"I need a substantial amount of power to fight him and his Gods," Arcturus murmured, his eyes distant.
Scream placed a hand on his shoulder. "There is a multiverse said to be filled with powerful beings."
Arcturus glanced at her. "Is that so. How do I not know of it?"
"It's far from here," she said calmly. "Devoid of light. The last time I went anywhere near it my ship was swarmed before I even landed."
Arcturus stood. "Then we go there. I will absorb their power and store it in this."
He held up the orb, turning it slowly in his hand. Then quietly, almost to himself — "I will call you the Absolute."
Scream said nothing. She turned and began preparing the ship for takeoff. Arcturus watched the stars through the viewport, something close to anticipation on his face, as the ship pulled away into the dark.
Eight years passed.
The final planet of the void multiverse trembled beneath Arcturus's feet. He stood over the last surviving being of an entire multiverse — a creature that had outlasted everything else, worlds and gods alike — and it looked up at him with broken eyes.
"Please," it said. "Show mercy."
Arcturus extended his arm. The light left the creature's body slowly, drawn upward like smoke, and flowed into the Absolute. The ground began to shake. Across the dying planet, the last embers of life went out one by one until there was nothing left. The Absolute's surface shifted and deepened — and turned pitch black.
Scream approached from behind, her footsteps careful on the crumbling ground. "Now that you hold the power of an entire multiverse — what is our next step?"
Arcturus held the Absolute out toward her without a word.
She reached for it. The moment her hands closed around it her knees buckled. She fought to hold it — arms shaking, teeth clenched — and then it slipped. The impact hit the ground sent a shockwave rippling outward, carving a crater into the planet's surface. Scream stared at it, her voice barely steady.
"I can't hold it. It won't allow me to."
Arcturus looked at the crater for a moment. Then he reached down and lifted the Absolute effortlessly. "Don't trouble yourself. I'll carry it."
Back aboard the ship — a vessel large enough to crush a small city beneath its shadow — the army waited. As Arcturus and Scream walked through the corridor every soldier dropped to one knee. Most of them were survivors of worlds Arcturus had torn apart. They had chosen to follow the thing that destroyed their homes rather than die with them. Arcturus had never asked them why.
He stepped up beside his throne and turned to face them.
"The Absolute God has spent eternity pursuing perfection," he said, his voice carrying through the silence without effort. "He destroys everything that falls outside his design. He fears the strong because the strong are the only ones who could ever challenge his rule." He paused. "I am that challenge. And with this—" he raised the Absolute, its black surface drinking in the light around it, "—I will kill him. And every God he ever made."
The army roared.
Arcturus stood before his throne, the Absolute hovering before him. He reached out and tried to draw its power into himself.
Nothing.
He tried again. And again. Each attempt met with the same silence. The power sat within the orb — vast, absolute, completely out of reach.
The temperature in the room dropped. His servants felt it before they understood it — a pressure settling over them like a physical weight, squeezing the air from their lungs. Several fell to their knees not in reverence but in the simple inability to remain standing. None of them dared make a sound.
Scream stepped forward and placed a hand on his arm. "Calm yourself, my liege."
The pressure lifted slowly. Arcturus exhaled and lowered himself onto his throne. His servants trembled back to their feet in silence.
"Your power only allows you to absorb energy from living things," Scream said quietly.
Arcturus stared at the orb. "I conquered an entire multiverse." The words came out low and controlled, which somehow made them more frightening than if he had shouted. "And it fails me."
"There is a way."
He looked at her.
"Our scouts found a planet," she said. "Abundant with life. Enough to awaken the Absolute's power from within."
"What planet?"
Scream met his gaze.
"Earth."
Arcturus rose from his throne, a slow grin spreading across his face. "Then I will go to that planet. When the awakening of the Absolute is complete, you will come for me."
Scream nodded.
The ship tore through space at millions of light speeds before coming to a stop at the edge of Earth's atmosphere. Arcturus turned to his servants, his voice even.
"While I am gone you will obey Scream without question. Those who choose otherwise — she is permitted to kill you."
No one spoke.
He walked to the viewport and looked down at the blue planet below. Scream came to stand beside him.
"I will wait for your return," she said quietly. Then, after a pause — "Arcturus."
He turned and looked at her. For a moment something passed between them that neither of them named. Then he smiled.
"Take care of yourself for me."
He stepped off the edge and fell toward Earth.
Behind him the ship pulled away and disappeared into the dark.
Arcturus landed in a forest clearing and stood still for a moment, taking in the air, the trees, the sounds of something alive in every direction. He began walking.
He found a house at the edge of the woods. He knocked.
The door swung open. A man looked him up and down. "Who the hell are you?"
Three more men appeared behind him, each one holding a gun.
The man in charge grabbed Arcturus by the shoulder and pressed a barrel to his chest. "Wrong place. Wrong time, buddy."
Arcturus looked down at the hand on his shoulder. Then he closed his fingers around the man's arm and crushed it.
The man screamed and fired. The bullet hit Arcturus in the chest. Arcturus looked down at the small hole in his shirt, then back up at the man dangling from his grip.
"You think you can damage me?"
He lifted him by the throat. The others pressed their guns to Arcturus's head.
"You're surrounded," the man choked out.
Arcturus glanced at the guns around him. "The only things surrounding me are dead men." He looked back at the man in his grip. "Let's make this quick. I don't have time to waste."
An hour later he walked out of the forest alone, dressed in new clothes and continued toward the city.
The city was alive in every direction — light, movement, sound, thousands of lives pressing against each other. Arcturus walked slowly, taking it all in.
This place is abundant with life, he thought. I should not let myself stand out.
Someone walked into him from the side. A young woman stumbled and fell to the ground, her bag spilling across the pavement. She looked up, startled, already apologizing.
Arcturus turned. Their eyes met.
He reached down and offered his hand. "No. It's my fault for standing in your way."
She took it. As she stood her cheeks went pink and she looked away briefly before finding her words. "My — my name is Annie. What's yours?"
"Arcturus."
She repeated it softly, like she was testing the sound of it. "Arcturus. Are you from around here?"
"Not exactly. I came for a trip but I'm afraid I'm lost."
Annie smiled. "I can help with that. It's not often you find someone as kind as you."
Arcturus smiled back and fell into step beside her.
They ended up in the park. The afternoon light was soft and Annie had stopped being nervous enough to ask actual questions.
"Are you planning on staying or just passing through?"
"I'm planning on staying," Arcturus said. "Is there a reason for your question?"
Her cheeks went red. She looked away. "Not really."
They walked in comfortable silence for a while before Annie spoke again. "If you're staying you should find a proper hotel. I can help you with that too, if you'd like."
"I'd like that very much."
She walked him to a hotel a few streets over and stood with him outside his room door, her heart clearly doing something she was trying very hard not to show. When the silence stretched just a little too long she spoke, her voice dropping to almost a whisper.
"Arcturus. Could I — could I have your number?"
He looked at her, genuinely confused. "My number?"
Annie covered her face with both hands, turned and started walking away. That was so awkward. I literally just met him—
"Annie."
She stopped.
"You can come visit me whenever you like."
She didn't turn around right away. But he could see her smile from behind.
Arcturus closed the door to his room and looked around. A square box on the table flickered to life on its own. He stared at it — at the tiny moving people inside it — and took a slow step back.
A knock at the door.
He opened it. A maid bowed her head apologetically. "I'm sorry for the intrusion. The television in your room is faulty. We can replace it for tonight."
Arcturus stepped aside. "You can."
She connected the new set and looked up at him. "What would you like to watch? History, geography, politics?"
"History."
She left. Arcturus settled into the chair across from the screen and watched.
Now I will know more about these people.
A week passed.
At the hospital Annie was staring at nothing again. Debra noticed first.
"Something on your mind?"
"It's nothing," Annie said, unconvincingly.
Ivy appeared and wrapped both arms around Debra from behind, grinning over her shoulder at Annie. "Look at her. She's obviously in love."
Annie looked at both of them. "Unlike the two of you, this is the first time I've ever felt this way about someone."
Ivy released Debra and took Annie's hands. "Then what are you still doing here? We can handle the patients. Go to your man."
Annie was already reaching for her coat.
She arrived at the hotel slightly out of breath and asked the receptionist if Arcturus's room was currently being occupied.
The receptionist smiled gently. "He checked out a couple of days ago. Is he your boyfriend?"
Annie's face went pink. The receptionist chuckled and slid something across the desk — a watch. "He left this behind."
Annie picked it up and turned it over in her hands. Then she heard her name.
She turned. Arcturus was standing in the lobby, a bag over one shoulder, looking at her like he'd been half expecting her to show up.
They went for a walk. The city moved around them and neither of them paid it any attention.
"I thought I might not see you again after the last time we spoke," Arcturus said.
Annie glanced up at him. "You did say I could visit whenever I liked."
He stopped walking. He turned to look at her — and smiled, slow and certain.
"What took you so long?"
Her cheeks burned. "Well I — I just—"
He laughed quietly. "Are you free tomorrow?"
She nodded, trying to look composed.
"Good." He held her gaze a moment longer than necessary. "Go on. You'll be late."
She walked away smiling. He watched her go.
You will be the vessel for the Absolute, Annie.
Arcturus walked away as he chuckled and thought,"It's funny how these people can pay millions over space rocks. "
Three months became six. Six became a year. Arcturus proposed on a quiet evening — just the two of them, no ceremony, no audience. Annie said yes before he finished asking.
They married. They moved in together. A year later Annie was pregnant.
She was watching the evening news when the report came in:
Following the Rippers' attack on the eastern province, S-Rank Protectors Dan and Owen pushed back the assault. Seventy-six people are confirmed missing. Fifty-two confirmed dead.
Annie placed a hand over her belly. "These attacks are getting worse," she murmured. "I hope you won't grow up afraid, little one."
She didn't hear Arcturus approach. A hand passed slowly over her head and she slumped forward, unconscious before she could react.
Arcturus stepped in front of her. He held the Absolute in his palm and looked at it for a long moment.
"Your birth will be the key to my rebellion."
He compressed the orb down — smaller and smaller until it was almost nothing. Then he gently tilted Annie's head back, opened her mouth and let it dissolve past her lips. Her body absorbed it without resistance.
Her womb began to glow.
Arcturus leaned forward and studied the silhouette within. A grin spread slowly across his face.
Nine months later Annie was in the labor ward. Debra held her hand, coaching her through every breath. Ivy paced behind them both, equal parts nervous and encouraging.
Twenty-four hours passed. Arcturus sat outside the labor room alone, completely still.
Debra appeared in the doorway. "You can go in."
Annie was sitting up in bed when he entered, exhausted and glowing in the way only new mothers do. She looked up at him and smiled. Then she looked back down at the small life in her arms and kissed his forehead softly.
"Your name," she whispered, "will be Kagekami."