Indrajeet and Anahita had departed from their world. Anahita encouraged Indrajeet to take his father's position. Albeit uncertain, Indrajeet decided to take the step.
They are on their way to the place where everything is controlled. The command center of their world is called the Park.
It is a considerable distance away from the planet Indrajeet was on. It will take them some time before they exit the hyperspace.
"So Indrajeet, how about you explain a few things to me?" (Anahita)
"Where to start…let's start from me. My life as a human wasn't anything to write home about. I was borne by a prostitute and was abandoned soon after birth. Why and how did I survive? I have no idea. From what I can remember, my earliest memory is of being beaten.
I was caught stealing food from a shop. The shopkeeper chased me and beat me up really badly. I passed out after that beating. My childhood was full of such beatings.
No one wanted me and I wanted nothing from anyone. If you ask me who my parents are, I don't know. I only know that my mother was a prostitute. Naturally my father could be anyone." (Indrajeet)
He paused for a bit. Being a dragon, Anahita had little knowledge of humanity. But since ascension, she is getting to know more.
A dragon's morality is different from a human's. So they don't view prostitution as something deplorable. It's their way of life. They mate without picking one specific mate. It's just how it is for dragons.
"The nation where I lived was a warmongering nation. It was always at war with any of the neighboring nations. In one such war, I was scavenging on the battlefield.
A battlefield is in a sense a treasure trove. The dead soldiers wore armor and had weapons and rations. So for orphans or homeless, it was a treasure trove. Of course it was called scavenging but that's how we survived.
Call it dumb luck or something but in that barren, graveyard like battlefield, I met father for the first time."
He stops again. The road ahead has not ended. Anahita is eagerly listening to his story.
"When I first saw him, I was confused. He was playing a harp on the battlefield where the dead laid. I was questioning if he was sane. The look in his eyes was not of a sane person. It was devoid of any life.
He was just playing his harp and singing an elegy for the dead. I paid him no attention and kept on scavenging. I had a huge haul that day. The swords that I took, the armors and visors and someone had gold coins too.
I managed to sell those to a black market blacksmith for some money. Father didn't interact with me but his presence kinda made me lucky." (Indrajeet)
"Then? What did you do with the money?" (Anahita)
"If a filthy slum rat like me had that much money, I would have been killed on sight. I had to hide the money from everyone. To ensure my safety, I started living on the graveyard. I stopped entering the slum entirely.
No one even noticed that I was gone. I had no identity anyway. Not even a name, I had nothing. I was just an unnamed bastard. One such night, I was returning to the graveyard known as the looting grounds when I saw father again.
He looked up at the sky and was singing an ode. I always ran into him and it piqued my interest.
I mustered the courage and went to him.
"Mister, are you alright?" I asked him.
He looked at me, not with disgust nor with contempt but genuine surprise.
"I am alright. Thank you for asking. Kid, I have seen you around. You live here?"
He asked and I was stunned. For the first time, I was talking with a person who didn't loathe me nor try to beat me up. He was just having a conversation with me. He didn't care for my identity." (Indrajeet)
The end was in sight so Indrajeet paused his story. Anahita felt that he would continue the story later so she didn't do any further inquiry.
They exited the hyperspace and arrived at the Park.
As the name suggests, it is a park. Anahita is surprised. They are standing before a lake. A lake which Anahita at first mistook for a sea.
"That's just a really big and wide lake. It's not a sea." (Indrajeet)
He answered when she asked if it was a sea. The lake is long enough to go beyond the horizon.
"This place is a park. It has lakes, some trees, flower gardens, a sand dune and a children's playground." (Indrajeet)
Anahita understands the concept of a park but the scale is just mind boggling.
Indrajeet took her hand led her to a path. The path went on and on. It seemed never ending. They kept walking, hand in hand.
"Father modeled this place after his favorite park. He wanted to take his beloved on long strolls but it never happened. I have never met that person but I know she is insufferable." (Indrajeet)
"Did his love fail?" (Anahita)
"I wish it was that simple. If it had failed, he probably would have moved on. That woman was twisted. She kept playing with father until the very end. He became what he is now because of that woman. She was sadistic and twisted. Cruel and cold hearted yet a master of manipulation.
She slowly drove father to madness. When I met father, he was already broken. Even after that, he kept suffering at her hands. I couldn't save him." (Indrajeet)
Indrajeet lamented his own weakness. He was unable to protect his father from harm. Anahita felt his helplessness and frustration.
The never ending path came to an end. They stopped before a door. An ordinary wooden door which stood at the end of this path.
Just a door, it wasn't connected to anything.
"This door is the gateway to the control of this world. Father has already left his position as the creator. I have to enter and accept the position. It will depend on the system whether I am accepted or not." (Indrajeet)
Anahita had a question but she didn't ask.
He opened the door and the scenery changed. The room where they stand now is a white room.
Everything is plain white. In the middle of this room is a glowing orb.
Indrajeet let go of Anahita and went near the black orb.
"Let's see if this system accepts me or not." (Indrajeet)
He put his right hand on the orb. It glowed for a bit. Indrajeet let go of it and came back to Anahita.
"It's done. The system has accepted me. I am now the official creator of this system." (Indrajeet)
"The system has to accept the creator?" (Anahita)
"Yes. The system is sentient. It can detect a potential creator and nurture them to unleash that potential. I was born and raised to be that creator. Hence my life turned out the way it did." (Indrajeet)
They leave the white room and return to the park. It's calm and peaceful. A boat was tied to a stick near the lake. Indrajeet pushed that boat into the lake and started rowing with Anahita.
"Let's continue where we left off. A bit of history lesson for you.
The creator who started everything is called Constant. Constant was a human who was just like us. A normal creation living in his own world. But he rebelled against his creators and started a war.
That war killed the creators of the old. Many worlds, many systems vanished. Life itself almost ceased its existence. Constant took the mantle and started creating worlds. He appointed new creators to stabilize the chaos.
They became the new age creators and we are their offshoots.
Father wasn't a creator before. He became one when Constant gave him a world to govern. It is this world. Father was a friend of Constant. As one of the few survivors from their world, Constant prioritized them. As a result, father became a creator." (Indrajeet)
"You really are just throwing outrageous stuff at me. It's destroying my perception of things." (Anahita)
She is the ice monarch, pinnacle of dragons and one of the strongest beings of her world. But the scale has been skewed.
"Well bear with it. It is basically a history lesson. How the current world was shaped and how everyone came to power, it's not that different from a normal country. Just change how you perceive it.
Anyway, father got his own world as a gift from Constant. At first, he didn't want to become a creator. So he left his world unattended. Unbeknownst to him, he the world was already alive and operational.
Life thrived in it and the cosmos was shaped. Father had no choice but to regulate everything. It was fine.
The world was progressing steadily. Life was evolving and soon sentient beings emerged. They were slightly different from humans but over time, they became exactly like humans.
Father wished to live a normal life. His first go at life wasn't anything special. He just wanted to live among the humans as a human again.
That wish backfired on him. Every single time he was born as a human, he would meet one particular woman. She would always make him fall in love with her. A love so deep, so passionate that father would lose his mind.
And then she would break him. She would destroy his love. Break his mind, continue to break his mind and then the ultimate step, have him kill her." (Indrajeet)
Anahita gulped. There have been many who do despicable things. But that was a different kind of despicable.
"Father would vividly remember everything even after his rebirth. And he would make the same mistake again. Now repeat that cycle infinitely. Father lost his mind completely.
When I met him, he had just a hint of sanity left. Since then, he has totally lost his mind. He cannot hold a conversation and most of the time is in a trance. It was surprising when he actually came here.
I didn't think he would return and play the violin. He even left you a gift as an apology. He is getting better. That can only mean one thing. He is ready to move on. I have an idea where he could be. Will you come with me?" (Indrajeet)
"Yes, why wouldn't I? This seems a bit odd but I want to witness the end for myself. Besides, I really want to see who was that woman who caused this." (Anahita)
"Even I don't know. Father made all of her records confidential. No one besides father can access those files. I believe he still loves her." (Indrajeet)
That made Anahita really exasperated. How can someone love that kind of person knowing what they have done to you? They both begin their journey outside of their system. Their goal is to find Joy, the elated and put him to rest.