Nexus Awakened (An Isekai LitRPG Gender Bender Story)

645. The Stars of The Ancient Past

“Your role was as clear as the same star that history once remembered you for. You came to me with an answer to my despair. A light to the dark of my woes. A hand enshrouded in blue and gold cut through the darkness. It was a human-like gesture, a concept foreign to all Stars. But thanks to ‘Her’, I understood your intentions without a word shared.”

Magus didn’t know how to digest this sudden revelation. On one hand, it seemed to annoy him that Michaela knew who he was all along, all the while he contemplated his existence on his Floor.

On the other, he was grateful that he at least had a reliable answer to his search. His present role aligned perfectly with who he was in the past, but Magus did not celebrate or cheer like his usual self.

“I was a Star of such great magnitude. I see. Odd how I have zero recollection.” He fixed his tie, flicking out the Magician tarot card from his sleeves. “I had my own suspicions already of being a Star. Polaris was my name. A star of guidance and divination.”

He tucked it away into a deck consisting of 78 cards. 22 of which were the Major Arcana, and 56 being the Minor Arcana. An invisible smile lingered on his face. It was something that one could only sense.

They imagined it being one of relief.

“May I ask what this Polaris gentleman was like? Did he conduct himself in an orderly way?”

“A Star like Polaris carried a different scent from the Stars I’ve crossed paths with. They, out of us all, were a Star that could live amongst humans. Your form… I cannot remember it well.”

Michaela allowed them to probe deeper into her mind.

But alas, they could not see the other qualities of Polaris. He only vaguely resembled a human, covered by robes and a face that shone like an orb of light. Michaela on the other hand, had assumed a form closest to a human.

“Why is it that a Star like thee hath chosen to remain fallen?”

“Despicable, cryptic language laced the tongue of the Stars. Polaris was no different. I replied with only a single phrase.”

Michaela spoke.

“Because I’ve lost my reason to soar.”

“Doth thou wish to return?”

“My place is here next to her in this world. I’ve fallen because I could only wish to build a world where she and I could belong. Humanity and Stars cannot coexist.”

It was Micheala’s belief that the Stars and humanity were incompatible. They both would inevitably lead one or the other to ruin. Stars functioned on aspects of humanity, and humanity can only thrive in this world with the Gifts From the Stars.

“What is it that thou wishes for?”

“To bring her back. That was all I wanted. It was my first wish. Polaris was not a Star that could grant such things. Instead, he only pointed into a direction. That same place was where the greatest bastion of mankind resided, closest to the collapsed sun that devoured all light in the skies.”

While one side of the world flourished in abstract lights, the other was utterly devoured by the darkness of the black hole. Only a blue hue emanated from its horizon and unnatural accretion disk that spiraled around it.

It was so unimaginably large that it seemed like the world was constantly on the brink of being devoured whole.

“It never occurred to me how strange it was, that such a thing existed even before I, and why mankind’s largest bastion resided closest to it. I didn’t understand Polaris’ intentions either. But he seemed willing to help. Willing to bring back life into the girl in my arms.”

“The Restoration of The Light.”

“This was his reasoning. Other Stars also lent a small hand. Most simply offered their wisdom. They imparted observations of mankind while I had slumbered within my White Forest. They were curious of my goal, but I kept it a heavy secret. It was to restore what Polaris called the Light in this world.”

Michaela’s voice became hopeful. She reached out towards the golden branch that ran through the shards of her memories.

Suddenly, it turned black.

“But this is a tale of tragedy. There was no happily ever after. Stars that roamed meaninglessly suddenly set their sights onto me. They envied that I wielded purpose. Others, more terrifying Stars of the same caliber as I plotted to use the Light for themselves, or to utterly destroy it. Before I could retrace the steps of mankind within that major bastion, I was confronted by an array of Stars on my journey to the City.”

A vast, modern yet futuristic city unraveled itself. It was built like the one that used to exist on the Floor of Civilization, and the remnants of the Crowned in C4.

The triplets and Ignis were awed by their majesty, but their hairs suddenly stuck out on all ends when they saw something unsettling within the memory fragment.

“This was but one of the many bastions of man. But even this could not withstand its power.”

The city was annihilated when something fell from the skies. A blue light pierced through the heavens. The force of impact liquified the ground as it turned into a wave, folding into itself until nothing but the bright, blue light of a Star was left.

“Blue Star Kachina.”

“They were a Star of ruin, and one of the many enemies I made towards the creation of the Captured Star. That blue light purified all things corrupted and led man down a spiral of madness.”

“Sirius.”

“A Star that that interacted with one of the Rivers long before when they breached from the Veil.”

Michaela then paused, the last fragment slowly revealing a sinister being that caused Frost’s eyes to widen.

“… The One Thousand Eyed Bird…?” She uttered in disbelief.

Michaela musingly smiled.

“The Black Throne, Erelim.”

She hissed with an odd, understanding vitriol towards this being.

“Its domain was a black forest that I needed to cross to reach that bastion. As you can already imagine –”

“– There was some resistance. Believe it or not, this Star is the reason why I am beholden to the ideal of justice and judgement.”

“Because this very Star taught me the nature of prejudice. Of judgement. Order. What should be and what shouldn’t be, and why it must be so within its ‘kingdom’.”

Michaela smiled as the small, fluffy verion of the One Thousand Eyed bird hopped into her hands, emitting a faint, golden light from its many eyes.

“Isn’t it strange how many facets of thought can be applied to a single Corrupted? Like the light refracting from a window, revealing abberations of compiled memories like that of what you see within my memories. The One Thousand Eyed bird is but a diluted form of an old adversary, but also a grim reflection of who I was, what I enacted, why I did it, and how I – who believed themsleves to be the most righteous – was no better than the same beasts I sought to skewer.”

The image of ‘Her’ appeared suddenly. It flickered over multiple iterations of ‘Her’ across the loops until finally resulting in one last refraction from the light.

“The bird represents many of my shortcomings. I am my worst enemy. But equally, it represents the prejudice I will face by my enemies. The Accusers who are equally as guilty as I.”

Michaela conjured the power of Absolution in one hand, marking her departure from the power of Arbitration that belonged to the Stars.

“I had been limiting my presence which is why I chose to remain within the Nexus. Even my son Iscario does not know that I am the Arbiter. If they all knew that I am still very much alive, then it will only be a matter of time before the likes of Uriel begin to personally move.”

Suddenly, Michaela’s tone dramatically intensified as all eyes were devoured by hers.

“While your enemies are the impurities of all.”

“Mine will ultimately be the Stars.”

“Assuming they do exist in the Expanse, or beyond the Veil."

“Now let me tell you how the Captured Star came to be – and how, I earned the name of the Arbiter before I became an Archetype. Despite what you have seen from the Icon of Judgement, Frost, mankind did indeed flourish underneath my rule.”