I thought of two versions of the same story. This is the one where the Collector is put into Eda's custody.
I walked through the In Between, a Titan aimlessly looking through several of the reflection cubes, as I like to call them. I felt as though I'd been trapped here for millennia, a result of my own rash decisions and poor judgment, as I'd come to learn for myself, and now the land I inadvertently created was in danger. Every time I check on someone on the Isles, I find himself growing more furious at the madman named Belos.
I'd been keeping an eye on the former human ever since he'd arrived in the Demon Realm. I didn't know what to expect from him. Whereas his brother, Caleb, had been earnest and genuine in his newfound love of the Demon Realm, Philip had only found chaos and something he called "devil's work", cultivating a hatred for everything around him, even his own kin.
I sighed, trying to clear my head of the mad despot ruling over my corpse, when I heard another voice in the infinite trench I traversed. It sounded young, but I knew better. The voice belonged to a being, possibly older than even myself. The Collector.
Normally, I'd turn around, walk away from yet another regret I forced upon myself. But something stopped me. I listened to the words he said. And the words spoken back to him.
"You have everything you need," The Collector said, looking at an oddly glowing tablet. "Now set me free! You promised!"
"Now, Collector, I said I'd free you once the draining spell is complete," the voice of Belos said back. My fist clenched, anger flooding me as it did every time I heard his voice. "After all, there are still several witches that need to be captured before the spell can be commenced,"
"Oh, fine, but can we play a game while we wait?" The Collector asked.
"Oh, I very much wish that I could, but I'm far too busy for now," I almost laughed at the thought. A genocidal witch hunter playing hide and seek with an extra dimensional child. "Farewell for now, Collector. I shall return in a few days' time,"
"See ya later, Philip," the Collector waved as the tablet grew dark. The valley grew quiet. without Philip and the Collector talking, leaving me to reflect on my own thoughts. I couldn't know that with one sentence, I'm setting history on a new course.
"You know he's lying, right?" I asked cautiously, gaining the child's attention. I could see his shadow glance in my direction, before scowling at the sight of me.
"What do you know?" he spat, turning away from me.
"I know that man doesn't care about you, even a little," I offered.
"Oh, and you do?" the Collector asked sarcastically. "The Titan who locked me away actually does care?" I couldn't help but hesitate. The words he spoke had to be the right ones, after all.
"I always cared," I began, remembering the day he'd seen the Collector for the first time. Hearing this, the celestial being in question turned around. "When we first met you, you told us how you didn't know your parents, that you'd come here because you wanted someone to play with. I had intended then and there to provide you with a home if you had asked. And I was even going to offer it to you," I looked down, feeling ashamed of what happened next. "But I had started to notice my brothers and sisters disappearing, one by one. I had asked my older children to look after you and the others while I hid my last egg away as a precaution," I paused, trying my best to look the Collector in the eyes. "I came back and all my children were gone, only you remained.
"I was furious with grief. I had lashed out, believing you were responsible for what happened and locked you away, using up most of my life force attacking the wrong enemy," I took a breath, sitting down on a piece of rubble. "I always wonder what would have happened if I were more patient. What could have happened if I stayed my hand for just a minute even? Maybe we could have even worked together to save my family. Maybe the Titans wouldn't be nearly extinct,"
The Colector looked away. He'd heard this story before, never quite sure how to feel about it. But there was one thing that was certain.
"And yet you still won't free me," the Collector pointed out.
"I don't know what you would do unsupervised," I admitted. "Near-limitless power at your disposal with no consequences isn't something a child should use,"
"So you admit you don't trust me?" He expected me to backtrack, but I was resolute in my answer.
"I wish I did," I said honestly, taking the Collector by surprise. "I know with your power, you could do great things. But I know you've been tricked before. And you're being tricked now. If you were loose and thought Belosbwas your friend... I don't know what would happen. Even without your power, he's already using your knowledge to wipe out an entire world,"
"And he'll free me once it's done," Collector added. "I'll just fix everything once it's done," I sighed, knowing the Collector still didn't understand death and loss. The only loss he'd ever experienced is when the Archivists took my children, his friends, away from him. Ultimately, there was one thing I could think of to do.
"I want to make a deal with you, Collector,"
The Collector was skeptical, hesitant in his reply. "What kind of deal?"
"You'll be free one day, there's no doubt about that," I answered. "I do not believe Belos will do it in any way, shape, or form, but someone will. It's just the nature of things," The Collector listened, happy to hear this kind of promise. "I cannot change that any more than I can revive myself, but I can change the conditions to your freedom.
"You are unpredictable and don't understand what you're helping Belos do," I stated simply, looking directly at the Collector. "Once Belos succeeds, thousands will die. And there's little I can do to stop him from here,"
"Big deal," The Collector said, waving his hand. "Toys break all the time. I'll just put them back together," I sighed at this statement.
"I wish I could explain it to you," I said solemnly. "I wish I could help you understand the pain and sorrow you're helping spread. But that's something you learn from experience,"
"Enough talk, what's this deal?" The Collector demanded.
"I'm going to create a body for you on the Boiling Isles," I explained, confusing the god child in front of me. "It'll have a version of your consciousness placed inside of it, while the real you stays in here,"
"So I won't actually be free?" The Collector frowned, as I predicted he would.
"No, but as I said. One day, someone will free you. Maybe this avatar of yours will free you, even," The Collector perked up at this notion and I knew I had his attention completely. "I'll even give this copy a tablet of his own to talk to you every now and then. Although, I should warn you that this tablet won't be a viable way to free you,"
"Understood," The Collector grinned, near bursting from excitement. "Is there anything else I should know?"
"Three things," I put up one claw to indicate the first point. "One: you will not have your magic. I will allow you one of your star gliders to make your way around the island. Two: I will be putting you in the custody of someone whom I respect greatly, Eda the Owl Lady. Should you leave her custody to try and help Belos, the vessel will be destroyed," The Collector crossed his arms, not liking this part of the arrangement but not arguing against it. "And three: the Owl Lady already has someone important to me already in her care. My son-" The Collector cut myself off here.
"The Titan baby you hid from me?!" he shouted with glee. "I finally get to play with him?!"
"If he so chooses," I agreed. "However, you cannot tell him about being a Titan. If Belos knows what he is, he will stop at nothing to take him,"
"Why would he do that?"
"It's just in the nature of men like him," I grabbed a reflection cube, casting a quick spell on it, and threw it into the Collector's prison. "Do we have a deal, Collector? Just put your head in there and that's all you have to do,"
The Collector didn't hesitate. It might be a little more work, but he will be free. Just as he was about to throw his head into the cube, I called out to him.
"One more thing," I cautioned. "I recommend not telling Belos about the copy of you. He'll still be talking to you every now and then. And if he thought you betrayed him to the Owl Lady…"
"He might leave me alone in here," The Collector said fearfully. "Okay, I promise to keep it a secret,"
"Have a good time, then," I said, waving to the Collector as he dived into the cube.
Vee crawled into the tent, sneaking out the door while the human was distracted and taken by the witches. She didn't feel happy to replace the human, but it was the only opportunity she could see to escape her captors. Just as she was about to walk through, though, a boy appeared in the doorway. He had blue robes, ranging from dark blue to periwinkle, with sun and moon patterns all over. He had short, white hair and tan-yellow skin. The most prominent feature, in her opinion, was the blue mark on his face. It made it look as though his face was a crescent moon. Unsure what to do, Vee froze, just as he noticed her too. He gasped in amazement.
"A basilisk!" he shouted, making the reptilian tense up even more than she already had. She allowed herself to turn, looking at the crowd who luckily hadn't heard her. "Belos was so mad when you guys escaped." And there was that name that shook her to her very core. She reluctantly turned back to the child, fearful of what he'd do, but he only stood there, smiling almost kindly. "Wanna play?" The little basilisk slowly shook her head, politely declining the invitation, but making the kid frown. "Boo," He shrugged and past by her toward the crowd. "See you around, Five. I'll see if one of them want to play," The kid was strange, clearly not human as he knew about Belos and… her...name…
Shaking the terrifying revelations from her mind, the kid was no longer blocking the door, so she took her opportunity to slip through unnoticed and transformed into the actual human.
This is Version A of the same concept. Version 1 will be called Brother from the Stars.