[The Dreaming Celestial – Tiamut The Communicator]
He could feel the universe dying at an astonishing rate. Planets and stars exploding just so he could get the required energy needed from his birth.
The only reason he didn't outright lament the astronomical loss was that he knew how important it was that he was born. Regardless of his growing sympathy with the innumerable mortal races of the universe, he still could not forget his importance in the grand calculus of the multiverse.
The least he could do was be thankful that Draul was of the same mind and had taken it upon himself to look for a universe that produced the lowest cost.
Though he was still in the process of learning, he was no baby that couldn't distinguish between what was right and what was necessary.
Large influx of cosmic energy started flowing into him and facilitating the things needed for him. Normally the energy he needed, at the minimal least, was from a few billion people but given that this universe was pretty much out of the sight of Celestials, he decided not to be stingy and tried taking as much cosmic energy as he could, destroying everything else in the process.
His senses were cut from the rest of the universe because of the barrier Draul erected over his Earth. He was a little surprised that he couldn't overpower the shield and force his senses into the multiverse despite it being a simple barrier that Draul had cast.
He knew his human friend might sometimes blatantly forget, most times intentionally, but there was no changing, or even the smallest doubt, of the fact that he was in fact among one of the strongest beings in the multiverse.
Like the others out there, he knew he would have to make a choice and the first one that deserved his first answer was none other than the man who helped hasten his emergence.
He looked at the burning universe laid before his senses but he couldn't put a finger on what exactly he was feeling by watching it. In his mind, the three core aspects of his existence – wants, needs and duty – clashed against each other in a battle that he didn't know which eventually won. He'd have to ask his first friend about that. Even the concept of friendship was a foreign one to him but he was determined to see where it led.
Connecting himself to the only universe connected to the one he was currently in, he warped directly into it since he was sure no other Celestial could feel his energy so there was no problem with him appearing on Earth.
He appeared in the middle of a mountain range, one where he was sure the only thing around were the low leveled sentient organisms of this planet, and waited. He had learned how to be tactful in his time underground after all.
A few seconds later, he felt the familiar shredding of space that alerted him of Draul's arrival.
"I have to say, you really do look imposing in person." Draul said after running his senses over the newly born Celestial who easily stood taller than any of the nearby mountains despite the fact that he'd severely shrunk down his size.
"I concur. Though your idea of imposing might differ from the rest of the inhabitants of your planet, I do feel like I strike quite the threatening impression at first glance." Tiamut nodded to Draul's words, acknowledging the fact that they had come to the same conclusion.
"You Celestials really are different. Even now I can feel the amount of cosmic energy in your body increasing by folds. The universe does really pick favorites." Draul muttered more to himself than to his cosmic audience. "So what now big guy? Knull will be out any second now and that'll be the spark of an all-out multiversal war."
Instead of giving him his answer, Tiamut instead replied with a question of his own. "What do you want, Draul? From this war, the advent and the end. What do you stand to gain from it in any way?"
To know something, you had to first understand how it worked and given that he couldn't understand how Draul worked, he wanted to at least understand how he thought.
"What do I stand to gain? An interesting question but also one that insinuates that there 'is' something to gain from this war, unfortunately that doesn't apply to me. I have nothing to gain but everything to lose. This war can only take from me and give nothing back. Even in the unlikely case that I survive to the end without losing anything, I'll still end up with nothing at the end of it all. It's something you might not understand yet, but there is no crown to be had. No power to be won at the end of it all. There will only be those who lost and those who lost everything, so when you ask what do I stand to gain from all this, I have no freaking idea what you're talking about. What I want is for some peace and quiet but I guess even that's impossible given how this multiverse works, right?"
Even though he was complaining, his voice never went an octave higher and remained at the same tone all through his rant, making it more of a monotonous dialogue than anything else. "To be honest, all I want is for me to wake up tomorrow and not feel the edge of a knife to my neck. Not even possessing the Infinity Stones can grant me that wish." He had long brought out a few wares and started brewing tea while sitting midair as he gave the Celestial his own version of a drunken harangue.
"I see. In other words…"
"In other words, I'm fucking up anybody I come across. Be it Celestial, Gods, Elder Gods, Eldritch monstrosities, cosmic beings and even the fucking Abstracts won't escape the list. If they are all that hell-bent on fucking up my life, then the least I can do is fuck up their entire existence. So tell me Tiamut, what are you going to do?"
Tiamut remained silent at Draul's repeated question as his golden eyes met Draul's brown. "I don't know. I will be the first to admit that my answer is lackluster at best but it's truly the only choice I come to. With my limited existence, I'm afraid that I don't sufficiently understand the true scale of what is about to happen and how it will affect each individual involved. The only role I know of is that I am sure I will participate in fighting for the survival of this universe and the rest, but who I will fight to ensure that, I do not know. It might be you, it might be the other Celestials, the Gods are a most likely probability. Maybe even the Abstracts, or I may even wish to go against the directives of our creator. These are all still within the realms of a multiversal calculus of infinite probabilities but it is pretty much confirmed that I will partake in the upcoming battle. Does this answer your questions?"
Draul nodded his head before continuing sipping his tea. It was a pastime activity he had been neglecting for a while now due to the fact that he was getting bored with almost everything.
"I guess since we've gotten that out of the way, it's about time you group up with the other Celestials. See you soon, T." With those words, Draul left the Dreaming Celestial on his own in the middle of the mountain range and warped off to who knows where while also removing the barrier that covered Earth.
The moment the barrier was gone, Tiamut received a call, or the cosmic equivalence of one, from someone who he knew very well, as all Celestials did.
Arishem The Judge.
"Tiamut…"
"…Arishem."
The link between them became silent for a few seconds before Arishem simply asked. "You were not supposed to emerge for the next few years. How come you did, and without harming any life on that planet?"
"He helped me." Tiamut simply stated. The understanding between the two Celestials was as if they'd known each other for quite a few years. "He gave me a universe, one equally identical to this one with the presence of heavy cosmic saturation on it. I was able to absorb that instead of this one, thereby keeping life on this planet unharmed." Tiamut then explained to him how his emergence came to be in detail since there actually was no need of keeping it to himself.
Hearing all what Tiamut had to say, Arishem only said one word before cutting the line between the two of them. Tiamut looked at the planet one more before disappearing completely away from this plane of existence.
…
In a beautiful garden, a breathtaking woman sat among the meadows and blew a soul-catching tone while playing with the singing flowers around her. If there was ever a picture that could be ascribed to the word 'natural', then everything about the woman was it.
She felt ethereal yet looked as real as the ground she was sitting on. The tune she was singing stopped as a beautiful smile graced her face but the grass and leaves didn't stop with their symphony.
"Dear sister, and here I was beginning to think you wouldn't bother visiting me. How cruel of you."
Standing behind her was a cloaked figure with raven black hair spilling out of the hood she wore. Unlike the natural atmosphere of the former woman, the latter felt as if while being one with existence itself, it felt as if existence was merely doing as she bid.
"Hello to you too, Gaea." She finally spoke, causing Gaea who had remained sitting since the beginning to stand up and draw her into a hug.
They remained like that, none moving, for an indefinite time before Gaea finally separated from her sister. "Come with me, sister. I believe we have a lot to catch up on." She drew her sister towards an alcove by the side of the garden, giggling as she ignored the exasperated sigh that left the mouth of her clearly distraught sister. Like her title, Gaea truly was a mother to all.
"So tell me, what exactly brought you here?" The moment they were seated, Gaea's demeanor changed as if a switch had been flipped and her face turned passive.
"Don't play the fool with me Gaea, you know very well why I'm here. Not only did you let that girl near him but you also gave her your blessing and not just any blessing but one that made her be considered your direct daughter and you know exactly what that means."
"I know your concerns, Oshtur but I believe it was the right choice then. We can't simply think that our input in this battle will be anything special and if we're not careful, they might come back and try to feed on the chaos. My blessing to her was due to her determination and belief, her love for her fiancé was what made me waive the lines. If she wants to fight by his side then you of all people know that she'll need all the power she can get. And besides, I doubt she's the reason you're here."
"It is connected. My last divination showed me something I hoped to never see… Chthon and Set. They too are striving for his power. If they manage to get even a part of it then we're doomed."
"It's not like any of us can see a ray of salvation when the battle starts. All we can do is struggle to survive for another pointless eon until another war on this scale erupts… I'm quite fed up with this pointless circle, but then again, not even we have the power to change reality as we please. Enough of the dreary talk, how was your travels?"