The shadows had watched for ages. They had seen this pattern time and time again.
Pantheon rises, over throws their elders, repeats their fore-bearers’ sins, then finally be overthrown by their spawn or their spawnlings.
Rise, Resist, Corruption, Fall. Ad nauseam.
But this pantheon held promise.
Or rather, their Trickster did.
The Trickster always came later. The price of a Pantheon’s Resistance or Corruption, a chaotic force seemingly designed to keep the stagnation of eternity from making a Pantheon complacent.
They were usually also always the Heralds of the End, because it was in their nature to poke and prod at that which should be left alone.
Most Pantheon’s fall to the Trickster. Not due to inherent malice (typically), but rather due to being unable to handle chaos.
The shadows enjoyed chaos. It made eternity bearable, kept them on their proverbial toes.
Chaos was intrinsic to life, but the Pantheons never learn this lesson, stopping only as far as how easier life is to control when given Law and Order.
So they stamped it out, and blamed the few who understood Chaos.
The shadows deemed this cycle worth investigating.
After the Trickster had left the grand temple (because of course the Fate of the World must be divined in the grand temple), a shadow-y figure materialized from a nearby alley.
The Trickster, seemingly expecting retaliation from their Pantheon, was already prepared, the Prophecy-ending knife raised.
However, the strange figure they encountered gave them pause, long enough for said figure to become more solid.
The strange, shadow-y figure raised its hands, making it clear it was here to talk.
“Amazing. You’ve have broken your fore-bearers’ cycle. A Cycle that has gone on ad infinitum.” the Shadow stated, its form barely keeping itself vaguely humanoid, barely containing the excitement it felt at the prospect of something new happening.
The Trickster’s eyes narrowed, knowing a threat when they saw one.
“That’s why I did it. A stagnant cycle can only be fixed by change, and as is the custom of Life, a violent one.” Their eyes narrowed further, their contempt for the cycle apparent, and thinking the Shadow as a possibly perpetrator of it.
“And having just broken our World of the Chains of Tradition, I refuse to allow it to be bound by another.”
“Oh, you beautiful child of Chaos. What I Am and what I Want doesn’t want to control any of this. We just want to watch, and chronicle this lovely new chapter of the world.” The Shadow-y mass finally dissolved the humanoid shell, tendrils extending out, inhuman and cephalopedan limbs twisting and coiling, eyes and eyes and oh so many eyes focused on this amazing rogue who had denied Eternity what it always forced onto the World..
“Please, allow us to be your friend, and just let us watch how everything unfolds, by your side. Life is far more interesting when it is Unchained.”
It extended a vaguely humanoid hand towards the crafty Trickster, limbs uncoiling and writhing, curiously delighted for the possibilities of how the Trickster would react.
