《Inhappening》
1. An ordinary day.
On a morning like any other, something stirred in the darkness of its sanctuary. Slowly it opened its eyes, rolled over and hugged its blanket.
Like most boys his age, Wania was not a morning person. The smell and sounds coming from the kitchen tempted him, but the world outside his bed was just so cold. The boy pushed his face into the pillow and tried to get back to sleep.
"Wania, get up!!" the voice of his mother came from the door, followed by a couple of hasty knocks. "I know you are awake young man!"
The teen shot up and with a few, swift moves put on his pants, decorated with three white stripes. He found out they were the height of the current fashion, mixed with a white tank-top and purple slippers on long, white socks.
Before his mother could call for him again, he opened the door and greeted her with a smile, "Good morning, mother."
The white-haired, well-endowed woman studied her youngest child. The boy was already a head taller than her, his ears-long blonde hair messily sticking out in all directions. She fixed his shirt, stained with a sauce from some late-night snack and nodded. "I''m happy to see you so full of energy, eat quickly and feed the goat before it nibbles on the house again."
Suddenly, she felt the hairs on her back stand, as something slithered behind her, spreading a familiar aura. When the woman turned around, she only saw the yellow of her husband''s old-fashioned cloak disappear into the kitchen. She shook her head and stormed after the man.
Anticipating his parents morning ritual, Wania plugged his ears and slowly marched towards the kitchen. When he finally reached the door, his parents sat at the table, calmly exchanging plates and preparing their sandwiches.
"Greetings to you, father." The boy slightly bowed his head and took his seat. The man on the other side of the simple, wooden table, nodded back, his long black hair flowing out of the hood of the yellow cloak, framing the chiselled, dark face. "Greetings to you too, my boy." Came out a gravel voice.
The dark-skinned giant, clearly satisfied with the lengthy conversation, bit into a sausage and washed it down with a glass of a clear liquid. Wania wrinkled his nose at his mother''s special brew and made himself a jam and white cheese sandwich.
"Honey, you will have to get used to vodka. Imbibing it is an important ritual for other kids your age." The woman chastised the kid and swallowed her meaty sandwich.
"It is not vodka you brew mother. I''ve already tried what the city kids drink and it didn''t taste different from water." Wania puffed up his chest, while pouring himself a glass of goat milk. Half-way through raising the glass to his mouth, the boy froze, realising what he confessed to.
The woman rose in her chair, preparing to scold her son, but was interrupted by the gravel voice. "Katya, my dearest, you cannot expect him to hold his alcohol with others if you never let him drink it."
"He can get used to the taste, once he moved out of my house, Teph." She focused her rage on her husband, allowing Wania to relax. "I permitted you to handle raising our last daughter and how did that end? She forsook our traditions, our way of life and cosied up with some whore, from that little island!!"
"I wonder if she will still visit if she were to know what you call her wife? Would the priestess bring her outstanding dishes?" The man smirked and finished his sausage, dipping it into a bucket of caviar.
"You wouldn''t dare..."
Having finished his meal, Wania got up and turned to leave. "Don''t think I forgot about you Wania! After you feed the goat, clean out the outhouse."
"Yes, mother." The boy bowed towards his progenitors and rushed into the corridor. He hoped to make it outside, before his parent''s argument blew up.
With practised moves, he put on his thick, warm suit. He fiddled a little with the hat, waist and gloves, to make sure it was sealed and stepped into the exit.
The world outside, greeted him with a wide field of white, most of the sky covered in blue. The sun was just climbing over the horizon, giving an almost blinding sparkle to the surroundings.
Loud bleating and mewling interrupted his moment of peace, a small animal bumping into his knee, asking for a sumptuous offering. Wania caressed the goats head and led it towards the pantry. "How''s your morning Shrub?"This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
The goat bleated louder and hopped around the esteemed feeder. It complained he was late, but promised to forgive the transgression if he provided her with some proper ear scratching. The boy laughed and obliged, careful to avoid its eyes, the task made challenging by his thick gloves.
Sneakily, he attached a chain to the goat''s collar and walked into the pantry. After careful consideration, he grabbed a wide and low can, from near the ceiling. The young man secured the can to the ground just outside the door. Before opening the can, he made sure to seal the door properly and turned around to unchain the voracious animal.
The goat already bit through the chain and chomped down on the can. "I suppose a little iron won''t be bad for your diet. I better note down to bring out a new chain later, though."
Wania opened a pocket on his left sleeve and scratched the memo into the pad inside. With that done, he left towards the outhouse. The goat mewled after him, the sound disturbed by the metal it was chewing. The boy waved at the pet and steeled his resolve. The task before him would be a gruelling challenge, worthy of a demigod.
With large, measured steps, Wania struggled to the outhouse. Careful not to trip, he pulled a shovel out of the ground and looked up at the wooden structure before him.
The boy nodded his head, lifted the locks on the door and came into the spacious room. He adjusted his footing, feeling the change in his weight and with a sigh, walked over to the leftmost sit. He plunged the shovel in and out, in and out, struggling not to let go of it as it got stuck in the mess below. "Why can''t we build a proper toilet? Mother and her traditions." Wania complained and kept at his work.
"It builds character she says, it''s a good exercise she says." The young man mumbled under his voice and moved on to the next hole.
Three holes later and half-way done, Wania came out, stuck the shovel back in the ground and plopped down. He leaned his back on the wall of the outhouse and looked up at the blue. Next week, he''d move out to live on his own, experience college. He rubbed his hat, groaned and let his hand back down to the ground.
"What''s up?" Came a young, feminine voice from his left. His neighbour Sophia, was looking down at him while petting her family''s dog.
"I''m alright... I blurted out, that I drank some vodka and mother has me cleaning the outhouse." The boy struggled back to his feet and faced his friend. "How''s your morning Marika?"
"Mom''s been getting cranky, she says something is changing in the air." The young woman answered and looked towards her home, a small wooden building jutting out of the all-encompassing white. "Teph having any issues too?"
"Lately he had to drink mom''s brew every morning, but you know how he is, won''t say much." Wania shook his head and also looked towards his home, the largest building in the village. "Did Thulu say anything specific?"
"Nope, only that the air is shit. Dad''s been trying to placate her, that they could call uncle to send over some seawater... did that send her into a fit." Sophia sighed and admired the blue above. "At least we will get some calm over there."
Suddenly, a large shadow covered the sky, shocking the teens. Before they could find what caused it, everything cleared up and the bleating of two goats came from their knees.
The two looked down at Shrub, who nodded at them apologetically and ripped into it''s most recent offspring, tearing open it''s back. Sophia''s dog trembled, squirming its back a little and dropped to the ground, clawing at its snout.
"Shit, I will take Yog back home. See you after you dealt with your punishment?" The girl picked up her dog and asked over her shoulder.
"Alright, I should finish in like an hour, or so." Wania picked up the shovel and went back into the outhouse. Before closing the door, he took a glance outside, Shrub was licking up the remains of its child. The goat bleated in annoyance and hopped away. "Will things really be calm?"
The last hole turned out to require more effort and the boy only left the outhouse after two hours. Sophia sat outside, sketching random symbols in the ground. "Took you a while." She said, without looking up.
"It seems one of the older ones, lost control in the last stall. I will have to prepare a new shovel." Wania sighed and tried to make sense of the runes in the ground. "What are you making?"
"Just practising some writing, I''m not sure which country my parents will send me to, so I want to be prepared for any possibility." The young woman stood up and stretched.
"How''s Yog?" The boy asked and began walking towards the small grove outside the village.
"Dad had to put him in its cage, it began burping bubbles." The girl paused and let out a sigh. "I think the next couple of years will be more exciting than we expected."
"Yeah..." Wania sighed too and looked up at the blue. "But... they''d tell us if something serious was happening, right?"
"They don''t exactly consider anything, besides your grandfather coming over, serious." Sophia chuckled. "The world could blow up and they will just shrug like it''s another Tuesday."
"Well, they''d make a feast, so not exactly just another Tuesday." Wania let out a hollow laugh and flexed his hands. "Fuck... I haven''t..."
"Keep it together, they won''t let you come if you..." The young woman chocked and squatted, hugging her legs. "Alright, fuck."
The teenagers took a couple, synchronised deep breathes and hurried to the grove.
Late in the evening, Wania sat before his computer and released a deep sigh. He smacked the white box a couple of times, but the machine refused to turn on. Resigned, he parted with one of his blins and shoved into the cd-rom reader. The machined released a satisfied whirl and the screen lit up.
The boy opened his browser and was greeted by the title of his blog. In large, silver letters, it read "Moon Walking".
Wania stretched his fingers and began typing out his day. He skipped over the inconsequential details and wrote about his ordinary meditation session with Sophia.
2. Nothing to see here.
Keiko slowed down the car and parked in the middle of a meadow. In the middle of the flowered field, stood a tall, gnarled, wooden ladder.
She unbuckled and turned to check on her sleeping daughter. The teen slept, leaning against the window, behind Marika.
"Wake up honey, we are here," She spoke softly to the child.
The girl shifted and reached up to remove her blindfold, brushing away her pure black, wavy hair. Marika stopped the child''s hand and chastised her, "It''s not time yet, I will lead you outside. Once everything will be ready, I will remove it."
"Okay, mom." Keiko breathed out and rested her hands on her lap. Finally, she would learn the secrets of her adopted mothers. Ever since they adopted her, she wondered through what nefarious means they amassed their wealth. Were they the heads of a yakuza family?
She thought back to her fears, when she learned the two couldn''t have afforded their luxurious lifestyle with their simple voice-acting jobs and occasional miko performances. Still, they gave her a better home and more love than she could have hoped for. She would accept whatever cruelties would be required of her.
The girl was interrupted from her thoughts, by a pair of gentle hands holding onto her arm, to lead her out.
Marika led her child to the edge of a circle, surrounding the ladder and raised Kaida''s head. "Keep your face at this exact angle, once it will be time, I will remove your blindfold."
The woman grabbed her partner''s hand and looked towards the sky, waiting.
Katya looked towards the Milky Way stretching across the sky. With the help of her husband, she could barely perceive the branch that recently connected to the centre of her home galaxy. Yet, her human eyes, would not see the spectacle for another hundred thousand years. She wondered just how would the mortals below react to the changes that would fuck them up in the coming days. Would their varied religions survive the coming revelations? Would their fragile governments hold on to political power, as personal power would gain a much more tangible meaning?
She shook her head and tried to relax her face. It wouldn''t do to show her son, the excitement she felt. How long she had waited for this. She was merely a shaman of her tribe, when the Chaos crawled to them, in the far north.
The woman patted down the leather dress from her mother and pulled out her phone. The device had no reception, so she walked closer to the Ladder to Heaven and picked the contact named "Marika".
After a couple of beeps, her daughter picked up the call. "Hello mother, what is it you need?" The girl''s sickly-sweet voice came.
"Wania and Sophia will be coming down soon, are you ready to receive them?" Katya asked, keeping her voice even, despite the disgust she felt towards her youngest daughter. Why couldn''t she start a proper, traditional cult, like her older siblings? Infiltrate their popular culture, what a silly idea.
"Yes, we are already waiting for them by the Ladder," Marika responded in an even, deeper voice.
"We?" Who could her wayward daughter bring to receive the children? She wouldn''t say "we" if it were just some sacrificial mortals.
"Keiko and our daughter Kaida Aia." The girl chuckled and continued before her mother could respond. "I''m sure you didn''t worry, but nonetheless. Keiko will not have any troubles and Kaida, fittingly wants to face the truth about her family. You did time everything correctly, and the little ones will come through just as the branch will connect, yes?"
"Of course, I''ve been perfecting these calculations since I met your father. Well then, receive your brother properly." The woman raised her hand to end the call but paused. "We will visit you, once things calmed down up here." Finished with the conversation, Marika hanged up and secured the phone back in her mother''s head-bag.
The woman glanced down at the Blue Planet and left the immediate vicinity of the Ladder. She took on the form of an old, weeping willow and waited for the children to come.
Wania took one last look around his room and took all of his furniture and belongings into himself. An orb of bitterness spread through his throat, as he looked at the fake-window he painted as a child, on the wall furthest from the door. He hesitated for a breath and cut the picture out. He would hang it at his new place.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
The boy shifted a couple of times, making sure everything was properly secured within and left the now empty, wooden room. His father stood by the suit rack, his form hidden within the yellow robe he wore during special occasions.
Many voices reverberated through the young man, cutting to the core of his being and skirting around it. "Leave as you are, you do not need to hide your form today until you''ve arrived on Earth."
"Yes, father." Ivan bowed to his progenitor and stepped into the exit-circle.
Sophia looked around her small room. It would be the last time she would see it like this, as it would likely belong to a new sibling, once she returned. The girl sighed and after a flash of green, all of her belongings floated safely within her.
She withdrew the small statue of her mother, she carved out of moon-rock as a child and hugged it to her chest. Holding her favourite toy, she stepped out of her room.
Her mother squatted in her true, bloated form by the suit-rack. Despite the tiny size of their house, the monster had no trouble fitting, ordering the space around it to bend.
The draconic squid wiggled its tentacles into simple words, "Go child, do not hide until you came down."
The lesser creature bowed to its progenitor and stepped into the exit-circle.
Wania and Sophia met half-way between their houses and crawled and sloshed beyond the grove, towards the Ladder.
Just in front of the circle of light around the ancient artefact, stood a monstrous weeping willow, its roots steeped in a pond of blood, seeping from the tree''s low hanging branches.
"Is everything alright, mother?" The boy sent towards the ancient shaman.
The willow''s bark cracked and formed a warm smile. A kind wind reassured the children and hurried them to climb the ladder. It was important they came down on time.
The two young adults felt images of two women and a child waiting for them below.
Marika held onto her daughter''s head and steered it back into proper position. She felt the girl tremble a little and stroked her hair. "It is almost time, be calm." She let out a soothing voice. Keiko took the child''s hand and squeezed it.
Marika''s younger brother and his friend were climbing down the sky-high ladder, almost reaching the point Kaida''s head was facing.
The mother''s looked towards the Sun, calculating when the ginormous branch of mana would hit Earth.
The crawl of Marika''s many limbs froze and with many swift moves, she ripped the blindfold off her daughter''s eyes.
Kaida froze, her mind not comprehending the sight before her and her body fell apart as dust. Just at the mortal witnessed the descent of the impossible, the life-blood of existence struck through Earth.
The teen returned before her clothes could deform and the sight no longer pierced into her. She also felt something else, if she wanted, she could leave.
The girl spread her lips in a wide toothy smile and cracked towards her uncle and aunt. The mass of tendrils and the draconic, green blob, descended in the same space, carefully taking steps down the gnarled ladder, stretching into the heavens.
She felt the sight should break her, that her mortal mind should not be able to comprehend it... and yet, the sight was just so... ordinary. With a laugh, she cracked back towards her mothers.
Keiko stood the same, as she always was. A prim and proper office lady, a slight smile in her eyes. Her other mother on the other hand... Countless black tendrils slithered out of her official, yellow robe, something as if a face smiling brightly down on the child.
"You''ve succeeded." Came voices of civilisations long lost. "I am so proud of you, my little spider." Came the images of future possibilities, black cities floating over many mortal worlds, bloody feasts entertaining countless spiders, glass forests bringing calm to ancient deities. "Let us welcome your uncle and aunt. They will be joining a university soon."
"What just hap... It''s not what I... Where are the yakuza?" the girl blurted out, biting her tongue.
"And event we came to this corner of the Universe for, just came to pass. New civilisations awakened to their true potential and we were here to witness it." Marika explained, shifting without moving.
Keiko took a step towards her daughter and put a hand on her shoulder. "You, along with a small portion of humanity, gained the initiation advantages."
After a short moment of hesitation, the short Japanese woman fixed her daughter''s favourite, white shirt. "I will explain our family circumstances later, maybe over dinner?"
"Sister!! I am so glad to witness you!!" Wania boomed.
"Brother, you are speaking father''s tongue. You will need to control yourself, once we leave the Ladders bubble." Marika chastised her younger brother and crawled to hug him. "And Sophia, I am happy to see you." The older woman enveloped the immature Elder Ones with her giant form and brought them over to the car.
"Let''s go Kaida, we need to get to the airport before the mortals become too chaotic." Keiko urged her daughter and giggled at her own joke.
"How about now?" Wania spoke in Greek while shovelling a ladle of tender mammal flesh into his maw.
"Seriously Wania? You write that blog of yours in English..." Sophia exclaimed and let out an annoyed sigh, before drowning her frustration with a glass of vodka.
"I write in it, but I never spoke it." the writhing mass of tendrils blurted out an excuse and tried a bottle of sake.
"Mom, what is this meat? It''s delicious!" Kaida tore into meat on a large bone.
"You remember that creepy neighbour of ours? He plumped himself quite well, didn''t he?" Marika happily explained and sucked a couple of plates worth of side dishes through her tendrils.
3. Truth may or may not be not quite objective.
Bjorn looked up from his tablet and pulled on his hair. "Can Bjorn bear another failure" read the tagline for another article, feeding on his corporation''s drop in stocks. His corporation wasn''t even that large or influential, so why did the entire world jump on him, like some deranged hyenas.
The man dropped his hands, some of his dirty blonde hair sticking to his fingers. He brushed them off on each other and looked out the plane window. The vehicle flew through a massive thunderstorm, almost unnatural seeming lighting bolts snaking around in the clouds.
Quite the first day of a vacation it was.
In the reflection, he noticed one of the other first-class passengers stir. A young girl, whose entire family sat freakishly still throughout the entire flight.
The teen looked at him, tilted her head and pointed at his chest, then giggled.
Bjorn wondered if maybe his tie was crooked and looked down. A tendril of electricity was coming out of the ground, piercing with its liquid-like tip into his heart. The shock of the situation, combined with his exhaustion, knocked the man out.
Kaida looked around the first-class section, repurposed for a feast. The chairs were ripped out of the ground, stacked in one corner, the walls covered in entrails and blood of the passengers. In the middle of the room, stood a table made out of more bones than could be found on the place.
Her family feasted on meat, grilled right on the table. Having a full stomach and somewhat tired of the sight, she turned to her mother and poked her on a relatively clean tendril. "Mom, could you phase me into the cleaner plane?"
Marika smiled happily at her child and nodded.
The girl found herself back in her first-class seat and glanced towards the only normal human in this section. A liquid tendril of electricity snaked up his well-fitting, black suit and pierced the man''s chest.
Wondering why the human wasn''t reacting to it, she pointed at the curiosity. Almost immediately after, the skinny man fainted and folded onto his knees. Kaida shrugged and looked at the bodies of her family.
They sat extremely still as if sleeping, or maybe like wax figures. It seemed that while they didn''t occupy their bodies directly, they forgot to imitate breathing.
The girl shrugged, fixed her blanket and dozed off.
The world shifted slightly before Wania''s eyes. The plane he feasted in, continued on its course, but it seemed the real one was dipping down. The teen looked towards his sister, confused.
"Part of the plan, but I suppose the feast is over," the woman explained and took on her human form. "Drink some more and let''s return before they shift too far apart."
"We are still in the middle of the ocean, why would we land here?" Wania asked, then downed a bottle of his mother''s brew.
"A new academy, celebrating the changes coming to the world. You will learn, mostly alongside humans, so you will still have plenty of opportunities to study them." Marika answered shifted back to herself, swiftly followed by her wife.
The boy turned to his friend, but she also shifted out. With a shrug, he went back into himself and fixed his posture.
Outside, the plane descended beneath the clouds and began slowly circling an island, made out of marine-life corpses.
The middle of the island flattened out, forming a landing strip, cornered with tall, black obelisks depicting Sophia''s ancestors. Sculptures of tall and plump draconic squids squatted on pillars depicting an ancient civilisation, many-dimensional script describing their history. At both ends of the landing strip, stood tiny statues of a human man, with a long face. Out of his multi-layered suit, stretched out thin tentacles, holding his head from behind, forcing his face to look in every direction.
Marika cackled and her face split in a vicious expression. "Sister?" Wania wondered what caused the outburst.
The woman schooled her expression and smiled at her little brother. "I merely saw depictions of an old acquaintance, a curious little man. He''s done so much to further my goals."
"The entire world believes in us and they don''t even know we exist. Isn''t art beautiful?" She continued and laughed brightly.
"How does their belief help us?" The boy grew confused. His mother always taught him mortals couldn''t do magic and what was faith if not another kind of magic?This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.
"It didn''t help, not until today. Now they all have at least a little bit of magic within them, billions of souls are aware of what our existence could mean." Marika looked up in thought, then opened her mouth to continue when the pilot''s voice interrupted her.
"..." His words were garbled and incomprehensible. After a minute of disturbed static, the pilot shut off the mic and focused on trying to regain control of the plane. The chief stewardess walked through the first-class section, as if not noticing anyone in it and relayed the captain''s wish, for the other passengers to remain calm.
Finding the console and the steering wheel unresponsive, the captain put his head down on the wheel and began praying. The co-pilot followed the example of his colleague, trying to put together his trembling, sweaty hands.
As if to answer their prayers, the plane swerved and barely missed a tower lifting out of the sea. With strong turbulence, the plane hit the landing strip and began slowing down, spraying fish viscera on its underside.
Finally, with a bit of a drift, the plane stopped, mere centimetres away from one of the small humanoid statues.
Marika stood up, clapped her hands and waved her family over. "It''s our stop, so let''s get going and let the other people continue on their journey." She looked over towards the man sleeping in a fetal position and after a short deliberation, lifted him, together with his blanket. "He''d want to come back here anyway." She explained to no one and left towards the door.
Wania poked Kaida on the shoulder, waking the girl up and followed after his sister. A flight of steel and white marble stairs extended from the plane, slightly clipping through its side and the otherwordly family descended them, towards the soft, uneven ground.
The young man looked back at the plane and saw a shadow of a futuristic skyscraper extend from it. Just as the building and it''s stairs began shifting back to their dimension, a body hit the ground just next to the stairs. Keiko ran up to the human and checked his vitals. "It seems the heavens gave us a janitor!" She exclaimed and dragged the man - wearing an expensive but dishevelled suit - away, towards the city growing out of the water.
Wania took the burden from her and put him on his shoulder. "I expected a more mundane university."
"It will reform itself, to better suit this era and the citizens we expect to have here..." Marika explained, "Sophia, do you know why your uncle would leave that for later?"
"I think mom had a fight with him earlier, but..." the girl answered uncertainly.
"I guess he can explain himself." Keiko piped in and pointed towards a huge, green jello-dragon coming out of a door in the wall of a horizontal, two-dimensional palace.
With each step taken towards his extended family, the giant from the deeps, took on a more solid form, slowly becoming the titan of fear, he was most commonly depicted as. Once the divines met, he shrunk and turned into a towering, lightly tanned man, wearing a deep-green suit.
The man''s dark-green, almost black eyes scanned the group before him and he jumped forward, grabbing his niece into a tight hug. "Sophia, it''s been too long! Come everyone, help me reshape the city into something more presentable to the mortals!"
Without letting go of the girl, he turned around and began leading his family deeper, into the confusing labyrinth of impossibly wide streets. "The old man is still around, if you''d like to chat with him, Marika. He is in my mansion, in the penthouse."
"Maybe I will, later." The woman thought out loud. "How have things been going for you, Frederic?"
"Yeah, that name really doesn''t stick. Maybe I will go with Howard for the next couple of years, or Benedict?" The man boomed. He fixed his niece into a more comfortable position on his right arm and scratched his bald head. "Life''s been as good as it can be in the depths. Hiding the deep-sea creatures has been getting difficult though, what with all the new toys the humans have been developing."
"I heard some submarines have been going missing." The ancient beings chatted, catching up and exchanging mundane gossip.
Ancient obelisks, stretched into the sky, at impossible angles. Sometimes they jutted out of pyramids, decorated with reliefs depicting rituals and wars. Elsewhere, flat walls stood, blocking out the sky, surrounding and being surrounded by everything above and below them.
Wania reached out towards a door in the ground and grabbed a handle slightly above his face. Walking through one of the first settlements of his ancestors, on this planet, filled with him a sense of awe and pride. A world contained within a lone fish-bone, a brick in the pavement filling an entire world. Everything within and out of perception, stretching until your mind got lost.
The boy bumped into something and looked around. His family stopped in front of a mortal-designed looking dorm, tagged "Love your craft", he blinked and it changed to "Dagon st. 8/10".
"Alright kids, pick rooms for yourself and get comfortable. The faculty should arrive over the next week and we will be inviting the other students over the next month." Marika explained, then smiled at the young ones. "I will grab you in the evening, to have supper together."
The red brick building, broke the chaotic harmony of the surroundings, the trees and lawn before it, bring a wrong, healthy green. Wania watched his niece being led inside by her mortal mother and followed after them. Moments later, Sohpia caught up to him, having wiggled out of her uncle''s hold.
Wania left the supposed future janitor in front of the front door and stepped inside. Without wasting time looking around, he ran up the stairs in the middle of the entrance hall, hoping to get one of the top, corner rooms, with the most windows.
He felt a little silly when the women took two rooms, on the other side of the top corridor. Still, the boy didn''t let it dim his sense of victory when he saw the large, wall-wide windows letting in a lot of light. First, he crawled into every nook and cranny of the small apartment, while sticking his face to the window in the main room.
Letting the sense of space, flow into him, Wania slowly unpacked and furnished his new home. After deliberating over his options, he hanged the mural of a window, over his bed, set in the centre of the large room. Finding that could freak out any mortal guests, he might have, he moved the picture to the wall opposite the window. Then shifted the bed, so he could look at the painting, without twisting around.
Maybe it was time to write a new blog entry? Wania shook his head and decided against it, nothing interesting happened this day. Maybe he''d write after supper.
4. Is the number of?
Somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic ocean, the morning sun lit up a small island city. Surrounding a simple airport, stood circles of red roofs, cut apart by thin, winding streets. Here and there, rose a green hill, housing a plethora of trees from all over Earth, as well as some more unique growths from elsewhere.
At its northern end, the island stretched into a wider circle, housing a large, castle-like university building, with green tiles. As opposed to the red of the bricks throughout most of the town, the castle was made from simple grey stone, with no seams.
The idyllic morning got interrupted by something most people on this side of the planet could see. A massive space-ship, rivalling the moon size, left a rift in space and stopped right over the tiny town.
The mobile space station, consisted of a large cage, within which orbited itself the habitat and a smaller - about a third of the habitat - engine section, resembling the back of a pure-black squid with golden solar sails at its sides.
A small fleet of ships of various shapes and sizes streamed out of the bottom of the habitat and headed towards the planet''s surface. The twenty larger and about a hundred tiny vessels stopped just over the island and waited for a response from its inhabitants.
It''s cargo offloaded, the space station shot black beams from the edges of its cage and forced open a rift in space. Then, without any further ado, it entered and disappeared as if it has never been there.
A circle of mages on board complained about the primitive new worlds and their lack of measures against gravity influencing vessels. They were sure to demand extra compensation for their efforts.
Wania stretched and looked up at the sky. From where he stood just before his dormitory, he could study a white and blue teapot, hanging just over the building. He scratched his head and left towards the university.
After about ten minutes he met with Sophia''s uncle, just leaving his house. The man took a moment to study the space-crafts in the sky and sighed. "It''s good to see we got someone from the central empires, but I can''t say I missed their sense of humour."
"The teapot?" the boy asked and exchanged a handshake with the man.
"Yes, the teapot," Howard answered and walked off, talking over his shoulder, "They always try to fit the stereotypes of the local populace, but it''s like a matter of honour for them, to get things slightly wrong."
"What about the others?" Wania searched the sky and finally picked a golden orb, about twice the size of the teapot. "The gold one for example?"
"They''re from the relative neighbourhood, just one cluster over. They''ve only awakened about a thousand years ago and aren''t among the most talented, so they''d just gotten their first few gods." The older creature laughed. "Pretentious pricks, but we needed someone to handle the more mundane subjects."
"Not talented?" the boy asked for clarification and caught up to the man with a few quick steps.
"They only had about a thousand people awaken in the third wave, I''m not sure if they even had a first wave bloodline." Howard shrugged and looked around, before pointing towards a cluster of twenty tiny ships, resembling wooden cigars with antennas. "These ones are from the same cluster, had a population of about ten million people and all of them went through awakening."
Wania nodded and continued asking about the various vessels.
"Finally, the ones in those matte-black ships, also come from the Centre. We help them sometimes with ventures to the ruins between their empires, so some old friends might be among them." Howard''s eyes lingered on a canoe decorated with silver wings, so thin you could see through them. The ship had a slightly chromatic shin across other dimensions, implying it was used in the archaeological trips into the black-hole clusters. Maybe it''s crew was among the few that survived witnessing his father. The Elder One shivered and opened the ornate castle gate.
The rest of the family, as well as the two stray humans, sat around a hastily prepared round table. Wania sat down next to Sophia and Howard took his place at the seat of honour.
Opposite the eldritch children, Kaida observed the magically inclined human try to charge his tablet with a low current of electricity flowing from his hands. On the other side of the man in the navy blue suit, the janitor nervously twiddled with his blue overalls, doing his best not to look at the humanoid creatures sitting next to him.
"Should we invite our guests in?" Howard turned to Marika.
"Did you bring out some land for them to land on?" Impatience glimmered in the woman''s eyes as she conjured a projection of the local area. "They can of course, just leave their ships floating, but what sort of hosts would that make us?"
"Oh... of course." The man focused inward, his skin taking on a green colour and becoming translucent.
On the tephian deities map, a flat wall rose out of the water, surrounding the entire island. The massive structure looked a little organic as if someone cut open a giant green squid and carved a depiction of the great battle against it, into its skin.
Stairs rose out of the water and walkways hanging in the air shifted from another dimension, providing the outsiders with a direct path towards the castle.
The ships flew over to the wall, the teapot and canoes landing closest to the castle, followed by the golden orb, every other ship simply finding the spot closest to where they were hovering. A veritable horde of more and less humanoid creatures left their vessels and made their way towards their hosts.
The weaker aliens looked up to the sky, as some jets reached the island, but the mortal toys were ignored by most.
Along the way, most of the host split to go down into the streets, looking for appropriate quarters for their masters and bosses. The university was reached by the twenty who would become teachers of the facility.
The doors opened on their own, revealing to the aliens, an odd group. Two human teenagers, wearing black tracksuits, causally gossiped, without looking up to greet the guests. Opposite them, a teen girl in white canvas pants and a white shirt with rolled-up sleeves was making an about thirty man ignore the newcomers, while he showed her paltry magic tricks. Next to them, a janitor also sat at the table and glued his eyes to his knees.
Between those two groups, sat two women, one in a yellow robe and the other in a yellow miko outfit. Next to them, closer to the janitor, sat a man in a deep-green suit, on a throne-like chair, with tiny depictions of draconic squids posing over his head.
The three stood up and the man spoke. "Welcome! Some of you might be wondering, why we decided to hire such esteemed individuals like yourselves, to an infantile world like this one. I will answer that and any other questions you might have over the course of the day."
The first to step inside and take their sits, were a rainbow coloured fur-covered snake with four arms, dressed in the top of a grey space-suit and a humanoid pillar of smoke with a small aurora over its head.
As soon as those two sat down, a tall, flat-faced bipedal buck, wearing a robe of liquid gold hurried to sit right beside them.
Next, three rather similar to each other, human-like demons, wearing crimson suits, sat opposite the buck and simultaneously put their briefcases on the table.
A floating being made up of white rings and eyes, consolidated its form into an almost human, elongated shape and sat beside the demon. It was followed by a treant, wearing a dress made out of autumn leaves, who without shifting in size, had its place stretched and twisted between dimensions, so as not to tower over the others at the table.
After it, a group of humans with various shades of blue, red or green skin sat in the open sits.
The last one, was a single, large, translucent eyeball, hovering over a curtain of black cloth. It sat beside Kaida and smaller eyes flowed out of its cloth, each pointed towards a different person at the table, except the girl.
The rainbow snake furrowed it''s brow slightly when it looked at the mortal and seemed to realise something. "I see one answer already. The girl seems to have awakened an interesting bloodline."
The eye searched around and formed a spell, creating a more fleshy, small eyeball and pointed it towards the empty chair next to it. All of its eyes momentarily squinted in joy, with ethereal eyelids. A mental squelch informed everyone at the table, that the eye was no longer worried and it didn''t care about any other details. It asked where it''s classroom would be situated and Marika led a couple of her tendrils, through other dimensions to show it the way.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
The being left, trembling in joy, but let it''s material eyeball stay, to continue observing the rare creature.
Wania chuckled when his niece poked the side of the eye. He looked to his new neighbour and grew rather disappointed when it was just a discoloured human, in some sort of futuristic black suit.
The alien noticed the teenagers reaction and unravelled its left hand into thin, red strings. The alien''s other neighbour, shifted its hair into cat-ears, while its irises grew. It pinched itself with its claws and returned to a more human appearance. It heard of the things the locals conjured and did not wish for a rumour that would lead the students to fetishise it.
The red alien turned towards it and smiled kindly. "Have you just returned from a lengthy hunt? I am Nauvoulimus by the way."
Wania turned away from the gossip between teachers and looked around the table. The pug-like buck was looking at Howard in a funny way and seemed to be getting impatient. The teen shrugged, wondering why the alien''s empire decided to send someone weaker than himself to be a teacher. Also, why such a weak being was so arrogant. It wasn''t a mortal that has never heard of the mysteries of the universe after all.
The boy swallowed some saliva, as he thought that he''s never eaten any deer.
As a ten or so minutes later, meals were brought over to the table, by faceless butlers, the buck finally exploded and stood up, interrupting the chatter of the other teachers.
"The esteemed member of the Divine Arsh''hashis Empire might have the grace to put up with this farce and compliment your barely passable bloodline, but I will be leaving together with him as soon as this is over!" The deer bowed its head to its neighbours and continued, "What madness led you to believe five mortals awakening in this backwater would suffice to invite such talented teachers to waste their time on mortal students."
The demons didn''t conceal their laughter, while the Elder Ones laughed without restraint with their other forms, across different dimensions.
Howard let a shadow of his true form slip, barely visible to magically trained eyes. "I am uncertain where you found the other three, but the two are not here to convince anyone on why this school is a worthwhile endeavour. They simply happened to be here."
The monster of the depths reined in his temper and in his easier for the mind, human form continued. "This Earth has a thousand first wave awakened and proportionally more second and third. The latter hasn''t even begun yet, so we can''t be certain what the final numbers will be."
Howard smiled. "I should also warn you, not to try and speak on behalf of your betters. Some of us might be old enough to easily forgive the transgressions of immortals... or less, but not all of us are so kind."
The snake spread its lips and hissed happily. "This time he certainly got lucky, my friend with whom I gambled for this position, has a taste for non-spiritual flesh."
"But since we were made to move on to business early, I''d like to ask about this university. It seems a little unfinished." The snake waved its hand towards the lack of walls or floors inside in the building.
"We thought it would be best to wait for all of you to come and give us some feedback on designing the facilities." Howard looked up in thought. "I''m afraid my kind has little experience in teaching mortals, or designing anything that would be appropriate for them." The man massaged his hands together. "On that note, on your way here, you certainly noticed, the town is rather uniform. Feel free to submit some designs to me, so I may rebuild the districts, unless you''d like to share the burden."
"The Consortium can write their contracts with my friend here, " the Elder One gestured towards Marika. "She will be taking care of legal matters."
"My office will be ready by tomorrow, so invite you to return here in the morning." The woman spread her lips in a predatory smile. "The janitor will show you the way."
The human bent his back lower and began trying to stare holes in his knees. Two of the demons nodded their heads and began eating, planning how to prepare for the negotiations. The third one opened its suitcase and fished out a leathery parchment, describing the Masters in Yellow.
Ignoring the still standing deer, the treant joined the conversation. "Would it be acceptable to raise a third section of the island, where I may grow a forest?"
"Certainly, it will be waiting for you in the east, once the meal is over." Howard''s eyes shone green. The humans circling the island outside, received a yet new shock, as it grew by about thirty percent. A flat of oil-covered fish corpses raised out of water.
The buck finally sat down and tried to snack on the plate of fruits he was offered, but somehow, he could not swallow anything.
The questions paused, as the group of the human-looking aliens began discussing between each other.
Wania grew interested in the smoke creature, as its selves in other dimensions began stirring and shifting. When some of them began yelling unheard obscenities, the being raised its aurora. "My friend, may I request some of the brew I heard about?"
"Sadly, we don''t have much with us here." At Howard''s words, the other-selves of the smoke began to rage and panic, only seen by the multi-dimensional Elder Ones. "Do not fret, you can find as much as you need, up, on the Moon. The shaman who makes it lives there with some of the more ancient among us."
"I am grateful." The smoke stood up. "I will discuss my role here at a later date, for now, please excuse me." The being knocked on the air behind it, cracking space and stepped back. Swiftly, the cracks healed themselves and the signs of magic were gone.
"What do you think they''re gonna teach?" Sophia whispered to Wania and sipped her hot toddy. "The smoke should be obvious with some spacial stuff." She quickly followed up.
"The snake will probably head a department, I don''t think she''d bother teaching beginners." The boy thought out loud and looked around the table. "The holy one will probably deal with faith-related stuff, right?"
"Could also be a combat instructor. Don''t you think the demons would do better, teaching about the deals gods have to make with their flock?" The girl countered and pointed her fork at Wania''s plate. "Will you eat that?"
"Of course I will." The Crawling One shoved an entire steak into his maw. "I..." he paused to swallow. "I don''t know much about the faith stuff honestly."
"Oh yeah, your family is not that big on cults. Except for your sister I guess." Sophia nodded. "Any clues about the human-looking ones?"
The string person beside Wania joined in, "Will you two be among the students as well?"
Wania nodded his head, "Yeah, I think we were planned to be the right age for university the moment all this happened." He waved his hand around, splashing a bit of sauce, from the knife he was still holding.
"Well then, I hope to see you during my runic courses." The teacher smiled and shifted the colours of the strings making up its body, becoming covered in runic tattoos.
"Maybe... I hoped to take part in some more mundane subjects." The boy complained. "I guess those will be with the deer?"
"Yeah... it''s gonna be hard to focus during his lectures, maybe I will bring snacks, to take my mind of his tender body." Sophia wiped her lips with a handkerchief and filled her mouth with a spoon of caviar.
Wania turned one of his other-selves heads towards her and whispered, "I don''t think he can see the other sides, so you know... we could..."
The young woman''s shadow brightened up, taking on a green tint. "Think Kiada would want to come with us? I will ask her tonight."
Finally, the humanoids reached some sort of agreement and a pair of a silver and dark purple aliens stood up. "First we would like to know, how we should refer to you..." They bowed towards Howard.
"I will hold the position of the director or vice-director here, so ''director'' will be fine." The man clarified the question he felt coming. "If one of the older ones will wish to hold a position here, I will have to step down from the director''s position. I will still have one''s responsibilities though."
"Then, director, would it be alright if we requested a fourth section of the island to be raised?" The dark purple one asked and the silver one continued, "We''d hope to set up a district for embassies and similar facilities."
"I see no issue with that, you will find it opposite the forest section." The deep one acquiesced. Small strings of mana touched his mind and he turned his head towards the snake.
"Howard, would you mind if I formed my quarters behind the university? A simple orb or two." The woman bared her teeth in a smile.
"As long as it will be proper central architecture and you will help me place mine next to it. As the director, I will need to have the more impressive home, but I fear without help it will lack the sense, mortals need." Howard sighed, imagining a space house from an old, human cartoon.
"Of course, it will be my place of rest. You understand that I will need to build proper embassies around this world, will that be a problem?" She waved three of her arms in a complicated series of gestures, only appropriate for conversations in the older tongues.
"I expected them, so no objections on that front." The Deep One happily agreed, feeling a weight drop from his shoulders.
The president of the United States did not have a good night. For almost twenty-four hours now, aliens walked his planet and no one could figure out what they wanted from humans. After building a European looking town in the middle of the Atlantic, they just stayed there. It was as if the opinions of the locals, did not matter to them at all.
First various celebrities, from actors to well-known businessmen, spontaneously began performing magical feats, now the aliens. As things were going, tomorrow it''d turn out the world was run by some ancient cult from the depths of the ocean.
The middle-aged man was woken from his musings, by the secretary entering the office. "Mr President, Sir! The aliens made contact!"
The man sat up straight and gestured for the other to continue. "So, one of the human-looking ones caught one of our planes..."
"How does a person catch a plane?" The president frowned confused.
"With their hands, Mr President, Sir!" The secretary walked up to the president and offered him a tablet. "Here is the video the pilot''s camera caught."
The plane was doing its circle around the growing island, observing the new buildings rasing around it, as a group of aliens floated in the air, arguing over something. Suddenly, one of them broke off from the group and flew towards the plane.
The pilot tried to steer away, but the red figure stopped right in front of the cockpit and spread its hands into a swarm of strings. The plane stopped.
The red man smiled and formed words in English with a thick cord, coming out of its neck. "Let your superiors know, we prepared space for their embassies."
The alien let go of the plane and the aircraft shot forward. The pilot struggling to regain control of it.
"He caught it." The president massaged his forehead and took a deep breath. "I will offer a statement to the nation in fifteen minutes. Bring me everyone, except for Michael. Have him designate an ambassador and have them fly to that island within the hour. We will be the first to make contact!"
Almost a thousand confused high school students, from all over the world, stood in the middle of a field of dead fish. Above and around them, were the aliens.
Some of the teenagers looked around, while most of them retched their stomachs out.
A tall, lightly tanned, giant of a man walked over to the teens and boomed in a kind voice, "Come children! The city proper smells much better."
Against their better judgment, all of the children followed.
5. Come over for dinner, wont you?
Wania stood before a uselessly opulent mansion, observing the waterfall of gold coming down over its front entrance. The illusion began slightly below the balcony on the first floor, coming out of a thin layer of sparkling mist. The boy wondered if it was supposed to mimic some galaxy and glanced up at the Milky Way stretching over the night sky. He found the real deal far more impressive and looked down, searching the street.
Sophia and Kaida slowly walked down the street, the older girl turning off the street lights and spreading a green mist, covering the neighbourhood in darkness. The currents of mana that recently began flowing over Earth, became jumbled up when coming in contact with the mist.
Kaida observed the process with curiosity, trying and failing to shape and form mana within herself. "You will learn, for now, stop. When you are trying to touch mana, it lights up the area around you." Sophia admonished the child and stole the magic from the last lamp-post. "Did our guest accept the dinner invitation?"
Wania nodded. "He''s already dining with us inside, I think his bloodline is related to fortune telling, all of the spells he tries to use, to sound us out, have a clear mana signature."
The two monsters looked down at the human between them and spread their other forms around her. "Do not leave our protection, he might realize something''s up if you do," Wania instructed his niece and the three shifted into a version of the street covered entirely in black tendrils.
"Don''t leave the green jello, got it." Kaida voiced her understanding and stretched a bit, to find the limits of Sophia''s body surrounding her.
Olenewich furrowed his brows, another spell to search the mind of the puny human failed. He understood it with the older children, their minds as impenetrable and chaotic as of anyone from their species. The human just seemed to not exist to the spells at all.
The First Prince began working another formation within his mind while exchanging pleasantries with the local royal scions. He wondered just how much of the intel his father gave him was wrong. The Elder Ones were neither as weak nor as malevolent as he described them. Did the old thing even meet any?
The buck smiled to himself, planning his takeover of the Empire. They thought they were se... His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden shift in space. He was no longer sitting at the table, eating local delicacies and instead found himself in a nightmarish mockery of his new home.
The guests were gone, the shades of their human forms slowly spreading at the wind that picked up in the room as the window opened. Olenewich ran over to the window and looked out. The city and the sky were gone, replaced by an almost liquid-like green mist.
A shadow of a malformed head appeared in the mist. When the buck found its eyes, they opened, revealing the nothing beyond. The man quickly ripped his eyes out and burned out the part of his soul that held the memory.
Green sludge shot up from the ground and forced itself through his opened eyeballs, deeper in. The deer jumped back, his back drenched in sweat. His soul did not hurt, he could not feel a single thing wrong with him. Relying on his still functioning senses he rushed out of the room, deftly jumping over tendrils raising from the ground.
As he ran through the tight corridors of his mansion, his mind raced. The eldritch thing healed his soul. Why? How did he not notice them taking over his home. He ducked under a thick tendril, dripping blood, connecting the walls and turned, vaulting over the railing. A black maw, made out of worms extended out of the ground, threatening to swallow him whole.
The buck kicked off a slick lip and smacked with his full body into the side of the maw, as his hoof bent at an unnatural angle, stuck to the lip. He extended blades of mana out of his leg, cutting off the gold plating on his foot and rolled on the ground. Why would the state of his soul matter?
He passed the open door to the servant quarters, finding none of them there. He smacked himself on the forehead and called upon his mana, to teleport out. The spell fizzled out, in the weird mist spread throughout his home.
Olenewich felt his breath catch in his throat. He shook his head and continued running. As he turned a corridor to the basement, a figure in yellow stood in his way. "Why are you running? The main course should not leave the table." A ghastly voice came from all around.
The buck threw a fist at the youngster. "You mock me, child?!" His fist sunk into the oily fabric and the buck felt the skin on it burn off. He ripped his hand out, leaving the skin behind and turned around.
As he came back to the main corridor, he turned his head. The yellow monster crawled at a slow pace, as if unconcerned if his prey got away.
Where?! The alien screamed at himself in his mind and jumped over a green puddle. A clawed hand shot out of it, nicking his thigh. The buck stumbled and kept running, steadying himself on the tendrils covered wall. Some of the skin from his other hand stayed behind.
Suddenly, the man saw a door free of the tendrils. Without a second thought, he shoved it open and closed it behind himself, slamming into it with his back. It was his bottom-floor office. The green mist was here too, but at least there were no signs of the creepy growths or the green sludge. He spread his senses around the room, finding no one besides him inside.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
The buck steadied his breath and calmly walked over to his table, taking a sit in the comfortable golden armchair. The man recovered his eyes and raised his hand to wipe the sweat off his forehead and froze. The black-haired, pale girl stood in the corner, cleaning her nails. She looked up at him and gave him a charming smile. "What would be the best way to prepare you?" She asked and took a step forward. Olenewich sent a ball of mana at her and the mortal body exploded, dirtying the walls and floor of his office.
The girl looked around at the bits and pieces of her body and continued walking towards him. He shot out another spell, spreading her torso on the wall behind. She patted down her torn shirt and smiled.
Immortal. The buck shot blades of mana, cutting off her arms and legs. A crack spread beneath the ceiling and the girl''s torso hanged from it. Moments later, the girl fell to the ground, her neck dripping blood from the ceiling. She cracked again and suddenly sat on his desk, their arms connected at the wrists.
The alien jumped back, turning over his chair and ripping the girl''s arms off. She extended her stumps towards him as if looking for a hug and cracked away, leaving a hollow laugh behind.
The buck leaned against the wall behind him and slid down to the floor. He looked down, a pair of white arms, covered in a thin layer of green sludge, flopped as he moved his arms. The cut through them, letting the arms and fingers of the human fall to the ground.
He let out a deep and chocked sigh and hit the wall with the back of his head. "They''re not as malevolent... Why did I accept this invitation?"
The man felt something cold spread over his legs and looked back down. The green sludge spread from the severed limbs, thin black tendrils spreading from it, taking over the office. The buck struggled to his feet, his hands impaired by the extra set of bones in them and stood there, confused on how to proceed.
He turned around and looked out the window. The garden outside was clear of the tendrils, the trees and bushes darker in the shade of the mist. There was Nothing beyond, but the monsters had to have left some sort of exit. They could not have had the power to transfer his entire home beyond, so it had to be some sort of trap formation.
The man struggled with the handles on the windows, his nerves confused by the new flesh. Finally, he opened them, pushing the handles with the sides of his arms. He jumped out and tried to spread his senses again. They told him he was in the middle of a sprawling metropolis, great crowds walking past him. A moment later, he felt he was in the middle of the ocean.
He dimmed his magical senses and looked around. The walls around the mansion seemed to be gone, replaced by the thickest mist. He shot a simple ball of mana at it, the spell harmlessly sinking into the barrier.
A squid sat in a frog-like squat at the side of the wall, above a tiny, bipedal buck and observed it search around what was once its garden. The tiny thing seemed to have trouble walking. So focused was the prey on the hurdle, it didn''t seem to notice the squid''s body slowly spreading from the white stumps on its wrists.
The monster slowly slid down the wall and followed after, bloating itself into a white, sluglike form. It opened its horizontal maw, revealing pink tendrils extending towards the tiny figure.
Olenewich carefully sneaked through the garden. He breathed deep, the smell of his home''s trees and calmed his mind. Finally, after making half a circle around the mansion, he saw a brighter spot in the grass. Dim, white mist rose from it and the human girl, sat before it humming an unnerving tune.
The buck hid behind a tree and sneaked a glance at the human. She was arranging knives and spices on a wide cutting board before her, carefully checking over a book, laying next to her. He recognised it as a cookbook he bought when he moved out of his father''s home, those many hundreds of years ago.
She wouldn''t mock him much longer, once he made it out of the portal, he''d race to the representatives of the Central Empires and have them deal with the young monsters. Then, he''d return home... or better yet, after such a diplomatic bumble, the Elder Gods would lose their place here... Yes...
He walked out from behind the tree and proceeded toward the human. The girl looked up and waved at him, smiling brightly, admiring his horns. The buck furrowed his brows. Why the interest in his horns? It didn''t... He turned around.
From between the folds of large, pink lips, tiny black eyes looked at him with hunger as pink tentacles reached from between them. Some of them already held his antlers. He broke off his glory and threw out a ball of fire, causing the monstrous slug to scream out in agony.
The man turned back and leapt towards the bright circle. Half-way to his salvation, he heard the scream turn into a maniacal laugh and suddenly, something stole his momentum. The buck looked around panicked, all of the trees around came to life, revealing themselves to be made out of the black tendrils.
Olenewich struggled to break free, but something siphoned the mana out of his body, robbing him of his strength.
The pale, teen girl walked up below him and with a heave, cut into his head with a cleaver.
Wania let down the body and returned to a smaller form. "So, how do we cook him?"
"I found the kitchen earlier and Sophia translated this guy''s cookbook for me, so I''ve got some ideas for a roast," Kaida answered and cracked away. Moments later she reappeared. "Oh yeah, it''s deeper in, from that door in front of the stairs."
Sophia took on the more solid, draconic form and picked up the kitchen utensils. "You mind preparing the body? I think you had some experience butchering the goats, right?"
"Yeah... give me half an hour." The young man said and shaped his nearest tree-tendrils into a rack to hang the corpse on.
A couple of hours later, shortly after midnight Wania sighed and smiled towards their host. The four sat around a golden, gems encrusted table, holding a friendly chat. "We should excuse ourselves, it is getting late and Kaida still needs to sleep."
Olenewich raised his head and rubbed his tired eyes. "Yes... It seems I''m quite exhausted as well, the journey must have taken out of me, more than I thought." The man shook himself awake and smiled at his guests. "Let me walk you out."
At the door, Kaida looked up at the buck and smiled kindly at him. "It was a truly delicious dinner, I hope will hold one again, in the future."
The buck looked up at the bright sky, slightly clouded by a thin, green mist and nodded. "The pleasure was all mine."
Sophia stopped in front of her apartment and turned to her young friend. "That was a little on the nose, don''t you think?"
Kaida laughed and shook her head. "His servants really did provide a nice meal. I''d like to eat it again..." She paused in thought and shrugged. "Just you know, without splitting my attention between two bodies. I''m surprised how well the two of you handle being in multiple places at the same time."
"A family trait. Good night!" Sophia bid her goodbye''s and turned in for the night.
Kaida slipped into her apartment, grabbed the bottle of whiskey from her bed table and downed it to the last drop, before falling onto her bed. "I think I would have preferred if moms were yakuza." She mumbled to herself and fell asleep.