Chapter 13- The Forbidden Truth

The moment Orion took Nyx's hand, the chamber of the shadow around them collapsed into an absolute void. The torches disappeared. The stone walls fell away. Even the floor beneath him seemed to melt into nothingness.

Then... stars.

No- a universe.

Cosmic waves rippled through the darkness like ink in the water. Above him appeared an image so vast it stole his breath: a great, golden sphere blazing in infinite radiance, slowly splitting in half like a blooming star.

"Let's begin," Nyx's voice echoed around him, calm and ancient. "With the beginning of everything."

Images flickered through the darkness like lightning behind clouds. Orion saw the sphere, the beginning dividing, sending one half hurdling towards Earth. Lifeless, barren earth.

"That," Nyx continued, "was the first act of creation. God halved his innate power and sent it down to the earth with a single purpose: to create life."

The vision became sharper. He watched as light from the sky rained down to earth like burning tears, shaping landscapes, birthing oceans, and splitting mountains. He saw flames igniting in hollow caves. Trees rising from the soil. Wind howling across the seas.

"From that divine force," Nyx said, "came the gods."

Orion's eyes widened as a new form began to appear from the earth- beings made of light and divinity. Some had wings, others were formed with weapons in their hands. They were glorious and terrifying, each one different, yet connected.

"Gods werent born in one moment, but across all time," Nyx explained. "The energy He sent transcends space and chronology. It blesses beings to be gods, past, present and future. Even those who haven't been born yet.

Orion stepped forward, but his feet never reached the ground. "Wait, that means... some people are destined to be gods before they're even alive?"

"Yes," Nyx said, her tone softening." They are born chosen. Divinity is written into their very being. That's both their gift... and their curse."

Orion looked on as more visions appeared- humans transforming into gods, mortals ascending through battle or sacrifice. "Those who aren't chosen?"

Nyx paused.

"They become monsters."

The light dimmed, replaced with darker visions. The monsters were chaotic and twisted- some as big as mountains, others sleek and predatory. Creatures of shadows and rage, formed by imbalance.

"When God saw that the world leaned too much on order," Nyx continued. "HE created monsters. They were bot lesser- they were necessary, but where gods were given divinity... monsters were given infinite potential,"

The images changed again- monster and gods fighting. Oceans boiling. Mountains shattering.

"It was absolute chaos," Nyx said quietly. "Balance could not hold."

"What about humans?" Orion asked, trying to comprehend everything."Where do we come in?"

Another shift. Now Orion saw figures made of flesh, walking amidst the carnage. Frigile. Curious. Mortal.

"Eventually, God realised that gods and monsters alone could not steward the earth. So he made mortals. Humans and Elves. Dwarves, Djinn. All of them- born without divinity or monstrous potential, yet capable of choice."

Orion watched as the mortals built homes, forged weapons, and gazed at stars.

"But choice," Nyx added, "Breeds conflict."

The scene transformed again.

The war.

Orion's heart pounded as he saw it- armies of gods and monsters clashing across the sky and sea. He recognised some of them; Susanoo fighting a colossal serpent- Yamata no Orochi. Athena was locked in a brutal fight with a flaming giant-Surtur. Thor swinging Mjolnir through hordes of beasts.

"The war never truly stopped," Nyx said. "It simply paused."

The darkness flickered, showing scenes of violence. Then others emerged- leaders, rulers, divine beings standing leading their kind.

"There were gods like Odin, Amaterasu, Tezcatlipoca, Isis… kings and queens of their pantheons. And monsters like Silver the Hollow Beast, or the First Dragon, who swallowed suns whole."

Orion's head was spinning."So many powerful entities. But why do I feel that's not why you brought me here to see?"

Nyx's voice lowered.

"Because none of them were true anomalies,"

A ripple tore through the void. Everything became still. 

"There are three beings," she whispered, "that fate itself despises. We call them the Forbidden ascendants."

"Three shadows stepped into the void, towering, indescribable in scale.

"The first," Nyx said," is Shiva- the Destroyer. Called the merchant of chaos. A god who defied the rules of divinity by endlessly evolving. Growth unbound. He doesn't follow fate- he shatters it."

The shadow of Shiva twisted, his silhouette burning with violet and black flames. Worlds collapsed in his wake.

"The second... Sun Wukong, the Great Sage Equal to the Heavens. The Walking Calamity. A monster born from stone who reached the power so absurd that gods themselves united to seal him."

Orion flinched as Wukong's image formed, golden staff spinning, laughter echoing through the havoc. He looked unstoppable.

"The third..." Nyx hesitated.

The final figure appeared.

"A human. Known only as the Man-God. The Echo of Enlightenment. A mortal possessed by a god, who then overpowered his divine host... and became more."

Orion stepped back instinctively. The being was faceless. Shifting. Like reality didn't know what to make of him.

"He was the first mortal to truly defy the hierarchy. Neither god, monster, nor mortal anymore."

Nyx's tone turned solemn. "These three are errors. They were never meant to exist. Fate tried to erase them, but it couldn't. They've stepped outside of its control."

The swirling of the shadows slowed. The void quieted

Orion stood breathless, his thoughts spiralling just as wildly as the storm of visions that he had just seen. Gods, monsters, angels and forbidden beings. He couldn't make sense of what any of it meant for him.

"Why did you show me this?" he asked, voice hoarse."What do I have to do with any of it?"

Nyx turned, her silhouette outlined by the faint flicker of stars embedded within the darkness around them.

"Because you're not just in the story, Orion," she said softly, "You're about to become part of the prophecy."

"Prophecy?" he echoed, his brow furrowing.

She raised a hand, and the air around them shimmered. Threads- countless threads of light and shadow- spun into a vast, interwoven tapestry. In the centre, glowing brighter than the rest was a symbol: four stars in orbit, spinning violently, establishing everything around them.

A cold wind wept through the void as voices- many voices began to speak. Some whispered. Others boomed like thunder. Their tongues spanned languages both mortal and divine. But all spoke in eerie unison:

"The heavens shall tremble when the Four converge. The Forbidden Ascendants—chaos unchained—cannot share the same sky, nor stand upon the same earth. For when the Fourth awakens, the stars shall fracture, and fate itself shall bleed."

Orion took a step back as the words echoed through the void, etching themselves into his bones.

"The fourth? he whispered. "You said there were three..."

Nyx turned towards him again- this time, something different was in her eyes. Not amusement. Not superiority.

Fear.

"You are the fourth, Orion."

The shadows coalesced around him, Orion saw the forms again: Shiva in his chaos, Wukong in his madness, the Man-God in his defiance...

Then a fourth shape.

Smaller. Flickering. Undefined.

Him.

"But.. I'm just- he started, but his voice cracked.

"You are not just anything," Nyx interrupted."You were born with the spark that bends the stars. I don't know how. I don't know why. Not even the fates can explain it. But you are tied to them- all of them. Now... the game has begun."

Light tore through the darkness as Nyx raised her hand. In a blink, Orion was back in the chamber. The torches were still burning with purple flame. His breath came in shaky bursts. Sweat clung to his face. He has only been gone for seconds? Minutes? Days?

Nyx appeared before him, stepping through a rift in the shadows. Her voice was low now. It carried more weight with it.

"I don't know what your role will be," she said, standing inches away from him. " I don't know how you'll control the stars. Or why fate has chosen you."

She placed a single finger on his chest, right over his heart.

"But I do know this: you are now a piece on the board. The game that fates have woven?" Her eyes darkened. "It's not one you walk away from. Not anymore."

Orion stared at her.

"You are bound, Orion. Not just to prophecy... but to them."

Then her voice dropped to a whisper, and a smirk curled her lips.

"Let's hope you survive it."

The chamber shuddered. A crack of thunder split the sky above, even though they were deep underground.

And in the distance…

Something else woke up.