Chapter 338: Gathering

_Space folded unexpectedly in the blink of an eye._

_The new progenitors and candidates - Mob surrounded by the New Earth lights on the upper ground of New Earth, Temmy still surrounded by unstable ghost children, Ken, trembling against stone in the werewolf’s ranges, Remu in the middle of scorched previous wards, Francisca with her seven tails folded, Dera - in her training courtyard, Daniel and Ruka - tied in the heat of the Demon Realm - in another blink of an eye, turned into nothing but a memory around them._

_Suddenly they appeared on an unbarred plain of black glass with a non-starred sky above their heads and an unbreatheable still air around; the dark creeped along the edge of the black glass just so Nyx could see the living dark standing in the middle of them in her unbent silhouette_

Living dark clad her shoulders, and her long black waterfall strands resembled the flowing water, and her pure black eyes were watching the new candidates without hurry, and the burden that had been put against her chest long ago in this place told of the superiority of the figure before the newcomer progenitors.

Daniel’s instincts took a lead,

unpredictable demonic energy flamed wild around him in a chaotic way, he charged blindly forward with a wordless cry of authority that would finish the female in a straight line before Nyx’s eyes even moved.

Nyx smiled on the corner of her lips.

Daniel never reached her - an invisible pressure tossed him backward on the black glass, making a break in the landscape before the former killer rolled down lifelessly - the demonic aura around his figure floundering and unfurling.

"You are impatient," she said with a clear voice that rang over the still air. "This will get you killed if you continue like this."

The others were silent, but their bodies had instinctively formed a defense around the injured Demon, the golden wings of Mob billowing in the air and bleeding light, Ken’s lower body had taken a feral shape turning his claws outward, Remu’s hands had taken a witch-script glowing position, Francisca’s seven tails had raised as a barrier, Temmy’s pressure had spiked in defense mode, Dera just stood firm with her human authority, and Ruka had bent close to Daniel’s figure watching Nyx. Nyx allowed a pause for the feeling of the abrupt teleport and the attempted homicide to settle.

"I am called Nyx," she continued, the sound of her voice rolling across the black glass. "The first Progenitor of this universe, I have been here before anyone of previous bloodlines has claimed their right and brought their authorities with them. I have brought you here because the situation has gotten beyond your ability to remain as ignorant holders of power here."

The figures of the candidates did not move.

Nyx resumed, her tone unchanged. "The old Progenitors are no more. Some may be dead or the power that gave them their seats may have been forcibly stripped from them. Whichever the case, the mechanism left by the founder of this universe does not recognize the lack of power here for long. If they go, another takes their seat. The closest vessel the power can breach will be breached to claim what had been given."

Her gaze locked on their eyes one by one. "The Angel seat recognizes you, Mob. The Spirit’s seat had claimed Temmy already, The Werewolf seat claimed Ken, The Witch seat burned itself into Remu, The Kitsune’s seat have made way for Francisca since her seventh tail have twitched, For Dera the Human seat was already there, and the last of the old progenitors to fall had made itself a continuous thread to the current generation. Daniel, Ruka - The Demon seat remains contested. You are nearest to it, neither of your power have passed the crossing, yet both of you are close enough that you could claim it as your own, the authority will not seek elsewhere."

Daniel pushed himself up from the glass, smearing away some blood from his lip as he spoke. "We are supposed to take this laid out for us?"

"You have already taken this upon yourself when the power forced itself into your vessels," said she, her tone unwavering. "I merely state things how they are." She tilted her head thoughtfully. "The old order is broken. You are new. As you wished the old progenitors to take their seats freely - so shall it be with you. What matters not is the desire in your hearts of the matter. The seats care not for your wants."

The tails of Francisca drooped just in the slightest. "And why us why only those connected with the blood of LUCIFER?"

Nyx’s black eyes narrowed in thought. "The matter of how your authorities fit their vessels is not a matter for you. Their crossing with this universe and yours is what marked you as candidates. It was only the force of the seat, itself, in its’ search for the strongest vessel that could grasp it for the time being, has picked you lot."

Mob’s glow lowered in flame. "What is to happen should we refuse?"

"You cannot refuse what has breached within your vessels," said Nyx evenly. "You may only learn to bear the burdens and grow or be cut down by the rising order. The universe does not suffer the weaknesses of a progenitor who cannot rule as they are ruled."

It was the first that Dera spoke: "And to the old ones we had been speaking of? Some had survived yet they were being stripped too, who was responsible for that?"

Nyx’s gaze swept over them in silence.

" That question is not yet yours as of yet," said she at last, her voice quiet. "What the matter is is that the age that had been prophesied had begun. The old progenitors were being culled, those who had come before you had been culled, and you will stand as the new or die trying to become new."

She turned her black eyes over them again. "I will teach nor train you as I would the halfbloods, nor will I shield you from your own shortcomings but I will present to you this fact, for an uninformed progenitor is a dead one soon enough; you have been marked and may you act accordingly." The black glass said nothing but held the weight of her words. All the new owners of empty seats stood facing the figure of the first progenitor for the first time with the truth of their being thrust into existence firmly upon their shoulders and without the softness one would expect from such a place.

Nyx cared not to waste emotion onto their sorry plight and only a knowing certainty.