Creeping in Our Souls

Creeping in Our Souls is the final novel in the fanfiction trilogy that began with Quest for the Masks and continued with City of Legends. It follows the Toa Nuva as they set out to prevent the end of times by saving Mata Nui's life.

Prologue
Emptiness.

A void.

A white void.

There was nothing. But it was a good kind of nothing. The pure whiteness that would eventually become space and be powered by something known as time was like a blank page or a clear wall. There was much room to fill in with colors and all manner of things.

The Great Spirit Mata Nui had his hands clasped behind his back, admiring the pure whiteness that was before him. If he paid attention, he would notice that light didn't even exist yet. Shadows did not form around him or on him. He walked into the infinite, for a period of time that would later be determinable.

Mata Nui soon grew tired of the whiteness. He lifted his hand and snapped his golden fingers. Everything went dark. Darkness had been birthed, blindness as well.

"Ah," said a quiet low voice. "Perfect."

Mata Nui shook his head and smiled. "Makuta," chuckled the Great Spirit. "It's not your time yet, brother. It's only the Beginning. The Start."

"I know, but can you truly blame me for feeling excitement at an appetizer for my purpose?" asked Makuta in response.

"I suppose not," said Mata Nui. He closed his hand into a fist and squeezed tightly. Light emitted from within his collected fingers, enough even to light Mata Nui's form from within the fist. Opposite Mata Nui was his brother, the Makuta. He stared at the forming light, a disappointed look on his face.

The Great Spirit unrolled his hand and showed his creation to his brother. It was an orb of gaseous light. Flares erupted from its surface like geysers as it floated above Mata Nui's palm. The Great Spirit took hold of it and began tossing it in the air like a ball. "Beautiful isn't it?" he proudly asked his brother. "I think I'll call it a 'Sun'."

"I preferred it when it didn't exist," complained Makuta, crossing his arms.

"Alright," Mata Nui rolled his eyes. "I'll give it a lifespan. A long one but long lifespans tend to leave a better impression than short ones, don't you think?"

"Just this one?" asked Makuta, staring at the Sun.

"You suggested it," smiled Mata Nui. He turned away from his twin and held the Sun up to his Mask. He blew on the orb. The object burst into an infinite number of smaller clones. They spread around and floated freely in empty space before sticking to a spot like a bee on a flower.

The two divine beings looked at the newly formed constellations around them. Every star that Makuta glanced at flickered, threatening to go out. "Impressive," the dark being observed.

"And we have light," announced Mata Nui. "Now what to do for the next step?"

"Land," answered Makuta. "We need land." He extended his arm and twirled his fingers. A dust cloud formed the more the fingers moved. The Dark Lord closed his fist around the cloud then threw the dust upwards. As it rained down, parts of it collected until they were either cosmic clouds, asteroids, or meteors.

"Interesting form, brother," commented Mata Nui. The Great Spirit then took the cosmic clouds and a handful of asteroids. He paced around staring at them for what would later be dubbed "minutes". He then snapped to one of the stars that hung above.

Mata Nui placed both objects in one hand and reached out for the star. He took it and it enlarged as he brought it closer to his face. He then crushed the dust and clouds in his hand. A sphere of molten earth emerged from his palm and began rotating around the orb of light, quickly cooling as it did. The Great Spirit placed his hand under the two spheres and waved it to Makuta. The dark being stared at it for a while. "And we have land."

"I think I'll call it a planet," said Mata Nui. He then pointed a finger at the top of the orb of earth. Water poured out of the tip and engulfed the planet. Some of the lands that towered over others remained above the water. "And I will call those oceans."

"Oceans?" asked Makuta. "Why plural?"

"Might as well have some variety, don't you think?" asked Mata Nui. "Multiple oceans, multiple lands. What else?"

The two deities stood silent for a moment.

"People," said Mata Nui. He waved his hand over the planet. Moss-like material covered the lands. Other than that, nothing seemed to happen. "They'll come around. Unlike all of this, civilization takes time to develop. And soon, we'll have our own world to rule over, brother."

"Hm," grunted Makuta, staring at the planet before him. "Looking forward to it."

Trivia

 * The story takes inspiration from the opera Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods), the novel American Gods, as well as graphic novels The Sandman, All-Star Superman and Final Crisis.