Page 216 of The Space Between Stars

How did I get here? he asked, though numbed by the void the answer didn’t matter.

Emotive paradox.

Something about the answer scratched at him, cracking his comfort. I don’t understand.

Of course you don’t. It is beyond comprehension.

The void had no sound. No smell. No gravity. It was perfect. It was everything Calver could ever hope for. He didn’t care for answers. And yet—

Will you explain it to me?

Just as you ask questions in a place where answers have no consequence, you wished for everything and nothing all at once, with equal velocity. That is its own contradiction. And so here you are, in the realm of the Fates, where meaning becomes madness.

The perfection of the void suddenly became lacking as Calver tried to piece together what he could have possibly wished for, if not this.

Where are the others? he asked.

As Creation spoke, the images of her words flitted through his mind. Chaos and Preservation stay to the Void’s rim. We are at the heart.

And Destruction?

A conduit goes two ways, Calverous. Each time you enter the space between stars, a reflection of your deepest emotions comes out the other side.

He was Destruction. The truth rang through him.

I don’t understand. How can I be? I feel nothing. Want nothing.

Exactly.

Clarity shattered his non-feeling, and the Void, which had felt so comfortable before, suddenly seemed to push him away. Something trembled inside him. A want. It was antithetical. Impossible.

The void began to slip sideways.

You are not long for this place, and most who come here don’t return. You won’t be able to wield much power. That is for the best.

Power?

Over time. Over space. Over energy. Unstitch the Tapestry. Sew it together. The void does not exist. It is paradox, and therefore ungovernable.

Why was it telling him this?

Because it makes no difference. You know the answer either way.

He saw it then, as it slipped past him: everything that ever had been. Everything that could be. He became omnipotent to every thought, feeling, possibility: only he didn’t care enough to dwell on any of them. There was a memory… something he had wanted… and his mind scraped desperately to retrieve it.

This place. This is the dragonfly?

Creation ignored him, though the Void, sliding faster with each passing second, answered ‘Yes’. Instead, she sifted through every moment of his life in the blink of an eye. She pulled on a thread of time, more than fourteen years past. Heed my wisdom, Calverous. Return here. Don’t follow Thyatira after the Red Wing recruitment in Kaidech. Go home to your child sister. She will hide you when the Tera’thians invade. Through this path, I see you live a full life. Together.

The itch grew stronger. The void brightened. As Calver considered its suggestion, the want yawned wide.

Can I… bring Raimee back?

The impression rippled with derision. Yalathia Seraphindo?

Yes.

Creation dismissed him. An unusual desire for a Destruction conduit. And a foolish one. I see all paths. There is no future for you with her in it. Only death.