Sophia's Memories
Chapter 1: The Glimpse
Sophia saw the Light. She had snuck out from her familial home under Amara's watch to peek over the thin veil that connected the two universes – the matter and anti-matter universes. This wasn't her first time – now that is a story to tell. Sophia had been playing – back when Amara wasn't very tyrannical, which was a long time ago since Sophia couldn't remember it anymore – and she eagerly threw a stick a little too far for the hound to fetch. The large hound, with its volumes of menacing fur sticking out, made sad whimpering noises as it turned to face her, an expression of defeat. Comforting it with a hug and a kiss, she and the dog skipped over in the direction of the throw. She was hesitant to step outside the zone demarcated by her Mother as their home, but she knew that the sight of the retrieved stick would console the zealous mutt.
Carefully, she treaded along the dark open plains, which were a stark contrast to the luscious growth of nature that she grew up in. A naïve young thing, her curiosity was piqued by the appearance of a wavy, transparent wall that seemed so out of place in her world. She saw images moving beyond the wall – bright, luminescent images. Having known a world only through darkness, this light was magical. Unable to resist, she put a hand to the wall. "Ow!" she yelped as she pulled her hand away in pain. Her hand became a dangerously deep shade of red and little wisps of smoke emanated from it. Damn. "If Mother finds out, I'm going to be in a lot of trouble, Shika," she whispered to the hound. The hound simply stared blankly at her. "Heal faster dammit!" she begged her hand. But the process was slower than usual, which began to worry her. The dog, which had been quiet all this while, opened its large mouth and through sharp teeth licked her hand, slobbering all over it. That helped a bit. Her hand was returning to its normal colour, leaving almost no trace of what had happened.
Relieved, she stared back at the veil. Being more careful this time, she tuned her senses to adjust for the wavy texture of the wall. Focussing, she saw the movement again. There were living beings. Beings just like her, except they were masculine. She saw one of them – he had this beautiful red hair with a glowing complexion. He was chasing another being, who had a glassy, transparent form and they were flying around playfully. Having grown up alone, Sophia became excited at the thought of making friends. She wanted to get their attention, but nothing from her world seemed to be able to breach the wall. Not sound, not physical objects. Only the light from their essences.
"Adhya! Where are you?" She heard her Mother call. Adhya was what she was named when she was born. 'The first one', it meant. It was a name she wouldn't hear for a very, very long time after. Snapping her out of her daze, her Mother's call inspired panic in her. She wasn't supposed to be here. She picked up the hound in her arms and flew as fast as she could back to the palace, using an obscure back passage to enter and go to the garden, where she had been playing. Surely enough, Amara was standing there, hands on Her hips, scanning the garden for Her beloved daughter. "There you are," She remarked affectionately, spotting Her young one.
Sophia set the dog down, letting it wander about the garden. Amara picked Sophia up, gently kissing her on the cheek. Sophia put her arms around her Mother, embracing Her. Amara softly laughed, staring into the eyes of Her first child, which had black sclerae with green irises, unlike those of God's sons which had coloured sclerae. "It's time for you to meet your family, love," Amara whispered. "One day, you will rule over what I have made and take your rightful place in this kingdom."
Sophia was, at this point, still too young to understand the intricacies and principles of power and politics. Her time was mostly spent on enjoying her lonely childhood and at times, learning about the culture of her family. She didn't really understand what a kingdom was, or why she was meant to rule, but she only knew that she wanted to please her Mother. "Yes, Mama," she replied, flashing Her a toothy grin. Returning the smile, Amara leaned Her head on Sophia's forehead. But all Sophia could think about was those strange beautiful creatures she saw at the edge of the universe.
Back at the palace, the celebratory air permeated throughout the large complex, which was made of a main hall where everyone was gathered and public assemblies were held. It was the largest part of the palace, made to hold all the soldiers, generals and members of the royal family. Behind it were the offices where the army and royal family worked and even further back were the residential areas, where the royal family resided and Sophia was kept a guarded secret from everyone, even her own family. Until now, that is. That day, she was to be introduced to everyone and celebrated for her purity and honour in the eyes of The Great Mother, The Darkness, Amara, who had created everyone and everything in the anti-matter universe.
Her immediate family consisted of the Anti-Archs. Although they were not as powerful as Sophia, they certainly were the anti-matter equivalent of Archangels in God's universe. Amara had made them as three different lineages – the Sages, the Caregivers and the Warriors, all from Sophia's own attributes. There were two of each type of Anti-Arch, and each type of Anti-Arch also had its own line of cruarchs – followers, soldiers, what have you, which were the equivalent of angels and helped served the duties of the Anti-Archs. All of them, along with a variety of lower creatures, made up Amara's kingdom.
Where did Sophia fit into all of this? As Amara's first, she held a special place in this universe. Amara didn't want to rule or get involved in the affairs of Her own creations – She didn't have the patience for that. Sophia would assume Her place as The Great Archon, Bearer of Darkness, while Amara settled for the small pleasures from watching over Her creations from afar. That fateful day, She would show the world Her beautiful child, older than everyone else yet more youthful in appearance and wisdom. For Sophia to become the great being she was intended to be, she had to age slowly and gather the fruits of wisdom along the long path to maturity. At this point, Sophia had developed some rudimentary understanding of the world and was capable of carrying herself like the royal daughter she was meant to be, and this celebration was also intended for her to meet all the beings she would work with and rule over.
In her room, servants bustled around, getting things ready for Sophia. First, there was the bath, where the maids washed her with the fragrant ether from springs of mountains afar. Then, they brought for her a black dress which was made over the course of several centuries to include the finest fabric of the land, a rare cotton that was produced by only one type of plant which had to be carefully grown in its natural setting and harvested over several decades before being refined and drawn on by the best artists. The dress accentuated her natural curves, resting comfortably on her bosom and hips, as well as flowing freely down her thighs. Next came the jewellery and accessories. The intricate necklace, arm bands, headdress and bangles were made from an obsidian metal that was embedded with green gemstones to match her eyes. Finally, they did up her hair with many curls, letting small locks of curls escape. She was ready.
Sophia held her Mother's hand as they slowly walked down the stairs leading to the hall, in plain view of all the guests. Gasps and delighted murmurs resounded as they finally laid eyes upon her, after years of anticipation for this glorious moment. Her grey skin was radiant and its beauty took their breaths away. "I present to all of you, your future Archon, Adhya!" Amara's voice boomed. The hall soon erupted in applause and cheers. Sophia raised a hand to wave at her soon-to-be subjects.
Later, she was introduced to the Anti-Archs. There were the sages, Erin and Rumi, the warriors, Therin and Athreya, and the caregivers, Sova and Zaki. Sova was the first to receive her with open arms, embracing her. She had a warm smile that comforted Sophia, who was initially anxious about meeting a family who had never gotten to know her from the beginning. "So nice to finally meet you!" Hesitant at first, Sophia returned the embrace, and smiled at the others. The Anti-Archs were mostly female, as opposed to God's masculine archangels, a symbolic difference, Sophia would later realise. Only Athreya and Rumi were male, and both eyed her with a desire, though only one of them was allowed to ever pursue his carnal desires.
Joyous music played in the background, as Athreya and Sophia were left alone. "Would you like to have this dance?" he asked Sophia, a glint in his eye. Like everyone there, he had black sclerae, but with red irises. Taken by his form and request, Sophia gladly accepted, placing her hand in his. Fixing a loving gaze on her, he led her to the dance floor, where they moved in unison about the central fountain. Soon, all the dancing pairs left the dance floor, only to look in awe as they both danced merrily and gracefully. The pace of the music got faster and so did their movements. As the song came to an end, she threw her head back in laughter as Athreya pulled her closer to him and their faces were close to each other. Sophia's eyes stared into Athreya's, a moment in time becoming frozen. Then, self-awareness overcame her and she shyly parted from him, going to Sova's side as the others watched. Here, no one shunned romantic relations between the ranks, with Amara even remarking to Erin that Her daughter would choose whoever she wanted in due time.
The celebration was grand and Sophia certainly enjoyed seeing all these people who loved her even before knowing what she looked like, but no one could have guessed that she had been coming up with ideas on how to deal with the strange wall she had seen earlier. She was snapped out of her thoughts by Zaki, whose excited arms pulled her to a podium on which all the Anti-Archs had gathered with instruments. "Sing with us, Adhya," she beckoned. They all played their instruments to a familiar tune – Sophia had been taught all the folk songs by Amara and knew them well. As the chorus came, the others fell silent as Sophia began to sing, her silvery voice awe-inspiring to everyone else. The song soon reached a crescendo and picked up its pace. Lost in the music, Sophia danced, the cruarchs even joining her as she swirled merrily about the fountain in song. It was the happiest day of her life.
And here she was now, weeks later, in front of the partition. She didn't come empty-handed. She had come to realise that if she couldn't touch the wall with her bare hands, she would have to use some kind of protective material to interact with it. Sufficed to say, scientific investigation had been her destiny since the very beginning. She had with her a variety of crystals and metals – materials she had bought when Athreya invited her to join him on a trip to the marketplace. He had shown her around from time to time, the first time somewhat of a ruckus since a large crowd of curious onlookers followed them everywhere they went. Sensitive to her desire to roam freely, Athreya had a cloak made for her to disguise her appearance in public. How thoughtful of him, she had thought. She couldn't deny that there was some attraction there between them, although she didn't know what to do about it.
On one hand, everyone would certainly approve of the pairing; Athreya had come to be respected for his strategic mind and bravery in a battle he led against the Jotuns from a neighbouring realm. If there was anyone suited to be the partner of the Archon, it would be him. He was also kind and treated her well, all the attributes of someone worth loving. On the other hand, all of this was so new to Sophia. It was not too long ago that she was playing with her hounds and hunting for precious blue sapphires in the river that flowed through the garden. She didn't feel ready to rule and the thought scared her. She just wanted to be left to her own devices for as long as was possible. The burden of overlooking the kingdom seemed too much for her to handle. But sneaking out into the open to peak over into the neighbouring universe, however, was a side-project that gave her something to look forward to.
Clearing these thoughts from her mind, she focussed on the task at hand. Slowly she used the materials one by one to touch the veil. One by one, each item disintegrated, leaving charred remains at her feet. She sighed. This is pointless, she thought. She sat down on the sand, hugging her knees to her chest. Staring at the other universe, she saw small sparks of light from distant suns. They glimmered elegantly, their soft glow illuminating her features in the dark background of her native universe. As she looked on, a large figure appeared on the other side of the veil. He looked at her curiously, having come to investigate the source of the disruptive ripples on the partition.
God had been sure that Amara had sent some miscreants to disturb the wall that kept the mutually-destructive forces of their existences separate. But as He found, it was just a young creature that looked back at Him with the same curiosity that He harboured. "What are you doing?" He asked. Surprised to hear a voice through the veil, Sophia gasped and scrambled backwards, but soon paused, seeing that the other being didn't seem threatening.
"I-I was just curious," she muttered softly.
God's gaze softened. "What's your name?"
"Adhya." Adhya. So she was the one. The first one His sister had created. She looked like such a sweet young thing, obviously meaning no harm.
"Adhya, what are you curious about?"
"What's on the other side?"
God knelt, bringing His eyes to her level. "A whole universe, just like yours. Here the universe is made of Light, my light, just as your universe is made of the Darkness that comes from your Mother." Sophia's eyes widened. "Do you want to see it?"
Adventure! Exciting. "Yes, please."
God placed both His hands on the veil. "I can't bring you over the partition, but I can show you what it looks like. Place your hands against mine."
Hesitant at first, she brought up a hand and put it against where God's hand was. Finding that it didn't burn like the last time, she rested her other hand comfortably on the veil as well. She closed her eyes. Suddenly, she was able to see things she had never been able to see before. God showed her the suns, the moons, the planets. The mere sight of these phenomena sent shivers through her body from their sheer beauty. They were polar opposites to what she had seen in her own universe – black suns that sucked the light out of every corner, monochrome skies and the suffocating heat in vacuum. "That is incredible," she remarked.
"I'm glad you like it. I created all of it."
Sophia pulled away and grinned at him, clearly satisfied with the experience. "Who are you?"
"I am your uncle, God."
"Mother never mentioned a brother… but then again She doesn't mention a lot of things." Her gaze fell, the smile on her face slowly vanishing.
"Something on your mind, little one?" God asked, concerned to see her shoulders drop with burden.
"I'm meant to become a ruler of sorts… but I haven't got the first clue as to what I'm supposed to do or who I'm supposed to be."
"Hmm… what would you rather be doing?"
"I like to wander the lands, sing with the birds, grow some flowers, things like that. Once, I fed my hound a blue-corn fruit that I picked from a tree that Mother purposely grew to be too high for the dog to reach and the hound fell sick. I was so worried about what Mother would say and I tried to do whatever I could to fix the dog! I tried every leaf, every flower I could find, and finally one worked and cured it! Mother only wondered why the dog was not eating properly but She never suspected a thing otherwise," Sophia went on and on and her speech soon evolved into a mischievous giggle. "Don't tell Mommy, okay?"
God chortled. "I won't if you don't tell Her about our little meeting, alright? It'll be our little secret. Now go home before Mommy wonders where you are."
She grinned from ear to ear. "Okay, Uncle!" Satisfied, she returned home. Little did she know that this one encounter would set the stage for the rest of her life and affect her in ways she wouldn't be able to imagine.