Archive of Our Own ^beta

For as long as he could remember, Airy had always wondered why Happiness could never stay eternal.

Joy was such an easy thing to grant upon others; all you had to do was act nicely towards them or gift them with something, and they would be Happy.

But it never lasted.

Tragedy would always strike, hardships would come down upon that person, and steal their Happiness away, as if they never had it at all.

Airy wished the universe wasn’t so cruel and uncaring. Wished it showed mercy and love towards the poor, miserable people who were forced to suffer and endure everyday only to feel true Happiness for only a fleeting moment.

But there was nothing he could do about it.

For he was only a lantern. He held no power, no authority, to rewrite the laws of the world and change it for the better.

(Though he wished he did. He wished his soul could leave his powerless shell, ascend into the heavens and become something that could bless others with the Happiness they deserved. An Angel, birthed from the tears and sorrows of the masses. A Bringer of Happiness, born to rid the world of all its worries and turn it into a Paradise with beauty beyond imagination.)

Despite this, Airy went about his days, content to live a normal life and support the people around him whenever they needed it.

(Even if it did leave him feeling unsatisfied in the end, the bittersweet knowledge that they would go back to hurting again always floating in the back of his mind.)

Even when he got into an accident with his truck, he slowly faded away with a smile on his face, blood dripping down his mouth and making a mess over everything.

—

Airy was aware that some people enjoyed the sound of static.

Some even used it as white noise to lull themselves to sleep, or so he heard.

…Now, however, he could not fathom the idea of enjoying the grating, irritating sound of static.

Sitting in.. whatever this limbo was named, he heard it over and over, to the point where he couldn’t remember what silence sounded like.

There was nothing to do in this place. Nothing to do except tune the radio and hope he somehow made it back to Earth.

He grew numb. Numb and tired and sore, his mind hazy and unfocused, trying to stay on task and sometimes failing in favor of staring out into the distance blankly.

He just wanted to go home.

—

He had given up at the prospect of returning to his home universe a long time ago at this point.

This new world was.. nice. A stark contrast to the other worlds, full of danger and chaos and fear and-

…That was behind him now, wasn’t it?

Yes. Yes, it was.

This world was peaceful and had nothing that could cause him, or anyone for that matter, any harm.

He was safe. There was nothing for him to worry about ever again.

No more responsibilities. No more meaningless suffering.

Just..

Happiness.

—

When he was still alive, he had never dabbled in computer coding.

But he would learn if it meant be could create his very own Paradise from the ground up.

His Paradise would make everyone Happy. He would make sure of it.

All he had to do was grant everyone a wish of their choice, which was well within his power, and then leave them to do as they pleased in his wonderful, lovely Paradise.

If there was one thing he had learned from his.. experiences visiting different worlds, it was that no matter what, the one universal constant was always torment.

But he finally had the power to change that.

He was never a religious person, but he remembered hearing about a Garden of Eden back on Earth.

An everlasting, blissful Garden which provided its inhabitants with everything they needed. They could simply spend their days lounging around aimlessly without a care in the world, free from the burden of real life.

Perhaps.. he could make his own version of it.

He would find a way to bring people into his Garden, if it was the last thing he did.

People from all across the universe.. suffering from the misery and agony of their day to day lives.. they would all be brought here. And liberated by him.

The Bringer of Happiness.

But before that, he needed to work on adorning his currently bare planet with splendor, so that the people that were soon to reside in it may never want to leave, and enjoy the rest of eternity in elation.

—

Liam stared in awe.

One second, he was driving home from work, and before he knew it-

Flowers and trees and plants of all sizes bloomed in every color known to man - all bizarrely vibrant and succulent, almost in a way that made everything look like a dream.

Fruits hung from branches, dripping with sickly sweet-looking ichor that resembled thick syrup. He felt the strange urge to drink the puddles that they made on the ground.

The sky was perpetually changing, shifting from soft pink to baby blue to gentle green in an instant. The clouds were moving across the sky at a languid, slow pace, angelic creatures resting on them peacefully. Rainbows also filled the skies, shining with a luminosity Liam had never seen before.

He heard sounds of groaning.. were there other people here, too?

Just as he was about to open his mouth and call out to any potential other people that may have found themselves in this strange place, a voice came in from above:

“Hello..?” The voice was quiet. Yet.. soothing and pleasing to listen to, soft and drawn out like a pretty lullaby sung to lull babies to sleep, “Did it work..? is everyone here..? Good, good. Welcome. Welcome to my Garden of Delights, my sweetlings. Are you ready for eternal Happiness?”

…

Seconds after the mysterious speaker spoke, cursing and screaming broke out, leading Liam to cover his ears.

Great, he thought, bringing his knees up to chest, This is just what I needed.