Journals
A Short Story About The First Light
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Yo, so check it.
The great universal gleam, shining all the colours of all the gems you can imagine. It's the Hero Enchiridion!
No one's quite sure if they're actually real, or if they're just a fairytale, but from what Pearl told me that's not really the point? I dunno, I didn't pay attention so well at that age.
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"Sorry to interrupt." Dipper interjected. "But is this going somewhere? Or are we just spiraling into a tangent?"
The Mystery Shack skipped a moment. "Yeah dude, totally going somewhere." Steven filled the space, Mabel following through with a laugh and Dipper punctuating it with a sigh.
"Carry on then I guess."
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So like, Enchiridion right? No one knows what kinda Gem they were, or if they were even a Gem in the first place. Some reckon they forged Home World out of themself, an entire world made of them. Other's see them as like God, where they breathed life into Home World, and that every Gem's glow comes from that breath.
But the version Pearl told me, the one I like a lot, is the one of Enchiridion saving Home World from total annihilation.
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"Okay, so he was a Hero? Enough of a reason to name the Journal after him I-" Dipper was rapidly cut off as a stuffed pig slammed into his face, Mabel's aim true enough.
"So, total annihilation huh?" she smiled. "Tell me more."
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Once, a long time ago when Home World was still young and the Diamond's but thoughts in the soil, a tide struck against it. The combined forces of Storm World come to grind Home World down to noth-
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"Erosion." Dipper deadpanned. "The big scary threat was erosion?"
"Hey man, when you're a sentient lifeform made out of rocks, you get to weigh in on the threat of erosion." Steven retorted. "Wind and water grinding you down to nothing?" a theatric shiver. "Terrifying."
"Yeah, Dip. I beat erosion is like the Nukes of Gemworld."
"Ah, actually that's the Diamonds." Steven shrugged. "No real need for nukes when you can just sort of break down the gems linked to you."
Another beat of silence echoed through the shack. "That is terrifying." Dipper drawled out. "Also, you don't remember the story of Enchiridion at all, do you?"
"What? No... Psh, I mean... I remember their name?" Steven defended.
"GASP! Steven Universe, did you get me all excited for a great story only to make it up as you went along?" Mabel crowed, catching Dipper's return throw of the stuffed toy, clutching it tight. "I am shook, Steven. Shook!"
"Look, they're a great Hero and whether they existed or not, that's what we want to convey through the name of this thing right?"
The twins took a moment, sharing a look. "To be fair, you did just want to call it Journal 4 and be done with it Dip." Mabel threw out.
"If it works it works." Dipper insisted, before letting out a sigh. "But there is a certain weight to the name "Enchiridion" I suppose." He conceded.
"Yeah, right, that's what I was going for." Steven smiled. "And like, I may not remember the inbetween parts or even how it started, but I do know how the story ends."
Another beat of silence. "Alright then, tell us."
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"See Jake? Monkey's paw." Ignoring Finn's bewildered look, he sent the two brothers on their way, the Lich in the corner, encased in Gemstone.
"What I wouldn't give to be able to snuff you out right here and now." He grumbled at the thing. "I suppose I can't let you free again, be irresponsible and junk…" With a further sigh he zoned out again. Being a Cosmic Being was neat and stuff, but Eternity was a long time, and even with his Quasi-Omnipotence, one grew bored.
That had been a close call, it was almost hilarious just how lucky Earth had gotten when Finn and Jake had tripped into the portal after The Lich, (And hadn't he told Dipper what a bad idea storing a multi-dimensional portal into a book had been?) avoiding the extinction clause of the Lich's Wish.
Then again, luck was not something he bet on regularly, pushing the portal just a little further back from his digs, giving the two time to follow on, delaying the Lich's wish just long enough so that Human and Dog could be witness to it.
"Who needs luck these days?" He snorted derisively, before drifting back into the past.
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In their hands lay 3 beautiful gems. Gleaming stronger than anything they'd managed to sow prior. "This is Home World." They whispered, breath fogging the stones. "This is your world, and once you manage to figure out moving, it's going to be great."
The Hero let them slip from their hands, the soil shifting as they sunk into the planet. With a final smile, they turned to face down their enemy.
A mighty storm that stretched across the stars, malevolent and voracious. It sought to end all things in it's path, to end the very concept of life.
The dark caught their gaze, and let it's will be be known. Roaring it's gluttony for all of existence to fear.
Standing firm, Enchiridion answered.
"Hear me now Glutton, your terrible feast ends here." Their words matched the glutton's roar, playing itself across the seams of reality, and their light cosmic gleamed across eternity. "I am Enchiridion, the First Light, and you are not welcome within my sight!"
The battle that ensued was said to have warped the cosmos a million times, the scars across space time opening, closing and vanishing with every single blow.
Whole eternities started and ended, as Enchiridion fought the Storm. And at the end of all things, at the beginning of them, as the Diamond's clawed their way out of the dirt for the first time, they did it by the glow of the Guiding Light.
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Oh yeah, that feels much better than the first iteration I posted in 2015.