It Hatches

When the clock struck midnight and the moon was at its highest point in the sky, the runes on the parchment surrounding the egg began to glow an eerie red, prompting Anthony to open his blurry eyes.

"Wha-" It took several moments for his sleepy brain to comprehend what was happening. "What's that light..?"

"Go back to sleep, Anthony." Ymir said calmly as he stood before the parchment, watching the egg with great focus.

"No way..." Anthony yawned as he sat up, brain clearing enough for him to realize that the egg was about to hatch. "I'm curious now."

"As long as you don't disturb the runes-" Ymir shifted his cold eyes to his roommate. "You're free to watch."

"R-right." Anthony stuttered and nodded quickly. "Got it."

Tap... Tap.

The first crack appeared on the egg's hard shell, immediately attracting Ymir's attention back to the egg, making Anthony heave a sigh of relief upon having those cold eyes move away from him.

Schreiber is kind of scary. He realized at that moment.

Crack.

There was a large movement from within the egg, signifying that the creature inside it was ready to exit it.

Splat!

Then, as the crack widened, a dark grey tentacle, covered in slime, burst out of the gap, and soon, a little fist with four clawed fingers joined it, then another.

Finally, a head that resembled an octopus peered out, and the eggshell, unable to bear the burden anymore, burst into many pieces, fully revealing the creature.

With dark grey skin, the general body shape of an infant, a pair of bat-like wings, and an octopus head, the creature was undoubtedly a being never before seen by anyone on Earth.

But, despite this, Ymir instinctively knew it's name.

"Cthulhu." He called, and the being answered with an acknowledging cry.

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"My parents? Well, my mother is a witch, but my father is an Onmyouji, it's basically someone who deals with spirits and demons, which are Yokai and Oni in Japan." Ayato said as he set down his book, focusing on his conversation with his younger housemate instead.

Early in the morning, Ymir was sitting on his usual table in the common room with Ayato, both of them passing the time until they'd have to go to the Great Hall for breakfast with idle chats and book recommendations.

"That seems interesting." Ymir was genuinely intrigued. If Ayato was in possession of an Astral Dice, he wondered what kind of creatures he'd be able to introduce to Gaia. "I wonder why such creatures aren't being taught about?"

"It's mostly because they're starting to die out." Ayato sighed regretfully. "You see, Yokai and Oni rely on the beliefs or fears of human beings to exist, and with the world of magic gradually being separated more and more from muggles, the belief of such creatures existing also began to disappear."

"That's unfortunate." Ymir frowned. Having their entire existence be reliant on the beliefs of short lived beings is really a dangerous issue. "It's a surprise that your father still maintains his family's line of work, then."

"Honestly, he's barely keeping it alive." Ayato snorted humorously.

Ymir raised an eyebrow.

"Now, your father, on the other hand, I heard he nearly became the German Minister of Magic, but, then, he suddenly disappeared." Ayato suddenly switched the topic to him. "If you don't mind me asking, what happened to him?"

Ymir leaned back on his chair.

"It is the tradition of my family to send the men to guard Nurmengard." He shrugged nonchalantly. "It was simply his turn to go."

"Oh..." Ayato suddenly felt awkward upon accidentally touching upon a possibility politically sensitive topic and began to frantically try to change the subject. "By the way, why has Anthony been staring at the wall for ten whole minutes?"

The corner of Ymir's lip quirked up when he remembered just what happened to Anthony.

"He met my son last night." He explained vaguely. "His mind can't process it yet."

Quite literally. Anthony's luck really went downhill from the moment he'd been assigned to have the same room as him.

"I also can't process it." Ayato muttered with an incomprehensible expression. "You have a son?"

Ymir blinked, feeling secretly amused. "Yes. It is a wonderful octopus."

Oh, must be a pet of some sort. Ayato thought. Ymir must be one of those people who refer to their pets as their children. "So where did you put your son? Did you bring an aquarium for it?"

He remembers there being a giant octopus living in the Black lake. Maybe they'd get along with each other.

"He is currently in the bathroom, but after he grows up a little, I will send him to look after my new dog." Ymir stated as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Oh..." Ayato's mind was suddenly filled with an image of an Octopus walking a dog and had to stop himself from bursting out laughing. "Okay! Got it!"

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November 2, 1991

01-Terra

Observation Entry #9

At the moment that I am writing this, roughly 9 hours on Earth has passed since the Cerberus was placed in Terra, while it has been 18 hours in Terra.

I have roughly adjusted the time so that Terra is only faster than Earth by two times.

So far, the Cerberus shows no sign of mutation, though it seems to be feeling agitated by the unfamiliar surroundings. I have made sure to keep it far away from where the creatures of Terra reside.

Fortunately, it did eat the meat that I sent it, though, I'm unsure if the meat might mutate even when it is already inside the Cerberus' stomach.

As of now, since I'm already in Terra, I might as well see if I can find any other surviving plant life which I can bring back to Earth to study.

Afterwards, if there's still time, I might be able to start on creating predators to send to Gaia, but first, I'd have to collect enough clay from Gaia to use for them since I do not trust the ones in Terra.

After observing the hole-riddled surface of Terra, amongst the dry ravine that used to be a mountain range which housed the dangerous Thorn Berries, I finally found what I was looking for.

In a shade, hidden beneath overhanging rock formations, several clumps of Thorn Berries hid, managing to escape the pitiless scavenging of the Giant Ants.

And, it seems that good fortune was given to me today, as soon after I found those Thorn Berries, I was able to find several Dancing Fruit Grass and more varieties of Eyeball Beans.

Quickly, before the Ants manage to somehow find them, I rushed to take samples of them to transfer to my manor's garden for further study.

If they are deemed safe, I may choose to replant them in Gaia.

Unfortunately, after searching through the entirety of Terra three times over, those were the only surviving plants that I could find.

Now, having successfully collected new plant samples, I moved on to my next agenda; creating original plants and animals.

But, first, I must return to Earth to hand the plant samples to Glas for transplantation and, then, have breakfast.

Fortunately, today is a weekend.

Entry End

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The Slytherin table, unlike the Ravenclaw table, was much more selective when it came to who gets to sit in their table.

For example, muggleborns are not welcomed, anyone with the surname of Weasley is not welcomed, and, basically, anyone from the other houses are not welcomed if not previously invited by a notable Slytherin, but, after the incident the night before, Slytherins have relaxed their requirements for Ravenclaws, and Ravenclaws only.

For this reason, Ymir somehow found himself being dragged once again to the Slytherin table for breakfast.

Actually, just because he CAN sit there, doesn't necessarily mean he SHOULD. He wanted to say, but wisely kept his mouth shut under Pansy's smiling face. Instead, he tried to focus on something else. Like the addition of Draco's entourage.

"Why is Draco being followed around by a pair of Nilpferd?" Ymir asked, eyes trained to the two pudgy boys who trailed after Draco like lost oversized ducklings.

"Nilpferd?!" Blaise choked, breaths coming out in wheezes.

Pansy shook her head at him helplessly before slapping his back hard to stop him from choking to death.

"I forgot that you haven't met them yet." Daphne said as she took a seat next to Ymir. "Those are Crabbe and Goyle, Draco's henchmen."

Ymir seemed to recall hearing those names from somewhere.

"It seems that because of the Troll incident last night, Draco's father was quite worried for Draco's safety and demanded that he always have Crabbe and Goyle with him." Pansy added helpfully.

"They're not much useful skill-wise, but, atleast, they make great meat shields." Theodore muttered humorously.

"Speaking of the Troll incident, since we have an excess of funds left over from last month, do you think we could print out extra copies to send to the parents of each student?" Blaise, having narrowly escaped death, suggested with a mischievous grin. "I suppose they'd want to know about it, no?

"A wonderful idea!" Daphne was the first to agree. "You have my full support!"

"Same for me as well." Theodore nodded. "A little revenge on the headmaster for his irresponsibility towards Slytherin wouldn't hurt."

"That's two votes done. What about you, Pansy? Ymir?" Blaise clapped his hands and turned towards the two who have yet to give their thoughts on the matter.

"Do you even need to ask?" Pansy rolled her eyes. "Of course it's a yes from me!"

Ymir sighed, already envisioning the chaos this would bring, but, under their expectant eyes, he couldn't bring himself to disagree.

"As long as you get approval from Professor Flitwick." With that said, he closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Why must he be the responsible one here?

After getting his go signal, the Slytherins cheered, excited to begin their plan.

"Alright! Let's go and get the Headmaster in trouble!" Blaise grinned slyly.

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November 2, 1991

01-Terra

Observation Entry #10

After procuring the clay from Gaia, I have decided to start my experiment to create original lifeforms in Terra, not too far away from where the Cerberus dwelled, so I can keep watch on it while conducting experiments.

First, I decided to create a predator for the rabbits as it is currently the most pressing matter at hand.

Their population has increased so much recently that they've nearly taken over the entire island.

So, with that settled, from the many known predators of rabbits, I chose those that would bring the least changes in the natural food chain. Which left me with foxes and birds of prey like falcons, hawks, and eagles. Owls would do as well, but they'd have to be a bit bigger, considering that the horned rabbits are considerably larger than their Earth counterparts.

Now, with the clay in hand, along with the left-over soul orbs, I began sculpting the animals, starting with the foxes. Though, I made sure that they had unique features not found in those species on Earth.

Like giving the foxes extra tails.

A slender body, agile paws, pointed nose, coquettish eyes, large fluffy ears, and two tails.

Perhaps, I can try to give them the ability to grow more tails the longer they lived once I figure out how exactly to alter their genes more delicately.

With several foxes done, I moved on to creating the birds while the clay dried a little.

With the birds, I decided to be more creative, like giving the falcons an extra eye, the hawks with an extra pair of wings, and the eagle with an unnecessarily long tail and extra feathers on the top of it's head and around the neck, mimicking a lion's mane.

Maybe I was having a little too much fun with this, but, since I was given the ability to create life, why must I constrict myself to what already exists when I can freely bring beings that only existed in my mind into reality?

At this moment, the clay has finally become dry enough, and, next, I brought them to life.

With the soul orbs in hand, I suddenly thought of something.

Since I had to put the soul orbs into the clay body in order to let them live, how exactly did the created animals in Gaia reproduce when I didn't actively bestow their children souls?

Is it possible... that souls can also duplicate themselves?

How does that even happen?

Maybe I should return to that subject on another time. For now, the new animals are the priority.

So, with the soul orb injected into the clay bodies, I watched patiently as the newly created animals awakened from their clay bodies which gradually turned into warm flesh and bones.

After shaking off the dirt on the surface, pristine white fur and feathers replaced the clay, and soon, I found myself surrounded by many white animals that were curiously circling around me.

And, to ensure that they'd be perfect to deal with the rabbit issue in Gaia, I specifically went back to the planet to gather a dozen rabbits to release in Terra.

Because the rabbits had never experienced the fear of being hunted before, they did not have the instinct to run away when approached, so capturing them wasn't hard at all.

With the rabbits set loose in the valley where the experiment was taking place, I watched from the highest vantage point how the predators would react.

The effect was instantaneous.

From the moment the foxes caught the scent of the rabbits, they immediately darted off, scampering through the rough and rocky terrain, working hard to find what was exuding that tempting smell.

They must be excited to have their first meal.

But, the first one to actually hunt a rabbit successfully was, in fact, a three eyed falcon.

They proved to have made good use of their incredible eyesight.

On the other hand, the hawks were still getting used to their extra wings, the long banner like tail of the eagles didn't provide good camouflage, and the foxes were having trouble with balancing with their two fluffy tails.

In hindsight, I didn't exactly take efficiency in mind when I created them.

But, seeing them struggling is kind of cute so I think I'll keep them that way.

Is it sadistic of me to think like that?

But, atleast I now know that they indeed possess predatorial instincts, with each of them attempting to hunt the rabbits with various levels of success.

Now, all that's left is to see if they'll mutate.

While I wait for that, I'll go ahead and create some new plants.

Entry End

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Ever since Ymir altered time in the mysterious space for the first time, there had been a question popping up in his mind from time to time, yet he never managed to confirm.

This time, he wanted to test it to see if it was truly possible.

Can he alter time on Earth.