Prologue

Of all the words humans have invented to comprehend the nature of the universe, perhaps the one which is most poorly able to convey to the idea which it represents is "simultaneous". In a simple universe, the word simply means that two events occur at the same moment in time. But the universe we live in is not a simple universe. It is a very complex universe, one with many dimensions of both time and space, and in such a place the idea of events occurring simultaneously is harder to define. In practice, the idea of simultaneity bears less similarity with its theoretical counter part and far more similarity with ideas such as literary parallels.

For instance, the following events occurred across the world, and even beyond it. More than that, they took place in vastly different times, or even in places where time lacks its own conventional definition. But it cannot be denied that, through the twists and distortions of the universe, all these events occurred simultaneously.

At the edge of the sky, the pride of humanity sailed on to its destination, unaware of a piece of very strange debris drifting nearby.

In the intersection of time and space, an impossible object flew randomly towards a precisely calculated target, which would not come into existence for many years.

Under the heat of the desert sun, one of the mightiest civilizations in history constructed a monument to the death of one who still lived using the power of the gods.

In a cave deep beneath nowhere in particular, a master of improbability pondered his own existence and was not satisfied with the answer he arrived at.

In an ordinary room in an ordinary house, a little girl had no concept of the greater role she was to play in events past and future.

In an abyss that permitted no light or sound, a single spark pierced the darkness for no one to see.

And in a place that was neither here nor there, a being who was never born looked up at the light at the beginning of the universe and prepared for the arrival of salvation.

The Quest had been set into motion.

A/N: Okay, so now I've pretty much confused everyone. Long-time readers will be super confused, and new readers will have no idea why long-time readers should be confused. The reason for the confusion is that this prologue is actually being published between the release of Chapters 22 and 23. I know this doesn't contribute to the story much, but I felt it needed to be written.

See, the first chapter of this story is actually the first thing I ever published on this site back in early 2011. And as such, it's pretty terrible. But at the same time I don't want to just do a straight rewrite, since I'd essentially be deleting some of my old work (Chapters 1 through 13 seem to have vanished from my hard drive somehow.) So I decided to add this prologue so that the first thing new readers see isn't my annoying younger self. If you are a new reader, just bear with this story for a while; Chapter 3 onwards is acceptable, and it gets pretty good once you reach Chapter 8 or so.

Well, off to go write Chapter 23 now. See you on the other side- almost literally!