps of what the World Tree has to offer! Stagnant, half-formed worlds that hold nothing more than a fleeting taste of power; unable to hold their beautiful forms, reduced to nothing more than….”

“SILENCE!” Gaia screamed. He stopped, flinching back from her only then noticing that her aura was pulsing wildly; her body trembling as her fists clenched so tightly that the color of them was different from the rest of her skin. “Silence Valdar,” she said again, her voice no longer shouting but still loud and booming, “Your children were beautiful once but their reduced forms are your doing! They are but a reflection of your Soul. The corruption that has grown there has twisted your own creations into nothing more than misshapen monsters ; filled with hunger, rage, and despair. And yet, you drive them! You push them, heedless to their plight, to their cries for release! The World Tree had sustained You and Yours for timeless remembrance but your greed has led you down this road. I will never allow you to gain access to any of my Worlds Valdar; the World Tree will NEVER fall to your control. That was never your place.”

The quiet that followed ran deeper than the vacuum of the Void as the two entities gazed at one another; ages of history passing through their memories of good times that fell into dark ones. Finally, it seemed as if they both came to an end of their recollection simultaneously; eyes refocusing on the present rather than the past. Gaia spoke first.

“Please,” she begged in a small soft voice, barely audible to her Brother, “Please don’t do this.”

“I will never stop,” he said coldly, “I will gain the World Tree.”

She shivered once, hugging her long arms about her body and looking away from him for a second before dropping her arms, standing tall and regal; her aura now steady. “Then this is War between us Valgar,” she stated, her voice still holding a trace of sadness despite the matching coldness, “I will not allow my Worlds to fall without a fight.”

“Then War it is,” he agreed, “Now get out of my realm!” His voice snapped out loudly, the words as sharp as a blade.

She inclined her head, her body shimmering again as she shifted back to her secondary form; the beam of light flashing back to the World Tree.

“And War it is,” Valgar whispered as he reached out to gather the lingering echoes of her energy trail and inhaling them, tendrils of energy snaking across his skin as he consumed it.