CHAPTER 244

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Having finished my conversation with my inner circle, each one leaving to take on a mission of their own to hasten our preparation, I teleported to Xandar to try and explain the situation, not really expecting much from this travel, after all, all they had was my word for what I was about to explain, and even with my status as a prince of Asgard, my word didn't carry that much weight at all.

Skepticism was to be expected.

Granted, there were other ways to convince them, not every step of my journey had to be diplomatic.

I had the power to control their leaders, bending them to my will should it be necessary, and seeing how dire the situation was, it seemed like it would.

"I find your claims hard to believe young prince," Irani, the commander of the nova corps said, giving me a doubtful look as I explained what was to come.

"Yet, they are the truth," I replied, trying to solve this matter without having to resort to other more morally questionable methods. If I could help it, I wanted to avoid taking control of the planet by force, but should it become necessary, I would without hesitation. 

"So you say," Irani replied, as a soldier entered the room, bringing a cup of tea for her.

"I understand your skepticism, I really do. It must be hard to believe an eldritch-like-being that you never heard of it's about to wake up and try to destroy everything in creation, but regrettably, it is nothing but the truth," I replied, summoning a cup of tea of my own, as the soldier walked away.

"You have to understand young prince, we only have your word for it, and even if we chose to believe you, what you ask of us, it's… a lot," Irani sighed, taking a sip of her tea, as she frowned, "You ask for us to submit to you, it every sense of the word. All in exchange for protection, you have to realize that if anything, that sounds like extortion, and is grounds for war."

I nodded, taking a sip of my tea, before replying, "I understand how my offer sounds. If I could word it out better, I would, but that's quite literally how my power works in this specific instance," I sighed, "Once I take control of something, I attain certain liberties so to speak, amongst them, the power to control the territory on a fundamental level, giving me the capacity to treat what I control like a chat room, to give an example. Allowing me to block unwanted parties from entering the planet, as long as said parties are weaker than me."

"I understood that much," Irani nodded, giving me a firm calculating look, "Nonetheless, we can't simply submit because you say so."

"Nothing would really change if you do so, I am not asking to lead your people, but to appear as the figurehead of them," I replied, refilling my tea with a thought.

"Let me put in terms that you might understand," Irani sighed, putting her tea down, "If we, the Xandari asked your people, to submit to us, even if that submission was nothing more than a facade, all in exchange of protection, for something we knew of but had no solid proof of, would you submit?"

I chuckled, shaking my head. Politics were really not my thing, "I see your point, a very valid one at that. But you are talking about pride more than nothing else now."

"A government must protect the integrity of its people, that includes our pride," Irani replied.

"I wish there was a way to show you I wasn't lying, heck, the fact I am taking the political approach to this, should be enough to prove I mean well, because if I wanted to, I could level this entire planet with but a thought, and before you jump on that comment, that's not a threat, it's a fact. I have power beyond your imagination," I sighed, giving the commander a warm smile as her gaze hardened, "I am more than a prince, more than a human, though to be completely honest, I'm not quite sure I was a human at any point to begin with. Most recently, I ascended, joining the Celestials, I know you are aware of them, most advanced civilizations are."

"I was not aware one could ascend to their ranks, in fact, I was quite sure that was impossible," Irani replied, her tone even but calculating.

"You are absolutely right, it is impossible to ascend to their ranks," I nodded, "By normal means that is," I smiled, creating an illusion around us to show her how I had come to join the Celestial ranks.

"What is this?" Irani asked, looking around in confusion.

Seeing her face, I immediately realized I was currently the only one seeing something coherent in the illusion I had made, coming to the conclusion her mind was simply processing the simple aspects of the assimilation, showing nothing but a random array of colors and shapes that for her brain had no discernible pattern to make something of.

Meaning that to show her what I wanted, I had to adapt to her biological limitations.

"The seed that was within my planet," I replied, changing the scenery to something she could comprehend.

"Why are you showing me this?" Irani asked, now being able to see what I wanted her to see.

"Well, I wanted to show you how I became a Celestial," I replied, changing the scenery once again, to the part I was absorbing Tiamut.

"You assimilated the seed," Irani said in realization after a few seconds of watching the event unfold.

"I did," I nodded.

"The Celestial's are beings not to be trifled with," Irani said, giving me a hard look, "At the slightest insult to their cosmic balance, they seek ruthless retribution. Libraries have been filled with stories about their wrath."

"I'm aware," I nodded.

"Your actions in this illusion, if they are true, are the greatest offense anyone has ever done to their kind in all of recorded history," Irani stated, her tone cold.

"Normally, you would be right, but…" I smiled, changing the scenery once again, this time showing her the conversation between Tiamut and I, editing my parts as they were not necessary, "As you can see, Tiamut himself decided not to emerge out of love for the life of the planet that had nurtured him, giving himself willingly to me, which in turn saved me from having hostile relations with the Celestials, who upon learning of Tiamut's decision, welcomed me to their ranks."

"Do you have any solid proof of all of this?" Irani asked after a moment.

"I do, plenty, I can even call one of the Celestials here if that helps," I replied, giving her a quick nod as I dissipated the illusion.

"I see," Irani sighed, taking hold of her cup of tea between her two hands, "Nonetheless, while this revelation gives you a bigger sense of validity in your claims, we the Xandari can't accept your terms."

"Not even if the Celestials came here to tell you about the threat themselves?" I asked, frowning at her.

"Not even then," Irani nodded, taking a calming sip of her tea, "Don't take my answer as a comment on their power. I am fully aware the Celestials are beings of tremendous power, and if you are indeed one of them, you like them, certainly have the power to destroy us without much difficulty, but regardless of that, Xandar has never submitted, higher power or not, we have remained independent through everything."

"You would risk everything on pride?" I replied, my tone cold.

"It's more than pride, but yes," Irani nodded, firm on her resolve, "Even if I were to say yes, simply for the sake of our people's future, that would get you nothing I'm afraid. The council, the generals, and all the other higher ups in the Nova empire would oppose my decision right away, effectively voiding it."

I sighed, "It seems then we have come to an impasse."

"I'm afraid we have," Irani sighed, giving me a soft nod, "However, this is not to say we won't help when the time comes."

I chuckled at her comment, help when the time comes, that was some wishful thinking. In the great scheme of things, their power was inconsequential on the upcoming the war if they didn't join under my control, anything outside that control I was seeking was a liability more than a perk, as anything outside that could and would fall under Knull's horde, becoming an instrument to be used against me.

"If all the higher ups were to accept, would the Xandarians accept me?" I asked.

"That would never happen," Irani replied.

"Just humor me for a bit will ya?" I chuckled.

Irani sighed, "If that were to happen, yes, all of Xandar would trust their democratically selected leaders to have made the correct decision based on the interest of Xandar as a whole, there would be confusion sure, but ultimately, they would come to accept it."

"Good, I was afraid I had to alter more than a few selected," I sighed in relief, happy I would not have to brainwash an entire planet.

"What you do…" Irani stopped mid-sentence, her eyes widening in horrific realization, "You wouldn't…"

"This is a war I fully intend to win," I replied, smiling at her. "Sacrifices must be made, for the sake of all."

Confirming her worst fears, Irani moved to press a button under the meeting table, possibly trying to call someone to come to her aid.

"That won't work," I said, taking a sip of my tea, "For everyone besides us, we are still talking," I chuckled, "The magic of illusions, as for the button, well, it works, it's just not sending any signals, or rather, I'm not allowing any signals to leave this room, so… same thing I suppose."

"You claim to seek the salvation of the universe, yet what you are about to do shows a darker side of you," Irani replied, slamming her hands on the table, "Only a monster would rely on such tactics."

"I'm aware," I nodded, surprised at the lack of feelings I had about the entire situation, "But sometimes the universe doesn't need a hero, it needs a monster." Without another word, I entered her mind, and started working, I was behind schedule as it was.