CHAPTER 222

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The moment I started the ritual, something changed or rather broke. The once vibrant place brimming with cosmic energy and life, morphed into a white endless room, with no one but me standing in the middle of everything.

I frowned.

Never before had this happened, I knew the ritual, and how it worked very well, I absorbed countless creatures to test it out, to know what to expect, and it had never led to this.

Perhaps this was Tiamut's mindscape? Or something else. I mean, in reality, I knew nothing about absorbing celestials, for all I knew, the process of absorbing a celestial was simply different, he was, after all, exceedingly different from all the Eldritch beings I absorbed, not only he was more powerful, but he was bigger.

Not only that, but his energy was nothing like that of an Eldritch being, so who knew what kind of effect the runic circle would have on him, it was after all made to summon and subjugate Eldritch beings, not Celestials.

"Hi," I heard someone say in a monotonous tone, snapping me out of my train of thought.

"Hi?" I replied, looking around.

"I'm not here… or is it there?" The voice replied.

I continued to look around, but no matter where I looked, white was all that was to be seen, nothing less, nothing more, "So… who are you?" I sighed.

"I am the one you are trying to… eat? I'm not sure that's the right term, is it?" So he was Tiamut, great, this complicates things.

"It's not the right term, but it's accurate," I replied.

"Why?" Tiamut asked, sounding curious.

"Well, two reasons, one you will destroy the planet when you… emerge, and two, a rather unstable version of me, from an alternative universe is trying to eat you, and… well, that can't end well," I replied, finding myself a bit… surprised, I hadn't intended to reply that, what that hell is happening to me? 

"I see," Tiamut replied, "I can sympathize with your cause."

He can? "You can?"

"I think I can," Tiamut replied.

I blinked, that was unexpected, "I wasn't expecting that…" I chuckled.

"I wasn't either," Tiamut replied.

"I expected a monster to be honest," I replied, once again finding myself saying things I didn't or rather shouldn't say.

"I don't blame you for that thought," Tiamut replied.

I sighed, checking my status, to find a particular buff… in place, one that in this place could not be lifted, one that forced anyone within to be honest, for in the merging of souls both beings bare their souls open to each other, hiding nothing.

"So… what now?" I asked, taking a seat on the white floor.

As I waited for an answer on the cold floor of the room, something started to form a few feet away, at first, it look like a normal person, at least its silhouette but as time passed, that changed, leaving what I imagine a Celestial would look in human size.

"It seems I'm here now," Tiamut commented, looking at his body in befuddlement.

"It seems you are," I replied.

For a moment, Tiamut said nothing, simply staring at me with a dead gaze, almost as if peering right into my soul. This continued for a few uncomfortable minutes until he decided to take a seat on the floor like me, and with a soft yet firm tone, he said, "Tell me a story."

"What?" Of all the things I had been expecting him to say, that was not one of them.

"I apologize, what I meant to say is. Tell me your story," Tiamut replied.

"Why?" I asked, frowning.

"I want to know you before I become a part of you," Tiamut replied, "You are a good person, I can see it, or feel it? Not sure which, but… I feel like you are a good person, and between you and I, I have no desire of emerging anyways, I might not be awake, or fully conscious under the earth's crust, but I am very aware, I have seen humans fight, grow, change, hate, love and more, many times over, I suppose in a way I have grown to care about them."

I really wasn't prepared for any of this, I expected a fight, a struggle, and he seems to be letting me take his life like it's nothing, "I…"

"You can feel it, don't you?" Tiamut asked, tilting his head slightly to the left, "My energy becoming yours."

I blinked, now that I think about it, I do feel something different. The moment he showed up in this room, something changed, I feel more aware of my body, more aware of his power, of everything.

[Merging 1% done….]

"So you… give your life for love?" I asked, looking into his eyes.

"I suppose, yes, I give my life for love, in a way, I think of humanity as my children, I think, I'm not sure, Celestials don't have families or children, not normally, so I'm not sure the sentiment is the same you have for your children, but of what I am sure, is that I am willing to die to keep humanity safe," Tiamut replied, seeming to struggle with his words.

"What story do you wanna to hear?" I asked, thinking over my situation, how life changes without you even realizing, when I came here, I expected to have a fight, and in a way, I got it, emotionally speaking, because I was now struggling with a moral dilemma more complex than the one I first prepared to face, instead of being forced to eat a bad guy, I was being forced to eat a good one.

[Merging 1.5% done….]

"Your story," Tiamut replied, and so, I began to tell him everything there was to know about me, about Alex, about the man before and after his rebirth.

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It had taken me two hours with the help of magic to tell my story, showing Tiamut everything I knew, everything I had gone through, my life, a story, his last request.

[Merging 98% done….]

"So we are all stories," Tiamut replied, "How… vexing, and utterly terrifying to think we are nothing, and at the same time, beings with untold power, I guess… In a way, everyone is bound to be powerless somewhere, even my kind."

"I'm sorry, for… eating you," I sighed.

"Don't be, this is better than the alternative, dying and letting my power go to waste," Tiamut chuckled, the first sign of emotion I had seen in him, "With you having my power, I have no regrets, I die knowing humanity will be safe."

"I will do my best," I promised.

"I ask for no more," Tiamut replied.

[Merging Complete…]