Rebirth and Second Chances 115 Epilogue - Arc 2

The Silinium responded to my mental prodding, forming detailed depictions of what I was shown. Scenes of what came before the multi-verse was formed. The loneliness of the Alpha and the Omega, and the decision to sacrifice their perfection and splinter into the disparate matter, energies, and laws that powered a multitude of Universes. Universes that became the backdrop for each scene, each a depiction of creation, Cosmology, and evolution.

Universal constructs were given sentience; Eternity, Life, Death, Time, and S-Prime were empowered with the largest amount of the essence that the Alpha and Omega released. Along with unbreakable chains, forged to bind and limit their influence and interaction. The scope of their authority, the vastness of their Domain required strict limits to be placed, Universal Laws engineered to determine what and how they could influence the multi-verse.

The Gods were formed, each imbued with a unique spark of Divinity, each tasked with and allowed to assume dominion over concepts. Stars formed as the first Gods ignited the fiery conflagration that would set in motion the expansion of solar systems.

Gods embraced life and created intelligent life formed in their image. Danu, Beleros, Cyronax, part of the Tuatha de Danaan Pantheon and the progenitors of the Sidhe. The wee-folk, Volar-fey, and Seelie. The goblins, Slaugh, Hags, and Unseelie. Each of these was given birth, each had the spark of life breathed into them as part of a cosmic weave, a tapestry of life that contained one goal. To live. To connect. To stem the tide of loneliness.

Danu embracing and collecting matter, forming the first world of many. Beleros igniting the fires that would burn a multitude of stars and galaxies too numerous to count. His countenance giving light to the worlds that Danu created. Cyronax embracing the cold stillness of space, transforming that coldness into winter and shrouding Danu's aspect.

Combined the three of them set in motion the planets, scattered jewels of shimmering wonder that embraced Eternity, and were segmented by Time. And as these new marvels of what could be multiplied, Life stretched out its countenance and allowed the lesser Gods and Goddesses to give meaning. Life became plentiful as the skies, oceans, and lands were filled with a myriad of creatures, those formed from the imagination of a God, each life a blessing created.

Just as the Alpha was balanced by the Omega, so too must balance be maintained in all aspects of creation. Life required death. Light would not exist without dark. And good required evil. The Gods saw that in order to be truly appreciated and understood, a confluence of opposites was required. There was no purpose without conflict.

And just as the Tuatha de Danaan Pantheon chose the Sidhe as theirs to claim and protect, the other Pantheons formed and created and selected those that they would embrace. The Olympian Titans procreated with Gaea and breathed life into the Minotaur, Harpies, and Amazonian. The Asgardians constructed and embraced the Rainbow bridge, establishing the wolves, the serpent, the Fir bogs, and the Norse.

Each Life crafted by the Divine, a reflection of that first spark that was shattered and shared by the Alpha and the Omega. These Gods chose their children, those they would gift with intellect. Across the vast Cosmos, worlds were created, and life was seeded. And in a few Worlds, God's gathered and shared all that they had created, gifting those few worlds with a diversity of life.

All this I saw, and more.

The first betrayal by the Serpent. Loki's schemes and tricks. The Morrigu lost to battle lust and the desire to kill. Myths and legends streamed past my vision as I experienced the entirety of creation, both the wondrous and the horrendous.

And as I experienced these memories, stored dreams that gave truth to what has been, my magics continued to craft and create. New scenes. The Gods of all Pantheons were represented, their aspects on display. And the beautiful as well as the ugly seamlessly woven in the ongoing evolution of life.

My ability to mold and sculpt what I was shown, a gift that allowed me to use magic and the will to duplicate what I experienced allowed me to create a Shrine that was free of imperfections. The pictographs flowed seamlessly. A starkly beautiful representation of the glory and ideals that the Alpha and the Omega had infused into creation, and the majestic use of that creation. The meaning behind the Universe made known, to parcel life into the billions and trillions of possibilities, all to combat the ennui of loneliness.

Finally, after billions of years of time had passed, after the events that formed the planets, suns, and people had been woven. After wars, marriages, deaths, and births, we arrived at this point in time, in this place. The creation of the Shrine that I had been tasked with forming was complete. The blinding radiance of the Divine exploding as the energies and truths that I had engraved spread out around the world.

And as this truth was shared, the Shrine that I had just completed, broke apart into its composite atoms. Silinium flowed back to the ley-lines and moved, the Divine uploaded and made part of System. A blueprint of placement for each molecule hard-coded like DNA to regrow at a new site.

Searching for a suitable location, seeking a place of power on Earth that the Sidhe could claim as theirs, a place of history steeped in the shedding of blood and battle was found. On the Isle of Man, territory claimed by the Sidhe, Avalon was reborn.

Land that had been conquered by invaders; land claimed by King Arthur. The birthplace of Merlin, born from a human woman that had been tricked and ensnared by the Seelie Court to visit the Underhill, he was part Seelie changeling. His myth part of the Sidhe experience. His destiny too great to be forgotten.

Here where the Lady of the Lake took back Excalibur, the Shrine that I had crafted with magic and Divinity found anchorage. A place of history and power that resonated with the precepts of creation that I had crafted. And as the Silinium formed, a tree, long forgotten, an Oak whose branches could barely support the weight of age, split open and the Merlin of Legend woke from the sleep that he had entered using Elfshot, sleep that he had embraced and accepted, content in the knowledge that when he next woke, it would herald the arrival of the King.

The return of Arthur.

Elfshot finally dispelled, the poison neutralized; Merlin took his first breath in a millennium, Arthur the King who prophecy had promised would return when the world needed him most, woke from his slumber. As one, Danu, Beleros, and Cyronax joined their powers together to anoint him as the One True King of the Tuatha de Danaan. He would reign over the Summer and Winter court. King to all Sidhe fulfilling his promise to return.

And as Merlin and Arthur were integrated into the System, an update was implemented creating nobility. Those that earned these noble titles gained a perk, a buff that could enhance the populace of the land, a way to create factions and territories. Merlin, Arthur, and Guinevere was chosen by Danu and granted Earth's first title. Ennobled as Kings and Queen. A triumvirate of power that would rule a newly formed Sithern named Camelot.

They would not become Ranked, their royal titles not part of the leveling system. They were instead, more like a social contract, similar in scope to forming factions or guilds. And as the Earth's first newly anointed rulers, their titles gave an increase to leveling experience for all of Earth's people that became citizens of Camelot and joined that faction.

[World Announcement - Systems Integration Complete]

Chapter end