[i][b]“How curious…”[/b][/i]

The deity had been navigating the vast expanse of the Astral Realm for quite a while; initially he hadn’t considered his addition into the Khodex to have been important in the grand scheme of things, as there were quite a number of other deities that seemed eager to prove themselves in that regard. This, along with the fact that he seemed to—unlike his previous home—be freed of any severe limitations within this Universe, gave him enough leeway to experiment with his gifts this time around. This, unfortunately, had caused him to be somewhat careless instead…

Granted, he had not been at the best of states upon his arrival—even now he was still getting adjusted to existence within a different Universe. Nevertheless, tapping into his instinctual creation—a stroke of brilliance, one might even say—and feeling the sheer magnitude of myriad potentialities lying dormant within the Astral, had made him question his ability to ever top this first creation of his.

[i][b]“How very curious…”[/b][/i]

This was not the void known to many. This was a void that throbbed, that teetered on the edge of becoming, a space not just of emptiness but of expectancy. It was as if this vast expanse was holding in a secret, a whisper of what was to come, encased in an embryonic quietude of a world yet to awaken.

During his initial venture within this parallel dimension, each step, each movement had been an echo of profound stillness. With no stars to grace his path and no entities to guide him, it had been up to him to map out the sea of potential he’d so carelessly put forth into existence. Of course, a nascent deity is still a deity in the end, and the Astral was technically his domain—until potential usurpers rallied up against him—and so he had quickly toured the other side of the veil ‘from one end to the other’ with relative ease.

[i][b]“How very, very curious…”[/b][/i]

At a time before Time and Creation, it would be logical for there to be neither brilliance nor darkness, neither form nor the absence of it. Even more so for a realm such as the Astral which was beyond simple descriptors, an expanse where the conventional binaries of existence didn't—and wouldn’t, if he had done his job as well as he thought he had—quite apply. Of course, it would also be logical for there to be a palpable sense of something magnificent waiting to burst forth. Such was, as far as he was concerned, the nature of Universe creation.

And although there were no named energies or known forces yet, the deity had an inkling, a vague awareness of a magnificent power that would soon flood this space. He felt its impending arrival, sensed the ripples it would create, the luminosity it would bring, and the dance it would instigate between realms yet to be defined. This force would be a beacon of potentiality, the cornerstone of all creation, nay, the nexus where dreams and reality would intertwine.

Those had been his thoughts before coming across the peculiarity that floated before him at that very moment.

[i][b]“How very, very, very curious…”[/b][/i]

He faintly recalled the existence of such a thing; one of his siblings had had quite a…  thematic resonance with them, and the selection of memories from said sibling, although fuzzy, had been quite strange—so much so that they caused him to be quite hesitant as to how he would have to act going forward.

He floated around the unannounced visitor. The faint point of light in the sea of nothingness, before creation, had been—as one might expect—an unexpected surprise for the deity. He had been equally surprised to discover, upon probing it with his senses, of the fragile link it held with… something beyond the barrier separating the Astral and the Material. It was only after probing for a second time, even more carefully than before, that he had discovered faint traces of another deity’s essence reinforcing the connection.

[i][b]“Hmm, this is an unfamiliar essence…”[/b][/i] The deity pondered upon the origin of this divine interference, before letting out a proverbial sigh. [i][b]“I should, at the very least, become familiar with the others’ divine traces…”[/b][/i]

With that thought in mind, he glanced back at the divine parasite one of his, oh so unaware, colleagues must have inadvertently infected his realm with, and was of half a mind to wipe it out of existence then and there. However, just like how the parasite had linked itself to the Astral Realm, a small intrusive thought clung at the back of his magnificent, divine skull—what if?

Immediately, countless thoughts swirled around his head, reasons as to why letting it remain as it was would be a bad idea, both in the short as well as the long run. How allowing it to exist as something half-way between the Astral and the Material would somehow break the delicate balance between the Realms.

[i][b]“Yes, but what if?”[/b][/i]

Like a gong going off inside the deity’s mind, this single thought washed over all other cautionary bells and whistles; on the spur of the moment and without much further thought, he put two fingers together and snapped. Immediately, the Astral Realm rippled, his power reverberating across his domain and back before concentrating around the tiny connection fostered by the intruder. His divine essence melded within, infusing it and reinforcing the link between the Material body and whatever Astral counterpart this… tuber of sorts had managed to cobble up with the help of another deity.

[i][b]“Monitoring this fledgling experiment ought to be a somewhat interesting pastime, I suppose,”[/b][/i] he thought and tapped the top of the fungus one time, marking it so as to know of its location within the Astral Realm at all times. He then glanced at it one last time, before vanishing.

[hider=Summary]In the vast Astral Realm, Ull'yang, still adjusting to his newfound freedom from prior constraints, navigates an expectant void teetering on the cusp of creation. Amid the profound stillness, he stumbles upon an unexpected visitor—the echo of the mushroom Hummus' power allowed to bridge between the Astral and Material realms. While tempted to obliterate this intrusion, a momentary thought compels him to enhance the connection. With the "experiment" marked for monitoring, Ull'yang vanishes, leaving behind a realm echoing with potentialities.[/hider]