A TERRA ONE PREQUEL: BEFORE
PART FIVE: EVERYBODY WANTS TO RULE THE WORLD
INSPIRATION: EVERYBODY WANTS TO RULE THE WORLD by TEARS FOR FEARS
The Progeny opened their eyes to see that they were in the hyperbolic chamber room. It was now time for them to wake from their 25 year hibernation and they'd collectively decided to play things out so that they could marry their soulmates and make sure that the lives of their children were born. For the next five years, they played along with their grandparents plans, knowing what the end result would be.
But that was what they wanted to change. Fitz couldn't bare losing his twin sister, and had vowed to do anything he could to change it. They were The Progeny - they didn't leave people behind, and Carol Jane was no exception. Especially after they saw what the end result of that would be.
This time, when The Progeny were summoned to their grandparents will reading, they made sure to schedule the meeting for right after their spouses signed off on the marriage paperwork. All of the Grant lineage was in the building when The Progeny sensed magic in the air. They quickly made their way to Cyrus Beene's office and held him at gunpoint while simultaneously using their telepathic abilities to convey to their new spouses what exactly was going on. Though the women were slow on the uptick, they didn't hesitate to follow The Progeny through the TimeDoor with all the children in tow.
Once inside The Citadel At The End Of Time, they sought out their grandparents, and Loki. Though they were shocked to learn that they'd been duped, they eventually saw the potential good in The Progeny being there to help them. The Celestials were quite a force to reckon with, and The Progeny were very powerful.
But, there was a reason that The Progeny had been excluded from the fray of intergalactic warfare: If something should go wrong, there needed to be powerful Anunnaki left to watch over the inhabitants of Terra One. And The Progeny were definitely Anunnaki. Fatima fretted over Loki and Thom's decision to allow The Progeny to join the team of Asgardians in saving the universes. She understood that The Progeny wanted to ultimately save their sister, and by proxy, her husband and children, but, she firmly believed that if collateral damage was to be had, it was better a few over all. That line of thinking did not go over well with The Council, her husband, her son, nor her grandchildren.
After a long, bitter argument, she conceded, but not before she demanded to know who sent The Progeny visions of the potential future, and why.
"I did," a voice said from the entrance The Citadel. The Progeny didn't recognize the man, but, from his stature, build, long flowing, dark blonde hair and clear blue eyes, they accurately surmised that he was for sure, a relative.
"Baldr," Thor's eyes glistened at the sight of his older brother. "It's so good to see you!"
"It's been an age," Baldr grasped his brother's shoulders and pulled him in for a hug. He then pulled away and hugged Loki as well. "No need for explanations. I know what is going on, and what has happened. You are now Thor's son." Baldr and Loki exchanged glances. "You must be Fatima," he held out his hand for her to shake.
"Nice to meet you…I think," Fatima shook his hand, then stepped back to her husband's side. "How is it you are here?"
"Do you not know who I am?" Baldr glared at Fatima's insolence, to which she shrugged.
"Do I care?"
"Baby," Thom whispered into Fatima's ear. "This is Baldr The Great. He is good, and Fair, and he is my brother."
"I'm not sure if I'm any of those things anymore," Baldr focused his ire at his brother. "Where were you when I was banished by our father?"
"He kept me busy so that I wouldn't try to stop him from unfairly banishing you. I know that the only reason he did was because you dared to question him."
"And yet, you did nothing to retrieve me from banishment!" Baldr faced Thor with the full weight of his rage.
"In all fairness," Loki stepped in between the brothers. "Not long after your banishment, Odin banished Thor as well."
That news took some air out of Baldr's bitterness. "Tis true?"
"It is," Thom acknowledged. "For the same reason - just so you know, I understand."
"But you don't understand!" Baldr's ire was reignited. "I was banished to be a child near the beginning of human existence! At first I didn't understand what was happening…in fact, it didn't become clear until after I had died - at the young age of 30 - and walked the halls of Valhalla. There, I saw my children, and my wife, who wasn't waiting on my arrival, because I wasn't her true soulmate. I saw my other 'loves' who weren't my true soulmates either…I walked the halls of Valhalla…alone for ions. Then the next thing I knew, I was back in my 'ancestral home' - Bebbanburg. It was…strange. Clearly I was in a different time. Then, it all came back to me - who I really am, and what had been done to me!"
"The same happened to me…well, my first banishment was by father, and, I managed to rescue myself, with some help. But, my second 'banishment' was by Loki - though it wasn't for punishment, it was for protection. But, I went through the same things you did. I was 'reborn' into a different person. It took my many years to learn the truth of who I was."
"So, you understand…" Baldr began to pace as he explained what happened next. "After Loki transformed, I found myself standing at the base of His Tree…and, it all came to me - a plan to fix everything so that we all got what we all wanted, but, I had to know what happened. I also touched all the roots of the tree. Each one I touched belonged to a different Progeny, thereby making me connected to them. They were all in pain…"
"When was this?" Loki was curious.
"After Fitzgerald froze the world."
"So you were conscious for that and yet you remained hidden? We could have used your help!"
"I'm sorry…wife of my brother…who are you again?" Baldr was tired of Fatima's petulant ways. "You are new to our conflict! And, from what I've seen, you are the reason The Progeny are angry at their ancestors! So angry that they all helped Fitzgerald freeze the world for millions of years! Years that were needed to bring back the bulk of human population! I am not Thor! I may be fair, but I'm not whipped, such as he!"
All Fatima could do was glare at the man she considered an intruder, because, at the end of day, he was right. "Be that as it may…I stand by my statement! Unlike you, I also stood by my family whilst in the thick of mayhem! All you did was send the evidence of it to my grandchildren in the form of a dream!" She humphed as if she found the entire notion ridiculous. The problem was, she should have been the one to think of it. Not a stranger.
Watching the Asgardians bicker amongst each other gave The Progeny time to fine a suitable place for their spouses and children to hide until the entire situation was over. Unlike their elders, they didn't feel the need to hide, lie and manipulate their loved ones in order to protect them. Once that was done, they followed through with their plan of helping the elders get rid of the universes biggest threats.
Years went by, but, the plan stayed in motion. Then, when Loki weaved the last of the multiverse into one timeline - and he'd fully formed into Yggdrasil, and, Carol still lived - The Progeny made their move. With the help of his siblings, Fitz, once again, pulled Asgard down to Earth. Only, this time, they made sure to kill every Asgardian that survived the merging, including their grandparents. The only exception to this was Baldr. Loki had already told him that the reason he hadn't found his soulmate was because she hadn't been born yet. Now that the timelines were merged, Baldr had a chance of meeting her - then, Loki winked at Baldr. Right before his transformation was complete, he sent his brother back to the womb of Uhtred of Bebbanburg's mother while simultaneously preserving the likeness of Thor and Storm as ivory and gold statures sitting on thrones at either side of his tree stump .
What Loki knew that the other's didn't understand, was that everything that happened, was always going to happen. He kept trying to warn everyone that would listen that time was both linear and not linear. Just when he thought they understood his words, they'd show up at The Citadel angrier than the previous time they'd been there. It was unfortunate that The Progeny had to live through several of their own timelines - that was his fault really. He'd caused the births of beings that were far more powerful than any other being he'd ever come across. Each time he merged timelines and universes, they had to live through them, and the only explanation their minds could grasp was that they were dreams. Even Baldr thought he'd sent them into a dream, when what he'd really done was send The Progeny to yet another timeline. It wasn't lost on Loki that in every single timeline, The Progeny found their soulmates. Loki was impressed as it had taken him ions of traveling through the multiverse using a stolen TemPad to realize that his true love was himself. It had taken him equally as long for him to realize that that was ok. Deep down, Loki knew that having The Progeny was his inner self telling him to find love outside himself. And now, he had living breathing reminders that his life was not for nothing. His transformation into The Tree Of Life would be remembered.
As Loki slowly closed his eyes for the last time, he secured all the slain Asgardians within Valhalla, then repaired all the damage to Asgard caused by The Progeny pulling the land down to Earth. He then secured the waters around Asgard so that it blended with the foreign entity that was The Floating Sea. He knew that the waters would be so murky, turbulent and dangerous that no one would dare travel it - except true Anunnaki descendants, when it was time. He then moved time back to the time of Pangea, and separated the continent the way he saw fit. He then lifted the ice caused by The Progeny - once again - freezing the world. As the tops of his eyelids met the bottom of his eyelids, he saw time go by. He smiled at Uhtred living his life and meeting his soulmate, then traveling the perilous waters to Asgard, which would be his, and his new family's new home, as they would now be the guardians of Asgard, Valhalla, both Father and Mother Time as well as The Tree Of Life.
As Yggdrasil watched time go by, he also noticed the strange ripples in the now singular timeline. Though he knew there would never be other universes or timeline, he was slightly concerned about the changes these new ripples in time would cause. But, there was naught he could do about it as his eyes finally closed and disappeared into the bark of his new skin. Loki did one last stretch - getting comfortable in his new, eternal form. He shook his branches towards the sun and stretched his roots deep into the Asgardian soil, and the out as far as they would go until the tops of the roots could be seen corded and strong throughout the soil for miles. Now, he was completely comfortable in his new form, and let his subconscious finally - eternally - rest.
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EVERYBODY WANTS TO RULE THE WORLD by TEARS FOR FEARS
Welcome to your life
There's no turning back
Even while we sleep
We will find you
Acting on your best behaviour
Turn your back on mother nature
Everybody wants to rule the world
It's my own design
It's my own remorse
Help me to decide
Help me make the most
Of freedom and of pleasure
Nothing ever lasts forever
Everybody wants to rule the world
There's a room where the light won't find you
Holding hands while the walls come tumbling down
When they do I'll be right behind you
So glad we've almost made it
So sad they had to fade it
Everybody wants to rule the world
I can't stand this indecision
Married with a lack of vision
Everybody wants to rule the world
Say that you'll never never never never need it
One headline why believe it?
Everybody wants to rule the world
All for freedom and for pleasure
Nothing ever lasts forever
Everybody wants to rule the world