Power Thief's Revenge [BL]-Chapter 204: Genesis

"Have you heard of the concept ’Death of the Author’?"

Hermes could barely hear the question, as he was completely engrossed in the scene in front of him. This was it. This was his vision, and he was seeing in full context.

"What?"

"Death of the Author." The phantom beside him repeated calmly.

"Oh... Yeah. It’s about how a piece of literature is given meaning by the audience, not the author, right? The author becomes irrelevant."

The phantom smiled. "That’s true. And it doesn’t just apply to literature... It applies to all creations. The Creator is dead. He has given His life to His creation, and that creation is now owned by those who perceive it." 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Hermes tried to make sense of what he’s trying to say. It felt like there were so many layers to it, and he couldn’t have all the time in the world to uncover them all.

So he turned back his attention to the scene before him.

"A new face?" Viator asked. "Do you mean... That upon your head? The parts that shift so quickly as they move..."

He reached out to touch the silver-haired man’s eyes, nose, mouth... The parts he talked about that were in constant change.

"Yes. I can grant you a face so you may express your emotions." Silver said. "But do you prefer a masculine or feminine face? A youthful or old one? Symmetrical or asymmetrical? What colors?"

Viator was confused, but could not express it so he tilted his head. "I... I do not know. What do you think would suit me?"

"Whatever is your choice. That is what you desire, isn’t it? All this talk about being defective because you do not follow the path assigned to you... You are talking about free will."

"Free will..." Viator seemed to savor the word on his non-existent lips. "Then... Please teach me first. In order to choose, I must know. What is masculine? What is feminine? What is young? What is old? What is symmetry, and what are colors?"

Silver went on to explain.

"Masculine features are associated with men. Sharp, broad, strong. Feminine is associated with women, and is usually the opposite. Soft, slender, gentle. But most creatures have a mix of these features. That is how Mother and I designed it."

"What is... a Mother?"

"The woman who created me."

"What is... a woman?"

Silver suddenly changed his appearance again. Hermes’ eyes widened.

"T-That’s—" Dante covered his mouth before he could ’spoil’ the revelation, as if some invisible audience was watching them.

"This is what a woman looks like. This is my Mother." Silver said. "They call her the Architect. She was the one who created the ideas for how our world should work, how it may appear."

Architect. That word got translated again, and Hermes heard it loud and clear.

Demiurge.

"So all of this...." Viator gestured at his surroundings. ".... was created by your mother? Was created by a woman?"

"Not exactly. See, Mother was the one with the ideas. But I am the builder. I am the one who turned her thoughts into something physical. I had trapped their essence into something tangible. In a way, I have condemned them to live, and then to die. I am the Destroyer."

Hermes’ eyes widened. "You are...."

Dante just smiled.

"Then..." Viator looked at his hands. "Since I have brought death in your world, let me be a man like you. I want to be likened to your image."

Silver just tilted his head. "I am flattered, but I would not want you to have the same face as me. I will make you a man, yes, but you must be your own man. You become YOU, without the necessity of me."

Viator seemed to have understood. "Very well... Then since your eyes and your hair shine in the light, let mine be dark. Let mine not emit any light, for I do not want to outshine you."

Silver agreed. "If that is what you want. I will only ever do what you ask. Your choice matters above all else."

And so...

He took some sand, and turned it into clay using the beach water. The mercury in earth’s crust... the salt from water... the sulphur in the air...

All the elements come together, forming this man.

"The First Man..." Hermes muttered to himself, as he looked at his own face.

"Thank you for molding me into your image." Viator said, standing up to admire his face.

He was fascinated with all the small changes that create an expression.

"I am changing.... Ah! Change is such a wonderful thing."

Silver nodded. "Yes. But change also means there will be an end. I have condemned you to die someday."

"When is that day?" Viator asked.

"It will depend on time." Silver said, turning into an old man. "This is what you may look like when that time is near."

Viator reached out to touch him again. "Age... Time.... It’s so beautiful. I find you the most beautiful in your last moments. When I know that you will come to an end, and I will come to an end. When we can become something new."

Hermes seemed to finally understand.

Dante could appear as anything when they met. And yet... He chose to be an old man.

He chose to be the form most beautiful to his beloved.

"That’s right, my dear boy." The Dante beside him placed his hand on his shoulder. "You really are into DILFs just like Somner said."

Hermes covered his face, mortified. "That’s not at all— I’m not— He’s not— Am I???"

His head was reeling. This all felt like some bizarre dream. But there’s one more thing he did not understand.

"If I.... I mean, Viator was the First Man... Well, first ’human’.... Who is the first human woman? Wait, what am I saying!? This means that all humans are Pleromans, right? No, that would mean everyone is my descendant.... What..."

Dante guffawed. "Don’t draw conclusions just yet. I never said you are Viator."

Hermes blinked. "But... We have the same... why would you even show me this if I wasn’t..."

Dante pointed. "Just watch."

Hermes closed his mouth and continued watching them.

"You have been holding something since you arrived, Traveller." Silver pointed out. "What is that?"

"Oh!" Viator opened his clenched fist. "This is a.... I suppose a seed. Yes. It is from a defective plant. The plant managed to die, and this fell out of it."

"A seed." Silver then summoned a silver sickle out of thin air. "Shall I plant it for you? I am also a farmer."

"A farmer?"

"Yes. It’s the same as a builder, but with plants." Silver dug a hole on the ground and planted the seed. "This plant will grow old and change, just like you. And then it will wither and die. But before it does, it could create life."

"So... It’s like a woman? A mother?"

"In a way, yes."

Hermes was dumbfounded. "You’re telling me that’s...."

Viator watched. And suddenly, time seemed to speed up. The skies moved quickly, as if to show Hermes the passage of time.

He saw how long Silver and Viator spent time together. Just the two of them. How the seed became a tree, resembling the one from the drawings in Dr. Khemia’s notes.

Then, after what should be centuries...

"I must leave. My mother must be looking for me." Silver said.

"Where are you going?" Viator asked.

"The non-material world. It is where all of us went when your vessel destroyed the physical world I built." Silver explained. "I don’t doubt that the gods would want to reclaim it once again. But I have come to like you. And I do not want someone else to dictate your choice."

He pointed to his eyes. "You see, I am the only one who can experience reality differently. Everyone else experiences it as one, but I experience it as many. What is happening now, what happened before, what happens in the future... The multitudes of the universe. And I know that in this reality, in the future... You and the tree will be creators of a new form of life."

"Us?" Viator pointed to himself, his dark eyes wide.

"Yes. A form of life that constantly seeks change and freedom. That constantly creates and destroys to satiate boundless curiosity. You will reign supreme in what’s left of the world I created... For a while. But one day..."

Just as he was about to say it...

Someone arrived.

"One day, you will reap what you sow. Your people will be destroyed just as you did to us."

A man with a sword and a scale arrived from one of the Rifts. He did not sound angry when he said that. It was not a threat, but simply....

A verdict.

His red-brown eyes with silver rings turned and turned.

"Lord Saturn. The other gods seek you. Will you come to the court with me?"

Silver just chuckled. "You are too polite, Shani. That title belongs to both of us, since we both reside in the same realm of time, space and destiny. Janus would be fine."

Hermes could not believe it. Now it makes sense.

Saturn. The First Man. The First Tree.

And the one who told him that in the first place was also.... No doubt about it. Him. Dante. Janus.

Janus went to face Viator. "One day, the core of the Void... The very essence of all that we are and the chaos we have opposing your order... Will come to destroy your kind."

Viator frowned. "This core... It does not have a physical form, yes? So it could not die, not even after it destroyed my descendants?"

"Yes."

"That.... is a cruel fate. I pity it. Everyone deserves a chance to die, even the bringer of death itself." Viator said, tears streaming down his eyes."

He gave his one final wish to Janus.

"Please... Give it a body. A face. Entrap it in the physical world, so that it may have choice. A choice to live or die. A choice to do what is in its nature to do, to destroy everything... or to not do that."

Janus looked at him solemnly.

".... As you wish. As your Creator, it is my duty to turn your wishes into reality. That is my death."