Galaxy's First Ruler

FALAK – The Giant Serpent...

A Being so massive that, according to the myths, it was even bigger than the entire universe.

In the myths, it was stated that it lived in the seventh hell under the universe, and only the fear of GOD's might prevent it from swallowing all the creation. But not most myths mentioned that its nature was related to the Flow of TIME itself.

In the Milky Way Galaxy, among the Ancient Dreamers, countless scrolls were mentioning the name of this Being. Yet, not one Dreamer in the billions and billions of years had ever found the truth of its existence. With time, this inexplicability made its name one of the many hidden mysteries of the Universe.

The Being Falak, and its existence, were at the 91st position on the scroll "GALACTIC 100 LOST MYSTERIES", along with many other Beings and things.

When there was so much doubt about this serpent, and none had ever even seen a hint, one could have asked baffling but entirely reasonable questions. Why were the ancient Dreamers so adamant about it being a reality and not a made-up story to scare children? Why were they so sure that it existed for them to put its presence on The Scroll?

Well, most of the ancient Dreamers were also scholars by nature. They had already thought that the future generation might be naïve enough to ask these questions. And hence, they had put reasoning for this 91st and many other things like it.

Their reasoning went something like this:

"RECORD is a broken system. Though it is impartial, it doesn't know how to differentiate between Facts and Imaginations, Thoughts and Dreams, and Reality and Myths. The Being Falak, and its Name, exist on all Barren Earths. Thus, by the twisted notions of RECORD, it must have a Dungeon of its own."

The part that didn't need to be written was that if there was such a Dungeon, then Falak must be the BOSS of it. It was up to the coming Dreamers to find out about this Dungeon because none had done so until now.

The search for the things mentioned in the Scroll was ever going. And it seemed it would be continued for eternities after eternities unless a destined one stumbled upon them.

Much like the search of the lost 10th Item on the Scroll, whose name alone had terrorized the hearts of all Dukes and Kings alike since ancient times.

THE NARAYANASTRA.

But it wasn't like after the era symbolized by Ancient Dreamers' presence, the coming Dreamers were completely clueless. Among them were explorers and adventurers carrying the same will of curiosity as their predecessors had once carried. And during one such adventure, Dreamers found a Mythical Serpent outside the Dungeons. It could manipulate Time, and its appearance matched as described to the Being mentioned in the Scroll.

But evidently, in one look, anyone could tell that it lacked the might which the name FALAK carried. After many discussions, spanning decades and centuries, Dreamers named this serpent in the name they much like to give it but couldn't; FALAK's BREATH.

If FALAK was a person, then this mythical serpent was surely equivalent to one of its breaths.

And if FALAK was the Flow of Time, then this breath was at least a strand of this flow.

*

Aldrich stared into those stellar-dust-filled eyes, and he felt like he was seeing the birth and death of many stars.

The Serpent slithered its head, and let out hissing sounds. But these hissing sounds didn't harm Aldrich. The meaningless hiss which could have made anyone else lose their sanity became comprehensible in Aldrich's mind.

-WHAT AN INTERESTING PAST-

Aldrich came out of his awe and raised his eyebrows, hearing this hissing noise becoming words. He hadn't thought that after using the Passive Skill Serpent Slither to cover himself with fluctuations of Laws, he could use it again. Much less using it facing no mortal threat.

-I HAVE STOPPED TIME-

'So that's why...'

Another hiss came out of the serpent, making Aldrich realize why he wasn't getting weaker. It seemed to him there were two levels of this Time Manipulation. One outside the "ball" where the Time could only affect physical things. The other was the space within it, where everything could be affected regardless of its nature.

Aldrich had been through many setbacks in the last few minutes. Even then, he knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime type of opportunity. And it demanded a heavy price from him for him to gain something out of it; the price of calmness and patience.

Aldrich took a deep breath and let go of the thoughts he was having. He was about to call Sha in this space, and irrespective of the cost, he had planned to let her devour this Mythical Serpent. But seeing the Falak's breath communicating to him by its volition, Aldrich too decided to use words instead of force.

Aldrich was never a man of violence, anyway. (Ahem!)

Aldrich, ignoring the pain coursing through his body, gripped the Pillar of Footprints tightly. He gave the Mythical Serpent a bow and spoke out.

-I, God of White and Black, have some questions-

The mythical serpent slithered, coiling its head under its body, and let out a maddening hiss. It seemed to Aldrich that the serpent was laughing, and then words materialized in his head.

-HAHA! GOD?! BUT… THERE ARE KARMIC THREADS BETWEEN US-

'This...'

Aldrich gaped at these words, but the serpent didn't give him any time to contemplate over them and continued.

-ASK AWAY! BUT ONLY THREE-

-And, in return?-

-YOU WILL KNOW-

Aldrich became silent upon hearing this. Not knowing the price of these answers could be potentially dangerous. Especially when it involved a Being who knew things that Aldrich had yet to come in contact with. But time, though stopped, was limited. Outside, the suction continued, devouring every spirit, and if Aldrich were to let go of this chance, there might not come such an opportunity.

For a moment, Aldrich even thought that this was the real fruit for him to complete the prophecy. As this idea originated in his mind, Aldrich took a deep breath and asked the first question.

-What are you?-