Sky

I can’t help but laugh as I look up onto the heavens. The sky is now clear, and the moon is full, stars filling the night sky with little dots of light. It is beautiful, but this isn’t what has captured my mind. No, it is the ball of all destroying darkness that is bending all the lights in the sky, distorting all as it rips everything apart and greedily devours the world.

Whole sections of land are flying away in the distance, a monster bigger than I have ever seen was even devoured, and everyone is panicking around me as they believe the world to be ending. But I am laughing. Laughing even as surrounding objects are lifted away, even as my people are desperately begging me to come and hide indoors.

But I don’t budge, my body covered in arcing electricity that zaps anyone that tries to touch me. I won’t move from this spot; I won’t stop watching. I won’t, because I know that I am safe.

I can feel her presence, pushing down on all of us and keeping us grounded despite everything else being lifted away. Her Field has changed, no longer being a comfortable void, like sitting alone with a good book, but is now one of destruction, still shifting and settling as it sorts itself into a new identity, but destruction none the less, pure and simple, but I can still feel that it is hers all the same. Even through destruction, she will protect what is hers!

She has become more. Much, much more!

I can’t help but raise my hands into the air as I laugh and cheer. “Hahahahaha~~ My mate is the strongest! She is mine, MINE! Hahahahah!”

“My Empress, please! Please come inside where it is safe!” My little Hero experiment calls and begs, but I can’t pay him any mind, my whole attention is focused solely on my lover as she tears apart the very Earth for our sake.

“Why would I run and hide for safety when I know that right here, right now, under her power, that this is the safest place I could ever possibly be? It is the rest of the world that is in danger, not us! The only ones who should be afraid are those outside her territory, those who would do us harm. We are her people, and we are safe!”

“I think she’s lost her mind…” I hear one of Lain’s friends say behind me. They couldn’t understand anything that I was saying, but I have to admit that my hysterical laughter might have come off as being a bit crazy. But how can I help myself in this situation when my lover is currently wielding godlike powers right above my head? I’m simply too excited, though, I should try and calm down some. I have my own image to worry about, and I don’t need people thinking that I have ‘Lost my marbles.’ I have never seen, nor owned marbles before though, so I should be good.

Bless these humans though, despite their obvious fears, they haven’t ran away to go and hide like the others, instead staying out here with me to watch everything unfold. Of my people, only my Honor Guard and my little Hero remain, everyone else, I ordered to return to safety and to secure their homes. Lain may not be pulling my people away into the sky, but I can’t guarantee that she won’t accidentally destroy their stuff.

So, I remain here, standing tall as my guards fret about around me, cowering under the all destroying force of a hole in the sky, while also trying to stand tall and not look like they are cowering. It is sort of funny to see, how someone can both, stand because they don’t want to be seen as a coward, but yet are also obviously desperate to throw themselves to the floor for safety.

Ah, if they would just realize that Lain isn’t going to hurt us. Ehh, the humans will probably become fearful of her after this is all over… I see the looks that some of them give her and her Demons, but after this, it will probably become worse. I just need to hope that no one will do anything stupid… I’ll need to work with their council to raise public perceptions and try to get more people to not be afraid of her. And if that won’t work, then I will need to ensure that they realize that she is their protector now, and that vilifying her will only bring them harm. I’ll make them dependent on Lain and her Demons until they can’t even imagine life without her. I’ll make them worship her as their Queen if I must.

Looking up to the sky as whole islands worth of land are consumed, I can’t help but to let my darker thoughts slip out as I speak.

“I’ll do anything for you. Even if I have to ruin the world, I’ll do it for you~”

…

Seemingly in response to my words, the world itself cracks open and shakes as two massive towers of gold erupt form the earth. Towering over everything, their bodies are wide enough to support entire towns, their length already reaching towards the heavens as a divine presence slams down onto everyone and contests Lain’s own.

Rage instantly fills me as I see this familiar sight, that golden bark that I had seen every day of my life before arriving on Earth. The same flesh that my people and I used to cower inside of as we hid from monsters and starved to death. The very thing that had promised to protect us, but had instead only given the bare minimum so that we wouldn’t all completely die off!

With my teeth grinding and fists shaking, I look up at the two roots of a god, nothing more than the tips of it great digits that stretch for countless miles underground, and I find my very soul shaking with anger and visceral hate. Now, more than ever, I can feel it. I can feel her. That little sliver of the Empress’s soul that I had inherited, the past me, raging against the being that she traded her life to. The very being that had devoured her, no, my soul and reduced me to nothing but a handful of slivers and a promise to one day return!

With my rage, electricity courses off from my body and singes my surroundings, bolts of blue lighting striking everything that stands too close. Around me, the others are hurrying away as they try not to get shocked, but I have no mind to restrain myself, my mind being assaulted with the memory of my final moments from before I died, brought forth and awakened by the sight of the one who killed me.

I can see it as she, as I! As I held my hand against its golden flesh and begged an uncaring god to save my people as our planet burned down around us. The moment when it demanded not just my life, but my very soul as payment. And I accepted, having already mutilated my soul the day before as a contingency, having feared that I might not survive the encounter. With my acceptance, I was powerless to stop it, forced to watch in horror as its bark like flesh had parted into a maw of many teeth and a bottomless throat wet with amber sap. I remember how tendril of wood had emerged and pulled me in, the maw slamming shut behind me to cut off the last lights of our burning world before I was plunged into total darkness and torn to pieces by massive teeth of thorns.

My blood runs cold as my final moments shake me, the sudden and violent pain of death shaking me down to my core as I look up at those roots that are towering though the sky and reaching for the hole in space. Reaching for Lain.

“You fucking tree! If you hurt her, I swear that I will burn you out by the root!!!”

My scream goes unheard, the massive limbs finishing their climb as they reach the heavens. One moves and coils around the tear in space, somehow resisting the pull of something that can rend the very Earth as its golden body smothers and crushes the black hole. With a pop, the pulling forces are quelled, and the Earth’s gravity suddenly regains control. Whole sections of land that had been moving through the air now find themselves plummeting to the ground to crash in great plums of dirt and flying debris, shockwave shaking the ground beneath our feet like earthquakes with each island sized mass that falls into the great canyon that now surrounds this place on all sides.

But I pay no attention to the falling mess of land and whatever else. As I fight to keep myself on my feet, I watch the sky where I know Lain to be, her presence muted though the all-encompassing presence of a god, but I can feel it there all the same. She is radiating with rage, probably pissed at having been stopped, and it doesn’t take but a moment before the night sky is filled with black and crimson flames, the stars and the moon quickly being blocked from sight as an all-devouring darkness fills everything. The only light is that of the divine flesh of the //World Tree’s roots, glowing golden in defiance of her darkness.

Flames fall, bathing the golden bark like so much oil and tar as it falls from the sky, bathing the god’s flesh in burning flames of pure destruction. They move, being deceptively quick and agile despite their massive size, moving to swat a target that can’t be seen from the ground, two massive tendrils of gold trying to swat a fly from the air.

All I can do is watch as Lain fights against a god, even if it is nothing more than the tips of two of its roots, she is still fighting it. Fighting against something that I had seen tear apart leviathan like monstrosities as we traveled through the void. As a pup, peeking out from the layers of its bark, I had witness as great monstrosities of flesh, and teeth, and far too many eyes would be torn apart and left as nothing but bits of meat floating though nothingness. I would have nightmares that one day, one of those monsters would manage to reach us and bite a chunk out of the tree, our village violently torn away without even a moment's notice as two gods fight.

Stolen story; please report.

It is because of this that I know that it is holding back. If that damn tree truly wanted to, it could easily tear this entire place apart, roots erupting from beneath our feet to flood the sky and kill Lain before she can do anything. But we are still here. And Lain is still alive, nothing more than the tips of two digits fighting her, rather than the full wrath of a god roused to violence.

Why?

Why is it even here? To stop her from destroying more land? If it wanted to kill her, she would be dead already. Despite how much faith I have in my mate and belief in her strength, I’m not so much of a fool as to believe her capable of felling a god. Even now, the fact that she is holding her own for this long is already amazing.

As these questions fill my head, I slowly calm down, my fear and anger, the pain of returning memories, slowly turning into a cold calm as I try to understand what is going on. Why it is that they would even be fighting despite the //World Tree already having stopped her spell. Does she intend to continue destroying more, even with a literal god effectively telling her to stop?

“I need to talk to her…” I say to myself as I realize that something is wrong here.

I start running, moving toward their direction as that is the only thing I can think to do. I have no idea how I will reach her; I cannot fly, I don’t even know how it is that she is flying right now. I’ve never seen her do this before and she never told me that she could. I can only assume that it is through some magic of hers, but I have no way of possibly replicating it. I’ve only just unlocked my own core. I don’t even have the slightest clue if I could even do something like flying yet. So, I can only run forward, desperate that I might find some way of reaching her.

My guards and the soldiers chase after me, calling for me to come back and seek shelter, but I ignore them all, my everything screaming that I need to do something to stop Lain before it is too late.

Up in the sky where red tinted, black flames fall and meet golden bark, I see as one of the roots swings down and hits something in the air. An explosion of flames spreads and baths the limb as a burning comet is sent flying though the sky. Watching it, a blindingly bright red laser flashes out from the flaming comet and cuts a red line into the root, sending the thing reeling back in seeming pain as the comet changes course and goes flying back in to explode against the second.

“Lain!” I scream as I run forward, knowing full well that she can’t possibly hear me for all the way down here.

But someone does.

A presence, mixed in with the one of the god, moves and meets mine, their attention felt by my very soul. It is unmistakably familiar, a presence that I had sworn to remember after the last time I had felt it. One of the children godlings that is riding along on the //World Tree’s back.

The hateful little presence speaks into my soul as I come to a stop, her voice sounding rushed like she is panicking.

//Oh thank goodness! You’re her girlfriend, right? You were there the last time we talked with her. Please we need you to… Hey, why does the tree recognize you? Wait… You’re supposed to be dead! How did you survive getting eaten by a god!?

“Like hell I’m going to tell you!”

//Ach… You know what, that’s not important. The tree is curious, but your contract with it was already fulfilled, payment was already received, and its part was fulfilled.

“Fulfilled!? My people suffered for generations because it did the bare minimum for us. Do you have any idea how many of my people died when it could have protected us. My own parents died despite being under its protection!”

//The contract was to protect your people and see them brought to another world, not to protect each and every single one of them. It did its job, your people survived, and apparently you did as well. Seriously, how did you… Ah? Yes, Brother, I know, I know! Listen, we don’t have long, we need your help.

I choose to keep my words about the //World Tree’s contract to myself, prioritizing our immediate situation first. It doesn’t stop me from cursing in an unladylike manner though.

“Fuck you! What do mean about my help? Why the hell should I help you!?”

//It’s the Demon Queen-

“Lain!”

//What?

“Call her by her name!”

//I don’t see how that is… Ok, alright, fine, I don’t have time to argue. It’s Lain, she is out of control. She just ate another monarch’s core, which she shouldn’t be able to do by the way! I don’t think she even knew what she was doing. She just ripped the Goblin’s racial imprint away from the World Tree’s control and made it hers, she just-! Ah, I don’t even know, you shouldn’t even be able to do that! But now she is rampaging, Brother is trying to talk her down, but she is ignoring him, and she is acting completely differently than normal! We need her to stop before she destroys to much land. Making fucking black holes, what the hell is she thinking!?

“Why do we need to hurry? Didn’t you already stop her?”

//We need to hurry because if this keeps going, we won’t be able to stop the World Tree from killing her! We need her alive, but the tree isn’t going to risk her potentially destroying the Earth! If it comes down to it, the World Tree can potentially make do without her, but we would rather she remain alive. Too much risk otherwise.

“Make do, what-?”

//No time, I’m not going to give you an exposition dump. We already did that for Lain, so you can ask her later. Will you help us or not?

“Mrmrm” I grumble at the annoying girl, but she does have a point. My own personal feelings aside, if Lain is in danger, then I need to go and help her.

“Aright, fine. What do I need to do?”

//I honestly don’t know… talk to her or something? Just get her to stop and promise to not destroy the world. A bit ironic that the Demon Queen would do that. Should have seen it coming… Anyways, can you fly, or…?

“No, I can’t fly!”

//Oh, then hold still. I’ll bring you to her, just try not to get caught in the crossfire…

The ground beneath me shakes and parts as dozens and then hundreds of roots grow out of the ground, forming a basket around me as I am suddenly lifted into the air. Moving rapidly up, I can hear as the calling voice of my guards grows small and distant as I am carried higher and higher, quickly approaching the burning sky where Lain is fighting a losing battle against a god.

Looking over the edge of my basket, I see as the roots that are carrying me come together to form a tree of their own, a lush green canopy of leaves forming of thick branches as I am carried up and up into the sky.

Above, the battle rages on, twin golden roots lashing out as they try to strike the distant figure of Lain that is still nothing more than a flaming dot from where I am. The roots of the //World Tree are bathed in hellish fire, those flames making something in my brain and soul recoil in fear of getting burned just at the sight of them. Even from this distance, I can feel a strange mix of cold and hot radiating off of those flames as they attempt to devour the divine flesh of a god, only managing to dig so deep until flowing amber sap smothers them and mends the golden bark like scabs over a wound.

Dodging under the swing of a root, Lain lashes out with another laser, the beam of concentrated destruction passing over head before searing into the body of the root and carving a nasty line of burnt and sap bleeding wood behind. Even the space where the laser had cut through in the sky appears to have been damaged, space distorting horribly for a few moments in its wake before the //World Tree’s all-encompassing Field forces the distortions back into order with a slight push of will.

The Sister talks into my soul as we ascend higher and higher.

//Ah, this isn’t good. If she keeps disturbing space like this, she might draw attention from the void. The World Tree is already doing what it can to keep Earth hidden from the real monsters. Last thing we need is her sending out ripples and drawing something our way! Yes Brother, I’m working on it! Just focus on trying to get her attention and let me focus on my part!

We draw closer and closer, the air quickly becoming colder and colder as the air draws thinner. Filling my body with electricity, I burn mana to generate my own heat, but the lack of oxygen isn’t something that I can overcome.

//We have to stop here. Any higher and you will pass out. Try to get her attention, do anything you can to get her to stop. We’ll try and draw her over to you.

With the Sister’s parting words, I can feel as her presence moves away, heading towards Lain where the fighting is only growing more intense by the moment. Her figure is nothing but a darting ball of fire, tearing though the sky as she avoids swings from the golden roots and bathes its divine flesh with hellish flames in turn.

“Lain!” I try to call for her, but she is still too far away.

One of the roots smashes into her, sending her flying, but she stops in midair, exploding with flames as rage radiates of her presence with waves that can be felt even from where I am. Darting forward, she flies straight for the limb that struck her and blasts into with a laser, only instead of cutting across the body of the root, she instead holds it on a single point until the beam is cutting through to the other side. Smashing into its body, she disappears from view, the laser cutting off momentarily until it is suddenly burning through on another side form a new angle.

Then, it begins to turn. The laser traces along, cutting out from the golden bark as it slices and burns through from the inside, widening a searing line from one side to the other until the top of the root is suddenly severed, the stump of the cut limb erupting with a deluge of joyful flames to burn the stump as the top falls away and plummets to the Earth far below.

I can hear the Twins cursing as the root is severed, calling to catch the cut off end before it can plummet to Earth and cause untold damage.

But I pay them little attention, instead watching as Lain burns away at the stump of the god’s severed digit, something that could at best be described as the tip of its little finger, but part of a god no less. Amber sap flows from the wound like so much blood, pouring down like rain as the wounded limb writhes in what I can only assume is pain.

Part of me temporarily forgets what I was doing, so caught up in witnessing as a god is made to bleed by the very hands of my mate. I have to shake myself out of my stupor and remind myself of why I am here.

“Lain! Please Lain, hear me!” I call out desperately.

Finally, something happens to bring her closer. The second root, desperate to remove her from the wounded first, smashes into her and sends her flying my way. Like a comet, she goes burning past the massive tree where I am calling for her. She moves to go flying back into battle, the roots pulling away from her as she flies towards them, readying to swat her again. I don’t know if she can hear my voice, and I am desperate to stop her before this fight can go any further, so I do the only thing that I can think of to get her attention.

I strike her with lighting.