Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

After beating Vahn and crying for well over an hour, Shion felt a lot better. She still felt as though she was missing something, but, at the same time, she somehow felt more 'complete' than before. It was almost like there was a voice in the back of her mind telling her that everything was going to be okay.

While wiping away the remnants of her tears, Shion didn't immediately dismount from Vahn's body. There was no special meaning behind her actions. It just felt good to sit on top of him and have the option to continue beating his face whenever she wanted. Her attacks may not have had any effect on him, but they also didn't hurt her hands. He was basically the perfect punching bag.

Though it felt really weird to have a girl sitting on top of him without grabbing her butt her holding her waist, Vahn just closed his eyes and waited patiently as Shion gathered herself. Unlike some of his other Templates, he had no intention of meddling in her life. He would be honest with her if she ever learned the truth, but, even if she never approached him after the Gift Game, he wouldn't let it bother him. They may be one and the same, but, at the same time, she existed wholly independent from him.

Seeing Vahn close his eyes, Shion fell into a long period of silence where she just stared at him. As her emotions settled, her feelings towards him had changed rather drastically. It was difficult to say she felt 'good' about him, but, at the very least, she neither hated nor resented him.

"I don't know what you did...but I'm reasonably certain you did it to help me. I didn't ask for it, but I also don't blame you for wanting to help. That's just the type of person you are...isn't it...?"

Placing her hand over the spot where her scar had been, Shion felt as though Vahn had given her far more than he had taken away. She couldn't really explain why but she felt better at this exact moment than she had in the past ten, maybe even forty thousand years. Even her mind felt a lot clearer than before, so much so that she could now distinctly remember incidents that had taken place as far back as her very first childhood...

"Thank you..."

Though Shion's words were barely a whisper, Vahn just smiled without saying a word. It was only when she dismounted him with a faint, almost undetectable blush on her face that he finally sat up and asked, "What are you going to do from here onwards?"

As she had been considering suicide less than seventy minutes prior, Shion didn't really have an answer to Vahn's question. Ever since she had destroyed the Community that summoned her, her singular goal had been reaching the pinnacle of existence and fixing the very broken system in the Lower Realms. Now that she had met someone with a much greater chance of success than herself, she felt lost...

With Shion staring at the ground with a pensive look on her face, it wasn't long before Vahn found himself extending his hand to caress her head. Her brows immediately creased, but, unlike before, she didn't react with hostility. Instead, she looked up at him, her brilliant blue eyes searching his for the better part of a minute before asking, "What do you think I should do?"

Retracting his hand from Shion's head, Vahn didn't need to consider his words before answering, "I think you should do as you please. I can tell from the types of people you surrounded yourself with that you put your objective before your personal views, wants, and needs. If the Community you are in charge of is broken, how do you expect to fix something on the scale of Creation? For now, focus on the small things. It is by becoming happy we gain the strength of character to help others obtain the happiness they deserve."

Exhaling a sigh, Shion's emotions appeared to stabilize quite a bit as she muttered, "You're really something...I suppose this is the difference between someone who spent their entire life gathering companions and someone who spent the majority of their life running away?"

Though she believed she had good reasons for it, Shion now felt as though she had wasted time by not even trying to open her heart to others. She just didn't want to defile the memory of the people who had supported her before her gradual descent into madness and solitude. She had convinced herself that if she never opened her heart to others, she would never have to endure the pain of losing them...

Immortality was not a blessing.

It was a curse.

Catching Shion by surprise, Vahn actually shrugged in response to her self-deprecating remark, stating, "Who knows? The best metric to evaluate a person's life is observing the legacy they leave behind. Things like differences in a person's character, temperament, and even inborn talent have very little meaning. So long as there is life, there is the possibility of change. We all make mistakes. So long as you pick yourself up and continue to move forward, I can guarantee you will one day be able to look back on this moment and smile."

Hanging her head, Shion couldn't shake the feeling she had been utterly defeated. As ridiculous as his strength and authority were, the thing that made Vahn truly amazing was his character. She had thrown her everything at him, yet, with the exception of the time he had chastised and slapped her, Vahn never lost his smile. He just continued tolerating everything until she no longer had anything left to give...almost like a father waiting for his rebellious daughter to see the error of her ways...

Feeling her face heating up, Shion attempted to disguise her embarrassment by rubbing her cheeks and wiping away her eyes. Vahn noticed her reaction, but, as was often the case when he dealt with a Tsundere, he pretended not to.

(*That Tsundere is actually an extension of yourself...*)

Ignoring Sis's teasing remark, Vahn waited for Shion to collect herself before saying, "The Gift Game should be concluding within the next couple of hours. When you have the time, stop by the Sage Dragon's Hearth or come visit me at Castle Aldrnari. I'm not going to force you, but I think it would do you some good to stop by and vent your frustrations. I have a bad habit of rambling but I'm also a pretty good listener."

Having just likened Vahn to a father figure within her mind, Shion felt embarrassed just hearing him speak. In spite of this, she managed to appear relatively calm as she met his gaze and answered, "I'll keep that in mind..." before promptly vanishing. With space no longer off-limits, it was a simple feat for her to teleport back to her planet. As for what she would do from there...she wasn't entirely sure. It was one of those things she would need to figure out as she slowly and steadily moved forward...

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Observing the interaction between Vahn and Shion from start to finish, Indra couldn't help feeling a sense of appreciation for the man he simultaneously resented. Vahn really was the epitome of what he believed a man should be. He was strong, magnanimous, kind, caring, and, as far as Indra could tell, extremely genuine.

Where most people doubted themselves to the point of changing their behavior from one moment to the next, Vahn remained himself no matter the situation. So long as you didn't touch his bottom line, he appeared to have an infinite capacity for benevolence. It was truly awe-inspiring, but, at the same time, incredibly worrying.

As nonsensical as it sounded, Indra couldn't sense the depths of Vahn's power. It wasn't particularly well known, at least not anymore, but Indra, or, more accurately, his original self was, and still is, the Rank 7 in all of Creation. He had given away and bestowed the majority of his power unto others, but he was still one of the beings responsible for the creation and maintenance of the Little Garden.

The one power Indra had never given up was his ability to see the potential in others. It was one of the reasons he was known to be a jealous God, as, while his existence remained largely unchanged, the people around him were constantly moving forward. The only way he could experience change was to give up his power, manifest as an avatar, or reincarnate. Even then, everything he gave out would invariably return to him. Thus, in the grand scheme of eternity, it wasn't an exaggeration to say he remained the same.

When Indra looked at Vahn, he saw two things. The first was 'absolutely nothing'. While this might sound confusing, it made sense when every being except for Vahn had a clearly foreseeable fate. It might change from one moment to the next, but, from the moment of their creation to the time of their death, all beings were pulled along in the endless stream of fate.

Since before the dawn of time, Indra had never encountered a single being without a fate. Even the Abyss of the End, End Emptiness, had the fate of becoming the nothingness that followed the end of all things. It was an event that could be delayed for a literal eternity, but, at some point, beyond the concept of time, End Emptiness would consume all things.

Vahn lacking a fate made him the sole exception in all of Creation. This was concerning in and of itself but the thing that terrified Indra most of all was Vahn's unfathomable potential. It could be argued that all beings in the Order of Creation had the potential of reaching the absolute pinnacle of existence, but, when looking at Vahn, Indra sensed something...more.

If Vahn decided to take over the Little Garden and superimpose his vision onto the rest of Creation, Indra had no doubt he would be able to achieve it. The only question, at least in Indra's mind, was how much destruction would be wrought in Vahn's wake. Anyone or anything that got in his way or contradicted his vision was bound to be destroyed. Depending on the circumstances, even the Little Garden wouldn't be spared, as, according to the things Vahn had said and done thus far, he wasn't particularly satisfied with how 'out of hand' things had become...

At this juncture, Indra had an important decision to make. He could trust in Shiroyasha's decision and allow the Little Garden to fulfill its purpose or he could rally the Gods for one last stand against Vahn. It may turn out that he is inevitable, but, much like the Demon God, End Emptiness, and every other Last Embryo, they could still delay him for as long as possible.

If all of Creation was bound to be changed as a result of Vahn's ambition, it stood to reason that all of Creation should stand against him...

Had Vahn been an overtly corrupt or malicious individual, Indra wouldn't even need to consider whether or not he should oppose him. The thing that made his decision so difficult, other than the fact that Shioryasha had clearly placed her trust in him, was the fact that Vahn was clearly a good person. He demonstrated a considerable amount of patience and even showed genuine concern for his enemies. So long as they didn't touch his bottom line, Vahn seemed capable of forgiving anyone for anything.

The biggest issue was that the Little Garden wasn't exactly filled with fine, upstanding individuals. A lot of the Gods had become corrupt, but, while some had walked that path of their own volition, the vast majority had simply succumbed to fate and the influence of Poets. With time, they could be led back to the path of righteousness, but, a Vahn had clearly demonstrated, he wasn't going to just sit around and wait patiently for them to reform. He was making startling progress toward his goal, so much so that it may only take him a few years to achieve something no one, not since the Dawn of Creation itself, had achieved...

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(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'When you Kuudere evolves into a Tsundere...','Vahn has always been the exception...','Be very careful about what you choose...')