The Gadgetzan Gazette (Warcraft)
Author: Ashynarr
Summary: Moments within and outside the timeline that were, are, might be, or might never have been. Or, in other words, a drabble collection featuring the wide cast and timeline of the Warcraft universe.
Disclaimer: Warcraft's not mine.
Warning: Probably noncanon
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Very few knew of it, but Nozdormu was not the only of the Aspects with access to the weave of time and space.
Of course, Malygos could not feel the flow of time around him instinctively, nor could he move through it at a whim as his fellow Aspect's flight could. What he had instead was magic, to such a refined and potent degree that the laws of the universe bent to his whim. And sometimes, when he wasn't busy with matters and studies of his own world, he would use his powers to bend other universes to his whim as well.
It wasn't an easy process - it took an artifact left behind by Norgannon himself in order to provide the focus needed to breach the tumultuous layers between universe and resolve the view to a degree capable of providing information - but he and his children were more than capable of providing the power necessary for their research.
Which came back around to the concepts of time and space. The number of universes abounding around their own was nigh infinite, each possessing their own unique timelines and histories and even magics, and were not bound to the same rate of passage of time as their own. Some crawled compared to the viewers, while others leapt and bounded ahead far more quickly.
Some of these universes even closely mirrored their own, and that was one of the main focuses of Malygos and his select group of researchers. He studied their histories and differences in detail, seeing what had brought about success or tragedy for them and how they might use their magic just a bit differently.
He'd seen himself and his siblings alternate between sweet madness and horrific sanity, seen himself tear apart Azeroth in a desperate bid to save it from itself, seen what he might have become if he were not so wary of the consequences. In such, he felt a certain kinship to his temporally unbound brother, having witnessed his death enough to have started becoming desensitized to it.
(Maybe one day he would go mad and have to be put down as well as his alternates. Until that day, he would do everything in his power to keep his children and his world safe.)
He'd seen mortals rise to prominence once, never, or a thousand times, he'd seen civilizations collapse or rise, he'd even seen worlds where the divergences were so great that he could barely recognize Azeroth for what it was. All of this was dutifully recorded and maintained, for if (not when, not if he could help it) his flight was brought to its knees, something needed to remain of their efforts.
He gazed on worlds that were nothing like Azeroth as well - worlds without a drop of magic to their names, worlds where technology had risen sapients to the level of the Titans, worlds of peace and worlds of war, worlds so surreal that even he could not watch them for long. All these, too, were recorded, though they were kept even from what rumor mills abounded in the isolationist blue flight.
And then there were the worlds where they, very rarely, managed to make contact. These ones he personally recorded and maintained, no detail escaping his mind or his scrolls. It had only happened a handful of times in the millennia since he had first discovered the full capabilities of the titan artifacts he'd been left, and were it to get out… well, look at what the mortals would do with access to just one other world!
Thrice he had spoken with his own counterparts, seen madness and sanity alike reflected back at him. Twice he had spoken to his siblings - once to Alexstrasza, shortly after his death in that world, and once to Neltharion, when he had been the only Aspect left with his mind intact after the horrors his world had gone through. Once, he had spoken to the young blue dragon who would replace him as Aspect, and found during their conversation that Kalecgos was a fine choice for the difficult task.
And four times, he had spoken to those who had never heard of Azeroth.
The first had been a world where, amusingly enough, the wildlife were the ones to wield magic instead of the resident humans. The anomaly on their side had been noticed by one of said creatures, who had quickly investigated while Malygos had been recording the magical subdivisions of the world. 'Mewtwo', as he called himself, had been rather helpful once the situation had been explained, in exchange for some information on magic and Azeroth's style of wielding it.
(He might have to check in on that again soon, actually. Perhaps see if he could locate more of those 'legendary' pokemon.)
The second had been a world ravaged by shadowy beasts, reminiscent of the fel beasts that still roamed certain patches of Azeroth. That had been a more deliberate reach out, offering what knowledge he could to help the peoples who lived there survive and fight back against the darkness. He was not certain of their fate, but he held hope that they had pulled through despite the overwhelming odds they seemed to face.
What the third world had lacked in magic it had had in technology, much of which was the equal if not greater than their counterparts in Azeroth. He hadn't spoken to any of the local mortals, instead speaking with one of the ascended beings akin to the Naaru, if far more egotistical. Still, there had been much to learn from the various races of that galaxy, and his assistants were still spending time going from planet to planet in order to properly document what might be worth further research.
The fourth world... had not truly been a world. It had been a continent floating through space, much like the Outlands he'd viewed time and again, and it had had beings living there that reminded him a great deal of the Titans, if smaller. One of the younger ones, their equivalent of Loken, had caught onto his subtle viewings and had investigated. It had been rather amusing to be the elder and wiser of the two this time around, and their conversation had lasted quite a while. Eventually, though, he had had to go before anyone noticed he was missing, and Malygos had had to end the spell so the artifact could cool down.
His claws slid down the artifact, pondering what world he might see this time. With all the things he'd see so far, his appetite for the unknown had only grown, fueled both by firm awareness of his own mortality and his desire to make up for all he'd done so far.
Where were those assistants, anyways? How did they expect him to get work done when they weren't there to do their own tasks on time?
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AN: And another update for this instead of Icebound, whoops. At the least, I've developed a new appreciation for blue dragons and have them firmly settled alongside the bronze dragons as favorites simply because SPACE. And if you think I'm making stuff up in this, look at the gamepedia and wowwiki pages and realize that Malygod CANONICALLY has the capability to observe other universes.
Like. Holy fuck. That would have been so useful? But it never comes up? I blame titan bullshit that lets him do it but still!