Plop. Plop. Plop.
Rain fell from the unforgiving sky. The droplets were heavy, cold, and almost tear-like, as if the heavens were crying alongside the weeping souls.
The branches of leaves touched my bare skin as I made my way deeper into the forest. Trees and plants trembled in a futile struggle for life before they quickly wilted and surrendered to nothingness.
My feet and nails dug into the dirt, almost becoming one with the realm as heavy chains dragged heavily onto the ground. Sounds of metal smashing into each other formed a toneless melody in the forest along with the heavy rain.
Fairies eventually flocked around me, screaming, shrieking, and singing hymns of death. Their souls flickered loudly against my bleeding ears, branding me as their lord, surrendering to my oppression. I hummed and then took an abrupt stop.
Chains and rain sounds stopped altogether as my kin finally made a move.
"You've come—" A strong, tall sword quickly pierced through the empty space, slicing my neck into two and forcefully stabbing the tree behind me.
Birds flew in terror as two gods met in the middle of war.
A strong tremble of amusement flowed into my veins as the familiar sword left the chains on my neck broken in one snap.
The aggressive force that put my persistent chains into temporary rest sprinted as fast as the roaring wind, a quick jumped midair as his light body spun reflexively, and his solid metal-like legs smashed my head into pieces.
Flesh splattered and exploded in one tiny gesture, forcing my existence to condense and scatter into the mortal air.
A chuckle escaped my lips as soon as my concentrated energy formed one. Slowly, my eyes and face followed, but before I could even mutter a gleeful greeting, my dear kin, Ferlon, sent a strong, decisive kick once again dispersing my head.
His body was light, unlike mine, who was bound by heavy chains as he quickly sprinted back to his tall sword to slash my body into two.
Such display of mindless ferocity.
Ferlon seemed not to wish to give me a single chance to reform my body; he immediately grabbed my chains, and with such a simple move, the heaviness that bound me quickly tripled, forcefully pulling me down to the ground.
"How ferocious... like a rabid dog. " I mumbled, chains of the mortal realm bounded painfully against my still recovering vessel.
My borrowed eyes gazed at Ferlon, who only glared at me before tightening the chains once more, extending his influence to the realm and strengthening the potency of the drowsy curse cast upon me.
"What have you done, Your Highness!? The realm will break with your descent! " Ferlon's familiar irritating tone made its way to my borrowed ears, making me tilt my head as he raised his sword against my neck.
I let out a sigh, my eyes so heavy that I can no longer open them enough to see his face. I tried to raise my hands, but the slight movement made the chains heavier, as a very familiar sense of warmth enveloped me.
"You really are a nuisance. " My eyes stared straight at Ferlon's glinting eyes that hold the same hue as the trees along the forest.
Ferlon's eyes wavered, but he was not as easily dazed as mortals; his strong, light feet quickly stepped on my shoulder with a heavy thud. A glint of despair brewed under his eyes, letting it glint a certain light.
The dark, hazy night slightly lightened as if the Heavens tried to take a peek. It's shameless attempt made me unamused, light dimmed on my borrowed eyes as my gaze fixated on the retreating sky, enveloping the realm with thick black fog...
"Ferlon, you've grown arrogant. " The rain that stopped due to his influence found its courage to fall in this land once again.
After severing Ferlon's attempt to reinforce Heaven's rarely active interference in this realm, my vessel continued my resistance against the pressure of the chains, allowing a deafening echo of screeching metals within the forest.
Under Ferlon's wavering gaze, my limbs and neck stretched without regard to my vessel's limit, leaving a bloody scene with the rain washing the stains in a futile attempt to hide a feud between gods.
The familiar sensation of heat and itchiness crawled into my unfeeling body, bones cracking and flesh tearing, and I remained stubborn with pairs of bloodied teeth.
"How come you've grown cruel, Ferlon?" I whispered, smiling.
Ferlon's face contorted, and his green orbs looked away before he stabbed his long sword straight to my eyes, causing Osiris to whimper in agony and anger from afar.
"T-This... Return, Your Highness. You do not belong here." Ferlon muttered genuinely as he pinned me back to the ground by stabbing my borrowed eyes, piercing through my skull.
My back once again found the familiar soil touching my existence, the tall sword pierced adamantly into the land, pinning me along the chains that tried to eat and bury me away.
And you think you do?
A chuckle almost echoed from my torn throat with his unseemly remark.
"—if the Lord finds out you've caused havoc again. What more punishment can he even bestow on you? Return to Devas, I beg you." My kin's voice echoed as the ground slowly submerged me, gaining the courage to go beyond its capacity just because he found an ally in tormenting me.
Lord...Ah.
I tried to scratch my face upon mention of that name, an unbearable itch along the black tints branding me a criminal intensified, flowing from my face down to my neck and all parts of my skin.
It itched so much, but the chains were so tight that I was unable to move. My eyes forced to watch over the sky; no sign of the Heavens, no sign of Gods... one would mistake that they have forsaken the realm with how silent they have been.
"What would the mortals think once they realize that, except through me, their Gods have no means of knowing them?" My voice was soft, gentle, almost lulling the souls around me as I whispered and diverted my gaze back to Ferlon, who was taken aback by the horrors of truth.
I smiled and closed my eyes, "Even you, your vessel was crafted by my own hands... how come you are so shameless to stand in my way?"
The Gods are powerful, powerful indeed- but their hands are tied with a brittle, frail lace. They are blind. Blind to the truth, blind to cruelty, blind to me—I, their only eye.
Ferlon's breathing was ragged; it was he who mercilessly amplified the realm's shackles on me, and yet it is he who dares to bear such a look in his eyes.
"Return now, Your Highness... Do not force the Lord to punish you any more." He breathed in sharply and tightened the chains, suffocating my being.
Rain fell heavily as thunder and lightning hit the land.
"....Father loves me dearly," I whispered, and then, with the mud and rain falling onto my submerging body, I smiled, letting it graze my teeth. "So dearly... "
Slowly, I let the realm take my consciousness away, my vessel becoming one with the soil, sending me back to the void.
The familiar silence, the lack of life, no movement, no death, just this poor god against the total void of nothingness. The crippling itchiness was crawling onto my very existence as time slowly became nonexistent to me. As well as my being and consciousness drifting away. Almost as if even I—was never real.
Osiris. I'm going back to Devas.
A loud howl echoed as soon as the ground ate me whole. The familiar darkness was comforting, similar to what I've known; however, right now, there was warmth... There were worms, there were sounds.
There are light footsteps on top of the ground I was buried in, echoed, followed by the sound of the blade being pulled out of my flesh and soil. A gush of water from the rain found its way deep down to greet me.
This is not Devas, after all.
Osiris' eyes and senses were transferred back to him; his rage ran against the strong pour, his trembling anger was evident as it trembled in my consciousness. His orbs glared at Ferlon, who showed a melancholy gaze under the ground, kneeling as if offering a prayer to the Heavens.
A laugh escaped my lips. My consciousness dispersed as my vessel stayed buried under the soil of the realm. My soul traveled through the air, circling Ferlon, who dared claim victory against death.
Osiris, who was supposed to dig my vessel out, immediately whimpered and took a step back with his paws. Fear was evident in those beautiful ocean eyes as he quickly fled the scene—aware of what was about to come. Slowly, he vanished into thin air as his essence returned to me.
My consciousness gently fell onto Ferlon's head, and with one breath, we came back to Devas.
Darkness was nothing compared to the void. The void holds no life as well as no death. It is a space for eternal suffering that has always been avoided by the gods.
Only I, who was dearly loved by my Father, had the honor of being imprisoned here since I was put in existence.
And finally—Ferlon as well.
The great God of Fortune stood frozen as his whole consciousness fell on Devas. Almost immediately, the moment he realized what had transpired, his hands quickly released a familiar mineral, crafting a long spear made of the strongest material from the mortal realm.
His green orbs that were hiding behind a brown mask quickly faded as he tightened his grip on his spear. Within such a short amount of time, thousands of arrows crafted in thin air surrounded him, facing all possible locations as he crafted a thousand more traps.
The realm's restrictions were released for both of us; however, Ferlon's alertness screamed of his incompetence.
A laugh escaped my lips as my true form emerged in the void, my vessel that I ravaged in the mortal realm slowly melted back into me, down in Devas, where we are bound by nothing.
A long black sword formed in my empty palm, my long slender fingers casually grabbing it on its handle as I dragged its blade against the void, screeching sounds of metal echoed as thousands of arrows stupidly flew straight to pierce me.
Ferlon, taking this chance, swiftly ran towards a slight crack in the void, the opening I left purposely to illegally detain his soul in Devas that only caters to me. A beautiful dagger appeared in his hands, shining brightly with a deep green hue, a part of his soul embedded in its blades.
I hissed and ran after him, smoke rendering his arrows frozen as I adjusted the grip on my sword, swiftly changing it into a long dark spear. A single inhale was all it took to shoot it to his hands, making him drop his dagger.
Blood splattered on the void as it compressed according to my will. The space favored my wishes, as Ferlon gritted his teeth as the dagger he painstakingly embedded with his soul dropped and submerged in my void.
He bit his lips and opened up both his palms, showing a determined gaze towards me.
"Your Highness, forgive me, but I must go back!" He screamed, his neck almost bursting in anger, which made me halt.
Tilting my head, I called back my spear and laughed as it slowly transformed into a black tint around my wrist. I hummed for a moment and flicked my fingers, commanding the void to push Ferlon's body towards me.
He immediately raised his leg and sent a powerful kick towards my head, aiming to smash it once again, but this time. No chains nor drowsiness were holding me back; I simply took the force and chuckled as it tilted my head slightly.
I grabbed his leg, my fingers tightened their grip with my dark nails digging into his frail body.
"I've crafted this vessel especially for you... How come you are so eager to use it to smash my head?" I murmured as he forcefully broke his legs against my grip to kick me once again, this time with a force that even I wouldn't ignore.
I hissed but refused to let his poor leg go, gripping it and tearing it off from his body and swiftly using it to hit his frail cheek. Blood splattered once more as he forcefully smashed his head on my face.
My eyes flickered in amusement, staring at his deformed head that bore the most damage from rebelling against me. A genuine chuckle escaped my lips as I threw his leg across the void, taking a step back gleefully.
"Very well, very well... my young friend seemed to learned a few human tricks. " I laughed out loud and then ran my fingers through my hair.
Ferlon's head was broken, he was bleeding profusely, and his orbs that always looked at me with utmost devotion remained the same as I remembered.
This body... I painstakingly crafted for him.
A soft sigh escaped my lips, "Look at what you've done to your body... "
As soon as those words left my mouth, my energy dispersed and crawled onto his shadows and dug into his frail vessel. His blood, his veins, his heart, and more importantly, the bearer of his soul showed a complete devotion upon contact with their god... the one that allows life to exist.
The vessel recognized me, and Ferlon was forced to pledge his submission.
He flinched and then gulped before his trembling lips slowly found their words, "H-Heroli... Your Highness, spare them."
I watched him slowly kneel, a temporary leg made out of an unfamiliar mineral formed right before my eyes, as his eyes flickered in guilt.
Ferlon... Ferlon... What have the mortals done for you to be this disgraceful of a God?
A soft smile formed on my lips, graciously showing mercy to an old friend.
"Very well, I shall end them gently."
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