F I C T I O N
Birth of the Dark One
There was naught, when it began. Inconceivable emptiness, which spanned infinitely. Then from the nothingness anomalous matter manifested. Like a dark cancer, it spread, staining the pristine, blank reality. A monster, hatred given form, spoke to the void. �I am ruination. Come forth, O Potentate of this nonexistent world.�
But there was no reply.
�Then I shall contaminate everything, devouring it� said the Dark One. And so, he did. The emptiness receded, pushed back by eternal hatred in the form of darkness. Thus, the World was created.
Men were born from this place, and there they suffered. The Dark One created a finite space, and thus life was born only to end. Resource were limited, life grew hungry, and from hunger came war. Hatred grew and the Dark One became eternally enriched.
Omnipotent, the Dark One laughed and declared, �O Potentate of the nonexistent world, can you truly offer no resistance? Are you not a God?�
�You are what you are,� A voice whispered to the Dark One. �You do as you do.�
�At last you speak?� questioned the Dark One. �And you utter such cowardice. Pathetic.�
There was no reply.
�Once again you are silent,� spat the Dark one. �I am disappointed. At last, I supposed I found something capable of matching me. I suppose I shall devour you entirely, then�and move on to a new, higher plane.�
Still, there was no reply.
And then there was nothingness. The World had ended and disappeared, and the Dark One fell to his knees, dumbfounded.
Then a figure manifested, clad in light, with twelve wings outstretched from its core. His essence blanketed all things, crushing even the Dark One�s hatred. The Dark One began to fade.
The Twelve-Wings spoke, �You are what you are. You do as you do. Yet, you cannot be sustained by this reality. You are ruination; and yet, there is nothing here to ruin. So, you shall be reborn unto a lesser reality: where Gods and Kings truly exist. Destroy them, for that is your truest desire.�
The Story of Rodion
Born the 6th son of Raijin and Cordelia Constantine, and twin brother of Nathaira Constantine, Rodion Constantine�s origins are mundane. He was raised in a manner befitting a prince, and was educated to fulfill an inevitable leadership position, as per his station. Being the 6th son, his claim to the Empire was laughable, and often was he overlooked.
Though often causing mischief together with his twin, Rodion was generally very reclusive in youth. Rodion was not physically dominant nor did he display any sort of special abilities. Overtime, he came to loathe his family name, seeking to escape his father and brothers� shadows. He began to wear masks in public, so that none could identify him as a prince of the Empire.
To maintain peace, his father would often be away at war, conquering rivals and subduing cosmic threats. Cordelia, for ostensible crimes against nature, was banished from Empire. Due to this, Rodion was provided a guardian at an early age. Fyodor Rasputin, a tall and imposing individual, was always in sight of the young prince.
After a time, by a curious twist of fate, all the potential leaders of Empire had vanished or became preoccupied with other matters. Raijin, having grown tired of his role as Emperor, passed it on to his sister Mina Constantine. She, too, vanished, however. Thus, Rodion became the Emperor. He sought his sister Nathaira, and the two split the power over the �New Empire�.
Fate is capricious. A few years after becoming the Emperor, Empire faced its greatest crisis: the Ragnar�k Incident. The Skelgardians, a race long in opposition to Empire, unleashed an ineffable phenomenon known commonly as �The Metaleptic Void�. The Void opened onto Planet Empiri, homeworld of Empire. The destruction was vast, obliterating the forests, the foundation of many Empirian cities. Afterwards, the Skelgardians began their invasion.
Amidst his counterattack, Rodion�s army found his way to a city ravaged. Death was everywhere. Strangely though, the thousands of dead were impaled on large, black spikes. From the shadows, emerged a man, whose face could not be seen, beneath a disgusting black aura which permeated from his core. His eyes flashed crimson, and the darkness swallowed everything. Rodion was declared missing a few days later by Rasputin.
Eventually, the Ragnar�k Incident ended, leaving countless dead, including many in the Constantine family. Rodion did not resurface for another year. When he did, he had changed significantly. No longer did he wear masks. An overpowering malice poured from him. He crushed all who opposed him. Eventually, Rasputin rejoined him, and became a part of Rodion�s elite guard, hoping to calm the hatred in Rodion.