“The Goddess of Dreams and Despairs?”
Elis, the beautiful lady that defined the very logic of “nonsensical aesthetic”, softly chuckled. Her seemingly crystallic and dark eyes shining with lusters parallel to the peeking stars above the sky.
“I will give you the honor of addressing me as my maiden's name, “Elis”.”
“E... Elis, ahem, Madam Elis, on your greatest grace, may I know on what occasion do you summon a mere humble mortal like me to your divine kingdom for?”
“Oh, please. Merik. Let’s cease with all the nonsensical flattery and unwanted politeness's. I know what kind of man you are.”
Merik was unable to form any thoughts. It was a tricky situation when a third-party could read your mind, after all!
“Let’s see. You, as a man, have always been polite towards most female figures, especially the older ones, in guilt of your buried past. Amara, was it her name?”
Merik was never the one to lose his cool so easily but every time he heard the name; he couldn’t help but feel his rage boiled in his blood.
A sudden burst of blackness came out from his neck, ever so slightly.
Still, it was visible to both parties involved in the, now tense conversation.
Elis seemed unfazed by it, rather she seemed amused by it. The rage blinded Merik failed to notice it, with the only thing on his mind was the hostility towards the Goddess.
Through the suppressed emotions, he managed to utter out some words.
“How did you know about her?”
“Oh, how scary you are, little Merik? Seemed I hit a nerve. Why are you getting so angry over a question? I’m just a lady. Why are you scaring the lady with the tough big man act?”
Chuckle.
“I know a lot about you more than you even realize. Because.”
Elis vanished in a blink of an eye before appearing right above Merik and caught the blackish flame within her palm. And just gently extinguished it, and was gone the rage boiling heavily inside him.
“I have been observing you for far too long, little child.”
It was his strongest power that could fatally damage him and even devour him, if left unchecked but it was just another blowing on a helpless candle this mysterious Goddess. Their difference in power was needless to even mention.
He rationally regained his sanity back and was able to point out his loss of cool embarrassingly. He was frustrated with himself, losing control like that.
After all, he promised himself he wouldn’t lose himself, ever again.
Back to his usual demeanor, he smirked with a thought.
What a stalker.
This random thought of Merik made Elis speechless for a moment. Maybe it hit her right where it hurt.
“Let me just get straight to the point. Why did you summon me here, Madam Dreams and Despairs?”
“I... will not be telling you if you don’t address me as my name.”
Wait... is she pouting? Even the tentacles are curling up, like a pup’s tail!
“Su... sure, Miss Elis, umm, Elis. Can you tell me what is going on?”
Finally smiling with a satisfied expression, she finally moved away from Merik and took the same position where she was able to converse with him well.
“Come on, Merik. Don’t just be a dull and boring guy. It’s been so long I had had a visitor. Ask me all kinds of questions. Don’t you want to know the world’s nature? Don’t you want to know how to acquire all kinds of knowledge? Anything! And talk to your heart’s desire. I shall comply with you! Except for my love life, because that’s a see-cr-ret.”
What a mischievous...
“Yes, Elis. So, can you kindly tell me why I am here, please? Because the anxiety is killing me and I won’t be able to move on from this.”
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“----”
“It’s umm, well then. May I know how long you have been a Goddess?”
There it is.
Yes, he knew right in his stomach that he was awkward. Too awkward. The fact that he asked this with such seriousness. No wonder he didn’t have any friends!
Wait, a gentleman mustn't abruptly ask a lady’s age!
“Umm. My apo...”
“1047 years 6 months and 3 days.”
And there, he got his answer. His brains could no longer process and only could muster a slight agape of his mouth, staring wordlessly at the strangely alluring figure in front of him, getting excited over ordinary introductions!
The Unknown Existences or Divine Entities, as they called them, were all incomprehensibly dangerous since any contact from them would mean great misfortune, corruption and even demise.
At least, he knew that.
Moreover, the mysteries surrounding the goddess was too thick of a fog.
Merik accidentally learnt the knowledge of such beings while sneaking around Albert’s office but not more than that. He couldn’t deduce the reason as to why it was classified as extremely secretive but he could more or less guess.
So, Merik gave up resisting instantly with the realization that he was already a drop of water within her palms the moment he entered the said divine Goddess’s domain.
The fact that he defeated her messenger just yesterday further fueled the caution and anxiety that was already slowly burning inside him.
However, such being seriously was having her upmost fun, just talking with him. This weird but acceptable fact made his nerves a little bit less tense, though.
How lonely she must have been if she were just happy with talking like this! Just look at her tentacles, uncontrollably swinging up and down.
“Rude.”
“Ah, my apologies, Elis. My next question is that aren’t you lonely in this lovely domain of yours?”
“I told you already, I am bored and not just bored. I’m bored to death!”
If she were to possess legs, Merik thought she was stomping her feet on the sands. The tentacles were doing the exact action with a lady stomping on the floor.
“Merik, I know you as a witty and eloquent man, possessing a way with words like no others. Surely, you can entertain a rather bored lady at a moment’s notice, no?”
But this was no mere lady, now, wasn’t it.
Then again, all maidens are the same at heart.
Merik took a deep breath and stared at the woman straight into her mesmerizing eyes, the same way he always did when he looked at his adversaries.
“Elis, I more or less know the reason of why you summoned me here.”
“Oh?”
A sudden change in facial expression of the Goddess’’ was clearly visible through the faint lights of the night sky and its counterparts. It was an expression of pure intrigue.
“Just as you stated, if you were to harm me, you needn’t summon me into your domain. You could just control me with the gem or corrupt me until I, as an existence, vanished from the world. I, myself, was already a gone man since I came into contact with your gem, and yet, here I stand.”
“A being as great as you shall not move without a strong motive, as far as I know and adding myself to the grand picture of your schemes, I realize myself as the best if not one of the greatest assets you could collect into your labors.”
“Judging from your interactions and reactions towards me, I can proudly deduce that You, the Goddess of Dreams and Despairs, the Divine Entity, desire my unbending loyal service to your course.”
Not a word was stuttered despite the long and meticulous explanation of his deduction. Not a word was uttered from the Goddess herself as well.
Without any change of emotion or expression, she just stared at the fearless young man in front of him.
“To your disfavor, I must kindly decline as I am a proud Cloaked of the Overseers of Peace of Browmourn Division and I solemnly swore before his Majesty that I shall adhere to the rules of Light for as long as my consciousness resides within me.”
“I mean no respect to the honorable invitation but this ground shall be where I stand.”
It was just a slight breeze that gushed over his neck softly and his unwavering resolve.
Both sent a shiver right to his hips.
He obviously provoked the wrath of such primordial being and even declined her good will in her own domain! It was only a matter of time before he left his world, for good.
At least he stood his ground. Albert, be proud of me.
There were countless moments before Elis made a slight action. Then it was getting clearer and clearer.
She was... laughing?
Elis was laughing covering her mouth and the tentacles were dancing with rhythmless beats.
Finally, she was bending over, laughing hysterically. Merik was just dumbfounded.
She laughed for a quite a while before mustering a word despite the tiring laughter.
“Oh, Merik. Little Merik. Such eloquent man, you are. With such way of words, you could steal any ladies heart with just minimal efforts. As I expected of you. Haaaa. It’s just that...”
Merik saw that Elis wiped a tear on the corner of her eyes, byproduct of her fun.
“You solemnly have no idea how a lady’s mind work, do you? Listen here, Merik.”
“Ladies, as mysterious as we may be, might adore assertiveness and domineering nature of men but they all have one thing in common.”
“They... with every bit of their heart, hate the kind of men who just impose their ideas onto women, projecting themselves as some kind of savior of the world.”
“Oh, darling. Take my hand and I shall carry you towards the unknown as strength and reliability are my domains.”
She made a role play as a cool guy, biting a cigar, trying to take his bride onto the horse and into the horizon, the cliche scenes where a lot of cowboy plays use in. The tentacles formed into a transparent figure of a horse.
Merik was quite familiar with them.
That’s why Merik was again dumbfounded.
“Hahaha, what an interesting man you are, Merik. This will be the first and the last time in your life that you make ladies like me laughed to this extent. Be proud.”
Merik was obviously not proud at all.