Half of the congregation jumped up and backed away. Compared to me they were all slow motion. I jumped off of my seat and was in position to slit his throat with the flick of a wrist in a flash.

I could see blisters forming on his throat and I could feel his panic radiating from him.

That was when the rest of the rebels caught up to me.

“Adam! What is the meaning of this! We trusted you!” said the man leading the congregation.

“It’s not what you think! It’s not, I swear! You gotta believe me, Corial!” said Adam. He was frantic and begging for his life.

“Back off. Let’s hear him out first. If he wanted to kill us he would have already.” Corial told me. I didn’t believe that for a second and voiced it to him.

“Sir, no offense, but you’re stupid. These guard jerk-offs are arrogant blowhards. This is exactly the kind of thing one of them would do given the chance. They think they are so strong that they could walk into this congregation and kill all of you way too easily. Like you wouldn’t even put up a fight. So no I won't.”

“Fine. Just explain yourself Adam.” responded the middle aged Corial. Adam was starting to get terrible burns so I held back a little bit.

Adam started to explain and his voice was scratchy and rough from Aurinko on his throat. “I-I caught a guard! I make him teach me how to do the magic! I swear I didn’t join them! I just wanted to get on their level!”

“I believe him. Let him go.” said Corial. I obliged and backed off with the flick of my wrist and an arch of flame. That was the wrong move. It drew all eyes as the lightning had.

“Did you capture one to?” asked Adam.

“No. What you do is wrong. It can’t be right. Not if you learned it from a place that is not your own.” I responded in my most serious tone.

“Then why do you do it? That is one of the most hippocratic things I have ever had the dishonor of hearing.” Corial questioned as Cori tried to rise to my defense. I put up a hand to try and stop her and to my surprise she quieted. It seemed the longer I was bonded with Aurinko the wiser and more regal I became.

“The power I possess is of a world that is not a world. The power I get by fighting alongside Aurinko is from the same place as the dimensions themselves. I was chosen years ago to protect these dimensions from threats like Pahaӓӓni and you are playing into his hands. This ‘magic’ will cause the destruction of this dimension. This ‘magic’ gives me a reason to kill you all without mercy.”

Of course, they didn’t believe me.

“Yeah sure, and I vomit kittens when I’m sick!” I heard from the crowd with a round of laughter.

I could feel it. My old self. Dying. Becoming a woman to rule the cosmos. It felt. . . wrong. My old self slipped away as I changed to account for the idiocy of people. I used to be one of those people. A comment like that would have normally just rolled off my back. But Beatrice was gone. There was only Amaterasu, goddess of the sun, protector of the infinite dimensions. As Amaterasu, that comment pissed me off.

Shock spread like wildfire throughout the room as fire exploded from my skin in angel wings and poured from my eyes in a shining brilliance only I could manage with massive concentration of heat layered over my eyes and it didn’t obscure my vision like I thought it would. I had vision in colors of reds, yellows, greens and blues. Heat was my domain and I could see it clearly with my infrared sockets. The only problem was that light bathed forth from my eyes as though I was crying pieces of a neutron star.

“And now do you believe me! The Sun Dagger has chosen me! Aurinko, holds a power you cannot imagine, and I was chosen to wield it. You have no place to scoff at me! Ignorance is bliss however you may not be ignorant anymore! Another dimension has taken over! Let's take it back.” I said in my angel of fire form. My voice was. . . layered. Like every wielder before me was using my body at once but I was the one in control.

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The interaction lasted only a moment but it was more than enough. Mouths fell open and faces were shielded from my brilliance. Even Cori was surprised as my floating body lowered to the ground and fire spread around me like a flower before vanishing.

I had assumed religion had been lost in the years Pahääni had ravaged the earth. It seems I was right. However, I just brought it back. Men, women, children, and elderly, all got on their knees and touched their forehead to the dirt on the floor. They were worshiping me. It felt good, not gonna lie, but my conscience wouldn’t let them worship a false god. I was a mere demigod.

“Do not bow to me. I am not a god, merely the friend of a god's child. Bow to the father of the dimensions, the world bringer.”

That’s not his name! Came the thoughts of Aurinko.

Then what is it? I responded

. . . I’ll tell you later. He said in a tone that seemed almost sorrowful.

Yeah, thought so. I thought back. My mind was going a hundred miles a minute and I tried to make every one rise without using force but they wouldn’t.

“Why have you graced us with your presence, holy one? Is there something you wish of us to provide you with? We are in your service, Amaterasu.” said Corial as he bowed his head once more. My humble “I’m not god” speech had the opposite of the desired effect. They worshiped me with a higher fervor than they had before.

Fine. I can work with this.

“I have come from the dimension of all dimensions to help you. I have built a stronghold, however, I need metal and capable hands. Please provide me with the supplies I need to truly create a strong resistance to overthrow the unrightful ruler Pahaääni!” I had people practically kill each other to be the first to help me. I accepted all help of course and got what I needed promised to me by the end of the week. All other work was forgotten as the meeting was pulled to a close and the things Apollo needed to stay with us was promptly given to us with no questions asked.

We didn’t find any more strays sadly. The reality is, Apollo might be the last dog on earth. It’s a wonder Apollo managed to survive at all, considering how little food there was out in the desert.

We ran into little trouble the rest of the way back, it seemed that I had been killing guards faster than they could get them. Good. if this was the only fighting skills that they had then this would be easy.

They aren't willing to spend time training these small fry. The more powerful people will have training just as good or better than yours. You have been able to take many with only your raw power. This will not be the case for all of them. Be careful.

Aurinko is one of the most powerful people in the multiverse and he was telling me that his raw power wasn’t enough to take them? That scared me. Such pure power and destruction wasn’t enough to kill them? Sure maybe Pahaääni, I’m not faster than the speed of sound, but his minions? I pushed it out of my mind. “I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.” I mutter under my breath.

“Hm?” Cori muttered questioningly as she played an old videogame on her computer. It looked like legend of zelda. I respect someone that managed to find the original legend of zelda, which was enough of a chore in the modern world let alone the apocalypse.

“Nothing, carry on” I told her.

“Kay kay” she muttered distractedly as she banged on the keys. I realized that she must have coded that herself because the original game wasn’t even available on PC. Cool.

Me and Apollo walked side by side as Cori repeatedly swore as Link was killed over and over by the boss. We made it to the castle and Cori sent out the email to the rest of the congregation of the location of the castle.

We went in and I slept for longer than I had in weeks while we waited for supplies. They came two days later. I used them to create bricks of pure metal which were then stacked in a wobbly unstable fashion. I then melted them together making a sort of damascus from the bricks of different metals fusing together. Come the end of the month we had people polishing the palace down and having furniture brought in. we got bored after that so the rebels put a sun on the front of the palace and we tore down the walls. They were only temporary anyway. Glass would not have held long under attack. We used any metal to make the most fortified gates and walls I have ever seen. A shiny gold sun was placed on the gates. The moat remained the same with broken glass and huge spikes hiding just far enough under the surface that they couldn’t be seen from above the water.

As we finished furnishing the palace of the steel sun as many were calling it, we were attacked. The guards had been building an army to attack us. They had heard the rumors of only one survivor to ever escape this part of the desert.

One man led them. He pulled out his sword and cut himself.

Darkness bled from the wound.