In an utterly different plane of existence, where there was no flow of time, stood a being who resided there. He was everywhere in this world, yet at the same time, he was nowhere. He had created this separate universe because he felt bored and just wanted to mess around a bit. It wasn't his first time creating one. He was just about to activate the flow of time in this new universe when he sensed the presence of another being entering the world. He knew immediately who it was.
"Lord Eze, what have you done now? This is the 269th world you've created. Don't you think this is a little too much?" A lady with long black hair and a beautiful, shining golden face spoke, sounding extremely exhausted. "I've been following you for a while now, and I know you knew I was following you," she added.
Eze stopped what he was doing and materialized in a form that looked human, though with unblemished, shining golden skin. He looked at her with a calm, almost lazy smile, "I saw you; I just didn't care. You can keep following me if you want. I was so bored in the Mother's world... I wanted to create a universe that's truly unique, where life breathes in CO2 and exhales oxygen. Can you imagine it? A world where the very fabric of life is different from anything we've seen before? And with this universe, I'll create super-strong fighters who can challenge us Lords, making things more interesting."
He leaned back slightly, his demeanor relaxed, as if the memory that came to mind was more amusing than troubling. "Remember when we fought Doomsday? All the other Lords and myself came together , and we were beaten easily. Honestly, he wiped the floor with us. But hey, it was fun, wasn't it? That kind of challenge doesn't come around every day. It made me think… maybe we need more of that. A little shake-up, you know?"
After he said that, light shone on the black-haired girl, and he added, "This will give you infinite energy for as long as I will it, so you won't get tired from following me."
The lady sighed, clearly accustomed to Eze's casual attitude toward his creations and past battles. She watched as he turned back to his work, a slight smirk on his face as he continued shaping the universe to his whims. The universe before them began to hum with the slow, deliberate activation of time, a process only someone of Eze's caliber could control with such ease.
As the new universe began to pulse with the first breath of life, she shook her head, a small smile playing on her lips. "You never change, do you?" she murmured, more to herself than to him.
Eze, without looking back, replied, "Wouldn't have it any other way."
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*Years earlier, in the Kingdom of Elara…*
A young man lay sprawled across his bed, staring at the ceiling of his room in the royal palace. The lavish decorations and the soft, golden glow of the morning sun filtering through the ornate windows did little to lift the heaviness he felt. Today was his 17th birthday, a day that should have been filled with celebration, yet all he wanted was a moment of peace.
As he let out a sigh, the sudden whoosh of movement caught his attention. His instincts kicked in, and he rolled to the side just in time to avoid a hand aimed directly at his face. The figure that had lunged at him lost balance and fell onto the bed where he had just been lying.
Aldric, still catching his breath from the unexpected attack, turned his head to see who had so brazenly intruded on his solitude.
"Damn you, Aldric! How dare you make me fall on this bed? I came here to wish you a happy birthday, and this is what I get?" the intruder said, acting extremely furious.
"Noelle, I knew it was you, so you still tried to pull this on me, even on my birthday. You're so shameless—just what I'd expect from you," Aldric said, moving to the end of the room to prevent Noelle from pulling any more stunts.
"How dare you accuse me of that? I was just trying to wake you up," Noelle said instinctively. She would never admit to anything she did to Aldric and always managed to make him look like the villain whenever she was caught in the act.
The two walked together to the training ground to practice their magic, as they usually did. It was Aldric's birthday, but he never celebrated it or took it seriously. To him, it was just a reminder that he was getting older and needed to increase his strength so he could one day take charge of the kingdom. But as they approached the training ground, they were greeted by the sight of a young girl, who looked to be about 15 or 16 years old. Her long black hair flowed as she sent water balls flying at a target, again and again. Unfortunately, her accuracy was... well, abysmal. She managed one hit for every ten attempts, but she never stopped trying, seemingly oblivious to everything else around her.
Aldric recognized the girl immediately. She was the daughter of the captain who had died in battle, protecting him when he was just five years old during an attack by the mysterious Devil race.
The girl's mother was an alchemist, though not a particularly skilled one. When the captain died, the kingdom knew the family would fall into poverty, so the mother and daughter were taken into the royal palace, where they had lived for over ten years.
Aldric couldn't take his eyes off her. She wasn't especially strong, but she was determined and did everything she could to improve her accuracy. Nothing seemed to work, but she didn't lose hope. She kept trying. She was only a Tier 2 mage at 16, which was considered slow progress. Unlike most water mages who became healers due to their limited combat abilities, she was determined to fight.
"Yo, Aldric, lick my toe, or I'm telling her you've got a crush on her," Noelle said with a wicked grin.
"What? Are you insane? You swore you wouldn't tell anyone! What's wrong with you? You can't even keep a tiny promise!" Aldric shot back, feeling the weight of regret for ever confiding in Noelle.
This wasn't the first time. One day after their practice, Noelle had caught Aldric staring at Seraphina again. To Noelle, Seraphina was just a girl who helped her mom with alchemy—nothing special. But to Aldric, she was like a goddess. Noelle had been about to smack Aldric on the head to vent her frustration over losing to him, but she stopped, noticing how often he stared at Seraphina. It was almost a daily occurrence. Whenever he talked to Seraphina, he'd blush and stutter like a fool. Then it hit her—Aldric liked Seraphina.
When she asked him directly, he had stammered and eventually admitted it. From that day forward, Noelle used this knowledge to torment him, making him do ridiculous things—eating grass, licking her shoes, and other humiliating tasks.
But today, she'd upped the ante. "Lick my toe," she demanded.
Aldric was about to refuse, but Noelle, ever ready to spill the beans to Seraphina, made him reconsider. With a heavy sigh, he caved. "Fine, fine, I'll do it. Just... don't tell her, okay?"
Aldric bent down, reluctantly bringing his tongue closer to Noelle's toe. As he was about to go through with it, Seraphina, hearing noises behind her, turned around. Her eyes widened in shock as she took in the bizarre sight of Aldric, tongue out, mere inches from Noelle's toe.
"Oh! Uh, sorry! I didn't see anything! Please, continue!" she stammered, her face flushed with embarrassment. She quickly turned and bolted from the training ground, leaving Aldric and Noelle alone.
Aldric straightened up and glared at Noelle, his face a mix of anger and humiliation. Even Noelle felt a pang of guilt over what she had done. She was just about to apologize when a messenger arrived, his face grim. "Crown Prince, something terrible has happened to your father. You must come to the medical wing immediately. He may not last very long."