Rowan’s green eyes lit up in expectation and descended more slowly towards the earth, Maeve followed behind him and with a small cough began her story,

“A blue frog was hopping along the edge of a mighty river, looking for a relatively shallow area to cross when he came across a starving scorpion on the edge of death. The reputation of the scorpion was dangerous and the frog wisely ignored it and went on its way to find the right place to cross.

“The frog soon found the position it wanted and as soon as it began to cross the river, the scorpion called out to the frog, imploring for its aid because it was on the verge of starving to death for there was no edible food on this side of the river.

“The frog was taken aback, it wanted to leave but it had a gentle nature, it thought that surely the scorpion would not harm it because it was starving and needed to cross the river to survive, but it was careful and demanded a vow from the scorpion which it willingly gave to the frog.

“Bending down to allow its passenger to climb it back, the frog began its journey across the river, and when they reached a particularly treacherous part of the river, the frog’s body shook in pain as it was struck multiple times by the scorpion’s stinger.

“As the both of them were about to drown, the disconsolate frog asked the scorpion why it betrayed its promise and doomed the both of them to death and the scorpion responded that it acted not out of malice or ingratitude but because it had an indiscriminate and irresistible urge to sting a helpless prey.”

The story ended there but Maeve continued, “I remember your mother saying this next part to you, but you were already asleep. She said:

“Everything on the side of the river where the blue frog had picked the scorpion from was dead, not from disease or drought, but from the stinger of the scorpion, even though it did not need to do so. Not waiting for nature to replenish itself, it just killed and killed and killed until there was nothing left and it began to starve to death. Do not forget that the nature of the scorpion was just to kill.”

Rowan went silent, and they were almost to the ground when he said, “The death cries of this universe came from the hands of my father. He is called the Trickster on Trion, you call him the Deceiver, others have called him a liar, desecrator, and many other names, yet your story paints another picture of him, of a scorpion who does harm not because of malice or desire, but because of his nature. This perhaps is even worse.”

Maeve quickly replied, “At the end of the day my lord, it’s just a story, and it should not justify any of his actions.”

Rowan nodded distractedly, he knew the essence of his father was a Reflection, he was simply the image in the mirror that revealed the true nature of the person looking at it. Whatever choices he made were not learned or acquired, but it was just a result of the person he was made from or in this case, the Primordial he was based on.

It was no wonder a group of Primordials came together to kill the main body of his father. If his Reflection could be so toxic and corrupting to whatever it touches, then the Primordial they were based on must be countless times worse.

What sort of reality could exist if a Primordial like his father was left to roam free?

The image he had seen in the murals of his Spirit Matrix Gate outside the universe had been hard to decipher, but he knew the main body of his father appeared humanoid, with tentacles on the lower parts of his face, like beards made from snakes.

The haunting four-sided eyes, the cups and the maps on the table, his dead body pinned to that table, but his Reflection still roaming free in the universe… a simple image but holding so much meaning.

This image suddenly took the shape of evil in his mind. Those painting eyes began to hold laughter and understanding. In those eyes be began to understand, that what lay here was not the mindless evil displayed by most sentient creatures in the universe borne from greed, hate, or fear. No this was true evil that took shape long before the concept of that notion even existed.

“This is my true roots… Evil.” Rowan whispered, and something inside him resonated with those words, his stalled evolution began to churn, something was happening inside of him, and he did not doubt that if he was to look into his Primordial Record, and check the Will that his true father controlled it would be the Will of Time and Evil.

The universe seemed to groan in pain at this realization and Rowan wanted to think that it was just the sound coming from the branches as they were moved by the winds.

He knew he was wrong, knowledge had weight in this universe, and perhaps the Primordial Record wanted to protect him from his true nature. But Rowan knew that such a time had passed, the fruits of his true father still patrolled the universe, and he would wipe them out.

®

Rowan sat at the trunk of a massive tree, his small child’s feet were dug into the cool earth, and his head rested against its strong bark, feeling the pure energy of nature flowing through it. It was a sound that made him relax, underneath he could hear the screams of the creature that it came from, those screams were also comforting to him.

Rowan was fully comfortable with his nature. He was not good not evil, he just was.

Six hours ago, he had arrived on the planet where he had met the inhabitants, although they did not recognize him. With just a single consciousness he could not truly control the perception of those who beheld him, and the risk to them was too much.

Rowan was accustomed to being in the presence of his Angels before he evolved, his Sovereigns were the ones who stood before his throne so even the lesser Angels could not see his true glory. If he wanted to move around, he had to dedicate multiple consciousnesses to bend reality around himself to keep others safe.

For now, he just had to make do with wiping the memories of everyone. He looked to the left and smiled as he heard the laughter of children. Rowan saw his people who had been transformed into what Maeve called Ghren, and he also glimpsed the Rune Ship Absomet.

He was curious about her makeup, but there were other things that needed his urgent attention, Evolving into a higher Dimensional being, gaining the confession of Lamia, who was now the remnants of the Abomination Core, and regaining his memories and inheritance left behind by his mother.

He opened his palm to reveal a bright green seed that glowed like a star. This seed had been born from the gigantic Eld Tree that was planted in the now living core of this planet. After giving birth to this seed it had withered into ashes.

The seed was filled with such vast information it rivaled the Golden Book that Andar had collected from the Ancient Library of the Mages. Rowan had needed multiple consciousnesses to decipher and understand that book, and he could not risk it with only a single consciousness, it would leave him powerless for at least a year.

Rowan knew that creating his Forge was the priority, and while he began the process he could question Lamia, the Abomination Core was at the edge of death, but it was a shame that she still held on by a single strand of life because Rowan would not allow her to die until she gave up everything she knew.

He swallowed the seed and stood up to his feet. The time of contemplation was over. Summoning Maeve, she appeared in a flash of green lightning and bowed to him.

Rowan had been secretly investigating Maeve, her powers appeared like those of a god, but they were different. Anyone else would have been deceived, but he was a creator, holding every Bloodline Source in existence, and although he had seen the match of Maeve’s power inside his dimension, her powers were still alien.

‘How curious.’

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