Chapter twenty:
Thus, with no small amount of excitement, Corvus walked forward to the man, took the man's hand into his own and shook it. "It is an absolute honor to meet thee, sir." Said Corvus Rigel.
"Nay, Absolute One, the pleasure is most certainly mine. I take it I am the first Merlin that thou hast met so far? Replied Merlin.
"Absolute One?" Merlin's young apprentice mulled over this term of address, she brought her hand up to her chin and thought on it. She started scrutinizing Corvus intently, trying to see what her master was somehow able to me.
"Oh, thou flatters me. I am nowhere near absolute yet. But yes, thou art the first Merlin I have met." Corvus releases Merlin's hand and steeped back to give him some room to breathe. "Be cool. Remember, although he is the Merlin, he is also a man. You've met so many actors and celebrities at Comicon, just treat this like that... Damnit now I wish I had something for him to sign. He thought about using his abilities for it, but he wasn't sure how long such a thing would last. He was initially shocked that Merlin knew so much about him, but as a holder of the time stone and seasoned Sorcerer Supreme, it made sense that he knew as much as he did.
Merlin chuckled warmly. "I see. I suppose thou art correct, thou art rather young for being what thou art, so it stands to reason that thou would not be wholly nigh- omnipotent at this point in time. However, I believe we have let young Aife be in the dark long enough. May I do the honor's?" Said Merlin.
Corvus nodded with a warm smile. "Finally, I got a name, hahaha, can't wait to rub this in Mordo's and Stephen's faces in the future.
Better from thee than from me. She would take thy word over mine for certain." Corvus Rigel said to himself.
Losing the warm smile. Merlin turned to his apprentice. "Recount all that thee know about the creation of the universe." Replied Merlin.
Aife looked between Corvus and Merlin for a moment. Confused at the question, but geared up to answer anyway. She then squared her arms and said. "At the beginning there was a world which already existed, the World Before. A being wished for it's destruction in order to create something new. In order to create the new phenomenon, it required the energy used to fuel the world. Thus the eight ancient god's. Oblivion, Death, the Phoenix Force, Lord Chaos, Master Order, Infinity, Eternity, and the Living Tribunal came together in order to bring about that beings will. However, there was a man there, in the World Before, who got wind of it, and tried his best to prevent the world's destruction. He tried everything, but he ultimately failed. The world was destroyed, the energy was then harnessed by the ancient god's in order to bring about the Big Bang. This created six singularities.
These singularities each held a piece of what makes up our universe, and were forged by the ancient god's to become solid manifestations of what they represented. They became known as the Infinity Stone's. Power, Mind, Soul, Time, Space, and Reality. Thus, the universe, with the backbone that is the Infinity Stone's, was born. However, the man who had fought for the World Before's survival was accidentally infused with cosmic energy, becoming something more. The ancient god's forced upon him a purpose, which was to recycle old, energy rich planets in order to perpetuate the universe's. And so was Galactus born a lesser god, and he reluctantly continues his mission to this day with the help of his herald's.
The Big Bang also gave birth to many different dimensions of power, and many multidimensional beings, from whence we, as sorcerer's, draw power for our magecraft. Hence came the birth of the multiverse."
Merlin nodded and smiled at her knowledge. "Yes, that is indeed what is recorded within the tomes of our library. And is indeed the truth... for our universe." Replied Merlin.
Aife's brows furrowed in confusion. " What dost thou mean, Master?"
"What I mean is that isn't the whole truth. The multiverse does not refer to just the extra dimensions from which we draw power for our spells, and alternate timelines do not account for the multiverse at all. They are just extra parts of our own universe. Nay, the multiverse is much more than that. They are entirely different realities. Almost completely separated from our own. Without the Web of Life we would not even know about their existence. Each of those realities are formed by the ancient god's thee spoke of, but with differences for each one.
However, to get the point. The being which bade the ancient god's to do their work. That being, known to us only as The One Above All, created the ancient god's and is the vessel which all other universe's reside within, including our own." Replied Merlin.
Feeling a little faint at this new information, Aife began to stumble. She was then caught by Corvus who materialized a chair out of thin air for her. Noticing him, she realized there was an unanswered question. "What does this have to do with Corvus?" Said Aife.
"Ah, so that is thy name. I am honored to have heard it. Merlin nodded at him before continuing. "It has everything to do with him, as he is the progeny of The One Above All, the source of our realities and all other realities. And one day far into the future, will be just as powerful." Replied Merlin.
Now she is more grateful for the chair, as she definitely would have stumbled at that. She looked at Corvus with awe plastered to her face. Corvus smiles wearily in response. She then remembered something he said earlier...
"I'm certain my parent is loving hearing me say this, but I can't help but admit that what she has made is perfect. Said Corvus Rigel.
"Sister Scathach, just what in nine hells have I gotten into? Aife lamented.