2004

11:28 AM

Vivian woke up, but she was still half asleep. She didn't stay up TOO late last night, but still she was tired. She checked the time. It was a reasonable time to get up. The math says she slept about 12 hours. Maybe a bit less, since nobody falls asleep immediately. But still, she was tired. These were the types of details that bothered her, where all the evidence defied the truth. But her thoughts quickly drifted away from bothersome nonsense as she started to plan the day. She looked at the computer. There was a sticky note on the mouse. Seeing this made her remember the final moments of the night, almost impressed at herself for doing something slightly clever. Since there were no noodles left, and that was pretty much what she and Goombella lived off of, it was probably for the best to get some.

Vivian floated down the stairs of her apartment building, and stepped outside. She was greeted with a warm summer breeze. Because of her odd leg structure, she could feel the ground perfectly. A warm, slightly bumpy surface. It felt like a nice contrast to the smooth, cool floor she spent all day feeling the day before. She continued to smoothly float down the road, knowing the neighborhood well enough to get to any area of importance. Her thoughts wandered. Mostly, though, she worried about the future. Where would she go? What would she do? Would she be able to stay with Goombella, or even marry her at some point? Speaking of which, what does Goombella want to do, and where will she go? Are their futures compatible? She prayed that everything would be perfectly fine, but she worried. After lots of troublesome thoughts, the grocery store came into sight. She entered the impossibly large building, containing enough food to last a century-long siege. She glided absentmindedly to the correct aisle, homing in on the prized noodles. She decided on getting two packs of six, for $5 each. As she reached for them, she heard a voice. "Vivian. Come here!" She heard. Vivian looked around, but there was nobody in sight but an absent-minded Koopa. The voice confused her. She knew she had heard it somewhere, hundreds and hundreds of times, so why couldn't she remember now? It made her frustrated, in the same way that her tiredness despite her sleep made her frustrated. Maybe something was wrong with her. She could hear doctors already saying it: "Vivian, everything is your fault and nothing can change it, sorry". She snapped out of her downward thought spiral, and noticed how stupid that thought process was. But who was that voice? Vivian thought on it. She stood at the chasm of memories, walking towards it but staying in the same place. She decided she might as well grab the noodles and leave. She reached for the six-pack box, coloured bright red with some complicated, foreign characters written in a bubbly font; but something pulled her away. Specifically, downwards, into the floor. This was not something new to her, she had done this hundreds of times both alone and taking others down too. The power was unique to the shadow sirens, a trio of sisters-

Vivian figured out who the voice was. It was her horrible, nasty, and wicked sister: Beldam. She realized that she didn't actually want to remember that Beldam even existed, likely why she couldn't recognize her own sister's voice. "Vivian! I've been looking for you. I had word you were in this area. Despite what you may think about me, I am here to help you." Beldam whispered. This did little to soothe Vivian. Sure, she said she wanted to help, but with what? Vivian was in a perfectly fine situation, she didn't need Beldam's help! It would probably only make things worse. Maybe Beldam was just trying to trick her into working for her again. But Vivian decided to play along, at least for now. Beldam led Vivian to her shadowy abode, in a crack two inches wide between two buildings. It was a nice place, and it did well despite having no space to store anything. Beldam began to explain. "There are these two beings at war with each other. Nobody knows where they came from, or even what shape they take. We know two things about them: One, as I've said before, they are at war with each other; and that they both have an infinite supply of knowledge and power. They know we are having this conversation right now. They know what we have done, what we're doing, and what we will do. One of them is Omanipo. Omanipo is, as most would call it, the 'good', or the 'light'. They believe in the value of individual lives, and having people redeem themselves and all that. The other, Maonipo, is the extreme opposite. They do not care about life, and seeks the destruction of it. These opposites are locked in a battle, but they do not fight. They are at an eternal stalemate. Imagine two kings on a chessboard. Trying to attack the other will get them killed, if both players are playing logically." Vivian stood in silence for a few moments, just trying to draw out the whole picture. But something bothered her. "Beldam, you said you were going to help me, didn't you? What do these impossible beings have to do with me, a nothing?" Vivian asked. Beldam sighed. She saw how little Vivian valued herself, and Beldam knew that it was her fault. She felt some emotion, she guessed it was pity. "Vivian, these beings have impossible power. Imagine what we could do if I got just a taste of it!" Beldam exclaimed. "If... You got a taste of it? Beldam, you won't get any powers. Omanipo knows what you would do with them." Vivian said, growing more and more suspicious of her sister. Beldam chuckled. "Well, if thats the case, I'll just go to Maonipo! They'll give me some chaos!" Vivian talked in a very stern and serious tone. "Beldam. You're horrible. But that doesn't matter. Omanipo will stop you." Beldam smirked. "Maonipo will protect me from them." Vivian slowly realized what was going to happen if Beldam gained Maonipo's power. The pieces, locked in stalemate with no other being in play, would have another piece on the board. They would begin to attack each other, and the war would escalate. It could wipe out all of the planets, and all of the universe. Vivian tried to explain this to Beldam, but she remained ignorant. Vivian was shocked and horrified and this display of both arrogance and selfishness. She would have to stop Beldam in her tracks as soon as possible, and right now was a possibility.

Vivian had a few moves she knew how to do. Apart from a very basic and primitive knowledge of physical violence, she also had the ability to hide and move in the shadows. Although not useful for dealing damage to an enemy, it helped with getting out of undesirable situations. Lastly, she had a magical fire attack. She decided that it was better to avoid setting the city on fire, so she stuck with psychical violence. However, two creatures fighting in the shadows of a crack between two buildings is radically different to fighting in the open street. The most notable difference is that movement is very limited. An entire dimension is removed from the play field, which additionally can confuse a fighter if they are not used to living in two dimensions. Beldam was older than Vivian, meaning that starting a fight in the shadows was likely going to end terribly for Vivian. But in the street, maybe she would have a better chance. Vivian used her strength and limited knowledge of two-dimensional combat to force Beldam out of the shadows, where she popped out of the abode 6 feet above the ground. Despite the Shadow Sirens always having a limb on the ground, if not utilized correctly (such as, for example, an unexpected fall preventing them from stabilizing themself) the limb can turn out useless. Beldam hit the ground with a light, but powerful impact. She bounced back up, betrayed. Vivian floated down to the cement of the sidewalk. Beldam was furious. "VIVIAN! What are you thinking!? You're throwing away power for both you and I!" A chilling aura surrounded her hands. Vivian knew what she was trying to do. But Vivian also knew she was, physically, the weakest of the three sisters. Vivian quickly went in for a punch, interrupting Beldam's attack. Beldam struggled to control her balance. The hag was quick this time, firing cold, sharp icicles at Vivian, who radiated a quick, controlled, yet searing beam of fire at Beldam, who quickly disappeared into the shadows. Vivian and Beldam both knew very well how the other fought. Vivian was well rounded, both physically and magically. Beldam had incredibly powerful magic, but would blow away in the wind if she weren't tethered to the ground. Beldam was conflicted. It may be possible to defeat Vivian right now, or deal with the problem later, once she has more power. After a moment's hesitation, she retreated. Beldam was far weaker from when Vivian saw her last. She guessed it was the age. Vivian did not pursue, but rather wondered where she could retreat to. She was right outside her abode, but maybe this isn't the only one? Vivian drifted back to Beldam's abode. She found a scripture messily taped to the wall. Vivian looked at the first sentence. It said "At the dawn of forever, Omanipo and Maonipo created the world, resented the other for it." She delicately took the scripture, and kept it. She would read this with Goombella later.

Vivian hurriedly floated towards home. Her apartment did have an elevator, it was always uncomfortable due to her leg situation, but it was possible for her to use it. Seeing as how she was in a rush, she took the Elevator, hurriedly pressed the buttons, and waited in a rushed manner. She entered her apartment. Goombella was peacefully sitting at her computer, blissfully unaware to everything that just took place. Vivian admired how calm Goombella always seemed to be. Life was stressful, but Goombella always knew how to deal with it, so why would she worry? It was a contrast to Vivian's constant worrying about every situation remotely possible. "Goombella! Somethings happened, and it involves Beldam." Vivian quickly shot out. Goombella became alert. "What is it? What's she trying to do?" She asked. Vivian began to explain what happened, until Goombella asked what she was holding. "Oh, it's a scripture about the god creatures that are at war. I haven't read all of it. Maybe we should read it now?" Goombella suggested she should finish explaining, and then read the scripture. So that's what happened. Vivian laid the scripture down on the small desk, moving the keyboard and monitor aside.

At the dawn of forever, Omanipo and Maonipo created the world, and resented the other for it.

Omanipo created life, and everything peaceful.

Maonipo created death, and everything horrible.

Omanipo created all sorts of creatures, filling each with love.

Maonipo filled each creature with either fear or bloodlust.

This was continued until everything in the universe was created. It happened in less than a second.

Omanipo resented Maonipo for ruining their creation.

Maonipo resented Omanipo for filling the world with such flat, uninteresting beings.

At first, they argued.

But both were more wise than the other. They knew what the other had done, was doing, and was going to do.

Before either could speak, they both predicted exactly how the debate would go. The debate went by without a single word spoken.

Without communicating with the other, they had agreed that the only way to settle this was to fight each other.

Two beings, each able to see every possibility of the future and the potential to do anything.

They were at war, yet they had not moved an inch.

They did not take form, and yet they managed to stand precisely 5 meters away from each other.

If they are disturbed from their stalemate, it could mean the end of life for all.

Due to this, we are sealing away the area where they fight, so they may battle for eternity.

We will call the battleground Katuko.

The couple stood in silence. Goombella broke it. "So where is Katuko?" She asked, already typing the name into a search engine. All she got were rumors made by forum users wanting attention. "The search is hopeless, but Beldam has her sights fixed on Katuko." Vivian muttered. "Wait, but where is Beldam? Where was she going after the fight?" Goombella asked. Vivian didn't have an answer. The girls continued to search for answers, with Goombella on the computer, and Vivian looking over her shoulder. This continued for a considerable amount of time. Suddenly, Goombella got up from her seat. "Actually, I think Professor Frankly might know about this! I seem to remember him bringing it up a few times." She said, full of hope. Goombella grabbed the phone, quickly punching in Frankly's number.

Frankly lived in the same city as Goombella and Vivian. After the Shadow Queen had been defeated, he moved into the city to organize expeditions in a more populated area, and since Goombella was his assistant, she came with him. Vivian was unemployed. She had tried to get a job, but due to the fact that it was impossible for her to get her legal gender changed, in addition to many transphobic employers, she was shot down. Luckily, working as an assistant for the Professor payed enough for the couple to live off of instant noodles.

Somewhere not too far away, the phone rings for an old man, who is sitting on a crude chair with an icy glass of water in his hand. His house isn't made of books, but every wall, every corner, and every surface is filled with them. He was reading the news when the phone rang. He didn't find it very interesting, but reading mindlessly was soothing after the intense research and planning he had done the previous day. He was thankful for Goombella, not only was she an incredibly talented assistant, she was also able to finish quickly enough that the two of them didn't need to show up to work today. He traveled to the phone, navigating the maze of knowledge that surrounded him. He picked it up. "Who is this?" He asked, in a tone that was the perfect mix of demanding and friendly. "Hi, Professor, it's Goombella! Me and Vivian are trying to learn more about Katuko." The voice on the other end said. The voice explained how she was trying to find Katuko to stop the world from ending and all that. Katuko was a pain to research, due to how it was supposedly built thousands of years ago, and has never been documented outside of rumors and a few scrolls. The Professor began to speak. "Katuko is likely a rumor, but I'll tell you anyway. There are three scrolls documenting Katuko. One tells the story of those two gods, the other talks about Katuko, and the last has never been documented, although history says it exists. I won't bore you with too many details, if all you're doing is trying to find it." There was a brief pause as he tried to remember more. "The first scroll you already have, the second is rumored to belong to a group known as the Hinatura. The Hinatura hide themselves very well from the public eye. Only few know their name. Maybe Beldam knows more about them, I suggest trying to find her. The third is a mystery, there are no credible sources on it." He said. There was a simple "Thank you, goodbye" From the other end. He thanked Goombella and put down the phone.

Vivian and Goombella had more information, but nothing to do with it. All they could do was look for Beldam, who was most likely where she had fought Vivian. The couple agreed to go there, but Goombella decided that they should have lunch first. "You got the noodles, right?" Goombella asked. Vivian realised she had been so distracted by Beldam that she had forgotten to buy anything, and smacked herself on the head. "Whatever, we'll get some fast food on the way there." Goombella said. The couple left their apartment, and prepared to confront Beldam once more.