Prompt #276 - A journey of - Three Meetings - Tekia - original

[tekia.livejournal.com]

Title: Three Meetings
Fandom: Original
Prompt: A journey of a thousand miles starts with a quick stumble
Warnings: none
Rating: PG
Summary: When the creator of all life wants to learn to live, he goes to find a place where life has thrived.


Ji Nova had a problem.
Well, he didn’t really have a problem. It didn’t have anything to do with him, save for that he was in the wrong spot at the wrong time. Or was it the right spot at the right time?
Ji Nova was an important being. All of the universe knew that he was. Well, maybe not all of the universe. There were literally billions and billions of stars out there. He didn’t expect all of them to know who he was. Just the same, he was a mover and shaker in the universe, and if someone didn’t know his name, they at least knew what he was.
He’d had many titles over the billions of years he had been alive, and the one he hated the most was Black Hole.
What did they mean by calling his race that? Albeit they were great destroyers and they, unlike so much in the universe, didn’t create light. He rather liked the name Light Eater, or even The Center of All the Worlds. But, mortals didn’t really care what he thought and continued to call him what they wanted.
His children called him Creator, or Father, or even Lord. He wasn’t so lofty as to demand that of any of them, and that was probably what landed him in this situation.
None of his brethren ever dealt with this, he thought as he sat in the dark, dank cell nearly ten feet underground. Chains chafed on his wrists, and the wet cold was seeping through his clothing. His hair was an oily mess that hung over his shoulder and into his eyes, but he was too bored to even lift his hand to brush it away. He wondered if that one lock was still standing upright as it always had. Probably.
Gravity had no command over his body.
There was another name he rather liked, Master of Gravity.
He flicked a bit of rubble off his knee and sighed greatly.
Ji Nova rather liked pretending to be a normal mortal. He liked not being treated any different just because he was the source of all life in his galaxy.
The Creator and the Destroyer, he thought with a snort. He hadn’t meant to create anything, it just happened. And he didn’t want to destroy anything. It just happens. A perk and curse of his mere existence. In his most glummest of moments, he rather liked the name Black Hole. Super Massive Black Hole, he giggled.
A noise outside the cell wiped the smile from his lips and he narrowed his eyes against the bright light that was now approaching. The light stopped at his cell and the heavy door was thrown open. A man, LeFerious by name, stood in the doorway, torch in hand.
“NeFerious will see you now, sorcerer.”
Ji Nova arched a brow. They thought he was a sorcerer? All well. Humans tented to ignore what was right in front of them. He struggled to his feet and let his chains clang as they would as he walked toward the door. He paused beside the man in the doorway, his yellow eyes full of mirth. “Will he now?”
LeFerious shoved him with a hand placed square on his back. “Get going, man,” he said.
Ji Nova stumbled out of the cell and began the walk down the upward sloping hall to the surface of the planet.
The planet was his child Eggak. One from a set of twin planets born by the star Myth. Eggak was a planet of life and water. It had become overabundant with humans. They grew into towns and cities and they created gods to worship. Humans were so amazing, Ji Nova thought as he blinked in Myth’s light at the people milling around the small town. He took a deep breath and felt all of the life on Eggak.
From the sky, Eggak was blue and green. From here, the planet was brown and dry. He believed the people called this city Dimter, a small place deep in the Dimter Desert. As he was escorted away from his prison to the center, he noted that the people here were all powerfully built and cold hearted. They had suffered their land, and they were strong because of it. Truly, they were a powerful group that could do great things.
“Wait here,” he was commanded and Ji Nova paused to smile brightly at LeFerious. LeFerious frowned at his odd action and stepped around him to knock on the door before them. “Sire, I’ve brought the sorcerer.”
“Bring him in here,” NeFerious’ deep voice said from within. The door was opened and Ji Nova strolled in.
NeFerious came from a race that was strong and sturdy, and he was the strongest and sturdiest of them all. He stood taller than Ji Nova, not that that said much. Ji Nova chose to appear as a small man. People tended to overlook him more that way. NeFerious was wide of shoulders, slim of hips, and broad of chest. He wore his black hair only long enough to be pulled back into an untidy gather at the back of his head, and his deep black eyes were sharp as they quickly read the scroll before him, never once looking up as they entered.
The three of them stood in silence as NeFerious read whatever it was before him. Ji Nova thought perhaps NeFerious was trying to test his patience, but he didn’t really care. Ji Nova was born in silence, alone. Being ignored wasn’t anything compared to all that. He waited, looking around the Spartan room.
Finally, NeFerious set aside the paper and his eyes turned to LeFerious. “LeFerious, there’s an envoy just outside the town. Go there and grant them entrance. I will hear what this man from the north has to say.”
LeFerious bowed and quickly left the small building, leaving Ji Nova behind.
There was an envoy? From where, exactly? Before he could cast his questions into answers, NeFerious stood from behind his desk and approached.
“Sorcerer, you have come here unwelcome.”
Ji Nova lowered his gaze and bowed. “My apologies, Great Lord of Dimter. It was foolish of me to think that a traveler was free to travel where he would on Eggak.”
He could see a muscle tick in NeFerious’ cheek as he clenched his jaw. “Nonetheless,” he said, ignoring Ji Nova’s reference to the Laws of the Land and began pacing around Ji Nova. “You have come here without permission and must suffer for your actions.”
“You threaten an unarmed traveler?”
“You are a sorcerer. Sorcerers are never unarmed.”
That… was correct. Ji Nova smiled and dipped his head in acknowledgement. NeFerious paused in his pacing to hover behind Ji Nova, who had refused to follow him with his eyes as he circled him.
“For what reason do you come here, Sorcerer?”
Ji Nova shrugged again. “I wanted to see the world. This is a part of the world, thus I am here.”
“This I doubt,” NeFerious said, moving once again. He came to a stop at his desk to lift the scroll once more. “I have a feeling that you are here because that envoy is here.”
“Where is the envoy from?”
Black eyes slid toward him and he felt for a moment that NeFerious was much more than what he appeared to be. Ji Nova let his powers touch NeFerious for only a moment before he retreated. He didn’t want to intrude on mortal lives, so he only touched enough to feel NeFerious’ own power.
And what power he felt. This man was indeed meant for great things.
“You don’t know?” NeFerious said, drawing Ji Nova back to the current conversation. “Do you think you are clever by being evasive? Sorcerer, here me, I will not be kind to those that threaten me.”
Both of Ji Nova’s eyebrows shot up. “I threaten you?”
“Do not insult me, sorcerer. What is your plot? What is your purpose here?”
Ji Nova sighed, realizing that this was going to be a vicious circle. “I come to see.”
“See?”
“To see all that this world has to offer.”
“Offer to who?”
Ji Nova shrugged again. “My eyes? This world is full of such beauty and life. I wanted to see it all. That is my only purpose, I swear of the Sun.”
For a moment, NeFerious didn’t say a word, merely staring at him with hard black eyes. Ji Nova knew he couldn’t read anything in his own eyes that Ji Nova didn’t want him to, so he stared right back, unafraid. Finally, NeFerious’ eyes widened. His back straightened and he dropped his hands to his sides.
“You’re from Tharôn.”
Ji Nova blinked, nonplussed. How in the world had he come to that conclusion? “Tharôn?”
“Who else would be interested in our world? Are you a scout for their armies? Do you come here to find our weaknesses?”
Ji Nova raised one hand to ward him off, his chains clankingly loudly. “You’re wrong. I’m not from Tharôn.”
“I was blind to think anything else,” NeFerious continued, unabated. “Where else do sorcerers come from.” He spun on his heel, back to his desk and the scroll. He snatched it up. “He was right. We must take action quickly.”
Ji Nova stared, at a loss. “Who? Wait, what action?”
NeFerious looked up at him with a sneer. “As if I would tell you. You’re going back to your cell.” He called for a man to tend to Ji Nova. Ji Nova was dragged from the building and back out into the light. As he was pulled away from NeFerious’ office, he caught sight of the returning LeFerious and the envoy from the north.
He took a long look at the man in the lead.
This man was just as large of a man as NeFerious was, if not more so. He had a face like stone, his lips set in a stern, straight line and his black eyes were empty as they passed over Ji Nova.
A shiver spiked down Ji Nova’s spine as he caught sight of the man’s eyes and he knew that this man also held a great destiny.
Ji Nova felt something akin to fear for the people that stood in his way. This man was cold and unfeeling. This man was cruel and dangerous.
This man was going to do great harm.
As he was shoved back into his cell, Ji Nova thought that maybe he shouldn’t be there, after all. His little problem had suddenly become something much more. He waited until the guard was gone before he shrugged out of his shackles and dissolved into a bit of dust and start stuff. In a heartbeat, he returned to his home, his palace in the darkness of space.
He had built his own home out of star stuff, and it was brilliant, if he did say so himself.
The walls hummed with life and with light, glowing faintly. They gave off the impression that you could float away, or fall into the walls and land softly in cushions. The halls were vast and long and short and close. Sometimes the walls would vanish and he could look out over his galaxy and count the stars that made up his family.
It was in one such break of the walls that he paused to look out at the stars. He reached out, his hand reaching into the clouds of stars and gas and moved it all as if reaching into a pool of water. The gas and stars rippled like said water and he pulled toward him the star Myth.
It glowed in the palm of his hand, a bright yellow that pulsed with life. Around the star, five planets orbited, the two twin planets always opposite each other on the same orbit. Twins that could never touch, nor see each other. One full of water and life, the other silent with fire and its own unique life.
What plans had been set into motion?
Already, he regretted his presence there. How had he effected the human’s actions? He cursed his curiosity and closed his eyes. He let the star return to its home in the vastness of his galaxy and leaned heavily against the invisible wall now solid under his weight. There was going to be great events happening now, and he couldn’t force himself to stay away. He wanted to see it all happen. This was life.
This was life and he wanted to be a part of it, because he wasn’t really alive, was he? He didn’t know life, nor death. He didn’t fear death, for how could that which wasn’t alive die? The only thing he had going for him was the journey that was life.
And what a life he had stumbled upon! Perhaps he could have handled this situation better, but what was a journey without a few missteps?
He wanted to see the world of Eggak, and a journey of a thousand miles starts with a quick stumble, and he had already had stumbled upon human plots and plans and he couldn’t wait to get back and see where their actions led them all.
Ji Nova discovered quickly that the people of Eggak didn’t react well to magic. Well, that wasn’t quite true. Sometimes people flocked to the source of magic and showered it with praise, but mostly, it was looked upon as something strange and different. And things that were different were regarded with fear.
Ji Nova was careful not to display his own magic. He rather enjoyed being lost in the crowd. He rather enjoyed being a part of something, even if it was just a crowd of onlookers as a young man preformed stage magic for their pleasure. He clapped with the people as the man bowed, already missing the unity as the people began to disperse.
He looked around for something more to catch his attention and paused as he saw NeFerious walking with a small group of men toward the city center. He had dressed for battle, leather armor covering his chest and a heavy sword at his hip. Ji Nova watched as NeFerious took notice of him, the two men staring at each other for long, tense moments before the crowd became Ji Nova’s savior and blocking each other from view.
The spell broken, Ji Nova quickly retreated and fled NeFerious’ presence. Just his luck, hum? He quietly cursed himself and ducked into a public building. He pressed against the door, waiting to find out if NeFerious had seen him.
When he was the only person to enter the building for several minutes, he relaxed and inspected where his feet had taken him.
It was some sort of public library, he noted with surprise. While the city of Noan was known for being advanced, he really hadn’t expected to find something like this here. He grinned and approached one of the many shelves and began to pursue the books therein.
He absorbed the thoughts of humans for hours, reveling in the strange thought process. Humans were so very different from his own kind that he was always amazed at how they worked.
When he set his latest book aside, he was surprised to note that the day was long gone and the building all but empty of people. Not that there had been many to begin with. With a last look at the numerous of books, he drifted back out onto the street and began wondering once more.
What had brought NeFerious here? This city was so very far away from where they had last met, and that concerned Ji Nova. It took someone of great power on Eggak to be able to teleport. When last they met, NeFerious didn’t have that power.
But there had been that other man.
Ji Nova closed his eyes and brought that man’s image to the forefront. Who had he been? Then he shook his head. He shouldn’t be wondering about that, he thought. He should just see the sights and leave it at that. He shouldn’t interfere with mortal lives.
What those cold men chose to do was nothing to do with him.
He escaped the night, finding a hotel to spend the sleeping hours within and when the dawn arrived, he greeted it with a smile. The star Myth was beautiful as seen from Eggak and he was glad he had the chance to see it in all its glory.
He drifted down to the local tavern and supped with the mortals there, quite enjoying their low murmurs of conversation around him, content to be left alone to his meal. After eating in the human fashion, Ji Nova braved the outside, shivering with the chill of early morning and seeking the road that was going to lead him to his next point of intrest.
As he secured a place in a caravan, he felt NeFerious’ presence and turned to face the man as he approached. His hair had been liberally sprinkled with war braids, tiny bits of brightly colored glass and beads woven into the hairs. War paint had been smudged over his brow, almost as if had forgotten to clean it off after his last battle.
“Sorcerer, we meet again.”
Ji Nova dipped his head in a bow and smiled. “Ah, but you actively seek me out. Why?”
“You’re following me.”
Ji Nova shook his head in a negative answer. “I would never. I would say it was coincidence, but there’s no such thing, so it must be destiny that brings us together.” A sudden thought occurred to him and his lips parted in surprise. “Or is that the third meeting? There are so many sayings, I can never keep them straight.” He held out his hand and counted on his fingers. “The first meeting is chance, the second coincidence, and the third destiny. Yes, that’s it.” He waved his fingers at NeFerious. “Here’s to no third meeting between us.”
He turned to walk away, but NeFerious’ heavy hand fell on his shoulder. “Wait, sorcerer.” Ji Nova sighed and turned to face him once more, one dark brow arched in question. “I have no doubt in my mind that you’re a powerful sorcerer. I can feel the magic on you.”
Ji Nova gave a start, stunned. Sure, there were mortals that could see magic, others that could feel, hear, or even taste magic, but not his. Surely. He was beyond anything a mortal could hope to understand, and that’s probably why NeFerious thought him a sorcerer. That was the only name he could give to Ji Nova and make it plausible.
“I could use you in my army,” he continued and as soon as the words left his mouth, Ji Nova laughed. He quickly covered his mouth to hide his mirth, but already NeFerious’ face was darkening, his brow lowering in a frown. “You laugh?”
“Forgive me, Warlord. I am not a powerful sorcerer,” it wasn’t completely a lie, really. “And I am no warrior. I would be much more of a hindrance to you than help.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“You don’t? Then tell me this; if I’m such a powerful sorcerer, why do I not have my own serfdom? Why do I not already have a great army under my thumb? Why do I travel alone, pay for my passage with a trading caravan instead of magicking my way away?”
That did give NeFerious a moment of thought, his hand never moving from Ji Nova’s shoulder. His dark eyes were unreadable as they searched Ji Nova’s face and he was careful to keep it calm and just as unreadable.
“Perhaps,” he finally settled on, his tone clearly unconvinced. “Still, you are a threat to me, little sorcerer. I would see you dead before free.”
Ji Nova couldn’t move fast enough to avoid the sword that was suddenly in NeFerious’ hand, pushing into his stomach, cutting him open. With a rough jerk, NeFerious pulled the sword free and Ji Nova fell to his knees, clutching at his stomach.
There was no blood, and that made NeFerious take a step back. Ji Nova looked up at him, his eyes fiery with anger. “Look what you have done!” he hissed, still clutching at the gaping hole in his body. With effort, he forced himself to stand. Around his fingers, a golden blood oozed, not nearly enough to be considered normal for that wound. NeFerious gaped at him, his mouth open in shock and his eyes wide. He held up the sword to defend himself against this unnatural creature. Ji Nova tisked and shook his hair from his face. “As if I would attack. I’m not you, mortal.” He pulled one hand away from his wound and snapped the gold blood coated fingers. The snap made no sound, and without so much as a flash, Ji Nova was gone from Eggak once more.
He settled down in a plush chair and dipped his head back on the pillow with a sigh. His palace in space hummed with a muted song around him as he let his magic heal the fake body he used while before mortals.
He hadn’t expected NeFerious to react so strongly to him. He had thought that, as a nobody, he could pass through unnoticed. He had been stupid for thinking so, as he knew that there was no such thing as a nobody.
Every living being had a purpose and a reason. Every living being has the power to change the world and to make something great of themselves.
Not many cared to do so, and some changed the world in ways that nobody else will ever notice, but just the same. All life had a reason and there was no such thing as a nobody.
Fully healed, Ji Nova sat up and looked around his empty chambers. There were no decorations in his palace, the walls a beautiful opal color that changed with the minute. The floor was spotless and the ceiling was clear so he could see the stars that always surrounded him.
Although the walls hummed with something akin to life, he knew he was really alone here. He called it his palace, but in reality, it was his prison.
This was his life as the center of the galaxy. Those that surrounded him were drawn to him because of his great power, and in the end, it was they that were going to end up burnt. He could wish for it to be so different, but that was what he was. His whole race suffered the same fate, no matter how unfair it was to them. He looked up to the black sky above him and looked for his closest brother, still so very far away.
It was said that they were going to one day kill each other. That one day they were going to collide and they were going to create something new from their bodies, their galaxies. But even that was still so very far off in the future.
So for now, he was alone in his galaxy, small stars and planets the only companions he was allowed. And they were mortal.
A wound like he had suffered would kill a mortal, and if NeFerious had been magical, it could even kill a god. Luckily, Ji Nova could just shrug it off, which he did. He sat up and with a thought changed his clothes into something more suitable to the northern part of Eggak and teleported there.
Immediately, he was immersed in a crowd in the middle of market day. He smiled and quickly pressed through the crowd and toward a booth selling lengths of fabrics that had been worked with a needle until they were stiff. They were brightly colored and very well detailed. Whoever had done the needle work was a master and well worth the price on the ticket.
He bought two robes, one of vivid blue and one of yellow so bright it gave Myth a run for its money. He tucked them away into the palace with another thought and drifted off to another booth.
Hours later, he found himself sitting under a tree, a plate of sweet bread balance on his knee. There were people milling about all over and he smiled to feel the cheer filling the air. This was his favorite. He loved this.
He leaned back against the tree and licked his finger clean. The warm afternoon sun and a full belly made it easy to doze. He could only catch bits and pieces of conversations around him, and nothing caught his attention until he heard NeFerious’ name come up.
Again!
He sat upright and focused on the men talking about twenty feet away.
“Rumor is that they’re planning to take it all over and set him on the throne.”
“But how? It’s never been done before. Nobody can defeat the gods.”
“My money’s on NeFerious.”
The other man hummed in thought as they paused before a stall of fresh sweets. They purchased their treats and drifted closer to where Ji Nova was seated.
“What’s going to happen to us if NeFerious wins? If the two warlords take over, what’s going to happen to us?”
The first man shook his head. “We’re all in grave danger. With either one of them in power, we are all doomed.”
They moved on and Ji Nova watched their backs as the strolled down the gravel walk away from him. Throne? Whose throne?
He stood and dusted off his knees and searched for NeFerious’ presence. He was far away, nearly on the other side of the planet and Ji Nova wasn’t too sure if he really wanted to meet up with the man again.
Then again, he did want to see what was going to happen. Was this history in the making? A grin turned up his lips and he quickly stepped through time and space and arrived at NeFerious’ camp.
The man gave a start at Ji Nova’s arrival. Quickly, Ji Nova held up his hand. “Peace, please, I came only for answers.”
NeFerious had stood, one hand on the hilt of his sword. He glared at Ji Nova, anger boiling in his eyes. Then, just as suddenly as Ji Nova had arrived, the anger was gone and NeFerious dropped his hand from the sword and he lowered himself back to his seat.
“Answers?”
“Indeed. Whose throne are you going after?”
“Where did you hear that from?” he asked, lowering his eyes to the desk before him and the papers littered on its surface.
“Rumors,” Ji Nova said nonchalantly. He drifted closer to the table and noticed how NeFerious covered some papers with others to keep Ji Nova from reading them. Ji Nova grinned. NeFerious glared up at him.
“I want answers too.”
“I’m sure you do.”
“You’re not human.”
“No, I’m not,” Ji Nova answered softly, watching NeFerious’ carefully blank expression. Those dark eyes narrowed in on him and he wondered if this was how prey felt.
“What are you?”
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“Are the races from Tharôn so different?”
Ji Nova smiled again. “I’m not from Tharôn.”
There was a crack in NeFerious’ armor, Ji Nova noticed with a thrill of glee. He hadn’t been expecting that. And, Ji Nova hadn’t really expecting NeFerious to believe him so easily.
“Where are you from then?”
“My turn for some answers,” he countered. “Who is that man you’ve teamed up with?”
NeFerious didn’t answer right away. His lips thinned. “You don’t know? You seem to know everything else.”
Ji Nova held his hands up. “I hear a lot, but I have yet to hear his name.”
“He doesn’t have a name.”
That gave Ji Nova pause. Humans were very particular about names. They always gave each other names as if they were afraid they were going to escape off into oblivion. To find a human without a name was quite a rarity.
“Why?”
“What’s your name?”
“Ji Nova,” he said without much thought. Then he bit his lips. Was NeFerious going to recognize it? He didn’t seem to, a frown coming to his face as he tried to place the name.
“Why does your partner not have a name? Who is he?”
“He’s a powerful warlord from the East. They call him Warlord in lieu of a name.”
“What are his goals? What throne are you two going after?”
“What are your goals? Why do you want this information?”
Ji Nova didn’t really have an answer for him. What goals did he have? To learn? To explore? How could a human understand his simplistic goals? How could a man so eager for power understand how he didn’t desire any of that?
“I’ve already told you. I just want to see the world. This is the truth. I have no ambitions otherwise.”
“Everybody has ambitions. The Warlord wants power, and I want glory. What do you want?”
“Life.”
NeFerious had once again lowered his eyes to the scrolls on his desk, but then they snapped up to him. His lips curved up in a sardonic smile. “Life? What kind of goal is that?”
“Isn’t your goal death, though? How very different are we? Or should I say are we the same?”
“It appears so, Ji Nova.” He stood once again and walked around the desk. “You’re not from Tharôn, and won’t tell me where you are from. You say you have no lust for power, but your magic is the most powerful I have ever seen.” He walked behind Ji Nova and reached for a cloak that had been thrown over a chair. He settled it over his shoulders, then paused, his head whipping about to face Ji Nova. “It is said that the gods have no ambitions for power.”
Ah, NeFerious was clever, wasn’t he? Ji Nova turned to face him. “That is said,” he admitted. “I am not a god.”
“I wonder,” he murmured, walking toward the door. Ji Nova hesitated a moment before following. “You survived an attack that would kill any human. You don’t bleed. You have great power, and yet you don’t use it. In my book, you’re a misplaced god.” He suddenly stopped and turned to face Ji Nova. “I can give you a people that will worship you and make you the most powerful god in all of Eggak and Tharôn. Join with us, Ji Nova.”
He shook his head. “No.”
NeFerious’ face turned dark and he spun on his feet, stalking away. “You will regret this, Sorcerer. You will find that I am not a man to cross.”
Ji Nova watched him walk away, something boiling in his stomach. He had angered NeFerious and still didn’t know what his plots and plans were. He didn’t know what the future was going to hold, and that upset him.
He licked his lips and stepped away from Eggak.
Perhaps he should avoid the place for a while.
Three times he had met with NeFerious. Destiny had taken hold and now even Ji Nova couldn’t say what was going to happen.