Chapter 22: I Am Thou, Thou Art I. 1500 BCE

A/N: Sorry for not uploading lately, I've been travelling. btw, I thought Thena would dominate the vote, turns out, it has competition... I'll be honest, I put Hela there just for the hell of it, I haven't got any plans for her to appear in the story... so we'll see later.

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I woke up in an empty space. It was all black, no shape, no light, nothing. It feels familiar, yet it wasn't at the same time. It feels like I've been here before… but I can't remember.

"Ah… there you are…" suddenly a voice sounded. Again, the voice is familiar.

I turned around, and saw a black entity, with only a golden line as it's smile.

"It's you." I murmured. "It's quite early, I thought I would meet you after Tiamut awoke."

"Well, you were wrong." he said, and the black dimension turned to a beach once more. The black entity turned into a ragged old man as well.

"So? What do you want to talk about?" I questioned as I sat on a log near the campfire.

The old man chuckled. "A bit impatient… It's been such a long time since I've been treated like this."

"Like what?"

"Like an acquaintance." stated the man. "People usually call me 'my lord' or 'Supreme one'..."

"I know the feeling…" I murmured. "Humans treated me as a god… but you know that already."

He nodded. "You've been doing well."

"Will I continue to do well?" I questioned straightforwardly.

"Depends." said the man.

"Depends?"

He hummed. "You've been stagnant these past couple of centuries."

I nodded. "Don't really know what else my power offers really…"

"Then you haven't been exploring enough."

"I'd say I've been exploring." I said sarcastically. "I have a lot of time for that."

"But you've been too… conservative…"

"Meaning?"

He sighed at my question. "You are different from your fellow eternals."

"I've noticed." I said sarcastically again. "So?"

"No, you don't understand." he shook his head. "Unlike the other eternals, your power is continuously evolving."

I nodded. "I know that my fellow eternals' power seems stuck, not changing at all."

"Exactly." he nodded.

"But for me, my power is just limited to absorbing cosmic energy from dead bodies and making them my constructs right? Essentially making them one with me." I questioned. "What else is there?"

"You're using it wrong, young one." he stated. "You said it yourself, they are one with you."

"So?"

"Then use them." the man shrugged. "Don't just command them to do your bidding, use them to improve yourself."

"How?"

The man smiled. "Talk to them."

"Talk?" I questioned, confused. "They can't talk, sure, I can understand what they're thinking, but I can't talk to them."

The man nodded. "You can't before, but you can now."

"Meaning?"

"You've absorbed an intelligent deviant right?"

"I- I did recently… yes… his name's Idemnon."

"Then talk to him, he should be able to represent the others," said the man. "By the way, it's nice of you that you're really careful about this."

"Careful?"

"You haven't absorbed a single human." cleared the man. "If you did, you'd be dead by now."

"I know that." I snorted. 'I'm not stupid enough to do that."

The man hummed. "Arishem's suspicious, he was asking me about you, but I never answered."

I raised my eyebrow. "Why?"

"Ever since you came down to earth really…" said the man. "Because he knows practically nothing about you, I blocked your information from him."

"That's nice of you." I said sarcastically. "But did he remember that he gave me a mission?"

"He remembers." the man nodded. "But technically, he didn't give it, I planted the memory of him giving a mission to you. That's why he's a bit careful about you in the first place, because he's always careful about his 'minions'."

I hummed. "What am I going to do now?"

"Nothing really." The man nodded. "As long as you don't break any rules, you're safe. For now, just become powerful."

"Oh yeah, how do I contact Idemnon again?"

He smiled. "Just call him."

After that, the man disappeared, the place turned black once again, and I was once again left alone in this empty dimension.

I sighed. "That's god to you I guess…"

I then look around, still nothing, only emptiness and darkness awaits my gaze.

"Idemnon." I tried to call, but no one answered, at least, that's what I thought for a while, before I heard the sounds of hooves.

"We meet again Pluto, or should I say my lord now?" a voice spoke, I turned around, and sure enough, it's Idemnon, only, he's in his construct form.

"Oh, you actually appeared." I hummed. "Well, just Pluto, I hate being called my lord."

"Whatever suits you." the centaur shrugged. "I've… seen your memories… you are different from the others."

I nodded. "You can read my memories?"

"I am thou, thou art I." the centaur simply speaks. "It is the concept of your power, is it not?"

"Truthfully, I don't know myself." I shrugged. "There are no manuals in this."

The centaur simply laughed. "I guess you are right…"

I just hummed. "If you can see my memories… Can I see yours?"

The centaur sighed. "Alas, you can. This is quite embarrassing for me… as I just said to you that I won't betray my kin… yet you can see my memories easily."

"Do you still hold allegiance to your kin?" I questioned.

The centaur shook his head. "No, as I am you, and you are me now. Your goal is my goal, your ambition is my ambition."

"That certainly is a bit of a relief." I nodded. "Then show me your memories."

"Very well." the centaur nodded. And instantly, a flood of memories entered my mind. I saw his memories, from the moment he gained intelligence, to the day he died by my hands.

I saw as he and his herd killed a lot of humans, devouring them. I saw as he trained in archery and spear. I saw him gallop with his herd, fighting an army of humans that wanted to exterminate them.I saw him meet with his 'kin', the ones that are intelligent. And I saw his final battle, his battle with me.

"You lived a not-so-boring life huh." I hummed.

"My life was filled with battles and glory." he stated while nodding.

"A deviant knows glory?" I asked, amused by his answer.

"I prefer a centaur." said Idemnon. "Deviant is a bit of an insult… we're not astray… we just want to survive."

"Alright, I respect that." I said. "So… only in Crete and Corinth huh… I thought there would be more. "

"Our kind is hard to find." nodded Idemnon. "We need to absorb a lot of humans to be able to reach this kind of intelligence… the one in Crete is barely intelligent."

"Based on your memories, you've absorbed thousands huh… that must've taken a long time."

"It's based on luck I guess," he nodded. "I roam free for thousands of years without competition or being hunted by a predator like you."

I just nodded. "So… Can you be a bridge? For me and my other constructs?"

"Sure," said the centaur, shrugging.

"Then that's good…" I nodded. "Can you call them? To me?"

He just nodded, and he clapped his hands, summoning my golden legion behind him.

The dark room glows golden at the mere presence of my legion. It was quite cool.

"Now, you can use us," said Idemnon.

"How does it work exactly?" I questioned.

"You just need to ask." stated Idemnon. "And we'll be ready to be one with you."

"Then, let's try it with you, Idemnon." I said.

"Very well." The centaur closed his eyes, and he turned to cosmic energy that slowly surrounded me. Not a couple seconds later, he entered my body.

After he entered my body, my mind became clearer, his memories, his will, his knowledge, his experience, all became one with me.

"This feels… strange…" I murmured.

"You will get used to it over time." Idemnon spoke in my head.

I just hummed. "Your power is… magical immunity, and mind shield?"

"It's what I've developed, yes." said Idemnon. "It's not special, but I make up in the combat department with experience on bows and spears."

"So if Ghidorah possessed me, I can absorb the cosmic energy around me?" I questioned.

"In theory, yes. If one of your non-sentient constructs possessed you, you only got their powers, not their memories, but you do get their instincts."

I hummed. "Can multiple constructs possess me?"

"I recommend three, just like combining them," said Idemnon. "More and their will would collapse."

"Right… but I can do more than three right?"

"Only for a limited time."

"That's good enough."

"Then I think it's time you wake up." said Idemnon as he got out of my body and reappeared in front of me.

"Then I'll see you all in the next battle." I nodded.

"We are always with you Pluto, best remember that." Idemnon nodded, while the constructs behind him cheered, excited for the prospect to come.

And after that, I woke up. I saw that my fellow Eternals were sleeping around the area.

I then murmured. "Next stop, Crete."