A world, while singular in its outer appearance, and perspective taken from an individual, a world in truth contains the possibility for all things. Supposedly, an argument exists that calls into play that other worlds exist in parallel. They’ve just split, changed, or evolved in ways that diverge somewhere along in its path of time. And because of that, the time of all existence seemed to go on for what felt like forever. But everything comes to an end, worlds end, stories end, fairy tales end, and most certainly of all, life…. ends.
And at that point, she will be there to ensure it reaches its final climactic finale, a beautiful end, just as she intended. With closed eyes, a fair beauty sat with her back to a throne made of icy clear blue crystal. Affixed behind this spectacle of its dazzling decorum was a pair of blue butterfly wings, spreading out behind this absolute seat of power.
The room was dark, lit only by the iridescence of the many high pillars of ice which refracted what little light came in through the acrylic-colored grand glass windows. Most of the luminescence present was solely radiated from the beauty’s figure. But this radiance was chilling, as chilling as the hidden eyes behind her shut eyelids.
She was contemplating and observing the dominion she had over the worlds in existence. Some worlds had tales of tragedy, heartbreak, and untold horrors, while others had stories of bravery, courage, and friendship. There was more to all these worlds, and all was in her absolute purview. Even with her eyes closed, she could see it all. The past, the present, the future.
All she had worked to protect, to manage, and kept to the script of the sacred timeline. Now and again, and time and again, flickers of sparking change or diverging paths would materialize, but with a simple wave of her hand, the beauty made it right, right as she wanted. Creating and using tools that bend to her will, the worlds were molded into shape. While she should have smiled in satisfaction at a job well done, the role she played, and had put upon her shoulders, exhausted her. She was bored and felt no real joy in what she did now, yet that wasn’t all true.
If she shut her eyes hard enough, she could see a sun, so warm and comforting like the rays from a sun from her past. She recalled how it shined down on them while a refreshing breeze blew by. Their long hair would blow in the wind and the beauty swore she could hear a long-forgotten voice.
Willing it, the beauty held on to the thought, wanting to draw it out for eternity. Moments turned to seconds, seconds to minutes, and minutes to hours, but before the hours turned to days and so on, a wave of disturbance shook the halls of her throne room.
The heartening memory was replaced as her attention drew elsewhere, while she had not wanted to, it was by reflex and habit. This was her role now, her role to play. As she put strength into her shut eye lids, the comfort of dreaming lessened. The beauty still kept her eyes closed, not even needing to open them, she saw what was happening in her sphere of influence.
As she zoomed out her view from the world she had recently “fixed”, a planet that was once a dust ball now returned to a speck of green and blue, the beauty saw a brilliant shooting star pass by. Rewinding time, she witnessed its origins as it passed through the now known boundaries of her dominion of existence. As if it were an intrusive nail being shot through a balloon, the black boundaries that were the realities’ end, ebbed away and suddenly, more worlds came into view.
This was impossible.
The beauty knew that all of existence was in the palm of her hand, so where were these worlds before. Had she overlooked it? Had she not known that they existed in the first place?
The answer came easily as it streaked across her mental vision. That accursed shooting star, its brilliance an objective white, but having a wild and ever morphic coloring as it flew and swerved through the dimensions of her domain.
This “thing” was the cause of it. Passing by the worlds she had just fixed, The shooting star came closer into view, and she could see that colorful fragments and pieces of it were flying off like filthy debris. While colorful, it was obnoxious. And like a candle, she knew it too would burn out and end, but as she thought that, her assuredness reversed, and an emotion of worry overcame her.
The omniscience she once had, had become uncertain. She still knew when the worlds in her dominion would end, but now a hint of chilling possibility swam around in her mind.
“This must be rectified.”
At that single utterance of that one phrase, the beauty finally opened her eyes. A cold and chilling pair of jewels glared straight at the throne room’s grand entrance. As she put weight into her legs, the ground seemed to quake in fear of her. In fact, the air became heavy, yet she was unaffected.
Garbed in an attire of a blue hued dress that had a large and thin v neck going from the middle of her neck and down to her navel. Healthy white skin was on display, but the dress’s design evoked pure modesty and all worldly majesty to the beauty’s omniscient claim. For who could defy her and survive to stand in her way? Many have tried but all have failed. For all she cared, up could be considered down and all she had to do to make it so, was to say the word.
As she took her steps forward, the first in a millennium or more, the beauty’s crystal heels clicked and clacked in time with her dress shimmering. The attire was like a blue galaxy ripped from the universe and refitted to her perfect proportional body. It clung close, showing off her healthy curves, yet, if one looked closer, you could see that this dress was made from the many fragments of existence and reality.
Plucked, long ago by the beauty herself, she had continued to add to the dress as it was apparent by its rather long trailing length and dense complexity. Each fragment was of a world’s end, set right by her and most importantly, those who came before her.
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Women clad in gold, silver, and white plated armor took notice of the sudden quake. They knew that the place they found themselves was a dimension outside of the range of existence and creation. This place was to never feel such a thing, it was a perfect haven. Yet it felt the quake, a dangerous omen, and the women in cladded armor clamored a bit. But instead of panic, they were taking bets on what they thought it was.
“Maybe a new war!”
“Perhaps a change to our work?”
“Maybe a new world was born, but violently.”
The conversation continued, violent and unassuming their tones were, this changed in seconds. Their clamor silenced and the women looked to the crystal blue palace, its large pillars of blue ice jutting up so far into the sky that there seemed to be no end.
They could feel it, their Monarch was awake.
As Valkyries, sworn warriors and servants to the master of the multiverse, they had an unbreakable connection to their liege.
Their loyalty was firm, but their relationship, not so much. If not for the past folly of their older generations, then perhaps they wouldn’t be so fearful of their ruler. As those shut throne room doors opened slowly, the closest Valkyries rushed to assemble into a welcoming line to guide and protect their Monarch. A foolish and hapless gesture of subservience, the monarch thought, but cared little before even allowing herself to think on that a moment more.
With a fist held tightly clenched across their chest, the Valkyries saluted but none of them so much as let out a peep to address their liege, their master. Their heads down and eyes closed, their fear was still evident from the slight clatter they made in their armor.
Those that were foolish enough to peep an eye open, were only able to glimpse their rulers' long legs clad in pure white silk jeans, not having enough grit to look her in the eye but instead grovel with their heads down. The Monarch continued to pay them no heed and continued to walk to her destination. Chilling power exuded from their liege and the Valkyries who were far enough away to withstand the encroaching pressure, saw that familiar crown of a radiant sun that fitted a top the Monarch’s head of long flowing bluish white hair.
Daring not to even look her in the eyes, these distant Valkyries turned their sight down as soon as they saw that familiar sun-like headpiece. Minutes of uncomfortable pressure passed over in this place outside of creation, it began to fade as the Monarch entered another room, which was just a few stories up the crystal palace’s stairs.
Now with enough unfearing mind and mettle to look up, the nearby Valkyries witnessed as the Monarch entered her personal quarters. Only catching a glimpse of the trailing transparent coat of her blue dress. It became hidden as the crystal double doors slowly closed behind her, the Valkyries shuddered at what it took to make that dress, to make it into what it was now.
So many lives, so many good, so many evil, and many just caught in the middle.
With the door shutting silently behind her, Monarch entered a personal chamber she had once shared. Moving to its center, a crystal-clear orb was perched on a pedestal at the center. The spherical object was held firmly in place as if promising to always be there for the Monarch. She brushed her dainty hand over its surface.
Still warm, she thought.
After all these years, she could still feel that sensation, that heat. It crept onto her a bit, but soon pattered out, like the last embers of a fire.
Sighing, Monarch let her mind refocus, no longer lost to her lowly emotions or memories, just only on what she was supposed to do. At the command of her power, she made the crystal-clear orb shine white for a moment and as its light faded, the fragments of worlds that were upon her dress flew away from her.
Expanding into full size pieces that she could easily see her reflection in, Monarch looked up to the domed roof of this large chamber. This was the observatory of the palace, where all worlds could be viewed, and timelines seen in full. But there were new additions all around, many new lights the Monarch had never touched or monitored once in her long eternal reign, and it seemed that as every second passed, more lights were appearing.
Her theory was correct, as was expected from her omniscience, worlds were being created. She did indeed use to hold all in existence, but as the invasive shooting star appeared, that all changed. It was making a mess of everything, causing uncertainty to plague Monarch and her work. It needed to be contained, possibly destroyed, or maybe even reasoned with.
In any case, she needed to do something, and do it now. Glancing around at the many mirror-like fragments that floated around in the chamber, an idea flashed across Monarch’s mind.
She needed to know more, so she set her sights on the most concerning world of all. New due to its recent birth, this world seemed similar to all those she knew before it, but what was strange was how uncertain the timeline of this world was. The path of time seemed to shift or disappear outright then reappear seconds later. It was as if a long piece of string was frayed and each fiber was phasing through each other, crossing, hiding, disappearing, or intertwining at random.
She couldn’t glance at any truth or knowledge of this world, and that was a first. Using her other powers, the Monarch attempted to scry any information of its timeline but was met with just more uncertainty. This was wrong, this was a threat to the timeline, to her work, and all she held dear.
In moments like this, her youthful self would panic, the Monarch's powers were not working, and it had been hundreds of thousands of years since this had ever happened. It foreboded tidings that were very much abhorrent, enough to make the Monarch feel sick to her core. Yet Monarch just sighed and gave the world a look of disgust.
“Perhaps it’s time I send another fragment and a few new tools.” She said a bit playfully in a trailing rhythm, yet the joy did not reach her eyes, or her voice.
With the snap of her fingers, a solid crystal statue of a butterfly with thin blue wings appeared at the tip of her pointer finger. With a simple and gentle blow from the Monarch’s pursed pink tinted lips, the butterfly came to life and flew around in this domed roofed chamber. With its purpose clear, it disappeared from this room, entering this uncertain world to find its secrets.
The Monarch now had much work to do now, so she continued her business in this chamber. It felt nice to be here, if only she was here as well.
“Just what is going on?”
No one answered her question, not even the other butterflies that she had recalled from their duties. Fluttering about, these butterflies of blue wings filled the chamber. The air trembled and a disturbing sensation came from them all. They whispered what they knew into the Monarch’s ear, and she nodded along, planning and thinking to take it all.