Cool mist seemed to leave my breath as I awoke with a chill. That chill felt like a weight in and of itself.
In fact, trying to open my eyes and get up only felt like cold lead was placed over my entire body. As I struggled against the force, I tried to make sense of my situation, I liked to think I’d become good at not panicking at times like these.
That being so, I continued my struggle before finally managing to open them. But as I did, I ended up gasping at what I saw. I’m sure I would have flown to my feet too were it not for the pressure of a boulder ball still weighing down upon me.
The world was aflame with iridescent color as gorging abysmal cracks meandered through the room with umbral darkness.
And by aflame, I really meant it. Fire surrounded my vision of the hospital room.
I tried not to shout or swear, but I could feel something rising from my throat, or maybe it was just the sense of dehydration accompanying the stomach-dropped upset I was feeling.
Regardless, everything just looked warped.
Again, I tried not to scream, as that would waste precious oxygen. Something I seemed to have precious little of, considering the situation.
“...Did I just awaken to the Mystic Eyes of fucking Death Perception?”
That was all I could think.
Where was your water shooting invisifriend when you needed him?
Even while thinking that, I quickly looked for a way to escape, but my body still refused to listen to my commands to jump out the window--though maybe that was for the best considering I was on the third floor…
Dammit, was I about to die…? One piece wasn’t even finished yet. Not that I’ve seen or read much of it, but still.
I closed my eyes in subjugation, only to realize something.
There wasn’t any heat.
Opening them again in stupefaction, I gazed at the scene around me and slowly came to a startling realization. It wasn’t just that the flames weren’t hot… They weren’t moving either.
Not normally, at least.
I watched in utter perplexity just as three black lines intersected over one of the flames before literally rotating the fire until it contorted into some abstract, jagged shape.
Like a kaleidoscope, except without the eloquent ephemeral mystique. Like a prismatic mosaic, only without the ephemeral beauty of masterfully crafted pattern and formation.
It wasn’t just the flames. It seemed as though everything within the room were becoming subject to this bizarre reality. The walls, the floors, everything looked like the beginning of a psychedelic trip experience, and I was right in the middle of it.
Hooray.
The only saving grace about all this was that none of the lines seemed to come towards me… Yet.
I’d been in terrible situations before, but this just might take the cake. Other than that time my birthday cake was actually taken by some obscured dessert-loving fiend.
Dammit, now I want desserts.
Honestly, the ridiculousness of the whole situation made me step back a bit.
How much any of this was real and not just some hyper lucid dream I was experiencing was hard to tell. I didn’t think I was experiencing any of the tell-tale signs like time loops or unique sensations other than the heaviness weighing down on me.
…On the bright side, if my eyes were glowing bright blue right now, I bet I’d look killer. Pun intended.
Yep, let’s just chill and see where this is all goi- huh?
Translucent spheres seemed to drip from the ceiling and slowly float around.
Yet another thing that could move within this space besides the lines and me, I dully noted.
But that wasn’t what I was truly paying attention to.
What really stunned me quiet was that whenever one of these spheres floated in front of those cracks, fractured images matching the number of those lines would show up on the sphere’s surface.
A variety of scenes were playing out within each of those images. On one fractured image, fire burned a tall building, but the one next to it, there was only a partial flame that got put out.
On another bubble, a meteor hurtled towards the earth, yet that same scene on the next shard showed a bright light breaking the meteor as most of the rocks burned up in the atmosphere.
Finally, stars during the day as the sky broke apart.
I didn’t have much time to speculate on what was happening before my eyes seemed to gravitate towards one particular scene on the wall in front of me.
Seas of trees marked by the shore filled it, and within, a vast thunderstorm cracked like whips onto the ethereal sky as winds ripped against the tree coverings.
Creatures of unusual shapes and sizes flew or fled towards the center mass of the land--away from the sea of death. Fish and marine life were tossed up and down, subject to the overflowing currents, incapable of resistance.
In the face of mother nature's fury, none dared to stand in the way of her primordial wrath.
None but one.
There, within those lashing winds and crashing tides, one lone child continued to rise up against the world crushing weight of the world.
And from the images shown next to it, I knew he would soon pay dearly for it.
---
When Cleos woke up, what they were met with was not the silent isolation of dim dark, but rather, a cool shower of raining water.
‘What happened…’. Cleos thought.
Looking up slowly, Cleos watched as puffs of white nimbi gathered, turning dark and darker with each second. Off to the distant horizon, masses of purplish-black shadows loomed in the sky, the sound of thunder accompanying flashes of eerily colored lightning.
Looking down, Cleos saw the ocean, the sickly green colors almost seemed like ink as it slapped against the rocky terrain of the shore, the resultant sprays pelting their face and the silver hull of the sea pod.
Looking at themself, Cleos could see half their body sprawled out the hatch of the cramped vessel. When they shifted their legs, something elastic pushed against it. Seeing the half-deflated fabric spill out around their body led Cleos to conclude they were likely airbags. It was there that Cleos then remembered what had happened. The shaking and crashing, and then darkness.
They likely passed out, they realized.
Boommm
The sound of thunder shook the world again, this time it was much closer. Cleos struggled to twist out of the mini-sea vessel before unceremoniously falling onto the sand. But when they looked up, they immediately froze.
“Solhahh-”
Transparent white branches with gloomy black eyes that held dark pink pupils which glowed dimly.
The frown shaped around its mouth seemed less like it was angry about something and more that it was in a constant state of perpetual lamentation. Its main body was bleached a ghostly white as the branches waved lethargically through the air.
Cleos shifted back a little in surprise.
The creature looked at Cleos unflinchingly before pointing its branchy filaments away from the beach and towards the canopy of treetops.
It then pointed a few branches out to the ocean where they both turned to see black clouds traversing quickly closer and closer to them.
“Lhahhhh-”. The creature’s frown deepened as it appeared to realize just how quickly the clouds were traveling while its sigh seemed to mark… trepidation?
It finally turned its gaze again and stared back at Cleos for a few moments before shrugging and moving its coral white limbs over to the shore’s edge before sinking into the sand.
As in literally phasing through.
Right before disappearing completely, it cast one final, forlorn glance at Cleos. One that seemed to be a mixture of pity and sadness.
And then it was gone.
Before the newly stranded visitor could think of the deeper meaning behind interaction, the wind suddenly whirled into a frenzied flurry as it sent Cleos tumbling away into the sand.
“Owww-”
That was all Cleos could mutter when pandemonium broke loose. The first sign was when all sound suddenly disappeared. And not even a second afterward…
“GrOuu-GrUuUu”
*BOOM*
The earth groaned, and the skies turned blinding white for a moment as thick branches of thunder hammered down on the far off sea--instantly causing it to hiss and sizzle as hot white mist rose from it.
Yet despite the distance, Cleos could still feel the scorching heat, the pungent odor of ozone choking their breath as they inhaled with stupefaction as the endless buzzing of bees vibrated over their skin in static discharge; calling each and every cell in their body scream for unabated and wholehearted flight.
Or face deaths expedite.
Cleos didn’t even have time to blink as the air contorted before the shockwave reached them. Violently being tossed back through the air like they were a rag doll until their back cracked against the wood of a palm tree ten feet away.
“Gha!”
“TwiUuiEEeRR”
There was no pause as another cry broke out.
*WHIIIII*
The sharp, shrill noise cut through the air like knives as a sudden drop in pressure made Cleos's ears pop and ring as geysers of water pounded the shores and slammed Cleos further into the tree once more. This time, the blow punching their head back against bark until all they saw were crawling black stars.
Then, just as quickly as the wave came, it left. It only took a few seconds to recede back to the beach as numerous strange looking marine life were left astray on the land.
Cleos could almost see the visible panic in many of their eyes through their blotted vision as masses of them hopped back into the sea, or even in some slightly humorous cases, flopped into the treeline.
Indeed, perhaps Cleos would have found it amusing enough to laugh at while seeing. That is if their lungs weren’t filled with saltwater they were currently in the middle of vomiting out.
When they were done, they gasped for breath and painfully turned their gaze to the side. They could see further down the shoreline that tens of trees were toppled over from the boulder sized waves. If there wasn’t an inlet-like curve to weaken the tides coming from that direction, it was quite possible Cleos would have truly experienced the full force of devastation those torrentus tides could have wrought.
There were more shadows and flashes as Cleos crawled up and tried to process what was happening through their pounding headache. They barely made out the silhouettes at first, but when they did, they froze stock still.
Racing through the clouds were two roughened raging creatures.
One, a blue-white serpentine figure cutting across the surface of the water as azure electricity crackled against its body, continuously causing a line of steam to rise wherever it went.
It tried to rise but was battered down by the other creature. A green and white avian figure
Fanned tempest wings glowed with sharp silver light that sent flurries of sonic winds towards lightning serpent to deny it from ascending any higher.
Soon enough, however, another blinding pillar of light shot towards its viridescent foe who fled, allowing the lightning bolt persona to escape from the levels of the sea into the air as it stared murder into its opponent's eyes. Its opponent in turn staring back glaringly with indignant frustration and its feathers slightly more tinged black than before.
Both opponents paused as they caught their breaths. Their gazes lingering on nowhere but each other. The chaos their clash sowed was inconsequential to either of them as neither paid mind to it. Such destruction was par for the course in their minds.
They were gods, after all.
And gods did not concern themselves with the lives and well-being of mortal lessers. It was no different than one caring for the shapes of clouds in the sky, or the number of droplets of rain which fell from them.
It was simply the preordained course of nature.
…Yet, even through the brief pause. Even while those titanic forces stared down at each other, readying to speed into sonic booms crashing against the other. Even as all other lifeforms ran or hid in instinctual terror. One “insignificant” mortal chose to remain.
Cleos’s eyes were fixed not on the divine scene before them up above, nor the deciduous evergreen of the forest shelter. No, they laid staring on the dull metallic pod which had managed to still remain on the shore for now. Though for Cleos, there was no intention for it to disappear later.
The notes within a drawer compartment inside of it, or even what the vessel itself represented. Cleos found themself slowly attempting to crawl towards it in hopes of recovering it all.
It was the last and only thing which served as a clue and reminder of who they were, where they may have come from. And they would be damned if they let an overgrown, psychotic bird and mental snake stand in their way to save it.
A step was taken as the winds knocked them down, but they got up. Another was planted as the skies boomed, and their bones shook, but they continued forwards all the same.
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
Nothing safe for death would stop them from advancing forwards.
Cleos was done letting the world control their fate. This time, it was their turn to change it.
---
I watched as the scene played on like a silent film.
Even from here, the level of destruction I witnessed those two familiar creatures create was appalling.
I didn’t like it. I didn’t want to watch as this poor kid was left stranded in the middle of this disaster with no help or protection.
I wouldn’t allow it.
Even if this was all just a dream or some waking hallucination, sometimes there are things that one has to do in life. Things that were a fundamental part of one’s character and being.
And to me, this was one of those things.
I wouldn’t allow someone else to get hurt because of my inability to help. Not now nor ever again. Weight or pressure be damned.
‘Move body, move dammit!’
I willed myself to move despite gravity pressing down on me like rocks. I didn’t know what it would achieve or what I would do if I could move, but I absolutely refused to do nothing.
So move, dammit… MOVE!!!!
My vision blurred as I felt myself fly like a bullet while suddenly being faced with the lights of the city beneath the starry sky.
For a split second, I somehow witnessed innumerable amounts of those translucent orbs descending onto it. Before I could think any further, though, I felt myself being pulled back by an irresistible force as my vision blurred yet again.
Before I knew it, I was back in my bed staring at the wall yet again.
Immediately afterward, dizziness took hold of me like I had just gotten off a high-speed roller coaster.
Yet through the delirium, I could help but smirk. A plan slowly forming in my head.
I had no clue if it would work, but there was only one way to find out.
I wasted no time as I took a deep breath. As much of one as I could to recover before I followed the same action that let me “move” my… essence…? Spirit?
Whatever, semantics.
I moved my soul back and forth with all the intentions and desires I felt boiling within every inch of my body--building a momentum that I just knew would allow me to succeed.
When I was ready, I “shot” myself forwards in the direction of the sphere with the scene I saw before. Actually touching it was painful, especially considering I was watching more than one of the same scenes play out at the same time.
I felt something strain within my chest as I traveled along as far as I could through the darkness that surrounded them. Soon, the two scenes of the child with vastly different results playing out were practically within arms reach.
“MOVEE!!”
I screamed with the full fury of my soul.
---
“MOVEE!!”
Cleos whirled their head around after suddenly hearing a voice.
‘Was someone here?’
Their eyes quickly traced along the treeline, but they saw not even the shadow of a creature, let alone a person.
Thus, Cleos ignored it and turned back to continue their slow crawl towards the pod which was threatened to be carried away from the crashing waves.
The rain and wind painfully pounded their body, but they refused to give up. Just a few more feet and they would be able to retrieve at least the bad that had the books and rations in it. Just a few more feet and they would hide as soon as they could.
Perhaps it was the remorselessness of fate, then, that at this time gravity descended.
There was no noise as it made everything quiet for a full three seconds, before…
“GrrOOOOOOAAAAAHHHHH!!!”
Even the mighty roar from the king of beast’s would fail to eclipse the owner of this cry’s noble fury.
A domineering aura that struck fear within one’s very soul raged through Cleos’s entire being.
The humor of it all: Cleos knew they weren’t even the primary target for it, just an accidental bystander. Still, that did nothing to stop it from decreasing, rather, it increased as the owner of its gaze made itself known.
A prided amber gold lion descended from the heavens and looked down upon the bird and serpent who had been forced onto the wholly flattened surface of the water.
Although they struggled against the force as they might, they still failed to do more than stand, albeit shakily.
…Yet even then, nothing could stop them from reared their heads back and roaring in defiance.
“TwiUuiEEeRR!!!!”
“GrOuu-GrUuUu!!!!”
The two creatures roared with primal rage at the unwelcome intruder, readying to rush up and punish it for its high and mighty attitude.
But no sooner did they let those roars out did that figure shoot down like a meteor and crash its earthen paws against their mouths.
It was only a moment, but for space itself to freeze.
And in the next, the heavens and earth shook to their very core.
---
For a second, it seemed like they heard me, but the fool still went and decided to follow their ordained destiny.
What could I do? Another life was about to be lost because of my uselessness.
I was in despair.
I watched helplessly as it seemed as if all I could do as that battle of gods raged on.
Worse, it felt like no matter how far I tried to go, I could never fully reach that place because of a “tether” that pulled me back to my body.
Not to mention the growing weariness I felt each time I persisted “out” of my body. Would I not be able to see a miracle even in my dreams…?
It was drifting back once more in utter dejection that I remembered something.
The other spheres.
Practically invisible, yet distorting space itself with their sheer presence.
Could I use that somehow?
I looked at one of them near the scene I wanted to change. This was either going to be really clever, or really stupid…
I steeled myself and shot towards it, only lightly touching it before exploding with energy to try to and “bounce off” it to the other sphere and-
VisionsofeverythingeverywhereallatoncepokemonwhawhatamIdreamingobservtionglasscurtaintbreakingmylahidingwho…Oh-
*bbbbbzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz*
For a few seconds, all I could do was blink and stare up at the ceiling again as static flared all my senses.
I was back in my body before I knew it, still carrying my new mystic eyes, still somehow sane after traipsing down the Vortex of the Fucking Radix.
…Note to self, don’t fuck with multidimensional invisospheres.
Though I thought that, I knew my answer considering I did manage to make it farther into the world I wanted to go to, considering the things I saw/experienced
I hesitated, only for a bright flash to erupt in from a corner of my vision. The fight between the titans was reaching their decisive conclusion, and through it, so did I.
---
Cleos had reached the pod, digging their shoes desperately into the sand to keep it and themself from being swept away by the savaging waves.
By this point, their ears felt deaf while both their body and mind had grown numb to the battle that raged on. They just wanted to rest…
Meanwhile, the additional contender to the aerial brawl had done well to get the drop on the other two, so to speak. Though, he had quickly found itself overwhelmed dealing with two beings of similar strengths at the same time.
Luckily, said beings were inherently adverse to truly working together and would only gang up on the third when it looked like one of them was about to be knocked out of the battle by him for good.
They did it not so much to help the other, but rather to stop the third from claiming supremacy over their mortal foe.
Thus, the battle reached a sort of deadlock with all three contestants quickly growing more and more frustrated, in turn leading to stronger and deadlier attacks.
None of this meant anything good for Cleos, as each clash destabilized the earth beneath their feet. Each roar shredded into their very nerve-endings to where Cleos’s very blood seemed to boil and flow in reverse as the air twisted and cracked in an attempt to accommodate the sonic speeds of otherworldly powers wrestling for dominance.
What’s worse, they were slowly edging right towards the island where Cleos was situated.
Cleos’s muscles went into overdrive seeing this as their fingers dug into the foamy interior of the vessel and with unforeseen strength, somehow managed to lift it over their head.
Cleos wasted no time stomping towards the island's interior as each step made their knees creak and their lungs reach their peak.
They would soon make it close to the leafy area for hopefully some protection against whatever other terrible attacks those forces of nature would dish out.
Unfortunately, it was at this point that the brown being was slung hard downwards and skidded against the surface like a pebble into the island's interior nearby.
Trees topple like dominoes as attacks of fluid razor sharp winds and black-laced bolts of white lightning stalked in pursuit before erupting in a high pitch explosion that knocked Cleos off their feet.
While Cleos watched on from the ground, they noticed it wasn’t just quiet, time itself seemed to slow.
They saw it. Those bolts of lightning, branching out in endless waves of beautiful fractured patterns as though they were alive. One small branch blossomed their way like a silken spring bud--leaving in its trail molten crystal glass which refracted gorgeous rainbow patterns.
Time slowed again, this time to a complete pause. In the back of Cleos’s mind, there was a faint voice.
‘Remember that this is the nature of all things. To live, to die, and to rebirth anew. Do not fear change. Only change itself is immortal.’
Before, Cleos could ponder further where they had heard this, time sped up again, much faster than they could process. One blink, the world was white. The next-...
…
His pupils dilated as he saw his adversary intentionally target the weak because it had looked upon the battle of gods.
He had tried hard to protect any stray attacks but had thus been attacked after a momentary lapse in attention. One the other two certainly took advantage of.
It would seem they do understand the meaning of working together to bring down a mutual foe. No doubt intentionally targeting the island whole as a sacrificial offering to one of their ascensions to the throne.
But not if he had any say in it.
No more.
He took a deep breath and let out a voiceless roar that broke the sound barrier and disrupted his opponent’s focus.
.3 seconds after the roar: He reached out into the psychic planes to place a seal that hindered the others from creating the same energy formations which he was capable of.
1.2 seconds: They had stopped being stunned when they realized what he had done. The blue one foolishly created his lightning again--something none but only the creator or the first could truly and fully seal him from. He was probably attempting to pepper the ground until it turned to lava and ash.
It mattered not. The land was his domain, and in his domain, he was nigh indestructible.
Cascading storms of sands had already gathered with stomp to the ground as everything from fallen logs to the tiniest grains of dirt floated to coalesce into countless sharp stony spears. The air it displaced with its psychically empowered spin screamed hideously.
The green one, much more clever than its thunderous counterpart, realized the level of danger it was in and built up a shield of protection while flapping away. It sent chilling winds towards not just the orange lion, but the blue one as well in a clever attempt to ultimately come out the winner of this exchange…
Pity then that neither of their strategies would work out.
Perhaps if the green avian had focused solely on
fleeing and defending it would have come out mostly unscathed, but its hubris wouldn’t allow for that. Thus, it would be the reason for its downfall.
3 seconds after the roar: He endured the icy winds and ignored the whips of electricity already bearing down on him as he felt energies of the void welled up inside him, further fueling the energy reserves he could tap into.
The blue one continued to focus on shaping a blue, yellow, white, and black multicolored lightning spear--one which might even his innate immunities should it hit dead on.
If it could.
He then looked at the green one coldly and could see the recognition and fear in its eyes at what he had planned as it tried to shoot back even quicker in hopes of escaping what was to come.
But it itself should know best. There was no escape from the storm.
3.1 seconds after the roar: Willing his entire physical, mental, and spiritual being, the multi-attack instantly appeared right in front of the blue serpent.
He idly noted the different energy formations-- “moves” as humans had come to define it--which he had molded.
Bulk up, Imprison, Sandstorm, Extrasensory, Payback, Punishment, Stone edge, and various other subtle formations which had no name he knew of.
Such a compounded attack which touched upon the laws of the world might have called for judgment by the creator had it been here to witness such a blatant offense.
But alas, the creator has slumbered for centuries, only to stir occasionally before resting once again. This had the unfortunate side effect of many unruly Powers--Legendaries, as the humans called them--to cause mayhem whenever awakened, angered, bored, or all of the above and more.
Such was precisely the case for the two in front of him.
But when their battles intentionally sought to harm those other “lesser” beings, and upend the earth, his heart, that was when he demanded: “NO MORE!”
The rocks exploded into mountainous rose’s as it unceremoniously disrupted and swallowed the blue one and its molding.
The green one, thinking it was safe after reaching the horizon, suddenly sensed stones somehow raining from above. Its emerald shielding warped but held as it cawed and tried to shoot down into the sea. But that was right when another group of spinning projectiles appeared beneath it and broke through its shield like glass.
They didn’t slow either as they pelted its body and caused mists of blood to spray, nor was it the end as tons of rocks were seemingly pulled towards it to entomb it. As it struggled and tried to break out, the ball began to rotate its resultant mass like a turbo grinder, its entire circumference turning molten red.
While he would have loved to slam the bird brain's new tomb into the depths of the sea where the pressure would make it crumple like an autumn leaf being crushed by a boulder, he had to turn his attention back to himself. Or rather, his other adversary.
The blue one floated, somewhat disgruntled and rather upset that its plan hadn’t completely worked out, but was otherwise still raring to go despite what should have inflicted lethal wounds.
The sparks of multicolored electricity still dancing around its tail showed the reason why that was not so.
He vaguely remembered the law to which the blue one could call upon after undergoing its crystalline transfiguration.
Let it be known that while it was seen as a muscle-headed brute, where it lacked the green one’s cautious and analytical capabilities and his own steadfast unyielding resolution, it more than made up for with its cunning creativity and inherent battle instincts.
The blue one smirked at him defiantly as its presence and confidence of taking the mantle soared!
…That is, until it realized it wasn’t taking it taking the mantle, but the mantle taking it!
Far too slow did it realize the strong magnetic waves coming off the rocks embedded in its pelt and skin.
‘Humans called this one “smack down”, did they not?’
A truly fitting name to use against foe as arrogant as him.
Now, it was his turn to smirk and catch a bit of his breath from overexertion itself in one go.
Meanwhile, the lightning snake desperately tried to fly back up, but the rocks themselves also seemed to sap away whatever energy allowed it to rise in altitude. It could barely keep to the treetops now, which perhaps wouldn’t be a cause for concern to most. But to any who faced the earth beast's wrath before, they may as well be buried underground at this point.
“THUND-!”
“LAND!”
A paw crashed down again onto the earth as he yelled, and as promised, the earth visibly rippled in fierce waves before two stony mountains rose up on both sides of its protesting victim.
It tried to protest, but the mountains groaning under tectonic stress slammed into each other and silenced it.
This wasn’t the end through, far from it. The earthen lion shot high up into the air until he was just past the stratosphere, tracing against the mesosphere.
The lack of air pressure made it feel like he was being pulled in all directions, the chilling temperatures seemed to be reaching for his bones. Still, he ignored it while closing his eyes and deeply breathed what trace amounts of oxygen were available as he steadied his mind and body for what would come next.
Eyes snapping open, he barreled down in tight spirals until he broke the sound barrier as friction and burned against his rocky flesh.
His name he shouted was lost with it as his entire mass crashed into the miniature mountains, visibly compressing them until the pressure was too much as they exploded in each and every direction.
BOOOOMMMM
For the umpteenth time today, the world shook to its core.
---
Stars raced past me in endless blankets of unquantifiable lights. Here, I had no body, no tether to pull me to safety, only unfiltered awareness.
With it came the understanding of the perpetually expanding and contracting universe. I was a miniscule atom in the grand cosmic scheme. Yet, I was also the whole.
Eventually, I stopped thinking.
…
…
…
A green light washed over me as ripples propagated through my being to re-form a crystalline will that spoke to me like an old friend.
‘There’s somewhere I need to be’.
With that thought, my boundless essence turned itself to a familiar scene. The child, pinned under the half-molten pod’s figure.
The serpent of lightning, having shifted into pure energy to escape its foe, was now racing towards the bleeding child whose life force and spirit ebbed away; likely intent on taking a hostage in a vain attempt to escape retribution.
The roaring rumbles of the leonine land spirit echoed, but it was too slow.
The sway of the grass. I moved through the void, but I would not make it in time.
The tiding of the sea.
A swirling of the sky.
The stars peeking out of their drapes again when they should have been obscured.
Floating blue eyes appeared and held within them malice, schadenfreude and mischief.
When they turned those eyes to me, their unspoken question was clear.
Staying or leaving?
I continued forward without pause, my answer made clear in that very moment.
It seemed to laugh and materialize for a split second as it spun its fingers round and round as everything began to reverse. Not by much, though--only up to the point just after the child was struck by the first bolt, which veered to the far right this time.
As I raced forwards, a final barrier which seemed to block me from this world held but I forcibly broke through nonetheless. The fairy was gone as I felt a cosmic pressure weigh down on me seeking to banish me. I do not belong here.
But there was no need to fear
I was here.
I ignored the smelting pain as I “hugged” the young soul and pushed it back into its body. Surprisingly, it pulled me along with it. There was a ‘click’ before we breathed a mouthful of air as our eyes shot open.
We crawled out of the wreckage just in time to hear a “bang” erupt and almost make us lose our balance. This also signaled the lightning force of nature’s escape as it shot towards us.
Rage, sadness, confusion, hatred. And finally, balance. We felt it and used the equilibrium of chaos and order to dictate everything that would happen from this moment on.
Slowly standing up and getting in position, a jagged whisper escaped our mouth.
“It’s true… that we may have less than a minute left…” Our voices seemed to overlap mentally and physically at this point as a strength from our very souls seemed to fill us.
“But this is something that must be done…”
Clenching our hands into a fist, we felt the stars of our soul burst bright within the deepest core of our chest. Resonance echoing through the chambers of our hearts as every inch and crevice of our body shined into an intangible white inferno.
Right foot sliding forwards deep into the charred sand, we asked: “Thundurus… Do you know these words…?”
Even as we felt the electricity literally beginning to sting our backs, our fists, shoulders, our entire body relaxed to the utmost limit until there was no self, only being… We had not given up, however, the will of life raged within us brighter than ever before.
“To go beyond…” We whispered out as the air shrilled, signaling the arrival of the nimbus dragon.
Blood vessels popping to the max, our right heel dug deep into the earth as the balls of our feet and hips swiveled faster than lightning as we look the Bolt Strike Pokémon dead in the eyes before our knuckles took its place.
“Plussssss UUULLLTTTRRRAAAAAAAAAA!!!!-”
Fist met face as frozen time was shattered once more as a satisfying “BANG” boomed like thunder.
A heavy force overtook us as we held pur ground no longer and took the initiative to kick off the ground and be sent flying away like a cannonball across the beach.
As we flew, we noticed the electric snake slowly pulling its hand from its face to look back down then back up at us in complete and total disbelief. All the more satisfying when we noticed a thin scarlet line of blood painting its nose and mouth.
We both locked eyes with it once more and using all the strength we had left, we pushed both our hands forward and to raise our middle fingers (or in our right hand’s case, a set of bloodied wobbling fingers.
Still, a shit-eating grin formed on our lips nonetheless as we mouthed as clearly as we could to him:
‘Get. Bent. Thundurus.’
The roar of rage and indignance we heard as our vision turned black for the final time today was oh so gratifying.