Origin of the Universe

The Liaisons Council sat in a closed circle. Nobody spoke a word for several minutes. They had provided the candidates with refreshments for the time being while the liaisons excused themselves to evaluate performances.

Felix, the hedgehog, was in deep thought, tapping his tiny claws on the sandy ground.

"I had no idea he had the flame," Jewel croaked. "I swear in the name of the gods!"

Felix glared at the frog and said sternly," You have landed us in a lot of trouble, my friend. Such an incident had not happened over centuries!"

Jewel sighed and hung his head.

"Umm… What is the flame?" Coco the parrot asked. She was a fresher liaison and unfamiliar with ancient history and godlore.

Felix wrung his hands and spoke up. "Fine. I will explain everything for the benefit of everyone who does not know. I'm getting old, so I'll depend on Jewel and Fluffy to fill in the gaps in information if I leave anything out. They are the only other seniors who have been to the assembly of gods."

Jewel and Fluffy nodded.

The hedgehog spread its tiny limbs and muttered a garble of spells.

With flashes of light, a crystal ball appeared in their midst.

"It goes like this," Felix began. "In the beginning, there was only darkness." 

As the talking hedgehog related the story, visualizations appeared in the crystal ball to complement his words.

"Darkness so deep and infinite that nothing existed. From within the black arose a tiny yellow flame. It was eternal in nature and illuminated the universe… bringing light and hope. It was everlasting, undying, and immutable. It was dire in contrast to the eternal darkness which was boundless, mute, full of despair."

The spectators looked in wonder at the illustration projected in the crystal ball.

"To expedite the birth of life, the eternal flame exploded, sending trillions and trillions of tiny flames throughout the cosmos. There were lesser flames and greater flames."

The liaison group nodded, looking intrigued.

"Hmm. That is how life first came into being," Jewel picked up the story from Felix. "The lesser flames became worlds and stars and other heavenly bodies. Thus, matter came into existence. In the new worlds, life emerged and set down roots."

The crystal ball manifested images of planets and solar systems, and galaxies.

"This sounds like a happy story," Coco commented. "But Felix, when you mentioned the flame in Pan, you looked genuinely scared."

"We'll get to that, eventually." the hedgehog said. "While the lesser flames became inanimate worlds, the greater flames condensed to become divine authorities. Such entities gained sentience and came to be known as gods. Wielding powers greater than heavenly bodies, they began to rule worlds and star systems. The grand assembly of gods was established to govern the old and the new divine entities. It was the first time the celestials had been organized." 

Fluffy scoffed. "The assembly became a pyramid for corrupt godss and power seekerss to run their politicss. It defeated the very purpose of its esstablishment." 

Felix coughed to indicate that his fellow liaison had migrated from the topic. He picked up the trail. "But we forgot something important. If there was a source of divine light, there must be a source of eternal darkness. And indeed, there was... a primordial entity... whom I shall not name."

This time Jewel continued. "This dark entity was a force of extinction and did not know creation. However, it seduced one of the greater flames of light to come over to his side. A god. Artemis Calliste. He was corrupted by darkness and taught to extinguish and consume."

"Artemis was defeated by the assembly of gods in a war that went on for millennia. Our Lord, King Eros, was one of the Generals in the conflict. After facing a crushing defeat, Artemis reverted to his flame form. However, he was no longer a source of light but a mouth of darkness. He became the first greater flame of darkness. It disappeared and was lost in space."

"That brings us to this boy- Pan." 

"What about him?" Cosmo asked.

Felix sighed. "It seems the flame was hidden on Earth, waiting for its power to recover. When Pan was sent to planet Earth by King Eros to be nurtured and raised, the flame found him compatible and took deep roots within him. The troubling fact is that the boy doesn't realize his power."

Coco seemed puzzled. "Umm… okay, there is a great power within him, right? Doesn't that make him the right candidate for Eros' successor?" she posed innocently.

"Are you crazy?" Felix chided her. "If he becomes Eros' successor, he will transcend his father in power once the flame's essence is unlocked. He might even challenge the assembly of gods, thus fulfilling Artemis' ambitions. And the worst case scenario could happen—Artemis could be resurrected."

"That useless kid?" Cosmo scoffed. "He seems pretty harmless. He doesn't even possess any magic."

Felix nodded. "Probably, you are right, Cosmo. He seems kind and peaceful, and docile. But you saw what the boy is capable of today. It was just a sliver of the massive dark power within him."

"Yeah, I meant to ask. Why did the humans mutate when he touched them?"

Jewel chimed in to answer the question. "Well, all humans are just evolved beasts. Unbridled sex, lust, and perversion exist within them in repressed form. Centuries of dietary change and social control have had biological and supernatural transformations in their bodies. They hide their true forms. Within every human remains a beast core, called the 'rapine' seed." 

Fluffy nodded her head in anxiety. "Boy, oh boy. Once the rapine sseed is triggered, it unlocks centuriess of suppressed desire, thus turning humans into feral mutantss. As they turn into monsters, they seek to quench their maniacal desiresss. They will not only ravishh each other but also defile any other human being they seee. And this is only a lick of the power of the flame of Artemis. Who knows what else it is capable of?"

Coco looked worried. "Wow, that's scary. It sounds like an apocalypse situation."

Felix nodded. "Indeed. That is what we are terrified about. The boy himself might be harmless, but if there is trauma within him, the flame will feed on it, growing stronger until it has captured his soul. Ultimately, we'll see the return of the dark entity that almost annihilated the universe."

Cosmo spoke in a lower tone. "How about.. we.. umm… you know…" He made the gesture of strangulation.

"What?"

"You know… we snuff him… while he is clueless."

"Don't think I have not considered it," Felix asserted. "But if we kill him, the flame will simply pass on to someone else. We must contain it while it resides within a simpleton like Pan. Only the assembly of gods can deal with this delicate situation."

"Nobody dare lay a finger on my candidate," Jewel said sternly, eyeing everyone else in the liaison group. "The boy finally has some hope in his heart."

"Nobody will harm him, Jewel," Felix assured him. "Not on my watch."

"What do we do now?" Brine asked. The terrier had been silent all along.

"We do nothing different from the original plan. We let the contest go on," their Chief dictated. "I'll intimate the assembly of gods about this matter in the meantime."

"Don't you think King Erosss should be informed about this first?" Fluffy asked. "After all, we are working directly under him."

Felix, the hedgehog, raised his eyes to the mountain's summit. It was a melting snow peak, shrouded with clouds and fog. "I have a feeling he already knows."