[Upper Worlds RoD] Requesting Audience with Zen-Oh Sama!...

The gate was closed as usual and nobody was there yet. Still, Maikeru’s etiquette was correct as it was the right way to behave before requesting an audience with the Lord of All. There were only four creatures to be found in such a place. The twin assistants of Zen’Oh, and the Grand Priest, all of them beings that required the utmost respect from all other gods. It was interesting to see how this new Shinjin behaved and at this situation he almost seemed like he had his head on the right place, and that made Onato chuckle a bit. The Grand Supreme Kai of Universe 6 had arrived just a mere second later than Maikeru and was standing before him, with his hands behind his back, fists close to each other, in a normal Kaioshin stance. His almond-shaped black eyes stared right at the blue-colored shinjin.

He noticed his potara earring was the same color as his own and that made him wonder what color was the Grand Kaioshin’s potara. It was just an useless trivia and he could probably get the answer if he looked, but it wasn’t all that important. Still, it pended lower than his own. Details of Kaioshin’s limited choice in clothing, but Onato liked it anyway. But it was not important right now and he felt he needed to speak before Maikeru did anything. ”Greetings, Northern Kaioshin of Universe Seven. Such a pleasure to finally meet you. It has been a while since the last time I interacted with anyone from your Universe, but I understand that you guys have your hands full with the overwhelming activity of it.” his tone was kind of mysterious, but seemed somehow friendly, despite his eyes being somewhat judgmental.

Maikeru had more raw power than Onato and that was impressive considering he hasn’t been alive for very long and it was obvious that he was training hard to become stronger, since he was wearing weighted clothing, but that may or may not sound rude to Zen’Oh if he noticed that, which, in truth, Onato highly doubted would happen, but the Grand Priest would most definitely notice it. ”Weighted clothes and death battles. He is really putting his soul on the line and growing strong.” Onato took a mental note to himself, trying to keep a small yet friendly smile on his face, but even then the smile didn’t seem all that honest.

Maikeru may have smiled with his lips, but his blue eyes couldn’t hide the fact that he would rather be doing anything else other than smiling, but it was understandable; if Onato was in his place and with his age, he would more likely stand up and confront this other Shinjin right away, as he did many times with the previous Grand Kaioshin, Fuwa. Still, he recognized Onato as the Grand Kaioshin, which wasn’t all that surprising considering Maikeru was new; most of the other Kaioshins would still address him as Northern Kaioshin from time to time and he couldn’t help but to think that it was somehow a way to try and belittle him, since some of his peers liked to hold him responsible for the slaughter of all the other Kaioshin of the Sixth Universe.

But he cared not.

When he tilt his head towards Zen’Oh’s place, saying it would be improper to move from his position, Onato stared at the odd looking building for a few moments, before staring back at Maikeru, making a brief and subtle nod. Then, the new Kaioshin spoke of his reasons. When he mentioned his predecessor, Onato couldn’t help but to remember how stressed the previous Northern Kaioshin from Universe 7 was, and sometimes he would wonder if a Shinjin could die of a stroke, because if that was the case, then his predecessor would eventually suffer from that, which would be a shame. Interesting and scientific in a sense, but an utmost shame at the end.

Maikeru was certainly an interesting fellow and his words made him even more interesting, especially because he brought up what was later deemed as a taboo across the twelve universes: Zamasu, the mistake of Gowasu that rendered a whole timeline depleted of Gods and, some claim, made two Zen’Oh to exist in one timeline, which – gladly – wasn’t the case of this one; one was most certainly enough. Onato exhaled sharply and stared back at Maikeru, reflecting for a second before closing his almond-shaped eyes.

”Do you really think it’s wise to reach them for advice?” he asked, making a brief pause as he slowly opened his eyes. ”The actions of that Kaio were… Misguided, but I must admit that it is a feeling most of us can relate to when we are young or ignorant. I myself had this experience, mind you, and I can assure that, while I understand you feel everything that’s going on with you is overwhelming, we all have burdens to place over our shoulders.” Onato’s tone was very serious and he looked at Maikeru as an older brother to his baby brother, severe, yet empathic. ”If you are willing to listen, I could share my tale with you. The tale of my universe. Should interest you, since, well… We are siblings, after all, Universe six and seven. And I do think of you as our little brother that we should help guiding.” and with those words, the Grand Kaioshin cracked a smile on his face, although his eyes remained cold.

”Elder, uhn? Funny…” it was definitely something out of ordinary for Onato to be considered an elder. Well, he was the oldest Shinjin on Universe 6 at present, but he was usually considered still quite a rookie among his peers from the other universes, since he had just about fifty thousand years. Maikeru was still on his position, hoping he would be able to get an audience with the highest figures of all creation, and there Onato was, trying to, perhaps, dissuade him from pursuing such a goal and, even though it kind of pained him to tell that old story, he felt it would be only right and fair to do so. And fairness and justice was something he held dear within his godly heart.

”I was born fifty thousand years ago, from a Golden Fruit in Universe Six.” once he began speaking, he closed his eyes, with a gentle smile still on his face. ”Not an awfully long time ago, but quite a bit more than you, that’s for sure. In any case… I was born as the Northern Kaioshin of my universe.” when he revealed his original position, he opened his eyes but kept them narrow, so he could see how Maikeru would react to that bit of information. ”It was about thirty five thousand years ago when I noticed the demons of Makai were developing at a faster pace than any other race, but at that time, with them belonging to a different dimension, I decided to ignore. I had my hands full overseeing all civilizations of the Northern Galaxy that were sprouting.” and then he closed his eyes again, taking a very deep breath.

”Gods shouldn’t play favorite, but a planet named Earth was the jewel to my eyes. Its beauty almost matched my home world and the number of incredible species was extraordinary, matching perfectly in a balanced food chain, where everything worked in harmony. It was all well… Until about six thousand and five hundred years ago…” and Onato’s eyes opened once more and, for once, he was showing some feelings in them: he had grief and a bit of anger too.

”The demons found a way to breach a whole through time and space and leave their isolated dimension and with that knowledge, a knowledge that should be restricted to the gods, they began assaulting the normal dimension, even my Northern Galaxy had fallen victim to their evil.” he paused briefly. ”This time I felt they had offended me directly and I could not stand idle. I demanded the previous Grand Supreme Kai, Fuwa, to take action against the demons at once, but he claimed that they were too part of the creation, and unless their action caused imbalance to the whole universe, we should watch patiently and try guiding them from afar. We argued a bit more and, ultimately, he told me that if things got out of control, that would be the God of Destruction’s business, not ours. I guess I don’t have to tell you it left a bitter taste in my mouth.” and with those words he narrowed his eyes a bit more, and smiled in an odd way.

It wasn’t the end of his tail, but Onato saw fit to pause for a bit longer in order to let Maikeru process all the information and, if he wanted to say something, he could.

Maikeru was silently listening to Onato’s tale and that was enough of a tip that he could continue his story without interruptions and so he did. ”Our lack of action made the demons believe they had nothing to fear and that they were entitled to rule the dimensions and finally, on the year four hundred and sixty one of the mortal calendar, they launched an all-out attack against the jewel of my eyes, Earth.” the Grand Kaioshin paused, sighing a bit; his black and cold eyes showed a tad bit of emotion there: anger, sadness, frustration. None of them intense, not even close to that, but they were still there, lingering to his godly soul.

”That was when I had enough of watching. I teleported there and took the matters onto my own two hands. I was much stronger than any of them could ever dream to be, but their numbers… It was just overwhelming and I know I would have died if this human… A pure-hearted human. His name was Manju. I won’t ever forget. He was strong, stronger than average and with his power we protected Earth.” and a subtle smile took form in his lips. ”We became friends, Manju and I, and I even began teaching him how to fight and master his own ki. I wanted to make him a protector of the world, but when I returned to my world, I was scolded for taking such a reckless action and… They took away my potara, thus temporarily demoting me from my Supreme Kai position.” Onato wasn’t sure Maikeru knew that the potara had this power; a Shinjin could be temporarily promoted to Kaioshin if they used a Kaioshin’s potara, while, at the same time, a young Shinjin could be demoted if they were took away.

Onato sighed deeply and sharply. ”Without the powers of a Kaioshin, I could no longer use Kai Kai, and that was when my heart began to succumb to the darkness. I was falling, consumed by hatred against my superior and my peers.” he admitted and his tone carried a bit of shame. ”Because of that I couldn’t fully train Manju and, despite being strong and pure-hearted, he wasn’t ready to take the role of protector of the world and thus, because of the havoc the demons caused, Earth entered into an age of war that would ultimately be its doom. I was locked away in our Kai world, unable to interfere and I watched them. I watched my favorite sons and daughter kill each other, destroy the beautiful nature their planet was blessed with and in less than two hundred years, Earth was nothing but a sterile barren wasteland.” he paused. ”The humans were extinct and my friend Manju was condemned to hell because, once he reached the check-in station, he, hurt by abandon, tried to attack King Yemma and the Kaios there were there to greet him. This was the last straw and I lost it after that.” Onato’s eyes became cold again and his smile faded away completely.

”Consumed by rage I attacked the other Kaioshin, defeating every single one of them in combat. I didn’t kill them, but I hurt them and I liked it, because they deserved the pain. They needed to feel somehow the pain my heart was enduring. They needed to bleed. And once I was done with them, it was about time Fuwa would suffer punishment for his lack of action. But he didn’t fight back, no matter how fiercely I attacked him and injured him, he wouldn’t fight back and that made me even angrier. That made me mad and I asked: Why aren’t you fighting back, you coward?!” Onato’s eyes became even colder and it was impossible to actually read what was on his mind right now. ”And know what he said to me? Because he didn’t want me to fall any further, otherwise I would corrupt my very soul and become the thing I hated the most: a demon, a fallen shinjin without justice in his heart. Fuwa said he loved me like everyone else, and that he didn’t want to see my misery and that broke me, and yet saved me.”Onato closed his eyes once more, sighing yet again.

”It was only then I realized there was so much I didn’t understand yet. But my actions, they hasted something that would have a steep price. Because of my passion, Fuwa anticipated our goal to put a stop at the demon realm; otherwise they would corrupt all creation. And in the year seven hundred and eighty eight we launched a full attack against the demon realm. All the Kaioshin marched to war and in a way, we lost.” he paused for a second. ”There were just too many of them and our attack was practically suicide. All the other Kaioshin died there and at the end, it was Fuwa and I. I gave my life away in a suicide attack that almost completely destroyed the Makyo Star of our universe and, when all seemed lost, Lord Champa arrived, our previous God of Destruction. In a movement of his hand, he erased the Demon King from existence and the demons were gone, or so we thought. The last of their kind, a demon warlord named Fu managed to attack Fuwa and kill him. Lord Champa vanished because of that and his attendant, Vados, is sent into hibernation, as all angels do when the God of Destruction is erased.” he took a few steps towards Maikeru now.

”Fueled by rage and duty, I battled Fu for one hundred days without rest and no one won. I used the last of my power to return to our world and, even though the demons weren’t extinct, they were no longer a threat. Still… When I think about it. Was it worth the price? No. It was not. I mourned for centuries and dedicated my time to learn what it meant to be a Kaioshin.” and once he said that, his eyes became quite inquisitorial and he pointed his right index finger right at Maikeru. ”Do you know why I’m telling you my story, Northern Kaioshin of Universe Seven?” he demanded an answer.

Being alive for such a long time had its perks and it made Onato quite a capable person reader and, by the time he finished his story and stared back into the eyes of the new shinjin, he knew he hadn’t reached his goals and that made him sigh in mild annoyance. Maikeru said he wasn’t like him, and it was true in a sense; while they were very alike as children, they weren’t the same. No one was the same because every single being, even gods, had this subtle difference called personality and that would make them unique, even if some creatures would be almost completely similar.

Still, when he asked why Onato was there, the Grand Kaioshin sighed yet again. ”You really are clueless, child. But I don’t judge you. I was clueless too.” he shrugged as he walked towards Zen’Oh’s palace, getting closer to its gates. Onato stared at the floating castle and he couldn’t help but to sense some shivers going down his spine. ”To stop you from such a foolish action. Are you really enough of a fool as to present your rant to the King of All? There are levels of naivety, but this… It’s just epic.” Onato openly criticized, staring back at Maikeru. ”And as your elder and Lord of your twin universe, I won’t allow it.” Onato bluntly stated.

Maikeru finally stood up and now faced Onato instead of Zen’Oh’s Palace, and that was a small victory for the Grand Kaioshin. Still, the Kaioshin from Universe 6 decided to let him speak before answering, paying careful attention to every word the blue shinjin was uttering. When he finally finished, asking if Onato would try to use violence against him, he just scoffed in disdain. ”Interesting. You are indeed the most foolish Kaioshin I’ve ever met, and yet, I feel some empathy towards you in the end. Guess I’m a little weird.” he shrugged, with the cold look in his face. ”But you are ultimately wrong in your statement, young Maikeru. Universe Six is indeed better than Universe Seven and, if you don’t know that, it just means you are completely ignorant regarding the universes Mortal Level, so let me educate you.” he paused briefly.

”Universe Seven is the second to bottom universe in mortal level, scoring a pitiful 3.18 according to Lord Zen’Oh scale. It’s considerably above the lowest universe at the bottom of the scale, which is Universe Nine, with only 1.86, but it’s still pretty low, rending it the title of Improvised Universe.” he informed him with a serious expression on his face. ”My Universe, known as Challenging Universe, is the tenth highest mortal level and, while it’s pretty low, means we are better than yours, so you should be humble and try to learn with me instead of thinking I’m here to belittle you.” he said, pausing briefly. ”Just as I try to learn from Universe Four, who ranks immediately above ours, but I must admit, our relationship should be closer because, as I said, we are twins and we should be looking after each other.” and when he said that, he sighed.

”And, no, Maikeru, I’m not here to fight you. What I did was shameful and it was a long time ago. I learned my lesson ever since and I was hoping my story wouldn’t come to your ears as a threat, but as a helping hand. I call you foolish because that’s what you are, but that doesn’t mean I dislike you. Quite the contrary.” and with those words, Onato cracked a smile and his eyes, for the very first time, became somewhat friendly, still just a bit. ”I would like us to see each other as brothers, as fellow Northern Kaioshin, as I was in the past and, with that, help both our universes grow, because, I must warn you: keeping a mortal level below that of seven is something Lord Zen’Oh really dislikes and… In that regard, we are within the King of All realm of displease.” Onato raised his right index finger, closing his eyes for a moment. ”And that’s pretty much the reason why I’m here to stop you from talking to them. We are not worth of their presence and this could be seen as outrageous, and thus, our universes could be destroyed in an instant.” he added, slowly opening his eyes and waiting for his fellow shinjin’s reaction.

Seemes like Maikeru was getting really riled up with Onato’s words and at this point, the Grand Kaioshin was almost expecting an outburst from him, but that didn’t happen. Instead, the Northern Kaioshin of Universe Seven seemed to calm down and even apologized, sighing shortly afterwards. Onato couldn’t help but to arch one of his eyebrows, surprised with this reaction and thus he decided to remain silent and hear what Maikeru had to say. When he revealed that he was planning on resigning his position was Kaioshin, that surprised Onato even more. ”I beg your pardon…?” this time he couldn’t even hide his emotion and was just there, openly and genuinely surprised with his words.

But then he clarified it; it was resigning his own idea of a Kaioshin, but that still bugged Onato to no end. When he began to explain about his own universe, Onato just nodded; he knew about Universe Seven’s issues, although obviously not so deeply as a Kaioshin from that very universe. Onato knew about the fallen false shinjin as that was something no Kai would fail to notice, but the mortal with godly ki on his own, he hadn’t noticed that yet and that made him frown his brows and narrow his eyes a bit, feeling rather intrigued.

To hear that it was the God of Destruction herself that allowed the mortal to unlock the secrets of Godly Ki made him think of Beerus, the previous God of Destruction of that universe and with that he sighed; different gods, the same mistake. Then Maikeru said the universe needed a more proactive god, one to act and inspire others by example and that was something Onato could agree on the idea, even though he doubted if it was even possible, considering their position and ties to the divine realms, but it was interesting to see a new shinjin with dreams and goals and, who knows? Perhaps he would be the first one among their peer to accomplish that. Onato would definitely like to watch it.

When he finished his words, Onato took a deep breath and then cracked a smile, but even though he was smiling, it was still hard to read what he was truly thinking. ”Interesting words. I wonder if you will be able to accomplish this goal of yours, but I would very much like to watch your journey.” he said, chuckling just for a moment. ”Still… I don’t think that’s something we should bother Lord Zen-Oh with, or even the Great Priest for that matter. No… If you would hear my opinion” he paused for a second. ”Do that, Maikeru. No one has to know and, in truth, we live long lives. If you are gone for a century or two in this journey, I’m pretty sure the higher ups will barely notice. And if that makes you more prepared to your role as a God, I can only see this decision as fitting.” he said, chuckling a bit more as he finished.