And in the beginning there was nothing.
It was black and dark and desolate, there was no warmth, no cold, no feeling, no sounds or smells or sights. There was only a limitless void of nothing stretching onward into infinity. There was no true darkness, no empty pit of black shadow or starless sky. It was simply an untouched plane, where there were no eyes to attempt to comprehend its vast nothingness, nor questing minds to find themselves confused and perturbed.
In the beginning there was nothing.
And His hand reached into the nothing and with a touch He created a personification of it. The entire void of nothing warped and shrank into itself, twisting and wracking as its essence was molded into Something. Eventually the quivering form found itself Alive, cowering and cold (cold? What was cold?). It had no eyes to see, but yet it could, no mouth to speak yet the quiet breathiness of a first attempt at speech spewed forth from its lipless form.
It could see, but it had nothing to look upon in its empty void. Nothing but Him.
And He looked down upon it with a loving smile, bright and elegant and an endless array of color.
White. He was white. It had never seen white before.
It had never seen anything before.
He stretched out a hand and for the first time it felt the pleasure of touch. Gentle and no more than a whisper of flesh (was it flesh?) against its self.
"I am your master,� He said,� I am your creator. Your purpose is to please me."
It shivered, wracked with the simple joy of purpose. It could do nothing more than watch and listen to Him, staring lovingly at its master. Its creator. Its god.
"You will be Cassius, because it pleases me."
"Cassius,"it hissed, and shivered again. It had a name. An identity. It was no longer nothing.
"You will serve me well, won't you, Cassius?"
It did not have words, no knowledge, and only the barest notion of how to speak. He smiled softly, resting His hand (was it a hand?) against its temples. It gasped at the sudden knowing, arching into His touch.
"Yes,� he said,� Always. Forever, my lord."
"You do not want to be a naive fool, do you Cassius? Do you want my knowledge?"
"Would it please you, my lord?" Pleasing Him. That was its purpose. Nothing else. Nothing more. No...
Nothing less.
His smile widened and He nodded slowly,� It would." His fingers tightened over its temples, and it could feel the invasion of mind to mind, breaking past the barriers that should have been there. An onslaught of knowledge poured into its mind, filling him, completing him. He pulled his hands back.
Cassius looked up at him, fawning and adoring,� I�m bodiless."
"No,� He said,� You�re limitless."
And He looked down upon all that he had made and saw that it was Perfect.
.:.:.::.:.:.
Cassius watched the rabble of servants scurry back and forth across the ivory floor of the Prince's manor, perched decadently beside His throne amid the thick fur rugs (all flawlessly white, as was everything within the palace), invisible to their eyes. He shifted, naked but not formless, and flicked his gaze to the main entrance of the hall.
Where was he? Cassius lips curled back in a snarl (useless, as there was no one around with the ability to see him in his natural form), and he wound his fingers against the rugs, resisting the urge to growl. It was not proper behavior to dismiss the Prince in such a way. If he requests your company, you come. Such infealty was excuse to be punished.
Cassius thoughts did not linger on malice for long, as the doors began to open, sliding slowly across the floor until each ivory handle was pressed against the opposite wall. The Prince's guest stood in the way, a large, imposing figure, of dark skin and darker hair, clad in nothing more than a thick, fur robe. He had a feral, ugly look to him, untamed and wild.
Cassius rose from his seat and glided down the stairs toward the door. Slowly he allowed his invisibility to wane, which in turn caused his form to warp and change into that of a leper, swathed in nothing more than a loose white robe, his face covered by a mask. If he was to be human, he was to be foul. Cassius could be appealing to no one but the Prince.
The man at the door recoiled at his appearance, lips lifting in a sneer,� Where�s the Prince?"
Where indeed? Cassius' mind probed the manor. He didn't appear to be on the premises.
"My Master grew bored with your dalliance, I don't know when he will return but it would serve you better to stay here. My Master's patience wears thin with you, and he will not appreciate another day wasted waiting for your presence."
The man frowned, eyes narrowed,� I�ll do what I wish, leper."
Cassius drew himself up, ignoring the pain that bloomed along his crooked spine,� You will do what my Master wishes, or you will suffer the consequences!" Cassius would not stand for his master to be so ill spoken off. His lips twisted into a sneer, hidden behind his mask. This man would not leave alive if he attempt to disobey his master's wishes.
The man's eyes traveled over him, from head to foot, his frown deepened,� Does your master allow servants to speak to his guests like this?"
"I am no mere servant, I am His exalted sl-"
"That's enough, Cassius."
Cassius' head snapped upward. The Prince! He had appeared behind the crude creature Cassius had been forced to greet, his pale lips quirked upward in a smirk.
"You may return to your duties, Cassius."
Cassius nodded, bowing deeply. Swiftly and smoothly he dropped his leper guise, returning to the comfortable formality of his wraith-like state,� Yes, my lord."
"Forgive him,� said the Prince, turning his attention to the dark man,"Cassius is new, he had not yet been informed of your status within my courts."
"Hn,"the man grunted,� New and overly obsequious. Where did you find such a creature as that? He's foul."
The Prince smirked,� I made him, actually,� he slung an arm over the man's shoulder, his eyes catching Cassius', visible only to Him,� And he's foul because I wish him to be. Come along now, we have much to discuss."
Cassius watched them trail off down on the many halls, speaking quietly to one another. He felt a feeling well up in his heart, something that had become more and more common since the beginning of his short reign as his master's most exalted servant.
Jealousy.
.:.:.::.:.:.
The front court of the Prince's manor (dubbed the Ivory Manor, for it's walls were carved entirely of ivory, as were the thrones, the stairs, the bed frames, the book shelves, the tables, and the many decorative statues and pillars lining the walls both inside and outside the manor) was a magnificent thing, even in the darkness of the night. The main court was guarded by a labyrinth of black bushes, white the open area was light and welcoming. Roses, red, black, and white, lined the main sitting area surrounding a bubbling fountain of ivory that towered well above Cassius' head, in any form he chose to take. There benches, also ivory, curved around the fountain, marred by the presence of a pair of the Prince's concubines, chortling quietly between themselves and grooming one another's hair.
Cassius slunk toward them, grimacing deeply. Casting them a sneer, wasted as they couldn't see it, he floated through them both, stirring yelps and shivers from the females. He glided to the top of the fountain and perched himself there.
"What was that?"
"Just...just the cold, that's all."
"Maybe we should go in, it's getting late."
"Yes, lets."
Cassius watched them scurry off the bench and hurry toward the doors. He stirred, stretching his legs out before him and leaning back against the very tip of the fountain.
It in itself was a beautiful thing, shaped like a tree, it's trunk large and branched, twisted to give it a more elegant and complex design. Its leaves were the water, trickling in arcs that gave the figure a semblance of a weeping willow. Wrapped around the trunk and curling over several of the branches was a serpent, etched in the same gleaming onyx as the rest of it.
Cassius reached down and stroked the ivory-creature's head, letting his fingers trail over its forked tongue.
How could he please his master if he was nothing more than a new child, inexperienced with the dealings of his court. Why had his Lord not given him that knowledge? Perhaps he did, and Cassius frowned at this, cursing his own insolence. Perhaps He did, and Cassius was simply incapable of drawing upon it. Perhaps it was a test.
Why didn't he know?
"Perhaps he doesn't want you to be perfect."
Cassius head snapped forward. There, hiding against the shadows, was the dark man, sans Prince. Cassius' brow furrowed and he looked away, returning his attention to the snake figure. The dark man couldn't see him, not like this.
"No, but I can hear you."
No he couldn't. Only the Prince could hear him.
"Perhaps he's given me the ability...or the permission,� he sneered,� To keep you in check."
Cassius frown and slipped off the fountain, gliding across the banister until he was nearly face to face with the dark man. He could see the hair's rise and the flesh morph into goose pimples. Cassius sat himself down on the banister, curling fingers against the ivory, and leaned forward, breathing cool, frozen air over the dark man's neck. He watched the hesitance creep into his eyes. The dark man stumbled back a step, stilled, frozen and frowning, and stepped forward again.
"You're nothing more than his servant, you can't do anything other than what he wishes. If he doesn't want me harmed, which he doesn't, you can't harm me."
Cassius stretched a hand out toward him and raked a pointed fingernail across his cheek.
The dark man held fast, lifting his chin and bearing his neck to him,� Kill me, then. Let's see you go against your master's wishes."
Cassius let his hand slide down the man's neck, and curled his fingers loosely around his throat. His nails dug into the flesh, and he felt blood well up beneath them. Oh, how he disliked this crude excuse of a man. How dare he speak so illy of the Prince. Cassius would take pleasure in his demise.
But his master would not.
Cassius gasped and thrust his hand backward.
The dark man let out a rumbled chortle and nodded his head, backing a way a few steps,� I thought so."
Cassius growled.
"So what does your master want, Cassius, is it? Why won't he tell you? Why has he left you to guess his desires?"
"My master's reasons are his own, and whatever they are I shall not refute him. If he wishes me blind to his desires, so be it. I will gladly suffer punishment for wrongful assumptions rather than question his decisions."
"Ah, but wouldn't your master be more pleased if you do not assume wrongly?"
Cassius bared his teeth, willing his thoughts silent and still.
"You could take the knowledge, you know. You're closer to him than anyone else here. He does not guard himself nearly so strongly when you're in his presence."
Pride welled in Cassius' chest. He had not known that, but the fact warmed him greatly. Of course the Prince would be more at ease around Cassius. Cassius would give his life for him at the merest-
No. No the Prince would not be any less cautious. Despite Cassius unwavering fealty the Prince had never been any less on guard with him at his side than he was without him. Cassius was not the Prince's guardian. He was his servant. These were lies. Lies to distract him from the dark man's real intentions.
Steal his master's knowledge indeed.
Cassius lept off the banister, planting his feet solidly on the ground. In moments he slipped from his wraith form into that of dragon, tall and malicious with torn flesh over his mouth and eyes replaced with fleshy, scarred rashes.
The dark man stumbled backward, eyes wide,� I thought you were a leper."
"You were mistaken, then, cur,"Cassius seethed, his breath pouring from his mouth in waves of nauseating fumes,� I am limitless, as my master has made me."
"You're foul, in whatever form you take."
And indeed he was, a malformed and twisted creature as a dragon, and sickly and crippled as a human. Cassius' twisted mouth spread into a grin, stretching the sores around his leathery lips. They cracked and pus swelled out of them, oozy down his chin,� If my lord deemed me useful 'foul', then foul I'll be. But perfectly foul, as he could have created nothing less."
"Is that what he told you?" the dark man smirked, chest heaving with laughter,� Maybe foul is all he can make. He's not so perfect and powerful as you think."
"Keep your blasphemous words to yourself,� he craned his neck forward, parting his lips mere inches away from the dark man's face,� My lord is perfect."
"So loyal, and he treats you no better than a dog. If he loves you so much why doesn't he share his knowledge with you?"
"He has."
"He's only told you he has. You don't know what he wants, after all, do you? You don't know who I am. Take he's knowledge, Cassius. And you'll be perfect for him. He'll love you."
Love him. That's what Cassius wanted, wasn't it? To be loved by his master. To be everything his master wanted him to be. To be perfect for him. To do everything he needed. To please him.
But not to steal from him.
"Take it,� the dark man urged,� Take it, Cassius."
This man was dangerous. He was no friend of the Prince. He was an enemy, disguised and deceptive. A liar and cur, not fit for the Prince's court.
"No."
Cassius lunged forward, wrapping his massive jaws around the dark man's form. His teeth sank into his flesh and with a snap of his neck the man's body broke in two. He swung his head back and pushed the body down his throat with his scarred tongue.
"Cassius!"
Cassius' blind face snapped toward the direction of the voice. His master's voice.
"Cassius, what have you done!"
A new feeling came over him then, one as unfamiliar as senses had been when he was first born.
Dread.