Healed

(Odin POV)

I wave my hand and make Zgreb appear before me. I have him isolated from space so that he doesn't infect more. I communicate with him via telepathy. 

{Hold still ... it will be over in a moment.}

{...}

The Celestial doesn't say anything and only lets it happen. He is sure that he will die, but I have other plans with this one. I once again focus my power and intent to achieve what I want. I hold out my hand and in the next second, a giant ball of what looks like 'insects' appears in a ball of gore and slime. 

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They fight against the hold I have over them. Their greed and purpose are clear but I refuse them and coat them in a bubble of the Still force. With a thought, I take all of the Horde's velocity and movement away. This is a lot of energy that I absorb into myself and adds to the Speed Force. 

Now the Horde is in a state of stillness, where they won't ever be able to move again but still aren't technically dead. They are between life and death, as long as I want that. 

I then create another small orb in my other hand. Then I shrink the Horde and trap them in the small orb. The orb is made out of the strongest metals in the Universe and holds its runes that are specific to trap anything and anyone. I place the orb in the 'Gates of Asgard'. That is the name I gave my version of 'Gates of Babylon'. 

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Now I turn to the Celestial that is still dying due to the damage that the Horde and the attack already caused. I use my power and revert his time. Slowly his wounds disappear and the original Celestial appears before me. I can feel the thoughts of the Celestial and the wonder he feels. 

{What is your name?}

"Odin Borson, the All-Father and ruler of the ten realms."

{Odin Borson, my name is Zgreb the Aspirant ... I direct my gratitude towards you for healing me. I had been looking for a fellow Celestial when the Horde infected me.}

"I understand. The Progenitor came to this planet to die billions of years ago. He was already infected by the Horde at that point.", I say. 

{Indeed. I shall leave and notify Arishem of this.}

"Before you leave like this, there is something that I would like from you.", I say and smile. 

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"So what did you ask of him?", Gaea asks me after we observe the mammals on the planet. The apes who are in the process of evolving into humans, are what interest us right now. 100 of them in particular. 

"Do you remember what I told you about the origin of Celestials?", I ask her. 

"You mean the fact that they go around and create planets and experiment on the living creatures to see their potential and worth?"

"No not that. So let me tell you how the Celestials came to be. It all started with the First Firmament...

In the beginning, there was only one universe, the First Firmament, the universe was perfect but ... the universe was alone. This universe was sentient and due to that sentience, came loneliness.

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So moved by this loneliness, the First Firmament decided to create life: Celestial servants. These servants created life of their own and were industrious in their worship of the First Firmament. 

But not all of these servants industriously worshipped the First Firmament. Those who did, did so seeking its approval whenever they created life on their own, which prompted the First Firmament to name them "Aspirants".

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The others were "multicoloured rebels", who wanted their own creations to evolve, and the universe to evolve along with them. They wanted the universes and their creations to know change, growth and mortality. That was seen by the First Firmament as madness and sacrilege. They were called ... Celestials. 

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This divergence of ideas ushered in a war, a Celestial War. Between the Aspirants and the Celestials. This was the greatest war to happen ever. It was a war between beings that could do practically anything they wanted. 

It was very intense and it was so intense, that the Aspirants created something called the 'Godkiller Armour'. 

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For a time, the Aspirants were winning. They were more than the Celestials and they were winning this war and even had the Godkiller Armour. But for reasons unknown, they fell into a civil war amongst themselves. The Aspirants were going to defeat the Celestials and yet ... in the end, they fell into a civil war. 

The Celestials capitalised on that. In the final configuration, as the Celestials detonated their weapons, or bombs of unimaginable power, hundreds of new universes split off from the First Firmament's pure substance. 

In terror, to preserve its uniqueness and very self, the First Firmament fled to the farthest edges of 'its being', the remaining Aspirants inside it. 

What happened to the universes that were split off from the First Firmament coalesced, forming a new, collective entity. A 'second' cosmos and the first of a new 'breed'. The first Multiverse.

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The Celestials colonised this second cosmos and created life and planets and more. They observed and watched as life took its course. During that time, the First Firmament watched and observed the 'rebels' and waited. 

The death of one and the first Multiverse was only the birth of another. The multiverse was reborn, over and over. Evolving further with each iteration. Until we arrive in the present with the 7th multiverse ... also called Eternity."

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I look at Gaea and see that she is having trouble taking all of this in. The Multiverse was a bigger place than she thought and I only realised this as truth, due to my meta-knowledge and the power of runes and the Speed and Still Force. 

"So ... what do the Celestials do then? Are they going to come here and kill all of the mammals since they weren't the ones to create them?", Gaea asked. 

"No. They usually go around the Multiverse and create life. They observe this life for a period of time, which is 19 cosmic cycles. So when they experiment on a world, they wait for 19 cosmic cycles and if the planet's aggregated energy signature is consistent with what they call 'Eternal', then the life force is transferred to the Eternals. 

If it is more in line with the Deviants, meaning more destructive and violent, then that world will go to the Horde. The Horde is what you have already seen. It is the infection that caused the Progenitor to die and Zgreb to almost die as well."

"I see. And what exactly will the Celestials do, when they come here? Since you are already sure that they will.", Gaea asks me. 

"Well, this leads me to your original question. What did I ask Zgreb to do? And to answer that, I will talk about the way the Celestials go about their 'work'. 

The Celestials visit worlds in four 'Hosts'. The first host, modifies the species on the planet, or at least a small part of them, into three distinct groups. 

The first group is called, Eternals. They are for lack of better terms, immortal. They can't age, they can't die, they won't grow weaker and they can somewhat use cosmic energy for their powers. 

The second group has their genes destabilised, to create unchecked mutations. This means that anything can happen and the Celestials don't really care about what happens. This group is called the Deviants. 

The third and the most interesting group, are those who will have their genes modified so that they are granted potential. This potential will in the future manifest in the form of powers."

"I see. So you asked Zgreb to modify these 100 mammals to get this potential.", Gaea deduced. 

"Almost correct Gaea. I did indeed ask Zgreb to modify those 100 mammals but what I want to do with them is a bit different. I understand and know what this 'potential' will result in and this is something I want to make use of. 

Now that I have learnt how it works, I will modify these 100 again but this time differently to the way the Celestials do it. These 100 and their descendants will become a new race if you will. A separate race under the rule of Odin and they will get my support and spread my will on this wonderful planet of yours.", I finally reveal my plan to Gaea. 

"...", Gaea only has her mouth open in shock. I guess she wasn't expecting me to go this route. But I don't want to be the one who takes care of every single small event in the future. So by doing this, I can offer humanity and certain groups either help and knowledge, help or have them bring revenge and justice, in the name of Odin. 

"You have looked very far into the future, my love. I wonder what you are planning at the end of all this. But I don't want to be spoilt. I want to witness it at your side as it happens.", she smiled. 

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I am currently on my way to Jotunheim. The war is over and a special deal has to be reached. I already know what will happen but I'm not really happy about that. This time I am dressed in royal armour and an attire fitting for a king and the All-Father. 

I am riding Sleipnir and holding Gungnir in my hand. The Bifrost activates and brings me to Jotunheim, right in front of my army and the rest of the army of the Jötunns. I look down on Laufey and see the hate in his eyes. His defeat has to be the most underwhelming one in the history of the ten realms. 

So underwhelming and unimportant in fact, that I even forgot we were fighting still for a moment. I didn't really forget but that is beside the point. I never once appeared on the battlefield and Laufey never got to fight for his honour against the leader of the Asgardians. He was defeated by normal soldiers. 

"Laufey, it would seem that you surrendered yourself to us. A wise decision. So shall we talk about what you are going to give us?", I address the kneeling Jotun. The anger and fire in his eyes intensify, ironically since he is a Frost Giant. 

"Odin ...", Laufey mutters through his teeth but as soon as he says my name something happens that I find very enjoyable and am happy about since I wanted to test it out. 

"You have to be careful when saying my name because it could happen that you lose your voice in the process. Just like it happened right now.", I say with a smile. I used my power and the power over runes, to enchant my name. Now only those who I find worthy can say my name. Everyone else will lose their voice. 

I wave my hand and give him back what was taken. 

"Speak, what is it that you are willing to give in order to guarantee peace? Not that I would ever believe that."

"I am willing to give you my son as a bargaining chip. Have him live with you and do whatever you want with him. As long as you don't kill me and the rest of the Frost Giants, I would gladly give that to you, All-Father", Laufey says. 

"Yes, that is something you would do. Sell your son like a piece of jewellery. I accept your proposition but not fully. You have risen against Asgard and as the King of Asgard and protector of the ten realms, I hereby punish you. 

Your actions as king and leader of the Jötunns have consequences!", I say in a loud voice and then tap Gungnir on the ground. In the next instance, the sky folds in thousands of places and falls onto Jötunns who are kneeling on the ground. 

*BBBOOOOOOOOOOOM*

*SQUELLLCH*

The sounds of thousands of Jötunns getting crushed and splattered on the snow-white ground are heard and seen. This is my punishment for the Jötunns. I have reduced their numbers to a minuscule fraction of what they used to be. Now there are about 70 of them left. I killed the strongest of their race. 

"NOOOOOOOO!!!!", Laufey screams.

"Let it be known that Laufey caused this, with his arrogance of believing that he could go against Asgard and me."