#{character thread; harold hogan; eternity]

[wormholxtreme]

@soullesstrouble | plotted for a Happy!Eternity Sophie!Death Thing

In the beginning of time and space, there was one being of pure cosmic fire that rose from seemingly no where. Her fire burned brighter than anything the universe has seen sense, but it was a lonely existence for The Phoenix. Trap in a vastly void with nothing to do other than contemplate the solipsistic nature of her very life.

Life! A spark, a hope, a dream. The vision The Phoenix had was not necessarily one of unity, but one of cycles. The ebb and flow of time and space could grant life and would take it away, but what of those souls in the meantime. Who would cultivate these energies and who would care for them when that energy met it's end?

So in all her omniscient glory, The Phoenix did not begin her universe with rocks, or space, or planets, or even big bangs. She did not begin it with Adam and Eve either, but rather two entities. Eternity and Death.

Eternity could not remember what was before. He knew from Phoenix there was nothing and the thought alone made him sad for her. The idea of being so alone was heartbreaking. He was never alone, for his twin, his dear sister Lady Death would always complete his existence. The pair's bond was unmatched by anything in the universe as they created and destroyed in a beautiful cycle what would be the infrastructure of the universe.

And then she was created. Not a crafted piece of Eternity's mind. No, by this point in the universe life began to flourish on it's own. He had very little say in what would come next but he was always excited to find out, to guide it along it's way until the roads lead to his sister. But Letona...Letona was something different.

Something in her heart, in her very soul, rose above the rest. How she was able to mesmerize so many on Titan would have been alarming, except, she also mesmerized Eternity himself. He watched her with fascination, watched her kindness grow. Watched her sacrifice herself for her planet, for her children, even for the Titan who would destroy so much in her name.

That Titan who just as much as Letona became Eternity's obsession, Dione became Lady Death's. It would be ironic if it wasn't so poetic.

Eternity knew long before this war that his sister was slipping away from him. He chalked it up to jealousy, for who couldn't be jealous of his power to grant life? But it was so much more than that. She had a thirst, a quest to conqueror. Had The Phoenix still been around, had their Goddess not decided to visit the mortal planes for herself, Eternity was certain she would not have stood for Lady Death's meddling. But it was only him, and he would not abuse the rules their Phoenix laid out for them.

That is until Letona's soul came back, this time drawn to the power of the Goddess and landed on Earth. Only this time she wasn't Letona, she went by Virigina Potts.

So delicate a creature in this state. A human being, and not a mutant with grand powers. If she had her memories she may be able to spark those titan magics but in this state she was vulnerable, only with the exact same heart and devil may care attitude that she always had.

So when Eternity decided to keep her as his charge, knowing Lady Death would demolish her in the blink of an eye, he decided to follow in the Goddess's footsteps and become human. Harold Hogan, at your service.

He said the words to the younger redhead sitting in front of him, the small white coffee cup in her hands as Happy spoke very few words to relay this ancient history.

"I hope you're not to angry with me Sophie." he said simply, gesturing to the baby bump hidden behind the table. "It is meant to be a gift to you, not a curse."

[wormholxtreme]

He watched her intently. Those once rich blue eyes now dark brown. Instead of turning emerald when her powers were in use, Eternity knew they would turn black, just like his. It was a change to say the least, and his new found twin had so many adjustments to deal with in the last few months, he wasn't entirely sure how Sophie would handle it.

Granted, being stripped of her soul, Eternity found the woman before him much more objective. He knew she understood her part in this play, her place on the chessboard, but it still had to be difficult. Her heart strings still had to have felt something whether it be anger, sadness, or in general confusion, especially with the aid of the budding soul inside her.

Happy smiled, seeing her pat her stomach affectionately.

"No." Happy answered. "There is no predetermined path for us to take Soph." he explained. "Kaylee easily could have decided to drag Athan into a black hole and sacrificed herself the same way you did. Jean could have taken her rightful place in the White Hot Room and taken Lady Death's powers from her. In another timeline, perhaps Mayday Parker be branded as a horseman instead. There are so many strings, webs, that continue to form the bigger picture and at any point someone could come along and tear the anchor out. You chose this path. You chose it out of love, out of sacrifice. I know you never really saw yourself a hero Sophie but you are one." Happy explained.

Sophie's hand reached across to his. The touch gentle, soothing. When was the last time Eternity held the full cycle in his hand? Not since Lady Death had chosen her champion, not since she had chosen the forsake the universe rather than play her part.

There was a gentle warmth to her touch despite her hand being so ice cold. Happy turned his wrist to take her hand, his thumb brushing along the back of it.

"It's your love for your family that saved far more lives and far more timelines than you could even imagine. That love remains even if you have a hard time accessing it." Eternity told her with a soft smile. "I hope you are not angry about the gift I bestowed on you." he nodded to her stomach. "And you're not the only one. In the aftermath of such devastation I may have also granted some others that you wouldn't expect a child as well. Your family grows Sophie, and it will take time for you to get use to your new role, but don't let them grow without you. You lose them and you lose your humanity. You lose that and you may forget why you became the avatar in the first place." He didn't think she'd need the warning, but told it to her anyway.

Time passed differently around them while they were engaged in conversation. Although, what was the time? For entities like the two of them, time did not exist. Warmth ran through her fingertips as she held the cup of coffee in her hands and listened intently. It was strange that despite what Sophie now represented, all aspects and elements of what it meant to be alive seemed to be even more prominent to her than ever before. Becoming Death, she fell in love with life.

She listened intently, yet she still found it difficult to familiarize herself with the role she now held. She understood the individual words, but the whole seemed so surreally distant. Sophie barely remembered her earthly life. Who she was now blended with who she used to be. She seemed to be coming to terms with what she now represented, but the life strangely sprouting in her body pulled her back into the chaos of her humanity.

"Do I have a choice?" The tone in which she spoke was gentle, yet not hostile. No one gave her a manual on how to navigate the whole situation. "How could life be a curse?" Driven by instinct, she placed a hand on her stomach. It was so strange. Her own heart did not beat, no blood flowed through her body, yet she could feel movements inside her womb. "Yet I still don't know how to raise a child on the border of two worlds. Is it right to bring her into this universe knowing she will never belong?"

Sophie had so many questions and no answers. Her eyes searched the face of the man sitting across from her. He had been a part of her life perhaps since her first breath, yet now she viewed him in a completely different way. Justifiably so.

As she looked at him, she realized that their eyes were now the same color. In fact, there were many physical aspects in which they were alike. And although Sophie still didn't fully understand a lot of things, a lot of it suddenly made sense to her. They were created as twins, each serving an opposite purpose, but that didn't change the fact that Sophie still carried a piece of humanity in her, and that part of her would forever perceive Happy as a father rather than a brother.

Eventually, all things came to their full cycle. Which Sophie actually found funny. All those years, after her earthly father had disappeared, when Happy had been as close as possible, protecting her mother and what was left of their little family. "Aunt" Jean guiding Sophie through her volatile powers. It all made sense in retrospect. Her eternal family was always close by.

"Does that mean things were always meant to be this way?" Did this mean that Sophie was always destined to take the scepter and rule over life and death? One of the things that got in the way a bit about her pregnancy and her regained empathy, was the fact that it dawned on her again that she was once more just a piece on the chessboard of something bigger. Something she couldn't hold firmly in her hands. But she wasn't the only one. Listening to Happy's story, it was abundantly clear that all his motivations stemmed only from love.

Her hand reached across the table and Sophie placed her palm on the back of his hand in a gentle gesture. It was a relief to be able to touch someone without having to constantly bind her powers. "It seems that after all, love really is the single most powerful force in the universe."