The Present

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[scene: Maghreb, past]

"What is the Honkai?" Otto spent many years searching for an answer to this question. The search spanned 2 centuries and 2 eras. He knew more about the Honkai than the other 7 billion lives on Earth. The more he knew......the less he understood. Otto finally realised that he knew nothing about the Honkai. Where did IT come from? Where does IT want to go? What drives IT? To what end? Why was IT created? How would IT end? How does IT grow? Why did IT stop? Why does IT erupt? Why is IT silent? Does IT have a persona? A gestalt? Or is IT simply a law set at the very beginning of existence? Otto was inundated with questions that pushed him into the terrifying abyss of the "unknown". He desired to push forward, yet he found no path. He wanted to start his search, yet did not know where to go. He searched. His confusions grew. He failed and lost his way. In his frustration he tried many experiments. The pain of discontent plagued him. Over 500 years had passed. The hypotheses he tested and rejected were beyond counting. Answers were transposed, adjusted, combined, and taken apart. The cycle was repeated. The tapestry remained broken. But after enough cycles, an image began to appear in the obscure sea. "Let us now imagine a tree - the Imaginary Tree."

(A/n: Don't own images)

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(A/n: Don't own images)

"A massive tree whose crown cannot be seen, whose canopy of branches and leaves blots out the sky." "The Tree emerged from an endless Sea of unfathomable depths and boundaries." "The Tree and Sea are alone in the Universe. Thus began their never-ending rivalry." "The Sea swells while the Tree extends its roots. One seeks to flood. The other seeks to absorb" "The Tree had drunk from the Sea and endured an asamkhya of time and grown a nayuta of branches, and leaves." "And it was during this seemingly endless time that an unassuming branch grew a new bud." "This was the birth of human civilisation."

Otto achieved his eureka when he finally learned of the Imaginary Tree. Chaos gave way to order. He saw the path meandering through the darkness. He ran along this path. Every step he took brought him closer to the light. Soon, he was at the very edge of science itself. Previous attempts to acquire knowledge stopped here, but he must keep going and enter the yawning abyss. "Imagine it! The Imaginary as the origin of the human race and the seed of civilisation!" "Time flows in the trunk of the Imaginary Tree and branches out into an infinity of worlds." "Every branch is a form of civilisation. Every bud is their past and present etched onto the dimension of time." "But growth is countered by a force - a selective and corrective system in the Tree's rivalry against the Sea." "A natural system based upon the Imaginary mechanics. It breeds, nurtures, tests, and removes." "This is what humanity describes as the Honkai." "Indeed. Humanity will never escape the Honkai." "We must press forward because the Tree must grow. Those who fail become wilted shadows in the Sea of Quanta." "To achieve everlasting peace, we must reach the origin of civilisation and return to the Imaginary realms." "The answer I seek must lie within the Imaginary Tree..."

Otto finally found the way to the truth after having endured 559 winters. He explored the Sea of Quanta, Ether Anchors, and Imaginary constructs. He also found the Divine Key. He experienced uncountable failures, obstacles, difficulties, and impossibilities. Otto did not care for the impossible. He decided it must be made possible Otto Apocalypse must enter the domain of GOD. Otto Apocalypse must ascend the Imaginary Tree.

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