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The world trembled and another fragment of Creation disappeared into the nothingness that surrounded it.
The Hierophant stood alone and watched as the world died. His prison was, at last, breaking. He would have his freedom.
Masego of the Woe stood alone and watched as the world died. His home. His prison. The place he had spent nearly the entirety of his existence in, was crumbling away. Falling apart.
He anticipated its end. He was mourning its end. This place he loved, filled with beauty and wonders even after thousands upon thousands of years of seeing it. Experiencing it. Living in it.
One by one the stars dimmed and faded until only two were left. Old companions. Providence and Calamity. He wished Akua Sahelian could be with him then. The rest of his family had died.
Hierophant. The last one standing of the Woe.
His hand came to the chain of gold around his neck that bore a part of their ashes. He stared at the horizon even as another piece of the world fell away.
He stood. Watching. Waiting.
Until the end drew itself to him and even Fortune and Misfortune disappeared from the sky, moving on to some other realm where the Gods kept what they deemed worthy of preserving. His Name and magic flared. Burning brighter than the Summer sun that had forged it. Brighter than any miracle he had borne Witness to since. The light of it encompassed him and protected him.
For one moment, there was nothing around him but darkness. Then one by one, slowly at first, stars appeared throughout the void.
Light burst and spread in the empty spaces and the stars dotting the firmament grew and grew and multiplied. So many that they seemed to completely replace the dark that had preceded them. So bright that it seemed impossible it had begun mere heartbeats prior. Inconceivable to think it would end again some distant day.
So beautiful and wondrous that thinking of that fated end would break anyone's heart.
So beautiful and wondrous that anyone would glory in beholding even the merest glimpse of it.
In that moment, the Hierophant. Masego. Floated. Admiring. Searing this sight in his soul. Unto a star himself as his power shone.
And then...
Masego bore Witness as another world was born.