Destruction's New Meaning (A Vertigo/Goddess of Victory NIKKE Crossover)

[Stimpak Medic]

Prologue: The Search for Meaning

A vast sky of black and deep strokes of blues spanned across everything one saw or could see. Not a single cloud disturbed the vast expanse of diamondlike stars that twinkled and shone above the three Endless that sat on logs around a small campfire. Not far away a small black and white dog of thick fur could be seen chasing a small white ball that ever kept out of his reach. Each time he pounced or jumped at it, it bounced away, showing the futility of such an effort.

Occasionally, a shooting star would pierce the veil of the sky, and disappear with a bright flash, ending with it's single greatest moment.

From around the fire, a man spoke. No, he was not just a man. He was an idea. A duality of concepts that had just happened to take such a form to express themselves.

He was large for a man and was particularly well built and quite thickly muscled underneath his dull orange sweater over his white button up shirt and blue jeans. His voice was heavy, yet also light, and if one were to listen closely, it was such at different moments, as if it had changed to fit his mood and emotions. One might not be faulted for thinking they were two different people speaking entirely.

He had a broad face of pale white skin that was less pale than his brother Dream who was sitting across from him. He had a short neatly trimmed orange beard, and long orange hair tied into a ponytail. His green eyes were quite sharp and lively.

He looked up into the infinite sky as he spoke with a reverence and deep longing.

"I like the stars. It's the illusion of permanence. I think. I mean they're always flaring up, shooting across they sky, and fading out. But from here, I can pretend that things last. I can pretend that lives last longer than just moments" He said, looking across to his brother Dream, who sat silently doing nothing but observing him. Delirium was watching the two with a reserved expression, not wanting to interrupt the first meeting they had for three hundred years.

"Gods come and Gods go. Mortals flicker and flash brightly, then fade. Worlds don't last, as stars and galaxies are just as transient. They are fleeting things that flash and twinkle like fireflies then fade into cold and dust. But here, I can pretend. I can pretend that just for a moment, everything is alive."

"Do neither of you just sit and remember? Just think back on times gone? All the living things who's lives you've touched? All the planets and realms and spaces you've seen? All the forms you've taken?" He asked his two family members.

However, Dream was the one to speak in reply.

"My brother, why did you leave?" Dream asked, the anger in his voice quite palpable, and the very fabric of the realm trembled faintly. However, Delirium spoke in response to Dream's question.

"HE TOLD YOU ALREADY DREAM. HE SAID THERES NO SUCH THING AS A ONE SIDED COIN" She replied softly and loudly, as if the two opposing sounds were equally potent, leaning her head back, and breathing a small rainbow up into the sky that popped like a small bubble when it struck a star far out in the cosmos. She laughed a warm and sad laugh, realizing something ephemeral others could not.

"DOES THE FUR GO ON BEFORE THE FLESH OR AFTER?" She finished with a look of understanding, yet confusion as well.

"Afterwards, normally" Destruction said, before continuing. "Isn't it a wonderful night? It reminds me of something our sister once said to me" He revealed.

"What was that?" Dream asked, slightly curious.

"It was a long time ago, a long way from here. There were considerably more stars in the sky then. We had met under jeweled waterfalls, and we walked, talking about this and that. Then I told her how small I felt. How in spite of my existence, I wished that I knew more. We were looking at the constellations together. Diamond Girl, The Wreath of Bright Stars. The Crucible. I felt utterly insignificant in the face of them" Destruction took a soft breath and spoke again.

"And she looked at me. You know her look. She said that everyone knows all that destiny does, and more than that. She said we all know everything. We do. We just tell ourselves we don't to make it all bearable." Destruction spoke, finishing with a soft sigh, looking down at the crackling fire.

"That sounds unlikely" Dream rebuked, giving a quite logical answer.

"That's what I said to her. I said if that was so, why do they keep slipping on banana peels, falling down stairs, and tripping down manholes? Why does it seem that none of us- Endless or Mortal-God or Demon, know what we're doing?" He chuckled, still not knowing what to make of her words.

"And she said?" Dream asked, his curiosity sufficiently piqued.

"She just repeated herself. She said we already knew. Even now I don't know what she was saying or thinking when she told me so" Destruction shrugged, tilting his head to the side in resignation.

Delirium chimed in, giving a new thought to the discussion.

"SHES RIGHT KIND OF. WHEN WE DONT KNOW THINGS IT MAKES THINGS OKAY. WE CAN JUST SAY IT WAS OUT OF OUR CONTROL" she finished, quite proud of her understanding.

"Will you return? Will you resume your role once more?" Dream asked, looking straight into destruction's eyes.

Unfazed, Destruction responded firmly.

"No. You know why I abandoned my realm. I don't plan on returning until I have come to the conclusions I seek, which have to be found from within myself...whether they are the ones I seek...or not" Destruction trailed off on the last part of it, leaving the conclusion present in everyone's mind.

"THAN WHAT WILL REMAIN OF YOUR REALM?" Delirium asked curiously.

"I have closed it off to all but my family. Even without me, destruction still exists. Much as dreaming will still happen without you, my Brother" He finished, looking over to Dream.

"I have taken my sigil, my sword, and my scrying stone and intend to travel to a far away place that I have been observing for quite some time. A place I feel will be a start to my journey. Know this my siblings. I do what I must, and there is a reason in my absence and my silence" Destruction spoke, getting up and looking out to the stars.

"MUST YOU REALLY LEAVE US AGAIN?" Delirium asked, tears forming in her eyes.

"So you continue to leave your post empty..." Dream finished right after her, getting up as well.

"It is not empty, Dream, I just refuse to be a part of what this reality is becoming, and I would not leave that responsibility to chance. Thus I will be keeping my sigil" Destruction spoke softly, putting a hand on Dream's shoulder.

"I will return when my quest is fulfilled, and my conclusions have been met. And Delirium, do not cry or be sad, for I am searching for what I wish to. I will return. It may be in a million years, or several quintillion, but I will return, and when I do. I will not leave again. Do not weep over me, for I leave on my own accord" He spoke, ruffling Delirium's short blonde hair that was just long and red moments ago.

"I UNDERSTAND..."She trailed off, looking down at the grass somberly.

"Barnabas, I expect you to stay by my sister's side while I'm gone. I'm afraid there won't be any more painting or Poetry for quite some time" Destruction said petting his dog that had just come over, then looked up to the sky.

"Farewell for now" He said with a slight smile.

And thus, Destruction turned around, sword at his waist and sigil in his pocket and walked out into the stars, never to be seen again by his family for a long long time.