Chapter Text
In the beginning their was nothing. Just a vast emptiness stretching throughout a universe that hadn't yet been created, a lonely existence if anyone where the even exist this far back. Except one day someone did, and a being with a flickering form created the world from nothing. Galaxies fell from their hair, planets from the tears they cried and stars from the songs they sung.
And this being was worshiped like a god, praised for giving everything a defiant spark of life, until the humans discovered Knowledge and Family. The Creator was exiled, they became nothing more than a story told to children to scare them into obedience as the world evolved without them.
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Roman Sanders was a prince, in fact many would even consider him to be a king. He ran his kingdom fairly and listened to the concerned and suggestions of his subjects, yet it was his kingdom that got attacked by a dragon. It was his people that where left homeless and helpless. It was him that the universe decided to punish, and he was the one that would deal with the carnage that the foul beast caused.
His people ran and screamed as their houses where burnt to the ground in front of them, destroying their whole lives quicker than they could blink. Villagers where injured and dead on the streets whilst their ruler was helpless to stop it, mothers searching for their children in the sea of terrified people. His knights had failed, the surviving ones had ran away after seeing the size of the beast they where to fight, and Roman was alone - fighting the dragon with nothing but a sword.
He quickly sheathed it before grabbing a screaming child and sprinting away from the chaos behind him, he couldn't stay in his city; there was only one way to save his people.
"King Roman, what do we do?" One of his subjects yelled as she hugged her child close to her chest. She was trembling like a leaf, whether from shock or cold no one really knew.
"I must travel to The Cave and make a deal," he replied, trying to keep his fear from seeping into his voice. He had to be strong for his people, he was someone they relied on in times of danger and fear.... and this was definitely a time of danger and fear.
"Sire, you can't! H-it is dangerous there, what if you don't return?" A member of his court, and one of the only loyal knights, yelled frantically. Roman understood why, The Cave had been off limits to mortals for as long as they could remember as their ancestors had sensed danger radiating from it.
"If I do not return Joan shall rule, but I am certain that I shall return with some way to help our kingdom. But I must depart now if I wish to reach The Cave before nightfall," Roman replied, before taking the reigns of one of the horses that had been freed from the stabled and mounting it. "Farewell."
With that the horse galloped off, and the burning kingdom faded as Roman went against everything he had ever been taught and slowly began his journey to The Cave. He delved into a dark forest, fear overtaking his systems and causing everything to blur around him. The horse was fast, and his mind focused on every blurred abject around him as he tried to distract himself from where he was going, and what he was doing, yet far too soon he found himself at the bottom of the mountain that The Cave was in.
"Well, here goes nothing," Roman breathed out before dismounting his horse and climbing upwards, towards his childhood nightmares. His heart raced as he thought about the laws he was breaking, there had to be a reason that they weren't allowed up their. He didn't, however, have time to dwell on the fact that he could be exiled for his actions as he soon found himself unable to concentrate on anything other than the mounting that he was climbing up.
When he reached the top (and gods that was high) he didn't know what he expected, but a beautiful cave with gems twinkling light stars was not it. Maybe he was expecting harsh jagged rocks and shadows so dark they seemed like a bottomless pit, and whilst it was still dark the shadows had some sort of softness around it; it was welcoming, inviting him in without needing to say anything.
He entered, walking through it whilst barely restraining his hands from trailing over the walls, only to stumble into some sort of kitchen.
His childhood nightmare, much like the cave, was not what he had been expecting. He had been told of it's horrific ugliness and the way it seemed to tear yo apart with its gaze, yet the... the man in front of him was nothing like that at all. He had short hair that seemed to be a galaxy, pitch black eyes with swirling gold and silver dancing through them gracefully, his body was covered with a plain black robe yet his plain white shirt was covered in scribbles. The man was holding a kettle and softly singing to himself, which is probably why he hadn't heard Roman enter.
"....Aren't you meant to be evil?"
"Uh. How dare you enter my cave mortal... uh," he stopped as if deep in thought, "what do evil people act like?"
"Like... Never mind! I want to make a deal," Roman said, slowly walking towards the other man (was he really a man?), who just poured himself a cup of tea. The mans behavior struck Roman as odd and the prince tried to compare the man in front of him to the beast that he was told about during his childhood. This was not the same man that had books written about him. this was not the man that terrorized the dreams of infants... this man seemed far to gentle to do that, he was soft - like a strong wind could change his entire appearance in a few moments.
"A deal?" He asked in confusion, the spoon that he stirred his tea with clinking against the mug softly.
"Yes, a deal!"
"What do you want?" His tone shifted from kind and welcoming to harsh and defensive. This man, with the scathing tone and eyes like blackholes, was much more like the man that haunted his darkest thoughts. Yet it still wasn't quite a perfect fit, the edges of his pre-made mold for this being to fir into where still far too angular.
"My kingdom to be safe and thriving like it was before being attacked," He declared bravely, yet his trembling knees gave away his indescribable fear of what would happen if the man decided not to accept his deal. He couldn't fail his kingdom.
"Okay," he said before taking a sip of tea.
"That's it? No... hidden agenda?" The man confused Roman, nothing was free and the man had to have something he wanted from Roman - his money, his castle, his soul!
"Fine you got me, I want to be allowed inside your kingdom as a person and not treated like a monster. But no one is to know who, or rather what, I am. Okay?"
... Or basic human rights.
"Deal," he said without a moments hesitation, his fear had turned into relief that his proposition was accepted. He prayed to the gods, thanking them for allowing him a chance to save his kingdom.
"You know what happens if you break the deal?" The man - and what was his name? That was never mentioned in the bedtime stories, his father too scared that a name would humanize the villain and cause Roman to feel sympathy for it - asked. He took a final sip of tea, the mug now empty, and Roman wondered when he had even drunk it at all.
"Yep, I get cursed. Blah blah blah," Roman mocked before shoving his hand out for the other to shake it. His terror had faded, allowing his usual cocky attitude
The other did so with a smirk and it seemed as though Roman could see the whole world in that instant - he could see death and life, the end and the beginning, the infinite universe around them. It made him feel so small; and then it was over and he was back in the sparkling cave.
"There ya go, now who are you? I gotta know the first person I have seen in.... uh... however long I've been here."
"Prin-" He began, before being rudely interrupted .
"You're now called Princey," the man said, his face blank for the first time since they met.
"Okay? But my name is actually Roman,"
"Yeah sure Princey. Uh, I'm The Creator," he replied, rubbing his neck sheepishly - yet a good-natured smirk was on his face, as if he knew something that Roman didn't. Which he probably did, since Roman didn't know a great deal of things outside of his own kingdom (and the happenings of neighboring ones).
"Hi... The Creator..." Roman awkwardly greeted, the title foreign on his tongue.
"You can call me Virgil though."
"Well then, hello Virgil! Would you like to ride back to my kingdom with me to honor our deal?" Roman grandly (and dramatically) asked, trying to cover up his past awkwardness. It worked as Virgil stuttered out a faint agreement before being pulled out of his home, away from the only thing he had known for so long.