Side-note: This story has been (is being) re-written since the older version just wasn't holding up quality-wise and the plot went in circles. Each chapter will be updated as they're re-written. Hopefully, this new version is better!
. . .
The mundane echo of an explosion ripples through the halls of the temple, the sound causing the entire surface of the floating planet to vibrate in its intensity. Whis and the Oracle Fish look up from their close game of celestial chess at the familiar sound.
"My, is it really that time already?" The angel inquires, summoning his staff as well as rising from his seat to make his way towards the distant structure where a god laid asleep. Not for much longer, Whis absentmindedly reminds himself.
"I thought it'd be today." The Seer surmises as they float alongside the tall attendant, the water in his glass bowl sloshing around as it moves from side to side. "You think he'll wake easily this time?"
Whis only chuckles.
"If I'd expected him to wake easily we wouldn't need the hourglasses, it's a matter of what mood he wakes that I worry for."
The angel climbs the long spiral of stairs, humming quietly to himself as the walls and stone beneath his shoes continue to shake and tremble. He knows this temple by the smallest square inch, he could go about his day blindfolded if he so chose, and even if teleporting seemed more practical it was quite unnecessary. Whis throws open the doors and waltzes in without a care, dust still clouding the air around the room as he strides deeper through it. He can just barely make out the outline of the deity sitting upright, rubbing the sleep from his eyes with his fists like a child.
Clearing his throat, the angel pipes up and repeats an all too familiar phrase, not bothering to mind his volume in case Beerus happened to fall asleep sitting up.
"Rise and shine, my lord!"
Beerus jolts, having dozed off just a moment before and releases a groggy-sounding grunt of acknowledgment. He rose from his bed and descended to the floor; scratching a spot behind his ear and cracking his back. As soon as his bare feet touched the ground he was already making his way to the bathroom and tossing a balled-up nightgown in Whis's direction.
"Are you certain this is the right year, Whis? I've barely blinked and I'm already tired again." Beerus yawns.
"I could wake you after a century and you'd still say that. You're only groggy now because you slept so long." Whis catches the flying garment and whisks it away to the laundry without batting an eye, but the annoyance clearly slips through his features at the destroyer's standoffish behavior. He hadn't even received so much as a glance in his direction. Pushing those thoughts aside, the angel strolls into the bathroom to fill him in on today's plans.
Neither were phased by the fact that Beerus was bare and submerged in soapy water, the angel had been watching over him since he only reached his waist. That, and the destroyer used to run around the temple naked to evade all attempts to be bathed in his younger years. The purple cat pokes his head out of the water, noticing Whis's intrusion of his privacy.
"What?" Beerus demands, his voice void of all enthusiasm and full of impatience as the angel frowns.
"I do hope you remember the meeting you have today, my lord?"
Beerus grimaces, humming to himself in thought as his still half-asleep brain flips through the files of his reservations. He huffs, not at all pleased by the ides of attending a meeting so soon after rising, he just hopes it's not one of those dreadfully long ones with those incompetent—
Something clicks, and Beerus's mood sours drastically harsher as he realizes that it's precisely what he had hoped wasn't today.
"Right, right… A coordination meeting with the Supreme Kais if I'm not mistaken?" Beerus questions, his long ears flopping down flat on either side of his face, sinking dramatically into the bathwater to exaggerate his distress. Woe is me.
"Indeed, It has been a whole century after all." Whis nods, appearing almost sympathetic—even if he knows the destroyer likely can't see him. Though he isn't too conflicted about it, it gets boring sitting around for years on end as the deity slept the decades away, leaving his poor beloved attendant all alo~ne.
"What a killjoy, I was almost in a good mood too." The destroyer god huffs and hops out of the settling pool, the movement sending disturbed ripples across the surface and some to splash over the side, narrowly missing Whis's shoes. Whis only rolls his eyes, stepping away from the expanding puddle with a grimace of disgust.
One of the things Beerus enjoyed the least about his job was having to suffer through long, roundabout meetings with those higher-than-thou Supreme Kais he had the misfortune of being life-linked to. Conversating over trivial things such as restrictions, lists, and numbers, bah! Of course, as a destroyer, he had the ultimate power to eliminate whatever he wished—whether those choices be out of necessity or boredom—often straying beyond the list and ideas of his counterparts.
"Please do bide your time, my lord, unless you'd like to leave on an empty stomach?" Whis muses, prompting an increase in Beerus's haste.
. . .
It was absolutely liberating to finally feast on such delicious food again, though perhaps he was biased after a century of only sardines during his slumber—which in fact he never remembers eating, a curious thought indeed. The thought springs a question to his mind and propels his next order through his sharp teeth.
"Say, Whis?" The destroyer calls out of the blue, hearing a shuffle and a brief gust of winds before his attendant appears behind him.
"Yes, my lord?" Whis's reply comes almost instantaneously, despite the angel having been in an entirely different room just moments before.
"Did anything interesting happen while I was asleep?" Beerus asks suspiciously, licking his lips clean of dessert as he leans back into his floating chair, feet propped up on the table.
The angel chuckles, summoning his staff in preparation for an already predicted explanation of this very subject.
"If by interesting you also mean detrimental to your health, then yes, indeed."
Beerus's ear twitches as he turns away from grooming himself to shift his rarely undivided attention to the much-too-smug angel. Now he was definitely curious—if not a little worried—what was that supposed to entail?
"What do you mean 'detrimental to my health'? Has something happened?" Beerus hisses, eyes narrowed tightly, fist still hovering above his nose as he peered at Whis.
Whis only nods with a cool smile, his cheery expression vague, revealing nothing helpful to ease the deity before him. The destroyer clicks his tongue and crosses his arms, the annoyance radiating from his form.
"Alright, cut the crap, what happened while I was out?" Beerus demands.
Whis smirks, tapping his staff on the floor once, twice before it glowed bright green. He did love toying with the overgrown cat, how else would he entertain himself? The destroyer took such long naps that it got boring doing the housework and maintaining the vegetation outside. His only other form of companionship was the Oracle Fish, and while his presence in their games of celestial chess or other divine table-top time-passers was appreciated, even that got old after so long.
"Alright, I give, my lord," Whis surrenders, allowing the light of his staff to dim, a delay for the inevitable purpose it'd serve. "I suppose I should start out by informing you that four of the five Supreme Kais have been destroyed, concluding the existence of only one from now on—"
"What!?" Beerus spits out his sparkling water, eyes bulging as he propels himself onto the back of the chair, almost tipping it all the way back in the process. "You mean to tell me I was one measly Kai away from death and you didn't bother to intervene!?"
Whis frowns at the accusation, the disapproval creasing between his snowy-white brows and twisting his mouth to one side. He was used to having the blame pinned on himself, especially from the destroyer, but that didn't mean he had to tolerate it.
"With all due respect, my lord, while it is my duty to watch over you, it is not my responsibility to meddle with the affairs of the Supreme Kais," Whis counters, his tone calm with that edge of restrained irritation, even angels had a tongue to bite down on sometimes. "At least not without receiving direct orders from you to do so."
"Oh, that's a bunch of shit, Whis! You could've at least had the presence of mind to wake me when my life is in jeopardy—!" Beerus barks back, claws piercing the back of the chair, and the tiny hairs on his neck ruffling up.
"You gave me direct orders not to wake you," Whis interjects before Beerus could continue.
The angel's emotional detachment from the whole matter is possibly the most frustrating part of all this! He acts as if he can't think for his own self! But what can be argued with an angel who couldn't care any less about his or her own destroyer's… well… destruction.
"Before you go naming names, I did suggest you take care of Majin Buu beforehand," Whis starts, walking to stand on one side of the destroyer, who whips the hovering chair to face forward. "And, of course, you brushed off my warnings, what did we learn?"
Lord Beerus scowls, swearing to himself that his loathing for his attendant only grows with the years that pass, especially when he made valid points. Stupid logical sense! He was right, he'd brushed the alien monstrosity off, assuming his destructive path would soon die out and fade, leaving the destroyer with less work to do. But, of course, it was coming back to bite him in the ass.
"So that pink shit caused this, huh?" He pondered, the spike that eating had arisen in his mood dropping back into the miserable pit of his stomach, full or not.
Whis nods, his staff flashing brightly once more to replay the events of Majin Buu's rampage, the worrisome demise of the Supreme Kaioshins, and how despite their best efforts, the way their power paled in comparison to the monster Bibidi had created. Beerus was surprised to find the smallest one, previous in charge of the eastern quadrant, was the one to survive the fall. Even if only for the Grand Supreme Kais intervention, he had to give the kid props for not only taking over the position of Supreme Kai so quickly but also being the one to annihilate the cruel wizard to blame for his colleagues' deaths.
Interesting indeed.
"Well, well, well, that's something you don't see very dynasty ay, Whis?"
That had to be the first time he'd seen a Kai kill. It was completely against their oh-so-godly morals, and to be honest, he was sort of impressed. The East Supreme Kai was always such a meek and small fellow after all, who'd of guessed he'd be capable?
"How long ago was this?" Beerus queries, pondering his last living life-link.
Whis thinks for a moment, trying to recall the year. Or at least roughly he supposed, he's been alive so long that some years—and entire eras—merged into one another.
"I'd say two or so decades ago, give or take a year." Whis's staff blips and reminds them both of the time.
"This ought to be an interesting visit then," Beerus smirks, having tossed aside his anger for now. His mood swings were an enigma to the angel even to this day. "Let's not waste any more time."
. . .
The tranquil atmosphere of The Sacred World of the Kais hasn't changed. Everything was as peaceful and full of unique life as it always had been. And yet, it felt so drastically different to Shin now, no, it wasn't the same at all.
The only sound that reaches his pointed ears is the ambiance of wind bristling through the tree's branches above him, and the rustle of the grass as it dances under the light breeze. He used to like the quiet, the times way back when he would lie beneath the shade, nose-deep in a book, undisturbed and alone. He'd always been the timidest of the five Kais. He cherished the moments he could bask in solitude and silence, the free time he used to have so little of. But now it was… different.
It wasn't peaceful anymore, it was desolate. It wasn't just quiet anymore, it was chillingly empty, void of the calming voices of his former friends. Reading wasn't the same—no one to interrupt, even relaxing with a cup of his favorite tea wasn't the same. He wasn't just alone now, he was lonely.
He never used to feel like this. Maybe it was because back then, it was his choice to isolate himself, it was of his own volition that he would find himself alone with no one to bug him. Now he didn't have a choice, he'd be alone full-time, left alone with nothing but to think about how he took the company of his friends for granted.
Shin stared blankly at the crystal ball before him, legs crossed and hands folded in his lap. He could use his highly-enhanced vision to oversee the planets he created, but he'd picked up the habit of using this chunk of glass most of the time like Daikaioh used to. Could one blame him though? After all, Daikaioh was his teacher, the one he had looked up to far more than any other. It's become easier to forget his pain, now that his new position called for constant maintenance and observation.
Things got much easier on his shoulders after his servant, Kibito showed up from the great blue one day, claiming to have been sent by the Grand Kai to help share the weight of being the sole Supreme Kai. Shin doesn't doubt his abilities as he once did before ascending to this supreme role, but he was very aware of the fact that he would have never made so much progress without the stoic Kai's help and emotional support. Granted, he was a Kai of few words, but it was a nice change from being entirely alone like before.
Sleep has become a lost cause for him now, something so simple and conceptually small has evolved into an irrational fear of unconsciousness. His dreams are stricken with vivid nightmares of his friends' deaths, memories of the monster he had left sealed away on a faraway planet somewhere in the solar system he created. When he did sleep—or rather passed out from exhaustion, stress or both—it was only for short periods of time, punctuated by bad dreams and anxiety. He's worked himself half-to-death for years, using his duties to distract himself from his loneliness and guilt, and even when his resolve threatened to crumble under the pressure, he refused to shatter to the ground along with it.
He lost a lot. His friends, his confidence, the true fight against Majin Buu… He won the battle but lost the war in every sense of the phrase, and that trauma still lingers high over his head like bells. Sometimes he can even still hear them ringing.
Shin was morbidly aware that the coordination meeting with the God of Destruction was fast approaching, and he'd have to make some serious haste to achieve a third of the progress accomplished previously by five Kais, with only the power of one.
That was the thing about Universe Seven, with such a powerful destroyer and such a low mortal count, multiple Kais had been needed to share the workload. It's easier with Kibito around, but the older Kai can only help so much, only the Supreme Kai's had the authority to participate in the creation of worlds. And not abiding by these rules are punishable by erasure and the immediate replacement of a more formidable Kaioshin.
The small Kai already had to discuss resignation and replacement matters with the Grand Priest after the deaths of his associates, as well as renew cooperation vows as a sole life-link to his destroyer god. Why in the omniverse Lord Beerus wasn't required to attend was beyond his comprehension.
Shin would also have to prepare himself to start filling in the gaps of the old planets scheduled to be destroyed with new ones. This was going to be exceedingly difficult work without proper resting periods, and prior experience with celestial creation as a one-man job, both of which he had little of.
He kept a watchful eye over the planet, Earth, almost ready for Majin Buu to miraculously escape. This feat clung tightly to him, unironically fueling him to stay awake, something else that was becoming ever the more difficult.
He only wished to be able to stay conscious when Lord Beerus came.
. . .
Ending A/N: I have some headcanons that may conflict with canon elements in the series, and I'm writing from my personal perception of the show.