Everything and everyone was gone. The world would never return. There was no god to return things to the way they were. The world had been ruined and reset after Vel forced Anakegaia’s hand. It had been reset to its original state of nothing but an empty white plane. Only Vel remained alone in a world of white emptiness. However, the world refused to stay stagnant, so while Vel slept, the white world’s sky and the ground began to stretch to accomplish an unknown goal. They both stretched towards each other like rubber. Once they touched, they began to meld together, and at the point they became one, a shape began to manifest. Once the midsection had finished forming into an egg-like shape, the sky and ground stretched apart and returned to their original states. The egg formed by the combination of the heavens and the earth remained floating in the sky. What would hatch from the egg was unknown. Vel was blissfully unaware of what had been floating nearby.
Vel awoke after two days, although she didn’t know that as there was no possible way for her to know the time. Her gaze was greeted by an infinite void of white above. “How long was I out for? I don’t know; there is no way to tell time here. Oh well, there is nothing here, so I might as well keep moving forward.” Vel spoke as she attempted to focus her mana to make a portal. However, her instincts alerted her to the fact that something powerful was with her. A chill ran down her spine, and she looked behind her.
There it was, floating, a human-sized egg. A baby whatever it was wouldn’t be too dangerous, but she couldn’t shake her uneasy feeling. The dormant egg had responded to Vel’s magic and the knocking sound began to echo from inside the egg. The rapid knocking echoed throughout the world, the knocking became harsher and harsher. Vel wanted to escape but her curiosity was too great.
Then silence... The silence was followed by a crack and then an opening was made. A pure white arm punctured through the shell. The fingers and wrist were broken on the white hand. Suddenly, one by one white hands broke through the shell and squirmed wildly. Eight arms were now poking out of the shell, and then they suddenly stopped. The chalky white skin began to melt off of the arms and fall below. Once the skin had melted the bones followed suit and the liquified body drained through the holes and fell below.
Once the egg had emptied it fell from the sky and landed inside of the pool of white. It melted into the substance and the ooze. The ooze began to flow into itself and form what seemed to be a human shape. It attempted to hold the shape however it was unable and it fell apart and then reshaped itself. It attempted to hold the humanoid shape but it wouldn’t properly hold. The substance became flesh and amber-colored eyes poked through where a head would be. The figure while in the process of forming itself smiled an inhuman smile. The thing’s head turned backward to look at Vel. The ribs of the thing began to protrude out and grow to inhuman lengths. It was humanoid, but all sorts of twisted.
Vel could only just stare at the thing. She froze right where she stood. “Hurts…hurts…hurts. It Hurts! Hurts! Hurts! Hurts!” The thing repeatedly screamed out. The creature formed to the best of its ability but it was prematurely hatched. Vel recognized the mana that it began to generate.
“This mana, it’s god mana. Shit that means this thing is a god of some sort.” Vel said in a panic. She could try and escape or kill it. She opened a portal and escaped through and it closed behind her. She sighed a breath of relief as she had escaped disaster. The dimension she had escaped to was a nice and calming one with green as far as the eyes could see. She smiled as she felt a sudden chill down her spine. The portal which she had made and closed behind her began to open up again. However, it wasn’t her doing, a familiar pair of chalky white hands tore back open her portal.
All the hairs on Vel’s body stood up and her skin became full of goosebumps. Her foolproof escape strategy had failed and let this thing into this peaceful world. A was walking by and the thing leaped onto the poor defenseless woman. The thing went back to being a liquid substance as it invaded her pores and attempted to take over her body. The woman’s body eerily smiled. However, the possession failed as the woman’s body began to melt. Her skin began to melt to the ground once she fully melted and became a part of the thing. It attempted to latch onto some other living creature.
After witnessing that thing take over then absorb the woman. Vel steeled herself and became determined to destroy that thing. Not only was it capable of following her, but it also was destroying such a nice place. Its mass had increased after absorbing the poor woman and there were more animals around. “I’m afraid I can’t let you roam freely,” Vel spoke as she began to gather mana in the sky and convert it into a massive ball of flame. The ball of flame vaporized all that it touched. Vel sent it down onto the parasite, and once it touched the creature it began to melt and screech out in pain. After the flames cleared away only a small bit of ooze remained. Some of the trees were lit on fire which Vel doused with water magic. However, it wasn’t dead yet and leapt towards Vel attempting to latch onto her.
Unfortunately for it, the moment it came in contact with Vel’s blood its body began to boil. It launched itself away from Vel attempting to flee. However, before it could get too far Vel used wind magic to hold it in place. “I believe it is time I send you back to where you belong,” Vel said as she opened a portal to the dimension she had just left and sent the thing through the portal. The white-colored thing grew in size and expanded and continued to grow in the empty dimension. The cells inside of the thing were exploding rapidly and it kept expanding and expanding. Then it started to implode and collapse inward and contain the violent explosions. Vel watched through the portal as she didn’t want to go through. Before the thing completely disappeared, Vel sensed mana that was extremely similar to her own. Before she could fully process it, both the mana and the thing disappeared.
Vel breathed a sigh of relief and closed her portal. Her stomach growled and signaled that it was time for her to eat. She wandered and went to hunt for something edible.
The thing that seemingly had disappeared had only isolated itself in a pocket dimension of its own creation. The substance twisted and turned rapidly and Vel’s blood replicated itself over and over. Once the being had stopped erratically moving it began to shape itself. Once it had finished it had become an egg once more, and inside the egg was a humanoid being. This being shared some traits with Vel and continued to grow inside its egg, but this time it wouldn’t prematurely hatch.
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Somewhere else in the sea of realities, a god had caught wind of Vel’s antics. His room was dark, lit only by the wood burning in the fireplace. The lavish room was filled with all sorts of priceless jewels and trinkets. On one lavish table was a seemingly ordinary-looking mansion dollhouse. “How fascinating, many travel across worlds but few are bold enough to take on a god. Let alone succeed in slaying one. I wonder if I can get, little miss god-slayer to dance to my tune. I’d love to pluck those wings of hers.” The god’s laughter echoed throughout his chambers.
It had been a very long time since a true god had been slain by a human. Vel’s chances of peace have gone away, though perhaps it was a blessing for her adventure-loving spirit. Only a few witnessed the battle while most only learned of it after it had been over. The gods did not interact with one another very much, some only lived in their own bubble of creation. No matter their thoughts on the matter they would have to wait for Vel to come to them if they wanted her.
The news had even reached the ears of other interdimensional travelers. She was being discussed at a popular bar that many travelers often visit. The bar was run by a lesser god, lesser in terms of power and strength; however, she had powerful connections and kept up with the latest news. The bar was small enough that she could run it as the only employee. She wore a dark purple vest with a red undershirt as her bartending attire. She had shoulder-length dark purple hair, fox ears, and a fluffy fox tail. Her eyes appeared closed and few have ever seen her eyes. It wasn’t very busy at the moment. A few customers were gossiping about the death of a god as powerful as Anakegaia. A few were curious, but by the time they made it to the dimension it was empty. The front door had rung and the bartending goddess greeted the customers. It was a group of four, three men and one woman. They all looked a little rowdy and rough, but here in this bar people didn’t judge one another by their appearance.
“So this is the famous Fox tail bar. It’s run by some weak fox goddess whose only talent is serving the customers. Bartender, get us some of your good stuff immediately.” The leader of the group spouted as their group sat down. The goddess’ tail tensed up after hearing their insults, but her face only showed a customer service smile.
“Right away, I’ll place a bottle at your table soon.” She replied with a smile, as she went through her collection of liquor.
“Hey, speak to Miss Inari more politely.” One of the adventurers spoke up. This aggravated the rowdy group and they quickly stood up to attempt to confront the other group.
“Enough! No fighting in my bar.” Inari raised her voice, and she brought out a bottle of alcohol.
“But Miss Inari, they were being rude to you.” The man meekly argued as he sat back down.
“This kind of thing happens, it comes with owning a bar. A customer is a customer.” She brought the bottle over to the rowdy alongside four glasses. A few of the customers in the back noticed which bottle she brought out and attempted to maintain straight faces. Inari poured glasses for the group. The liquid was a beautiful purple color and it was chilled. “Please enjoy your drink,” Inari said as she gave a bow and walked back over to the counter.
“Now that I’m getting a better look at you, you are quite the beaut. I’d love to help clean up after you close.” The leader said with a gross look in his eyes. He then drank his entire glass in one go and immediately went down flat on his face. His companions got up from their seats and began to shout.
“You sly fox! What did you serve us! Do you think that you can get away with this just because you are a goddess?” The woman of the group shouted and threw her drink on the floor which shattered the glass and spilled the purple liquor on the ground. The coherent members of the rowdy group cussed out Inari. However, their complaints fell on deaf ears and the customer service smile disappeared from Inari’s face. A few of the regulars just sat back and waited. They gestured at the newer patrons to sit down.
“You can be rude all you want to me, I don’t care. But, never think about wasting alcohol here.” Inari snapped at the rowdy group. However, they remained undeterred by Inari’s anger.
“What are you going to do about it? You aren’t even a powerful goddess, you're just a pushover that can only serve.” One of the members mocked Inari. They stood in front of her all smug and unafraid. “Unlike you, we are renowned interdimensional travelers. We've had our run-ins with powerful beings.” One smirked, all proud.
Inari sighed and quickly palmed the gut of one of the members. The force made his stomach cave in, but before he could be sent flying she grabbed him by his shirt collar and pummeled him while holding him in place. He eventually passed out and she laid him on the floor. The other members of the group were stunned by the surprising amount of power Inari had. With her right hand, she chopped the left side of the remaining man’s neck just below his jaw. She then quickly moved toward the final standing member of the group. The woman of the group attempted to beg for mercy. However, Inari was unphased by her pleas, and she just grabbed the woman by the top of her head and slammed her face into her knee. Blood splattered, but Inari used the woman’s body to prevent it from reaching the tables. Inari then dragged the beaten bodies of the rowdy group to her front door. She opened the door and tossed them back to the world they were in before. She then angrily returned behind the counter and attempted to smile. However, it wasn’t quite right as her annoyance seeped through. She let out a big sigh and grabbed the bottle of purple liquor. “I’m sorry everyone, but we will be out of this liquor,” Inari announced with the big bottle still more than halfway filled. She then proceeded to get a whiff of the smell, then pressed her lips to the bottle. She raised the bottle up into the air. The purple liquor flooded her mouth and went down nice and smooth. Once she finished the bottle she did a loud exhale and felt at ease. The liquor that had conquered the leader of the rowdy group left her feeling satisfied and happy. It was her favorite after all.
“Miss Inari, if you like that one so much why do you only ever have one bottle of it?” asked one of the patrons of the bar. He was rather curious since Inari was in an extremely good mood after.
“If I had more than one bottle I’d end up drinking it too often. It’s absolutely sublime and that’s why I will limit the amount I own. It would also interfere with the operations of my bar.” She laughed. The bar went back to its lively mood and even Inari joined in on the gossip. One of the regulars who arrived later walked in with a nice-looking bottle of alcohol from a dimension he visited. He presented it as a gift for Inari as thanks for having such a nice bar. The moment Inari saw the gift she was very happy and thankful. She did a polite bow after receiving it but had a big grin plastered on her face.