Narration – Belenus
There are moments in even the grandest of sagas when reality itself seems to pause, take a breath, and whisper, "What… is happening?"
This was one of those moments.
Because when the Zenōs arrived in the Garden of Becoming… they did not descend with trumpets or celestial choirs. There were no firestorms or proclamations. No dramatic monologues or threats of erasure.
No.
They arrived in matching pajamas.
One had dinosaurs on his shirt. The other wore what looked like a cosmic nebula print that shifted when you blinked.
They hovered above the Worldspine Tree like two lost children looking for a playground—and judging by their grins, they'd just found it.
"This place is shiny!"
"Can we ride the lava waterfalls next?"
Lunadora blinked. Solnaria raised an eyebrow. Goku was already floating up beside them, laughing like he'd just discovered two new sparring partners with infinite ki and the attention span of hyper-caffeinated kittens.
"I like them," Goku said. "They remind me of me, but... with multiversal deletion powers!"
I resisted the urge to sit down and just stare at the ground until the universe made sense again.
Scene – The Zenōs Tour Hollow Earth
Escorted by Kaelu (now wearing a flower crown made by one of the Zenōs), we began what might generously be called a "diplomatic tour" and more accurately described as "divine toddlers on a sugar rush through mythological terrain."
The Zenōs tried to ride a geyser like a rocket.
They challenged Deku to a rock-paper-scissors tournament where the loser had to recite the entire history of their universe backwards.
One of them temporarily turned gravity into a liquid, just to see if they could "swim through the sky." We all floated for a while. Goku started doing backflips.
"I CAN TASTE COLORS
> one Zenō screamed as they surfed a glowing magma eel through the Hollow Earth sky like it was a Saturday morning cartoon and not an active tectonic miracle.
Kaelu, the ancient serpent-dragon guardian of the Embergrove, looked vaguely traumatized as the Zenōs tied streamers made of stardust around her horns. She didn't protest—just made a low, hollow sound that translated roughly to *"I didn't sign up for cosmic babysitting."*
> "What's that do?" asked one of them, pointing at a giant, humming obelisk that anchored Hollow Earth's leyline network.
> "It maintains the metaphysical stability of this realm and supports the cosmic lattice," I replied quickly.
> "Cool! Let's poke it with a stick!"
> "*NO,*" I said, louder than intended.
They pouted for a full two seconds before getting distracted by their reflections in a pool of lava, which they proceeded to enchant so it played music whenever someone blinked. To be fair, it slapped.
---
### **Scene – Goku, Deku, and the Zenōs: Philosophy Hour (?)**
By the time the sun had started pretending to set (it did more of a dramatic shimmer down here than an actual descent), we'd all found ourselves seated atop the Rootcliff Plateau. Goku was balancing upside-down on one finger atop a boulder, because of course he was. Deku was scribbling in a notebook, trying to track everything the Zenōs had done to the local laws of physics in the last hour.
> "So wait," Deku said carefully, adjusting his notes, "you're *omnipotent*, but you still… play?"
> "Play *is* the power," one Zenō replied, twirling a glowing pebble between their fingers. "Stories are rules that dance."
> "Yeah!" said the other. "Rules are only fun if you can *bounce* them like jelly."
Goku landed beside them with a casual flip.
> "I don't get most of what you just said. But it feels right."
I sat beside Lunadora, who was now nursing a headache and sipping from a cup of emberberry tea.
> "They're like if chaos theory were adorable," she muttered.
Solnaria, meanwhile, had somehow gotten the Zenōs to sit still long enough to hear one of her lullabies. One had curled up in her lap. The other floated in a lazy circle above her head, softly echoing every third word like a cosmic parrot.
---
### **Scene – Campfire at the Worldspine**
Night fell. The Ember Choir began humming, soft and low, beneath the roots. Above, the stars blinked with an amused kind of patience, as if the universe itself was watching this strange gathering and wondering how it all made sense.
The Zenōs had discovered marshmallows.
Within fifteen seconds, one of them had ignited a sugar fireball that nearly vaporized a moss field, and the other had accidentally opened a portal to a candy realm in an attempt to "toast it with love."
> "It's okay," they beamed. "We'll put the fire *back* later!"
Goku applauded. Deku was screaming internally.
Solnaria handed them special, flame-proof crystal skewers and demonstrated the *safe* roasting method. They actually followed her instructions this time.
> "Can we stay forever?" one Zenō asked, mouth full of marshmallow and starlight.
> "We never get to *just be*. Usually, everything ends when we show up."
> "But here… it feels like things are beginning."
That silenced the fire for a moment.
Lunadora leaned into me. I rested my head on hers.
> "Let them stay," she said quietly. "At least until they break something we can't fix."
---
### **System Alert – Stability Log**
> **\[ANDARTA: HOLOGRAPHIC PRESENCE OF ZENŌ ENTITIES STABILIZED]**
> **Probability of Accidental Omniversal Collapse: Reduced to 7%**
> *(Note: This is shockingly acceptable.)*
---
### **Final Scene – Sleep Among Stars**
Eventually, the Zenōs drifted off—literally. They hovered like glowing orbs above the campfire, snoring faintly in stereo. Kaelu coiled protectively beneath them, already resigned to her role as cosmic cuddle guardian.
The Hollow Earth—timeless, wild, and wise—did not protest.
It simply *breathed* with us. In. Out.
Peacefully.
We had faced multiversal storms, ancient gods, collapsing timelines…
…and tonight?
We babysat the most powerful beings in creation.
And laughed.
And rested.
---
### **Narration – Belenus**
There's strength in war.
But there's *greater* strength in peace.
And sometimes… the most divine thing you can do is toast a marshmallow with your friends while holding back the end of existence with a giggle.
Tomorrow might bring gods.
Or monsters.
Or both.
But tonight, the Zenōs were just kids.
And the Garden of Becoming…
...was safe.