White shooting stars streaked out of seemingly nowhere, cutting arcs through the starry sky that surrounded the newly formed Celestia. Now that it was fully established, Gaius could sense the artificiality of his own little world — this entire universe simply consisted of a single planet and a skybox of stars. Should the new denizens of Orb ever research ways to leave the planet, this dimension would change to accommodate them — it was a world designed to suit the needs of the people within.
Celestia was a utopia, after all. It was a world built by and for its people.
Gaius looked out at the world beneath him. He had called the world Celestia, after the universe itself, but whether its new inhabitants would use that name or not was none of his business. Perhaps, in memory of their old world, they would name it Orb…although it would be a bit confusing once Celestia ran its full course of life.
“It’s really done,” Gaius muttered.
“Yes. Good work out there,” said Isabelle. “Most of the earlier arrivals have chosen to regain their memories too, but none of them are holding on to past animosities.”
“Only because of the strict rules in Celestia,” Gaius replied. “Lightning hasn’t fallen for some time, and there’s now a gentle reminder that bad things are generally met with bad rewards.”
“Have some faith in people, won’t you?” Isabelle rubbed his head.
Gaius chuckled. “That was what the Demon Sovereign said, you know. I think you two can be friends.”
He turned back to the surreal sight. Today would likely be a new page in the creation myth of Celestia, where people descended from the skies, led to a new world in which all needs were accounted for. Never again would the shortage of anything be a justification to debase oneself or to enter into conflict with another; for the people of Orb, there would never be a good excuse to harm others ever again.
“Where’s Nexus?” Gaius asked.
“He’s busy compiling data on the new changes that occurred,” said Isabelle. “But let’s not talk about him for a moment. I heard your words out there, and watched you face off with the other great gods of Orb. Even saw the Dragon of Time…please don’t do anything this risky again, okay?”
“I can’t quite promise that,” Gaius replied. “Besides — wait, my body’s still hurting! Don’t poke my cheeks!”
Unfortunately, for all his might, there was still nothing he could do to stop Isabelle, so it went without saying that his cheeks were tingling and sensitive by the time Isabelle was done with her devious ministrations.
“Still, why did you announce all these things to the great gods?” Isabelle asked. “The whole formula on how to create an entire world. Was there really a point in telling everyone present how to make one themselves?”
“Oh, you noticed?” Gaius smiled, before rubbing her head. “Hehe. I wasn’t gloating, just so you know. I wanted to tell the great gods and the Demon Sovereign my discovery, to help them on their path. I was reasonably sure that they too, could be unfettered and boundless were they to succeed in making their own world.”
“Why would you want to help them?”
“Well, there’s one last thing that we need to explore…or rather, to get revenge on,” Gaius replied. “But that’s a story for a few centuries or millennia later. The two of us will be very busy making sure that Celestia’s going to run fine, after all.”
“One last thing?”
“I won’t spoil it for you,” said Gaius, before burying his face in her neck. “Ahh. I haven’t held you for a few days. Let me hug you a bit longer.”
“That’s my line, though,” Isabelle replied. “Really. Good work out there. My heart skipped a beat when the Dragon of Time appeared, though. Don’t scare me like that next time.”
“Okay.” Gaius smiled.
After holding each other for a few minutes, the two of them traipsed off to look for Nexus, who was in another room.
“Huh. That’s…” Gaius looked around the room full for sigils. “That’s new. What’s going on with Nexus? He’s not responding to me either.”
“He’s having fun with all these new data,” Isabelle replied. “Remember the time when you approved his request to link him up to Celestia’s Cosmic Egg? Yeah, shortly after you opened the path, he started glowing and cheering. He left a note saying that he’ll be back in a few weeks or so.”
“He’s gone too, then,” Gaius replied.
“He’ll come back. And even if he doesn’t, you can look for him, right?” Isabelle asked.
“True.” Gaius looked at the motionless sculpture in the middle of the formation, and then smiled. “None of them are in danger anyway, with me around.”
He flipped his palm over once, and a formless tremble ran through the entire dimension. Celestia was his Divine Kingdom, in a sense. Here, he exercised power over every single natural law in Celestia, making him literally invincible in this place. No one else could come close in matching up to him here, save for Isabelle, Xanadu and the two kids, since the four of them also had been linked to Celestia’s core too.
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It was a place where everyone he cared about would be truly safe.
Celestia rippled once as a huge amount of divinity left their host bodies. In his mind’s eye was the elderly Demigod of the East, Xie Baole. Demigod Xie had been bogged down in holding back the spectres that were charging up the Cradle of Creation, but he was getting on his years. It was a miracle that he was still alive, but he evidently knew that he didn’t have much time left on Orb.
As the divinity around him burned away to form a new body for the Demigod, Gaius smiled. This…was another way of rebirth, in a sense. The Demigod, who had reclused himself for millennia after cleaving out Feng-Lang from Mi-Zu, had claimed a new lease of life for himself.
More and more such ripples appeared in Celestia as Paragons from all over Orb started to cross over. Making a mental note to do a survey on these people when he had the time, Gaius turned his attention over to one last person that had crossed over.
As the Paragons and Demigod Xie turned into comets of white light that fell upon the planet, Gaius looked at the young man that had fought so hard for so many years on end.
The Demon Sovereign Asteria.
“He’s here,” said Gaius. “The Demon Sovereign, along with his family…but it seems that he is truly extraordinary. It’s not a one-way trip for him, clearly. And his divinity is unrestrained by Celestia. Tut tut. What an unfettered existence.”
“Do you want to meet him?”
“That’ll be for the best, really.” Gaius replied. “Besides, he seems to be with his family. I think we can get along well…oh, there’s a baby too!”
“A baby, huh?” Isabelle rubbed her nose. “Let’s go. I kinda miss little Jusis…let’s go find my family after this too. It’s a good idea to go down and check out the situation on the ground, after all.”
“Sure, sure.” Gaius held her hand. “Let’s go talk to the little happy family.”
With a single thought, he reappeared before the family of four. Unlike the other arrivals, they hadn’t transformed into streaks of white light yet, and Gaius didn’t need to wonder why they were exceptions.
“Hello there,” said Gemini, his piercing eyes falling on Isabelle for a moment, before shifting to Gaius. “I thought you would show up.”
“Yeah. Welcome to Celestia,” said Gaius. “I had a feeling that you weren’t going to be restrained here, so I’m here to tell you not to use too much strength in doing anything. In fact, you can get along fine without any qi or divinity at all, so please don’t wreck my Divine World.”
“Divine World, huh?”
“Yeah, I named it. It’s a step up from a Divine Kingdom. For the other great gods waiting outside, this is a viable path to explore,” Gaius replied, before turning to the woman beside Gemini. “Hmm. That must be your spouse. And your baby daughter. Hmm…is that man your clone?”
“Auh?” The baby tilted her head.
The Demon Sovereign laughed. “Yes. That’s my clone. He was supposed to lead the demons over, but those punks had their own plans, so that’s it. He’s asleep now, though. The transition was hard on him.”
Gaius looked at the little family for a little while more, and then nodded. “My original desire to create Celestia, was, at the very core, to make a world in which my sister and apprentice could grow up in as a normal child. In a world free of war and conflict. If you have the same ideals as me, I believe you will love it here.”
“We just believed in different ways, that’s all. And yours was a bit too risky for the rest of us,” said Gemini. “Do drop by occasionally. My daughter seems to like you and your partner very much.”
“I’ll take you up on that offer, then.”
Gaius shook hands with Gemini, and watched as the little group turned into a comet of black and gold.
The Demon Sovereign didn’t need anything special from Celestia, since he too could create objects at a far greater volume. Food, water, shelter…whatever the people of Celestia could create with their will now, the Demon Sovereign could do that and more. The only thing he couldn’t create, however, was a healthy environment for children to grow up in. Gaius had appealed to the parental instincts of the Demon Sovereign and his spouse with those words…and funnily enough, their daughter seemed to understand what he was getting at.
Gaius had purposely said those words to reassure Gemini. The Demon Sovereign had access to a great deal of his might here, which meant that if he really got serious, creating widespread chaos would just be a gesture away. However, Gemini had understood his words and his request immediately, and the fact that he had his family with him was more than reassuring enough.
“Nice people,” said Isabelle.
“Yeah. I mean, standing up against me required a whole bunch of courage, really. They were trying to protect too, so…” Gaius watched the comet land in the northern part of the planet, where a nice mountain immediately appeared. “Well, at least no one actually died, or if they did, they were revived here.”
“With their memories now unsealed.” Isabelle patted his hand. “No permanent loss, so you should really put down your own worries.”
“I wonder about that bit, though.” Gaius watched as comets of white light continued to fall from the sky together. “Let’s go check out the situation on the ground. There’s probably some confusion going on or something; I’ll need to come up with solutions to ease the newcomers if necessary.”
“Nakama and La-Ti were already helping earlier,” said Isabelle. “But if you want to get personally involved, I’m all for it too.”
“Hmm.” Gaius thought for a moment. “Well then, let’s go find your family. As a gift from their son-in-law, I’ll make them a nice mansion and save them some trouble. Do you want to do it?”
“Me?”
“Yeah, you.” Gaius cackled. “Wouldn’t it be nice to show off the fact that you could make a palace or a castle? Go wild or something, I don’t know.”
“Is it alright for me to play favourites like this?” Isabelle asked.
“Don’t make it too much of a problem. Just a small mansion would do,” said Gaius. “Besides, palaces and huge compounds are probably going to be the norm in Celestia, once the dust settles.”
“But…”
“No more buts,” said Gaius. “Come on, let’s go! It’ll be fun, and you can help them overcome their initial confusion by doing so.”
“O-okay, then.”
Holding her hand, Gaius pulled her close. With a single thought, he brought her over to the small hill that her family had landed at. Isabelle’s grandmother was briefing the others there, in a display that looked very similar to when he broke the Lorenzes out of jail years ago. They looked like busy little ants from up high, listening and bobbing
It was, all things considered, quite a poignant sight.
Now that he looked at it, Gaius felt that giving everyone the choice to retain their memories or not was a good one. If he hadn’t, it was very possible that he would find himself regretting it down the road.
“Rather than a transmigration, it’s more of a change in scenery, huh?”
Isabelle looked at him thoughtfully, and then nodded. “That sounds about right. Shall we?”
“Yeah. And not just them too. Let’s go talk to everyone. Maybe I can learn more from them.” Gaius smiled. “It might be time-consuming, but we now have all the time in the world. But enough talking. Let’s get started on our work, okay?”