The Universe, Nebula of God, Winding Tree Palace
Far from Earth, out of the Milky Way Galaxy, within a nebula, was a 'planet'. Perhaps planet was too loose a term to define this structure? While it did in fact orbit a sun — two, in fact, the perks of a binary star system — it wasn't round. There were other planets within this strange system, but this was by far the strangest; an upside, pyramidal structure made of an odd material — it appeared as if it were some sort of metal — and atop this material was greenery of all sorts. However, at the top of the upside-down pyramid was a winding tree. It appeared dead, as no leaves grew upon its branches, though this world appeared inhospitable to begin with.
However, within this winding tree, an immense palace had been built. It was made of shimmering white stone, constructed into the trunk of the large, winding tree. It possessed multiple towers, and filled the free from the base trunk, well until it reached just under the branches of the immense plant. The inside of the palace was far more curious. For such a large structure, it was almost entirely empty; devoid of servants, other forms of waiting staff, or even the lord apparent.
The key word, however, was 'almost'. Within the confines of the Palace, high within its upper levels, slept a man of immense status within the Universe. Appearing as a humanoid, but hairless, cat, he was garbed in a white cloth, and slept atop a bed that rested on a floating rock. Within this bedchamber, other rock formations floated, but most curiously, perhaps, were glass-like bubbles which contained gigantic hourglasses. The most striking feature of the room, however, was the monstrous cobra statue, of intimidating stature. Within its unhinged jaws rested yet another large hourglass, and the sand within this glass were rapidly falling to the bottom.
The remaining hourglasses were following suit, and soon, the sand had reached the bottom within every timepiece the room contained.
And yet nothing happened.
These hourglasses functioned as alarms, and were meant to explode when the sands of time reached the end, as only 'alarm bombs' would awaken this man from his catnap. The hourglasses, in fact, performed a function that was by no means afforded to them; they flipped back over, and the sand of time began to fall again. These were intended to be single use spheres, and such a feature would be highly alarming; had anyone actually seen it occur.
There was an entity watching, a person all too familiar with this location.
"You must forgive me, Beerus," the voice muttered to itself. "I can't have you doing something quite so pesky as waking up. Not now, not before I am ready; the power of a Hakaishin and their attendant would, perhaps, be the biggest obstacle to my goal." Their form, shadowy and incorporeal, allowed for their narrow eyes to survey the room. "I can't simply kill you; the death of a Hakaishin wouldn't go unnoticed by those higher-up. But detaining you is simple; at least until the Universes are dancing as I wish."
The shadow-figure faded, little more than a wisp remaining, before even that faded into oblivion.
Down below, at the base of the palace, a figure, lanky, with pale blue skin and stark white hair, was sitting in a floating chair, seemingly paying no mind to the goings on around it. Only when the apparition at the top level of the Palace had vanished, did the pale, effeminate man look towards the Palace's greatest height. A familiar presence had appeared, but vanished. "Oho; how unlike you to sneak through the Palace in this manner."
But he remained as stationary as he had been. The alarms themselves had not gone off, but it would not be an easy task to wake Beerus up on his own. A duty of that magnitude would simply lead to undue destruction; so he decided to wait out the remaining time on the Alarm Bombs, as he had been. And regardless, it was within his kind's nature to not interfere.
"How many more years will you sleep for, Lord Beerus? Five? Ten?"
Waving the staff he carried, the orb within the centre gave him an image of the rest of the Universe. He could not sleep, so he could entertain himself by watching the galaxies. With a simple laugh, he leaned back. It would be quiet for some time yet.
A/N: Okay, so I think this is the definition of a tease. This chapter is short, and to the point, but it goes out of the way to introduce two people you all know well...and a mysterious third. Who is this new entity? And for how much longer will the Hakaishin Beerus sleep? I'll leave those questions to your imaginations! As always, thank Demod20 for proofreading. I shall see you all soon in the next exciting installment of the Erased Chronicles.