After the scream - 1 billion universes remaining
The butler's attack came like a flash, yet Jason and Orion had ample time to react. However, they remained calmly seated in their chairs. Unlike Orion, who had removed his glasses, Jason hadn't moved an inch. His instincts remained silent. He sensed that Orion was in no danger, even as the butler's mace was mere centimeters from his face. He might have acted if Zoltar had attacked them, solely to protect the inhabitants of the ring a few hundred kilometers away.
The world had stopped abruptly. The butler's mace refused to complete its swing. A sense of terror was evident in Zoltar's eyes. He seemed to have looked into something that even a Monarch should never see. He could no longer control his gaze. The blood vessels in his eyes had already burst under the pressure, turning the whites of his eyes blood-red.
Orion's hair and eyes had turned a blazing violet, and the world around them was now only black and white. Zoltar heard a voice break the silence:
"I grant you the right to speak and close your eyes."
The voice was deep. Its words made the universe shudder for a brief moment. Orion had spoken with an authority Jason had never known him to possess. Zoltar closed his eyes and didn't seem inclined to reopen them anytime soon. His entire body trembled uncontrollably with terror, and he no longer deigned to speak. All creatures, whether of a particular race or Singularities, young or old, Eternal or mortal, were not immune to the fear of the unknown.
Encountering a being capable of driving the laws of a universe away was terrifying for a Monarch. Zoltar felt in front of Orion as he had the first time he had encountered a Monarch. He wasn't even a Monarch back then, but he would always remember the feeling of helplessness he had experienced.
Jason hadn't flinched at his companion's transformation. He began to ask his questions. There was only one piece of information that could aid them in their search:
"Do you know of a gate nearby?"
"There are three within a billion light-years radius," Zoltar replied in a trembling voice.
"To which universes do they lead?" Jason asked.
"I don't know the Monarchs who inhabit them. A very powerful barrier blocked access to one of the three gates, probably one of those chosen ones taking their duties too seriously. The second gate also housed a Monarch. I couldn't meet him, but I felt in his aura something I had forgotten: the chilling terror one feels at the approach of death. The last Monarch I met was through the third gate. His body was that of a humanoid octopus with multiple tentacles," Zoltar explained.
"How long ago did you meet this octopus?" Jason asked, his interest piqued.
"That must have been several million years ago. He asked me to leave because he was preparing something. 'Asked' might be the wrong word because he didn't really give me a choice, and I felt I had no chance against him. So I left to create an empire and improve my mastery of the laws to become stronger," Zoltar admitted.
"Interesting."
The response didn't come from Jason but from Orion. He had stood up while Jason was asking questions and had started observing the various paintings on the wall. They had lost all color, all nuance.
After hearing the interest from the man with violet eyes, who now appeared more like a god than a man to his eyes, Zoltar gave them the coordinates of the gate. Having obtained the only information they sought, a heavy silence settled in the room.
"Would you have some Eternity to give us?" Jason asked, holding his half-empty thermos.
"Anything you want, Your Highnesses," Zoltar replied almost automatically.
Jason stood up and crossed the room. In one corner stood a massive container of Eternity, its lid left open by the butler who probably hadn't expected anyone to help themselves under his employer's watchful eye. After filling his thermos, he turned to Orion, still engrossed in the painting before his eyes.
"Do you want some?" he asked.
Orion didn't respond, as if lost in his thoughts. The painting in front of him depicted a creature floating in the cosmic void, its lack of color adding a sinister aura to the canvas. He turned to Jason before tossing him a thermos hidden in his ample coat.
After filling the second thermos, Jason settled comfortably back in his chair. They could leave now after Orion restored the universe's functioning. But Orion didn't seem finished with their host. After casting a final glance at the painting before him, he sat back down in his chair.
"Look at me," he commanded.
Zoltar opened his eyes to look at the man before him. The entirety of the being before him exuded power, his aura flowing through every pore of his skin. It held a tyrannical majesty that forced anyone who came into contact with it to lower their head and gaze to the ground.
"You are guilty of many crimes, crimes that in my previous life would have earned you execution by my blade. You should feel lucky that I no longer consider my judgment 'just' enough. Your life now hangs on the decision of a man whom, fortunately for you, I have not yet met," Orion explained as if addressing a child.
"I will now give you two choices. Repent or die," he continued in an indifferent voice, sipping some Eternity.
The discussion ended there, and Orion put his glasses back on. The world resumed its course, its colors and laws gradually returning to their original places. The paintings regained their original image. Some depicted vast galactic landscapes, others local landscapes of the planet, and the one above Zoltar's desk showed him with his characteristic smile. However, this portrait didn't seem to match the Monarch sitting behind his desk: everything fit except the smile.
"You could smile a bit more, big brother Zoltar, it suits you well!" Orion exclaimed upon seeing the portrait.
Before the atmosphere of the room could take a strange turn, Jason stood up and began to leave the room.
"We're leaving," he announced to his companion.
"Oh, already! Well, I hope we'll meet again, big brother Zoltar!" Orion cried before joining him.
Zoltar was trembling in all his limbs, and his butler, who hadn't been able to stop his momentum, was embedded in the desk. It seemed that Zoltar had no desire to see Orion again.