Somewhere in the sky
Flutterflutterflutterflutter
The butterfly child's wings fluttered so fast that they turned into nothing but a blur of color. The child's arms and legs were stretched out in front of him as if he were lying down, but in reality, he was just trying to reduce the surface area of his body to fly faster and cut through the clouds, his wings leaving a white cloud trail behind him.
Beads of sweat raced down the child's face, his diminutive chest heaving rapidly as he gasped for breath. Yet, he dared not decelerate. He looked back and shuddered as he saw that he was still being chased.
The butterfly man who pursued him wore a golden armor that displayed his status as a God's Elite Warrior, covering most of his body as well as his entire head, except for the insect antennae. His butterfly wings were slightly different in shape, appearing more elegant and sharper, better suited for fast flight than the butterfly servants' wings, which were more curved and wide. The wings of the God's Elite Warrior were blood-colored with orange edges and black trim, a distinctive feature reserved for warriors.
The only reason the child hadn't been caught yet was due to the weight difference. The child was small and light, wearing only ragged light clothes, while the God Elite Warrior was much larger, and his armor was heavy, making it difficult for him to catch up to the little fugitive. However, the most significant issue lay in stamina. The warrior might have been slower, but the butterfly child didn't possess the stamina needed to escape for long.
The butterfly child had been assisted in escaping from the domain of the God of Harvest and Plants by other adults. It was necessary for the child to leave because he could more easily evade attention. However, passing through the rift into the real world summoned a God Elite Warrior who immediately began to pursue him.
The child stung from sweat in his eyes and scanned the sea of white clouds, contemplating how to escape. If hiding in the clouds were that simple, the child would have ducked and run long ago. However, his wings had stirred the clouds too much, making it easy to spot his hiding place.
The child's eyes displayed fear but determination. He could not allow himself to be caught!
Zzzzzznk!
The sound drove the child to swerve sharply, narrowly avoiding a crackling, yellow-orange energy beam that sizzled in close proximity.
Looking back, the child observed that the God Elite Warrior had the tips of its antennae connected, where a small crackling ball of electricity was slowly forming.
The child zigzagged quickly to evade the energy beams.
Zzzzznk!
Zzzznnk!
Attempting to maneuver in flight, the child slowed down, and the distance between him and the elite warrior shortened. Descending through the clouds, the sky was no longer an option for the child; he needed a hiding place.
The child surveyed his surroundings, spotting an island in the distance, but it was too far away. Below him was the endless blue sea shimmering white under the sunlight.
The elite warrior broke through the clouds, another ball of energy gathering on his insect antennae.
Instantly, the child pulled his wings together, and his body plummeted downwards, narrowly avoiding another beam over his head. Spreading his wings again, he felt uncomfortable tension in his shoulders as his wings strained, making the child worry he might put cracks in them.
Suddenly, the child noticed something. A grayish mist rapidly advanced over the sea, devouring everything in its path. Unaware of its significance, the child recognized it as an ideal hiding place. Descent became a wild rush, his wings working furiously as he descended, skimming the ocean's surface, saltwater droplets kissing his skin.
Nevertheless, the child instinctively knew this would be a good hiding place. He began a rapid descent, his butterfly wings flapping madly, sinking down to the water's surface, his speed and body churning the sea's surface, feeling wet droplets of salt water on his bare skin, his eyes fixed determinedly on his target.
He plunged into the Border Mist. A delayed energy blast sliced through the fog as the God Elite Warrior pursued without hesitation.
The child couldn't see through the mist, but neither could the Warrior of God. His eyes lit up, and a smile hid behind his golden gag.
'Did I make it? I did it!'
Neither the gray colors of the fog nor the pain in his wings could spoil his joy. He continued heading forward to freedom, unaware that his wings were suddenly changing color on their own accord, and his little fingers began to twitch in tiny spasms.
"Gghhmmm!" A muffled groan came from the God Elite Warrior's helmet. He stopped abruptly and looked at his hand, where he saw veins suddenly popping out and muscles beginning to bulge.
"Hmph!" The warrior let out a confused huff and grabbed at his swelling arm, only to suddenly rip off a piece of skin at the touch, as if it were nothing more than a piece of wet paper, revealing red flesh.
*****
End of the World
Caila woke up with an unpleasant feeling. She felt confused for the first few seconds because she didn't remember what had happened, but quickly her memories began to return.
Thankfully, the anger she felt before faded away, leaving only a dull feeling. Once Caila was fully awake, she had to start thinking about it. The memory hadn't been erased; she felt as if she had actually experienced it, and it had become her memory. And it worried her.
Caila had other memories of another world, even if they were scattered and disjointed; some she couldn't even grasp, but she knew she had lived another life. The newly digested memory was so confusing, and she had to start thinking about what would happen when she saw another memory of a former god. Was it possible that she would eventually overtake the original personality of the Goddess of the Forgotten and Unwanted?
Would she forget herself, or would she simply be both? Caila still had no idea what the previous god had done to leave the entire city petrified and herself as well. Could this be some kind of clue to her rebirth? These were disturbing thoughts.
Caila tried to examine herself a bit, but she felt no changes to her personality. 'Alright. So far, it seems fine. But... where's the discomfort coming from?' Caila thought to herself.
It was that uncomfortable feeling, as if you had taken too big a bite of food and felt it slowly slide down your esophagus. And it was doubly uncomfortable because Caila couldn't do anything; she couldn't drink or pound her chest to speed up the sliding sensation. Moreover, she wasn't even really eating anything.
"Just where did that come from? What is this feeling?" Caila didn't understand. After wrinkling her nose and pursing her lips, she did the only other thing she could do right now. She began to focus on the feeling. It only took a moment before her mind appeared in a dark space that was already familiar to her, and she saw several small lights blinking in front of her.
"Ah? So I can come here without anyone's prayers?" Caila would have been thrilled if the strange feeling in her esophagus hadn't intensified as soon as she was here.
"Something wrong?" she thought, looking around. She saw lights surrounded by a blue tinge that depicted her worshippers. There were five of them, and Caila knew instantly upon seeing which one belonged to whom. But none of them seemed to be trying to get her attention.
"So they're not the ones." she muttered and turned around.
"'Dammit!" Caila yelped in surprise.
"It's been here the whole time?" she wondered, walking closer to the object.
A large bell hung suspended in the space in front of her, its body crystalline blue and slightly transparent, so she could see the shadow of the bell's heart through it. The head of the bell was golden and shaped like another bell, and a faint golden glow came from under the mouth of the bell.
"What's that for?" Caila walked over to the bell and looked at it. She had the urge to ring it, but at the same time, she felt like she shouldn't. Finally, she lifted her hand and touched the surface, feeling the light sensation of warmed metal under her fingers.
Caila licked her lips, thinking. "It looks kind of holy. Hm... what could it be for?" she wondered aloud, hesitating. "Well... curiosity killed the cat, isn't that what they say?" Caila thought for a moment, wondering where she heard that, but then she grabbed the chain on the side of the bell and pulled. The bell tilted to the side, and the heart clinked gently against the side of the bell.
Caila held her breath and then let go of the chain; the bell swung and made a clear ringing sound.
DING
The moment the first sound was heard, the entire space was illuminated by a sharp flash that momentarily made the darkness of the space as white as day. The sound wave carried from above, visible to the naked eye, and vibrated the space like hot air.
Caila recoiled in shock, and at first, thought she was seeing a blur before her eyes. But in reality, she saw dozens, hundreds, and thousands of small black dots in the white space behind the bell.
DONG
The heart of the bell swung back and made a lower ringing tone, and the space darkened back to its original blackness. This time she saw dozens of golden dots.
DING
The space was once again illuminated.
DONG
And it faded into darkness again.
DING DONG
Each time the higher note was sounded, the whole space changed, and at the lower note, it changed back. Caila walked over to the bell and grabbed it, forcing it to stop the moment the space was illuminated. For some reason, Caila could feel sweat on her body. She was nervous but also excited. She had a feeling she was on to something; she just needed to understand it.
Caila looked around the illuminated area, but what interested her most were the black dots. They were the same as the gold ones that represented her faithful, but these were black. What did that mean?
"Haha! This god role is getting pretty interesting," Caila said to herself as she wiped the sweat from her forehead and then tried to touch one of the black dots.
However, nothing happened. She had a fleeting sense of familiarity and disconnect, but she couldn't even tell who it represented. It wasn't like when she manipulated the golden dots.
"Weird," Caila muttered, frowning. She tried to touch another, but she got the same feeling. "Maybe I'm not strong enough yet. I can't do anything here. At least for now." She tried touching others, but the result was the same. Her excitement at discovering something new had faded, but not completely. It was still a new discovery, and she knew she would figure it out in time.
After a while, Caila returned to the bell, and with its help, she returned everything to its original state. She looked around the once again dark space, chewing her bottom lip as she thought.
She could see many other lights in the background behind the bell, but even though she could see them, she didn't feel compelled to try to contact any of the people or creatures. For now, she would leave things to Hellcage and Marik.
Caila turned away from the bell, for which she had no use for now, and went back to what she was trying to find out originally: the source of the uncomfortable feeling.
She moved over to the lights that were on the other side, the blue color gently circling around them. Caila touched each of them and immediately knew that none of them were the source of the sensation.
"Hm?" Caila paused and then took a few steps back and then forward again. The sensation faded a little, and when she came back, it intensified again. She started taking steps back and forth to different sides. Eventually, she figured out which direction the sensation was growing stronger.
"Do I have some kind of weird navigation?" She muttered to herself as she headed in that direction. She let the feeling in her esophagus guide her, which was becoming increasingly uncomfortable. Caila was beginning to feel like she was going to throw up if it got any stronger.
"Ugh." Caila covered her mouth with her hand and swallowed hard. Her stomach was even heaving now. "What the hell is going on?" she said heavily, trying not to gag. She looked up and saw it. As soon as she saw it, she knew that was what was making her sick. It was another small light but surrounded by a solid net of a rancid color. Plus, it was faded in some strange way, as if it wasn't really there.
The sickening feeling was coming from that light. "Where did it come from? What is it?" she wondered, wanting to just send it away, but not sure how to do that. She didn't even know how the lights were coming here.
Caila fumbled with her fingers but finally raised her hand and touched it. A scene of a butterfly child struggling in a miza appeared before her eyes for a second before it suddenly flashed from her fingers and her hand was swatted away.
"Ow!" She looked down at her fingers which bore a tiny burn mark. "You little sucker. You came into my space and now you're going to cause trouble?" Caila complained, frowning at the light. Why was he even here? He hadn't even prayed to her, so why?
She touched the light again before she saw the glimpse of the apparition of the butterfly boy again, slowly having trouble flying, his hands touching the surface of the water and threatening to fall in. Though Caila had never seen butterfly people, she supposed it would be a problem for the boy if his wings got wet. And where was he, anyway? She could see nothing around him but water and thick fog.
Her fingers flashed again, and Caila winced as it stung. This was the first time she'd experienced such disgust. "What's the problem?" She muttered to herself, fighting off the urge to vomit and circling the light like some giant moth.
She touched the light repeatedly until her fingers turned red and it hurt in a way that felt like she had repeatedly cut herself on paper.
Caila gritted her teeth in frustration while she sucked her fingers, but she had already realized what was bothering her. It wasn't the light of the child itself, but what surrounded it. The bilious web was the problem. After all, there were plenty of other lights in her space, and that didn't bother her.
She looked at the rancid net, reached out her fingers and touched the light again, but this time she focused on the net itself.
This time she saw something else before her fingers were hurt again. A green-haired man covered in gold. "Aha!" Caila sucked her aching fingers again, but was excited because she had figured it out. The revulsion she had felt had now turned to utter disgust. "That's a worshipper of another god. That's why it looks different!"
Caila took a moment to indulge in the feeling of accomplishment, always happy when she was able to uncover something new.
But then she had to start doing something else. Why was she in her space? Was it even right for a worshipper of another god to be here? Was it possible that it was intentional? Was another god already trying to find her? That was a disturbing thought.
Caila didn't feel threatened yet, except maybe by the possibility of throwing up, but she had a vague feeling that it wasn't good for him to be here. She pondered what to do and after a moment decided. She fixed her gaze on the light depicting the butterfly boy.
"You came unwelcome, so don't blame me for rudely sending you away. And I'll take some compensation." She announced and reached for the light again, her injured fingers flaring with blue light.
Caila still didn't have much knowledge of what the flames were, if it was her power or aura or whatever. But after the first memory she had experienced, she knew how to control them.
She touched the rancid web, and the flames easily jumped over it and ignited. Caila was careful not to let the flames spread to the light itself, but it only began to corrode the net, and a yellowish smoke began to rise into the air.
But something she hadn't expected happened. The smoke began to curl and suddenly morphed into a bust of a green-haired man with an annoyed expression.
"Who dares?!" He snapped angrily.
'Shit!' Caila mentally cursed. She hadn't expected this.
*****
Divine Domain God of Harvest and Plant
Arzen, the God of Harvest and Plants, was lounging on his luxurious lounge chair as usual, sipping green liquid from a glass and staring into space.
Although he appeared to be doing nothing, he was actually almost constantly in a dark space where he had to manage a large number of his worshippers. Naturally, he pushed the ordinary, small, and unimportant bugs to the side and only dealt with those that were of any value to him.
As one of the Recognized Gods, he had a large number of temples, even having three islands dedicated in his name alone, so even if he didn't pay attention to the little fish, he still had many servants to deal with.
Arzen was in a good mood at the moment. One of his followers who had risen to the position of Archbishop had deserted the Church. He went to sea, naively thinking that if he renounced his faith, he would be protected from the wrath of Arzen.
"Haha. Do you think it's that easy to abandon your god?" Arzen scoffed and watched the suffering of the former Archbishop as he and his crew sailed the high seas. But Arsen was the God of Harvest and Plants; all he had to do was wait and then destroy all their supplies.
This far from any land, they could only rely on fishing, but trying to feed a crew of fifteen on seafood alone was impossible in the long run. The crew was growing thinner and hungrier; the unpleasant disease scurvy was slowly erupting in the crew, and psychological problems and conflicts within the crew were beginning to emerge.
"What a drama! What a drama! What are you going to do, Captain, hah? Hahahaha!" Arzen laughed, looking forward to their end. He had no intention of letting them go.
Arzen had planned to watch the show quietly when he sensed something unusual happening in his space.
He froze for a moment and then turned around, easily finding the golden point that showed the abnormality. He reached out, and the golden point flew into his palm on its own, frowning at the traces of his divine power that surrounded the golden light as it began to fade, and a blue color began to appear.
The blue light chased after his yellowish divine power, devouring it predatorily. "What the hell is that thing!" He fumed, recognizing that it was the power of another god. Someone was trying to take away his follower? As if he'd let that happen!
Arzen might not care about the little spawn that worshipped him, but that didn't mean he would just leave them to someone else. He would rather destroy them than hand them over.
His body immediately ignited with an unhealthy yellow energy that he poured into the light. He would deal with that impudent bastard right now!
As Arzen made the connection, his eyes gazed through and saw a cloaked figure in front of him, wearing a dark blue robe that covered his head and made it impossible to see his face.
"Who dares!" He snapped the question angrily. He didn't recognize this god; he knew all the Recognized Gods. So that meant this had to be some Evil God, recently born. He pursed his lips in disgust, annoyed that this wretch was trying to stand up to him. Him! Godly Arzen!
"How dare such a pathetic thing as you touch my stuff? Do you want to die?" He barked in an angry and arrogant manner.
"What? You don't say anything? Then just suffer, you bastard!" Arzen said, planning to send his energy through the link to invade the little god's space. The connection was weak and wouldn't kill the worm, but it would cause some damage. Arzen was determined to then seek out this Evil God and destroy it completely.
At that moment, however, the unknown god raised its head, and Arsen saw his or her face and for a moment was at a loss for words. His eyes bulged out in surprise, and his mouth opened slightly. "What the hell are you!" He shouted.
The goddess beneath the hood had an unusual appearance. All the gods he had ever seen were always perfect. Gorgeous and accomplished in their own way. But this goddess? Only part of her face was more or less fine, her skin was blue to purple, her one good eye was deeply set in her skull and glowed with blue flames, the other half of her face and head were completely missing and were replaced only by the outlines caused by the blue flames.
"Insolent brat. Get out. You stink." The deformed goddess said, pointing a burnt finger at him. A blue flame spiraled out of her finger and struck him in the forehead. The connection broke, and Arzen rolled off his lounger with a scream, clutching his smoking forehead. "Aggrr!" Arzen screamed, feeling like something was burning through his head and brain.
"What is it? What is it!" He shouted, shocked because it had been so long since he last felt pain that he had forgotten what it felt like. Immediately he was bathed in his god energy, and to his shock, the pain didn't immediately go away. For a few more seconds, he felt the alien god energy biting through his flesh before it was finally extinguished by his own power.
After a moment, he slowly lowered his hands. There was a deep burn on his forehead that the grey matter of his brain could be seen. However, the wound began to heal quickly, and Arzen was then able to sit up while he rubbed his forehead. "What kind of god was that?" He was still a little shocked, but his handsome face quickly twisted in anger.
He looked up, but the light that belonged to his worshipper that the unknown god was trying to usurp had disappeared. "'Dammit!"
Then Arzen pursed his lips, feeling insulted as well as angry. "And I don't stink!"
*****
End of the World
Caila breathed a sigh of relief as the green-haired man disappeared and the rancid net around the bright spot disappeared as well. She finally got rid of the nauseous feeling.
"Who was this guy, anyway? What a load of crap! First, he breaks into my place and then he threatens to kill me?" Caila was glad it was so easy to chase him away. Just the sight of him made her want to beat him up properly.
Caila inhaled and exhaled, feeling much better. "So now..." She said, looking at the new point of light that was no longer surrounded by that rancid net.
"Now I'm going to deal with you." She said, taking the light in her hands and carrying it back to the lights of her followers. The tiny light floated obediently in her hands until she released it to the others. Caila, however, just couldn't embrace it as her worshipper as she wished.
As Hellcage had said, it had to be voluntary. Caila couldn't force herself on anyone, and she thought it was the right thing to do. Even gods should have some rules. But it also didn't mean she was completely powerless. After all, even the previous god could do things even if those people weren't his worshippers.
Caila rubbed her hands together in expectation. She was going to try another new thing, and she was looking forward to it. Caila touched the light of the butterfly child.
*****
The butterfly child was no longer moving forward so quickly. His back ached, and he tried to conserve his strength by flapping his wings just to stay afloat and keep moving.
The only comforting thing for the butterfly boy was that the Godly Elite Warrior was no longer chasing after him. However, he faced other troubles. He couldn't find his way out of the fog. He tried to fly above the fog, but no matter how hard he climbed, he couldn't find the top. Eventually, he descended above the sea and continued slowly forward.
At first, the Butterfly Child rejoiced when he realized that he had escaped the Warrior, but his joy faded after a while and was replaced by worry. If he couldn't find a way out of the fog and fell into the sea, it would all be for nothing. The boy's eyes were now only filled with the grey color of the mist.
A new color glittered in the corner of his eye. He turned his pale, tired face in that direction and stopped on the spot. A small blue light hovered not far from him. As if realizing the boy had noticed it, the blue light began to move through the fog away from him.
The butterfly child, too tired to hesitate, flew after it. He understood that it could be dangerous, but his situation wasn't the best either, and he didn't see any other way out of the fog yet. Keeping his eyes fixed on the strange blue light, the boy bravely followed it, not noticing the large shadow looming in the fog behind him.
*****
The boy followed the blue light, which maintained a steady timbre and didn't stray too far from him. The butterfly boy was beginning to feel like his wings were about to fall off, and the bed of seawater was slowly even beginning to look appealing to him.
How long had he been flying? Hours? In this fog, he easily lost his bearings but also his sense of time. He looked up from the seawater, and his heart sank. Where had the blue light gone? The boy stopped and looked around quickly, his heart racing with fear, and he spun on his axis before he saw it. In one spot, the mist had grown lighter! Had he finally reached the edge of the fog?
The boy didn't delay and gathered all his strength, shooting in that direction. The grey fog gradually grew lighter, whiter, and thinner until finally...
He broke out of the wall of fog and emerged under the wide blue sky. The sun kissed his face, and joy returned to his body. The butterfly boy stretched his arms joyously into the air and shouted through his golden gag. "Hhhhmmm!"
As he enjoyed the bright sun and blue sky, he noticed that there was an island with a town nearby. It occurred to him that this was probably where the blue light had led him. At the moment, he didn't care how dangerous it was. Even though the butterfly boy was happy to be out of the fog, the pain hadn't passed, and he needed to rest. He flew off towards the city.
The boy flew a few meters when he heard a sound that made every hair on his body stand on end.
Zzzznnk!
The butterfly boy turned sharply, and at that moment, a bolt of energy blasted into his body. His body jerked in shock as if he had been electrocuted. Even before his eyes rolled back and he fell into the seawater, he saw his attacker.
A strange human-like creature, just under two meters tall with bloated muscles that seemed to lack skin, revealing only dried muscles. It had two large butterfly wings and long antennae, four clawed hands, and pieces of golden armor were fused to its body. Two evil red eyes were fixed on the butterfly boy, while a strange grin was on its face. The monster then looked towards the city.
*****
Caila immediately withdrew her hand from the light of the Butterfly Boy she had briefly glanced at. It had faded but hadn't completely disappeared.
Caila panicked for a moment. "What was that? Such a monster!" she bit her fingernail. She didn't feel good about it. Caila looked at the fading light of the butterfly boy and turned away. As uncomfortable as she was, protecting the city took priority.
She immediately touched the lights that belonged to Lambert and Zenobe. "A monster is approaching. End of the World is in danger," she called out to them gravely, then opened her eyes and stared at the hall before her, glancing toward the open door.
"Opera. A monster is approaching. Lambert and Zenobe will take care of him. There's a boy in the sea now. Go get him," she said out loud, wanting to look at Opera, but she still couldn't move.
"No," came the reply from Opera.
Caila was momentarily speechless. Why was Opera so reluctant? Caila gritted her teeth inwardly.
"Go get him," she repeated.
"No."
"GO NOW!" Caila finally couldn't stand it and yelled.
There was silence for a moment before Caila heard the sound of wind blades, and Opera appeared in her field of vision, looking at her with strawberry eyes. Opera may not have had any flesh on her cheeks, but Caila could have sworn she saw Opera pouting. Eventually, Opera flew out the door, and Caila sighed in relief.
"Kids," she grumbled.