Madness of the Serpent

A Celestial Birth

It quaked in terror as it shriveled down into a pinpoint of light, attempting to make its energy as insignificant as possible so as to be unnoticed by the colossal consciousness which loomed over it.

To claim it was massive would be an understatement. To claim it was omnipotent and overwhelming would be closer in accuracy, but still far from the truth. It was everywhere, and it watched the spirit with passive curiosity, acknowledging its existence, but disinterested as to how it got there and why.

Several tense, unknown ticks of time passed, and the spirit relaxed from a mote of light into a miniscule ball of energy. The titan mind was still present and watchful, but did not behave in a threatening manner. It did not do much of anything except observe, its colossal presence as ominous as a gaseous nebula storm.

The spirit supposed it should have been grateful that the massive consciousness had not decided to obliterate the insignificant being. Or maybe it would, and was just waiting. The spirit did not know, and it trembled in fearful anticipation of its unknown fate.

A living organism could only know the fear of its life ending. That was nothing compared to the terror a spirit could feel when its soul was in danger – and there were not many objects in the universe which could cause such clear vulnerability to beings of pure energy.

The godlike mind-jewel was one such threat. A sparkling, golden gem hidden within the confines of the orb – it was the source of the sceptre's power, and it held within it a mind so vast that the shade used every ounce of willpower it possessed not to simply vanish in its massive presence.

It did not know how long it remained in that state, paralyzed in fear of the massive mind, but also desiring to explore its confinement. It was completely isolated from the universe – from the concepts of time and space. It was unknown if the Jotun-Asgardian still lived, or if millennia had passed. All it knew was it was trapped with an unknowable, incomprehensible entity, and there was no apparent route of escape.

Fortunately for the spirit, the enigmatical mind-entity had rapidly lost interest and began to ignore the shade altogether. It seemed to be fascinated and entertained by the workings of its own mind, and the shade began to ignore it as well, instead focusing its concentration on how it would escape its new prison – preferably without releasing the infinitely vast mind.

The golden gem did not seem overtly malicious or malevolent, but it did not emit a sensation of good-will and altruism either. It exuded auras of calculating and ruthless complexities, emotionless and infinitely expansive musings and introspection.

The spirit preferred not to unleash such an entity if it was avoidable.

Forced confinement in a physical space was extremely disturbing for a being which was accustomed to unhindered movement accompanied by infinite possibilities of exploration. If it wished to be elsewhere, it took little effort to travel along the light of stars and arrive at its destination nearly instantaneously. It could slip between the permeable barriers of the universe if it so wished – neither solid mass nor gaseous clouds could impede its progress.

Its frustration at being hemmed in by the strange, glowing azure material was inevitable – if pointless. The unknown encasement must have been immeasurably durable if it could trap the mind-jewel, let alone a wandering spirit. No matter how fiercely it flung its energy at the barrier, no matter how it tried to chisel away at the impediment with bursts of scorching light, it made neither dent nor mark.

So it waited. And waited. It waited in bright nothingness, always mindful of the thinking, calculating jewel, but now more concerned that it would be trapped in this oblivion for eternity.