My various trains of thought continued to work all while my retinue and I made our way towards the vast door that led to my throne room. As we walked closer and closer to the distant doorway I explored the corners of my mind.
Exploring my mind was normally not something that truly meant much. Or at least it hadn't been, until I had imbibed the essences that were now a part of my very soul. Now that I had become an essence-filled being… My mind had changed.
I no longer possessed something like a "Subconscious" or any sort of part of my mind that dwelled beyond my conscious reach and control. My whole mind laid open and ready to be used by me, without any trace of deception or attempts to hide secrets from me.
I instantaneously explored every quiet corner of my mind. This was an easy action for me, and one that was quite informative. Doing this allowed me to instantaneously experience entire lifetimes of memories, memories that I immediately began to fully value and feel powerfully grateful for.
Deep within the mind of the essence-filled divinity who was currently making his way to the throne of his powerful yet infantile empire sat powerful memories of a distant world. The world of Nirn had thrice been saved or forever changed by the original holders of some of the memories that sat within the mind of the youthful god who was exploring his true home.
In some of these memories he had human hands and those hands powerfully clenched swords and shields to wield against the dovah themselves. In some of them he was a gifted elf who wielded the arcane arts against a trinity of false divinities who had fed on the power of a scheming trickster god. In one set of those memories he was a powerful tiger-like thief who wandered the lands of Cyrodiil to find the tools needed to stop a plot by Mehrunes Dagon.
Each of these memories were critically important to his overall development and he thoroughly and fully absorbed them for the sake of what he was going to do. All of these incredibly different memories informed him of three of the vastly different philosophies which helped govern life in Nirn, the way of the thief, the way of the warrior, and the way of the mage.
The young god felt a growing appreciation for the excellent power of a mighty shield, or a well-placed and properly poisoned arrow, as well as a healthy appreciation for a power that he had already appreciated; a well-aimed spell. Unlike the heroes who had saved the world of Nirn, Andrew was internalizing their memories and gaining an even greater appreciation for the power of balance.
His endlessly analytical mind studied the memories of the heroes within him and he noted instances in which mixing the talents of the warrior, the mage, and the thief would have produced better results than any singular skillset could have alone. His crystalline consciousness was capable of effortlessly turning the memories of the three heroes into powerful simulations wherein he could edit any circumstances.
The impossibly powerful mind of the divinity proceeded to create trains of thought to do just that. He recreated battles wherein the heroes of Nirn had fought and swapped out the skillsets of the heroes. In some battles, the hero known as the Dovahkiin possessed a potent mastery over magic, while the tiger thief who'd become the Champion of Cyrodiil was a swordsman, and the Nerevarine was a thief. In other simulations, each of the heroes mixed and matched their skills.
These replications, coupled with the god's own mastery over death and magic, were all painstakingly accurate. They showed the god the power of both specialty and of attempting to master everything. He internalized that knowledge and decided to muse on it. He needed time to think about it and figure out how to incorporate the best lessons from both sides of this debate.
The glib part of him internally quipped that he was now involving himself in the eternal debate; "To min-max or to not min-max, that is the question." He joked, though he kept his mind a silent and imposing fortress to his companions, aside from Ben who could pierce his mental defenses no matter what at the moment.
In all of those memories he could remember the families of his past selves. He could remember the husband of the champion, the wife and daughters of the Nerevar that he had last been, and the wife of the dovahkiin. He even remembered the memories of his life with Almalexia...
It was a good thing that he had perfect memory. That memory allowed him to effortlessly and truly become the reincarnation of the Nerevar! He remembered every spell the mer had ever cast. He remembered every time the legendary hero had swung his sword. His mind now matched and eclipsed that of Indoril himself, something that made the creature feel a particular pang of pride...
Andrew's multi-sided mind wasn't just doing mental housekeeping. Now that he was armed with knowledge he effortlessly utilized the immense power of the esoteric artifact known as the "Mind Stone" to go ahead and do some actual housekeeping.
He silently tethered his mind to the omniversal, or rather… pleniversal internet to which he was tethered and set about doing important tasks. The first thing he did was to go and silently pay off his rent for the month, though the train of thought assigned that task mentally complained all the while.
The second thing he did was pen an eloquent email to his boss, informing him that the young divinity was quitting. He had absolutely no reason to stay at that job and he didn't intend to do so out of a desire to look normal.
He didn't mind the idea of working as a disguise, but he wasn't about to work at a place that he loathed the thought of going to a number of days a week. He'd rather look odd for a few weeks while penning a masterpiece or something than stay at a lazy job.
The divinity of art went ahead and opened up a Google Drive document and began to type, using his powerful attributes such as his connection to the Speed Force to think, and thus type, at a speed that no unpowered human could ever hope to emulate. As he did this he also selected another domain to add to his list; the domain of art.
By combining this with the essence of hyper competence and focusing on the art subdomain of literature the powerful divinity was able to effortlessly write a complex, thrilling, fantasy story. That same train of thought proceeded to email that story to a prominent American publishing company so that the young divinity could have a plausible source of income and a way to begin to build a following.
Meanwhile, the young godling continued to spin the rocks around himself using the cosmic energy source known as The Force. With each rotation around him the rocks spun slightly differently, under the control of one of the streams of thought that the god had created earlier in the day.
Each orbit around him caused the power and influence he wielded over The Force to grow at significant rates. Due to the effects of mighty essences like the essence of skill mastery, potent powers such as the "Atlas" pinnacle type-grey power from the "Power Creator Xenon" power, and even the "Skillful" abnormality from the world of Medaka Box, as well as the "Hard Work Pays Dividends" perk, each bit of training he did with a power of his was significantly enhanced.
This was so true that even without passively training some of his powers he was slowly but surely growing in power. He refused to allow a single second to pass without growing, now that he had the freedom to become someone of importance.
Andrew had come to enjoy his powers and he intended to reap the benefits of them in both the worlds he jumped to and the world he was from. As far as he was concerned, it was time for the age of Andrew to begin!
One of the benefits of having a multi-train mind was that it allowed me to do a lot. It turned out that when time was frozen in the world of my birth I could do a lot more as well! As I made my way to the throne room, and to the vault behind it, I found myself pushing my mind further than ever before.
Because of this I found myself gaining the same potent mastery over magic, the same thieving skills, and even the mighty sword arm of some of Nirn's greatest champions, I ended up quitting my job, and I even wrote a book, all at the same time! What's more is that I did this before I even opened the vast door that prevented my companions and I from viewing the throne which we had come here to see.
When I was in front of the gigantic door, which stretched several meters tall, I placed a single hand on it and the thing pushed itself open. As it opened it revealed the place that was the gleaming jewel of my bizarre subterranean palace; the throne room.
Never in my life had I seen so much opulence in one place. The throne room was decorated with glimmering statues that all turned to peer at me. The statues were of various kinds of creatures, from minotaurs to drakes and a few consisted of strange spectral beings such as one of a lich and another of what I knew to be a dragon priest from Skyrim, the province in Tamriel.
At the heart of the room stood a dias on which sat a throne. The throne was constructed from gemstones and supernaturally altered to demand attention. Even the gorgeous statues paled in comparison to the eye-catching radiance of the throne.
The thing was an artifact of great power. It was the single greatest tether to the number of alternative bodies I posessed that were situated throughout the palace's innards. If I sat in it I could control my golden-wrought body, the part of me that was a divine egg situated near the heart of the strange mega-world I was inside of, and even my commander body that could create and deploy vast militaristic technology.
Funnily enough the throne was not tethered to some of the strange entities who had pledged themselves to me already, such as the army of alien soliders who had come into existence when I had absorbed all of the essences within me.
Instead, the throne was meant to be my greatest weapon for when I needed to unleash my mightiest bodies and most secretive weapons.
The armies of aliens and otherworldly invaders that I could command were phasing into existence in the skies above my planet-sized megastructure. I could distantly hear their technology seeping into existence fully constructed, out of nothing. The armies inhabiting the ships were the same way as well, coming into existence ex-nihilo, fully trained and fanatically loyal to me.
We did not stop to actually examine the throne when we entered the room. We all visually studied it, and proceeded to walk past it at a brisk pace, since we had come here for one reason and one reason only; to see the vault that was not far from where we were at the moment.
Truthfully, being in this placid paradise felt… It made me feel like I was being lazy! I had all of this power and this power was practically begging to be used. I wanted to be out in the world, in the actual, real world with this power and be using it.
This was an important destination that I fully planned to take advantage of, but to actually spend much more time here right now, when I could be out in the real world and preparing for my actual jumpchain would have been a waste of my time. I was quite grateful that we were able to ignore the beauty of the throne and the statues, for now anyway.
We strode past the throne, and the statues and made our way to a thin door that stood not far behind the actual throne room. When we reached it I grabbed the thing and pushed it open without much ceremony, though as I did I simultaneously did two things at the exact same time; I activated the powerful abilities of two mighty essences.
The first was the essence of the elven progenitor, a potent essence that allowed me to become a perfect elf, and the second was the essence of the angel emperor. The essence of the angel emperor was my ultimate good-aligned essence, it made me a heavenly monarch affiliated with the loftiest ideals that some humans associated with angels, as well as the lord and master of an afterlife fit for saints, heroes, and all-around good people, my own version of Heaven.
The essence of the angel emperor also gave me power over the seven heavenly virtues, behaviors opposite those of the seven, or more accurately, eight deadly sins. It turned me into a potent hero who was majestically resplendent and virtuous, a fitting form for me to meet Almalexia, a heroine who was once hailed as "Mother Morrowind" and "Lady of Mercy".
I felt a glorious halo spring to life over my head as six majestic wings the color of my skin come out of my back and came to life around me, flapping idly as they sprang to life. As they did I felt my skin take on a golden-yellow hue, I also felt my eyes become golden-blue orbs and I even felt my ears curve into points at the end. All of this happened the very same instant that I swung the door in front of me open and stepped into the first vault in my palace.
Almalexia had been standing near the entrance to the vault awaiting the emergence of her husband, or rather his reincarnation, quite curiously. When she heard distant footsteps beginning to approach the vast thin door leading into the fully stacked vault, she smiled and felt her powerful, divine heart beginning to pound in her lithe chest.
A few moments after the distant footsteps began they reached the very edge of the door, and Andrew himself stood so close to the vault's door that Almalexia could see her reincarnated husband's shadow. The figure then proceeded to hurl the door open, startling the once-goddess who had been waiting to be reunited with her love.
The figure who appeared before her did not have the appearance of Indoril Nerevar, but he did have a similar air of radiant power and the same eyes and the same sort of ancient beauty that other chimer did. He also had enhanced muscles, which strained against his clothing, and he sported three pairs of majestic golden wings.
Almalexia's eyes filled with a range of emotions, including a deep and passionate love for her husband, even as she took a step forward and gazed at the figure before her. She fell to her knees, her scarlet dress blunting the impact of the fall, as she magically retrieved one of her prized possessions; the ring of her husband, and gazed up at her husband.
Almalexia was only five and a half feet tall. She stood taller than Andrew had prior to his apotheosis, but only by a few inches. She wore a scarlet dress, possessed an aura of pink energy, and had long red hair and golden eyes that were commonly associated with the chimer.
"I… If you really are him, please put this ring on. Show me that you are the figure who defeated me in that blasted clocktower, and in doing so freed me from my insanity." She asked, piteously. Her husband gazed at her, his eyes filled with their own potent mix of emotions, as he stepped forward and grabbed the ring in her hands.
"This is his… Your, ring. Put it on, please my lord husband." She asked the angelic figure. He grabbed the strange, in his eyes anyway, ring and without hesitation, he slipped the ring onto his ringer finger. Almalexia continued to study him expectantly, even while nothing happened.
Her face slowly began to light up as she watched and waited for some sort of reaction from that ring's patron prince; Azura. She would wait for nearly half a minute, before Andrew would chuckle quietly. He studied the ring, and began to smile as he did so.
"So this is Moon-and-Star…" He uttered, as he studied the ancient dwemer artifiact. It had been made in the distant past, crafted by master crafters in the employ of the dwarven sorcerer-king Kagrenac, and had been blessed by Azura herself to grant its wielder incredible persuasive powers.
The ring glimmered on the ring finger of the mighty divinity. Almalexia looked overjoyed as she saw that the ring hadn't struck him down. That could only mean that the figure standing over her was in fact the reincarnated form of her husband, the mighty lord Indoril Nerevar!
"Almalexia… What a beautiful gift you've brought me." Andrew proclaimed, a brillant and calm smile on his face. His voice had the majestic beauty of a choir of angels, and he glanced down away from the ring for a second. As he did that, he laid his eyes on the bounty laying past Almalexia.
Behind the goddess sat a bunch of treasure, piled from the floor to close to the ceiling in some parts. Pearls, diamonds, gold pieces, and more sat lazily in the pile, just waiting to be noticed by someone with an intrepid eye. Andrew noticed it, but he ignored it. Instead he pulled Almalexia up off of the floor with a single motion, effortlessly lifting this rather flighty and frail chimer elf, before pulling her into a warm hug.
The two were still for a long time, their arms wrapped around each other as they both felt their memories together come to the forefront of their minds. Their silent embrace was one that contained all of their love for each other, and one that was an overdue apology for the time that they spent apart, as well for the events that made them enemies when the Nerevar reincarnated and slew Dagoth Ur as well as Almalexia.
They spoke soft, almost unintelligibly, and focused on their time apart. They spoke of the middle of things, such as the time they had spent apart, hat with Indoril being dead and Almalexia being a goddess of life and a critical member of the tribunal. They spoke of days where they missed each other first thing when they awoke and when they missed each other as the day was coming to an end and of the times in their lives when they had been foes, and she had turned to seek comfort in the arms of another; Vivec, Indoril's old ally.
The two dragons watching this moment watched jealously, and when the two long-lost lovers finally detached themselves from each other, Andrew turned to Ben and smiled. There was a look of innocent joy on his face, simple elation. The look, on the face of an angel, was almost impossible to resist. When Andrew spoke, his voice was softer than it had ever been, backed by a subtle soundtrack of stereotypically angelic music to back his words.
Ben had heard a sound not like that in a long time, and so he visibly and audibly gasped as Andrew spoke.
"May my party and I go and finish our quest? I want to get back home." Asked the impatient once-human. Ben's eyes widened, and he audibly laughed as he heard this.
"Oh… So you're that ready to get back huh? I… I suppose I could do that." Ben said, poorly feigning pain and grief at the idea of Andrew being so desirous to be do anything but stay here, with him.
"But since you want to go ahead and finish this. I'll even give you all a boon. I'll erase the party, I had programmed to go with you. That way your friends can take their place. Your new, real friends." Explained the omnipotent entity. The eldritch being paused for a moment and looked glib as he thought up a new idea.
"Actually… I'll spawn you right next to Wave-Echo Cave. The setting for the ultimate evil in the adventure you were sent there to find, and defeat. That way you don't have to travel the whole way from your current location to the home of the final boss." Ben stated, confidently and with a cartoonishly large smile on his face.
"I'm excited for you and willing to help nudge you in the right direction but that doesn't mean I'll let you just get to leave here without any sort of adversity. If you're ready, just nod at me and I'll whisk you along your way." Ben proclaimed, as he studied the two divinities and the pair of dragons.
Andrew turned and looked at Almalexia with a bright smile on his serene face. Seeing it put the elven woman at ease, even though she didn't know what she was getting herself into. He also turned and looked at his draconic pets, who were annoyed with him at the moment for paying so much attention to the pseudo-divine woman Andrew had, kind of, once been married to.
"I… I want you all to come with me. I would like you all to see the world of Abeir-Toril by my side, and help me vanquish more monsters. After that, when we're back on Earth, we could discuss the future. But for now… would you aid me in passing this simulated test?" He asked them.
Andrew's voice was becoming more and more beautiful with every passing utterance, thanks to his decision to make art, and its related subdomains, part of his deific portfolio. The three women found that his beseeching them moved them, no matter how annoyed they had been, to want to aid him. All three women nodded, though only Almalexia seemed truly genuine at the moment.
The dragons were not excited just yet. Though when Andrew turned to Ben and nodded, the dragons shivered in delight as the magic of the omnipotent entity washed over their bodies. As the four adventurers began to dissipate and head to the simulated simulation of the Forgotten Realms, all of them began to smile. At least a little.
Soon it'd be time for them to go to their home and make it their own. But for now… They were returning to the Forgotten Realms!
It'd only take what felt like a split second for Andrew to go from standing in the depths of the rich vault to standing at the edge of a forest where a tunnel ominously opened before them. The tunnel seemed to jut out of the ground organically and led into a large cavern Andrew could see thanks to his potent, deific vision.
