Capítulo 251: The Ancient One’s guest -246
The Ancient One had served tea to many different guests over the years. One of the perks of living as long as she had was the vast amount of interesting guests, she was able to host.
Furthermore, since she was powerful enough, she also got to drink tea with interesting beings, either just because she wanted to or because she could. She had once drunk tea with Odin himself.
She wasn't a stranger to godly beings, having often beaten those damned lords of hell like stray dogs.
Her current guest, however, was still very shocking, even for her.
The Ancient One's hands moved gracefully, preparing the tea with an almost ethereal precision. The quiet of the room was palpable, broken only by the faint clink of porcelain and the soft simmering of the water.
She was used to silence, but this particular silence held weight. It was the kind that stretched beyond time, a silence between two beings who understood the profound power of patience.
Finally, as the tea was done, she poured two cups, one for herself to which she added a spoonful of honey, and the other cup she offered to the man… the being before her.
For while he looked like a man, he was clearly so much more. Just the fact that he appeared to be race-less was already a clear mark that he was far from normal, not to mention the powerful aura he gave off.
It was strong yet peaceful, gentle, and warm; he didn't feel evil. But the Ancient One didn't let that fool her. She knew well enough that one couldn't judge beings of such power easily; their view of morality wasn't something humans could begin to comprehend.
"Ah, Thank you Dear" He said with a gentle smile on his lips as he took the cup and sampled the tea. "Mmmm, delicious, one of the best cups I have ever been offered." He continued to praise her, and he sounded sincere.
The Ancient One just smiled lightly in response and took a sip of her own tea. "Thank you, I have had much practice to make up for my lacking talent in the art of tea making." She said lightly, not pushing the topic of why he was here.
She knew well enough to wait—beings like this didn't just appear for a casual cup of tea. But she wasn't in any hurry to find out what was happening. She knew that nothing major was meant to be happening anytime soon, and if something did happen she would be alerted, so she didn't fear he was here to distract her.
Not to mention that given his level of power, he likely would find such acts beneath him. No, he was here for something, and he would tell her what in time.
The man, or rather, the entity, took another slow sip, his eyes gleaming with something that bordered on amusement. "You do not wish to play this game of patience with me, Morrigan. I assure you, I have far more time to waste than you do, " he said with a gentle teasing tone.
She raised an eyebrow ever so slightly but said nothing, inviting him to continue. She didn't often hear others speak her name; it was truly rare that anyone used that name. Even Odin called her Yao, the name she had taken after first becoming a sorcerer.
She took another sip of tea, maintaining her calm. "It's not often I am addressed by that name," she said quietly, her voice steady. "I imagine you have seen many things in your time. But it does beg the question, why now? Why seek me out after all this time?"
The entity smiled, a soft and knowing gesture that carried both warmth and an edge of something ancient. "Why indeed, it's a curious story, tell me, how much do you know about the Foundation?"
The Ancient One was honestly surprised by the question; she had not expected this to touch on the Foundation, a normal-ish organization she had only recently learned about. "I know some, but hardly any big secrets." She answered honestly.
The Ancient One studied the entity closely, intrigued by the sudden shift in conversation. The Foundation—an organization shrouded in mystery, even by her standards. She had encountered whispers of its operations, strange anomalies and objects they sought to contain, but they had always stayed just out of her sphere of influence.
"Not many speak of the Foundation openly," she continued, her voice calm but curious. "Their work keeps them in the shadows, much like my own. But I had not thought them of concern to beings such as yourself. Why bring them up now?"
The entity placed his cup down gently, his fingers lingering on the porcelain for a moment. His eyes seemed to flicker with a deeper understanding, one that transcended the mortal plane. "For a long while I was bored… yet humans themselves decided to take charge of their own protection, the Foundation. And so I found no reason to deny them their wish, for a while, I was SCP-343, and was 'contained' by them." He explained.
The Ancient One raised an eyebrow, her composure never faltering, but the revelation piqued her interest. "SCP-343?" she repeated, her tone even. "A god in containment. Or so they believed."
The entity—SCP-343, as he called himself—smiled faintly, a glimmer of amusement in his eyes. "Yes, amusing, isn't it? They labeled me, categorized me, as they do with all things they don't understand. To them, I was simply another anomaly to be classified and controlled. But I allowed it. They needed the illusion of control, after all."
The Ancient One took another sip of tea, her mind racing. The thought of a being of such power allowing itself to be "contained" was perplexing, but then again, the entity seated before her clearly operated on a level far beyond conventional understanding. "And now you are no longer content to remain within their walls?" she asked, her voice probing yet polite.
"Indeed," SCP-343 replied, his expression turning contemplative. "The Foundation is impressive, in its way, and they have accomplished much. Yet recently, something happened, something big."
The Ancient One knew that something had happened with the Foundation, something that had alerted even her to them, some global spell, a change to reality itself; though she could find very little evidence of that, she still found some clues that hinted at it possibly being true.
Though that in and of itself was scary, something or someone had managed to alter reality on such a scale, and she wasn't even aware of it.
The Ancient One's expression remained calm, but a subtle shift in her posture betrayed her heightened interest. "Something changed," she echoed, her voice quiet yet probing. "And you believe this change has affected more than just the Foundation."
SCP-343 nodded, a trace of gravity in his once-playful demeanor. "Indeed, I'm not sure if they even truly realize just how much has changed, but how can I not notice? How can I not notice that this Earth isn't the one I myself shaped?"
The Ancient One knew little of many of the SCP objects of the Foundation; they had many of them, and many were highly secret, and information about them wasn't easy to get. She did, however, know about SCP-343, the being before her, which was nicknamed God by the Foundation.
The God of the Bible, the creator of the world and humanity. She wasn't naïve enough to believe that a single being had made earth, at least not this being. She was well aware of the celestials, powerful pseudo-Gods that shaped entire galaxies.
They were far from the Gods that humanity believed in; they were cold and calculating, and their care for mortal life was minimal. At most, they would send their agents down to ensure that mortal life had a chance to form, much like what had happened on Earth.
Yet, she had a feeling that this entity before her might indeed be speaking the truth, while powerful she didn't feel he possessed the power needed to create worlds, but it would hardly be the first time a powerful entity used their power up for something and became weaker.
"A parallel world?" She asked a moment later.
SCP-343 smiled, his eyes twinkling as if he had expected her question. "In a manner of speaking, yes. But not just any parallel world. This one, your Earth, is now different in ways that shouldn't be possible. It's not just a divergence in timelines or a shift in probabilities—someone, or something, has rewritten parts of reality itself. Events, people, entire histories have been altered."
The Ancient One pondered his words, her mind working through the implications. Reality shifts were not unheard of in her experience, but to rewrite the fabric of an entire world? That was no small feat, even for the most powerful beings in existence.
"And they did so beautifully! Its almost seamless! Perfect! The amount of meddling should have left their marks on the very fabric of reality on Earth, yet its almost impossible to see any traces, except one." He continued and sounded truly impressed.
The Ancient One was equally impressed, as someone who had the Timestone, she knew well what kind of consequences it could have to mess with time, just one aspect of reality, to mess with all of reality? And for her not to notice, was indeed difficult to believe.
"The Foundation?" She asked. It was something that had always felt wrong, how could she have been blind to them for so long? Yet everything seemed to indicate that she had been, but maybe there was more to it then that.
"Yes! The Foundation! It isn't just someone messing with reality, changing history, someone or something has gone through great lengths to merge two universes into one, with Earth at the center, with the Foundation at the very core!"
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