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The Oblivion Paradox - Episode One Paradox Unmasked
By
Celgress
"We live in the rain. A sea of change. You can't keep anything you take. The lovely face of lives we chase is but dust for wind to take. When all is gone the only lose is to not have loved at every cost."
I'll Be Okay (2014) Nothing More
The Mystical Isle of Avalon the distant past, morning
A hairless, albino man with a bulbous head clothed in a flowing white high collared robe tied with a brown rope belt sat alone on the beach watching the waves gently lap on the timeless shore. After several minutes of basking in the filtered sunshine of the partially cloudy day, the albino man was joined by another seemingly younger albino man with a bulbous head who wore a deep purple high collared robe tied with a black rope. The new arrival sat down joining the first albino man.
"How are you?" The White Robed Albino Man asked without looking at the new arrival.
"Fine, how are you?" The Purple Robed Albino stated as he also watched the horizon.
"Our mentor is worried about you Arnon." The White Robed Albino Man said.
"I don't care Uatu," Arnon said.
"He is still our mentor regardless of everything that has transpired. We'll always be connected. When are you going to forgive him?" Uatu said.
"Never," Arnon hissed. "He chose you as protector of the Scared Tree over me. That position should have been mine, we both know I deserved it more than you or any other candidate."
"How can you blame him for that choice when you left him no other options? Your recent actions have been deplorable nephew?" Uatu said. "You interfered directly in Lumeria affairs. We are sworn only to watch not to interfere, and certainly never to destroy. We are Watchers not butchers."
"They were moving too fast. They soon would have uncovered knowledge dangerous to all other lower forms of life. I took action." Arnon said defending his actions.
"You wiped them from existence." Uatu said.
"So, there was no other way," Arnon said dismissively. "Goodbye uncle, I must go. My denial of powers and banishment commence shortly. My unwarranted destiny awaits." Arnon got up from his sited position. "Save your goodbyes uncle. I'm not in the mood to hear them."
"Very well," Uatu said. "In which case, I instead wish you luck on the mortal plane."
"Luck is for fools." Arnon sneered down at his still seated uncle. "True beings of action make their own luck. Make no mistake, one day I will return if I must shatter space-time itself. When that day comes. I'll be in the position of dominance currently held by our mentor. Mark my words. When that day arrives the very stars themselves shall tremble in fear."
"Maybe so, but that day is not today," Uatu said.
"Goodbye uncle," Arnon said.
Rock Grotto on Avalon, an hour later
"Arnon of the Watchers, for your transgressions against life, natural order, and noninterference with the evolution of lesser lifeforms I hereby strip from you your natives talents and banish you forever from Avalon." A tall male being with blue metallic skin, red eyes and shimmering multicolored robes pronounced.
His name was Ximxasu. He was last of the Celestials. The ancient beings of nearly unimaginable might who ruled the primordial cosmos long ago until a mutually destructive war fought with the Children of Imperiex the Destroyer.
Around Ximxasu were a handful of Watchers who remained behind on Avalon with the Fae of various descriptions. Among these Fae were Oberon and Titania their king and queen. The Fae were the collective creations of the Watchers under the tutelage and close observation of Ximxasu. The purpose of the Fae was to help govern the natural forces of the outside world as well as guide lesser creatures only when deemed strictly necessary, something their high-minded creators expressed no interest in doing.
Ximxasu leaned forward. He embraced Arnon. "I am sorry my grandson." He whispered in the ear of the creation of his creations.
The Celestials had created the first generation of Watchers, as the Watchers in turn had created the Fae, shortly before their own demise. Arnon was different in that he had been created by the Watchers themselves in a vain attempt to propagate their race. Arnon, however, proved lacking in several key respects most glaring of all he was arrogant to the point of being immoral arrogant. His shortcomings convinced the elder Watchers to abandon further attempts at replication.
"As am I, grandfather," Arnon said driving a jagged three-foot long shard of darkly colored crystal he had concealed in his robes through Ximxasu's chest. It was a fragment of a sword once wielded by a child Imperiex, one of the few things that could mortally wound a Clestials. Arnon always naturally curious had found it while searching craves under the Island. Arnon then fell backward away from his mentor/creator into the writhing pool behind him vanishing.
Ximxasu collapsed on the stone floor. Cracks of dark energy spread rapidly across his body radiating outward from the shard that lay wedged in his chest. All present rushed to his side. First to arrive was Uatu who cradled the dying Celestial in his arms.
"My dear Uatu watch over the special ones." Ximxasu gasped. "Promise me you will protect them. They will bring harmony to our discordant cosmos improving the lives of many otherwise downtrodden lesser beings. I have foreseen this." With the last of his fading energies, Ximxasu projected images of the future superheroes of Earth into the mind of his protege.
"I promise you, father," Uatu said tears clouding his large white eyes.
Ximxasu shuddered as his body broke apart into many small pieces. His internal energies sputtered before dying taking the shard with them. Thus passed the Ximxasu last of the Celestials.
Sixty-Five Million Years Ago the Paleogene Period in what is today Australia, afternoon
A terrible doom would soon befall the planet Earth. Eons uncounted dinosaurs had ruled Earth yet now their days were numbered. A giant comet was on a collision course with this world. An impending disaster they could do little to advert in spite of their impressive size. In a matter of days they and their Era would go beneath the millwheel of time.
The young Watcher Arnon raged impotently at the unfairness of a cold, impersonal, uncaring universe from his position atop a high hill. Staring up at the hazy sky he bitterly thought of all the things he would never experience again in life. Stripped of his powers including immortality, this would surely be his end. He let out a howl of pent up emotional pain when by coincidence a blast of flame and energy overhead dropped something from the sky.
Arnon reached with with his two hands. He caught the strange metallic object of gold and blue. Recognition dawned on him immediately. He knew what this thing was and what it could do. The Phoenix Gate had been forged by the Celestials on Avalon long before his birth. With enough skill one could use the gate to travel anywhere in time and space on the Earth or beyond.
With the legendary Phoenix Gate in his possession Arnon could now physically travel anywhere he wished, save Avalon which was protected from such direct travel. With it perhaps he could save himself then gain revenge against his tormentors. There must be a way? Although all Watchers were taught from a young age the flow of established mortal history could not in any substantial way be altered, loopholes could be created he also knew. No rule existed free of exceptions, especially natural ones. Their extensive experiments had also taught them that. An exception or exceptions the young Watcher vowed he would discover to the apparent immutability of the established historical sequence.
"My salvation is at hand," Arnon declared.
So many choices now lay before him. Where in history should he go and what should he do once he arrived at his chosen destination? Following several long minutes of consideration a plan began to form in the young Watcher's fertile mind, a wonderfully wicked scheme that would surely succeed. He would collect other artifacts of immense potency, like that which had slain his unsuspecting fool of a father, until he became powerful enough to make his own rules rather than follow those imposed upon him by others. Only then would he return home and claim his rightful place as Lord of All Creation! In the meantime he would take a new name. One the reflects his status as a disturber of established order. He would become Paradox! He grinned then snickered. Activating the Phoenix Gate Arnon now Paradox vanished into the future accompanied by a surge of fire and light.
To Be Continued