If you want to support check out my patron at /athassprkr
I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.
I would like to thank my beta, Akisu, for his help in this chapter.
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16th May 2013, Sayre Manor
(Jasmine Sayre POV)
I would get to know Hestia once more, and honestly, even if we take into account how much the both of us have changed, we seed to get along just fine.
The only issue is that I would be dooming the multiverse, that I would be abandoning Wanda, Jean, and Selene to die at the hands of Entropy's madness. I would let Asgard die, once more. Thor, the boy king that had so much potential would not live to realize it, Loki, my hopeful student would never learn to control his madness. Everything I had worked for in my entire life, for thousands of years, would be gone for the fraction of a second. And yet, this regret was overshadowed by the potential freedom that would co with the offer.
I would live in peace, without dealing with cosmic entities. And wasn't that what I wished for the most? Perhaps, for the first ti in God knows how long, it's ti for to be selfish, to do sothing for . I looked Hestia in the eyes and spoke up, "Hestia. About your offer, I have an answer now."
Before I could tell her my answer, I felt my mind being pulled from my body, and everything turned white. It was blinding, and sort of confusing, and I had to blink for a few seconds to see if I hadn't sohow turned blind or sothing.
I looked around , and it was hard to describe the place I was in, except for the color white. The floor was white without even a speck of dust to mar its unnatural color. It was completely even and completely flat, with no natural imperfections, which ironically made it feel unnatural.
The sky was white as well, and there were no shadows or distinguishable features. Everything seed to blend together into a seamless, infinite expanse of whiteness. I felt a sense of disorientation and emptiness as if I was lost in a world without any reference points. It was both eerie and calming at the sa ti, and I couldn't help but wonder what had happened to and where I was. I would have thought that there was so kind of enchantnt making see only the color white, but when I raised my hands, they looked normal.
And yet, this place felt oddly familiar, like I had been here before. It reminded eerily of Limbo, but it was sothing else, sothing more
"Well, isn't this interesting?"
The familiar voice surprised greatly. I jumped in fear and turned to confront the being who had taken away, only to gape at the sight before . The thing took the shape of a woman, and yet it was just wrong. She looked like soone had taken a drawing of what a human looked like and just given it birth, without any expressions.
The woman was pale white, with her eyes as dark as the night, yet filled with what seed like galaxies and star systems, that seed to glow inside. This being was on another level, and I knew it.
I put on a facade of confidence, "Hello, I wouldn't know about interesting, but you are the one who summoned , I presu."
The woman let out a smile that sent chills down my back, "Oh, do you truly not recognize , Morrigan? After all, we've known each other for quite so ti, haven't we?"
The being released a fraction of its power, but it was enough for to recognize it instantly. I was intimately familiar with that power, as I served it for what felt like an eternity, "Death." I spoke up with a monotone voice.
The cosmic entity's smile widened, "Yes, indeed."
"You look different."
The mont I spoke these words, I couldn't help but regret them. This was a fucking cosmic entity, not an old friend for the both of us to catch up on.
If the woman was offended, she didn't show it, "Yes, I tend to be dramatic whenever I leave my realm. Everyone fears the end, fears . But in here, I can take up any form I want. Even the one you're seeing today is ford by your own vision of power and excellence."
"So, this is your realm?" I waved around.
Death snorted, "Of course not. This is more like the entrance hall. Don't worry, you're not allowed in; it's not your ti yet, and I don't believe that you'll ever be able to leave it, should you ever enter."
I didn't know what to say to her in response, and thus I stayed silent. I knew that Death was powerful, that she had sway over the other cosmic entities, but I didn't know how powerful she really was. No one did, really. Honestly, the only cosmic entity that I had fought properly was Entropy, and even then, he couldn't even be classified as a proper cosmic entity anymore. Entropy was scary, but Death was just on another level.
After a minute without anyone speaking, I decided to break the silence by asking, "Why did you summon here?"
The woman raised an eyebrow, "You seriously can't tell?"
No, I could, I just hoped that I was wrong. It wasn't a coincidence that Death would summon in the exact second, I was going to accept Hestia's offer. My forr patron was surprisingly chill most of the ti and wasn't really that demanding. Her summoning ant that sothing was interfering with whatever it was that she was planning, that Hestia presented an active danger to her ambitions, whatever they may be.
"You do not want to accept Hestia's offer."
And that's because I was going to accept. It was just too attractive of a prospect to live without the constant responsibilities I was burdened with, without the countless lives that are on my shoulders. I would taste a brief sense of peace, perhaps even regain my love of Hestia once more, and move on with my life as a Goddess, not a mortal.
The cosmic entity snorted, "Of course I don't want you to accept the offer. You can't tell you're surprised, especially when you're going off script."
"Off script?" What the hell was she talking about?
"Don't worry, it's just a misunderstanding." Death reassured
Misunderstanding my ass, this was Death, the living embodint of the concept of the end, the Destroyer of worlds. She did not make mistakes, or at least, she shouldn't. But the implications of this little slip of the tongue made angry and I started to yell at her, "It's just a big ga to you, isn't it? My life is nothing more than a story, than a play that you designed. Tell then, why shouldn't I just accept the offer just to tell you to fuck off and let go. Because I'm not your champion anymore, or your little servant, I quit my post the mont I could, and you accepted that."
The woman, surprisingly, wasn't angry at all. In fact, she burst into a peal of laughter. It was without a doubt, the mont I felt the most scared in my entire life, "You think that you're free of ? Oh, child, I've never let go of you. I just let you have a little temper tantrum and quit for a while, but you were always going to return to . You have no choice in the matter, you are my champion, my creation, and I am not letting you go."
I trembled in fear and anger, "I left you!!"
"And I never dismissed you from your post. Oh, sure, I let you go slightly because I pitied you and wanted to give you ti to heal. But I never formally dismissed you."
"But I don't have your power," I protested, almost with a pleading tone.
The woman didn't seem to care for it, "I removed most of it, but there's still a small amount hidden in your soul, in your core. We are still connected, whether you like it or not. And I'm not willing to let go of you just yet."
I kneeled down, "Why now? Why the mont I have a true chance at happiness, you co back to haunt so."
Death gave a sad smile, "Because you still have your role to play. I have designed your life from the mont you were born with your split soul, until the mont you die. As much as I care for you, your role is important, and I can't just let you abandon it selfishly."
I glared at my forr patron, "Selfishly? This is the first ti in thousands of years that I can truly think for myself, to prioritize myself instead of becoming this martyr you were shaping into. As far as I care, if you want to deal with Entropy, you're free to do it on your own. I am accepting Hestia's offer and that's final."
"Is it, now?" the way Death asked that question made shiver in fear, "What if I gave you the incentive to listen to my commands? What would you do then?"
This didn't sound good, "What are you talking about?"
"Do you rember our deal, our first one on Atlantis? You promised to serve as my champion, as my Avatar, in exchange for saving the remnants of your people, of Atlantis. I even let the Olympians escape my grasp into that little dinsion of theirs since they were all that remained of your people."
I nodded, "Yes, and even though Atlantis is dead, I still served you for thousands of years."
The woman's smirk widened, "And yet, by disobeying a direct order from in accepting Hestia's offer, you would go back on our bargain, which ans that I can go back on mine."
"I still don't understand" I replied.
Death sighed and took a deep breath, "What I am getting at is the fact that should you accept Hestia's offer, I will consider it a betrayal of our agreent and I will slaughter every single remnant of Atlantis, man, woman, child, or even artifact. I will destroy that little dinsion you created for them, I will drain them dry of their very essence, and kill every single living thing on Olympus, even your precious Hestia."
I gulped, "You can't"
"You'll find that I can. Don't make deals that you can't back out of, girl. But you were so hopeful for my help. Like it or not, you belong to , you have always belonged to , and you are forever destined to belong to . So, what is it going to be, Morrigan? Are you going to kill off your entire race again or are you going to listen to for once?"
I honestly didn't know what to do now. I could say without a single shadow of a doubt that Death was not bluffing. She was more than prepared to kill the entirety of Olympus just to punish for disobeying her. I had thought I was free of her, but that was just her humoring . I didn't have a choice really. If I disobeyed her, she would destroy Olympus and bring back here, or maybe even kill , but if I listened to her, I would give up whatever illusion of freedom I had and continued to fight Entropy.
Honestly, for all that Hestia was barely more than a stranger to now, she was still a close friend and lover. My fond mories of her wouldn't let sacrifice her just to make a point, just to defy Death.
Resigned to my fate, I nodded. The cosmic entity cackled in laughter, "That's good to see, girl. Now, I want to see no rebelliousness from you. I want you to keep to your role, keep recruiting, and keep working on your fight against Entropy. Do that, and Hestia would be safe, even if you sohow manage to fail, I can promise you that."
I still glared at the cosmic entity, and she seed to soften slightly, "Look, Morrigan, do this, and after you've dealt with Entropy, if you succeed, I will let you go. I will not force you to do anything anymore. That is a promise."
I could feel the weight of the promise. The air was electrified, and I could feel that this statent would be enforced if I accept. It didn't change anything, not really, but at least it was a guarantee that I would be free of her after this whole Entropy ss is dealt with. Still, I had no real choice in the matter, and she did pretty much just threaten into agreeing, "I agree to your terms."
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AN:
For those that think that I am making Morrigan needlessly suffer, this is setting up Death as an antagonist. It's sort of like making sure that there would be that inevitable confrontation between them, in which Hestia will play a large role in. Honestly, I could have done it better, but I didn't really know how else to do it. However, trust , the payoff will be worth it.
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If you want to support check out my patron at /athassprkr
I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.
Thank you guys for your support in these hard tis.
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