The Beginning

November 10, 1991

02-Gaia

Observation Entry #101

After the confirmation that the mutant plants; Thorn Berries, Dancing Fruit Grass, and the various Eyeball Beans, were safe for consumption, I made a quick decision to transplant some of them to Gaia to increase the variety of food, while still leaving a few samples back at the manor's garden.

Seeing as the Eyeball Beans preferred a warmer and more climate, I planted them near the swamps towards the southwest of Beschutzer Continent, while the Thorn Berries, which preferred colder temperatures, were placed just at the foot of the Northern mountain range.

Though, unlike those two plants prior, the Dancing Fruit Grass wasn't picky when it came to temperature. All it needed was a considerably fertile land to take root and sufficient water. So, I carefully looked for locations which were active hunting grounds of predators that were not far from a source of water and placed them there.

Now, with that done, I surveyed the entire continent to assure it's overall balance.

The flowers have now spread to most parts of the continent, with their seeds having spread by the wind or by birds, and the population of most animals have entered a stable rate of increase and decrease.

At this time, I have also discovered that most of the predatorial birds have begun to make nests, with the falcons choosing the cliffs, the hawks in the Bleeding Weeds, having taken a liking to the sweet Ambrosia it leaked, and the eagles taking the Yggdrasil tree as their territory.

Unfortunately, because of the appearance of the larger birds, the sparrows, which had previously nested in the canopies of the Bleeding Weeds, were forced to change their nesting location to the newly transplanted Thorn Berries, being forced to bear the chill of the north to avoid the dangers of being hunted by the other birds.

Seeing how they all managed to adapt well in their new home, I decided that it was time to take the next big step in my plans.

Which was-

To create intelligent life.

And, not just any intelligent life. I wanted to create a powerful being that can keep Cthulhu in check to create a balance between the two of them.

One that truly deserves the name of the Beginning.

But, that was when my troubles began.

To create a strong being, it must start with a strong soul. And, the souls that I had picked from inferior creatures simply wasn't enough.

Inwardly, I am aware that all souls, at their purest form, was no different from any other, no matter what they were when they were alive.

Perhaps, it is because, in a way, what I would be creating would be my child. So, subconsciously, I would want to create it from the best material there is.

Anything less was unacceptable.

And then, I remembered.

The animals in Gaia had managed to spawn their children without me actively sending souls to them.

In theory, that means that souls had the ability to duplicate themselves like cells. But, until now, I still haven't proven that yet.

Though, given the current circumstance, I realized that this was the perfect opportunity to test it.

After all, if I am to create my own child, there is nothing more perfect than using a duplicate of my soul to bring them to life.

So, with that set, I grabbed several souls left over from the animals I hunted and went on to observe the process of soul duplication that the animals currently in mating were unconsciously doing.

Of course, I wouldn't do it to my own soul immediately since I still do not understand the process. I'd have to first get an idea of how it works, then, experiment on other souls before trying it on my own soul once I am assured of it's success.

For several Gaian weeks, I worked on this with single-minded focus, until finally, I managed to figure out how it works after watching the moment when a sparrow laid it's eggs.

They were subconsciously pulling in the ambient energy that was being leaked from the Star Heart Crystal fragments buried underground, and was using that to metaphorically feed their souls to fatten it up before releasing a brand new soul made from the converted ingested energy.

Surprisingly, once I learned of it's principle, putting it into practice wasn't that hard at all, given that I had a close connection to the Star Heart Crystal in the first place and could directly draw energy from it instead of relying on the energy it leaked.

With that said, after practicing a few times on the extra soul orbs, I was now ready to try it on my own.

For several Gaian days, I concentrated on pulling energy from the Star Heart Crystal into my soul while simultaneously preparing the materials to create the body.

Since I envisioned the first being to have power that was similar to mine, I decided to use a vial of my own blood, strengthening my connection to it even further. And for strength and longevity, I bestowed a fragment of the Star Heart Crystal to serve as its heart. To tie it to the Beschutzer Continent, I used the white clay from the banks of the Main river for the flesh, and, finally, for its bones, I chose the young branches of the Yggdrasil tree.

With all these together, I took nearly an entire Gaian week to carefully carve the image of a baby. Then, I set it carefully under the sun to dry and hastily made preparations to welcome it into the world.

Such as, building a suitable abode, which I chose to create within the wide trunk of the Yggdrasil tree, with the passage hidden underneath it's roots.

Then, I went on to create cotton plants and wooly sheep to provide for future clothings.

At this point, it has come to my realization, that maybe, I shouldn't have been so hasty about creating intelligent life.

Though, there's nothing I could do now but carry on since it's already almost done. A little too late to regret now.

Fortunately, I managed to complete them shortly.

Then, the soul too, was created. But, before I placed the soul into its new body, a sudden idea came to me.

I took a good look at the crafted body before me and somehow, it felt incomplete.

The first intelligent life on Gaia, one that marks the beginning of society and history. It caries a symbolic meaning, and there was only one being that comes to mind in that.

So, having come to that decision, I carefully altered the body's ears and made it so that it resembled mine when I am in my Astral form.

With the body done, I turned my attention to the soul orb and pressed it against my forehead, imparting memories that have long been shoved in the deepest corners of my mind, then, gently let the soul orb sink into the body.

And, when the little elfling baby took it's first breath, I proudly gave it's rightful name back.

Sith'Alva.

May you be your people's light.

Entry End

❄️❄️❄️

"Intent! It is in the intent!" The professor seemed to seethe as though he couldn't believe that his student wasn't actually succeeded in his first try. "Your magic is not a tool! It is as much a part of you as your hands and feet!"

The corner of Ymir's eye twitched. He makes it sounds so easy, as though it's something that can be done as long as they heard it.

But, Ymir has always been a methodical person. Simply just using a vague term like intent wasn't enough. He needed to know the exact principles of why it happens, how it happens, and what makes it happen.

"Stop thinking of your magic as something like your wand because it is not!" The professor kept berating him after he had once again failed to cast the floating spell silently. "Take control of it and will it to do as you intend it to!"

Inwardly, Ymir wanted to roll his eyes. Unfortunately, unlike the professor, he wasn't some sort of genius who can quickly cast spells by instinct alone. What he needed at this moment was a precise diagram of the pattern which the magic follows in order for the spell to be executed.

Wait. Pattern?

Ymir furrowed his brows and thought deeply. If normal spells can be converted into runes, can the pattern of the runes be used as an imaginary circuit which the spell needs to follow to be casted silently, or even wandlessly?

Deciding to give his theory a try, he pointed his wand to the feather in front of him and envisioned the runes for the levitation spell on the tip of his wand, controlling his magic to follow that pattern with immense focus.

And, slowly, before his eyes, the feather rose up into the air for a few inches before abruptly falling back down.

Ymir's eyebrows slowly relaxed, finally finding a method that worked for him that wasn't something vague like just relying on intent.

Hmm. That's interesting.

But, in contrary to his relief, the professor looked at him in discontent. "I hope you're not satisfied with just your little achievement, because this is not an acceptable result. Do it again."

Ever since Samhain eve, he'd been noticeably more irritated and aggressive. Just what exactly happened?

Ymir took a deep breath and nodded, accepting the fact that it really was not enough. "Understood, professor."

"Continue doing that until you are able to do it with barely a thought." The professor huffed and turned his attention to a book about alchemy.

"Yes, Professor Quirrellmort." Ymir said quietly as he once again pointed his wand to the feather.

The professor paused abruptly and focused his red eyes on his student. "What did you say?"

"Yes, Professor Quirrell?" Ymir tilted his head and looked at the professor innocently.

The professor hummed and narrowed his eyes at him in suspicion.

❄️❄️❄️

Sith'Alva was growing quickly.

A little too quickly.

It had only been a little more than a Gaian week since he'd been created, but he already looked like a year old baby.

Ymir felt a little regretful that he wasn't able to see much of Sith'Alva's babyhood, but, he supposed it was more of a blessing since he didn't have to experience much of the hardships that came with the first few years of a child's life.

Particularly, the cleaning up of excrement part.

Though, thinking about it, Sith'Alva didn't seem to have excreted once at all. But, considering how his body was made with the Star Heart Crystal, perhaps, all the food that he ate was broken down into pure energy, leaving no residue to excrete.

Aside from that anomaly, Sith'Alva never cried. He giggled and smiled a lot whenever he saw Ymir, recognizing him as his parent, but he never cried.

When he was hungry, he would stare at Ymir with his golden eyes while patting whatever he was sitting on repeatedly until Ymir understood what he wanted.

Those eyes, a different color from Ymir's silver, were something that baffled him when he first saw them, considering that none of the materials Sith'Alva was created from bore the same color.

But, thinking that the imparted memories may have caused such a side effect, taking into account that the original Sith'Alva also had golden eyes, Ymir let it be, since everything else was inherited from him anyways, like his silver hair and light complexion.

Although it still couldn't be seen now, since Sith'Alva looked like a cute little ball of baby fat, Ymir knew that when the little elfling was older, their similarities would become more obvious with each passing year.

Even their love for the Teardrop fruits of the Dancing Fruit Grass was similar.

"Awh?" Perhaps noticing Ymir's eyes focused on him, Sith'Alva looked towards his creator and tilted his head in confusion.

He was cute. Ymir decided.

And, since Ymir had no knowledge about childcare, he did the best thing he could think of, which was, to kidnap a Terran ant which worked as a larvae caring ant for its colony, and altered it's brain into perceiving Sith'Alva as a larvae it had to take care of.

If it went well, perhaps he'd create an entirely new species based on the Terran ants that had the same purpose as house elves.

After all, Sith'Alva was just the first elfling he'd create. In the future, there will be more of them and Ymir really didn't have the ability to care for all of them himself.

Now, with a new ant babysitter to take care of Sith'Alva, Ymir began to focus on other things, like refining the dwelling inside the Yggdrasil in order to create a hidden yet beautiful living space for the future elf generations.

One which would last for thousands of years and house many little elflings until they are deemed strong enough to explore the outside world on their own.

What he planned for Yggdrasil, to be exact, was to be the womb which will bear fruits that will eventually turn into little elflings while it's trunk becomes the secret place where elflings are cared for, taught, and trained, by the Ant nannies that he would later create, until they become strong enough to face any challenge that they may face in their life.

So, in a way, aside from Sith'Alva, who will later become the rightful ruler of the elves, each elf would be each other's siblings.

Ymir blinked. It might be problematic for them if they were to look for a romantic partner. He realized in hindsight.

Then he threw that thought away. Anyways, they weren't really blood related as they all came from a tree. And whether they'd have the same reproductive capability as other creatures is still yet to be seen as they came from... a tree.

Actually, if they do have reproductive abilities, how would that work? Would they reproduce similar to humans? Or would they grow flowers from somewhere in their bodies for their partner to pollinate until it turns into an elf fruit?

"Ne-ah!" Suddenly, there was a light slap on his foot, snapping Ymir out of his thoughts, and when he turned to look at what exactly had slapped him, he came face to face with a pouting Sith'Alva who seemed to have been trying to get his attention.

"Yes, Alva?" Ymir asked, picking the elfling up to sit on his lap. Somehow, he always felt the need to give Sith'Alva all of his care and gentleness that he didn't even know he was capable of giving since the elfling's first breath.

Whether it was a side effect of giving Sith'Alva a duplicate of his soul and his blood, or whether he was acting like his own envisioned depiction of the perfect parent to Sith'Alva because it was something he himself subconsciously wished for, he didn't know.

To be honest, he didn't really care to know.

But, to his little elfling, he wanted to give the best he could.

He never realized that he'd get attached this much and this quickly. Though, he didn't regret it.

"Umh?" Blinking his golden eyes at him, Sith'Alva held out a piece of Teardrop fruit with his sticky hands, staring at Ymir with expectation, offering up his favorite fruit to his parent.

And somewhere, deep in Ymir's stone heart, a little part was scratched by tiny kitten paws, and his lips curled up in a small smile.

Yes, he didn't regret this at all. He thought as he took a small bite of the offered fruit and fed the rest to his elfling.

But, Sith'Alva was still growing quickly. At this rate, it won't be long until he'd look like a toddler. Ymir hoped it wouldn't be that fast all the time as he truly did want to take his time with raising Sith'Alva.

Fortunately, when Sith'Alva was nearing two weeks old, with the appearance of a two year old, his growth finally started to slow down.

Though, still, Ymir was unwilling to miss any of Sith'Alva's growth process. So, with determination of a single parent gradually developing an incurable child obsession, he worked hard everyday, until finally-

He managed to sync Gaia's time with Earth's at a 1:1 rate.

❄️❄️❄️

"A guide to childcare and... How to create clothes from scratch?" A familiar voice muttered curiously from behind Ymir when he was reading in the library. "A strange choice of reading material, don't you think?"

And he's here again.

"Good afternoon, Professor Green." Ymir greeted politely as he glanced up from the book he had been studying seriously for the past hour.

Somehow, Ymir had been having a lot of 'coincidental' meetings with the new History Professor lately. Well, not really a lot. It was more like Ymir was taking notice of the professor when he was nearby more than he did with the other professors, so he subconsciously felt that they were meeting a lot.

And, it wasn't like those meetings were happening too frequently that it would warrant anyone's suspicions. In fact, Ymir probably met Professor Quirrell more often than he met Professor Green.

It was most likely just the strange familiarity that he felt with the professor that made him subconsciously focus on him.

"Does taking care of children interest you, Mr. Schreiber?" The professor asked as he casually took a seat opposite him. "Or creating clothes?"

"I wouldn't call it an interest." Ymir answered, flipping to the next page. "It's more of a current necessity."

"Oh? Is it for a friend who has a sibling, or an acquaintance?" Seemingly unaware of Ymir's disinterest in continuing the conversation, the professor spoke with a disarming smile. "Oh, apologies. I have never cared for a child myself so I find it interesting."

The professor immediately assumed he was reading the books for someone else's child, as though he was completely sure that Ymir wouldn't have any younger children in his family.

Ymir narrowed his eyes slightly at that, setting his book down and turning towards the professor, seeming to pay more attention to their conversation. "It is to care for a particularly cute child who's currently somewhere far away."

"Ah, is that so?" The professor said thoughtfully and glanced at the books once again. "Though, I'm quite surprised that the Hogwarts library even has books like this."

"The Hogwarts library has always been known to contain the largest collection of books in all of Wizard society." Ymir said calmly, but inwardly, he was getting a bit more suspicious of the professor. "By the way, professor, I heard you studied in Durmstrang instead of Hogwarts?"

"Indeed, I have." The professor confirmed straightforwardly. "And I must say, Hogwarts is very different from Durmstrang in many ways."

Although he tried to pass it off as though it was just a casual statement, somehow, Ymir had the feeling that the professor was hiding something, but the way he looked at Ymir, as though he was searching for someone else within him when they spoke, completely gave him away. And, Ymir was getting tired of playing this back and forth game where they pretended nothing was wrong.

"Durmstrang... seems to be a really mysterious school." He seemingly muttered to himself as he discretely removed a glove from his hand. "If possible, can you tell me something about it, professor?"

Ymir asked in feigned interest, moving to grab his quill to take notes, only for his quill to slip and roll towards the professor's side. "Oh, I'm sorry I'll-"

When he moved to reach over the table to get his quill back, he was stopped by the professor who calmly picked up the quill for him.

"No, no. It's okay!" Professor Green smiled at him and offered the quill back. "Durmstrang doesn't like to publicize a lot of information, but there are some that I can tell you."

"Then, please do tell." Ymir smiled gratefully reached to take back his quill from the professor's hands.

The moment their fingers touched, he mentally braced himself for the impact of information, only to be left confused and dazed when nothing happened.

What-

"So, this is where you've been all afternoon, Ymir!" Suddenly, Draco came strutting towards their table, and quickly made a move to pull the News club's editor out of his seat. "All the articles have been written and we're all just waiting for you to edit them."

But, before he could be completely pulled out, the professor cleared his throat, making Draco aware of his presence as well.

"Oh, Professor Green." Draco awkwardly greeted the man. "Did you need Ymir for something important...?"

"Hmm, I suppose it's not really of much importance." The professor rubbed his chin with his thumb. "Though, from what it looks like, your business is."

"Then, is it fine for me to steal Ymir?" Draco looked towards his friend who seemed to be deep in his thoughts, and the professor did the same with a sigh.

"Well... It seems that out conversation has to be cut short?" The professor seemed to be genuinely disappointed at that. "Perhaps, we can continue on next time?"

"Oh, yes." Realizing that he was being spoken to, Ymir replied with a small polite smile. "Of course, professor."

Then, Draco began dragging him away hastily as soon as they bid farewell.

Now, without the sight of the professor following him, Ymir frowned slightly. Was there something wrong with his ability?

Feeling perturbed about the possibility that he may have lost a useful skill, he immediately grabbed Draco's wrist with his ungloved hand. And-

[Los Folaas?]

A strange and unfamiliar language.

[Half Giant... dragon!]

A feeling of elation and excitement.

[Why... die so quickly?... long-lived-]

Despair and grief.

"Is there something wrong, Ymir?" Draco was looking at him strangely, taking notice of Ymir's hand on his wrist which was lacking a glove.

It was strange. He can't recall the last time he'd seen Ymir not wearing his gloves before.

"No." Ymir quickly let go of Draco's wrist and casually wore his glove back. "You said something about the newspaper?"

"Oh, right!" With the change of topic, Draco immediately forgot all about what just happened. "We managed to finish it ahead of time and Pansy said that we should-"

Ymir quickly tuned out Draco's chatter and turned his gaze to his gloved hand.

It seemed that his ability still worked just fine. Which means, the reason why it failed at that time had something to do with the professor rather than him.

Just what could he be hiding?