An hour earlier...
"Ok, useless goddesses, we just got a report about a guy being lost during the world merging," the badger dragging the tied-up goddess down the inclined pathway said dispassionately. "We will launch ourselves there using flight pad, so be prepared."
The goddess was wearing a green sun-dress with several yellow sashes tying over her waist. She was homely looking with straight, sunflower-yellow hair and round earth-color eyes. The girl was slimmed and tanned with a perfectly ordinary face. Despite her ordinariness, she held herself with remarkable gentleness in her posture. A bang of hair fanned to the right of her face, giving her the asymmetrical looked that was proof of her erratic nature.
Despite her exceptional down-to-earth beauty, the goddess was slowly getting dragged unceremoniously across the yellow-tiled road. Even in that inelegant state, she never for once thought about giving up struggling.
Around them resounded joyous cheers from the forest animal and people. Several rabbits and rats were among the crowd, waving a colorful flag. In the background, the elderlies waved adoringly at the goddess who was slowly being dragged off. A group of children puts up the flags that read 'Be Well Cytortia' while another group hoisted a banner that wrote: 'Have a Good Journey! We Are Waiting to hear from you!'
The cheers were loud full of love. The fact that their goddess was being carted away against her was ignored.
"Cytortia please take care of yourself!!"
"Please write back okay!"
"We are waiting to hear from you!"
"Crush Lin Ley and Tie Hua like a piece of chocolate lady Cy," shouted a little girl happily waving her green flags.
Despite all the encouragements, the girl receiving them was anything but grateful.
"Help me!!" The girl being dragged screamed ungracefully. "Aunty Artio! The badger will kill me! Please reconsider this?! Why are you guys sending me to a chopping block? Stop cheering like some stupid mortals and help!"
Up the podium, a massive bear talked to an assistant in a Chinese robe. The mountainous forest around them conveyed a celestial and majestic sense to the picturesque scenery. Mellow sunlight filtered past the canopy, highlighting the sandstone manor. The intricate carving of flowers stretched across the stone behemoth of an abode. This majestic view was compounded by a massive garden fit for kings. The garden was packed to the brimmed with cheering people and animals. The tile-paved path linking the goddess to the bear was seemingly long and distant...and slowly growing larger.
"Do you think it was a good idea?" A man in a royal-blue Chinese robe asked. "She was already on the losing end of the oncoming war between Heavenly Daughters. Steel and Earth are gearing up their war with Fire. The forces they gathered are enough to warrant Odin's attention. Ra has shown interest in LinLey. Meanwhile, Cytortia had nothing on her."
The bear looked wistfully at the beautiful and forever bright sky, then at her beloved niece as she was hauled onto the stone podium overlooking the glorious mountains.
"What about the Ultimate One?"
The assistant paled.
The bear gave him a chastising look. Down on the distant stadium, the badger threw the goddess toward a mountain bike parked on the golden podium overlooking the vast, misty, mountainous forest. The goddess struggled, but several assistants came out of the crowd and harmoniously helped the badger tied the trantrumming goddess to the sleek black vehicle.
"Traitor!" The goddess cried, looking accusingly at several assistances dressed in green uniform. "What had I done to you? Are you helping this stupid badger skewer me with a spear too?!"
"No lady Cytortia," The female assistant in lush green cloth tightened the knot while giving the goddess an apologetic smile."This is the least we could have done to repay you."
"What have I done to deserve this?"
The Badger frowned with concern.
"Are you guys sure about this?" The honey badger asked the women in a plaided green uniform.
"Yes," the young woman turned to bow toward the girl. It was a respectful bow full of gratitude and admiration. "A year ago you saved my son life. I will never forget that...thank you for all these years. We...we will dearly miss you!"
The women couldn't hold her tears any longer.
"Eh, why are you bowing," Cytortia said bitterly blinking back her own tears."Why are you all so eager to get rid of me? What have I done to any of you?"
"You helped us," the female assistance wiped her moist eyes with her sleeve and stepped off the podium. "You tried to help us the best you could during the past two years but, with your master's decrees, you are now meant for so much more."
Despite her best attempt, tears of gratitude still trickled down the assistance's cheek. She hurriedly brushed it aside to give the tied up girl the biggest smile possible. That was the moment the sun broke through the misty mountain, bathing the forest and the cheering crowd in the blessing of warm golden light.
A new day had arrived and with it an adventure.
"All of us here wanted to say our farewell, but we know that you might feel discouraged to see us so sad. The best we can do is to give you the happiest parting possible we possibly could! Lady Cytortia, no matter what the world throws at you, please keep that brave face on and march forward. All of us here and lady Artio are rooting for you to win."
The podium charged up with a green celestial light of emerald tower blasting toward the sky. Carefully looking at the emerald light with uncertainty, the badger swallowed her doubt and hopped on the mountain bike to perform her duty.
"Wait! You don't have to do this! I... I don't need any of your encouragement. If they know, it will become a disaster... Hey!"
Green lights slowly engulfed the two and launched them toward the horizon.
On that stone manor, the bear looked down at the assistant from the altar she was laying lazily on.
"You seem to be trying to pretend the Ultimate One's attack on Olympus never happened," the bear said fiercely. "Do you think she cares about four little girls fighting pointlessly for control of this vast expense of worlds? No! We both know what she truly wanted and who among the Heavenly Daughter will receive her chip should it be thrown."
The assistant looked onto the golden dawn with an ill omen.
"That shouldn't be possible," the old man replied back in denial and fear. "Why would someone so mighty put her bet on Cytortia? Compare to Chuang and Tie Hua she was totally ordinary."
The bear smiled an all-knowing beam of pride. The man couldn't help but feel insulted at that smile. Even so, any threat of retaliation was discouraged by the carnage he saw when the Olympian fell from the skies.
One woman stood on top of Olympus, dangling the beaten and broken king of the gods from her grasp.
That image truly scarred someone mind.
"Look at the people below," the bear said. "Do they looked like a toy about to break or a grateful collective who was there to give a final word of parting to a benefactor and friend."
The man said nothing as the comet rocketed into the skies. He was trying to wrap himself around this foreign concept of power. What type of miraculous power generated the scene where people cheered as their goddess was being dragged away? The cheer did not arise from malice, but from a sincere hope to avoid a sad parting.
"They knew her," the bear explained. "They knew their goddess was flaw yet caring girl. They understand what she wants deeply and gives it to her, knowing that it will be treasured. It was a rare bond between an admirer and their idol."
The old man looked toward the bright horizon as the goddess was sent something into her new beginning.
He couldn't help but felt that in spite of their overwhelming force, that little goddess had something that his other charges will never grasp despite their burning ambition or skills.
The mere three hours of Ultimate One's carnages was the gravest crisis the gods ever experience. The estimated danger level completely surpassed the severity of Ragnarok or the full unleashing of Aphophis.
The assistant did not want to be on the receiving side of the future she tried to create.
He was right for the wrong reason.
...
And that was how the goddess crash-landed right next to the boy.
"I see," the honey badger said, plucking up the square dices and threw them onto the board. "Kid these days got it rough huh?"
"Yeah," Rem answered looking at his deed.
"I lost," the goddess sobbed. "You two are demons... monster. You heartless beast."
The trio was sitting in around a small but cozy little table in the midst of the sizzling desert. The sun was beating hard, but the beach umbrella and the cold drink make the heat irreverent. On the table was a game of monopoly. This ridiculous turn of the event began after a few minutes of conversations. It was a few minutes that sent an event spiraled in a completely unpredictable manner.
It began when the honey badger declared that she was bored. The boy, out of total sarcasm, suggested they play a game. The goddess protest was duly ignored as the honey badger search her satchel and discovered two games which are:
A) Go Fish
B) Phantasia's Monopoly
The decision was cast by voting. The goddess voted for the fish. The boy threw his lot with Monopoly. The tiebreaker, namely the badger, out of amusement, picked Monopoly for the sake of deriving some pain from her student.
Rem stayed silent throughout the game. The badger was a dangerous opponent. Her throw was nightmarishly accurate and packed with an intense desire for blood. The only reason he stayed in the game for long enough was that the badger spent the majority of the time destroying the goddess's asset instead of him.
Rem smiled perniciously; time to spring his trapped.
"Hey badger, " he said. "I notice just now, but throughout this game, you never landed on the place that would let you lost more than $200."
The badger's jaw dropped wide, and her eyes bulged like an over-inflated balloon. Despite being a wild animal, her breath still has smells of tulips and eucalyptus. Both her ears stood up on end and quivered like jelly.
"Are you implying I am cheating?" The badger said. "I might simply be lucky, kid."
"Yes, you were over-reacting," the boy said. "You were cheating your throw wasn't it?"
The badger smiled.
"You can't prove that."
"I can't," Rem admitted without blinking, then stoically pointed at the goddess.
"Then let her throw it."
"Heh, you know she will be trying to make me lose right," The badger replied.
"Already way ahead of you, " Rem crossed his arms with confidence. "Why don't we put a blindfold on her?"
The badger looked at him with fascination before she burst out laughing.
"Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!"
Scathach wiped her tears.
"Go ahead, kid. With the amount of money you lost so far, there is no way you could change the situation by only replacing the roller."
Rem didn't reply. He just gave the badger sly smirk of an abductor with a spiked candy. Now, he was waiting for the cute little animal to take the bait.
...
Ten turns later.
"$380," Rem said."Pay up."
"Eh, " the goddess cried. She looked around in a pointlessly. However, the black cloth tied across her eyes guaranteed she wouldn't see a thing.
"Scathach got screwed again, but isn't that the fifth time this turn?"
"Ahhh, " Rem stroked his chin in consideration."So you are a warrior's maid of Ulster and teacher of Cu Cuchulain; Scathach of the Isle of Shadow. I should be surprised, but given that Athena was real, I guess other myths are true as well."
Rem smiled at Scathach, his lifeless eyes were as emptied of mercy as nothingness itself.
Scathach, the honey badger, shivered. How could a game of monopoly turn this creepy?
"So what's your plan," Rem gave her the devil's whisper. "You are losing so badly. Ninety-percent of your deeds already ate the mortgaged. But maybe you might have a fighting chance, assuming you reached [Go]. But it takes a roll of twelve, can you do it?
Scathach looked at her monies, wondering how this was happening. Last she checked, there was enough bills to build a mountain. Rem had lost after lost, yet he mysteriously hung onto the game despite failing as badly as Cytortia.
Scathach grabbed for a $100 orange bill but only found a ten. The yellow bill was dirtied into an orange color. She curiously ran her fingers over the coarse paper; the brown desert's sand darkened the note orange.
A flash of lightning struck, as the revelation shone the truth into her face in the most painful way imaginable.
"You cheated!" Scathach screeched. "All this time you have been forking the $10 bills you disguised as $100! You fucking cheater!"
"Oh, I won't deny or accept that." Rem said without a hint of remorse. "You never take the game seriously. Maybe you underestimate a pitiful human from earth way too much. Don't you know that human was one of the most bloodthirsty and crafty animals ever exist?"
"Give me what you owe!" The badger demanded.
"I can't, " Rem stated politely. "The rule of monopoly emphasized on the fact that you are responsible for counting your own money. You can't complain over spilled milk, Ms. Badger. And where is my $380?"
Scathach gritted her teeth and pushed her monies toward Rem who rolled with no consequence.
She could get out alive if she scored the roll of 12, 8, 7, 5 and 2. The badger did a quick calculation.
Those odds were exactly...
"17 out of 36 basically 50/50," Rem said coldly with an emotionlessly coy smile. "Not a bad odd for gambling isn't it?"
Scathach gritted her teeth.
"Cytortia tossed it!"
The two cubes were tossed into the air and suspended with hope and expectation before rattling onto the board. They clattered on the board. One dice ultimately rested on the face with six dots. The second dice bounced a few more times then rest at...five.
"Wow, " Rem said."That's a grand total of eleven, You landed on Mount Olympus and had to pay me $900. Game over Scathach. Even I am surprised, that was literally the worse roll."
Silence.
"Scathach?" The goddess took off her blindfold. "Are you..."
"Cheated then beaten by a brat, " ominous red aura steamed as the honey badger's fur stood up. She rose like a zombie out for brains. Her razor blade teeth opened up for a bite.
"Kid, you won't get away that easily!" Scathach of the Ulster cycle declared to the sky. "You are now one of my students! I will have to thrash you until this humiliation is erased."
Scathach lept on top of Rem and began wrangling him furiously. "You will grow strong enough that your name will be a legend deserving of outsmarting me or die!"
At that moment Rem realized...
He fucked up.