#deity oc: time/maecetis

[the-whispers-of-death]

Crossroads

TW: Grief, Revenge Killing, Slight Gore

So I've decided that since I don't really have a masterlist of the Stone variants but rather just a list (because Tumblr search is too wonky for me to try and find everything I've ever posted about the Stone variants), I decided that I would just have a story post about a vital moment in each Stone variant's life.

This one's about Serial Killer!Stone and it's how he found out that his story ends in a tragedy. Well, sort of. He's not exactly told, per se.... It'll make sense when you're reading the rest of this.

So let me stop rambling!

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Stone stood at Kali's headstone, uncaring about how harsh the rain was pouring down onto him. His old Marine uniform was getting soaked along with his hair, it sticking to his skin and covering his view of the words he had memorized over the past few months.

In Loving Memory of

Ashok Manish Kumar

June 6, 1989 - November 13, 2018

A son, a veteran, and a soon-to-be fiancé. May he rest in peace.

Despite being the one to have had those words engraved on the headstone, they still made Stone's fists curl up as his chest felt heavy. His breaths came out in short, shaky puffs, his eyes prickling with tears that he could barely hold back.

It wasn't fair, he thought to himself. It wasn't fair that Kali wasn't here and it definitely wasn't fair that Kali's killer had been acquitted.

It had been two weeks since the trial for Kali's murderer had ended with the jury acquitting said killer and time did not soothe Stone's anger. He felt bitter at the judge, the jury, at the world.

And he just knew that the murderer had only been acquitted because the jury had been bribed, hell even the judge was bribed. Corruption and crime ran rampant in this city and everyone turned a blind eye to it.

No longer.

Stone took a deep, steady breath before turning on his heel and leaving the cemetery. Despite how odd he looked wearing his uniform and not having an umbrella, he blended in easily with the crowd, keeping his head down as he walked to his destination.

Fury and a sense of righteousness fueled every step he took as he neared the alley where he knew Kali's murderer, that damned Jacob Nelson, was getting high with his friends.

The same alley where Kali was murdered.

He reached over to grab his sidearm from its holster, his brown eyes dark with vengeance. He cocked the safety off and took a step into the alley.

Only, the alleyway changed into somewhere with strands of gold all around him. The energy in this place was charged, like he was at the source of everything in the universe. And he wasn't alone.

There was a very tall, brown-skinned woman—no, not a woman. Stone was in the presence of a goddess.

He could tell by the way her eyes are just two balls of light, the golden balls making it hard for him to look at her face. But what little he could see of her, he could make out that she looked ethereal. The golden strands around him were all connected to her, wrapped around her fingers and limbs.

"Who are you?" he asked, his voice cold as always ever since Kali got killed. He lifted one hand to block out some of the light that was pouring out at of her.

The goddess smiled, her elongated canines showing and glinting in the natural light she exuded. "Mm, you should be careful whose names you ask for, Vikram. Names have meaning and you wouldn't want to give a dangerous deity more power than they already have," she said, her accent thick but indistinguishable.

It was like she was not even of this universe, which Stone didn't exactly think was possible. Especially since she knew his real name.

"But you have nothing to fear from me, though you would not be able to pronounce my name even if you tried," she continued, her head tilting in thought as to what Stone could call her. She thought for a while before humming in content. "You can call me... Time."

Stone narrowed his eyes at her, briefly wanting to roll them at the way she seemed to view herself so highly to call herself "Time".

"Alright, Time, what do you want with me?" His voice was laced with wariness, not trusting her in the slightest.

After all, he did have a murderer to kill.

Time didn't seem bothered by his wariness. "I know what you're about to do, Vikram. You're about to kill your beloved boyfriend's killer," she announced, like she was announcing the weather. "And I'm here to try and stop you."

"Stop me? Why?"

"Because, Vikram, if you do this..." She paused before stroking one of the golden strands attached to her and then letting it go. "If you do this, your future will be set into stone. You're at a crossroads, dear mortal. You have the power to turn away and to get a life of happiness again, or you can kill Jacob Nelson and cement your future as one that ends in tragedy."

"Why is this moment in particular special?" Stone asked, huffing at the notion. "Who's to say my fate can't change down the line?"

Time's power increased, causing the golden strands to get brighter. "Once you start killing in the name of justice, you won't stop. I've seen it, Vikram Mishra." Her voice was dark, full of anger and she tugged on the golden strands connected to her, drawing Stone's eyes to them.

"These golden strands are timelines and I see them all. Past, present, future of all every single universe. That is why I am Time. And all I have seen, in every variation of your universe that I can see, you will never stop killing in the name of justice once you start. And from then on, you will take the weight of the world on your shoulders, you will burden yourself with every guilt one could possibly place on themselves. You will be hunted for your crimes and you will die the way you've spent most of your life, alone."

Her power softened, bright but less so. "That is only if you kill Jacob Nelson," she murmured, her voice soft like her power. "You still have time to give yourself the happy ending you want. Do not let grief stand in the way of what Ashok wanted for you."

"Don't say his name like you knew him," Stone said with a growl. He tightened his hold on the gun in his hands. "He was everything to me, the ground I walked on. Life is already a tragedy without him."

"Don't do this," Time repeated, eyeing him with a stare so intense, Stone felt it in the core of his very being.

A pocket of space opened up, one that would send Stone back into that alleyway. A way for Stone to come back to what he was planning on doing, to get the justice he was itching for.

He had opened it, his grief too raw for the goddess to contain.

"Don't step through there, Vikram! Go home! Go home and get your happy ending."

Stone raised his gun, prepared to shoot as soon as he stepped through the pocket of space.

It was tempting to abandon his need for justice, to try and heal like Ashok probably wanted him to. But Ashok wasn't here to tell him to let go of his anger.

"I can't. Justice must be served."

With those words, Stone stepped through the pocket of space and as soon as he saw Jacob Nelson in his sights, he went for a headshot. The shot rang out and rang true.

Nelson's friends abandoned his corpse, scrambling when the blood splattered across their bodies. Curses filled the air, all of them not wanting to be the next one on Stone's list.

Soon, only Stone and Nelson's corpse were in the alleyway. Stone felt the air get heavy, like his fate was cementing and if Time was right, then it was. And Stone didn't have the will to care about it.

He cocked the safety back on the gun and waited for it to cool, watching the blood on the ground flow into the sewers with the rain. The air smelled like gunpowder mixed with the rain, but it calmed him nonetheless.

"For Ashok, I'll kill every criminal. I will be Justice and damn my own fate," he murmured into the night.

When the sirens sounded like they were coming closer, he disappeared, already planning his next kill.

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Did I also take this as an opportunity to insert one of the deities in the new pantheon/OCs I'm creating? Yes, yes I did.

So technically, Serial Killer!Stone wasn't just told about his fate, he also chose it. Also, he sounded a bit like the Dark Knight there at the end, whoops.

Reblogs are welcomed & appreciated! Asks are open, feel free to pop in and request something! (Check the rules in "Rules for Requesting NSFW" before requesting.)

[the-whispers-of-death]

god!sylvester: ... sure. if you want to.

rip to the high priest. i dont know what his deal is and hes there. just staring at them blankly

i think the ocs can sense i was aboutta hornypost (hornydraw?)

anyways mārīte goes off with Time, if shes still offering the position of priestess

God!Stone is so happy to be kissing God!Sylvester and it definitely shows in his kissing. Please forgive him, Sylvester, you're the first being he's ever kissed.

Yeah, Maecetis' offer off high priestess still stands, so yay for Mārīte gaining immortality. Have fun in that very bright, very lonely realm, because it's just you and her there because you two are the only ones who will be able to survive in the realm.

[the-whispers-of-death]

quick! spray time with water too and resurrect serial killer!stone's kali while shes not looking! she cant stop us all! (<- she can 100% stop us but. imagine for the bit and it working dhfkgds)

Time, knowing this will end badly so she ends up playing along: Oh noo, you're overwhelming me! With water!

Oh look, Serial Killer!Stone's Kali is alive now. Serial Killer!Stone is quickly moving them both to an uninhabited universe so Time can't get them. (That won't work, but they don't know that yet.)

[the-whispers-of-death]

"Serial Killer!Stone wants to know what your problem with him is, he's not even doing anything" NUH UH???? im still salty over him fucking up the magic user!reader x criminal!stone x serial killer!stone x ghost!kali au. no im not taking any responsibility for making it crumble apart. its his fault and his alone /j ((,, but i liked that au. i think reader went to magic prison there and that was that lmao. get got bozo))

i dont trust him with crossover aus anymore because time is watching his ass too closely. so. woe water be upon thee, you prick

also considering i sleep like. really weirdly in beds, chances are im laying on top of both knight!kali and criminal!stone so. hope they have fun with that

((im not joking. i barely use pillows and half the time i wake up perpendicular to them and with my head hanging out of the bed. rip my neck cuz that shit hurts but we stay silly))

Serial Killer!Stone: Time is not watching my ass closely!

Time, staring at him from behind: Yes, I am.

Serial Killer!Stone: *screech*

Anyways, Criminal!Stone and Knight!Kali don't mind if you end up laying on top of them. They're just happy that you're sleeping. Also, your weight on them is nice. Please don't leave.

[the-whispers-of-death]

also. staring at this line still

is it like a proper prophecy she's giving mārīte, by just saying "yes you *will* be my high priestess, you dont have a choice in the matter"?? cuz. damn lady, if thats the case. well.. idk.

i do wonder if she says that to everyone she meets though... i wouldnt put it past her, even if that is a little fucked up

but as always. uh. immortality comes into question. i doubt that she'd be pleased that her (mostly) human priestess would die so soon, when she has always been around

and that also ropes in sylvester. cuz. uhh. excuse me ma'am, but youre giving him a midlife crisis and hes now even more painfully aware of his mortality than before

Haha, no, she's not giving a prophecy. She doesn't like to tell people what will happen to them because then they might try and change what happens and most times, it's a fixed point in time and thus can't be changed. She said it because she was hoping that was the way to get Mārīte to be her high priestess when she grows up. (Look, blame it on the lack of sleep Maecetis has had, okay.)

As for the immortality, or the lack of immortality, every high priest(ess) (except High Priest!Sarabi, since he was already immortal) is granted immortality by the deity they worship. It's because they were given the title high priest(ess) since they were so devoted and no deity wants to lose that. Unless of course the high priest(ess) they want is supposed to die at a certain time and place to ensure other events happen, then they don't get the title of high priest(ess) and the immortality.

But as of now, no one has ever had a potential high priest(ess) whose death was necessary for certain events to happen.

[the-whispers-of-death]

sylvester, seeing maecetis sleeping in the temple: ... okay does anyone wanna explain all of that real quick..? who is she, and why is high pries!sarabi being ultra levels of formal??

High Priest!Sarabi: Lady Maecetis is the Goddess of Time and Fate, actually she is Time herself. All of the timelines of every universe are wrapped around her because she's the one who keeps the universe balanced by ensuring some deaths aren't quicker than usual or that some deaths never pass for they would unbalance the universe and send it collapsing. She deserves every formality in the book.

God!Stone: As for why she's sleeping here, her home realm is very lonely and basically inhabitable for everyone except her so no one can really keep her company. She also doesn't get much sleep in her home realm with all of the strands of the timelines in the universes wrapped around her limbs. Very uncomfortable, apparently.

Love how High Priest!Sarabi is like "We should all be bowing down to her, she's the closest thing to the holy chasm that created the first ever living beings." And God!Stone's like "She's just a lonely goddess, okay?"

[the-whispers-of-death]

sylvester, staring at Time: hey chat, is this bad?

high priest!butcher: ... probably?

rip sylvester. he has no idea whats going on anymore

High Priest!Sarabi: I don't know what's wrong with Lady Maecetis.

God!Stone is just pulling Maecetis away from Mārīte and is like "Come, rest. Just... leave the girl alone. She doesn't know about the deities yet."

Maecetis is just suffering, all she hears and sees nowadays are variations of every timeline in every universe. She's lonely with only Fate to keep her company, let her be weird.

God!Vincent, your boyfriend (are you and God!Stone official? Fuck it) is having a goddess sleep in his temple. But you can't really complain because your boyfriend's the God of Sanctuary and she desperately needs a place to sleep. (Does she even usually sleep? Probably not.)

[the-whispers-of-death]

mārīte at maecetis: uh.. thank you? .. i dont know what that means.

ma'am shes 7 and doesnt understand what gods even are yet. and. huh. fate,,, is she telling mārīte that she wants her for herself? kinda cringe ngl /lh

Look Maecetis doesn't even have a temple (which is not really anyone's fault, she lives in a realm completely separate from the rest of the gods and no one besides her can stand to be in the realm for long), she's desperate for a temple in the realm of the gods and to have a high priestess.

And fate, because, she's the Goddess of Fate and Time.

[the-whispers-of-death]

high priest!sarabi: arent you basically married?!

sylvester, popping up: sure he is. but im okay with it. carry on. save a spot for me though

high priest!butcher: hell yeah i will. c'mere doll <3

local man in monogamous relationship is unable to stop the open-relationship tendencies dfhgdfg

High Priest!Sarabi: Okay, well at least now we have Sylvester's consent to kiss.

That was really the only thing holding him back and now it's God!Stone's turn to feel the person he has a telepathic connection with kiss someone else. And he just decides to go back to kissing God!Vincent.

Welp. Now everyone's kissing.

Maecetis is staring at Mārīte and is like "You'd be a great high priestess of Fate when you grow up." Stop being creepy, ma'am. Please.

[the-whispers-of-death]

high priest!butcher: oh great. you again. good timing though, believe it or not. i need to talk to you. preferably away from those two. theyve been at it for an hour and im getting sick of it.

hes not exactly thrilled either. but sylvester already told him about their predicament. surprisingly, hes not there to threaten him... for the most part. (and for now)

mainly, he wants a truce, because hes bored of being on watch-duty and wants to go get wasted but he cant if hes on babysitting duty.

high priest!butcher: look. this isnt ideal for me either, and i hate even looking at your face, but i also have better shit to do than bicker with you. but hurt the kid and i'll show you why vincent granted me this position. deal or no deal?

hes lowkey just relieved that "noone" is going after his partner. right, god!stone? *r i g h t ?*

God!Stone: Right.

High Priest!Sarabi wants to smite High Priest!Butcher so badly, he wants to know if the brand Vincent gave him would protect him from it. But he doesn't cave into that urge, mostly because Maecetis (yes, I'm inserting her into this AU, she's telling me to) told him at the last annual meeting of the gods that he's not the one that kills Butcher.

Which he thinks is a shame, but I digress.

So he just tells Butcher that he won't hurt Mārīte and then he registers the rest of what Butcher said and is like "Wait, what do you mean our gods have been at it for an hour???" And just like that, Sarabi's jealousy is back, smh.

[the-whispers-of-death]

dominic's furious rn. he has half the mind to call the cops on stone immediately. or at the very least break a bone. do *something* to him

sure butcher deserved what was coming his way. you cant keep evading death and expect it to stay that way, but that doesnt mean hes okay w it either. but dominic doesnt ever show up on the ranch again either. hes spiraling and is besides himself with anger. but he doesnt want to actually hurt anyone so he locks himself away from the world. sorry simba and nala

i think everything on the ranch has just stopped. mārītes just shut down and the poor girl's trying her best to organize a funeral or *something*

i think she settles on cremation. sylvester doesnt care what happens to his body. he does get a kick out of it when mārīte wants to bury the urn next to his greenhouse and plant a tree on top of it.

hes also painfully unhelpful with mārīte. she just wants to talk to him and to make sure hes also happy w her decisions, but bro's like "fuck if i care. im dead anyways. its up to you. throw my body in the river for all i care" and shes like "daaaaaaaaad. oh my god. what is your problem???"

i dont think theres even a ceremony or a proper funeral. most that happens is that a small portion of the ashes are given away to ainārs, wherever the hell he is right now.

well. that is unless someone decides to step in like "uh yeah. no. lemme cook something up"

Maecetis, after I read that everything has fallen apart at the ranch: Oh if only I could've stopped this from happening, simply by going back in time and reviving Sylvester before Stone can kill Butcher.

Me: You're not in this AU, you're literally a goddess in another universe!

Stone is just laying on the floor of the bedroom because he can't sleep in the bed without Sylvester. He hasn't eaten, he hasn't showered. He's just... letting himself rot.

Laila's not doing much better either. She left to escape the memories, taking Anika with her. Akhil is only staying because Heartthrob is and Heartthrob's only staying because someone needs to make sure Stone eventually eats and takes care of himself while Kali takes over Stone's ranch duties.

You know how I said "Let the angst rain"? Yeah, I regret that. As evident by Maecetis chilling in my head, waiting to undo everything.

[the-whispers-of-death]

ghost!butcher, staring at ghost!sylvester: oh cmon! what'd i do?! did he not see it was a damn accident? yeesh, hes more trigger-happy than i am!

ghost!sylvester, trying to comfort stone, despite being a ghost: oh shut the fuck up, woe is you, asshole. shit i havent seen him cry this hard in ages!

meanwhile in the land of the living:

stone: im gonna need you to be 100% honest with me. is he here?

mārīte, whos having to hear and see sylvester and butcher bicker 24/7: theyre so here i wish i could kill them a second time

stone: they?

mārīte: both of them. and theyre annoying as shit

stone: dont say that! ........ can we exorcise butcher tho? i dont want him here..

I just know Time is staring at the universe and being like "How did that happen?" while pointing to Ghost!Sylvester and Ghost!Butcher. She's floating in my head, wondering if she can intervene and revive those two. (Ma'am, I know you're a goddess, but please. We're the creators of this universe, you can't just be like "That's not supposed to happen" when we're the ones who made it happen.)

Time, do me a favor, don't revive either of them yet. Stone needs this cry, he hasn't cried this hard in a long while.

Stone can barely speak, he's just sobbing. He's not having the best of times. He also refuses to bury Sylvester's corpse (a lot like Achilles) for the time being, because he can't currently cope with the death right now.

[the-whispers-of-death]

scientist!sylvester, immediatelly after seeing kali's grave in Crossroads: well i c-

me: NO. no graverobbing and NO resurrection! you have your own kali here! maybe say hi to him for once and ignore that other one???

sylvester, already holding a shovel: this will be so much fun :33 !!

me: the body is fucking 5 years old !!!! girl theres NAUGHT BUT BONE left what are you doING

~ rusty

Time, watching this: Oh, no. I'm sorry, but this one has to stay dead. Don't you already have a plaything (Serial Killer!Stone) back in your lab?

Time: *boops Scientist!Sylvester on the forehead as a way to teleport him back to his lab*

When I get to creating that pantheon fully, I'm going to know her actual name. For now, we'll just call her by the name she gave Serial Killer!Stone, Time.

Anyways, Sylvester, maybe you should focus on resurrecting Serial Killer!Stone. It'll be so nice, you can inadvertently give him cat features too since you're using your own DNA to see if you can resurrect him.