"NO!" I screamed out, my plea echoing across the battlefield.
White fires raged all around me. The Verian tree-leaves, once golden, now scattered everywhere, their host trees disintegrated in the blazing white of the explosion. Mother's purple palace was completely levelled, the corpses of all of the staff littering the ground, as if they were nothing more than dust beneath this monster's heel. Only one moon remained in the sky, the other two shattered into space debris.
And above all of that stood a man. A man who, despite his actions going beyond the bounds of the word devil, appeared truly divine in the moment. Almost as if he wore the perfect visual representation of a greater god. His height was quite a bit above average and he had an extremely well-built physique, but those weren't his most striking features - not even close. He had completely void black shoes and trousers that were slightly too big for him. His shirt was also black, short-sleeved and slightly too tight.
But the features that stuck out above all else were his hair, eyes and aura. He had shoulder-length blindingly white hair, flowing slightly in the wind and wide glowing red eyes that just stared at me. His aura was on a whole different level, completely incomparable to someone like my mother. It was as if I was staring at the living incarnation of Divine Energy itself - as if he was some kind of true deity come to punish us. And finally, in his right hand, he held my mother's decapitated head.
He turned towards me, allowing me to see that, as if mocking the scene around him, he was smiling - an insane, gleeful smile that burrowed itself deep inside my brain. I instantly knew that I'd remember that image for the rest of my life.
"How's it feel?!" He shouted over to me, taking one step closer to my position sprawled on the floor.
"Wh- WHY?! WHO ARE YOU?!" I questioned, pulling myself back slightly in a feeble attempt at escaping this unstoppable force of nature.
He then seemed to disappear from view and reappeared directly in-front of me.
Such speed!
"I want you to tell me exactly how you feel, having everyone you love dead." He whispered straight into my ear.
He then raised his leg, mockingly slowly, knowing I was completely helpless, no matter how slow of a speed he decided to limit himself to. His foot then dug sharply into my torso, allowing me to hear my ribs crack and sending me flying so far backwards that I smashed into the last remaining Verian tree, some 50 miles away from the palace itself. Yet the time it took to get there was less than a second.
I let out a sharp scream of pain, as the wood dug into my spine and blood seeped from my torso, mouth and nose.
Shit. This hurts so much.
Instantly, he appeared in front of me. Blood covered his face and clothes, yet I could tell that not a single drop of it was his.
"It's a shame, really," He began. "None of you even managed to scratch me. I mean, I expected to at least destroy one of the Realms in a fight with the 5th Ruler, but she was so weak. And I was even limiting myself to less than 1% throughout the whole fight, too. God, such a disappointment."
My eyes instantly lit with a fire I didn't know I was still capable of showing through all this pain. "Don't you... Dare talk about he-"
"Yeah, yeah, I get it," He interrupted. "Don't talk shit about your precious mommy dearest, yeah? Well, if you care for her that much, might as well let you two be together in death."
He threw her head at me, it landing steadily at my feet. In the moment, I didn't know what I felt. Anger, sadness, sickness, disgust - all I knew was that it was the exact opposite of pleasant.
"There you are. There's your supposed 'strongest God'. Defeated by a mere human, huh? Pathetic, don't ya think?" He mocked.
I wanted to rebuke, argue in some way. But it was at that moment that I realized that I had lost the strength to open my mouth.
I was completely and utterly powerless.
"Well then, I guess it's time to put you out of your misery, huh? Too bad, I've enjoyed this. I hope you finally realize what it's like now. You Gods may have started this war, but I alone will end it."
He then lifted his arm above his head and sliced in a downward motion. However, his hand itself never so much as made contact with me. But despite that, I instantly instinctually knew something.
I was already dead.
My body slid apart in perfect halves.
...
And then I woke up.
[10 Years Ago - 3041 - Divinity, Paradise]
I awoke with a start, a layer of sweat covering my body and my hair completely disheveled.
That dream was horrifying.
I tightly gripped my duvet in my hands, desperately trying to calm myself down. Despite it being a dream, I still remembered it perfectly, as if it had engrained itself in my memory. That devil's face - his eyes especially - kept flashing before my eyes as if I had truly been there.
Then, all of a sudden, I heard a bang on my door, followed by a muffled, "Princess, please wake! There's someone from Her Divinity the 5th Ruler's residence here to speak with you!"
I instantly tried to calm myself, before shouting back, "Ah, I'm awake! Please tell them that I'll be down in a minute!"
"Of course, my Princess!" I then heard footsteps echoing down the stairway leading to my room.
That's right, it's the day that mother's plan is set in motion. I can't just sit here, scared of a mere dream. No, I need to get moving now.
I pulled myself out of bed, dressed in the best outfit currently available to me, and brushed my hair until it was no longer the rat's nest I woke up with, but instead wavily reaching down to the top of my back.
I then left my room, travelled down the stairs and found my way to the common room. Despite the fact that my abode wasn't as glorious or humungous as my mother's, it was still quite huge.
Once there, I found a woman with light orange hair tied into a ponytail sitting on one of the sofas. She was wearing a suit embroidered with the 5th Ruler's crest, so I instantly knew she was the one my mother had sent.
"I am Lilac of the Klaria family, pleased to make your acquaintance." I greeted as soon as I entered the room.
She turned her head towards me, before standing and bowing, "Greetings, my Princess, I am Yuriken of the Graylet family, but I believe that is unimportant as of right now. I am here to detail to you the complete mission plan and then see you off."
'See me off'? Does that mean I'm leaving today? I mean, I guess that makes sense, mother has never been the patient type. But still, it's all just so sudden.
"Uh, yes, please do so." I replied, somewhat unassuredly.
"Please, follow me, my Princess."
Yuriken then guided me down a few of my own hallways, before we arrived at my front door.
"I will explain the details as we walk. I'm afraid we don't have much time," She clarified.
I didn't really have much else to do, so I simply nodded and allowed her to guide me along the landscape. My house was located quite near my mother's, just at the very end of the Verian tree path, which extended out about 100 miles, which I had always felt was a tad excessive.
"Your mission is to infiltrate humanity's greatest force against us Gods in the war, their Alien Aggression Counter Unit, although more commonly known as the Godkillers." She explained whilst guiding me along the path leading to my mother's house. "In order to do this, you must not be discovered as a God by anyone. Now, us Gods and humans, despite appearing remarkably similar, do have quite a few notable differences. The first being the sclera of our eyes - humans have white sclera, while we have black. And the second is our hair colours - human hair is limited to a very select few colours."
"So, how am I supposed to convince them that I'm human then?"
"That's quite simple. We have developed a technology that can alter the way other people view your physical appearance. Through this, we can make everybody view you as someone with white sclera, and say... Blonde hair, or something."
Wow, that kind of technology exists, huh? That's actually pretty awesome.
"Now then, before you leave, you will be given a device that allows you to report back to us. We expect monthly updates, at the very least."
So far, this doesn't sound too difficult. It sounds like a regular reconnaissance mission to me. Which is good, because I can definitely do recon, I just fear what else I might have to do...
"Obviously, we won't be able to instantly act on all of your intel, without them realizing that there's a mole. So, while we wait for a little while before acting, you will be expected to act yourself. Your job is to weaken their forces, as much as it is to gather information."
There it is! There's the thing I really didn't want to have to do. I just don't know if I'm strong enough yet. But... I have to. If I want my mother's recognition, I have to.
"O- Of course. I will perform both tasks to the best of my ability." I stated, more to assure myself than anyone else.
Yuriken didn't respond, seemingly just ignoring my comment. For the rest of the walk to the palace, she informed me of a few more minute details, but none of them were of much importance to the main mission.
Eventually, we arrived outside, and I asked, "So, will we be meeting with my mother?"
"No, Princess. Her Divinity is currently very busy, that is why I was sent in her stead." Yuriken disclosed, a slight edge to her tone and cold to her stare.
"Ah, of course... But if so, then why have we travelled to the palace?"
"Your equipment for the mission is inside, so please follow me."
I did as asked, following Yuriken until we reached a metallic staircase that led underground.
"Unfortunately, my Princess, I don't have clearance to enter this restricted part of the residence, so you will have to go on yourself."
"Oh, well then, I thank you, Yuriken, for your helpfulness."
"I was merely doing my job, my Princess."
After saying that, she left me alone once again. I was starting to get oddly accustomed to people guiding me through mother's palace and then just randomly leaving.
I made my way down the staircase into a facility that didn't at all match the upstairs aesthetic. Metal covered the walls, floors and ceilings, and multiple large rooms with windows peering into them lined the area. Once I had finished my descent, I was greeted by the familiar face of Trilian Zaylus, the man who had guided me on my first trip to this palace.
"Greetings, my Princess, please follow me to get your equipment."
"Ah, of course. I'm glad to have met with you again, Trilian."
"As am I with you, my Princess."
I trailed him until I was guided into a room that appeared to just be a larger version of the hallway we had just exited from. The only real differences were a table sitting in the middle and one scientist, seemingly waiting for me.
He quickly bowed his head, before presenting to me the table's contents.
"First," He began, holding a device that looked like a simple black button. "This is your communication device. There's a button on it's front. When that button is held in, you will be transmitting your current audio to us. There is a volume slider on the side for when we contact you. Make sure it's completely muted while you're in public areas."
Damn. This is all so official.
He handed me the button and I simply put it into my pocket, not really knowing what else to do. He then leaned back over the table and presented me with one more device.
"This," He started, showing off a device that looked like some sort of sleek black security card. "Is our cloaking device. Whenever it is on your person, it will manipulate the Divine Energy in the air around you to make others view you as if you were a human. It will hide your black eyes and change your hair colour."
He once again handed it to me and the second it touched the skin of my hand, I felt something change. I obviously couldn't see it myself, but I felt a movement in the Divine Energy in the air around me. It was as if the Divine Energy was moving itself in-front of my Godly features and just sort of hugging them very slightly.
"Did it work?" I asked.
"See for yourself, my Princess."
The scientist then practically threw a mirror at me. I obviously caught it and then looked at myself.
Wow. It's like a totally different person.
My hair, once an inviting violet, was now a pitch black and while my irises had remained the same colour, the sclera of my eyes were now white. I had black hair and blue eyes. It was so strange.
"Now then," Started Trilian. "My Princess, I'm afraid it is time for you to leave."
"Huh?" I squeaked. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I know I'm leaving today, but... I've never left Divinity before, let alone Paradise, and now you want me to also find Earth on-top of those two?! I expected that someone might guide me or something!"
"Apologies, my Princess, but if more than one God left, humanity's detection systems would pick us up. I'm afraid you'll have to go by yourself."
"B- But I don't even know where Earth is! How am I supposed to get there?!"
"Well, I believe that Earth is located in Realm 5, somewhere between the Plutonius and Jaylick universes."
Wh- How am I meant to navigate to 2 specific universes in a Realm filled with an uncountable number of universes! That's insane! I'm so dead!
"Yeah!" The scientist butt in. "Plus, if you get lost, then your cloak card has a built in GPS of all 7 Realms!"
I slowly turned my head and stared at him. "You mean to tell me that, this whole time, there was a GPS in this thing and you didn't tell me?! I nearly had a mental breakdown, thinking that I was gonna die before I even made it there!"
"Uh... Well, I've told you now, haven't I?"
I managed to just about bottle up my frustration. "Yes... I suppose you did..."
Well then, I guess it's already time. Time to infiltrate the Godkillers.