ALL NOVEL Chapter 365: Grim Night
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I would like to thank my beta, Akisu, for his help in this chapter.
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Chapter 365: Grim Night
26th April 2015, Remnant
(Jasmine Sayre POV)
"Again, Quill, I am the Avatar of Death and a Pseudo-Celestial, Jean is the Avatar of the Phoenix Force, which grants her amazing psionic abilities and control over the cosmic flames, Loki is the Avatar of Dream, which makes him able to bring dreams to reality in a certain range, and finally, Selene is an old and very powerful witch. You haven't met her because I imprisoned her for a few years before."
"A fellow convict then," the man-child remarked and then turned towards my ex-wife, "So what did you do?"
"I betrayed my wife and tricked her into banishing her sister, and then violated the sanctity of her soul," Selene answered with a dry tone.
The man blanched and just turned away, "So, now that the gang is all here, what's the plan? Like we have our enemy, the big bad Entropy, who wants to destroy the universe or the multiverse, whatever, but we need to make a plan before we start. Of course, since I am known for having great plans, here's what I'm proposing."
I raised an eyebrow towards the man, and he shut up, much to the amusement of Loki. I suppressed my amusement and spoke up, "Well, I happen to have a plan in mind. So, listen very carefully and ask any questions you might have…"
The following day, I woke up without even remembering when I had fallen asleep. We had all remained on Remnant to argue on the validity of my plan. I had to say that not everyone was ready for it, since it was somewhat out there. Quill called it the single most insane plan he had ever heard, so that didn't really fill me with confidence.
He had a point, calling my plan unorthodox would be an understatement, and it showed in the manner that everyone just stayed silent when they woke up. There was this solemn silence to it, this acceptance that they were going to die. I could understand that; we were fighting something impossible, and the odds of all of us surviving were very slim.
Everyone watched with an odd content smile on their face as the sun got up in the dead world that was Remnant. I wish I could have seen it before it was destroyed. I think it would have been a beautiful place.
I sat away from the others; I didn't want to perturb them and there was always this sense of unease whenever I was there. It had something to do with the fact that they understood that I was profoundly different, that I was inhuman in a way. I also held authority over all of them, I trained them, and I'd seen them at their lowest. I was like a teacher at a party. Of course, instead of a party, it was pretty much everyone saying goodbye to one another.
However, Selene noticed me and slowly walked over, "What are you doing here, all alone?"
I gave her a sad smile, "Admiring the sunrise, what else? It might be the last one I ever see. You know, people don't realize how beautiful this all is until they realize that they might never get to appreciate it again. It's wondrous, in a way, how everything fits in so perfectly, like some sort of cosmic puzzle. Imagine that, for a universe to exist, it had to be created with the exact calibration to be real, and don't get me started on how life could exist on a planet. It's all so wondrous, so elegant, that I just can't put it into words. I have lived thousands of years watching mortals in their silly little insignificant lives, and now, more than ever, I could understand why they're so busy all the time, why they just keep pushing on. It's odd, isn't it? I have always said that I would embrace Death with dignity, that I wouldn't fear it, but now that it's potentially coming… I get it now, I understand."
Selene was shaking her head, "You're not going to die, Morrigan. So, just stop talking like that."
I gave her a bitter chuckle, "My dear, I have nothing. For all the power I possess, for all my might, I am alone. It's time for Wanda to flourish on her own, I recognize that, and I now realize that win or lose, life or death, this is it for me. I have nothing outside this conflict. I suppose Death finally got what she wanted in a way, I have no purpose but to destroy Entropy. I don't know what I am without that goal."
"Morrigan, you're worrying me…" Selene begged.
"You could have been it; you know. You could have been my reason for living. In a way, you were what kept me going during the cycle. But you betrayed me, you left me alone, changed in a way that I could barely comprehend because of your selfish desire to see me stoop down to your level of apathy, that I would just let humanity go. And honestly, you succeeded, I was more than happy to just let humanity die, to let the multiverse end. I still don't know if that was out of spite, or if I just didn't care anymore. In a way, I still don't care, I just know how futile this all is. They're going to repeat this cycle again and again, until a version of me somehow fulfills their weird prophecy thing. It's all so useless. I don't even know why I'm fighting anymore, and yet it's the only thing I have. What a weird contradiction."
"My love, please…"
I ignore her, "People fight because they have goals, ambitions, or they are afraid. We are all here to fight in fear of what might happen if we don't. Well, everyone but me. I don't care anymore, I am not afraid of dying, not in the way mortals are, at least. I guess I'm intrigued. I don't care about the multiverse collapsing or being destroyed since it's not my responsibility. If the cosmic entities don't want to do their duties, it's not mine to replace theirs. And yet, here I am, fighting an impossible enemy at impossible odds. It would be so easy to just let the cycle restart and let another version of me do it instead. So, the big question is, why am I even pushing on? What am I working for? What's this all been towards?"
"You're fighting for Wanda, for Hogwarts, for Rose, for all who had died at your side. And I will fight alongside you until the very end," Selene responded.
"You might get your wish very soon, Selene," I answered, "But you're wrong. Wanda, Hogwarts, Rose, they will all still be there when the loop restarts, and yet. I'm still fighting. Is it some weird sense of duty? It's oddly merciful from the powers to remove my memories after each iteration in a way. Is it a prison when you don't see the bars? Is it punishment when you don't even understand that you're being punished? Now, that's a nice question."
"Morrigan, I know that I have failed you in so many ways. You were all I had, and I think I forgot that, in a way, I was all you had as well. But you kept getting involved in so many things, the moment you were free from Fate's hand, the moment your time loop ended, you started drifting away, and I guess I was jealous."
I gave her an incredulous look, "You were jealous? You were literally my rock, Selene. You were my other half, my companion. Words could not express how much I loved you, and you say that you destroyed my very self, altered me in unspeakable ways, because you were jealous?"
"You were mine for centuries, and suddenly, you weren't mine anymore. You kept focusing on the world, on humanity, on your little apprentices, while I was left behind. And the sad thing was that I saw how much they hurt you when they inevitably die or betray you. I thought that I was helping. I thought that by grounding you, making you care less, you would stop this endless cycle of hope and heartbreak. All you ever needed was me, just like all I ever needed was you," Selene explained.
I snorted, "You were selfish, and you know it. You wanted me to be like you, to stoop down to your level. Well, congratulations, it worked. How did it turn out in the end?"
Selene was tearing up now, "I'm so sorry, Morrigan. You're right. I was selfish, I was spiteful, and I was jealous. I just wanted you to be like me and it backfired, alright?"
"No, it's not alright. It will never be alright. I know that when this is all over, you're hoping that we will somehow fix our marriage, that time will heal the wounds of your betrayal. I could see that hope all over your face, but the truth is that that is never going to happen. You went too far, Selene."
"But I love you," the witch protested.
"And I once loved you as well, but now, I don't know if I'm capable of love anymore."
My ex-wife looked stunned at my revelation and stayed silent. I continued, "some say that love is a chemical reaction, a few hormones going around a human brain, but it's so much more than that. Love is powerful, it's something that can't be expressed in words. But most of all, love is illogical. And what you have done is turned me into a creature of logic, a Celestial. You changed my soul, my very being, and doomed me into a loveless existence, a cursed existence as a few would say."
Selene looked at me, horrified, "I'm so sorry!!"
"You are sorry that you were caught Selene, that it backfired, but had your mad plan worked and I was still myself, just slightly more apathetic, you wouldn't have cared. And that's why, even if I could feel love once more, I wouldn't try to rekindle our relationship. My trust in you is gone. If it wasn't for this crisis, I wouldn't have involved you at all. You would still be rotting in Avalon for your crimes, as my final act of humanity before I became this thing you see before you."
Selene looked down but stayed silent, "I understand. I know it doesn't mean much, Morrigan, but I still love you, and I do regret my actions, not because it didn't work, but because I can see the creature, I turned you into. I only wish I could go back in time and yell at my past self for my insecurities, and how much they rotted me from the inside, but I can't. You are the love of my life and I'm not letting you stay alone again. Win or lose, life or death, I will follow you."
I nodded and didn't respond. There was nothing to say after all. Instead, I simply stood up and walked over to the rest of the team. They all nodded at me in greeting but also stayed silent. We remained that way until suddenly the sky started to darken, and a few bolts of black lightning fell from the sky all around us, followed by loud thunder that shook the earth itself.
I gave my team a solemn look, "He's here."
They all stood up behind me, in the positions that we agreed on before, as we waited for our enemy to reveal himself. The shadows in front of us started to take shape slowly, revealing a sinister figure that seemed to absorb the light itself. I rolled my eyes; Entropy really liked his theatrics. It was hard to see how this behavior was coming from something that was as old as the multiverse.
Finally, the cosmic entity released his shadows and let everyone see his grinning face, "What a nifty place you found, Morrigan."
I simply stayed unmoving in place and quirked him a slight smile, "Hello Entropy."
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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 times.