Star dust drifted past Chris's heavenly window as he sighed. Not even billions of balls of celestial light could make him feel happy. Something was missing but what was it? Chris had spent the better part of a century asking that question, feeling like he had lost a sense of purpose. Happiness eluded him with no clear solution in sight.
"Contemplating again, my Lord?"
Chris turned to find Selena, a Celestial Being, standing in the doorway of his bedchamber. His room was modest compared to his parents, where they opted for incredible luxury, he opted for humility. He had always been the strange duck in the celestial pond that was his family. Thankfully, with so many universes in existence he rarely saw them. Each god was given a dozen universes to watch over and manage, to keep the balance his father had once explained.
Chris had started out with a sense of duty, a strong desire to ensure that order was maintained, no matter the cost. However, lately things have been feeling more exhausting than exhilarating. He was afraid that his eternity would just be this, watching over and rarely interacting with any of the worlds that he had created.
"Chin up now, you're the ruler of twelve universes after all! That's a big honor," Selena said as she strode across the room and laid a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. Chris returned to looking out of the window, catching his reflection as he did.
A being of indescribable beauty that was constantly glowing a soft golden light in a humanoid form. Selena at least had features; she was tall, thin, beautiful, and had long black hair that rippled like water when she moved. Sometimes Chris was envious of her, none of his family could have physical bodies, their divine power was simply too much. It was one of the reasons his parents had forbidden him and his siblings from manifesting fully in the worlds that they had created.
Physical existence would ultimately crumble under the majesty of such power, his mother had once warned him. The consequence of this was that they could only visit the physical planes of existence for very short periods of time. Hours was all Chris had to explore with before being forced to leave.
"Selena, don't you ever wonder if there is more to life than just this?"
"Not really, I have everything I need or want. What more should I ask for?" Her beautiful face took on a puzzled look as she tried to work out her king's question. Was it a riddle?
"That's my problem. Having everything I need or want, it ultimately means nothing to me. I can't find any happiness in it."
"Nonsense, you just need a little vacation is all. Maybe a trip to the water universe for some snorkeling will do you some good."
Chris started to shake his head but then stopped, he had an idea. An insane idea that would not only make his parents furious but could also lead to him finding true happiness. Chris quickly mulled over these thoughts while Selena kept rattling on about the different kinds of fish that he could see.
He made his decision.
"You know what, you're right Selene. I'll visit the universe of water. I'll spend a few hours on each planet there, exploring for a bit before coming home."
"A wise idea, my Lord!" Selena exclaimed as she burst with pride. She felt elated that her king had accepted such noble advice.
"I'll leave shortly. While I'm gone you are in charge."
Selene blinked in surprise before bowing low, "thank you for this great honor. I do not have the power that you have to maintain order in the universes but I will oversee the other Celestials to ensure things operate efficiently."
Chris nodded at her while he stepped away from the window.
"Please leave me for a bit, I need to prepare for my travels."
"Of course," Selene replied with another deep bow before quickly exiting the room.
Chris smiled to himself, phase one of his operation was so far a success. Now for phase two.
***
Several years ago Chris had answered a prayer for a woman on one of the thousands of planets that existed in his multi-verse. He was not all knowing, all present, or even all powerful but had been in the neighborhood when he heard her petition. Most mortal creatures offered incense, food, jewels, or precious metals with prayers. Chris didn't really care about any of this which was good for the woman because she had nothing to offer other than mundane items of no particular value.
Chris had accepted her meager offering, something that had annoyed his parents and siblings because the offering was not nearly as grand as they felt it should have been. Unbothered though by their comments, Chris intervened and granted the woman endless food for her family. He kept the offering safe in his private study, finding that it held sentimental value to him.
His study was neat, organized, and was the place where he often sat to conduct his celestial business. The item in question was easy to locate, it was contained inside of a glass dome that rested upon a tall raised wooden table. Looking around to make sure he was truly alone, he removed the dome before picking up the sacred item.
Holding it tightly in both hands he focused all of his attention on it. His goal was in theory simple yet he had never done this before, so there was also a high chance of failure. Thankfully, after just a few minutes of intense concentration the item began to glow with a radiant golden light. He felt power rush out of him, flowing down his arms and into the object. It began to vibrate as it became a container for half of his power.
"50% should do it. They said I couldn't fully manifest because our power was too great for reality to handle, so this should solve that particular issue."
He carefully placed the object back then secured it once more under the glass dome. Phase 2 of his plans were now complete. The item did not explode which meant Chris was free to move onto phase 3.
***
"Alright, I'll be back in a little bit. Remember everyone, Selena is in charge while I'm gone. I better not come back to find out you were misbehaving or that another universe was swallowed by a black hole, looking at you Tom." Chris held a serious expression which caused Tom to quickly look away as his face reddened.
"That was one time…" Tom muttered to himself.
"Be careful boss!"
"Enjoy the snorkeling!"
"Bring back some sushi will ya?"
The voices of the Celestials that were bound to serve him floated across the room as Chris waved goodbye before vanishing with a bright flash of golden light.
"Did he take any swim trunks with him?"
"I didn't see any, maybe he's skinny dipping?"
***
Chris floated through the universe, examining planets while he did. He was looking for a place to explore in this universe, he had no intentions of going to the water universe. He did not want to be followed however, it was better for his people to think he was taking a vacation there. If they discovered the truth, they would immediately tell his parents who would no doubt send his siblings to collect him.
Hundreds of planets full of rich, diverse life floated by but nothing caught his attention. There had to be one, one planet that would speak out to him. He was searching for happiness, more specifically, he was looking to answer the one question that had been bothering him lately, "what equals happiness?"
Feeling frustrated he began to contemplate whether it would be a good idea to try another universe when one planet finally caught his attention.
It was mostly blue, covered in large amounts of water but there was land there too. He concentrated his mind on the planet which revealed that it was indeed full of life, intelligent life at that.
Chris scratched his chin thoughtfully, he didn't remember making this planet. It was also very far away from all of the other planets that held intelligent life. So far in fact, that Chris suspected none of the other planets probably knew this one existed. Feeling slightly foolish for having forgotten an entire world that he had designed, he decided to explore this one.
He quickly descended through the atmosphere, building momentum as he streaked through thick white clouds. He landed with a large boom in an empty field full of some kind of grain or vegetable. He climbed out of the crater he had made and looked around. He spotted the sun shining brightly overhead, it was a young star that blazed across the blue sky. In the distance was a single red house with another larger red looking house next to it. These must be farmers, he reasoned to himself. They were similar to other species who had taken up agriculture to survive.
He crossed the field quickly, blurring with such speed that he caused a sudden burst of wind which uprooted the grains around him. When he reached the house he looked back and grimaced, he had left a straight line of destruction behind him. Not a great start.
"Is anyone home?" He called out gently, he was determined not to scare the inhabitants that may be inside. No answer came though, perhaps no one was home right now. This was actually good for him, he hadn't had a chance to build a body yet so his glowing humanoid shape was still intact. If a mortal saw him they would no doubt panic before running to the hills for safety.
Chris waved his hand over the door handle which clicked audibly. Testing the handle he found the door safely unlocked. Decorations of animal skulls, pelts, and livestock were plastered all over the place. Chris found this slightly odd.
As he explored the home he found a great deal of interesting things. Clothes, jewelry, books, round discs, and even a fully stocked pantry. These people were doing well for themselves, good for them.
Chris smiled at the unknown family's good fortune before his eyes zeroed in on a book laying on the counter. It featured a young man on the cover, holding a tray of brightly colored foods. Intrigued, Chris opened the book and began to rifle through the pages at a dizzying speed. His mind absorbed every particle of information in mere seconds. The food he discovered was called a 'cupcake' and the man was called a 'baker'.
Chris felt elated by this newfound knowledge, the man looked happy and so too did the people around him that were reaching for the delicious looking treats.
This must be it then, the secret to true happiness isn't power, immortality, or even godhood; it's cupcakes.
Chris knew right then what his mission should focus on, he would use all of his divine alchemical knowledge to create the perfect cupcake. A cupcake so magnificent that one bite would bring anyone true happiness forever.
He quickly went outside where he grabbed a handful of dirt. His mind recalled the image of the young man on the cover as the dirt began to glow and form into a perfect replica of a human body. Chris admired his handy work; blue eyes, short messy brown hair, tall, thin but not too thin, with wide shoulders. This would work well.
Chris dissolved into a cloud of golden light before entering into the nostrils of the body he had made. The body began to blink while Chris worked on figuring out how to control it. Having a physical body was a new experience to him. Everything felt different, more alive somehow. This only reaffirmed Chris's suspicions that earth somehow held the secret to happiness.
Now he just needed supplies and place to set up for his research experiments, soon the ultimate cupcake would be born.