As I felt the rage kindle inside me, waiting to be set ablaze, I fell.
Not physically, but… something else. My soul had fallen to a place where there was only silence and darkness all around me.
"Are you lost, child…?" From deep in the darkness of this abyss, I heard a loud and ancient voice speak.
"W-Who are you? Where am I?!" I asked the darkness, trying my best to seem as calm as possible.
"Easy, child… One question at a time…" said the darkness, their voice slow and as deep as this abyss went.
"Wait, you can speak my language…"
"Yes. 'Your' language," the darkness said, sounding sarcastic for whatever reason.
'Am I dead? Did the vampire nun get me? That doesn't seem likely. This dark, scary abyss where there's not an ounce of sunlight must be my soul. And this is an intruder!'
"Intruder…? You joke, child," said the darkness.
Just as I was feeling my skin crawl from the fact that it read my thoughts, something rolled in the darkness and it chillingly added, "You have no idea…"
And to my biggest shock and unfathomable dread, the darkness split and gradually revealed a circular black mass with an edge encompassed by crimson flames, spreading its burning tentacles to every corner of what looked like the universe itself. But the darkness returned, collapsing all it revealed before splitting open once again.
Words couldn't express the immense awe I felt or how terrified I was. There was no doubt that I was looking at an eye… the eye of a creature my brain couldn't even begin to fathom. And I was like a speck of dust before it. I didn't even want to imagine how large this creature truly was.
There was absolutely no way they were intruding. In fact, I was most likely the one doing so. But how did I get here?
"Now, you are asking what is right," the creature slowly responded past the fourth wall.
"Let us see… You are quite unique," it said and observed me with its pupil.
First, it let out a short, thunderous-sounding laugh and said, "Such a muscular child… Body of Aries."
The pupil moved.
"Mind of Athena.
"Left Eye of Horus.
"Right Eye of Ra.
"Heart of Metatron.
"But a human soul."
The creature seemed to click its tongue and added, "Those pesky little gods with their attempts."
I didn't need to think too deeply to be able to follow this unfathomable existence's words. It was as though understanding came as naturally to me as breathing.
The names that this great unknown existence mentioned had a hand in my creation, or at least they had something to do with it.
So I asked in shock, "What am I?"
They breathed out deeply and answered, "A feast."
I fell silent for a short while and thought. My coming to this new world and the circumstances that brought me here were all strange, so there may be truth to all that was being said, but being referred to as a feast troubled me.
"To serve what purpose?" I asked.
And the answer arrived swiftly:
"To be… eaten."
'Eaten?' I was taken aback. Why would the gods wish to eat me when they made me? I didn't know whether I could trust this entity, but I certainly didn't want to be eaten. And even worse, something told me death was more final when enacted by gods.
"Can I escape this fate?" I solemnly asked.
"Yes, there is only one way…" the dark entity answered.
"...Accept my will."
I thought for a moment and asked, "What is your will?"
The crimson flames in the magnificent eye stirred, and the darkness said:
"Destruction."
There wasn't much else to think about and attempt to understand after it said that. I was brought here by this creature after it sensed my rage, and had laid down the chips. The options before me were as clear as day: Remain fated to be a feast for the gods, or seize this opportunity to chart a new course by wielding the Will of Destruction.
"...I accept."
The crimson flames stirred, and the darkness spoke.
"Human born of divinity, only your wrath could speak into the fabric of the universe and call out to me… Imagination, the Beginning.
"All you shall know from now henceforth is blood, calamity, and rage. In every path you take, all that shall be left in its wake… is destruction."
Right then, a crimson tongue of fire ignited before me.
Behind, there were six other tongues of fire bearing different colours.
However, only the crimson flame reached forward and entered my chest, setting my entire body ablaze.
I had returned to the bloody scene wrought by the vampire nun before I even realized it, and only a second had passed.
I stared at my reflection in her smiling black eyes.
My rage was ever present, and my wrath was kindled.
My crimson eyes ignited… and my body set ablaze.
The flames spread outward. The vampire nun wasn't even able to react before she was engulfed by the flames.
She let go of me and ran, but I remained afloat midair regardless.
She couldn't run from my flames. She screamed as it ate her flesh and hair, and cooked her insides.
I watched her as she burned. And all that rang pleasantly in my ear was her dying scream.
She plopped down to the floor and rolled back and forth a few seconds before turning completely into char.
However, my rage still didn't settle. But I also felt immensely tired and drained, hence the fire receded back into me, and I landed gently on the black floor.
Only then did I remember my mother. I turned to my left… and all that was left of her was charred too.
'No…' I thought, but was too weak to stay awake.
❈❈❈
The bright sunlight smeared against my face and stirred me awake.
The biting feeling in my tummy didn't allow me to contemplate the result of my rage-fueled actions before I screamed at the top of my lungs again, calling out for someone to feed me.
But this time, I knew there was no one left in this world to 'shut me up.'