This work is a piece of fiction. While inspired by real events, cultures, and practices in human history, the story blends factual history with fictional characters, dramatizations, and creative interpretation.
It is not intended to promote, glorify, or encourage any illegal activities, substance use, or harmful behavior. All depictions of sensitive topics are included solely for narrative and historical context.
For the effects of the story, all characters are to be considered above the majority age.
Reader discretion is advised.
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╔═══━━━─── • ───━━━═══╗
Earth-199999.
7 BE (Before Emergence) 2016 CE (Current Era).
"Can you help me with the spell, My Love?" Large upturned eyes met mine. Eyes of a green so dark that most believed they were black; not me, though.
My eyes burned with each detail of these beautiful eyes I claim as mine in my eternal memory, to add to the yottabytes of data I have of Noona's eyes.
I wrapped my tail around hers and used the connection as a conduit to manipulate energy through her and let Noona experience what it feels like to cast this spell with complete mastery.
"Try it on me, Noona," I guided her hand to my chest.
"What am I separating from you?" She asked, tilting her head to the side, a quirk she picked up from me.
"I brought my soul with me this time," I thinned the natural shielding over my soul and allowed her to sense it.
"Oh, it's been a while since I saw your soul in your body," her eyes sparkled with care and wanting. "Why did you unfuse it from Earth?"
"It's in preparation for the upcoming fight and the moving," I explained. "I want to be ready in case I need to jump back to my Earth; additionally, Tiamut's emergence is just a few years away."
"When you return, will you emerge Tiamut from your Earth?" Noona asked.
"The Tiamut from my Earth was getting close to their emergence, but then so many of the global population died during the Unquenchable Hunger mishap," I explained.
"So it was delayed," she muttered.
"Yes," I nodded. "I haven't done the math, but possibly a decade or two."
"Unless population booms explosively," Noona pointed out.
"Exactly... But, with the divine war approaching, I doubt that'll happen," I added.
"I see," she said in a pensive mood. "That's why we prefer to reset realities over saving them."
"I'm beginning to understand you," I agreed. "Anyway, go ahead and try to separate my soul from my body; I'll guide you."
The spell I created is better represented under the word: Ritual. At the moment, I'm unable to simplify complicated rituals into spells, at least not the spells belonging to my 'school' of magic. Void Energy is not cooperative like that.
However, the absoluteness achieved from the spell/ritual is nothing to scoff at. I achieved conceptual [Separation].
It sounds overpowered, and it is under the right circumstances; however, for the type of battles I wage, it's useless.
Imagine a very slow three-year-old with poor visual-motor coordination attempting to punch a healthy adult. The adult will be able to see the tell of the punch from epochs away. The chances that three-year-old has of landing that punch are about the same as I would have of hitting someone close to my level with that spell.
Now, the effects of the [Separation] are as undeniable as they can get, to the point I don't doubt I could even [Separate] the In-Betweener from all of the dichotomies that grant them their name.
However... Explanations aside, there's something I must ask Noona forthwith!
"Noona, what is my heart doing in your womb?" I asked.
"Because I need my hands to cast this obnoxious spell," she replied as if her answer were common sense.
"Couldn't you place the heart down and touch it with your leg?" I asked.
"You're silly, I would never lower your heart to the ground level," she chuckled lovingly.
"No, well, that's flattering and I get butterflies in my void stomach and all, but that was just one of the possible solutions," I continued with my questioning. "You could have held it with your tail, used your telekinesis, and if you were gonna store it inside, your stomach was a viable option too."
"You don't like it that I safeguarded it in my womb?" She gave me some killer puppy eyes.
"... I didn't say that, did I?" I replied.
"Okay, then don't say anything, and please help me get this right," she smiled joyfully.
Ok...
I stood in front of Noona, my tail wrapped to the side with hers, her palms facing me. Void energy flowed from my heart, a pulsing light beneath her navel. The energy flowed and flooded her body. I adjusted and hearded the energy to perfection inside Noona, and then she began casting.
The spell had so many parameters to consider that I couldn't create only an aria for its control. The path my Void Energy follows, the speed, intensity, the movements of the caster's eyes, the hand signs, the sway of the body, the motion of the caster's hair, the intention, will, imagination, mind, soul, body, and essence; all of it mattered for the ritual.
Noona had all but the energy part of the spell mastered. Her hands moved beautifully, her fingers casting an intricate Script Matrix over me, magic circles being built with me as the axis, and lastly, she sang, "Disiunctio."
It was a good chance as any, so I tested it by putting up resistance, but, as expected of something I created, it seamlessly separated my soul from my body.
|Sucess.| I spoke with my soul.
"Uhmmmmm," Noona hummed, deep in thought.
"Do you want to try again?" My body said. "You can try to separate my mind this time."
"Ah? No, I got it, I was just thinking about the small details I missed," Noona replied.
I nodded with my soul and returned to possess my body.
"So? Will you go to separate Gaea now?" I asked.
"... She is still safe, right?" Noona asked.
"Yes," I confirmed.
"Then I will practice a bit more," my studious Noona said. "I believe I can separate our Chocolate from Earth now, but since she carries our Kernel, and I can't yet visualize our baby, I'll practice just a bit more."
"How perfectionist," I said, my voice warm with love. "I received one of Pietro's status reports last month; he said that the Bifrost had dropped on my tree, so we still have plenty of time."
"Oh, so he hasn't even reached the barrier protecting the tree," Noona said with a chirp.
"Yeah, he still has to go through my ritual disguised as a thought construct, Pietro, Carol, the Iron Destroyer, the enchanted rods, Gaea's divinity, the barriers surrounding my tree, the Arbor Mundi itself, a couple million trap spells I left inside the tree, and some other 'surprises' before my forceful summoning is activated," I explained.
"I feel like you're downplaying it a bit, but alright, I have time!" Noona smiled.
━━━━━━━ ● ━━━━━━━
Queens, New York, 2016.
"Oh, come on, Marty! This is the second time this week I've webbed you!"
"Shut up, do you hear yourself?! Ain't nobody webbing me anywhere anywhen!"
"... Okay, maybe that one was on me, but the double negation doesn't help your case."
"Double negation what?! Is it because I'm black? Are you mocking me because I talk black?!"
"Ha.Ha.Ha. You already tried that the first time, Marty. I'm not falling for it again. Besides, aren't you from Mexico?"
"Oh, I see, I see, that's how it is. Boy Scout Spider-Boy is x—"
"Don't even try it, Marty. I'm just here waiting with you so you don't entangle yourself into a knot like the second time."
"Come on, Spider-Chico, can't you do a vato a favor?"
"You should stick to a vernacular."
"Verna who? Speak the word of the common class!"
"So now it's about class. First was race, then nationality, and now class. What is next, Marty?"
"... Is it because I'm a woman?"
"... Okay, enough talking!"
Fwip! A patch of spiderweb found itself in the thug's mouth.
"MMM! MMMM! MMMM!"
"... Why are the cops taking so long? I need to do my math homework. I should have done it during class," Spider-Man complained.
"There's a situation a few blocks from here, in Jackson Heights. Half the force is currently deployed, and there's also an accident east of here that's blocking the road," Aragorn said.
"Aww, man! I'm not gonna get my three hours of sleep!" Spider-Man complained. "... Who said that?!"
Spider-Man snapped to attention, his eyes darting around, looking for the speaker.
"Hello, Spider-Man," Aragorn appeared behind the webbed thug. Before the thug or Spider-Man could react, Aragorn teleported him away.
"Mis-Mis-Mister Abner?!" Spider-Man exclaimed, his hand on his cheeks in surprise.
Aragorn raised an eyebrow to him, his eyes observing Spider-Man's hands over his own cheeks.
Spider-Man tried to remove his hands from his cheeks and approach Aragorn; however, he was fairly new to his powers, and encountering Aragorn had him high-strung.
Riiiip So he forgot to relax his muscles and ripped his mask off his face. He froze.
"... Clumsy," Aragorn commented.
"Oh, no! Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no," he repeated frantically.
In his hands, he tried to release the mask to put it back on, maybe affix it with his webfluid; however, he was still high-strung, and all the movements he did only accomplished ripping the mask into smaller pieces.
"... You're a mess, Peter Parker." Aragorn's comment made him stop.
"..."
"..."
"You know, Mr. Abner?" Peter asked the obvious.
"There's little I don't know on this planet," Aragorn nodded.
"Am I in trouble, Mr. Abner?" Was Peter's next question.
"It's three am, on a high school night, and you're out catching thugs that will be set free in a few days because you're not recognized law enforcement. I think you're in a lot of trouble, of various kinds," Aragorn deadpanned.
"... Mr. Abner, do you think I should stop?" he asked.
"Mmmm, no?" Aragorn said doubtfully. "I mean, I'm not here to stop you, if that's what you're asking."
"You're not?" Peter asked.
"No, I'm here to study you," Peter's heart beat with fright, "consensually, of course. Whatever you do with your life, I won't stop you, so long as you don't annoy me," Aragorn said.
"... Can I say no?" Peter asked.
"Why would you decline? You'd be remunerated," Aragorn asked in confusion.
"I don't think this is something meant to be replicated—and I know that can sound selfish, but... What I can do, I don't think it is for all. People can be..." he drawled his words.
"Evil? Disgusting? Petty? Immoral? Easily tempted by power? Greedy?" Aragorn asked.
"... Yes," Peter said with a weird look. It was already weird enough that he was talking to Aragorn while standing upside down on a lamp post, and Aragorn was floating equally upside down, but Aragorn's brash view of humanity weirded him out.
"You're in luck then," Aragorn continued his pitch. "I'm not interested in reproducing the powers the spider-bite gifted you. I'm more interested in the more metaphysical part of the changes brought about by the bite."
"Metaphysical changes? Like an aversion to fire?" Peter asked.
"No, no, I mean the changes related to your spirit, your soul precisely," Aragorn explained. "Here, let me show you."
Far faster than his Peter-tingle could react, Aragorn slammed his palm on his sternum, ejecting his astral form.
"WOAH?!" Peter exclaimed, his astral form suspended, slowly drifting behind his still standing upside-down body.
"See, when a regular person gets pushed out of their bodies," Aragorn pointed with his tail blade at Peter's body's throat, "they don't have control over their material selves, aka, their body."
He struck at his throat, "WAIT! WAIT!" Peter panicked, yet there was no blood. His body reacted on its own and evaded the piercing stab.
Aragorn made a few piercing attempts more, and every time, Peter's body reacted. "See?" Aragorn asked. "I can summon that thug back and try this on him; you'll see how he doesn't react to it."
"No, please, Mr. Abner, I believe you!" Peter pleaded.
"Okay, are you sure? It's no bother really, I can have the thug back with less than the snap of my fingers," Aragorn asked again.
"Yes, yes! Believe me, Mr. Abner, I believe you!" Peter declared with full, 100% conviction.
"Okay. I just found it strange that you believed me with so little practical evidence, but okay. I can see the sincerity in your heart," Aragorn nodded approvingly.
That was how Spider-Man met Aragorn.
From then on, Aragorn would appear in his life from time to time.
"Donde esta la biblioteca? Is that how you say it?" Peter asked himself.
"No."
"Ah!" Peter shouted in fright.
"You missed all the intonations," Aragorn replied. "It's '¿Dónde está la biblioteca?' You've got to pay attention to the acute accents; those tell you where to raise your voice."
"... Mr. Aragorn, as much as your help is appreciated, what are you doing here?" Peter asked.
He was doing his Spanish homework while staking out a group of known thugs in the neighborhood.
"I told you already, I'm studying you metaphysically," Aragorn said matter-of-factly.
Then, he proceeded to float still and observed Peter. Unblinkingly observing him. Without breathing. Without moving whatsoever. His marbled skin made him unmistakable from a floating statue.
And Spider-Man, he tried his best to focus on his Spanish homework, but how could he? Peter could almost hear him staring. He could almost feel his eyes on his soul, as impossible as that sounded.
Worst of all, Aragorn wasn't limited to observing him during his life as Spider-Man. Even Peter Parker's life was an object of observation.
One day, one of those rare days when Peter arrived home early because he met no mobsters on his way home from High School, his keen hearing sense picked up a conversation before he managed to open his door.
"Flexible schedules, full support on research projects concerning topics approved by Stark Industries, transport from Manhattan to Queens included, and best of all, a work environment so amiable that many of our workers say it's like their second home," a voice he recognized said.
It was unmistakably Aragorn's voice; however, what made Peter hesitate was the cadence in the voice. He had been in contact with Aragorn for months now, and not even once had he heard his cadence change. Aragorn talked flatly, so Peter was having a difficult time connecting the voice with Aragorn.
"This is simply great! I don't know why Peter hadn't told me about it, we are tight like this... or maybe only I saw it that way," May said. "Could it be puberty?"
"Our acceptance rates are abyssmally low, I bet Mr. Parker didn't want to get his aunt's hopes up," the voice replied.
"I, I think you're right, Mr. Abner," May said.
And that was it, that was enough for Peter to stop eavesdropping and open the door in a rush.
"Mr. Abn...er?" He lost all impulse upon seeing the owner of the voice.
Long black hair tied in a high ponytail, a sharp black suit over a black shirt, and a black tie. Square black frames for his eyeglasses over a handsome and sharp face.
"Mr. Parker, I knew I could catch you after school," the man said and stood up. He approached him with an extended hand and a polite smile, reaching for a handshake.
"Ah... Yes, yes, after school," Peter, hesitantly, returned the handshake.
"Peter, I can't believe you didn't tell me about your Stark Internship," May reproached him, a look of hurt in her eyes.
"Uhmm, May, I didn't want to get our hopes up," Peter rolled with the situation with all the eloquence of a Peter Parker.
"But, you should have told me," May insisted.
"I'm sorry, May," Peter apologized.
"Please don't be so hard on him or yourself, Ms. Parker," the man interjected on Peter's behalf. "Could I bother you to have some time with Mr. Parker to discuss the final details and schedules available for the intership?"
"Ah, yes, please," May snapped out of her hurt. "You can have him, I'll go see about that coffee I mentioned before."
"Thank you, Ms. Parker. You're a lovely woman," the man said.
A very confused Peter guided the man to his room and said, "Mr. Abner, that is you, right?"
"Hehehe," Aragorn chuckled. His body slowly morphed back into his usual form. His voice returned to the usual flatness. "I thought the change in speech and physical form would be enough. I've noticed humans have a hard time associating me with anything other than my known forms."
"This... What are you doing here, Mr. Abner?" Peter asked, beyond confused.
"Long story or short story?" Aragorn asked.
"... Short story?" Peter asked.
"Stark discovered your identity, and I cashed a favor to be the one to reel you in," Aragron said.
"... WHAT?!" Peter exclaimed.
"You're gonna worry your aunt," Aragorn cautioned him.
"Ah!!!" He covered his mouth in a hurry, looking left and right as if waiting for the shout of his aunt.
"I'm kidding, I set a barrier around us," Aragorn said with a deadpan.
"... You can joke?" Peter forgot himself and asked.
To himself and his Selves, Aragorn thought it was funny that Peter asked that, since he had been jokingly annoying him since they met. It's true he was studying Peter and his connection to the Web of Life and Destiny; however, he simply enjoyed annoying him because it always grated his gears that Spider-Man didn't take care of his enemies.
Was it impossibly petty and illogical to take out his grudge on Peter? Certainly, but he didn't care.
"Sure, I can, but let's move from this and let's discuss schedules," Aragorn waved his hand, and paperwork dropped over Peter's bed. "By advice is to take the later evening schedule so that you can justify your arachnid outings; however, you could also claim to be working the graveyard shift, and that would cover you for the three am escapades."
"Wait, Mr. Abner," Peter rushed to stop him. "The intership was real?"
"Yes, it was Stark's idea," Aragorn nodded. "My idea was to rat you out with your aunt and force you to join the Avengers."
"What?!" Peter exclaimed, in a lower voice than last time.
"You're underage, undertrained—or more like not trained at all—poorly equipped, and throwing your bright future down the drain, all because your inaction led to tragedy, as if your uncle would look at what you're doing from his grave proudly," Aragorn scathingly explained. "The responsible approach was my approach, but Stark differed."
"..." Peter was hurt. While Aragorn was not his idol like Stark was, he admired him.
"Ah, now you're taking this overemotionally," Aragorn said after his empathy was flooded with Peter's hurt. "Kid, what is it that you like to say? 'When you can do the things that I can, but you don't, and then the bad things happen, they happen because of you,' was that it?"
"... Yes, Mr. Abner," Peter dejectedly affirmed.
"It's quite the self-centered and arrogant thought, don't you think so?" Aragorn asked.
"I-I didn't mean it like that, Mr. Abner," Peter waved his hands in denial hurriedly.
"Even if you didn't, you operate under that principle," Aragorn affirmed, disregarding Peter's denial. "I'm not here to lecture you about where you're mistaken," Aragorn continued, "Humans are stubborn and they rarely change after they exit puberty, hence, my advice. Ask yourself, are you going to live the rest of your life like this? Will you be expending time with your family and then bolt out at the minimal cry of a police siren?
"Will you be absent from your family's life because you can do the things that you can, but if you don't, and then the bad things happen, they'll be happening because of you? That's not a hero's life, that's a martyr's."
"I don't... I'm not getting out there planning to die," Peter argued.
"It's the same, Peter Parker," Aragorn dismissed his argument. "I still remember the martyrs during the Pre-Catholic Roman Empire. All so eager to die for their faith without knowing that their sacrifice hurt their god more than their denial of his faith. Maybe you're not doing it consciously, but you're going about your life like that."
"..." Peter had no words. He was frustrated, beyond measure, but he also had no words to defend himself. He was not going about Spider-Man like a martyr, at least he didn't think he was."
"Peter Parker," Aragorn spoke through the silence. "I'm not telling you how to live your life, I'm not stopping you even if you're mistaken in your approach, and I'm also not supporting you. What I said to Stark was my mature and logical opinion. I meant nothing by it because you're not my child, so you're not my responsibility," and, as an afterthought, he added, "I'm also not disapproving of what you do."
That was the last time that Aragorn showed up to 'study' Peter Parker.
After he started his internship, he asked Stark if he had done something to offend Aragorn. Stark scoffed at his question and said, "As if you could offend that maniac. Don't worry about it, kid. Be happy about not seeing him, when he starts showing up just before every cataclysms, you'll start to appreciate the days lived in his absence."
━━━━━━━ ● ━━━━━━━
Almost a year had passed since the end of the Pacific Lurch, humanity, miraculously—or by the divine draconic hand that oversaw the world—had almost 'fully' recovered from the catastrophe.
Contrary to the economic recovery and the societal healing, things—at a smaller scale—were turning more hectic.
Millennia ago, the Kree had landed on Earth and thought it was a good idea to build an army of genetically enhanced homo sapiens. The classic Jurassic Park denouement happened—except the enhanced humans, the Inhumans, were the Indominus Rex—and the Kree flee the Solar System in fear, leaving all the 'dinosaurs' isolated in the 'island' and returning to the safety of the 'continent'.
For millennia, the Inhumans kept themselves to the Moon and a small settlement near Nepal; in fact, they were neighbors of the Order of Sorcerers.
However, these were only the Inhumans who knew what they were. When the Kree decided to play mad scientist, they failed like any scientist in a zombie movie to secure the experiment. Hence, thousands of Inhumans lived among the regular humans without knowing what they were.
For these inhumans to awaken their 'dinosaur' side, they had to come into contact with a kicstarted known as a Terrigen Crystal; the catch was that if they were 100% human, they would be turned into statues.
Now... What can happen will happen, no? So, around when the Pacific Ocean was burning, these Terrigen Crystals found their way to Earth's fertile oceans. Fish found their way to the crystals, and humans found their way to the fish.
So, a year after the Pacific Lurch, the term 'enhanced' had become mainstream in the common human vernacular.
With the Avengers split, Aragorn not giving a single fuck, and society making a comeback after it almost ended, it was left in the hands of a few elite teams to take care of the 'enhanced' altercations. One of these teams was, naturally, the Real SHIELD, headed by Phillip Coulson, and another was Captain America's dysfunctional not-a-family.
We have the Father, Steve Rogers, somehow—despite having been recently woken after almost 70 years—the one with the best common sense.
James "Bucky" Barnes as the... mother! Most certainly not Wanda, the only female in the not-a-family. This was the bipolar mother who could be set off on a murderous spree if the 'incorrect' words were said.
The older brother, Pierto Maximoff. For reasons unknown, this older brother had developed a serious case of kleptomania.
The little brother, Vision. This 'little' brother was physically about as old as Steve Rogers, and had taken up mining crypto.
Lastly, but certainly not the least strange, the sister. This sister had taken a weird fixation on the little brother.
And then, there was the 'other', the mistress, Sam Wilson. A recent addition, but not one to be underestimated, as this mistress had earned a spot in everyone's heart, even the main wife's.
And the not-a-family, after hearing Aragorn narrate his impression of them...
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"... Sister... Maybe your magic can do it," Pietro broke the silence.
"I don't recommend it," Vision said. "I believe the closest we can get to harming Aragorn is with Wanda's power and this"—he pointed at the Mind Stone in his forehead—"combined. Even then, I believe our chances are abysmal."
"Is this normal for you?" Sam Wilson asked James Barnes. "Do you get visits from..."—he sought words to describe Aragorn, but his vocabulary failed him—"Mr. Abner regularly, and is this what you talk about?"
"Last month, he came to sell us a flying fortress he swiped at the last second from some spy gal that wanted to blow it up," James Barnes said. "His asking price was $100."
"... $100?" Sam Wilson did a double-take and asked.
"$100," James Barnes confirmed.
"Where is it parked?" Sam Wilson asked, looking for it through the window.
"I don't know, the 'little brother' bought it but is not sharing with the rest of the 'not-a-family'," James Barnes replied with a flatter than the Earth on a medieval map face.
"Mr. Barnes, as I said, I'm calibrating, repairing, and overhauling it, not in that particular order. I'll show off our base when it's ready," Vision interjected.
"Mr. Abner, are you here for a friendly visit?" Steve Rogers asked, trying to bring back the derailed train onto its tracks.
"No, I came to change a certain event that would have happened if I had not come to visit," Aragorn replied.
"..." The not-a-family shared another long silence.
"... What event?" Wanda asked.
"You were going to return to US soil and would have met a certain pair of father and adoptive son gods, and that would have started a chain of events I don't favor," Aragorn said.
"What chain of events?" Pietro asked.
"Why would you like to know? Now it won't happen even if you rush back trying to prove me wrong," Aragorn replied.
"... Is this normal for you?" Sam Wilson reiterated his question to James Barnes.
Barnes replied with an empty gaze only.
"Anyway!" Aragorn perked up. "My blue daughter summons me for a flan party; I must part." Like so, he disappeared.
"..." Sam Wilson didn't say anything, but the look he gave James Barnes said it all.
━━━━━━━ ● ━━━━━━━
A few weeks later, Aragorn observed from a distance the mentioned god and adoptive son divine duo.
It was quite the strange sight. Loki carried his sleeping father into an unoccupied bed in a care facility.
"Goodbye, father," Loki said with a look of no regrets. "I don't know why I ever thought to foolishly take Thor's place when I could have taken yours, father."
With that message left, Loki disappeared and later returned to Asgard, donning an Odin illusion over himself.
"Wow," Aragorn said after having teleported to the room where Odin lay asleep. "Just like that, dumped."
"..." Odin didn't reply, for he was in his Odinsleep.
"I mean, after Frigga's death, what did you expect?" Aragorn continued. "Did you foolishly believe that the brute or the backstabbing son were gonna care for you during your sleep? If you did, then you're more delusional than Loki."
"..." Odin didn't reply, for he was in his Odinsleep; however, his right eyebrow twitched.
"I mean, I get that maybe you were getting despondent since your death and the return of your wayward daughter approach, but this is next-level pathetic, boyo," Aragorn continued his mockery.
"..." Odin didn't reply, for he was in his Odinsleep; however, his right eyebrow twitched, and his left hand tightened.
"I mean, Loki didn't even bother to register you or charm the staff into believing you were," Aragorn added. "Hahahaha! You were literally dumped here like discarded goods. Discarded goods Allfather. Hahahah!"
"WILL YOU SHUT UP, ARAGORN?!" Odin exploded in rage, for he was in his Odinsleep no more.
"KAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Aragorn laughed boisterously.
The Allfather muttered something about not being able to even die in peace.
↓Part 2━━━━━━━ ● ━━━━━━━Part 2↓
"I think you probably would have lived more if not for sustaining that seal on your daughter," I said. I was pointing out the obvious, but sometimes, part of communication is doing exactly that.
"I'm not dead yet," Odin replied uncompromisingly.
"You basically are," I corrected his mistaken argument. "What's a few months more of life in relation to your age?"
"...Sigh," he observed his surroundings with the eyes of someone reminiscing on the 'good ol' days'. "Do you remember when they were nothing but smarter apes? Now they've reached the point where, in some aspects, they can stand at the same level as Asgard."
"Eww, disgusting," I recoiled. "Why are you, child, acting as if I'm some old comrade in arms to reminisce with? Not even your progenitors were alive when I arrived."
This was not a lie, since Odin experienced time linearly, so to his eyes, I arrived around the Carboniferous.
"... You," his eyes landed on me, and he appeared to have lost his words for a moment. "What are you?"
"Aragorn," I replied flatly.
"You... You won't tell even this dying old man?" The phrase might have read pitiful, but his words didn't come out with an ounce of self-pity.
"... What is it to you?" I asked, intrigued.
"I... Looking back to my life," he put on those wizened eyes that dying old humans put on. "I had no one I could call a confidant, a companion—"
"Frigga would be mad if she heard you," I interjected.
"—Ah, Frigga... My Frigga. I did not deserve that woman," he told me.
"Obviously, especially after the shit you pull on Hela," I offered no consolation.
"Your unadulterated frankness can be refreshing," he wizened out.
"Aren't you ashamed of putting an ancestor act in front of me?" I mocked.
"Not one bit," he said. "My life may be fleeting in your eyes, but I earn my seat at the end of it," I rolled my eyes at his words. "As I was saying... You have been a constant in my life. One I tried so hard to forget but never could."
"Okay, I'm a constant in anything's and anyone's life, and whatever is considered alive, and most that isn't," I said. "What are you trying to say? That just because we know each other for the short duration of your lifespan, we should be buddies?"
"... I want to know who or what my 'fated' enemy was before I join my Frigga in Valhalla," Odin said.
How... mortal of him; then again, Asgardians in this reality are mortals with long lives, not that different from humans.
I didn't reply. I simply stared at his waning soul, so fragile, so... shiny. Except it wasn't the type of brightness born from a pure soul like my dear Asia, it was the type of shine brought about by massive amounts of positive karma overcoming the dull dark of negative karma.
This didn't mean much; I bet Thanos has some good karma, even though he is a disgusting hog-wash that dares to covet my Noona. Still, it was a soul that had its own charm.
So I pointed at his waning soul, the flickering candlefire left at the end of his life, with my tail blade, Odin tensed up but didn't react—he knew that even if he had, it would have been futile—and reinforced his flicker-for-a-soul.
"}{Lucivacui/Lux Vacui}{"
He entered a daze. His lips quivered slightly, his previously balled hands relaxed, and his heartbeat slowed down. His spirit attempted to process all of the information attached to my true name; it was impossible to process it all, so his spirit built up the closest definition to me that it could compute.
That's how conceptual speech worked. I say 'Lamp' and, depending on the recipient, the best possible understanding of what a [Lamp] was would be delivered. Hence, depending on the listener, the 'size' of the meaning received was different for each individual.
"Oh... I never realized."
He managed to say those words before falling back into his Odin-power nap.
From a certain POV, Odin's end was pitiful. After living so long, after having carried the other eight realms on his back—metaphorically speaking—after having done what he believed was the best for his two sons, he barely managed to exchange a few words with them before ascending to Valhalla.
Still, compared to the deaths I've seen, his was on the better side, so maybe all that positive karma attached to his soul did help in the end. Maybe his karma granted him the passing he wanted and not the one he deserved.
Then again, Odin is one evil genocider, so fuck Odin. Never liked the guy, never hated him either, but the sooner he passes on, the better, since dear old daddy issues girl will return.
For the following weeks, I dropped by regularly to remind him of his end. Also, to annoy him. I may not hate the guy since I see him beneath me to hate a mortal with an extended lifespan, but that did not mean I couldn't be petty.
However, now that I think about it... I haven't been feeling such a massive wall between me and mortas...
Maybe... It has to do with the Duskari. They are mortal, yet I don't feel as dismissive of them as I do of other mortals... It could be that my pantheon is closely connected to them, and my Therions care for them, hence I'm not dismissing them as easily.
How interesting... My Therions are helping me connect with the mortals.
'Who would have thought?'
-It's probably our :Love:.-
|The one emotion we can experience fully.|
The precursor of many of our emotions.
>Our care for our Therions sparked a semblance of lesser care for the Duskari.<
}{CUR105480U7L0V3}{ {A/N: CuriousAboutLove}
'Void-chan! It's been a while since we've talked in this vessel.'
}{8U5YW17H0U73R53LF}{ {A/N: BusyWithOuterSelf}
-That's understandable.-
|What OuterSelf is doing is more interesting than stalking Odin.|
I (We) also wanted to practice [Paradox Liminal Permutation]
>Not possible. Each of us has a purpose, task(s), and duties.<
}{+}{
If Void-chan says so, then it must be true.
My wait soon came to an end after I pulled some strings to get the care facility closed down.
"Kukukuku," I chuckled evily under my breath.
"You're beyond petty," Odin flatly stated.
"You should be happy I'm just petty and not vengeful," I said. "Imagine if I had a fragile ego like yours and had decided to make you pay with your life back during the conflict with the Olympians."
"... You speak as if your actions were praiseworthy, but you acted always within your design, didn't you?" Odin pointed out the obvious. See? That's how conversation works.
"I didn't always peer into the future and plot the universe's course like some cosmic puppeteer," I shrugged. "I have a sense for when things will go my way because this world came with a future included."
"You're not denying having plotted our little rebellion," Odin said.
"I wasn't; however, for this case, I can confirm I was not pulling strings and nudging events my way," I revealed. "Happy? You can be content with knowing your rebellion was a product of your free will."
"I don't worry about that, I know my actions and their subsequent consequences are a product of my will," he said. He made a subtle gesture, flexed one of the embers left of his magic, and opened a portal to Norway.
I followed him, but from the Mirror Dimension.
'Why Norway?' I asked in his mind.
"For all of my possession of the Nine Realms, I know little of their wonders, aside from the battlefield I trodden through," he replied. "And Midgard is the one I know the least."
'Is that self-reproach and/or regret I sense?' I asked.
"I was afraid of meeting you," he confessed the obvious. "So I seldom visited Midgard."
'I see, this is the place you know best,' I pointed out. 'Also, here's where Frigga led your people with Thor secured to her chest against the Jötunn.'
I peered into the past and saw Reality's projection of me observing Frigga battle the frost giants from my Obelisk.
"Even with my fear of you, I observed her from Asgard gallantly leading my men," he said.
I gazed above, from my panoptic view of the past, and found PastOdin worriedly observing Frigga while doing his best to keep his eyes away from me. He used the same trick I use with my Chocolate. Except I do it for data processing reasons and not for the fear of something.
"... Is it time? Is that why you hid in the Mirror Dimension?" He asked.
'Within the week, but your daughter is following you with her gaze like a vulture,' I explained.
"Can I ask something of you, Aragorn?" he asked.
'You can, but the answer is no,' I said.
"... Why?" His question came out flatly, but I could sense his angst.
'All things that are not my things must come to an end within Reality.'
This was a fact truer than the laws of physics. That's why the Aniki created Noona (Death) and Boss Oblivion. That's why the One Below All exists. To mark [Ends].
"Hehe," a chuckle escaped him. "HehahaHAHAHAHAHA" it soon turned into full-blown laughter.
Even his soul flickered in sync with his laughter.
It wasn't until he calmed down that he managed to continue speaking.
"You are the single most arrogant being in existence!" He exclaimed. "I'm, as you may think, a child in comparison to you and your pantheon, I'm ignorant of so much that I can't even feel ashamed, but even then... 'All things that are not mine must come to an end'? I can say with full certainty that no one will ever exist who could claim that with full certainty. NO ONE! HAHAHAHA!"
... Sometimes, I can't keep up with the mortals' humor.
I kept an eye on the crazy child, waiting for the last embers in his soul to be snuffed by eventuality, and finally, Strange delivered the two brothers to Odin's final moments.
Gazing at the ocean beyond a cliff, a serene atmosphere of fulfillment and acceptance.
'Why do you have to be such a poser?'
"..." For the sake of his posing, he didn't reply.
I allowed him some face, as the old and mysterious Chinese wrote in the ancient tomes of free Xianxia I used to read, he welcomed his sons with an act of half dementia, half zen enlightenment.
"I know we've failed. But we can make this right," Thor said. His look of concern reflected on Loki.
"I failed you," Odin said. "It's upon us. Ragnarok."
"No, I stopped Ragnarok. I put an end to Surtur," Thor shook his head.
"No," Odin shook his head. "It has already begun. She is coming."
Dam right she is. I can feel her forcing herself out of her seal and into Earth.
"My life is all that held her back," Odin continued to deliver the news of his firstborn's return. "But my time has come."
Loki shared a look of confusion and concern with Thor.
"I cannot keep her away any longer," Odin looked into the sky.
"Father, who are you talking about?" Thor couldn't bear the confusion and asked.
"Goddess of Death. Hela. My firstborn. Your sister." Odin enunciated her titles.
"Your what?" Thor asked. Loki was equally puzzled.
"Her violent appetites grew beyond my control. I couldn't stop her, so I imprisoned her. Locked her away." He revealed.
'Hey, don't feel disgusted with yourself after saying that?' I asked.
"... She draws her strength from Asgard and... Once she gets there, her powers will be limitless," he continued, ignoring my words.
"Whatever she is, we can face her together, we can stop her together—"
"No, we won't," Odin interrupted Thor. "I'm on a different path now. This you must face alone."
'Is it the children's duty to deal with shit left behind by their parents after their passing?' I mocked him.
"I love you, my sons," he said, ignoring me with ease.
'Goodbye, brat,' I said. His soul, about to flicker away.
"I'm proud of you," he said before turning into motes of warm orange light. His embers were carried by the winds, and that was the end of Odin the Allfather.
Right after, Hela broke free and forcibly connected Helheim with Earth.
Odin was mistaken about something... When I accidentally killed her, when she gained her second wind, her connection with Asgard was severed.
Odin would have noticed if he had seen her step in Asgard, but since she was sealed in Helheim, he never understood. There's a reason I had to train and prepare Hulk and Brunnhilde so thoroughly.
Hela, after her death, resonated so perfectly with her prison, Helheim, that it became her realm. Helheim was not exactly a dimension like the Spliter Realms, where the Fear Lords could be found; Helheim was a dimension that could be considered part of Reality.
And just like Odin could be considered a Dimensional Lord yet walk on Earth due to Asgard being part of Reality, Hela enjoyed the same benefits.
So, when Hela stepped out of her prison, her powers were already limitless, as Odin feared.
Her clothing was not tattered. Her will was not shaken. Her powers were not diminished. Her emotions were not in disarray after escaping her prison after so long. And none of the scars left by the sacrifices of the Valkyrior empowered by me remained.
She stepped into Earth, and that was enough to make the brothers know what she was.
I cast a barrier isolating the cliff just before her foot touched the grass; good thing I did because, the moment she came into contact with [Life], everything... died.
"BRING US BACK!" Loki, with the best survival instincts, shouted.
"NO!" Thor screamed. He threw Mjølnir with all of his strength; a throw supported even with some of his awaking divinity, yet... Hela slapped the hammer to the side and broke it into pieces.
"Impossible," Thor baffled out.
The Bifrost was not going to make it in time, I realized. Hela extended her hand, aiming at them, and her divinity surged like a wave of blades.
I shrunk the distance between Asgard and Earth, and the rainbow bridge finally landed on them. Then I made a fake point for my presence in teh horizon and Hela lost all of her aura in a fraction of a second.
She didn't hesitate; no doubt, no delay, no second-guessing. She launched herself with a jump that pulverized the cliff in accordance with Newton's Third Law.
'Don't think about returning here, goddessling,' I spoke to her mind before the iridescent light swallowed the three.
Well, it might look like I was cleaning my hands off them, but that definitely wasn't the case. In their route to Asgard, I had to use my focused-by-sight telekinesis to support the brothers in surviving their murder-happy sister.
I stopped babysitting them until I saw Thor last escape the Bifrost and be en route to Sakaar. The little valkyrie and Hulk will take care of them.
With that out of the way, I teleported to Halo.
As part of The Moving sequence and protocols, I'll be moving my Halo to Imperial space to facilitate the displacement.
I bet Fury is gonna lose his shit. Most certainly so because I didn't inform him. Kehehe!
My Halo has been part of Earth just as long as Homo sapiens sapiens have been around. As far as humanity is concerned, the Halo has been there for as long as I have been here, 360 million years.
But they believe so simply because they don't have any evidence of the ringworld not being there, since it's as old as humanity. Additionally, the effect of the ringworld's gravitational influence on the planet is minimal, so they can't use geological studies to determine when my Halo arrived.
It also doesn't help them that I never inscribed anything about its origins in the North Scale, so, as far as they are concerned, Halo is about as part of Earth as I am.
Well... That just changed.
Seraph updated the warping modules I had built in Halo a few centuries ago, after the Duskari made a certain breakthrough that inspired her.
At this point, after Seraph and sometimes Spark had played with the ringworld for the past millennia, even though it's shaped like a ring, I can confidently say that no other satellite/ship can beat my Halo in mobility.
Paradoxically, the ring sucks at flying.
It warps with such ease that it can even leave afterimages. Now, if someone were to ask why a satellite would need so much spatial mobility, all I could say would be that Seraph felt inspired and thought that even dimensional warping was not off the table.
Anyways, from humanity's perspective—the side facing the Moon—the Halo was and then it wasn't.
Not even ten seconds later, my P-Link was showing me live the panic that hit half the world and then the other half.
Yeah, I've changed. I don't think I would have found this funny if it had been the me before my Therions ascended. I used to care so little for mortals that the joke would have flown over me. It's like I suddenly have a newfound love for them, because I don't, but I can appreciate their 'humanness' a bit more.
... Just a tiny bit.
After the Halo warped away, I stayed near the Moon for a few hours, making sure that no uncalculated aftereffects occurred. Then I jumped to Asgard.
In the golden city known as Asgard, I found Asgard's army obliterated.
"Was there a need to maim the vast majority?" I asked. I understand she values not their lives since she can Arise'd them into her 'Shadow army', but she severed so many legs, necks, torsos, and arms that I doubt she can make 20% of the fallen army into her undead legion.
She went through a jumpscare in milliseconds but managed to compose herself fast enough to appear regal in the eyes of the only other still-standing mortal present.
"Aragorn, what are you doing here?" She questioned.
"I came to watch you die, of course," I replied matter-of-factly. I enjoyed how her emotions flared and her soul twitched to my answer.
"... What do you want?" She insisted, paying no heed to my 'prophecy'.
"You don't know it, but not by my hand, I already planned your death. How about a wager?" I asked with the cadence of a temptress.
"... Helheim is my realm, and now, so is Asgard. Behead me, pierce my heart, drain my soul, and it still would not be my end," she claimed.
"Isn't there a prophecy already about the end of Asgard? Why is it so hard to believe my prophecy?" I asked.
"... Ragnarok is not a problem," she assured me, or maybe herself. "The prophecy foretells the end of Asgard, I'm not my foolish father. I know how to navigate the churning waters of fate."
"Okay... That has nothing to do with my prophecy, but do tell, how do you plan to circumvent the end of Asgard?" I asked, intrigued by her thought process.
"Why, by all means, I shall bring the end of 'Asgard' as was foretold," she smiled triumphantly.
"Oh?" I voiced out. "Color me impressed, do tell me your masterful plan."
"... Will you interfere, dragon?" She asked, wary.
"You have my word that I won't set anything in motion or actively participate in your demise from this moment forward unti you face your end," I vowed.
"... I want a contract; a binding vow," she demanded.
"Stop wasting time and talk," I growled, my presence raising an eyebrow just high enough to trigger Hela's trauma of what killed her the last time we met. "I can't be beholden by vows; no contract could even touch my soul. So, just talk."
Again, she was so hyped up in Asgard and Helheim dimensional juice that I'm sure I was the only one who could notice her expressions. Which is why no one saw her face turn ashen—even more ashen than her already ashen undead face—and her eyelids twitch.
"From the fusion of Helheim and Asgard, a new realm shall be born. Asgard would then have met its end, as Ragnarok foretold," she revealed.
"That's... Sort of clever," I admitted.
"My time spent in isolation was not wasted," she preened. It was kinda of endearing, in a twisted manner.
"That, as far as I can tell, would deal with the prophecy of Ragnarok, but what about my prophecy?" I asked, enjoying how her preening came to a screeching halt.
"..." Her mind short-circuited for a fraction of a second. "Could I hear this prophecy?"
Again, it was sort of endearing how she was trying to keep her Goddess of Death regality while also controlling the trauma that my presence alone begot in her.
"Oh, Hela, first of Odin's blessings, second of his curses, the Shine Dragon has conspired for your peril. The dice have been cast, the ploy has been set in motion, and the show will go on. By wrath that has no end, by the resentment of the survivor, by the conviction of idiocy, and by the unseen hand of mischief, you shall meet your definitive end."
The wording was strange, but I basically told her that I'll have Hulk, Brunnhilde, Thor, and Loki kill her. I wonder if she'll be able to overcome my scheme.
"Why am I his second curse?" Hela, focusing on the incorrect thing, asked.
"Because I was his first," I replied with a roll of my eyes. "Did he never tell you about how we met?"
"I can imagine how it went. I doubt he would ever talk about such an event even with Frigga," she scoffed.
I think he did, at some point, because Frigga was always unnaturally respectful to me.
"Whatever," I said. "I'll be watching. I promise that if you survive, I will not end you."
I doubt she will, but this shall be a good source of data for some queries I still have about divinity. Hence, even if she survives due to my own sabotage, it shall be good data.
━━━━━━━ ● ━━━━━━━
Sakaar, The Grandmaster's Arena.
"HOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
""HULK"" ""HULK"" ""HULK"" ""HULK""
"HOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
""HULK"" ""HULK"" ""HULK"" ""HULK""
While Aragorn was conducting an in vivo experiment about the effects of high divinity and karmic value on the direction of the fluctuation of fate towards the holder, in Sakaar, a crowd cheered loudly for Hulk as the 'Lord of Thunder' stood opposite him.
"Hey! Hey! We know each other! He's a friend from work!" Thor exclaimed and waved towards the Grandmaster's booth—a tense Loki could be seen there suffering some flashback from the last time he 'entertained' Hulk.
""HULK"" ""HULK"" ""HULK"" ""HULK""
"HOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
"HOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Hulk roared, and the crowd cried in response. If any on Earth had seen the spectacle, many would have passed out, and a certain general would have ordered a strike on Sakaar, regardless of whether the USA or anyone on Earth, for that matter, had the capability of spacefaring.
"Where have you been?" Thor asked with a friendly grin. "Everybody thought you were dead. But so much has happened since I last saw you. I lost my hammer. Like, yesterday, so that's still pretty fresh. Loki, Loki is alive. Can you believe it? He's up there. Loki! Look who it is!"
Much to Loki's growing panic, Thor couldn't read the mood. However, Thor's cheery mood ended when Hulk addressed him.
"THOR... FIGHT!" Hulk roared in demand.
He stumped the ground hard, a chunk lifted from the impact, and with the warhammer, that was most certainly not built from parts of a spaceship engine, he struck the chunk in Thor's direction.
Thor, nimble in comparison with the hulking monster opposite to him, jumped over the flying attack with ease; however, that ease faltered at the end when his eyes widened at seeing a green fist caging his sight.
Thump!
Thor barely had the chance to put his guard up before getting rocketed to the wall behind him.
""HULK"" ""HULK"" ""HULK"" ""HULK""
The crowd grew louder, and Thor waited for his discombobulated opponent to recover.
"Banner!" Thor shouted. "What are you doing? It's me, Thor!"
"THOR FIGHT!" Hulk demanded with a roar.
Once again, Hulk stumped the ground hard and lifted chunks of the arena's solid ground into teh air. With the ease of an accomplished stationery heavy caliber weapon, Hulk rained improvised ammunition on the still confused Thor.
"Banner! HEY BANNER!" Thor shouted while doing his best to avoid the flying chunks of material and keeping an eye on Hulk to not be caught by surprise again.
"NO BANNER! ONLY HULK!" Hulk roared.
""HULK"" ""HULK"" ""HULK"" ""HULK""
The crowd responded to his warcries.
Hulk was launching so much material in Thor's direction that after enough chunks broke apart on collision, a cloud of dust rose.
"Oh, no," Thor muttered.
The heard it no so much as he felt it, a clap. One powerful clap first, followed by a swarm of disorientating claps.
But the clapping was not clearing the cloud of dust, contrary to expectations. As Thor was besieged from all sides by the claps' shockwaves, the cloud was being compressed around Thor, so his vision remained obstructed.
Outside the cloud of dust and the dome of shockwaves, the crowd cheered harder at seeing their favorite using the circular walls around the arena as a lane to run circles around Thor, literally.
Thor desperately covered his ears, to no avail, however, as the shockwaves were entering his body from all sides, not only his ear canals.
And so, before he could even connect a hit... he passed out.
"HOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
""HULK"" ""HULK"" ""HULK"" ""HULK""
"HOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
""HULK"" ""HULK"" ""HULK"" ""HULK""
Above the Arena, after Thor was confirmed unconscious, in one of teh floating ships, Brunnhilde facepalmed hard.
"At this rate, we'll be stuck here for a few more weeks," she murmured to herself.
Her eyes then lowered to the Grandmaster's booth and landed on Loki. "At least Thor can be trained. What are we supposed to do with this dead weight?"
Then her eyes turned to Hulk. The green monstrousity Aragorn dropped on her lap under the banner of 'a strong human' was celebrating like a teenager who cared not for their future since they believed they were going to be immortal. Yes, Hulk was living in the moment because he had been in control for so long that he was well into his mental teen years.
"And this immature Midgardian orgre is no different from the other two problem children," she sighed heavily. "Why, Aragorn, why don't you take care of them yourself? Why must I be assigned to babysit them? A unmanageable manchild with a tendency to backstab, a dounce prince with little self-awareness, and a green, rebellious teenager who can't keep his eyes off my ass!"
Yes, Brunnhilde was suffering.
╚═══━━━─── • ───━━━═══╝
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{A/N:
Please check out my P@treon account! There are already 10 chapters ahead for premium members, which is at least 100,000 words. Premium members also gain access to a new chapter every week.
[email protected]/ExistentialVoid
Free Members get access to all free chapters, and I upload free chapters about 12 hours earlier on P@atreon.}
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