Chapter Text
As the light of the stars shone upon the branches of Yggdrasil and time continued her steady march onwards, somewhere deeper, beneath even the deepest roots of the world tree, past the point where reality begins and matter is created, lay a realm of shadow and intense light, of order and of rampant chaos. The very edge of the universe, it was connected to the whole of existence by portals created through the formation and dissolution of matter and energy, the distortion caused by appearing and dispersing masses of stars, planets, black holes and comets as they were continually created and dispersed. This realm of shadow and light, known as Utanskadr*, was directed by a solitary being, unlike any other in all the realms. For this being, this eternal king (if king was indeed a more appropriate term than queen) was as changeable as his ever-shifting realm, and yet as stable as the foundations of the universe itself. Of no people and of every people, he commanded the creation and placement of the stars and the planets, his form and appearance shifting and adapting to the ever-developing universe.
The King was well loved by his subjects, for they were those whose ablilities had been overlooked and rejected by their own peoples. To him it did not matter from whence they originated, or who they had been before. He found them and gave them recognition and acceptance in his kingdom when others had ignored them, despised them, and cast them aside. He gave a place to those who had none. Each of his subjects had great talents, for even the dead could survive for but a few hours in his realm if they did possess no strong ability to manipulate energy, whether with magic or by other means.
Though he had his subjects' love and loyalty, the King was lonely. He had ruled his Kingdom since the beginning of time, and would continue to rule until the end as well. Little that was truly new or interesting happened in his kingdom, and he craved the happiness shown by some of his subjects, and by the inhabitants of other realms. He saw both his friends and complete strangers seek out another and in their company find joy, sorrow, comfort, peace, anger, and laughter. This one person in particular they chose above all others, and made promises to remain together throughout all of time. This he desired for himself.
So it was that the King would sit upon his great throne in his echoing hall, waiting in the shifting light and time. While he sat beneath the beauty that was Yggdrasil herself, his mind would traverse the realms, seeking for someone that could be his companion in eternity. He saw many great and varied minds, and knew that no few of them would make their way to his kingdom of their own accord when they died. Those who were worthy of Valhalla but who would find it unpleasant, and those who would be destined for Hel but who deserved more would come to him. These and yet others who had no true place in the afterlife, and who possessed the ability to survive the rigors of his realm were given a place in his kingdom. But finding those he had encountered lacking, still he searched, his consciousness drifting from the very beginning of the universe until its ultimate destruction, seeking just one individual that could act as his equal, who possessed the creativity, intelligence, power, and adaptability to withstand the passage of eons without becoming boring or bored in turn.
Time passed in the peculiar manner that it was wont to take in his realm. Seconds became hours even as days became minutes, and eons passed while the months became long. His realm was not particularly fond of obeying the so-called laws of physics that the rest of the universe followed, and his subjects were often in need of vacations from the chaos that he ruled over. He set them to overseeing the placement of the stars and other celestial objects that were created within his borders. He sent yet others to move among the branches of Yggdrasil, to gather news and knowledge of each of the realms and their inhabitants. He himself could only leave his kingdom for short periods, his chaotic nature tended to disrupt the other worlds while the absence of the order he brought to his realm quickly turned to disaster. So it was that he relied upon his subjects and his periodic mental wanderings to remain informed of the events of the different realms and to search out those who would become his, and to find the equal he sought.
As he continued his seemingly unending quest, he perceived the sudden brightness of a child's birth. The power and potential within the little one was staggering. A chaotic nature tempered by the ability to scheme and predict, to manipulate and to reason. This child was destined to become a great mover of people and events. The raw power the babe would possess in time was more than sufficient to survive the tearing energies of his realm, though he would yet need to learn the necessary skills to wield that power. The child showed promise. But while he had more potential ability to become the equal the king craved, more than any other individual he had yet encountered or heard of, of course there was still the matter of personality to consider. He would watch over this child's development most carefully.
*The place beyond.