Word count 10,383
"Huh."
"A problem, beloved?"
"No, just… well, you know that my True Self always looks into more multiverses to discover new things about your Creation, Azathoth?"
"Of course."
"Well, apparently my True Self came across a multiverse that has ended… except that there is one last presence of life in it. Just… staying there, unmoving and waiting, I guess? My True Self isn't sharing much, you know how I am, but I must admit some confusion and curiosity. I mean, why the hell would anyone stay in a dead reality? There are literally a near infinite number of those still thriving laying around to go to!"
Azathoth tilted her head. "Huh. Weird. But haven't you passed some time in such dead Realities yourself?"
"Well, yeah," I replied, "but that was because they are really great places to meditate on the darker parts of myself, focused more on Death, Darkness, the Void, etc. But apparently, that's not what whoever this is is doing, they're just… Well, that's the point. They are just doing nothing, seemingly waiting for something to happen, except nothing will happen."
I shook my head.
"Well, whatever. I'll take a look, get some answers. Maybe whoever it is is stuck there for some reason? If they had been some powerful evil sealed there my True Self would have told me, so they aren't evil, but that just makes this more confusing… Ah, no point in throwing random questions at the wall. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to check this out. We might end up with a new guest, so-"
"Don't worry, I'll let Cthylla know to prepare everything for a possible guest staying here." replied Azathoth, and I smiled.
"Thanks."
With that said, I stood up from my chair, a step taking me to the border of the Hunter's Dream, and another sending me across the Omniverse to where this curious mystery was to be found.
Azathoth finished her cup of tea, sighing in satisfaction like always (Aeon and Oedon made the best tea… and everything else when it came to food and drinks, honestly) before pausing when a portal opened.
She blinked. "Yog?"
The Gate and the Key grinned at her.
"Hey, Aza! Don't mind me, I'm just here to say hi to the new stray Aeon is about to pick up!"
Azathoth gave her a look… before sighing.
"Of course you'd know already… Let me guess. Cute girl?"
Yog grinned. "Oh, a real cutie. But I'm just here to enjoy the look on her face when she learns a few things. It's so rare for beings that old to be surprised, after all!"
Azathoth gave her another look.
"Of course you're here for future blackmail material. I swear…" she shook her head.
"Well, if whoever it is is going to stay, I need to-"
"Already taken care of! Cthylla is on it."
Azathoth paused, before sitting back down.
It was hardly the first time something like this happened.
So instead, she just poured herself another cup… then brought out a new one.
They were going to get company, after all.
Though apparently, their new guest preferred coffee.
I stepped into the dead universe, taking a moment to enjoy the sheer serenity of the Void in its purest form, a small smile on my lips as my right eye instinctively turned just as dark as the left.
As enjoyable as being in living universes was, a part of me would always find itself at home just as well here, where Time and Space had long died, where matter had long ceased to exist, and there was only the primordial Void as far as my senses could spread.
It wasn't a part of me I often indulged in, even if clones of me stayed with Darkness and Mist and their realm to help out or just meditate in peace.
"... What? How can you be here?!"
I blinked at the sudden female voice filled with shock, the voice sounding remarkably human even if I could feel the sheer age underneath it.
Oh, compared to me it was incredibly young, but even so…
I turned, finally focusing on the one presence I could detect in this dead reality, and suddenly understood exactly what was going on here.
Because right in front of me, hands on her hips and looking rather shocked at my mere existence, stood a seemingly 20-something year old young woman, with chalk white skin, dark eyes and hairs, and a very clearly recognizable eye of Horus under her right eye, wearing a black tank top and slim black jeans with a black and silver belt.
Oh, and let's not forget the silver Ankh she was wearing on a chain around her neck, all of which confirmed the identity of the individual in front of me.
I was face to face with Death of the Endless herself.
Huh.
"Sorry!" she apologized, apparently thinking my silence was because I was startled by her sudden appearance. "I shouldn't be so sudden about accosting people, I know. But, well, it's kinda… been a while since I've spoken to anybody. This place is pretty dead."
She smiled weakly, like she'd just made a joke, but there was something sad behind the smile.
I smiled back. "Oh, don't worry about that. Honestly, I came here to check why I still felt life from this place… As you put it, it's pretty dead, and while that doesn't bother me I can't imagine you are the same. Most beings don't handle the non-existence of physics very well, after all."
I paused.
"Well, sort of. It's kinda the opposite where I come from, honestly."
"Really? Because" and there she got more animated, seemingly regaining life and cheerfulness the more she talked, her dark eyes lightening with curious fascination as she looked at me and a bright smile spreading across her lips. "That brings me right back to where this started. How are you here? Because my eldest brother is dead. You know what was meant to happen after my brother died? Nothing, that's what. Nothing ever again!" she exclaimed.
"Right." I mused. "That was… Destiny, right? From what I can tell, you're Death of the Endless… Oh, you're talking about his Book, aren't you?"
She blinked. "You know my brother? And me? I… can't say I recognize you..."
"You wouldn't. And no, I've never met you, but I do know of you. I know everything. That's part of who I am, I just have to focus on it."
I grinned. "Life's so much less interesting if you know everything, everywhen and everywhere, you know? So I don't bother doing that unless needed. What's life without surprises? Dull, that's what!"
She giggled, nodding. "Right?! My family was the same. We could know pretty much everything, we just didn't because it made things more bearable."
She paused, before pouting at me. "Hey! Don't distract me! There aren't supposed to be surprises left! The Book's over! So how can you be here?! Who are you, really?"
I laughed softly, raising my hands in a placating manner. "Alright! Alright! It's really simple, anyway."
I grinned, and she pouted harder, though I could feel her enjoyment of actually experiencing emotions again.
Nothing quite like feeling utter boredom for a few eternities to discover even frustration can be a good emotion after not having it for so long.
"My name is Aeon, and I'm not in your brother's book because bluntly speaking, I'm a higher authority than him or the Presence who created the Book of Destiny. I mean, didn't your sister Delirium tell you all before that there were paths beyond Destiny's book?"
Death blinked, frowned and then blinked again. "She did, but that was so long ago… How-"
"I'm Omniscient." I replied, shrugging.
She frowned, before understanding flashed through her eyes.
"Are you like the Presence? I guess it would explain why you can be here if that's the case…"
"Err…" I paused. "Kinda, but not really? Look, what do you know of Reality as a whole?"
I frowned.
"Wait, is that why… say, why are you still here, in this dead reality? I mean, you said it yourself, right? There's nothing there anymore. So there is no point in you staying here."
"Well, that's just it," Death replied. "It's all over. So even I can't die, because that would be one more event. It would have been in the book. If it were going to happen, my brother would still be here, waiting for it to happen."
I frowned. "But that-"
I paused, before facepalming.
"Oh for… let me guess. The Book had you take Destiny, so that's what happened. But since "all events" have happened, you can't die, because that would be "An event." Am I correct?"
"The only solution where we both came out of this dead, would have been if we'd died at the exact same time," Death said glumly. "If I ended myself in the same instant I took him, the instant when he closed the final chapter of the Book. I almost thought… that was what was going to happen. But somehow, it didn't. So I'm still here. Which isn't a paradox. I can just sit here in a dead cosmos, alone, forever. That's not an event. Not a paradox. It's just, well, to be honest… it sucks."
I scowled. "The Creator Deity of this place was an idiot."
She snorted. "Well, he's long dead, so I can hardly go to him to complain."
"So you just ended up here, unable to die and in a dead reality… forever?" I said slowly. "Because for some reason, the Presence forgot to consider that once the Book is over, you wouldn't be able to move on after?"
She nodded sadly "I've just been here… forever. I am here forever."
I stared at her for a long moment.
"Would you… Do you want to die?" I asked gently.
Another second of eternity passed by before she answered.
"I dunno. I think I did a bit, before. It felt right. And I was curious. But after… here… well, to be honest, it's kind of lost its appeal. The thing is, well, I like… life. My family... we defined our opposites, you know, as much as the things we were named after. Dream was also Reality… Destruction was also Creation."
She shrugged, smiling sadly.
"I've always liked, I don't know, stuff. I liked watching people being, things happening. I miss it. I've missed it for an eternity. Maybe I'd like to… cease… someday. But not now. Not just… after all this. First, I'd like to hear a bird singing again. I'd like to meet new people. See new galaxies and new gods." she answered, and despite the sheer tiredness in her eyes, the result of an eternity passed in the void, I could also see the desire to live, to experience more of what life has to offer, the excitement at being able to truly live again.
I smiled widely at her, so very happy to see someone who's gone through so much still holding such a strong spark of life.
"Great! Well, I'd be more than happy to take you away from here and leave this place. There's so much more to see, after all!"
She blinked. "Take me… away?"
"Of course! I mean, no offense, but this place doesn't really have much more to offer anymore." I said, apologetic. It had been her home for… well, a literal eternity after all. "And you don't have a reason to be around here, right? You've already passed an eternity here, nothing will change if you stay here. And it doesn't matter that it isn't in Destiny's book, because there is so much more beyond this multiverse! You can go anywhere, do anything, it's all up to you now!"
I smiled widely. "It's over, right? You've played your part, the Book is done, there is no one around anymore to decide what things will be like from now on! Again, it's all up to you, now!"
"So I could just… leave," Death said in a soft, wonder-filled voice, sounding like someone who lived in the dark their entire life only to suddenly see the sun in all its glory.
Abruptly, a self-conscious look replaced the wonder on her face. "Leave and do… what?"
I shrugged, smiling gently. "That's up to you to decide, isn't it? Travel, see the sights, make friends and enemies, fight battles or relax in a pleasure world, life has a near infinite amount of possibilities for someone who lives forever. See if you ever get bored! Which, honestly, as someone who lived a very long time, I can tell you that if you do it right… you don't. There's always something to do, something new to see, anything really!"
"Yeah. I… suppose I could do that." she replied softly, sounding thoroughly overwhelmed but also incredibly happy.
I smiled brightly, and offered her my right hand.
"Alright then! Ready to go?"
Death froze utterly still for a second, before she bursted out laughing, bending over with small tears of laughter at the corner of her eyes.
"You… you know something, Aeon? Something funny?"
"What?"
"You're… you're doing my job," she exclaimed, waving at me with a bright smile. "You're doing what I did. Everything is over for me, and here you come, all smile. You make no sense and yet you make perfect sense. And you're taking me out of the world for my reward. I'm serious: textbook psychopomp. The first impression needed work, but otherwise… Aeon, you'd have made a great Death."
"Well I better hope so, I've been doing it for a few multiverses worth of time by now!"
"Wait, what?!"
And I took Death out of the dead multiverse, laughing all the while.
Behind us, the nothing returned, this time devoid of any irregularity.
For the first time in it's life, the universe was now permanent and unchanging. Entropy has finally stopped increasing, because the cosmos cannot get any more disordered.
Nothing happens, and it keeps not happening, forever.
Death of the Endless was having a very weird day.
Oh, in a good way! It had been… so very long since she had last felt surprise, or frustration, or amusement, or… well, all those wonderful little emotions you get used to when you live with people.
Except that she hadn't actually seen people in a good eternity, the last being her dear brother Destiny, so having all that back was a little overwhelming.
But again, in a good way! And maybe she could travel in a reality where there was ice cream, or coffee, and floppy hats! Oh, it has been so long since she had floppy hats!
Maybe she'd get two new goldfish! She had had to claim Slim and Wandsworth a very long time ago, but she definitely would like to get two new ones…
All of that was for later, though. For now, she had answers to get out of Aeon!
As kind as he had been, and he was very kind, she hadn't missed how little he'd actually talk about himself!
Honestly! It was almost as hard to get answers out of him than it had been with Morpheus!
Though he certainly did seem a lot more relaxed than her dearly departed brother. A lot less moody, too.
Well, good! Because if he was, indeed, a god of death of some kind, she'd rather he wasn't one of those stuffy kinds!
Mostly because she'd been there once upon a time, back when the multiverse was still young, and she knew quite well that nothing good came out of it.
But first thing first: she wanted answers out of her new friend!
It would be one thing if he genuinely wanted to keep his privacy, but it was very clear that he knew he was being annoyingly evasive about his answers and was enjoying teasing her!
And it wasn't like she could do the same, since he made it very clear he was omniscient, far beyond even her.
So she opened her mouth-
And then froze, as they suddenly appeared somewhere new.
Her eyes eagerly drank in the sight of the many tall trees, the beautiful glowing white flowers, the massive moon in the night sky surrounded by glittering stars, and the wide mansion in the middle of it all.
She closed her eyes, breathing deeply, the fragrance of flowers and grass and so much more hitting her hard, in the best of ways.
Even better, the realm itself felt… peaceful. Serene. A sensation of tranquility suffused the place, bidding welcome to any visitors and warmly hugging all residents.
She exhaled, a gentle smile on her lips as her eyes danced around all the wonders of this place.
"It's beautiful."
"Thank you." Aeon replied, and she could see the pride in his eyes as he, too, surveyed the sights before them with old fondness. "Me and my wives have taken good care of this place ever since I first claimed it. It is… an important place for me."
Death spread her senses deeper, slowly at first, then quicker when Aeon merely glanced at her in amusement and approval.
"I can sense… death, here. And Blood, deep beneath the peace of this place. But it is very, very old." she muttered.
Aeon's eyebrows rose, a flash of surprise turning to respect in his eyes.
"You can sense that? Most impressive. Yes, I wasn't the original owner of this place, though I kept the name. The Hunter's Dream has existed long before even I was born… I merely claimed it through right of Conquest. Though that's an oversimplification of what happened. In the end, I merely… granted peace to an old man who needed it, and put an end to the one who had bound him to this place, having turned a dream into a nightmare instead."
Death nodded, though she could tell he was definitely skipping a great deal of context, especially when she could, ever-so-faintly, feel that there had been far more than merely two deaths here.
Also, there was the fact that this… Hunter's Dream (and how her brother Dream would have loved to talk about it to Aeon) was a lot bigger than just the floating island that they were currently on.
She didn't look further, though. A bit of curiosity, when Aeon visibly didn't mind, was okay, but she had no intention of pushing said curiosity to the point of impoliteness.
That, and there were more pressing issues.
"I can feel a number of people in the mansion." She noted, though she didn't mention out loud that, from what she could feel, the mansion itself was far bigger on the inside than physically possible.
Also, she couldn't quite get a read on said people, much like she couldn't on Aeon. She had tried to see what he had been when he had first appeared (and really, her manners needed some work, after so long alone), but Aeon was just… a Black Hole.
He was there, but trying to get any reading on him was an exercise in futility.
Here though, it felt like this realm itself was protecting the identity of its inhabitants…
And she could have sworn that it felt amused at her for her lack of success!
A fact not helped by Aeon shaking his head and muttering about… pranks and True Self?
What?
Well, either way, they slowly made their way to the entrance of the mansion, Death admiring the beauty of the place and enjoying the scent of all the life around her, feeling the sheer amount of lifeforce each blade of grass possessed.
The whole place was almost swimming in the stuff!
Hell, not just lifeforce either. The sheer amount of magic in the air was shocking, and she could almost taste the stuff right in the air by merely opening her mouth!
She'd seen entire pantheons worth' of gods of magic who wouldn't hold a candle compared to what was freely floating around this place!
Finally, they arrived at the entrance, where a number of people waited.
Aeon took one look at one of them and rolled his eyes, though he had a small smirk on his lips.
"Of course you'd be here, Yog. Why am I even surprised?"
The woman named Yog opened her mouth, only to close it when the heavily pregnant woman by her side gave her a warning look.
Then she turned to face them, and Death blinked at the sheer glowing joy on the woman's face.
"Aeon! And you've brought us a guest! Come in, come in! We've prepared some tea- unless you'd prefer something else?" asked the woman, a kind smile on her face.
"I'd love a good cup of coffee, if you have it." Death replied, smiling warmly back at the cheerful woman.
"Then coffee it is." declared a white-haired woman, her smile less bright but no less kind and welcoming. "However, I do believe some introductions are in order, dear Aeon? Since I presume you left a great deal out when you first talked to her?"
By her side, Aeon pouted. "Come on Oedon, I at least gave her my name! Besides, people sometimes freak out when they understand exactly who and what they are dealing with, I was just being careful!"
The newly named Oedon merely raised an eyebrow.
Aeon pouted harder. "Hey, I'm serious! Our very existence pretty much flies against most of what she believes in, I'd prefer to give her a chair to sit in and something to drink before we start destroying what she knows of Reality!"
Oedon stared at him a moment longer before nodding.
"Very well then. Come, let us take our seats first then, this is probably going to be a long conversation."
"You know, I'm not made of glass. I can probably handle whatever it is you're about to say." Death replied, frowning slightly.
"Probably." agreed Aeon. "But tell me: How long has it been since you've last had a good cup of coffee?"
Death paused, before grinning.
"On second thought, what are we waiting for? Glorious coffee awaits!"
Once everyone had taken a seat and been given beverages by a cheerful young maid with blue hair (who Death was relatively sure was the only non-god in the room, though she certainly wasn't human), and after Death had recovered from almost passing out in bliss at finally getting a good cup of coffee in literally forever (not helped by the fact that the coffee was divine. Seriously, sign her up for a lifetime of the stuff!), they finally got to the proverbial elephant in the room.
"Alright. So! Answers. Because this guy-" she pointed and sent a mock glare towards a visibly amused Aeon "-had been annoyingly difficult to get a straight answer from!"
"Very well." declared yet another of the women present, and Death hadn't failed to notice the way everyone in the room, even Aeon, seemed to look at her with a certain amount of deference, and were even now straightening slightly at the sound of her voice. "Let us begin with introductions. I am Azathoth, the Great Sultana and God-Queen of the Eldritch Mythos, Creator-deity of the entire Omniverse, and the strongest and oldest being in all of existence."
Death stiffened at the Name, feeling the sheer, raw power in the Name subtly shake the entire Realm they were in, and for a second she saw a flash of somewhere and something else, a female humanoid sitting on a throne while maddening music played around her, her eyes seemingly half-opened to the Reality around her, while deep underneath the throne an absolutely massive… something bigger than anything else Death had ever seen whose form kept changing in strange, insane ways rumbled contently in its sleep, countless eyes and mouths opening and closing, limbs without ends appearing somewhere only to then reappear somewhere else and what she could swear were words spoken without sounds whose meaning could unmake her very being or send her to fit of madness were whispered at the very edge of her comprehension, requiring her to just focus for a second for them to be clearly heard-
And for the first time in her incredibly long life, Death discovered what it must feel like for mortals to stare at a god far beyond them, as compared to the being in front of her even the Presence was but an ant in comparison.
Even the slight glimpse into the true, full nature of the woman calmly sitting in front of her made her feel incredibly small and weak, for both her powers and her age were but a minuscule fraction of what the being in front of her could lay claim too.
Even the full lifetime of an entire multiverse was but a blink of an eye to her.
Death let out a shuddering breath she didn't remember taking, hands clenched tightly around her coffee cup.
"Okay, wow. That was… something." she exclaimed with a shuddering laugh, staring rather wide eyed at the being she now knew could erase her as easily as one would blink.
Azathoth smiled gently. "You see now why my beloved wanted to wait before revealing too much."
Death tilted her head. "Beloved?"
"That's me." declared Aeon, smiling brightly. "Though in full honestly-"
"All of us here are married to him. Except you, naturally." interrupted Oedon, smiling.
Death blinked, then looked at them with amusement. "Ah. The name Sultana is not just for show, is it?"
"Indeed not." replied Oedon.
"Okay. So, if Azathoth is who and what I understand her being (and I'm trying not to think too deeply right now about the nature of the Omniverse I've caught a glimpse of through her Name), does that make you the Great Sultan, Aeon?" Death asked, even if the answer seemed pretty obvious now.
Aeon smiled. "Indeed. I am Aeon, the Great Sultan and God-king of the Eldritch Mythos, Ruler of all Reality by the will of my wife and Queen, and the second strongest being in Existence."
Death stiffened again at the Name, though less so this time, having been more mentally prepared for it.
Even so, the mind-boggling amount of power in that name, while not anywhere near Azathoth's, was only considered lesser by the fact that Azathoth was ridiculously powerful.
As it was, Aeon's Name still crashed through her entire Self, and once again Death was glad to be sitting because the flash of vision she saw, of an humanoid on a throne whose very body was seemingly made of every layers of Reality unimaginable, radiating power enough to crush countless multiverses without trying and seeing all things connected to it as easily as one would understand a child's drawing, made her gasp softly and hold her head as an honest-to-God headache began hitting her mind.
If trying to understand Azathoth's Name was like trying to understanding her sister's Delirium entire existence multiplied by countless quintillion of times, then trying to understand Aeon's was like trying to comprehend her entire multiverse, decide that it wasn't enough, and then do the same with the Presence.
And then multiply that by several trillion times, because apparently Eldritch Gods were just insane like that.
Death closed her eyes and began to massage her forehead, trying not to focus on the visions that kept flashing through her mind of countless realities, or the whispers about the full meaning of countless Concepts at both Universal, Multiversal and Omniversal level.
Even the bare glimpse of a fraction of these secrets could give her power enough to shatter Multiverses with a word, for goodness' sake!
Then she felt a hand gently touch her head, and she sighed in relief when the pain, and the visions and whispers of secrets beyond anything she could have ever imagined, finally ceased.
Opening her eyes, she gave a grateful smile at Aeon, who was stepping back, a concerned and apologetic look on his face.
"Sorry about that. You asked for answers, but-"
"Don't worry about it. I did ask, and you delivered, I can't be angry about that. Besides… You were holding back the power of your Names massively, weren't you?" she asked, glancing from Aeon to Azathoth.
"We were." Azathoth confirmed, which admittedly was terrifying in it's own right.
If even the mere shadow of their Names full might could cause her such pain… What about the full might of them?
"Perhaps it might be best to switch to more… mortal ways of sharing information about us?" suggested Oedon, a measure of worry in her voice and eyes as she looked at Death.
"Agreed. We shared what we did out of a desire to make her better understand the nature of our existence, but I believe that objective has been already accomplished. There is no need to push further." declared Aeon.
Death thought about repeating that she wasn't made of glass… and then she remembered the difference of power between her and two of the beings sitting in this room.
On second thought, more detailed answers as provided by the Names could wait.
Thankfully, the revelations that followed weren't anywhere near as headaches inducing, though they certainly were just as mind-boggling.
The white-haired woman was Oedon, the first wife of Aeon, whose power was roughly on par with her husband.
The smug-looking woman in Japanese military clothes was Yog-Sothoth, the Eldritch equivalent of her Reality's Father Time, and the kind, cheerful pregnant woman was Shub-Niggurath, the Eldritch goddess of Fertility, while the blue-haired maid was Cthylla, daughter of the Great Old One Cthulhu.
And each of them, with the exception of Cthylla, was far stronger than Death herself was.
Moreover, each was beyond her ability to claim. The veil that had hidden them had disappeared after their introductions, and with it she could now see them much more clearly, but...it wasn't in the same way that, say, the Presence had been beyond her, where she simply had to wait for the right time to do her job, but in the way that they simply had no end.
All things in her Reality had an end. Even the Presence ended, in due time.
But not these beings. Trying to find out their end, something normally as simple as breathing for her, just gave her… nothing.
It was like trying to find something in the dark, only to discover that there was nothing there.
They were, dare she say… immortals.
Not in the short-sighted way the gods of her reality were, thinking that immortality was simply living for a few thousands of years or more, but in the way that they truly did not have a fixed ending. The Concept of Death itself just… slid off them like water on a rock.
That was especially true for Aeon, Oedon and Azathoth. She could faintly feel… something for the others, a shadow of a possibility, but these three didn't have even that.
And that was even more confusing in Aeon's case, because she could now feel some of his Self, and definitely recognized the Domain of Death in his being.
And despite that, he was seemingly immune to the very concept that was a fundamental part of him.
Death was, to say the least, rather confused.
People just… aren't immortal. Not truly. They always had an end, whether it took a hundred, a thousand, a billion years or even the entire lifetime of a multiverse.
But no. Not these beings, who sat there in front of Death herself without a care in the world.
This really wasn't helped by the fact that she hadn't died, either. That was still something that had bothered her for a long time. Was Death immune to… well, Death? She had claimed all death gods of her reality eventually, but she was no mere Death Goddess, so… what?
Had she been wrong all this time? Was True Immortality possible?
And speaking of concepts like Infinity, being given an introduction to the Omniverse by the highest authority in existence on the matter was a shock in its own right.
When Aeon had told her that there would always be something more to do and see, he hadn't been joking.
The Omniverse was big. So utterly, mind-bogglingly big.
And it kept increasing in size!
She could live quintillion of times what she had lived through so far and she'd barely scratch the surface of the entirety of Existence.
Even without conceptual speech, their explanation of the Omniverse and it's size made her feel so very small all over again.
Divided for simplicity's sake much like a galaxy is, the Omniverse possessed several different parts:
There's the "Core" part of it, with Azazoth's court at the very center of existence. That's where most multiverses were concentrated in, and that's where the most supernatural-heavy realities were, as a result of the closeness to the Eldritch Court.
There's the "Inner Rim", where things were less supernaturally-heavy, and you could even find the occasional hard physics-based multiverses.
There's the "Mid-Rim", who were far enough from the center of Existence that this was where most non-supernatural Realities were.
And then there was the "Outer-Rim", where things get weird. Basically, this was the "edge" of Reality, and much like a Dream, things get fuzzy.
Some Multiverses were incredibly supernatural-heavy, others were the exact opposite.
Apparently, her old Reality was in the Core, which… Well, wasn't that surprising.
Still, the sheer size of it all was outright stated to be near-infinite, and more Realities came into Existence at every moment.
In short, it was the closest to true Infinity one could imagine.
And it was now all at her leisure to travel to if the desire took her.
Needless to say, the thought was an intimidating one, as much as it made her almost vibrant with joy.
She could travel for countless Multiversal lifetimes and still have a near infinite amount of Realities left to discover!
On the other hand… she could travel for countless Multiversal lifetimes and still have a near infinite amount of Realities left to discover!
Her troubled emotions must have been easily spotted, because soon enough Aeon called for an end of the impromptu meeting and she was left alone with him.
Well, at least she still had her glorious coffee.
Aeon gave her a sympathetic look.
"Quite a lot to think about after this, huh?"
She laughed, nodding, and then finished her cup before getting up.
"I think I need to walk and think about things." she hesitated, before looking at him hopefully. "Do you want to follow me? I still have so many questions… More than ever, actually!"
"Of course." Aeon replied, smiling kindly, and she smiled back at him before they made their way out of the mansion and back in the gardens outside.
Death stopped, once again enjoying the sight of all the flowers and grass and trees and the stars above.
She could feel the life in this place, and it made her feel nostalgic of those by-gones days when her Reality was still young and the universes still full of stars and life.
Taking a few more steps, she stopped in the middle of the garden, closing her eyes and focusing on the wonderful smell of the flowers…
And then with a wide grin, she fell backward, arms extended wide to fall on the soft grass like a "T", a delighted sigh escaping her at the tickling sensation of the grass on her back and the heavier scent of the Lunar Tears surrounding her.
Aeon laughed, staring down at her with amusement.
"I hope the grass is to your liking, milady?" he declared, poking fun at the very clearly bliss-filled woman on the ground.
Death hummed approvingly.
"It's very soft. Surprisingly comfortable, actually."
She finally opened her eyes, staring with child-like wonder at the shining moon and stars above.
"I wonder if this is what mortals mean when they speak about that french saying of dormir a la bell étoile? If so, they are right. I could sleep happily for a long time like this!"
Aeon chuckled, before sitting down on the ground by her side. "Most mortals sadly don't do well sleeping outside. Still, I know what you mean. I fashioned this realm to be a place of wonders and peace untainted by Evil, as I dream of Reality being, even if I know that isn't possible."
He sighed sadly, but smiled nonetheless.
"You are welcome to stay here as long as you desire. I understand that you probably don't really know where you want to go from there on out, after all."
"Yeah." softly agreed Death. "I just… I accepted that, whether I liked it or not, I was just going to stay in the Void forever, with nothing but my own thoughts and memories to keep me company. But then you showed up, and now I know there's so much more, and…"
She stopped, before smiling sheepishly. "Sorry, I'm rambling a bit."
Aeon shook his head with a smile. "It's alright. Most people don't really know what to do with infinite choices. Hell, most people don't know what to do even when there are only a few choices to choose from, imagine having infinite possibilities to choose from!"
She giggled. "Well, you aren't wrong. Seriously, the number of times that I saw people stressing over one decision or another… still, life has a way of pushing you towards certain answers if you don't decide quickly. So with that in mind… Any ideas for destinations I could go to?"
Aeon turned thoughtful, before shrugging. "That depends on what you want to do. I could tell you of countless wonders, I could tell you of countless horrors, I could tell you of countless thriving empires or republics and everything in between…"
He grinned. "Me and mine have worked hard to create as beautiful a Creation as we could. There's still a lot of work, but I dare say we've achieved great things already."
His grin widened. "Maybe I can show you my Empire, one day? Or at least, part of it. Unless we cheat through Omniscience, we would need a very long time to travel through all of it the mortal way."
"So you do have an empire. I was wondering, since not all gods back where I come from do." she said, tilting her head to look up at Aeon with curiosity.
He smiled happily, pride clear on his face. "I do indeed! The biggest empire in all of existence… though admittedly, the majority of it I received when I married Azathoth. Still, I like to think I proved myself a good ruler, since the empire has only grown since I arrived. Sometimes militarily, most often through diplomacy. I have no ambition of ruling over all things, but there is stability and prosperity in my empire, and that naturally attracts attention… especially with how old the empire is."
He turned thoughtful. "Or maybe I can directly introduce you to the Eldritch Pantheon? You did mention wanting to meet new gods, and the Eldritch gods do have a rather unique relationship with the concept of Death…"
He paused, then chuckled. "Well, you know what I meant."
"Indeed." she replied, amused, before turning curious. "But what did you mean, exactly? I did feel like my powers couldn't touch any of the gods I just met, and let me tell you, that was weird. And I can now tell that you do have the Domain of Death within you, so… how does that even work?"
Aeon grinned. "Well, first you have to understand that gods and mythologies tend to repeat across the omniverse for a reason. If you remember, your Earths had pantheons like the Olympians, or the Norse gods, or Heaven and Hell, right?"
"Right."
"Well, that's because we have those in the Core of the Omniverse, too. And because of that, they… echoes across the omniverse, changing and shifting from multiverse to multiverse to better adapt to the local metaphysical rules."
Aeon hummed. "Take the Presence. He was an echo of the Biblical God that I am more familiar with, but was also vastly different, to the point the Presence even left Heaven and took a successor eventually."
Aeon grimaced. "Honestly, I prefer the Biblical God I am more familiar with. He's a lot more fun to hang out with, for one. A lot more relaxed about things, too. Yours was way too focused on his Grand Plan, though I suppose that was what brought your older brother Destiny to exist as he did. He was also paradoxically way too focused on seeing some people break from the Plan, like with Lucifer and Micheal. Seriously, your YHWH kind of sucked. "
"Yes, you said that before." Death replied, a bit amused but mostly thoughtful. "So basically, because the Pantheons from the core reality of the omniverse exist in said Core, they ended up reflecting across the rest of the omniverse?"
"Yup. Again, how close or far to their original depends on a number of factors. Even the Eldritch Gods aren't exempt: your father Time was essentially an echo of Yog-Sothoth, and Cthylla's father Cthulu had a dark, evil version in your reality called Icthultu."
Aeon shook his head. "Honestly, poor Cthulhu. Ending up with such a pitiful echo… for such a great guy, that echo was an insult. He's lucky he was long dead in your reality, because otherwise I'd have destroyed him myself."
Death blinked. "Huh. I remember him… yeah, he wasn't a great conversationalist. He always screamed about the fact that he was immortal, but in the end he died like everybody else."
Aeon nodded. "And we thus get back to the original point: Death and Eldritch gods. Essentially, Eldritch gods, at least at the lowest level, can die. They just don't stay dead. For Eldritch Gods, death is basically the equivalent of taking a nap for a while. After all, we Eldritch gods consider billions of years as the equivalent of, like, a month or something. What does it matter to us if we go to sleep for a few thousand years, or even a few millions? We'll always come back, sooner or later. When I first became King of the Eldritch, I met a few gods who went to sleep long before the dinosaurs went extinct, and were thus rather confused about what this whole hubbub about Humanity was all about when they woke up."
Death blinked, before looking at him with amusement. "It must have led to some rather interesting discussions."
"Oh, definitely." replied Aeon, grinning at the old memories. "Still, the point is, Eldritch Gods don't really die. And when they do, they sometimes enter a dreaming state of existence, where they can still watch over the world they are in and interact in Dreams. So being a Death God of the Eldritch mostly revolve around making sure the sleep of the dead gods isn't disturbed by ignorant mortals, making sure that some remnant of the god's cults remain throughout the ages, helping them catch up to what's new when they awaken, that kind of stuff."
"Huh." said Death, frowning thoughtfully. "But what about when the universe comes to an end?"
Aeon laughed. "And what makes you think the universe will come to an end?"
Death opened her mouth… and paused.
Didn't she herself notice the nature of Azathoth and the others? If they were connected to the universe itself…
Aeon looked at her knowingly. "I'm pretty sure you figured it out, but essentially, yes: the Core reality doesn't end, because we don't wish it to end. So entropy doesn't really exist, and Time goes on, forever and ever."
"And the other multiverses? If they have Eldritch Gods too?" she asked, fascinated by how different things were compared to what she knew.
Aeon shrugged. "It depends. Sometimes it's the same for one reason or another, sometimes the universe does end but is reborn afterwards, and we Eldritch gods simply return, fully remembering what came before… Sometimes it does truly end, and in that case the echoes of the Eldritch Gods simply merge back with their Core self."
Death fell silent, thinking deeply over everything she learnt, before finally asking a question that had been bothering her for a very long time.
Ever since she first discovered that she wasn't going to end, after all.
"Does that mean that… True Immortality exists?"
Aeon gave her a long, knowing look, before replying softly.
"If True Death exists, not the death of the body but of the soul itself, then by default… why can't True Immortality exist, too?"
And yet again, Death fell silent, for had not her own current existence proven that very concept?
Her eyes turned to look at the moon above, and she couldn't help but wonder: how long has that moon been there, in this realm, existing forever outside of time? What about the stars beyond it?
And what of the beings living here?
"For the longest time," she began softly, "I believed that Life had meaning because Death existed. Much like Light gave meaning to Darkness and Good to Evil, there could not be Life without Death at the end. Things end. That's what they do."
She paused… and then sighed deeply. "And then I didn't die. All other things did, but not me. I just kept on existing, forever and ever, despite this going against everything I ever believed. And so, I began wondering if, perhaps, I had been wrong. If perhaps, Life can exist without Death."
"And then I showed up, and hammered that fact over and over with Aza, Oedon and the others." finished Aeon.
She smiled, and it was sad, and happy, and lost and so much more.
"Yes. You did. And I… I don't know, anymore. I always did what I believed was needed. I'm not blessed, not cursed, I just was. I had a job to do and I did it. But now…"
She looked up to him, taking in the black robes occasionally shining with the light of distant stars, his glowing right eye which felt so welcoming to the part of her that was Life and the eye as dark as the Abyss that reminded her of her existence as Death.
"Was I wrong?"
Aeon looked at her for a long moment in silence, and in his eyes she saw glimpses of countless Big Bangs happening all over the omniverse, countless planets becoming filled with life, countless species and gods rising to ever greater heights of power and knowledge.
And on the opposite, she saw the end of countless realities, in fire or ice, countless planets becoming cold and lifeless, countless species and gods crying out against the Void… before becoming silent forevermore.
"No." he replied. "I do not believe so. Death can be as much a gift as it can be a curse. Much like Destruction, it is often required to bring about change. But, I also believe that there are exceptions to be found in all things. I have acted as the Death of many multiverses myself, and during that time I have seen the need for it time and time again. As Ruler and Protector of the omniverse, I have dealt Death to countless myself. It is just… Much like Free Will and Destiny, there are times when one or the other is required for the better outcome. I do not believe that Death is inherently evil, something to be purged and held in contempt. Much like I do not believe that all Life is worthy of existence."
He snorted. "I've certainly seen far too many beings who proved themselves unworthy of the blessing of life by their own actions. In the end…"
Aeon turned thoughtful. "In the end, we must do as the mortals do: we must try to do what we believe is best, and always remind ourselves to keep an open mind. Nothing is perfect, Death. Not even I or Azathoth. Thus, we must always be willing to challenge our beliefs when new facts become known, and decide for ourselves what, if any, decisions need to be taken now that those new facts become known."
Death mused on that for a moment, before laughing.
"You know, I once told my brother Morpheus that people and things changed. How ironic that, after all this time, it is me who needs to be reminded of that fact."
Aeon grinned. "Well you did say that you Endless represented both your concept and it's opposite. And if it is in the nature of Life to change, why can't you do it too?"
She smirked. "Touché."
For a long moment, they both stayed silent, simply enjoying the beauty of the Hunter's Dream and the scent of Life all around them.
Then Aeon got up and turned away, towards the mansion.
"I will leave you to your thoughts for now. If you need something, simply call my name or Cthylla's."
"Will do. And… thank you, Aeon." she said, smiling softly.
He nodded, before walking away.
Death looked at the night sky above and closed her eyes, truly relaxing for the first time in an eternity.
As the scent of flowers and grass and all those other wonderful signs of life filled her nose, she smiled to herself.
I was right. Aeon makes for a great Death.
"Hey, Death. How are you doing?"
Death looked up from the copy of the Necronomicon Aeon had given her that she was currently reading through, one with a number of annotations written by him throughout the book to correct or expand on certain passages.
She smiled at Aeon, holding up a cup of coffee for him to see.
"I'm doing great, thanks! The coffee is as divine as ever, and the book is certainly fascinating. There's so many new species and gods and so much more I never met in my old reality in it! It's great!" she exclaimed happily.
He chuckled. "Yeah, I suspected that you'd enjoy finding out about all the new stuff out there. Well, new for you, I mean. Where are you with it, now?" he asked, curious.
She grinned. "I just finished reading about someone named Old Man Henderson. I have to admit, even being used to the superhero antics as I am, reading his life story was certainly entertaining. He's married to Hastur nowadays, isn't he?"
"Yup." Aeon replied, fond amusement on his face. "It's one of the most crazy love stories in existence, and for good reasons."
He hummed. "I sometimes go have a drink with him… Though I'm now obligated to give a warning to the Eldritch Pantheon first whenever I do. The rest of the Pantheon kind of bullied Azathoth into it… mostly by threatening her that they would all run like hell and never look back otherwise."
He pouted. "Honestly, it wasn't that bad…"
He paused. "Mostly."
"Mostly?" she asked, rather amused at the sudden sheepishness on his face.
"Okay look,no one missed that one pantheon of gods anyway, they were jerks! Same with that one empire, and then that planet had it coming, and…"
He trailed off at the look on her face, as Death tried and mostly failed to keep her giggling quiet.
She failed utterly when he began pouting harder.
"I mean it! No garden gnomes got involved until at least half the story this time! And it wasn't any of our fault that even I hadn't expected the damn things to have somehow learned to travel through Time and Space! Honestly, I still don't know how that happened, and my True Self to this day just laughs when I ask…"
His face twisted in a confused scowl.
"Also, I'm not certain we found all of them. There are strange rumors' of a garden gnome with a shotgun and an incomprehensible accent in certain parts of Creation, and I have no clue if it's actually Old Man Henderson himself taking a walk or if one of the damn things somehow gained complete sentience…"
It was at that point that Death completely lost it and started laughing loudly.
The adorable pout on Aeon's face did not help.
When Death finally stopped laughing and managed to calm down, Aeon announced that the reason he had come to see her was to ask if she wanted to meet some new Eldritch Gods.
She had already met and talked with a few, and was quickly becoming good friends with several (Oedon was a dear, and Shub-Niggurath was just adorable. And Azathoth was without a doubt the most relaxed and easy-going head of a pantheon that Death ever had the pleasure of meeting… especially considering how powerful she was.
How powerful they all were, really. It was funny, in a way. These were beings stronger than anything she had ever imagined could exist, and they all were rather easy-going and relaxed.
There was a warmth between them, a genuine bond of trust and love that just wasn't present in most other pantheons of gods.
Even Yog-Sothoth, despite clearly enjoying using her Dominion over Time to prank people with, wasn't malicious about it, and beneath the smug persona she put on there was a genuine earnestness to work hard to ensure Reality would be as harmonious as possible, combined with a desire to see those close to her happy than Death couldn't help but respect.)
So naturally, Death accepted. She was always eager and happy to make new friends, and that was especially true after an eternity where she was alone.
And besides, these were beings that she didn't need to worry about claiming the souls of one day. For the first time in her life, her job wouldn't get in the way of her relationship with people, so she couldn't help but feel giddy in a way that she hadn't felt in a very long time at the prospect of meeting new people.
"So, who do we meet first?" she eagerly asked.
Aeon smiled. "Well, besides me you met only women, so I decided to start with an old friend. Have you spoken with Cthylla much since you arrived?"
Death shook her head. "A bit, but not as much as I'd like. She was most often busy overseeing the other maids… Shoggoths, I believe they are called?"
"That's right. They had no patron deity when I first became part of the Eldritch Pantheon, so I ended up deciding to help them out. One thing led to another, and eventually I became their species' deity."
"Yes, I read about that in the Necronomicon… Apparently, you were also a mortal, once?" she asked with interest.
It wasn't that rare for a mortal to become a powerful deity in her old reality, just look at the successor of The Presence, but it wasn't all that common either.
Though considering what she learned, apparently Elaine Belloc's rise to godhood was considerably easier than Aeon's own…
"I was." nodded Aeon. "Then that whole mess in old Yharnam happened, and I got out of it with godhood, a wife, and a city in desperate need of a miracle. Well, more miracles. Thankfully, I was able to fix everything and more eventually."
He shook his head.
"In any case, the reason I'm asking is that we are going first to see her father, Cthulhu, the de-facto leader of the Great Old Ones. You've read up on the three classes of Eldritch gods, right?"
"Elder Gods, Great Old Ones and Outer Gods, right?"
"Yup. From weakest to strongest, that's how they are called. Me and Cthulhu always got along well, even before I finished helping him raise and rebuild R'lyeh and married his daughters along with… other stuff. I even officially made him the Eldritch Regent of Earth, kind of like a lord of a plot of land officially granted to him by a king. True, he essentially already was, but it served nicely at confirming both my support towards him… and vice-versa."
"Ah. Politics." Death said, nodding in understanding.
Aeon chuckled. "Pretty much. Though politics where everyone are friends and got something out of it, so the best kind of politics. Even back when I first rose to the throne, Cthulhu's voice was heavily respected in the Eldritch realms, and that has not changed after his return… the opposite, really. So he's a good first stop to go to, and always a good friend to have."
Then he hesitated, sighing a little. "I would suggest avoiding the topic of family unless he breached it first, however. Things are much better nowadays, but in the past they got… rather ugly. Even to this day, he's always a bit sad and guilty over it all."
Death winced sympathetically. "Yeah, I know a thing or two about how difficult things can be when family is involved."
Aeon nodded. "Yeah. He did his best, but still lost a great deal. Even for me, the topic is a bit awkward to broach with him, since... Well. I married both his daughters and his former love."
Death blinked. "Oh."
Aeon snorted. "Indeed. Oh. He doesn't hold it against me, especially since I helped make all of them happy where he couldn't, but that just means he gets sad and a bit depressed when the subject comes up. He considered it his personal failings that both his relationship with his lover and daughters suffered because of what he saw as his failures."
Aeon sighed. "I keep trying to convince him to not delve on it, and I succeeded for the most part, but… yeah. At least he and his brother are on talking terms again, after all the millions of years where they weren't…"
"That bad?" she asked with a wince.
Aeon nodded sadly. "Long story. Lots of death, lots of bad emotions on every side."
"Right." said Death, because she too knew quite a bit about family getting at each other's throats.
Though usually, not literally… and thank goodness for that.
The whole mess that led to Morpheus' death had been bad enough as it was.
Still, a portal opened, and a second later they stepped through it to…
Huh.
Death looked around at all the physics-defying geometries of the place, noting with interest the numerous strange hieroglyphs and images carved into the unnaturally long and wide stone pillars and walls who were occasionally pulsing with green energies, before her attention was drawn to the massive being in the center of the incredibly wide room they were in, who was currently looking down at the comparatively tiny Aeon.
The very universe's laws of reality seem to bend and break around him, as if his very existence was fundamentally unnatural, though thankfully his appearance didn't give her a headache like what she could glimpse of Azathoth and Aeon's true Selves from their Names.
And more importantly-
Surprise/Happiness/Joy
+Aeon! Always a pleasure to see you, my friend. And you brought a guest this time?+
- his psychic voice was very warm and welcoming.
Aeon smiled, waving once at who had to be Cthulhu. "I did indeed, Old' Cthu! I found her in a dead reality, one where the Eldritch had a very low presence, so I've been catching her up on things, and since she wanted to see and meet some new gods, I naturally brought her here as soon as I could. She met Azathoth, Oedon, Yog-Sothoth, Shub-Niggurath and your daughter Cthylla in the Hunter's Dream, but beyond that she still has a lot left to learn about how things are beyond her own Sphere. If you wouldn't mind, I had hoped that you could talk to her from time to time, offer your own input on things and answer any questions she may have, if you have the time?"
Cthulhu's eyes turned towards her, a vast and ancient mind brushing gently against her own, and Death smiled and waved cheerfully.
+Heya! It's a pleasure to meet you! I'm Death! Though apparently, you lot don't see death in the same way most other beings do?+ she declared psychically.
There was a great rumble in the chamber they were in, and it took a second for Death to understand that Cthulhu was laughing.
+Indeed not. Nonetheless, you are a friend of Aeon, and his friends are mine too. Be welcome here in R'lyeh, lady Death, and may you enjoy it's splendors for as long as you wish.+
She grinned widely. +I might take you up on it! The Hunter's Dream is great, but I'd like to see more of existence!+ She paused, before tilting her head. +Hey, you are connected with the sea, right? Do you think I could find some fishes for pets in your realm? I had two, once, but sadly I had to claim them long ago…+
She could feel Cthulhu's surprise, before it turned to amusement.
+You might, but depending on the kind of fish you seek, it might be better to seek the help of the Lord of the Deep. Still, I will provide whatever help I can, my lady.+
+Thank you!+ Death replied, sending feelings of gratitude back. +But please, no need to use lady! Just call me Death!+
+As you wish.+ Cthulhu replied.
Then two human-sized cthulhu-like beings teleported in, wearing dark robes and holding staffs with dark green stones at the top, and they immediately bowed to both Aeon and Cthulhu.
Cthulhu's attention turned to them for a second, before refocusing on Death.
+They will guide you through R'lyeh, and help you in your search for new pets. They will also help you in whatever capacity you require of them during your stay.+ he declared.
Death thanked him, then skipped happily towards the two waiting Cthulhi.
+So, where do we go first?+ she asked cheerfully.
After Death teleported away with her two new guides, Cthulhu turned towards me, amusement clear in his eyes.
+Have you found a new lover, Great King? Fear not, I will do my best to teach her of our people so that she can feel at home amongst us, even if some will be discomforted by her existence.+ He chuckled. +It would hardly be the first of your lovers to cause many amongst the Eldritch to be concerned. I definitely remember the unease that Anga the Ruiness brought to the heart of many when she first appeared by your side.+
I rolled my eyes at his teasing, though I smiled at his words nonetheless.
"It is far too soon for such things, Cthulhu. She needs first to decide what she wants to do with her life, now that she is free of all of her old responsibilities and thrust into a wide new reality. Once she is comfortable in whatever new life she had decided for herself, then she may, perhaps, think of romance. Until then, I will simply be the friend she needs. And if that is what she decides we shall remain, then so be it. She has never taken a lover before, Cthulhu. Maybe she will decide to change that now that she no longer needs to worry about her duties, or maybe not. Again, that is for her to decide, not me."
Cthulhu said nothing for a long moment, before nodding.
+As you say. Well, it isn't like time is a concern for any of us. As it is, I shall simply reiterate my promise of help and her welcome in R'lyeh+ he paused, seemingly in thought for a moment, before continuing. +Her mind is warm, warm in a way that few are. But there is old pain and loneliness beneath that warmth. I will do what I can to help, but I suspect that you will be able to help more than I. It would be… saddening, for so warm a mind to be lost.+
I sighed. "I am aware, old friend. And I agree with you. Still, I am hopeful. The spark of life is strong in her, even after being reduced to mere embers by an eternity of cold loneliness. All we can do is be there for her, and remind her that life is a blessing that she should embrace warmly, and that there is much joy and wonders waiting for her if she does."
I looked beyond the chamber where me and Cthulhu were in, all the way where Death was currently happily chatting with the two Cthulhi as they walked through the corridors of R'lyeh, and turned determined.
"Trust me, Cthulhu. I have every intention to ensure that she gets to enjoy her second chance to the fullest, whatever path she ultimately decides to take."
The look in my eyes softened. "She deserves it, and more. And what's the point of having all the power in the omniverse if we can't even bring a happy ending to those deserving of it?"
Cthulhu, proud lord and master of the risen R'lyeh, chuckled. +As you say, my King. As you say.+