Chapter nine:
Bringing his consciousness back out Travis felt refreshed, and even more stable in spirit. He finally took a moment to take stock of himself.
It seemed that throughout his stabilizing process he finally took shape as it were. He had a humanoid body filled with the chaos of creation, energy, and matter. Although if you looked closely at right below where his navel would have been, you could see the forms of his Primordials working with the surrounding energy to create realms for themselves, realms that would embody them and be their homes for eons to come. Sort of like how each of the Daedra in Tamriel each have their own domain in Oblivion.
As he watched them work he started to wonder if that was there is to it. Is there anything else he needs to do? Ah, maybe that. He willed Hera to appear near where his forehead would be and moved the domain he started with her. He already told the Primordials that Hera wouldn't show herself most of the time, might as well make sure that his domain was far enough away so there wasn't a visual reminder of his presence at all times. Even though it didn't really change how far Hera could reach, if she needed to that is.
Now that that's taken care of... what now?
Travis looked to Jack and wondered if there really was anything left for the old man to teach him. If all of his powers were based on will and intentions, then doesn't that mean he can pretty much do anything he pleases? What was the point of anything other than consuming the energy and matter surrounding him in order to fuel whatever his Primordial gods attempt to do?
Stepping in only when things look dire or when his children were lonely seems like a fairly boring existence. Fulfilling though it might be, Travis wasn't exactly looking for a slow life right now, someday, maybe, but not right now. Is that why the One Above All was rarely shown or even mentioned in the comics? Was it because being all powerful is boring? I guess I can see that. I mean, if this is all there is to it than all that's left is moving through my own multiverse once it matures. Probably going to be a loooooooong wait....'
"But still... Even before that. Why was I chosen to be this... Why me? Travis LaRowe said to himself.
*Now you're getting the brass tax. Jack said bending down at the waist bringing a finger filled with glowing universe orbs linked together by the web of life down to Travis's startled face, a finger that, it should be said, was thrice the circumference of Travis's head. "Indeed, that's the most important bit isn't it? Why you? What makes you so special? It's what underlies the answer to all your other questions. And is the first one I'll answer. So, what do you think? What is special about you?
After a minute of reflection. "Nothing, I wasn't anything before this. Just a normal guy. Travis lamented, his shoulders sagged.
"Bingo! Jack snaps his fingers. "Yes, you were. Rather ordinary, normal life, a good one, filled with several acts of self sacrifice, but ultimately a normal person. But your soul? That was not. Jack points at the swirling mist that made up Jon's chest.
Puzzled, Travis rubs his hand on his chest. Not that doing that would really lead to anything, force of habit, maybe. "What do you mean? Replied Travis LaRowe.
"When a being such as us, we call ourselves Origins, by the way. It's a handy title, considering we are the origin of everything in the omniverse. Aside from the mists of existence and nothingness, we create everything, we are literally everything's daddy, godfather, inventor, director, writer, and producer. Thus, we are the Origins.
Anyway, tangent, when an Origin matures, and a perfectly stable universe is born in our multiverse, such as the one your previous earth is from, the souls there begin to mature as well. After a few quadrillion cycles of reincarnation, they begin to exhibit signs of being ready. I won't go into the details of what the signs are, but at that point they choose one soul every relative trillion years to be reborn as one of us. Said Jack Kirby.
Travis was gobsmacked. "Then, the entire purpose of creating universe's... is just to make more of us? Replied Travis LaRowe.
Waving his hand in front of his orb filled glowing face Jack replies matter of factly. "Oh, no. No, no, no. The purpose of creation is to explore the mysterious of life and fate. You see, the very first of us came into being knowing nothing, and over the eons, had come to find that each universe created seemed to follow a certain flow.
Thus, when he or she, we really don't have gender identites that we don't assign ourselves, created his first offspring, he charged that being with discovering the purpose behind this flow and whether we could use it for something. While simultaneously, he continued to try and figure it out, for himself.
Over the countless year's we've found that the flow is attributed to fate. Now, mortals might say that fate is something that gods engineer, but no. Clotho, Lathesis, and Atropos don't make fate. When each iteration of the Greek goddesses are made they are simply along for the ride and are enablers of fate. They have the misfortune of knowing where fate has been, where it is, and where it is going. Their task is to study fate in each universe I let them exist in. Fate is something that is underlying everything. And we, being what we are, can interfere with it, guide it to where we want it to go, and see it at work, but we don't create it. The players are already assigned, we can just influence it. Said Jack Kirby.