Sovereign of the Karmic System

The moment the sword struck the pearly white thread, a brilliant explosion erupted from the point of contact. White light flared up, pure and radiant, mingling with golden sparks that shot outwards in all directions. The air hummed with raw energy as the two forces collided, creating a dazzling burst of illumination. The lights twisted and spiraled, forming arcs of shimmering gold that cut through the blinding light.

It was as if the power of fate itself was being unraveled, sending ripples of light cascading in all directions, filling the surrounding with an otherworldly glow–Then, the explosion pulsed briefly and faded, leaving a lingering afterglow in the air. When that too dissipated, what remained of the thread Daniel had cut was the very same string, except that now, the portion of fate that followed the point of contact, had turned dark.

Seeing the change in the thread, Daniel took a step back, observing from afar while casually tossing the sword in Der’s direction, ignoring as the old warrior caught it angrily and put it back in its sheath. His gaze was glued to the point where the brilliant white light died down into a string of endless darkness.

"Holy heavens!.." Roley muttered after a loud hiss. He was too angry to even think of words of reprimand. Yet, soon his eyes were drawn by the same change Daniel was waiting for.

"There it is.." Daniel spoke in pure bliss. His eyes almost tearing at the sight of the darkened thread reigniting with white light.. but this time, the light was different.

It wasn’t as brilliant, nor did it give off a stable feeling of primordial might and omniscience. Rather, it shone chaotically, flickering and pulsing with intense energy. It crackled and shifted, momentarily blinding with bursts of blinding brilliance before fading into erratic flashes, fracturing, swirling in unpredictable patterns. Yet, those were far from its most notable qualities.

What had truly caught Daniel’s attention was how this unstable light was consuming the darkened portion of the thread, burning through it like a flame would a candle’s wick, moving into the future. And even more worthy of notice, were the many colored flickers of light that would occasionally alternate with the unstable white light.

"Those are.." Der asked, incredulous.

"Existential powers.." Roley interjected, feeling a shiver run down his back. His senses caught a feeling of each power, most unknown to him, and some very familiar. But to one in particular he felt a deep affinity to. Not a colored spark, nor the now interrupted existential power of fate.. but the flickering white light that had taken its place. "That’s.. that’s the power of Destiny." He muttered.

Daniel nodded, experiencing the same affinity Roley had felt towards the flickering, unstable white light.

"The existential power of Destiny. Opposite to that of Fate by a matter of perspective, yet so similar that they can only be distinguished from one another with a trained eye." He added before slowly approaching the cut thread. His finger rose quietly, grasping at the cut thread.

Upon contact, images and feelings Daniel had experienced before rushed back into his mind. But now, as he traced his finger towards the future portion of the thread, passing the severed section, the events started to change. What he saw wasn’t a series of sequential individual events, but a cluster of vague possibilities, each as likely as any other, and each threatening to part from the rest of the thread and branch out into a new thread of its own.

It was as if that single string of events’ absolute immutable fate had given way to the unpredictability of free will.

As Daniel busied himself studying the changes to the string of fate he had cut, Roley and the others noticed changes to the weave of fate. The tense strings that stretched infinitely from horizon to horizon had now begun to flicker as well.

"He didn’t strike those.. So why are they reacting?" Ian asked nervously–His mind still muddled by the horrifying experience of space churning around his mortal body and mind. His worries, however, appeared to ease as he noticed Roley’s calm demeanor.

As the scholar within the group, Roley had naturally already guessed that whichever change one thread of fate would go through, would affect many others as well. After all, there was a reason why the power of fate was depicted as a weave, and not a line. Because while fated sequences of events stand alone, eventually there is a point of contact between different strings.

"Those threads of fate should have been connected to the one he cut down. By changing the events of that one thread, he must have severed Fate’s quality as an ’unalterable predetermined path’, allowing for the power of Destiny, which permits for a multitude of choice-based outcomes to exist, to take its place." Roley explained, drawing from the feeble understanding of time he had gathered throughout the years. "With that attack he has created a chance for the future to change, and consequently, for the sequence of predetermined events that make out the connected threads to collapse as well."

Ian shook his head in disbelief. "That makes no sense.."

"Forgive him." Daniel chimed in casually. "He was never one to dumb down an explanation."

For a reason he couldn’t explain, Ian felt that he was supposed to be offended by what his ancestor had just said. Yet, before he could say anything, Daniel continued speaking.

"Picture these individual threads as written stories. Each a book with a beginning but no end, both completed already and being written at the same time." He said while pointing at the thread in front of him. When his finger moved onto the segment he had struck, he added, "Now imagine erasing a chapter of that book.. the book as a whole will go from being a complete story to needing completion. What destiny truly is, is the freedom of the writer to rewrite the severed chapter how he sees fit. Whether he rewrites it identical to how it was, or changes a word, tone or punctuation.. Each variation will require changes to the rest of the story, as well as an adjustment to all future stories."

Ian nodded faintly, seemingly understanding the distinction. "Does it mean that you have altered a part of that thread of fate permanently?"

"Precisely." Daniel responded with a visible hint of pride.

"But then, isn’t there also supposed to be a thread that revolves around the fate of Destiny’s power? Cutting that thread would change Destiny’s future, preventing him from meeting you as well as the birth of an unnatural form of aspects of existence? That would solve all its problems.." Ian asked in confusion. To a mortal’s mind, the simplest choices seemed the most appropriate. Yet, because of his mortality, he couldn’t comprehend the nature of supreme beings.

Daniel’s head shook faintly. "That would not work. The nature of fate is based on a simple premise. ’Everything that exists and happens is part of a predetermined fate.’ Any attempt at correcting a variation of it would eliminate a defect in the weave of fate, yes, but he would also be admitting that fate isn’t absolute–By doing so, his influence would be damaged permanently, lowering in standing within the pantheon. Possibly lowering him to the rank of high aspects."

"Kid.." Der said, stopping Ian from asking further questions. "Stop indulging him." He then added before turning to face Daniel. His tone turned solemn and dignified as he continued, "If breaking out of the time loop hasn’t alerted Fate, sabotaging his nature-bound armament most definitely will have. It is time to finish what we have come here for and leave this place."

Oddly enough, Daniel did not argue.

His once attentive and amused gaze stopped focusing on the changed thread of fate, and instead turned to gander around, landing from thread to thread for several minutes. At times he would approach a new thread, pinching at it with fingers covered in karmic essence to trigger a reaction that reverberated throughout the whole space, only to lose interest right after, heading for another.

After what felt like a whole day of searching, Daniel finally stopped in front of a thread in particular. One that he had yet to touch, or whose natural state had not been affected by his previous interference, yet somehow this thread in particular felt different. As if throughout the entire string, the existential powers of fate and destiny had been coexisting, gently wrestling control from one another over the series of events.

"Found you.." Daniel muttered through a smirk. With a mixture of curiosity and trepidation, Daniel reached out, his fingers brushing the shimmering strand. It felt stranger than the rest–both fragile and unyielding. Yet a single tug was all it took.

With all the strength his remaining karmic essence afforded him, Daniel ripped the thread from its place in the Weave, causing a sharp, piercing sound to fill the air, as though a great cosmic balance had been disturbed. The threads around him, or at least most of them, quivered in response, rippling with energy before turning into threads of destiny. Then, the space began to grumble.

The warning signs of the weave’s collapse reached Daniel’s ears immediately, only to be ignored. His attention was entirely focused on the detached limp thread he was holding. A thread gleaming with multicolored lights shining in between the flickers of destiny’s unstable glow. The fingers of his right hand pinched on the thread’s surface as countless familiar images entered his mind. Images of his past.. every moment prior to his ascension marked with the power of fate, and every moment afterwards marked with the power of Destiny.

The memory that rushed in his mind upon contact was one of a distant past, but important nonetheless. It depicted a single young man in his mid twenties, facing a creature that had presented itself as the aspect of balance. A losing battle he had almost given up on fighting, if not for the sudden awakening of an even higher ranking power within himself. "Too far back.." Daniel muttered before allowing his pinched fingers to quickly trace the series of events further down the line.

"I would find something to hold on to, if I were you." Daniel muttered as the space began to morph and shudder, twisting their surroundings and bodies to inhuman shapes. The thousands of threads, once bright as bolts of lightning and now shining with many colors blended into the surroundings as a flash of white light flooded their sight. A flash that before would have preceded the obliterating power of Fate.. but that now, came alone.

The blinding light persisted for several seconds, then began to dim, revealing the immensely familiar sight of a universe’s common space. Black all around, yet brightened by uncountable remnants of far away st

ars and planets.

Of the weave they had been in, no trace was left.