In the depths of my void, I floated, solitarily. At the moment I was effectively... gestating. I was growing. I was acclimating to the potent power of Supreme Joy, the incredible power that the Anael possessed. It was nestled deep within me, and over the course of the last few weeks, it had been slowly and steadily filling every corner of my being.

The power of joy was an absolute power that I knew could overpower anything even I could imagine, and at the moment I was gradually gaining greater and greater power over it. I could sense my power over happiness, and other, associated emotions increasing with every passing second. 

As my power over joy increased with every passing second so did my awareness of both my own capabilities and the overall amount of joy in the omniverse. I could sense every event that elicited joy, be it a child being given a new toy or an archmage completing a spell that transformed him into a god. I could also sense every instance of love, in all of its forms, be it platonic, romantic, familial, or otherwise across the omniverse. I was also intrigued by the various instances of love that were aimed towards me that had only begun once I had come into myself and embraced my innate nature as the Anael.

I relaxed in my void, allowing myself to grow used to the incredible potency of the power of Supreme Joy. As I did that, I gazed at the universes in my empire. My forces were spreading across each of the six universes that had a sizable number of my citizens, and I protected them with my powers. I could passively bless and empower any number of the soldiers in my vast armies, and as my soldiers spread across the cosmos, mixing both warfare and diplomacy to spread my empire, I bestowed upon them incredible, ultrahuman strength and indomitable happiness. 

I didn't just watch my soldiers though. I gazed at a few influential worlds, watching developments across them with a keen fascination. One such world was the world of my birth, the very first world I had ever conquered, Hasperburg.

As I gazed at Hasperburg I turned my eyes away from Jasper, away from the home I had once built in the kingdom of my birth, and instead towards a small kingdom of elves that I myself never visited in person. The very first time that I manifested in the wake of my emergence as the Anael, I chose a small spot in that very kingdom, in the heart of a vibrant forest, as the sun was distantly setting.

The process of creating an avatar for myself was an easy one that I had long ago mastered. I had mastered that particular skill even before I transcended and gained my most potent abilities, such as my "Metamagnus" and "Lordship" powers. It was so easy for me to do that I did it instantly, my body manifesting less than an attosecond after I wanted to appear in the forest.  

I appeared in a small clearing, alone aside from the trees that surrounded me in every direction if I walked far enough. Off in the distance, I could hear the distant sounds of elven civilization, and of various other lifeforms such as animals and spirits. The forest I had appeared in was especially alive, so much so that some of the dryads who lived here were actually vampires who served and worshiped me, feeding me essence by seducing and laying with the inhabitants of the small town not far from where I was. 

My current appearance wasn't my usual one. I instead appeared as a supremely handsome forest elf, the same race as the majority of the people inhabiting the town closest to the forest. I had long blonde hair, the sharp ears of elves, and the tanned skin that was widely believed to be quite common among forest elves. I had no special equipment on me, and instead just wore the clothes of a forest ranger, a particular occupation that was well respected by elves regardless of whatever type of elf they happened to be.

Night and darkness were falling on the forest quite quickly, and shortly after I appeared in the forest I began the casual walk from where I was to the town in the distance. I could, of course, have instantly teleported there but the journey was part of the fun here. I wanted a second to catch my breath and to exist in the omniverse without the pressures of rulership and leadership being foisted on me. 

As I began to make my way towards the distant town, I decided to test out some of my abilities. And for the sake of having fun with it, I decided to try something new. 

"Hello..." I uttered, to the very universe itself. I heard the very universe around me move in closer to hear me, now enraptured by me, thanks to my incredibly potent powers over love and beauty. Until now I had only used this passively, but for the first time, I was far more actively and intentionally making use of my true, conceptual beauty. 

As a being of conceptual beauty, I possessed immense power if I was willing to use it. And at the moment, I found myself very willing to make use of my power. 

"May I please have an apple?" I asked, opting to test out this power slowly and surely at first. I didn't want to do anything too wild in the beginning. I fell silent after making my request and waited to see if the universe itself would answer me. A split second later I gasped an apple came into being in front of me. I then smiled and delightedly reached out to grab the apple. I grabbed the thing and brought it over to my mouth, before gently biting into it. 

"Thank you!" I whispered, delightedly, smiling as I enjoyed the taste of the apple. I didn't need to eat but there was something nice about eating every once in a while. Plus this showed that there was some potential to this. I wasn't about to push this to its limits at the moment, but my ability to make even reality itself fall for me and ask it to do my bidding had incredible potential, so long as I was thoughtful about how to properly utilize it. 

The ability to ask the universe itself to do my bidding, and the awareness that it would obey me, was a powerful ability. And indeed it filled me with an eerie level of confidence that was difficult not to let go to my head. It would have been easy for me to become overly proud, or overly confident in my own overall power given what I could now do as the Anael. Yet, as I finished making my way to the quaint community I had set out to visit, I didn't make use of this power. There was no real reason for me to do so just yet.

The village itself was a small thing made up of around twenty-five buildings, over twenty of which were residences. The rest were administrative buildings or buildings that served some purpose, such as storehouses, and of course a small chapel that was dedicated to myself and the other members of the grand pantheon that was worshiped throughout the empire. When I made it to the settlement night had just fallen so the village was shrouded in darkness.

I continued walking even when I passed the small gate that served as the town border. When I began to approach one of the houses within the town one of the sentinels that had been created when this place became part of my dominion turned to face me. It, like many of the sentinels, had a default form that was not merely that of a gargoyle. The sentinel's default form was that of an elven depiction of myself, a version of me that had the dark skin of a forest elf, the grace of a forest-dwelling creature, the colorless eyes of a non-higher elf, and the pointed ears of such a creature. The sentinel nodded at me, before turning back to face the community. 

I walked past the thing and made it to the "town square" where several buildings were all arrayed in a distinctive square around a small well. One of the buildings was the town inn, the only place in town that was inhabited by more than one family at the moment. I approached the small wooden building and gently pushed the door leading into the place open. I stepped into the inn and found myself inside of a large room that fused a lounge and reception room into one common space for both those staying at the inn and also provided space for anyone who just wanted to eat there without spending the night. 

A number of customers were seated at various tables and they all looked up to gaze at me curiously. I smiled, and walked up to an empty table before taking a seat and began to wait to be serviced. It would only take a few moments after my arrival for one of the establishment's wait-staff to notice me and begin to walk over, ready to inform me of the day's specials. 

For a short while, I was content to play at being nothing more than a passing traveler. I could have fun pretending to be no one of any real importance, and practicing with some of my stranger abilities. For the first time in several months, I could return to living a normal life for a few days. I didn't mind taking this opportunity to relax and exist within the confines of my empire. 

Lucianowrites

A new arc begins!