Stars in the Night Sky

Stars in the Night Sky

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No one willingly fights the darkness. That is a battle that cannot be won, and fighting it only hastens one's demise. No, they fight the darkness because they are pressured into it. For if they do not, the burden would fall onto others...

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Centi was born in a war zone, in the last bastion of light, as the last weapon of the light. All other parts of the world had already fallen into darkness, or perhaps have always been in darkness. Yet in this small corner of the world, the fight continued.

And, as one might expect in the brutal war between light and darkness, her parents perished long before Centi even learned her name. But Centi wasn't lonely. She knew that her parents would always be a part of her, and she still had her elder sisters.

And so, even while the world continued to be engulfed by darkness, Centi grew up happily. Their nature as weapons meant that Centi could never touch her sisters without being hurt, but there was still one thing they could do, and that was to dance. And Centi loved dancing. To her, it was an expression of love, of gratitude, and day after day she would dance around her sisters, circling around them, always letting them know she was here and it was because of their efforts that she was safe. She always looked forward towards the day she could join them in the fight, to repay them for all the love and care she had received.

However, as Centi grew, it became clear that she wasn't like her sisters. Perhaps it was something to do with being the youngest, but Centi was small and dim, nothing like her sisters when they were her age. Against the forces of darkness, she would be swept away like a piece of dust.

Still, her sisters never complained. Centi was the last thing their parents had given them, and they loved her. Gradually, inevitably, her sisters pushed themselves. They pressured themselves. To protect their youngest sibling, they gladly burned the energies sustaining their very lives to shine ever brighter.

Centi cried. She was powerless and she hated it. She hated being unable to help her sisters. She cried and complained. She wanted to fight alongside them. She wanted to share their burdens. But each time, her sisters stopped her. Centi was their beloved sister. They would never expose her to such danger. Besides, they bluffed, they were doing completely fine, and Centi had nothing to worry about.

And so Centi did the only thing she could do. She danced. Round and round, faster and faster, she circled her sisters. Even if she couldn't heal their wounds, she could at least lift their spirits, she reasoned to herself.

That reasoning fell apart the day the eldest died. It happened without any warning. One moment she was shining as brightly as ever, and the next she was gone in an explosion, with only smoldering remains to tell the tale. Centi was stunned. She had heard stories of how weapons died, but it was the first time she ever saw it in person.

The next death came not long after. And the next sooner still. With each death, the burden on her remaining sisters increased, and the weight was starting to crush them one by one. Centi panicked. She threw herself into battle, and when she was thrown back out by her sisters, she threw herself into research. For ways to gain strength and take over the burdens of her sisters. Ancient rituals, taboo magics, forbidden techniques, she looked for anything that could help.

But again, her sisters stopped her. They would never allow her to use such dangerous methods. Besides, they bluffed, there were still plenty of them left, and Centi had nothing to worry about.

One died, and then another. Soon the landscape was littered with their remains, still glowing with leftover heat from when they were alive. And soon...

"Centi." Sola said. "Centi. I'm afraid my time has come as well."

Centi sobbed and screamed. She raged and threw a tantrum, as if trying to attract the attention of everyone she knew. But the only one left to hear her was Sola. By now, her only remaining sister was just Sola and Sola alone. "Why?! Why didn't you let me help? Why did it all come to this?!"

But Sola only gave a sad smile. "It was because you are still a child Centi. Listen to me Centi, we may not have looked like it, but we were all old, very old. For a long period before you were born, we were sure that we were the last. That after us, there would be no one else. Your birth was a miracle Centi. You were our treasure."

"Us weapons", she continued. "We don't really change in appearance as we age. For years and decades, we look almost the same as children. It is only at the very end of our lives do we look this way. Yes, Centi, from the moment you were born, we were already at the end of our lives."

"And we had only one wish left. That was to take care of you, to protect you, to let you grow into an adult," Sola sighed. "But it seems that none of us will be around to see that happen."

Sola paused, waiting for Centi to stop crying. "But... Sola... what do I... what is Centi supposed to do when you're all gone? The darkness. How is Centi supposed to fight the darkness by myself? All alone?"

Sola smiled. "Centi, your sisters have one last present for that. Come with me." Slowly, she moved, carefully stepping around the smoldering ruins and leading Centi to a small clearing.

"Look around Centi. Do you see it?"

Centi obeyed and looked around. But apart from the darkness far away, the only things she saw were the still glowing remains of her sisters. Wait, is this? She thought as a pattern slowly emerged. They were like spirals, branching out from where she was standing and circling around her. And Sola was standing in the middle of one of the spirals.

"Even in death, we shall still protect you Centi," Sola said solemnly. "Live, Centi. You are still too young to die. Live until you grow into a fine adult. That is the last wish of your sisters."

And that was the last thing Sola ever said.

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And so Centi lived. Alone in the formation of spirals, she lived and grew. Kept at bay by the slowly fading formation, the darkness never bothered Centi, so she had lived a life of peace.

But that would all end now.

"Hey, Sola. This is enough right? Centi is a fine adult now right?"

Since the day Sola died, Centi had stopped dancing. There was no one left to dance for. There was no one left to listen to her. No one left to talk with her. Day by day, she only grew, pushing down the loneliness with her duty to her sisters, to grow into a fine adult.

But now she could bear the loneliness no longer. In her desire to see her sisters again, she did the one thing she must not do. She touched one of her sisters' remains. Back when they were alive, she would have been killed instantly by such a foolish action. But these remains were mere shadows of her sisters, and Centi was now an adult. So she dominated them. She absorbed them. And they became a part of her just like her parents. One by one, she absorbed her sisters, feeling the weight of their existence press down on her as she gathered them close to her heart.

It revitalized her. Her previously dim glow brightened with each absorbed sister. She started to feel crushed by their weight, but it still wasn't enough to crush her loneliness. So she absorbed more.

And more.

And more.

Until she had all of them.

And finally, she became one with all her sisters. The only thing left in the world was the forces of darkness, and Centi, now larger and brighter than any of her sisters, so bright that she drove all of the darkness far far away, into the corners of the world no one could see, and it looked like darkness would be defeated for all eternity.

But that was not how fights against darkness worked. It could be kept at bay, but never forever. The rituals Centi had performed to absorb her sisters and their power was forbidden for good reason. With the addition of her last sister, the weight of all their existences was now too much to bear.

Centi collapsed. Her heart, her core, was crushed to a single point. Her body smashed into her heart and then bounced off, blasting away to become smoldering remains, just like what had happened to her sisters. Centi was now one with the darkness.

And darkness now engulfed the entire world.

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Except for her remains. The accumulated weight of all her sisters was blasted off into the far corners of the world and became nothing but glowing dust. Yet, perhaps because of Centi's will or perhaps because whatever lingering memories remained still recognized one another as sisters, the dust slowly pooled together. Slowly, but steadily, the dust gathered in the darkness, growing into a small ball, and then increasing further.

And further.

And further.

And then, there was light once more.