He walks among the stars and the infinity of the cosmos itself, between the Void that exists between galaxies, knowing he must confront that which terrifies him most. He must ask the question he has never wanted to ask.

  Why?

  He steps across a surface that does not exist. Nor does the breeze that brushes his cheek within the vacuum, a remnant pulled from his memory, a fragment of something long gone. The mind often places the imaginary where it senses something should be there.

  Such as right now, as he senses her eternal gaze staring upon him. The progenitor without eyes, yet who sees all within him and all her creations. Here especially. This is her Void, a place where fear and legend have become one.

  And every step is a mountain to climb, to surmount the fear and awe in equal measure.

  I journey within her very essence, bringing my insignificant fears before her. Yet, I must, for those fears now run the possibility of becoming real. She knows I have no choice, for she made me this way. I am of her design. Her servant, cursed by destiny and obligation. He who roams the cosmos, acting and intervening by her very will…

  Her Void Walker.

  The Void Walker strays through the Void, an endless abyss with brilliant auroras and asteroids. Reminders of what can never happen again. The Void Walker stops in his steps, trying to force the memories away, the screams, the loss.

  And the sudden silence, following the cataclysm.

  The Void Walker forces his eyes open, seeing beauty in the cosmic mist. He wishes he saw more; then perhaps it was all justified.

  Perhaps then, he wouldn't be so afraid.

  Still, he knows he can only comprehend so much. Limitations exist for a reason, and not all reasons should be known. They are left for the cursed minds that cannot help but seek them, those who must pursue truth. So paradoxical, to wish to understand that which shouldn't be known. If only they comprehended… If only he could share what he knew.

  Then, perhaps, they, too, would wish for their memories to be taken away.

  The Void Walker witnesses specks of light far away, perhaps suns or galaxies forming before vanishing in a blink. He will never know. Her whims, great and small, all hold cosmic consequences. What is a life before its creator? Only they can decide.

  And all I can do is stand aside and watch, insignificant as I am. I pray those foolish enough to not believe never see what I have witnessed, that they never know this Void and its harrowing lessons.

  Even then, knowing that such foolish beings exist, she does not respond with anger or indignation towards such arrogance. She simply smiles like the mother of a na?ve child, never correcting them, never uttering a single word. She knows what comes to all beings. Youth will repeat the mistakes of those who came before them, foolishly believing that they are different… I wonder, does she look upon me with such a gaze? As I approach her now, her knowing what I've done and why I've come, does her smile towards me say she knew I would make this mistake before I did?

  He stops, gazing at the luminous auroras and cosmic mist twinkling like glitter in the sky.

  'Did you know?' he asks aloud, his voice sounding like a mere whisper in this eternal realm. He holds his breath, waiting. She can hear him. She hears all.

  Seconds pass. Eons to other worlds and galaxies. Lives are born and snuffed out. Yet, he would never understand. Who cares when one tiny insignificant life is gone?

  I did… I did…

  The memories threaten to return, and as though sensing this, the Void reacts. A light hum fills his ears, before bright white cracks emerge within the very space he stands in. Fissures appear within the infinite, expanding and growing, almost deafening. An explosion follows, as the whiteness breaks what his mind once processed as the Void, before it becomes shards of pure white. They take everything his mind grasped here before flipping it on his head.

  Then he is forced to look at himself, his destiny, reflected in millions of mirrors…

  When he became her Void Walker.

  He appears like her chosen protectors, her Guardians. With armour black and slick, fitting his sleek figure perfectly, before a long coat of black and silver etchings covers almost everything, including his legs. His helmet covers his entire head, in which a single white eye stares back at him, with a tall black hat sitting atop it. He holds no weapons, keeps his hands folded behind his back.

  'You reflect me, Odia,' he whispers, with almost no emotion, 'Does time further fracture us? Or are you trying to teach me something else? Is this a lesson?'

  Of course, there is no answer, and the shards separate, revealing the Void as he once perceived it.

  Before him the images of himself change, shifting into another Guardian. A red robe with ancient black text covers this one, in which he does not wear the hood, exposing a helmet of orange with a black vent for a face. The Void Walker shudders, closing his eyes. Of course she knew. She had seen his mistake.

  But if that's true, she must also understand what had pushed him in that direction. That was terrifying, especially considering the past. Was she allowing it to happen again? Was the corruption spreading of her design? No, that cannot be. Not after what had happened here.

  'Please, tell me I am wrong, Odia,' the Void Walker says, knowing he is almost begging. 'Tell me you're not allowing the essences you created to prevent this from happening again to become corrupted. Please, tell me that the Virtues aren't being twisted and broken…'

  He waits, and that wait fuels his sense of frustration, of his desire to comprehend. He witnessed the evidence. The Guardians were changing. The universe and all the five galaxies within it were changing. Rotting. Becoming.

  Repeating what he had been created to stop from happening again.

  The Void Walker kneels, overwhelmed, needing time to think. He needs to understand. Was this all intentional?

  Was this what she wanted?

  'But you created the Virtues to stop this,' he said, still looking towards the eternal abyss beneath him. 'You created your Guardians to prevent the past from repeating. If their guiding Virtues are changing, twisting, becoming corrupted, why? Is it your intention for me to see this, to act? Or are you trying to teach me a lesson?'

  He looks up, trying to contain his tears.

  'Please… I understand you owe none of us a thing, but answer me with this. Is there a purpose to what I've done? If so, do you wish for me to act, to intervene? Do you wish for me to stop this corruption from spreading, the corruption taking place among your Guardians and indeed your universe? Is this your desire, Odia?'

  Silence. Nothing. Emptiness. The Void Walker nods, trying to calm himself.

  He looks up, seeing everything in her Void turn into billions of sparkles. Such a beautiful sight. So soothing. It still takes his breath away, and he allows himself to marvel before it.

  Yes, there is beauty here. She is reminding him. Despite everything, there is much to savour.

  'But then, why are you allowing this to happen?' he asks, rising to his feet. Still, the sparkles continue to dance around him. The Void Walker almost allows himself to become lost within them.

  Until… he senses a presence emerge alongside him, a breathing in his ear. He freezes, stunned into silence.

  'My Void Walker.' A voice speaks into him, bringing such gravity that the Void Walker refuses to move even a single muscle. He would wait an eternity if it came to it. To hear her. To listen to that voice. Nothing could ever prepare you for the moment you feel her.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  So you stand, knowing that the creator of everything is right alongside you.

  'Your… servant…' he replies, unable to help the breathlessness from showing.

  'Ah yes, my servant,' she says, as though tasting the words and their meaning, if they mean anything to an entity like her. 'But what guides your servitude now? Is it loyalty? Love for me? Fear? Or perhaps it is hatred? Tell me, what does your Virtue tell you now, my Void Walker? What is it telling you now?'

  The Void Walker opens his mouth, but nothing leaves his lips. Though no one can see his mouth within his armour, he doesn't doubt that she can sense his stunned expression of being asked so many questions at once. Such penetrating questions. His mind races, panic threatening to take control. Has he spoken too freely? Is this her retribution?

  'No, this is a test,' he says, barely articulating the words. 'You're trying to teach me. Your questions are what the Guardians are facing, leading to their corruption. That is happening to the Virtues, isn't it? They're asking those questions, testing the meaning of something already decided. Yet, is the fact they question a sign of the corruption itself? Is that why you let me… make my mistake?'

  'Hush…' she replies, and he falls to silence, biting his bottom lip. He has allowed his mind and lips to wander. That is inexcusable. Does this mean he is showing signs of the corruption the Guardians are facing?

  'You are afraid,' Odia says, the simple truth causing the Void Walker to close his eyes, to shiver.

  'I am…' he admits, knowing he cannot hide it, not from her, but especially not from himself. 'I want to understand, Odia. Is this what you want? If so, why?'

  'Why are you afraid?' she asks instead, forcing him back to silence. 'You call what is taking place within my Guardians a corruption, but why? What is the difference between corruption and change? What if an evolution is taking place?'

  The Void Walker breathes. Those words strike close to what terrifies him most. That is probably why she is asking. Does that mean she saw? Did his latest mistake not prove the potential harm of this 'evolution'?

  A mistake that is now crushing a single galaxy. A mistake he has to stop.

  'Because these changes alter what the Virtues are supposed to represent,' he says, knowing he is taking a significant risk. 'This corruption of the Virtues is leading some of your Guardians to harm others. The universe will lose faith in them, leading to a deterioration that cannot be stopped. Then…'

  'Then…' Odia urged, forcing the Void Walker to consider his worst fear, the true reason he tried to intervene against the corruption.

  The reason this Void exists.

  'That which you created me to stop will become necessary again,' the Void Walker says, praying that she doesn't pry deeper. He doesn't want to revisit those memories. 'But he… Odia, you surely don't wish for it to come to that?'

  The Void Walker waits, and Odia does not answer. Did she wish for this? Has she changed her mind on… him?

  'Please,' the Void Walker says, no longer caring if he is begging. 'Let me try to fix my mistake,' he says. 'Perhaps there is a way to rectify it, but also confront the corruption spreading to your Guardians. We could address it now, while also restoring what once guided the galaxies and their worlds. If we showed them the meaning of the Virtues again…'

  'And what would accomplish such a goal?' Odia asks, as if she already knows what he is thinking. She probably does. The Void Walker takes in a deep breath, readying himself to speak again.

  'I wrongly put the burden of fighting the corruption on one, but, what if the responsibility is shared? What if the Guardians came together? A coalition which aids and guides itself towards what the Virtues truly represent. Then, it could guide the other worlds, before growing to other galaxies. Together, they could fight the corruptions. Together, they could keep each other in check. Together, they could be what the Guardians were always supposed to be.'

  'But such a coalition would still have to begin with one. Who would choose to bear such a burden?' Odia asks, as though she is genuinely entertaining the idea. Buoyed by this, feeling a fervent excitement rising towards this, the Void Walker forces himself to maintain control of himself.

  'By choosing one who always senses the same things that I do,' he says. 'One who already wishes to form this coalition. Though I cannot intervene directly, I could give them the tools to aid them in this mission. Do you grant me this, Odia? Can I push forward with this plan?'

  The Void Walker waits again, trying to contain his desperation. He hopes that she will agree, that despite the mistake that has brought him here, she will agree to this.

  'You wish to rectify your mistake that much,' she says. 'Your first champion failed.'

  'Yes, but because I recognise what you intended, Odia. You wanted me to realise this, so that I could fall upon this conclusion. I believe it now, more than ever, that this is the right path. This coalition can guide the universe. No, it can save it from the corruption, from him…'

  Another agonising period of silence follows, but the Void Walker does not dare force the issue. If need be, he will wait an eternity if it means she’ll give him the answer he wants. That is such a small price to pay to save the universe.

  'Very well,' she says. 'You may try to form this coalition of my Guardians. However, your limitations still remain, my Void Walker. You shall not affect anything directly. You may only guide and suggest. I will also grant you permission to bestow gifts upon your new champion.

  'However, know that just because you can intervene in this way it doesn't mean that you should, nor will it guarantee to stop what shall come to pass. Be wary of your own intentions, and the consequences you shall bring upon not only those you come into contact with, but also yourself… Even the slightest alteration will drastically change the future. Remember what this place used to be, my Void Walker.'

  How could I ever forget? the Void Walker thinks, though he wouldn't dare give such a thought a voice. Instead, he bows in reverence, before half turning and swiping his right hand before himself, activating the one power he has been granted access to. From it, a single pink portal opens up before him, standing around the same height and a little wider. It pulses with electrical sparks and sparkles from this very Void.

  'Thank you, Odia,' he says, before turning and stepping through it. With it, he can travel to any point of the Odia Universe within a blink of an eye, but even then he knows he has to act quickly. His mistake. His first champion is currently tearing through one of the five known galaxies, bringing agony and Judgement before it. If he is going to be stopped, this coalition of Guardians needs to be formed, and quickly. Thankfully, the Void Walker has already identified his next candidate from among the Guardians to lead the forming of this coalition, one who already shares his sentiments.

  So, the Void Walker seeks out another galaxy, known as the Vegeta Galaxy. There, a world known as Osiris exists, where the Void Walker's next champion resides. The best candidate to stand against the corruption rising throughout the universe.

  The Osirin known as Ero Kalid, alongside his Odian partner, Salkon.