In an endless pitch-black void that stretched on into infinity, a white orb appeared and began to float aimlessly.

 

[Hmm, it looks like the adjustments work. It's stable and rejection isn't occurring. Looks like he's waking up,] a mysterious voice echoed throughout the void.

 

"Where... am... I?" spoke the orb as it slowly regained consciousness, attempting to move but realizing it had no form. It instinctively knew that this was wrong and it needed a form.

 

[Hi, looks like you had enough time to get your bearings, so let's begin, shall we,] the voice continued, making the white orb feel fear, causing it to shake.

 

"Who... are... you?" the orb managed to ask while trembling.

 

[That's rude. It's polite to introduce yourself before asking somebody's name. Since I'm nice, I'll introduce myself, though. You can call me Nyx. I'm a being you can't comprehend, so that's the reason I haven't shown myself to you. Think of me as something like a god, although I'm more ancient than them,] stated Nyx in a nonchalant manner.

 

This revelation shocked the soul to its core. The knowledge that it was speaking to a god-like being was overwhelming. While Nyx was patient and could wait for the soul to recover, it knew that time was not on their side.

 

[Do you need a minute?] asked Nyx.

 

"I am..." The white orb began to say but was as confused as to what to say next. 'Wait, who am I? Why am I here? What am I? How am I alive?' the orb's thoughts started to race as questions began to form in its mind.

 

[Well, that's enough of that. I was just testing what you remember, and it seems the answer is nothing. Well, let's start by answering a few questions. You are in the Void of Chaos, my domain,] said Nyx, breaking the silence that had overtaken the void.

 

"Void of chaos? What's the Void of Chaos?" asked the orb.

 

[This will go much faster if you don't interrupt, my dear. As I was saying, I brought you into my domain because you have a rare affinity for this space. Most human souls tend to either have an affinity for light or darkness and would be ripped apart simply from being here,] explained Nyx.

 

'So I'm a human soul. That must mean I died, but why can't I remember anything about myself?' thought the orb.

 

[That's because upon death, souls tend to purge all knowledge of their previous existence so that they may be reborn. In your case, I intervened in that process, whereas you still have your general knowledge, but memories involving people were purged,] answered Nyx.

 

"Wait, did you just read my mind, Nyx?" asked the soul nervously.

 

[Well, I want you to consider something. You're a soul with no body, so how are we communicating? You have no mouth and are therefore incapable of speech. The answer is that I've been reading your thought waves from your soul, so it doesn't matter whether you mean to say something or think it. I hear it all regardless,] said Nyx.

 

'So you can hear this?' thought the soul, hoping that Nyx couldn't.

 

[Yes, I can, so don't think rude thoughts about me, okay,] Nyx mused in a bubbly tone.

 

This revelation caused the soul to shudder a bit. It's not every day you come across a god-like entity that can read your every thought. This led to even more questions racing through the soul's mind.

 

[Well, we got a bit off track. Now, where was I again? Ah, yes, so your past memories of self were purged, making you basically a newborn soul. However, you should still retain the knowledge of your previous world. Things like your previous world was a planet called Earth. To confirm it, please tell me what you remember about it,] said Nyx.

 

'Earth is a blue planet inhabited by humans, which I used to be. The year should be 2019. Can I ask why you deleted my memories of the people in my life?' thought the soul as it remembered the general knowledge it had about the planet. 'Hmm, I don't seem to know much about it. I must not have cared much to learn about the world I lived in.'

 

[That's good. It seems like you know what the planet is and the year you died. As for the memories, they are useless for what's to come next. I let you keep your knowledge because it will prove useful,] said Nyx.

 

'Useless? Useful? What's going to happen next?' asked the soul.

 

[This leads us to why I interfered with your memories and rebirth. As I previously stated, you have a high affinity for this realm, so I brought you here because I was curious,] said Nyx in a serious voice, as if unveiling the secrets of the world.

 

'WHAT!? Because you were curious, you brought me to a place that could have ripped me apart!?' yelled the soul.

 

[Yup. I haven't really talked with anyone ever, so my curiosity got the best of me. You know that a sacred divine purpose doesn't exist for most things,] laughed the voice.

 

The void resounded with laughter as the soul shook with both anger and anxiety. A few moments passed before the laughter stopped. The voice, however, didn't continue to talk as it waited for the soul to calm down.

 

'So basically there's no purpose to my being here?' asked the soul.

 

[Well, I wouldn't go as far as to say that. It's just that 97% of my reasoning was curiosity, but the other 3% is probably the reasoning that you were after. The other reason is that I want to make you my kin,] said the voice.

 

'Make me your kin? What does that mean exactly?' asked the shocked soul, which started to pulse.

 

[Well, I believe humans would say I'm adopting you into my family. So what do you think? Want to be my child? Also, because of this Q&A we've been doing, our time is almost up,] said Nyx in a serious voice.

 

'Be your child? Wait, what do you mean our time is almost up?' the soul's mind was racing with many thoughts and was unable to think properly. Hearing that they were out of time helped it focus on the important things.

 

[Well, dear, like I said, you have a high affinity for my realm, so you have popped yet, but you're getting close to that threshold. Since we're low on time before you ask me the question, I'll answer it. If you refuse to be my child, you'll simply be returned to the natural reincarnation cycle. The rest of your memories will be purged, and you'll be reborn as a baby in another world. I'll tell you about what happens if you accept my offer afterward, okay, dear? I don't mean to rush you or anything, but I need the decision soon,] said Nyx in a rushed tone, making the soul fully aware that they really had no more time for any other questions.

 

'I accept!' yelled the soul in a rushed manner. It would never pass up the opportunity to be the child of a god-like being. It also wondered if it would become a god itself. 'I feel strange. Wait, I feel...'

 

As the soul stated its acceptance of Nyx's offer to be her child, a strange phenomenon overtook it. It immediately lost consciousness, and the white light of the soul began to pulse rhythmically, slowly getting faster.

 

[That was close. I can't believe I forgot to take time into effect. Well, time doesn't affect me, so it's understandable, but I'm a parent now, so I guess I need to shape up a bit. But it was fun talking to someone for the first time ever. I can't wait for the transformation to finish so that we can talk again,] Nyx was ashamed that her lack of consideration had almost led to the soul's death. She vowed to be more attentive from now on as she watched over the soul's transformation.

 

Elsewhere, in a white void, two entities were discussing amongst themselves. The first had the form of a star of pure light shining constantly, and the other a shapeless, pitch-black, smoke-like mass that was constantly moving and reforming.

 

[I felt a disturbance in the void of chaos,] said the star.

 

[Really, that is unusual since nothing is capable of surviving the void, not even us,] said the smoke.

 

[I'll send some of my subordinates to investigate this disturbance. What will you do?] asked the star.

 

[Nothing, I trust you'll be able to handle it well enough without any interference from our side. Besides, our sides love to fight one another, so if I sent any of my minions, they'd simply impede each other's investigation anyway. So what will you do when you find the disturbance anyway?] the smoke asked in an amused tone as if it were about to see an interesting show.

 

[See if it can be used, and if it can't, destroy it. I'll be returning to my realm now,] seriously stated the star as it faded away.

 

[Well, this is going to be fun. I do hope this disturbance shakes things up a bit. Eternity is truly boring without a bit of chaos every now and then,] the smoke said while laughing. It had really grown bored over the millennia and hoped for a new form of entertainment besides war.