Chapter 204: Haven
"Ari, what are you planning?" Aren squints his eyes. By now, he's convinced that this person is not the same Ari. Though she has the same face, Ari has changed. Anyway, he can't figure out what is going inside her head.
"I was looking for a place." Ari looks up at the white sky. "It's a little gloomy for my taste but…"
"But?" Aren probes.
"Making a new space is a little difficult," She replies with a lazy voice. "I am going to steal this place first."
"This is going to be our new home?" Scias knits his brows slightly.
Now, Aren is confused. He looks around. This is Kresi's place? Oblivion? Creepy name! Then again, Kresi is Chaos now. Ari is… he has no idea what Ari is now. However, why are they talking about making this place their home? Does it mean that they can never leave?
"It's too white." Ai mumbles, "I wish it had more colours."
"It needs interior decorations." Ari steps down from the throne and walks past Scias and Aren. "It's a white canvas. No, it's a black canvas. Anyway, I need to make a home for my people."
The forsaken creatures are abandoned by everything in this world. She took them. It didn't mean that she was going to keep them inside her forever. It's true that a large part of them became her. But she could still create new creatures out of them and give them a name. They will have a new beginning in this place, just like Scias. They don't need to enter any karma system or fight for any acceptance from any gods. They are her people now.
Of course, being their goddess also means being responsible for them. They will grow and they will reach out to their world. At the moment, they are wild -- not anything better than demons. However, even hell has a certain degree of order.
"Ai, I am going to teach you true-naming," She says to her eldest son. His name was the first name she shaped. "Watch me carefully."
Ai gives her a silent nod. Whatever his mother tells him to do, he's going to do it. Even if the world goes upside down, his mother is the absolute truth for him.
Many people will doubt her like his brother. But he's sure that his mother will never do anything without a good reason.
She's the woman who fought everyone in the iravan to save him.
If she decides to never go back to Iravan, he will stay here.
Ari, not knowing how much her eldest son looks up at her, mumbles softly with her knees bent on the ground, "All the primordial gods know the art of the true-naming. But they won't disturb the shape of the things that already have a name. Even a tiny change in the shape of the true name can change the person entirely. Do you know what I am talking about?"
"Yes." Ai glances at the vermillion circle glowing on the white marble floor beneath her. Years ago, he had seen something similar. He had lost his name once and became something similar to a forsaken creature.
Without an identity, even a soul can't enter the karma cycle.
That day, Rilyah helped his mother create a circle for his true-shaping. He was sitting at the centre of the circle. He did change after that day. He became a part of Iravan. Now, he wants to be a part of his mother's world.
"It's difficult to find or create the name of a living being." Ari stares at the ground and continues speaking slowly, "Gods and demons are more difficult. Their names have a dynamic structure. So, it's hard to get a grip. In addition to that, there's strong protection. However, finding the name of a location or an object isn't difficult. If one looks long enough, they can find it."
Ai stares hard at her hand on the centre of the circle. Is she looking for the name of this space? But the owner is someone else.
Scias and Aren watch and listen to everything in awe, though they can barely understand what is going on.
She sends her consciousness inside the oblivion. It has existed for a long time. In fact, this is the first place that Chaos created after she took a conscious form.
Since Ari's a goddess of forsaken ones now, she needs a new world for them. But looking for a new location would take a long time. In addition to that, it takes a lot of power to build a new world. Atvi is hiding from her at the moment. Furthermore, she is a little weak to create a new world alone.
That's why she's going to manipulate the true-name of this world. It will belong to her and her people.
In the ground, she finds remnants of creatures who were absorbed by the oblivion. This space developed a passive consciousness. It's resisting her with all its might. Where can it go? She can't leave this world until she receives its name.
The corner of her lips creeps up when she grasps the consciousness and drags it to her space where she does the naming. It's the same place that Ai and Scias had been. Ari looks at the little white cloud in front of her.
Chaos didn't shape oblivion. If she had shaped it, it wouldn't fulfil its purpose.
The white cloud shivers under her hard gaze.
"Are you fine being like this?" Ari sits down in front of her. The water is always ankle-deep and calm.
The white cloud nods. It wants to escape this goddess' clutches but there's no way out of this place.
"Alas!" Ari shakes her head. "I am not fine with you being like this. Let's see. Your owner stole my child. You must be wondering why I am not looking for her child. It's simple. I can't even touch my own child with these creatures inside me. I need a place to leave them. No, I need a world for my people. And I am choosing you."
The white cloud trembles. It seems to be reluctant to the idea.
"Sweetheart, you have no choice." She places her hand on the cloud. "Oblivion has no end and beginning. I like that. She did give a lot of thoughts. However, I don't like white canvas. The world needs to be a healthy place for my kids."
She plans to bring both Misumi and Misaki here.
Ari begins shaping the oblivion into something else. She wanted something that resonated with both earth and Iravan. There's the problem of ehr flow. At the moment, the world is going to be dynamic.
The world would be as alive as the people who are going to live here.
"Haven." She names the world. "Your name is Haven from now on."
This world will be a haven for everyone who can't belong to any other world.
Aren gapes at the vast spread of the lands that appeared out of nowhere. Is witnessing the creation of a world? But it feels a little different. It looks like the terrains are being moulded into shapes.
The sky is still white.
"Is it what I think it is?" Aren looks at Ai. "She can create worlds?"
"No, she's just changing its name," Ai explains to him in a quiet voice.
Can changing a name do this? Aren doesn't know what to say. Regardless of what Ai tells him, it looks like Ari is creating a new world.