Antonio's body vanished as if it had never existed, and the cave fell into a dreadful silence. There was no movement, nobody. That's how the end of our hero was on earth.
After a long time, there was a sound and darkness everywhere.
Antonio's consciousness returned, and he found himself in total darkness, scared, not knowing what was happening to him.
"Where am I… Am I dead?" Those were the first thoughts that came to his mind. He then remembered he was in a cave, the marks, the call that took him to that cave, and he had touched it.
As if waiting for him to remember, many lights started to shine, like in the cave, but on a much bigger scale.
"Wow, I feel small, like an insect in front of these mysterious lights and marks." He felt his inferiority. He didn't understand but could feel it.
Then all the light rushed onto his body—they were all pouring onto him. He felt a sensation like never before. He felt at home, like a peace that was missing and was found by chance.
The vision began to appear in his mind: the creation of the world, the creation of different races. He saw many entities unrecognizable to him.
"Who are you and why are you showing all this vision?" he couldn't keep it anymore—he needed an answer. Was all of this done by a God? Why do this to him? Why call him?
He was sure he was chosen for something. The feelings weren't lying to him.
A vision of a sphere appeared to him, containing immense energy. There was an entity in it—a baby, yes, a baby, and it was feeling lonely. In this vast universe, there was nothing, only emptiness.
That feeling of loneliness entered him. He could feel those emotions, those feelings, even though it was just a vision. But to him, it felt like he was living it.
"I see, I can feel it, but I still don't understand why you chose me."
The vision changed. It showed the sphere or egg cracking—the being was born, and with it, numerous marks. All those marks seemed to venerate it. They submitted, bowed to its grace.
And then something unexpected happened: an attack coming from who knows where, aiming for the baby. The marks reacted with extreme speed, beyond human understanding. Many marks and lights were destroyed, but sadly, the child was wounded.
The entity that attacked was coming—they could feel it. All the marks and lights that remained united their power and transferred it to the child in the hope of saving it. When all the light fused with the baby, a child was in its place, then a cocoon enveloped it.
That entity roared with fury. A feeling of indignation was coming—how could those lights and marks fuse with that baby? Why choose that recently born entity without power?
"What are they? Are they Gods or evolved lifeforms, out of the concept of knowledge we have as humans?" Antonio kept pondering, but he was also focused on what he saw.
The feeling being transferred to him was one of distress.
Even though it was helped by the mysterious Marks, it still was not enough. The cocoon was opening, and what came out of it was a child, a little boy.
It looked at me, and I felt it within my soul—something horrible had happened, and it was afraid its existence was disappearing.
After all of that time it took for it to be born, and just to fall victim to someone who is jealous.
"But why? Why did he do this to you?" Antonio felt a wrenching pain in his heart.
The child began emitting light, burning so brightly that it seemed like a dying star in its last brilliance. The light exploded, but it wasn't its end. From the child's last lights, a new entity was born—no, two of them. Two serpents so big, so vast, and impossible to know their whole length.
They were majestic. They looked at Antonio, and one gave a sense of calm, while the others gave a sense of utter destruction and rage.
When they looked at Antonio through this strange vision, as if telling him something, but the new feeling that was transferred, he couldn't understand.
"Sigh, what a sad fate. One was robbed of its chance to live, and two were born from it."
The two serpents coiled around each other. It was also at this time that the entity that attacked made its presence known—it had been waiting for this moment.
A deep voice filled with malice was heard: "Sacrificing so much to destroy your existence, but I didn't expect this surprise. I was the only one courageous enough to do it, I Azh'Koth the Devourer, will remember you"!
The entity was overflowing with pride as if it could already savor a delicacy. Antonio felt it—the serpents born were in danger.
The two serpents coiled around each other, and they emitted a bright light that took everyone by surprise.
"What! How can it be? Nooooooo!" That terrible entity made a cry of pain as if it couldn't believe it.
"What's happening? What have they done?"
It was then that Antonio saw a beam of light coming from the serpents—they hurt the monster trying to devour them. One of them fled after the attack. One stood guard, trying to buy time for the fleeing one.
At that moment, Antonio understood—it was sacrificing itself for its brother.
"How could fate be so horrible? Why being born if it's just suffering from the beginning?"
The entity was bound by something; it was freeing itself.
"It doesn't matter how long it takes; I will find your other half and devour him, but I will start with you."
The last serpent was in danger, but all Antonio could do was watch, for all of it was just a vision shown to him. The entity stretched its hand—it was darkness. That hand felt like darkness was trying to capture the last serpent, but it attacked it with a beam of multiple lights.
The end wavered a little, but it kept going. It was then that a star was passing by, and Antonio could see something in it.
"Is it myself that I'm seeing in that star?"
It was showing his life on earth—it was his soul. That star, as if sent by fate, passed near this turmoil zone of supreme beings. The last serpent sprinted in that direction, and the entity followed it with rage.
"You won't escape! I lost one of you already—you will be devoured by me or just be destroyed!"
It was enraged. It seemed to know what that star meant, it felt toyed by fate. That delicious snack would disappear from him, or even forever, if he didn't get it now.
The star accelerated in the serpent's direction as if it found its destiny.
A way of survival appeared before the last snake—it was Antonio's soul, and way before he was born on earth, it was his existence. Laws existed in this universe, and it seems the snake felt that it could survive if it could get into that star.
Only the one following knew what would happen if the serpent got on the star, and that feeling of unrest was felt by the serpent, and that made it joyful. It didn't know why it was attacked, but an instinct told it that the entity wasn't anything good.
"Argh, there is no other way after all of this sacrifice—die, you primitive beast!"
It attacked. A dark beam of energy touched the serpent, and it hissed in pain, but it didn't give up, and fate already had a destiny for it. Hurt, it fell on the star, and a miracle happened—a distortion started to appear on the star.
The lights and marks appeared all over its body and fused with the star, and that was Antonio.
"No, no, no, why will it love you so much?" It was the desperate cry of someone who had lost the most precious of his treasures.
With the fall and fusion of the marks and light with the star, a name was given to the new entity. The laws of the universe manifested, and Uhn'Zaka was born, representing courage, transformation, and the survival instinct. A young God was born after many trials.
New memory filled Uhn'Zaka. It was born as a lesser God; it was born one of trillions of essences filled with Marks of creation, making it the most valuable thing in the whole universe to the High Gods. This one discovered him when it was born, even though he was hidden by the universe itself, but luck wasn't on his side.
Now it was weak, not born with its full potential. It got reduced to a lesser god, one that can only be manifested by the spirit of a totem. The child, fearful that its existence would be consumed and erased, made the twin serpent preserve its own existence.
"I understand now, all of it was just destiny, and it's not fair, but I just happened to be in your path, and you chose me." Antonio realized it was not something in the control of the serpent or him—it all just happened by fate.
The vision shifted to the God who attacked them and was hurt badly. It seems like he made a big commotion trying to get Uhn'Zaka, and the universe laws attacked him.
A feeling of rage and powerlessness was being felt by the serpent. It somehow survived, emerged victorious from its first challenge, and hissed at the God, as if defying it and telling it it would pay one day.
A pained feeling soon arose—it remembered its twin, born from the same burning essence.
But it was sure its twin also survived this calamity. Now it was time for it to restore some of its strength and needed a world that was not dangerous to send this soul.
With the knowledge it had gained, a wormhole would soon transport this star, containing the soul of this human, to a planet. But it needed to change its destination—it would do its best to send it to the remote universe so that it could restore its strength there and find its twin.
He could feel that his twin was happy his brother had survived. Now they just needed to reunite one day, and vengeance would be upon the Evil High God Azh'Koth. It sent a message to the other half—they needed to meet one day when they returned to the center of the universe, but they should go to a secluded place to rest.
With that, the vision was over. Antonio saw the Symbol of the serpent before him.
"If I'm right, after that, you took my soul to earth, and now it's time for us to return to the central universe?"
The serpent sent a feeling of agreement, but also refused, as if telling him it was not the time to go to the central universe. Still, they would go to the new world, where they would develop their power. In the world Antonio was in, resources were scarce, and it wasn't worth staying there.
"Sigh, all of this seems pretty unbelievable, from a simple life on earth to this universal stuff." Antonio was still in disbelief. But all that was happening to him was just as real as he could feel.
"But what about my family on earth? They will be heartbroken from my disappearance," Antonio couldn't help but lament.
Sharing Antonio's feeling, Uhn'Zaka felt extremely sorry; he didn't know that awakening from its slumber would take Antonio away. He also couldn't control when Antonio would appear in the cave, but it was all fate.
"Don't worry, they are things that happen out of our control. "Feeling the Uhn'Zaka feeling, Antonio tried to reassure him and tell him that it's not his fault.
Getting the reassurance, the serpent entered Antonio's body, and marks appeared on his skin. He could tell the serpent was using power to transfer him to a new place.
"Where are we going?" he asked in his mind. A voice came with a short answer he could understand.
"New world to get stronger" was the first time Antonio heard Uhn'zaka's voice; it was a child's voice, a calm and peaceful one.
In his mind, he could feel a playful voice. Maybe all this time, this lesser God had been in slumber, and it hadn't matured much—it was still just a child.