6 Chapter 5 - The Everchild

Have you ever thought about the insignificance of human life? I assume you did; I think we all did.

If humanity were to disappear this exact moment, Earth, the Solar System and the Universe would all continue to flow as usual, even better I dare say. To put things into perspective, considering the expansion speed of the universe constant, which it is not, the entire universe would be around 28.5 gigaparsecs, that is 8.8 x 10^26 meters. Earth's diameter is 1.2742 x 10^4, which means from the scale of the universe to Earth there are 22 magnitude scales difference.

The smallest atoms have approximately 10^-10 meters. This means planet Earth is, compared to the universe, 1 trillion times smaller than an atom.

Life is still special though, some might say, Earth is the only planet with life in the entire cosmos, but I think that is a little stupid. Go outside for a bit, all those people you see, there are 250 galaxies for each one of them, just in the observable universe. The conditions for life to exist are strict yes, but it isn't something that is impossible.

From all the time I was wandering the cosmos, still trying to take a bit of control over my powers I confess I have grown a little detached to life. But someone who does not care for it is something I do not want to become. All things, great and small, matter.

…

A few years have passed since what people call "The Void War" that happened in Icathia. I have wandered the desert and stayed in the empire of Shurima, a place filled with ascended, which I called golden warriors before, and have become the lead Astronomer of the empire.

My objective still is to explore the beauty of the cosmos. Runeterra is a place that does not lack it, it is a place influenced by the universe and a place that influences the universe. Truly a wonder.

In the center of the capital, the Sun Disc resides, a tall structure built by Shurima using knowledge given by Targonians, it is through this sun disc that shuriman warriors become Ascended. Due to the structure, the capital city as taken the same name.

A very tall man entered through the massive door of my workshop, his body was covered in golden armor, with golden wings on his back. Only his chest and face were uncovered showing is tanned skin. "Lead astronomer Ptolemy I have brought the materials you requested."

With a thud he set down the materials I needed to finish building my state-of-the-art telescope. I'm not kidding, this thing is at least a few millennia ahead in technology, nothing fancy of course, all purely mechanical, there is no electricity.

"Thank you for your service."

Although he was delivering my materials, this man was not to be mistaken as someone ordinary. He is actually the strongest Ascended in Shurima, having fought in the front lines at the Void War.

Even though I ended that war, multiple ascended still seemed to get scars that will haunt them for the rest of their life. In fact, I suspect some of them have been losing control.

"Will you still need more materials? Whatever it is you're building is already poking out of the roof of the warehouse."

"No, this should be enough. After I finish building this, our knowledge of what is out there should go much deeper."

Yes, even though civilization is quite new in this planet it has evolved to a point where they know what the universe is. Unlike us, who thought for a long time that the sky was actually something solid where the stars were, and beyond the sky was the dominion of the gods.

Apparently these targonians, the gods, have given them much knowledge about the universe. I guess it makes sense, after all the gods are characterized as the constellations in the sky. Something I think is true and not just metaphorical, after all, this place is influenced by the universe itself.

…

Late into the night I had finally finished building my telescope, my warehouse was now officially an observatory.

There is something about doing things by hand that makes the result much more rewarding, that is why I built it all like a human. No powers were involved in the making of this.

"It seems you have finished it." With an iron like posture, tanned skins and expensive clothes a man came through the door, much smaller than the ascended that left before, this man still held incredible power, political power that is.

"Emperor, I believe it is a little late into the night for someone such as yourself to be here."

"You're just rubbing salt on the wound, this kid couldn't sleep, so we came outside but then we encountered his friend and I have been walking with them for hours."

Behind the emperor of Shurima, two children stood, one much like his father the emperor, possessed golden hair and eyes. The other, had darker hair and his skin was not as soft as the young prince, but unlike him he wields a great capacity for magic.

"I believe it is my first time meeting the young heir and his friend the young imperial mage."

Both did a little nod. Although the mage had low status before, after saving the young prince they became very good friends and now he stands as the youngest mage in the empire.

"Since his majesty is here how about we all have a first look at what I have made? I believe it would be good for the young blood too."

A nod was all I needed to start preparing the telescope. I say preparing but all I did was look through it to align it somewhere interesting in the sky.

"Please. All you must do is look through this small hole here." As always children first, I picked up the one closest to me, which was the young mage, and showed him the beauty of the stars.

"What you're seeing right now is the constellation of the trickster, if you connect the dots with a little imagination, it looks just like a ferret. This one represents the Aspect of Change."