[color=gray]silence...

darkness...

the flickering light of a [color=white]soul[/color] wandering the eternal...

no [i]purpose[/i], no [u]drive[/u], no [b]reason[/b]...

nothing but [u][i][b]instinct[/b][/i][/u], a reaction to change...

and then a pull, change...![/color]

The soul fell through a dark tunnel, its surroundings changing rapidly. There were more like it, being drawn in by the suction of the vortex, kidnapped from their home of nothingness, into something.

After an inordinate amount of time, the scenery changed once again. The vortex gave way to a tunnel of solid rock. It seemed they were finally nearing their destination. The soul accelerated, even more, its shape now distorted, resembling more of a beam of energy than the formless mass it previously was.

The moment the surge of souls spewed through the hole at the other end of the tunnel, it had developed such speed, such momentum. Without even trying to stop, it shot forward with a might unlike any other, slicing through the air before finally being stopped by, once more, solid rock.

Buried there as it was, it felt a warmth slowly enveloping it, nurturing it, penetrating deep into its core and making its presence known to the soul, before slowly withdrawing. Offering nothing but a reason, a purpose, and the power to make it a reality, the warmth left. Coldness returned. Darkness ensued.

The soul accepted it all, absorbed it all, for it was what it was meant to do. Slowly at first, manifesting inside the soul, a black spot as tiny as tiny cannot describe emerged. By borrowing from the power given to it, the black spot expanded outwards, gnawing on the opaque insides of the soul. Soon enough, the entirety of the soul was devoured by the darkness and in its place, a pitch black bead lay buried.

And then a crack, loud enough to reverberate across the universe, but quiet enough to not be detected by the most alert of beings. From within the crack, a single tendril emerged that started burrowing deeper into the ground as if searching for the end of the world. Born from the original, more tendrils branched off into different directions, searching for the same thing. A framework had been created with enough stability to allow the black bead to finally emerge from its underground blanket of soil, and fly into its rightful place among the stars.

The process quickened from here on, with the bead breaking the soil and rising to the occasion. At the same time, the bead started getting larger and larger, rising higher and higher until eventually, the sheer weight of the bead could not be held by its stem and as such, with a plop, it fell from above straight back to the earth.

A faint light pulsed from within the bead, more like a sphere now, that rippled outwards. From its surface, a faint dark mist was being emitted that shrouded the sphere from curious eyes. Then a crack, once again, and the mist started picking up speed, swirling around the black sphere.

A being slowly stood up, and the mist sped up more, constricting the being within it as it shrank. Starting from the ground, the mist clung onto the being's surface, it's skin, before being rapidly absorbed. In its place, two legs, a torso, two arms, and a head. What remained of the mist stuck itself on top of the being's head, transforming into a floor-length pitch-black darkness.

The being slowly opened its eyes and took in its surroundings. From the river of souls up above scattering away, to the group of beings that had remained, the being did not spare much more than a glance. When He came into view, however, the being's eyes opened wide, taking in His image and branding it to memory. This, no, He was the one that called into the void, He was the one that dragged the being into this universe, and He was the one that gave it its purpose.

But why? Why would He create all this, but then call upon a being like itself and give it such a purpose? It needed to know.

Darkness enveloped the being's legs and lower torso as it slowly took off, flying towards the Architect. It regarded Him as He stood there, eye closed, body statuesque as if fused with His surroundings. The being stopped some distance away from the towering Architect and opened its mouth. A soft voice, a single word.

[color=DAA520][b]Why?[/b][/color]