Means to an End

**Means to an End** is the first chapter in the Stardust series as a whole. First uploaded as a teaser chapter on Webtoon on March 8th, 2020 at 19:38 (military time), the chapter released to the public a month before the series regular scheduled release. In July, the same year, 5 pages received slightly updated drawings.

On May 26th 2021, a full remastered version of the chapter was debuted on Patreon before replacing the original version on Webtoon with improved visuals and text.

## Plot

The chapter begins with an introduction the deity 'They', who was known to create all. Living alone in the Stardust Realm, located somewhere on the brink of reality. They created two bodies in their image, the black body named Ecalypse and the white body named Orizon. Ecalypse swiftly discovered he was a prolific creating life akin to his form, binding them together with stardust itself. Ecalypse's power grew, forming an entirely new plane of existence for his Guardians to thrive, and assigning one Guardian as the world's protector. He named this individual a True Guardians. Orizon, meanwhile, was hardly able to produce a fraction of a whole, his creations could not live nor thrive. Jealous, Orizon adapted a new role, a counterpart to Ecalypse, sovereign to himself as The Destroyer. Outraged, he destroyed Ecalypse's world and Guardian after a fierce battle, shattering the world and its inhabitants back in to Stardust. Furiously, Ecalypse begun a heated battle between the two brothers, becoming permanently scarred in the process. Ecalypse swore vengeance against his brother, to continuously create new worlds strong enough to deflect against Orizon. In spite of that, Orizon continued to destroy world after world, creating a seemingly endless cycle of vengeance.

The perspective cuts to a white Guardian named Holly Sarah France, who awakes from sleep with a jolt. Swiftly glancing around the room in her house, taking notice of the other Guardians laying in bed peacefully asleep. Holly sighs before getting out of bed. Through narration, Holly introduces herself as the True Guardian of the 8th World. The narration continues as she goes to the kitchen sink and splashes her face with water. Holly looks at the group of sleeping Guardians before turning to walk outside. She stops as she hear a sneeze, looking back to reveal a shivering King in bed. Holly carefully uses her jaw to cover the blanket over King, and proceeds to walk out the front door.

As Holly runs through the open field outside her house, her narration continues to evoke her inner conflict with Ecalypse's assigned role as True Guardian. She expresses her contrasting ideas for what she wants to pursue for her future, stopping in the field to stare at the distant moon over the morning horizon.

## Characters

* 'They' (debut)
* Ecalypse (debut)
* Orizon (debut)
* King Parker (first appearance)
* Zann Tau Imari (first appearance)
* Jasper Balt (first appearance)
* Apollo Sasuke (first appearance)
* Havana De-Vo (first appearance)
* Damaen Arcanes (first appearance)

## 2021 Remastered Edition

On May 26th, 2021, a fully updated, remastered version of the chapter was revealed on Patreon. This version includes improved visuals and text, though the content and progression of events in the chapter remain nearly identical. Below is a full comparison of the two versions and edits.

## Trivia

* This is the first chapter of Stardust as a whole.
* This is the only chapter to ever receive a full re-draw.
	+ Despite this, the cover and first page in the original and the 2021 version remain the same.
* Holly's house debuts as the first World 8 location in the series.