How long had it been? How long since that dreadful day? [i]Step, step, step[/i]. There was nothing but footsteps to be heard. There was nothing but the hard, dry dirt to be seen. Occasionally, there came a crumbled wall made of bricks, or a charred tree trunk, or a dried up riverbed, but there was nothing of any significance. No life to be seen, not even a skeleton. Even the twin suns that illuminated the land seemed dim and small. The world was barren. For the longest time, there was only... [i]it[/i]. Years had stretched to decades, which stretched to centuries, which stretched to millennia. So much time passed, and it could only stare listlessly as it traversed the land for the umpteenth time. Why was it still here, when all others were gone? Why was it the only one to face this... was this its punishment? Was this its fault? Who even was it? It used to have memories of happier times. A shrill laugh, a bright spot of colors, a sense of accomplishment.... It didn't matter anymore. There was nothing anymore. It was meaningless now. Or at least, that was what it thought. It stopped, for the first time in ages. There was... a [i]call[/i]. This was new. This was... something. Something from beyond the void. It felt the pull, having no will to resist. It left... and the world truly became nothing. [hr] It found itself in another void, but this one was different. A void, yet not a void. Strange. There was... potential. There was... life. There was... [i]him[/i]. the... Architect. And there was... [i]me[/i]... [i]Who was I[/i]... With these new, no, [i]old[/i] sensations came the memories. The smile of a being once similar to it. The sensation of warmth from the ground. It remembered... [i]she[/i] remembered. Her name was Arae. She was once the one and only Goddess of her world... no longer. That was in the past now. Now, she was born anew. For the first time, she truly [i]saw[/i] again. She saw her new body, long and slender, sky-blue and peach. She saw the Architect, large and imposing. She saw the beings that formed around her... beings that would make up... her new family. This was a second chance. And she would not waste it.