❆ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐔𝐧𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 ❆

The trees swayed through the wind and the ocean water swam through the current. The birds soared between the clouds and the animals bathed in the grass. The large cliffs and mountains gave such beautiful sights while the low plains and deep caverns made for adventures. The land of Totum was just what the Gods imagined. A land for their creations, a land for human civilization.

"I believe this is it," Ateyur said, looking at Totum from a large mountain, "I think we should begin our civilizations here." Rafal walked beside Ateyur. He scanned the large plains and the forests, the mountains and the hills, the valleys and the unknown snowy range, down south from where they were. "I agree," said Rafal.

Lucia slowly unbuttoned her cloak, admiring the land. "We did it," she breathed. Lucia turned to look at her older sister, Jasmine, who also returned the look. Jasmine smiled and held out her hand to the land beyond. "This is ours now, sister," Jasmine softly said, "You are free; we are free."

Without another thought, Lucia quickly stripped herself of the large white cloak she wore and ran for the edge of the cliff. Nobody stopped her. Nobody thought she was in danger of hurting herself. That was because they knew she would be fine.

As soon as Lucia jumped off the cliff, she released the tension that was chained onto her back. A large set of white angel wings exploded from Lucia's shoulder blades as if they had always been there. They spread out into the air, attempting to catch the wind.

Rafal carefully watched his younger sister fly through the clouds. The wings on her back were pure white, the only pure white wings Rafal has ever seen. At least, since the incident.

"We should be heading down soon," Ateyur said, digging in his fur jacket for an item, "I'm going to call the Ministry if we're sure that this is the land we want." Rafal turned to look at Jasmine, who stared at the sky with awe.

"This place is perfect." Jasmine softly breathed. Rafal nodded in agreement, "I believe so as well." Lucia glided down to circle around Rafal. She smiled and gave a thumbs-up, "I want to live in the east, Rafal!" Rafal smiled and patted Lucia's head. Her hair was a soft red and orange, but it was always unkempt and never behaved. Jasmine used to try new all-natural hair products on Lucia's hair, but, unlike normal human hair, any unpure or unheavenly products used on a God can damage their soul.

Ateyur pulled out a scroll from his jacket. He unclipped the golden charm and spread out the parchment on the ground. "Alright then, I'll be requesting for the Ministry," Ateyur looked to his siblings. He looked back down to the scroll. "Okay, here we go."

And with just one swipe of the knife, the Gods summoned the most powerful party in the court.

❆ --------------------------------- ❆

"You need to confirm with the higher court if you want this to be a shared land, even if you are the next of kin to the queen and king," Mary commanded, looking out onto the dark blue sky. It had taken a while for the court to arrive, especially since the economy in Guviline has declined. The court is requested to be present at the hearings, but if the Gods are requesting land purification, then at least someone has to show up.

Ateyur sighed, "We already did that." Jasmine pulled out a document from her leather bag and forced it into Mary's hand. "We've already confirmed with mo- I mean...the queen and king that this land belongs to us now, an independent nation," Jasmine whispered, lending a hand onto Mary's shoulder. Mary sighed and shoved the document onto Jasmine's chest. "Alright, I guess I can proceed. Please stand back, and tell that stupid angel to get down from the sky."

Rafal pushed past Mary, huffing on his way to the edge of the cliff. "Lucia, come down! We're going to do purification and claiming!" Lucia looked down at Rafal and steadily came down to the ground. Her wings folded onto her back and shrunk back into her shoulder blades. However, they left no blood. Nothing. Gods don't carry human body fluids. Except for the fluids in their heart, which is poisonous when exposed to any creature. Even the Gods themselves.

Jasmine held out a hand to Lucia, and Lucia ran to take it.

"Ahem," Mary cleared her throat, "I'll be proceeding." Rafal moved back to stand with his siblings. Mary laid out a set of bones and candles, each laid out in a certain way. An arm laid to face the east. A leg laid to face the south. A rib was laid to point toward a candle. They were being laid onto the floor to shape a beast, a monster, a human. But not just any human.

After setting up all the bones and candles, Mary sat in the middle of the bones and closed her eyes. The moon, which was settled behind a mountain, shy to reveal itself in the starlight, was now moving to the middle of the sky. It stopped, but its glow was enhanced. The glow lit up Mary, like a stage performer under the stage light. Mary raised both of her hands in front of her and create a glowing blue summoning circle.

Runes began to appear around Mary, each one trying to find its place in the circle. Whispering shot out of the runes. They chanted in a language that was unknown to the group, but Mary, obviously, knew. Mary moved her hand in a circling motion, and the circle in front of her followed suit.

And suddenly, everything went white.