(read chapter 0: the void before reading this if you haven't)
In the bare and empty plains of abundance, where only a star and darkness remain, singing in harmony.
I look away from the star and call out towards it:
"Why does a phoenix choose to rise from the ashes, away from death's welcoming embrace?"
And in response, the star turns into an ember of flame, and slowly transforms into a giant bird of fire. As it flies, it leaves behind it a trail of new stars, each one brighter than the last.
The new stars too join the symphony, and in its ever growing jealousy, the darkness tries to enshroud the phoenix in warm, clinging clouds of pitch black.
As seconds turned to minutes and minutes turned to hours, it seemed as if the night had won, and the smaller stars began dissolving one by one into the pool of darkness.
A shriek cuts through the void.
And from within the clouds, a giant, blinding, fiery explosion bursts forth driving away the darkness.
When I opened my eyes again, the void that once was is no more, and in its place, lies an infinite cosmos, vaster than thought. Massive galaxies spin in dazzling spirals, nebulae drift like brushstrokes of color across the canvas of space.
In the center of everything, a giant black hole looms, consuming and eternal. And the phoenix flies, recreating what the dark destroys.