The end is the Beginning
I died, everyone does eventually, but this time was a lot more important because it was me instead of some other loser. A very egotistical way of thinking, I am aware, but I've been using it as a coping mechanism to stave off the crippling loneliness. Well that's not entirely true... I wasn't alone, let me start over.
I died and upon my death I was met with a blinding light, I was standing before a supernova that could rival the creation of the universe and yet instead of being reduced to my component atoms, I was awash with peace. This was obviously the afterlife, it fit all the stereotypical descriptions. But... I lingered just outside instead of entering my eternal resting place. I had lived as a human, with a family, friends and occasional lover, I had enough smarts in my head to get into a university and during all my time of living I was a tad... disappointed. It was all mundane and while I loved those close to me, I always had a tiny little part of me in the back of my head wanting... more. To experience life beyond earth, to understand what lies beyond, to know the true nature of my being down to the metaphysical. With those thoughts in mind I understood that the afterlife would never bring me true peace, not until I had answers. Almost as if sensing my thoughts the light in front of me dimmed until there was naught but void, and then... there were STARS . Swirling galaxies and nebulae that resembled those of my home and others that folded in on themselves in impossible ways, If I were still limited to my flesh I would have gone mad, but being an immortal spirit I could look at every layer of creation, every dimension and observe without fear of insanity.
I spent what could be considered an eternity roaming this omniverse, peering around every corner, looking under every stone. I ventured to the foundations of existence, the void . The bedrock of reality where the very first beings came into existence, The Old Ones. I watched and listened as they sang impossible songs and entire universes would bloom to life from the vibrations of their voices, these beings were the first to exist and they laid the foundation for what would become creation. They were not hostile in fact they were quite welcoming. They sang to me and taught me to sing as they did and I was amazed as stars would form from the simple songs I sung, like watching the suspended particles of ice glimmer while your breath rapidly froze due to the cold winter air.
I felt a tiny piece of what was the void nestle itself into my being, it would take eternities for it to blossom and for me to ascend to a higher being, to become an old one. But the seed had been planted within me and maybe, one day, I would join them.
When I was ready to venture towards other realities the old ones bid me farewell and sang to me, their voices lifted me up into the higher branches of reality. I explored parallel worlds and was momentarily caught off guard to see worlds that I had once thought fiction to be real, of course it makes sense... in an infinite omniverse any universe that could exist will, including works of fiction. There was a hierarchy to these worlds, my world of origin seemed to be higher and as its residents dreamed and imagined they caused worlds below theirs to bloom into being, similar to how the old ones created yet unintentional. Perhaps the destiny of all souls is to ascend into an old one and sing eternally the songs of creation.
My first world was that of Nirn, the elder scrolls series, I ventured into oblivion and aetherius, the Aedra and Daedra were aware of my presence but paid me no heed seeing as I originated from a higher tier of reality. I explored the many incarnations of the marvel and DCU universes, I felt the pull of infinity stones, the speedforce and even the emotional spectrum. I even visited the god of war universe just to see how more mythological beings compared to the others I had seen, I think Kratos was aware he was being observed on a subconscious level. I departed soon after, not wanting to risk the ghost of Sparta pulling an infinity Ultron and killing gods across creation.
I had spent countless lifetimes watching and taking in the goings on of other realities, the void within me had blossomed slightly from my tour across creation but it was far from developed. I came to understand why souls reincarnated into the more physical realms, souls by their nature are eternal and thus very resistant to change and growth, what could take a soul millennia to achieve could take a mortal decades, Flesh for all its trapping was the nature of change itself, it adapted and evolved in the short time it lives and these changes carry over to the spirit that inhabits it. Of course therein lies the risk, the change can be negative, there are many worlds where mortals who don't understand the true immortality of their souls attempt to prolong the life of their flesh via the use of tearing the soul and trapping it within a phylactery, to become a lich, or the fragmenting of the soul so it may remain bound to the physical plane and unable to ascend, such as a horcrux. In fact it is one of these worlds where my new story would begin...