Disclaimer: I do not own anything you may recognize

Thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed or reviewed this fic so far.

Thanks a lot to Brainstorm Sorcerer and Marcus S. Lazarus for their suggestions on this chapter.

This too is between 'King in Black' and 'Return of the Devourer'.

Guest1320: Thanks for the review, and glad it was interesting. Glad you like the logic as well, and true on everything you said. Not gotten into SCP yet. No kidding on the 4th Thor film either. Glad to hear it.

Guest: Thanks for the suggestion and now that's a future plan.

Chapter 58- Who are you really?

Ulmo was about to leave for the seas when Gandalf asked him from behind. "How did the rest fare against Knull then, Lord Ulmo?"

"We could not interfere as much as we desired to, due to the power that Knull's sword had, if he even wounded any of us, his power would have grown", Ulmo pointed out grimly. "Fortunately, at last he was slain by what none expected."

"Indeed, love is the greatest of powers it seems", Gandalf noted. "So it seems that is one more threat to all of Eä destroyed once and for all."

"Yes, it is", Ulmo nodded, before his brow frowned. "However, Lord Vishnu did seem to be aware of Richard Parker's presence inside of Knull's Necrosword."

"What makes you say that?" Gandalf inquired.

"When he protected young Peter Parker's loved ones from Knull's assault, he said that at the end of the day he is not the one who will stop Knull", Ulmo remembered Lord Krishna's exact words. "And few moments later, Richard Parker's presence was revealed."

"Now it's a wonder how he knew", Gandalf looked down.

"He is quite cryptic, I do not think even us Valar together could truly understand him when he speaks", Ulmo confessed that Lord Vishnu was probably the Valar's intellectual superior as well. "Yet, when he talks, it seems like the darkness will go away, and there will be nothing but light spanning across all of Eä one day, very soon as well."

"Now I wish to meet him myself once just to see for myself, considering how highly you speak of him Lord Ulmo", Gandalf had to say, since what Ulmo was telling him about Lord Vishnu was fascinating him quite a bit, and in a good way.

It had been a while since he had been fascinated in such a manner by anyone.

"I think I have a suspicion of who he really is, but I do not want to really say anything, whether my suspicions are true or not", Ulmo finally said before reaching the ocean. "Farewell, Olórin."

"Farewell, Lord Ulmo", Gandalf said respectfully as Ulmo became one with the seas once more and left.

Later

Gandalf was now at the base of the Council of Godheads, and he looked around at the insides of the place, which many probably did not pay attention to, due to the fact that usually all of the Gods would be present in here.

There were murals which depicted the past of these Gods, he noticed.

One mural depicted Hades standing alongside other Olympians against the Titans during the war against them, while another depicted his abduction of Persephone, and then another depicting him and Persephone ruling the Underworld together.

"Things do seem to change for the better", Gandalf noted about Hades and Persephone, before looking at some murals of Sun Wukong, one of which depicted him defeating all the armies of Heaven, and another one showed him in the Buddha's palm, and one more of him with Tang Sanzang.

And then he saw some murals of the Dagda, one of which showed him building the fortress called Dún Bres, while another showed him drinking porridge from his own magical cauldron.

There was more, like some depicting the battles of Horus with Set, and Lord Ulmo had some too, including one where he appeared to Tuor, and another where he saved Elwing.

Then he saw some of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati, including one of them sitting together as Mount Kailash, and another of Lord Shiva destroying Kamadeva just by opening his third eye.

There was one more of Ravana being trapped under Mount Kailash by Lord Shiva, while Goddess Parvati was shown in her ferocious form of Goddess Kali slaying the Demon Raktabīja.

And then, he looked at depictions of Lord Vishnu, including some depictions of all of his incarnations, and he especially looked at some depictions of Lord Krishna, with depictions of his killing of Kamsa, protecting Draupadi's grace and of course giving the Bhagavad Geeta knowledge to Arjuna really catching his attention.

There were some writings under all the murals too, to tell what these Gods had done. Gandalf read up everything under Lord Vishnu's murals that he could, including tales of all his 10 incarnations, and one of them called Kalki still seemed to be upcoming.

"Are you interested in what you are seeing, Olórin?"

Gandalf turned around, and he knew who it was in front of him. It was Lord Vishnu, in his Lord Krishna form, having a smile on his face.

"Lord Vishnu, or Lord Krishna, it is my honor to meet you", Gandalf bowed to him. "Accept my greetings."

"Greetings, Olórin of the Maiar", Krishna greeted him with folded hands. "Tell me, what brings you here?"

"I just heard a lot about you from Lord Ulmo, so it made me compelled to want to meet you", Gandalf confessed to him. "I just wanted to know you better."

Krishna smiled, gesturing to a table with a chessboard nearby, and it was obvious to Gandalf what he was hinting at.

They sat down on opposite sides of the table, as Krishna asked Gandalf. "So, what do you wish to talk of?"

"I read about the things you have done in each age", Gandalf confessed. "I do not think I know many Deities who have taken so many forms amongst humanity to battle evil like that."

"When evil gains the upper hand over good, it becomes necessary to destroy it", Krishna confessed to Gandalf. "And that is the truth for every world, for that was your mission too, was it not?"

Krishna made the first move, moving the pawn in front of the queen by one square.

Gandalf replied to him. "Indeed, it was. And reading of you, I am quite reminded of my own mission. I was sent to guide the Free Peoples in defeating Sauron, but not dominate them in the struggle. So I had to make many plans, and execute them at the right to make sure that the Free Peoples had victory, and Sauron lost."

"Indeed, guiding is the ultimate aim, what they do next is up to them", Krishna nodded with a smile. "And the War of the Ring teaches us quite a lot of things, does it not?"

"Like?" Gandalf asked, moving the pawn in front of the bishop by one square.

"That individuality and differences are the root causes of evil. While unity is the basis of righteousness", Krishna looked at Gandalf and asked with a slightly naughty look in his eyes. "How?" He smiled. "Ponder yourself over it, Olórin."

Gandalf seemed to be pondering over it, as Krishna continued. "A person always has expectations within their heart for power, wealth, happiness, luxury. Yet their loved ones, a person always treats their loved ones fairly. Because a person knows that the reason for their happiness is their loved ones. The reason for their contentment is their loved ones. They also know their happiness is dependent on the society, but they sometimes do end up treating the society unfairly, because they do not consider society the reason for their happiness, rather a medium to achieve happiness."

As Gandalf processed what was being said, Krishna continued. "The difference lies only in the perspective." His smile returned. "Yet, when one realizes that everyone is a manifestation of The One, and every creature is part of the Almighty, they realize that no one is separate. Everyone is our own." He gestured around with his hands. "This whole Multiverse is ours! Our own family." He lowered his hands. "So there is no reason for anger. All enmity, jealous and revenge get destroyed." He put a hand over his chest. "Devotion to The One", he joined both hands, "and unity between all, are the root principles of righteousness."

Looking at Gandalf, Krishna said. "The War of the Ring, is a journey from darkness to light. From diversity to unity. As long as people living on Middle-earth remember it, and what came before, no Dark Lord shall ever threaten them again. No power will be able to detract from the greatness of this journey."

It seemed that this was the end of what he was saying. Looking at Krishna, Gandalf nodded, seeming to understand what he was saying, before asking. "So, is all of this pre-planned, or does one have to choose?"

"A path is laid out for all, how they tread it is up to them, some guidance can be given, but we cannot control them", Krishna pointed out. "In this vast Multiverse, there are many Universes where things happened differently simply because of different choices. So even if there is a plan, there is always value in free will and choices, that is why this is all so vast, and beyond comprehension. Is it not true?"

And in that moment, Krishna moved his queen diagonally to a corner, cornering Gandalf's king, surprising the White Wizard, as no one except Saruman could even give him a competition, yet now he had been defeated quite easily.

Looking up at Krishna, he said. "It is true." He stood up, bowing once more. "I take my leave of you, Lord. I thank you for speaking with me."

Krishna stood up himself, joining his hands. "And I thank you for speaking with me. Farewell, Olórin."

"Farewell", Gandalf nodded, before leaving, a smile on his face. He had gotten answers that were satisfactory enough to at least give some semblance of confirmation to his suspicions.

And that was all he wanted.

Mahabharata 2013 Yada Yad Hi Dharmasya plays

Krishna looked at the chessboard, then at the murals depicting the pasts of various Deities, including his own, especially the depiction of him giving the Bhagavad Geeta knowledge to his beloved friend Arjuna.

And seeing that, he smiled once more.

That ends this one. Thank you to Brainstorm Sorcerer and Marcus S. Lazarus once more.

This was quite interesting to do.

I suck at chess so the moves were basic but hope the philosophical talk was enjoyed.

Hope all enjoyed and see you all next time with another chapter.