The boy held up a dagger, his purple glare reflected in its blade in between the shining golden blood of the angels. He swung it down, causing the shimmering liquid to fly off onto the cloud-like terrain.
"Ech. One of them escaped." He picked up the stern head from the ground. "Ah, well. Got the big one. His stupid rule of not killing or harming made him such a easy kill. Our elders literally have no taste! Geez, no wonder Ener was such a nutjob. Blegh!"
He stabbed the head clean through the center, causing it to disintegrate.
"Hm? What do you want?"
Another boy stood far behind him, staring at him with a grin.
"I see you're enjoying yourself, Loid." The newcomer said in a distorted voice.
The one called Loid turned around. "Noki? Mmmm… No, you're not quite the one I'm familiar with… So guess being called the God of Memory caused you to sync with the omniverse theorem?"
"Heh. You're sharper than usual. Has destroying worlds and eating their gods given you actual braincells, brother?"
"Hahahahah!" Loid laughed maniacally. "Well at least you retained a sense of humor. Or should I say you gained one? Anyways, I've been looking for you… or rather… the original you. Where can I find him?"
"Well… this is his body."
Loid's expression darkened. His eyes gleamed with malice and rage.
"What do you want?"
The one called "Noki" grinned. He spoke.
"The absolute destruction of the human race."
…
Most primordials, or rather— most outer gods, do not have multiple versions of themselves across the infinite timelines or in human terms: the omniverse.
The reason for this is simple. In the Void, time is irrelevant. Being of the Void and only of the Void means time does not particularly apply to you.
You never age, you never grow, and you definitely do not have multiple versions of you across the omniverse.
However also, in the Void, simple concepts hold great power due to the infinitive amount of energy following through it.
"Flavortexts", "titles", or even a "name" hold lots of weight to a primordial.
We start out as nameless, with general abilities, randomized by the information that created us.
Applying a 'name' to such information in the Void changes it drastically to fit that name. But often, to the receiver of this 'name', nothing changes. Why?
Because outer gods barely ever leave the Void.
What did I do? Exactly that. I left the void, as the "God of Memory".
Inner gods typically have multiple versions of themselves across each world. This is fine, however, since they serve as moderators.
Inner gods are typically more simple than outer gods. Most inner gods created their worlds and implemented themselves into it as a start. Others were created for the world system by the outer gods who created it. A few are simply human legends who ascended into godhood.
The process is different for each, but simply put, these gods have a natural affinity to live in worlds. Their powers are not as complex and typically are not as powerful as those of outer gods.
So what happens when an outer god enters the mortal realm?
Nobody knows and most rather not find out.
I let out a sigh as I finally reached a conclusion in my thoughts, having realized exactly what the Void was truly capable of too late.
Gods are truly powerful, but very few turn out to be omnipotent. I was definitely not one of those few.
"This was a mistake."
I muttered as I laid on the grass of the nearby forest. I was stuck in my own dream world, a personal dimension or mindspace, so to speak.
Another me had taken full control of my body, and I had no idea what he was doing.
Or at least, I had assumed that was what was happening. Considering I was here and he was gone, it was a logical conclusion to come to.
Once again, I let out a sigh. And again. And again. And again. Each one heavier than the last.
Time passed, yet I was unsure how much. It felt like hours, yet without a sun or moon one could not truly tell.
With a groan, I sat up and muttered to myself.
"Well, this is boring. I guess I should see if I can get out."
Lifting my feet up, I pushed myself off the grounds and hopped up.
I walked into the forest, passing through the overgrowth of greenery. The leaves were smooth to the touch but their edges rough. My body was scratched up constantly, but my flesh wounds would close just as quickly as I was cut.
The pain was almost unbearable, yet still I pressed on. I had to know if he made any other changes to this world of mine, this little private dimension, the mindspace that exists in my dreams.
Looking ahead, I could see light. It was dim as there was only miniscule starlight in this realm, but significant in comparison to the shade of the towering treetops.
I burst into the clearing ahead.
Splash. Splash.
I found myself at a lake, or rather, 'the lake'.
~It's much bigger than before…
A single tree stood in the lake's center. It appeared massive and…
~Hollow?
I had noticed a gap in its bark as I drew closer to it. The gap was large, and inside: a wooden ladder built into the wood. My curiosity drove me forward. Placing a hand on one of the branch-like planks, I began to hoist myself to higher elevation.
After much climbing, I found myself in what appeared to be some kind of treehouse. Above me, through the leaves, I could perfectly see all of the stars in the sky, as few as there were.
Those tiny colorful dots, five in total, shining in the vast black abyss above.
"Huh…"
The walls of the treehouse were riddled with shelves and books. One wall seemed completely covered in antique mirrors of various sizes and shapes. In the corner, a standalone mirror stood, angled upwards, reflecting the starlight into the room for greater ambience. It was more than that, however, as the light focused in the center of the room. Glowing in the reflected light, a large mechanism shimmered.
I kneeled to take a closer look, tracing the smooth edges with my forefinger. With the solid rectangular frame, five different stars shapes overlapped. Each was perfectly symmetrical, the number of points decreasing from seven to three as I surveyed them from left to right, their points overlapping as if they were thrown into the design in such a way to show the fall of a comet from the view of a planet.
"Interesting… why would he create this…?"
I brushed my palm against each star in curiosity.
…
Riiing.
The lunch bell chimed over the intercom, Students quickly rushed to buy food from the cafeteria, scattering with different flavors of bread in hand. A girl, long brown hair in a single simple ponytail, carried two wraps to the nurse's office.
Shht.
She went in.
Shhhht!
And she hurried out in a panic, having dropped the bread on the floor. Quickly, she headed to the library where she made an encounter with a small group of students: the Tea Time Book Club.
"Ake, what's wrong?"
The red-haired girl in glasses quickly ran to her aide as the running girl keeled over, trying to catch her breath.
"Mashiro! Have you seen Yoiya?" The girl grabbed the red-haired one by the sleeves on her wrists, gripping them tightly.
"Eh? No. I heard you took him to the nurse's office, Ake. Are you okay?"
Ake looked around the library, her eyes searching every corner. One by one she met the eyes of the other members: Cerubi, the athletic black-haired girl; Yan, the gentle black haired male of the club; and Rea, the quiet doll who one would believe came from a fantasy. But there was no sign of 'Yoiya' anywhere.
"Yoiya's missing." Ake's voice cracked as she fell to her knees.
It was new for her. Nobody had ever disappeared on that caring, gentle soul before. It was her responsibility to take care of her fellow students, and one had gone missing.
"Calm down now." Yan Kuroshin knelt down and placed his hand on her shoulder. "We should ask the nurse about this."
Cherubi and Rea stared at them, nodding in agreement in silence. One completely clueless, the other seemingly detached.
The group went to the nurse's office, but when they arrived the nurse was not there.
"Maybe she's out?"
"No… she should be here…" Ake said quietly. "The nurse always eats here."
Rea picked up the bread from the ground, inspecting them with a little sniff as the rest of the club helped the class representative look around.
As Cherubi, Mashiro, and Ake inspected the bed that Ake left Yoiya in, Yan Kuroshin approached the nurse's work desk.
He fumbled around, taking care not to move her possessions too much. He silently checked each drawer, looking for clues, and his eyes soon set upon her chair.
What he saw caused his heart to drop, no– freeze in place. Crimson red stained the seat of the chair.
"You find anything, Yan?"
Yan quick pushed the chair in, turning around to face the others.
"You okay?"
He gave a nod, smiling as he always did. "Yeah, there's nothing here."
"Should we tell the teachers?" Kiwusawa looked at the others with genuine concern.
"That would be best. Let's go to the faculty office and ask if we can look around town for him." Kuroshin suggested, maintaining a calm sense of mannerisms.
"You think they'll let us?" Rea asked quietly.
Ake crouched down a bit, making eye contact with Rea as she answered assuringly. "If they do, we might not be able to do it after today but we can always look after school everyday."
Rea nodded in silence, saying no more.
The group began to leave the nurse's office. One by one, they made their exit, with Yan Kuroshin being the last. He stopped at the door, giving the desk a long glance.
"Yan, come on!"
Kiwusawa's voice echoed through the halls to reach his position and with it cued his exit.
…
The next day,..
The group met up outside the school, all of them late.
"Heya, late buddies!" Kiwusawa shouted in a teasing voice as she waved her hand at the oncoming club members with a cheerful smile.
"I can't believe we all stayed up til midnight last night looking for that crappy kid." Cherubi muttered, clearly grouchy. Her ponytail was not curled as it usually was and was rather messy as if she had rushed out in a hurry.
Yan Kuroshin stood beside the tired athletic girl with a stern face and bags under his eyes.
"How are you still full of energy, Kiwusawa?" The boy muttered in a crisp tone, his voice cracking.
"Hm?" Kiwusawa simply tilted her head, looking at them with a clueless innocent smile.
Rea stared at the group silently. As usual, she did not speak a single word; only continuing to observe from the sidelines.
"I heard Ake stayed up longer than us." Yan said.
"Yeah! She told us to go home and get sleep and then stayed up longer herself. She's probably still conked out at home, right?" Kiwusawa said, walking backwards as she lead the group towards the school entrance.
"She's the class representative of Yoiya's class so she likely feels responsible." Yan replied.
The group continued their idle chit-chat. It felt to them as everything was going to work out, they were totally confident that they would find their newest member.
Yan started to believe it too, but then as he stared up at the windows of the school building he noticed something amiss.
His arm shot up, blocking the others from walking any further. Most of them looked at him with confusion at first, but soon their faces seemed to wash over with concern. Some of the windows of the school building were shattered. The glassless windows could plainly be seen from the gate.
The group all exchanged glances.
"I'll go on ahead and check things out."
Kuroshin spoke up. After another quick exchange of glances, they all seemed to silently agree. Kiwusawa took Rea's small hand and back to the gate. After another long look from Cherubi, the third girl followed behind them.
Yan Kuroshin turned back to face the school entrance and with a heavy sigh, he made his way inside.
Clack, clack, clack.
The boy's footsteps echoed through the silent halls.
He looked side to side, peering into the classrooms as he passed. The time was second period, yet there was no students to be seen other than himself. Red stained the desks and the scent of blood still lingered in the breeze blowing through broken windows.
Kuroshin ascended to the next floor. Halfway up the steps, he could feel an immense increase in temperature. Still, he spoke not a word.
Sweating a river, he continued onwards.
Whoosh.
Flames rolled out of a classroom about two rooms away. It was Ake's homeroom, class 3-A. Only a single name crossed his mind as he walked slowly towards the classroom, shielding his face from the flames.
And sure enough, it was the owner of that name who stared at him when he peered inside.