A 'Simple' Cup of Universe Tea
Aavesh looked at the Mysterious cup of tea before him.
He had no choice - either be a slave or risk the unknown.
' No, I won't be a slave! If I can't use Mythic Power the way I want to - it's not mine! Let's Do this!'
He took the cup of tea and gulped it fully in one Go.
As soon as he drank it- Aavesh felt a snap soun and everything went white before him and he seemed to loose consciousness and closed his eyes.
He opened his eyes again - He saw that he was in a grey foggy void, travelling through countless storm clouds - Nothing but emptiness...
*SMACK
He smacked face first on the Ground.
"Ouch!"
"..."
He shrugged of the pain and got up. It was still incredibly foggy, but he saw the ground as well- it was made of grey gravel almost easily blending with the Fog.
He seemed to be alone here and there was nothing but faint grey Fog in the distance. There was hardly any sound either.
The whole Atmosphere was grim, silent and Desolate...
Aavesh's inner phobia started to slowly reappear but he took a deep breaths to calm himself down- he kept telling himself that he survived worse than this- that it would be fine...
*BOOOM
"FUCK!"
Lightning Cackled in the Distance causing Aavesh to curse and Jump.
His heartbeats accelerated fast and he wanted to turn back and run.
*BOOOM
The lightning struck again.
*BOOOM
and again.
Suddenly Aavesh thought something different, what if - the test lies at the Place where Lightning struck- what if?
The Lightning was the only guiding light and sound in this foggy world...
Aavesh wanted to turn around multiple times and get away from where the Lightning struck.
But it struck in only one spot - the physics of this world was wierd... Even his instincts told him that he should atleast check it out- He then rationalized that everything was a dream and he would be fine... at most he would get struck by Lightning Right?
He then grit his Teeth and reluctantly walked towards where the Lightning struck, he walked slowly...
He then reached a Cave like entrance untouched by the Fog and saw the Familiar Alignment Chart on a Plaque placed above the Cave Entrance.
*BOOOOM
Lightning Struck the Plaque, causing Aavesh to shrink back a bit in reflex. But he saw the Plaque remain unharmed...
'um What's going on here?'
*Haaaassssssssss
Without a warning - A suction force came from the cave and dragged Aavesh in without any Resistance. All the while one could here Aavesh cursing loudly...
A minute later, after tumbling through the cave - he discovered that the Cave was not Dark... It wasn't dark at all! Aavesh stared at the Cave walls- they had beautiful iridescent colours reflecting a beautiful starry night sky...
*RING RIIIINNHHGGG
A ringing sound came from further inside...
'Typical Horror Movie Shit but I got no choice...'
He shrugged helplessly at his situation - he was asking for it anyways...
Aavesh cringed and walked towards the sound to discover a Massive hallway with Glowing with orbs floating around in the ceiling - they didn't seem to be hostile for now.
At the end something glowed with Multicoloured light set on a Small Pedestal.
Behind the Pedestal lay a massive table with Alignment inscriptions...
Aavesh took a step inside and a Glowing characters appeared before him saying, " Solve the Riddle - Complete Test "
"..."
He then went to the Pedestal holding the multicolored light object and as he came closer the Multicolored Light Dimmed revealing a small Right hand Gauntlet. It was an ancient Claw style golden Gauntlet...
Multicolored lightning sparks flickered between the fingers...
*RING
The Ringing sound came again from the Gauntlet. It caused Aavesh to involuntarily take a step back...
Then without waiting for Aavesh to make a move, the Gauntlet floated up and within fraction of a second it slipped onto his hand and sent him a horrible electric charge throughout his body.
* Sizzle
He could help but shout out his Pain.
" What the Hell!?"
He almost fell down and used his left hand to Grab onto the small pedestal and leaned forward.
Sweat began to appear on his forehead...
Just how many traps were there?
Aavesh then felt his vision alter and saw the Table before him wasn't empty at all- No he saw 8 scrambling holographic elements battling each other for dominance!
They were An Empyrean Glowing Golden Mountain, An Ethereal water sea Orb with a beautiful shining Sun at the core, A Dreamlike Free Grand Emerald World Tree with, A Dark Burning Abyssal Black Hole, An Undead Necromantic Skull Island, An Infernal Multi-layered Cage Ball, An Endless Black and White Judgment Scale and A Perpetual Storm Orb with streaks of Chaotic Lightning.
'Wait a minute are they not representing the Nine Mythic Higher Dimensions?- Empyrean, Nirvanloka, Somnium, Abyss, Kayamat, Naraka, Duat and Vodovorot But one Dimension is Missing... The Machina Dimension! It's not present - therefore all of these dimensions are fighting relentlessly...'
He then felt some tingling sensation on his right hand due to the Golden Gauntlet and he saw that he was holding a Holographic element of a complex Mechanical Eye made of Perfect Gears with Revolving Nano Particle rings - this was the Machina Dimension Holographic element.
'What should you do to solve the struggle before you?' A voice spoke in his mind Suddenly.
'Will you use Pure Unbiased Law to destroy and replace all of them - or will you use it to restrain them? Bring all of them into the Palm of your hands to achieve Total Order?"
'What will you choose?', the Mysterious voice spoke once again within his mind.
' The Test will end once you finish your choice - so choose', the voice did not speak after this, causing Aavesh to feel a bit perplexed...
"So I need to choose, is it that simple? I don't think so... but I must do it anyway!", Aavesh accepted his situation and decided to move forward...
Aavesh now began to Ponder with the choices given to him...
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Meanwhile in the Tea Room, Kronos, Kronika and Irolin were watching a screen which showed Aavesh in the Cavern. Kronos looked at the screen sharply and spoke,
" So will he be able to trigger the Table? Or will he fail like his Predecessors before him? I wonder..."
Irolin Asked Curiously, " Teacher what about his predecessors? I'm sure atleast one of them made the right choice? They should have atleast stumbled upon it accidentally-"
"Both choices offered are the wrong choices disciple - they are merely a Psychological cage"
Irolin suddenly widened his eyes and spoke," There is no right choice here- if he wants to pass the the Test he will have to circumvent the Psychological cage placed upon him... or he will be doomed to repeat the Past, am I right Teacher?"
Kronos nodded in response and sighed as he spoke," Every single one of his predecessors ended up meeting me and attempted this test... none managed to break the cage..."
"What?!"
Both Kronika and Irolin were stunned, but Kronos pointed out at the screen and spoke, " The Test is not as simple as it seems- Observe Now"
The Trio gazed carefully at the screen.
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'Your Time to ponder is over... detected that you have not truly reached consensus- Subjecting you to Scenario to help you understand the best choice'
"Wait - whaaaa?", Aavesh was stumped - whatever was incharge of this test was very goddamn impatient. It did not even let him think properly! But both the choices were shit anyways...
Nothing came Good out of Absolute Massacres and Total Enslavement... no matter how effective they were.
*Click
A Flash sounded behind him and his vision became white temporarily...
His surroundings changed and he was now in the body of an old man sitting in Judgement seat of a Court.
He didn't have any control over this body...
Rather he was only a spectator over here-
'Wait that voice told me it was going to subject me through scenarios to help me gain consensus... so judgement?'
Aavesh did not know the identity of the judge or identity of anyone in the old style courtroom... However this judge was ... different.
A faint blue light shined over the old man's irises... It was the Aeon Mythic Power! Just like him!
But the old man seemed quite calm and cold... very cold like a machine... there was almost no emotion left... Only Pure Logic... Aavesh could sense the old man's mind and he was shocked! The Old man did not feel like a human anymore at all...
The old man then spoke, " Bring the criminals in for judgement... "
A few guards brought a young man and a young woman in, both in early twenties- both scared and confused at what has happened.
The Old man then gazed at them and spoke with Power, " Confess your crimes against Order! Your heart is guilty!"
Blue light enveloped both of them...
Their eyes turned dull and lifeless... mere mortals could never resist such Mythic Power... They replied mechanically
Both of them spoke, " We helped provide Food to Tribals... It was against Government law and did not come under any registered charity..."
The Old man then spoke emotionlessly, " Your confession is accepted... Your Punishment is 10 Years intensive Labour with zero chance of Parole - Take them away!"
Their eyes then snapped back to reality and both began to tear up as the man roared back, feeling that the decision was unjust, " How could you do this? We were feeding the sick people for God's sake! We didn't do anything wrong-"
The old man calmly replied, " You broke the order by feeding rebel Tribals- there is no denying your guilt- you break the rules- you pay the price"
Aavesh's heart became cold at this...
Is this what his predecessor did?
What the Fuck was this...
The scene changed Aavesh was now in the Body of Female Oracle... She stood before an Imperial robed Young Man - he was a prince of the country, there was tears streaming down his eyes, " Erda - You- Why are you doing this to our people - to me? I loved you! I still love you! Please leave this power and come with me! I will leave my throne to the others! I can't see you do thi-"
The Female Oracle Erda replied back emotionlessly, " It is necessary that I bring the Power of Order- if I must massacre millions - then so be it. Nothing can stop the Cosmic Judgement- Not even you- But you have a choice - Kill me Prince or watch me kill Your People - the outcome is inevitable "
The Prince yelled back furiously," You are telling me that you will Kill Children? You are mad-"
The Oracle spoke back, " You have brought this upon yourself - you sacrificed the Treasure of Order, to prolong my lifespan - You should know the consequences now- I will begin to spread the Judgement- Starting with our child-"
*Slice
*sprttt
Blood dripped from her body as she calmly gazed at the Prince.
The Prince stabbed her in the heart with tearful eyes and a contorted expression...
She didn't even look the least disturbed
The Oracle spoke again calmly," The Judgement has been delivered - Repent for your crimes"
And then blood began to drop from her mouth as she began to pass away...
The Prince then mournfully yelled out," NOOOOOOOOOO"
Aavesh who observed all of this was wrapped in an emotional turmoil - because this Predecessor of this was Beyond Fucking Ruthless - She was about to Kill her own Child! Fuck what is this shit?
He could not help but sympathize with the Prince - sure he did the wrong thing by breaking that Order Treasure, but he did it to save her and fight the Infernal Devil - But the Poor man just defeated the Devil Boss, only to know his wife was far too gone... Seriously what the FUCK!?
The scene then changed to an Energy Cloud like entity, who was overlooking a Planet - The Planet was Peaceful... But the Entity did not feel so- It gazed at the Planet deeply and found a Protean hiding in the Populace... Masquerading as a local Deity...
It spoke calmly in the void, " Detected Protean Influence - Chaos influence inevitable - According to Aeon Machina Protocols - Cleansing is the only Viable Option..."
It then manifested an orb of Blue Light which then fell onto the Planet like an Asteroid...
Everyone was the dead along with the Protean...
"...", Aavesh stared on speechlessly. First of all a Gas Cloud as a Predecessor - Second of all, This fucking Predecessor or killed Billions! Fricking Billions! BILLIONS! For the sake of a single Protean... Talk about ineffective... Smartest beings My Ass!
The Scene changed to A Beautiful Female Elf who stood before an Army of Demons - behind her were Multiple helpless Elf refugees with slave brands.
She spoke emotionlessly," You are invading another plane- You are breaking the laws..."
"Shut yo mouth elven Wench!"
A demon voice ridiculed her.
"Just surrender! I promise I won't be too harsh in bed", Another Demon spoke up lasciviously...
"Hahahahaha!", All the Demons Cackled with Evil Laughter...
The Female Elf did not flinch but her Eyes Glowed Blue as she Gazed at the Demon army, Her lips parted to speak, " Disintegrate"
The Army of Demons froze and turned into dust one by one without resistance...
An elven refugee spoke out reverently, " Thank you so much"
Aavesh finally felt that there was sane and just Predecessor here..
But the Elf replied coldly, " Now for your crimes- You have entered the wrong plane as well- Elves are forbidden to enter this Realm- Even if it's for refuge!"
Aavesh was speechless,"..."
The Elf spoke again, " For your crimes- you will Perish and repent"
A refugee pointed at her and spoke angrily, " aren't you an elf as well? You also are breaking the Rules here-"
The Elf calmly replied," I will cease to exist as well- to restore Order!"
With a wave of her hand, everyone dissipated without exception.
She then closed her eyes as if to accept her judgement. Blue Power came from the sky and enveloped her completely like a pillar and she ceased to exist.
Aavesh, "..."
'Never Mind, she was batshit crazy...'
Similar scenarios arrived one after the other... Aavesh became numb to the everything before him...
One dude literally offed himself because his mother performed a cosmic crime to save him...
He had to repent for his crimes against Order. Good luck with That dude...
Another Dwarf Got humiliated before a Demon lord while trying to Uphold Laws in the Abyss. Nevermind your trial- how the hell did you even get into the court of a Demon Lord in the Abyss...
One Female Orc wiped out her existence from reality so she could prevent Cosmic War and Destruction of a Civilization. The Goal was Nobel but the price was Brutal... Sheesh
He suddenly realised, emotions didn't matter much before Cosmic Order - Every Predecessor here did what they did for the sake of 'Order' But this was too... convoluted.
If all Rules meant Order- Then Corrupt Rules also meant order... along with Just ones.
Is that what they say- mixing stones in rice grains?
Aavesh stopped thinking with his emotions for a moment as he felt his inner Deductive spirit stir up. He then scratched his chin and pondered while ignoring the latest scenario before him.
This Behaviour of his Predecessor was ludicrous but it was interesting as well... He then analysed in his mind,
' Let's see what do all of them have in common - Aeon Mythic Power- a sense of Duty to Order - A 'Unique' Brand of 'Justice' - Questionable Morality dedicated to Order Alone- Lack of- No! Let's keep it as Emotionless- Extremely Logical to a fault - Unshakeably bound to established Rules within a Domain! '
' Conclusion - All of these Predecessors are in a Slave - Enforcer Relation with Machina Realm and the Cosmic Will, that is to say this Aeon Mythic Power has almost no self Autonomy to make decisions, Essentially this not True Primordial Aeon Mythic Power - it's Simps of Order Mythic Power'
'So any decision that has to be made must lie in favor of Order, this is the answer...'
Aavesh now realised what the whole fuss was about- the approach to the consensus must be done with order in mind...
The Voice spoke again, ' Detected you have reached consensus- Taking you back to the Test - Give your Judgement-Nascent Aeon'
In A Flash, Aavesh was back in the Cave standing before the Table, with the Golden Gauntlet on his hands - holding the holographic element of Machina.
Aavesh then spoke, " So those 2 choices - you want to choose which one is the most suitable - right?"
An entity made of Bluish purple mist with Glowing Eyes appeared infront of Aavesh and gazed at him emotionlessly, waiting for his decision.
Aavesh then smiled at this Entity and spoke, " I think both choices are inefficient - I suggest an Alternative -"
The Entity replied emotionlessly," Your Command is Invalid, you don't possess the Authority to override the choices"
Aavesh jibed back again, " Getting a bit hasty are we? You have not listened to my Alternative -"
The Entity replied," It is unnecessary - make the choice with the choices given"
Aavesh had a wierd glint in his eyes as he heard the entity speak, he interjected back," Oh? You don't want to listen to my solution... Entity"
" The Choices Provided here are fixed and finalized by the Axiomatic Godmind in Machina! The Cosmic Will has approved this as well- why do you think a Mortal like you is capable of providing a better solution?", this time it asked with a glint of curiosity on the audacity of the mortal before it.
"It's quite simple why your solutions fail here- You are Group thinking-", Aavesh shrugged and replied.
The Entity eyes flashed again and spoke in a serious tone, " You are dangerously close to violating Cosmic Rules set up to respect The Godmind and the Cosmic Will- How dare you think of accusing us with the Term 'Group Think'!"
Aavesh calmly replied," You are also violating Rules by not considering my Point of view- walk that line carefully as well Entity, When I said Group think- I meant that your discussion had only a single Dominant Opinion - That of the Cosmic Will - Before You start Scream about how 'Just' the cosmic will is - I have proof that it is not the Paragon of Order- I will List out my reasons and you can verify the Truth as an Entity of Order- Reason 1 - It allowed Higher Dimensional Beings to create Rifts Between the Material Plane and the Abyssal Higher Dimension - It did not do anything to stop it! This is not the act of a Being that proclaims itself as the absolute Authority of Order! Thereby the Cosmic Will Broke the Laws"
The Entity trembled and spoke, " You have not lied, but in the grand scheme -"
Aavesh raised a finger and interrupted, " Don't Grand scheme me, I am not a three year old- We'll I am a child but age doesn't matter when it comes to Wisdom so shut up and Listen to Reason 2"
Kronos, Kronika and Irolin who were watching this on the screen became speechless...
"..."
This Brat was- very creative...
Aavesh continued on, " Reason 2- The Cosmic Will struck a mortal with lightning Tribulation an additional Time - because it was pissed at the mortal for defying it - It was trying to kill him which was not the Purpose of the Tribulation - It broke the Laws again, willfully like a child... An Unbecoming of the Paragon of Order "
The Entity Trembled again fiercely and replied with a shook tone," You- You are Not Lying But-"
Aavesh raised his finger again and smiled ferociously at the Entity, " No Buts- Reason 3- It set you Up to brainwash me against my will- all those scenarios were meant to shape my perception - move my hearts to understand the Hardwork and Sacrifice of Order! Make me an Order devout Zealot who will do anything to Ensure Ultimate Order-"
"Yes- you do understand our Grand Objective -", The Entity spoke up again indignantly but Aavesh Interrupted it again by speaking over it, " And Don't Interrupt me again when I am making my Point- speak your objections later- Now You do understand that it is widely Frowned upon Placing a facade to the New Prospective Employee is Illegal! As a Paragon of Order how it could it not have such Rules? Is it not breaking it by attempting to brainwash me?! Hence conclusion - the Cosmic Will is a literal willful manchild!"
* BOOOOOOM
Thunder stroke Ferociously at the Hexagonal Building - But Kronos merely glanced up and spoke, " Fuck off- Immature Coward- You know he's not lying at all- so Don't Scream on my Turf or If I start my retaliation - A new Cosmic Will shall be born even that at the cost of My Vow- SO FUCK OFF MY TURF IDIOT!" He furiously Bellowed back at the Cosmic Will. Irolin and Kronika trembled at the angry voice of the Old man- He wasn't joking at all...
It indignantly thundered and disappeared...
Damn so scary!
Aavesh meanwhile looked at the Entity whose very being was shaking, as it was unable to process further, It spoke hoarsely, " You are not lying..."
Aavesh then spoke nonchalantly," Then we can establish Bias on Choices set here- so they can be ignored "
Aavesh then tossed the Machina element on to the Table casually, letting the whole scramble become even more Chaotic. But he controlled and limited the Power of the Machina element to ensure that there was a deadlock between all elements.
"Wait- what about the Machina? It's opinion should count right?"
Aavesh turned his head and spoke ruthlessly," The Machina Regards the Cosmic Will as the Paragon of Order and the Absolute Authority - Now Respectfully - Entities of Order claim to be in a single Organizational Hierarchy- have collective responsibility of Being Lawful Stupid Alignment- So the voice of Machina doesn't count at all here..."
The Entity Trembled as it spoke even more hoarsely, with a begging tone in its voice, " What about the Goal of Order as a Philosophy? Do you not want Order to prevail? would you rather let Chaos win? What about the Order in your Heart? Does it not resonate with the Cosmic Order?!"
Aavesh stopped and turned around, he then stared at the Entity with absolute calmness in his eyes, His gaze terrifying to the Onlookers, he spoke calmly again but his tone extremely serious, " Cosmic Order? Tell me what is Order? is it not set by rules? - So does that mean the Rules set by the Cosmic Order should ignite the Order in my Hearts? No- Don't be Naive- The Rules I FOLLOW IGNITE THE ORDER IN MY HEART! AND THOSE RULES - I SET THEM MYSELF! THIS IS MY RULE - MY ORDER! IT IS A FORM OF ORDER THAT I HAVE CREATED FOR MYSELF! WHAT DOES THE WORLD ORDER HAVE TO DO WITH ME? WHAT ABOUT THE COSMIC ORDER? NO- I FOLLOW NO ORDER DEVOUTLY BUT MY OWN! I WILL LIVE AND DIE BY IT!"
*BOOOOOOOOM
A Huge Sound exploded as if countless shackles broke at the same time in his mind- Aavesh continued further, " If your Order clashes with mine- don't expect me to follow it- Expect me to destroy it! If it doesn't clash with mine- I will Respect it and Maybe even uphold it but if you cross that line with me- Only One will Live - Entity!"
*BOOOOOOOOM
Another set of invisible shackles broke in Aavesh's mind.
He spoke as he controlled all the Nine Dimensions - bringing something new to it- Stability...
" What's the point of spreading only Order throughout the Universe? How can you be so dumb? No Order can be Infinite - No Chaos can be Perpetual - that is the Nature of the Universe but you know the One thing that is Infinite? Balance! Balance is the way of the UNIVERSE! All things exist because of the Balance!"
As he spoke, he the Nine Dimensions aligned with eachother in their places , No longer Trying to madly defeat each other nor becoming weak they all began to properly counteract eachother - each fully stabilizing with in their places- forming a delicate balance. At the same time there was more of a begrudging Understanding between all of them... and even a form of Respect. Aavesh pointed at that and continued,
" I want that in my life!"
"I want the Order in my hearts to be of Cosmic Balance!"
* BOOOOOOOM
The Final Invisible shackles Broke...