Chapter 11 Time

Once Eta had tamed space, time was next. The flow was as chaotic as it ever was. Its branches resembling a river like no others, some branches could be mistaken for the true flow while others would peeter out and die off.

Gamma would allow them to dive into the realm of the flow. A landscape of pure white with a singular different shade of grey being the various flows of time that clung to the ground. "My realm of time is extremely different to that of Alpha's space. While his involves all that exists, mine has all that has, all that is, and all that will be. I guide this flow along what I choose to be the true timeline." She walked alongside the largest of the branches.

Eta observed the different clusters of branches. "This chaos of time is beautiful. The various ways everything may happen and has happened, how do you not get lost observing it?"

Gamma walked alongside Eta. "I have gotten lost many times now. With your advent of souls, the branches have grown immeasurably with this beautiful chaos."

She wadded through the strange waters of time, carrying Eta allowing it to dip its toes to taste the temporal scenes. Different images flashed in Eta's mind, visions of creation, potential cases for the end of the universe, art of mortals, battles, anything and everything. Its creativity fueled once more by these scenes it would not have ever viewed.

Eta's new creations would be strewn throughout the strange realm of time, bringing banks to the ever flowing river of time. It brought about trees made of those lines that had already passed bringing in color to the white landscape. The flow slowly turned from the light grey to a pristinely clean blue.

As Gamma taught Eta how to observe the flows, more and more of Gamma's realm of time would adopt an appearance distinctly of Eta's influence. Just as space had changed to that of chaotic beauty, time changed to an organic art form. The 'waters' of time made to truly resemble a river. The white space now a scene from Eta's home planet.

"My realm has been made beautiful." Gamma sat in a small hammock between the trees. "You have a very intriguing gift when it comes to this."

"This is how I see things, colors, shapes, and emotions that go together. Its how I paint, its how I navigate my own world." Eta was moving through the flow of time, tapping into different ages of mortal life.

Gamma sat up and gazed upon her realm of time. "What think you of time? Which timeline calls to you and which scares you?"

Eta stopped, "I enjoy and dislike all the timelines. There is no one perfect sequence that would call to me." It reached down and brought up a small branch in the flow. "This one has that of a beautifully designed cosmos, but nothing will ever happen. Life would be sterilized from the stars and the souls of the objects would not have the need to speak as they normally do."

Eta waded to another point in the flow. "While here, life is the main attraction of the universe, slowly converting it into energy and resources that eventually drain the once beautifully full universe."

"So do you think there will ever be a perfect timeline for our universe? Is it an impossibility or an improbability?" Gamma hopped down and stood in front of Eta.

"It's an impossibility. With my advent and that of souls, the natural imperfections are at the forefront of reality. As Alpha said, 'nothing is or will ever be perfect.' Not the universe, not the timeline and not myself.

Gamm patted the young god's head. "You are perfectly imperfect, the one who was born knowing this. We were born with imperfections that we couldn't comprehend. Yet you, Eta, were born with a true knowing of yourself. Tis why I called for a bet I knew I'd lose. If we were to discuss back then, I saw that we would commit a folly that would forever destroy the universe. We would have removed your domain from existence and would have slowly spiraled back into the void that nips at the edges of the universe." Gamma picked up the young god. "Now you are here with me, observing time and knowing. You are here bringing beauty and life to the logic of time."

Eta looked up at the elder god. "How have you not gone insane from viewing time up till now? Viewing the constant ends we will face. The mistakes, the failures, the you's that die a terrible death."

"I have come to the conclusion that time will show every mistake before it shows you the successes. I take both hand in hand to see the immortal life I may choose to live. I will make new mistakes that I will have never seen just as I will with successes." Gamma sighed, looking to the horizon of her infinite realm. "Fate is now such a fickle thing, nigh unpredictable from moment to moment. I can know every ending, but the path changes each second. So to answer, I choose not to dwell on such things as each step I take will take me down new paths just as every step you take will lead to a different fate."

Gamma set the young god down. "Now, to know time is to observe time. There is not much to control other than diverting flows with the staff to lead away from endings that you choose to fully ignore. Come, lets go back to the beginning." 

Gamma held out her hand. Eta grabbed it as the two walked.

Just as with space, Eta took to the teaching like a fish to water. The beginning held so much insight to what the universe would become and Eta took little time to comprehend it. It was able to see the endings of flows so quickly that observing all of them became less of an impossibility and more of an inevitability. It was as if Eta could paint the timelines, using each as a color to change and improve the flow.

Despite how well Eta took to the knowledge of time, it still took many millennia's to impart all of Gamma's knowledge into the young god. Though it was just a few brief moments outside the realm of time meaning Gamma and Eta were only gone from the other two's view for just over ten seconds.

"Our young one has mastered time better than I." Gamma went to sit by the table.

The other two gods sat at the table.

"Omega was more right than ever with his assumption Eta would be a being greater than us." Alpha set down his Orb of Space allowing it to roll across the table. "Even without this, it's precision was able to match me."

Gamma placed her staff on the table as well. "I thought this was necessary to divert the flows but that child proved me wrong. It drew paths and paths did it follow."

The two look to Omega, "At this rate, it'll write the laws without the scroll." Gamma joked.

Omega turned to Eta as it sat in the living room painting a small stone. "My child is truly a genius."

"Well it is now your domain to impart upon it." Gamma stood up and patted Omega on the shoulder.

Omega looked at Eta and smiled.