Chapter Text
"Momma?" Encore asked, his youthful, timid voice gracing the void he resided in.
Encore had grown healthily throughout the time that had passed, Kakoz had done her work in tending to the little god. He donned part of Kakoz's cloak, fashioned into a long skirt. He was a fledgling now, growing in his feathers across his body and his wings. He stood tall, but remained short. His developing plumage blended into the nothingness; a sharp black, they were. He could now speak, but remained far too young to read or write yet. With his hands clasped together, he took short, bird-like hops towards the darkness, pondering where his mother was among the brimstone-covered expanse.
From the darkness, Kakoz emerged, pushing aside the fabric of the abyss with her hand. She smiled down upon her creation, greeting him.
"Hello..." Kakoz started, a fondness settled in her breath, "my dear Encore, what brings you to me?"
Encore observed Kakoz for an instance, looking her up and down before he then gracefully smiled back, a giggle hidden in the back of his throat. Yet, he composed himself. Encore softly straightened up and hopped over to gently reach a hand out to tenderly grab Kakoz's now partially ripped cloak. He looked at it for a moment before he looked up at his mother, his eyes wide, innocent, and curious. His expression was eased, his shoulders relaxed and his wings folded.
"If..." He started with a hesitance, "If I have wings, where's yours, momma? and why is your cloak all ripped?"
Kakoz thought for a moment to then kneel down to Encore's height. She hummed with thought, and tilted her head at him. This was the first time he had asked a question to her, her first glimpse into her child's head. Her smile faltered for an instance in wonderment. But, she did all she could to give a proper answer to what she could answer.
"I am the maiden of nothingness, my child. I could have anything and yet I have nothing but this cloak of mine. I ripped this cloak to provide you cloth, what is mine shall be yours." she said to him simply, being as honest as she could.
"Really? All of your cloak, all of everything?" He asked with wonder in his eyes, but then shook his head, recalling what Kakoz had said, he then softly pouted to her, "But your cloak, will it be okay?"
"Oh, darling, I am certain it will be, Both the cloak and this domain. You are something, I am all of nothing." She said.
"Oh, but--" Encore started, but then scrunched his eyebrows in confoundment.
Kakoz softly laughed at the face Encore had made. She then reached out to gently hold the side of his face with one hand. She spoke to him again, a sweeter tone on her black lips.
"You were the first I had wished for, the first to be born alongside the cherubs. Frolic with them, child, for you will besomething,something I shall never be. You shall understand things I will grow too old to grasp. You are a bundle of potential, know this. May my cloak be torn apart in your name, for I shall sacrifice it for your journey towards enlightenment. You are a blessing, Encore, cherish that in your heart." She hummed to him.
Cherubs of love had gathered around the mother and son, and Encore had turned his head to look on in wonder as his mother spoke. Yet, he kept his focus on his mother's voice. He slowly nodded, but stayed bewildered by her words. He did not understand, for he could not yet, so he pondered and asked.
"But, what's my purpose, momma? Why am I here?" He plaintively asked, "What is a blessing to nothing?"
Kakoz paused for a moment. She became stoic in thought and eased her hand off of Encore's cheek as she turned her head away from his gaze to think further. With a soft hum, she tensely sat down. Encore, curious by her reaction, moved to sit down in her cloak-covered lap. At this, Kakoz turned back to Encore, her shoulders eased at the display in front of her. She looked up to the grazing angels and then back at Encore with a soft expression.
"Well", she deliberately started, "Perhaps... We'll have to learn together, Encore. I am nothing, I do not know everything as you shall, but I shall teach you all that nothing knows."
"What about the cherubs, momma? What are their purpose?" Encore asked.
"That is another thing for us to learn together, yet, I have learned this..." She described them as she eased a hand on one of the nearby cherub's fur, "They are things of emotion, emotion that stems from me, from nothingness. Both the good and the bad. This cherub here, is the cherub of what I believe is love, Encore, all of my love for you manifested into something separate from I, for I must remain nothing."
"but why?" he asked once again, his eyes confused as he gazed up at his mother, "is it important?"
"Very, yes. If I am not nothing, there would be no nothingness. Everything would reign amok. All of the expanse would erupt in its violence of itself. I must remain the maiden of nothingness for something to bloom slowly, not to erupt suddenly. I am a foundation, so is my cloak." She said calmly to her son.
"Then why did you rip it?" Encore retorted with dismay in his voice as he held his long skirt, which was all bundled up and partially scrunched in his hands.
"Oh, darling, it is because I see endless worth in you. My cloak is just as endless. A little tear to clothe you shall do nothing to hurt me!" She giggled before she moved to tickle Encore, who burst into squawking laughter.
Kakoz laughed with him and had lightened Encore's mood. From her joyous laughter, came new cherubs. They were small, but furry, winged and dog-like. They were white as snow, and had a black mask that completely sealed its face away, only showing a crescent moon smile in white. Encore let out a squeal of awe as the leap down from the nothingness and yipped about joyously.
"Momma, look, look!" he exclaimed happily, pointing wildly at them as the dog angels bounded happily about.
Kakoz let out a laugh as one of them hopped on her lap to nuzzle into the two. Encore chirped with delight at these angels. These angels were the angels of happiness. Kakoz smiled upon her creations, understanding what she had made. She was truly happy, she needn't worry about how much Encore asked and asked, for she felt certain that they would all learn together, in this brimstone-adorned nothingness.
"Are all these cherubs really yours?" he asked, wide-eyed and gleefully in awe as he held the small cherub in his own lap.
"No, Encore, no... they will be yours." She said, a smile spreading on her face.
