Descending Deeper

And so I fell.

Deeper

and deeper

and deeper.

     I regained control of my body, but there was no longer a reason to move. Everything was so far away that I couldn’t see anything. Just a faint reddish tint in one direction and pitch black in every other. How long had I been falling for? It didn’t really matter to me. Those events just before Siti and I were separated played again over and over again in my head. The only way I could tell whether my eyes were opened or closed was that the image of her smile was seared into my closed eyes.

“Human called James, how long will you wallow like this? Continue to fall like this and the impact will kill you, rendering all of her efforts for naught.”

     The goddess’s words rung in my head and stung in my heart. But I couldn’t get one certain thought out of my head. ‘Why even bother?’ Even if I survived, what chance do we have? I knew. I knew the answer in my head, logically, that I can’t give up. That Earth will still be in danger if I do nothing, and that I should take whatever chance, no matter how slim, for a permanent solution. Even if I knew that in my head, ‘Why even bother’ rung even louder and drowned out all logic. Perhaps I should do nothing and just let myself become paste upon whatever surface I hit.

“Stay alive James. As long as you’re alive, I’ll find you again.”

     Siti’s voice echoed in my memory. Why did she have to say that? Why did she have to give me hope?

     I twisted my body, orienting myself so that my front was facing whichever direction was down and taking on the spread-limbed position that I’d seen of sky-divers. From there I created a metal vest around my torso, then began forming wings. I remembered the shape that a wing should be, the shape they used for air planes and the like and formed thin, hollow, aluminum wings outward from the vest. The larger they became, the more I could tell my trajectory was changing.

     I could tell I was still facing downward from my sense of balance, but I could feel that I was moving forward from the movement of the air rushing past me. Beyond that, it was all black as pitch and I couldn’t see a thing.

“Any idea where we are?”

“No. The Demon Realm is more vast than any Great Realm. I’d heard of the conditions the further down one went, but know very little of its structure.”

“Bigger than the universe huh? Great. Well, please tell me anything you might know.”

“The upper strata, closer to the border between the Demon Realm and the Grand Rift is the only place with any light. The upper strata is composed of vast islands such as the one we were on. Some are comparable in size to worlds, some larger, most smaller. The strata below that, the middle strata, is composed of vast oceans of fluids. Blood, pus, excrement, and many others. Though there are crevices into which the oceans may drain, it seems the ocean spans most of the middle strata. Beneath that lies the lower strata, where all is frozen in ice. Nothing moves, nothing lives. Below that lies the boundary between the Demon Realm and the God of Destruction, where all who push the boundary are annihilated.”

“So we’re somewhere between the upper and middle strata?”

“Yes. The presence of light is how other gods divide the two. Once the light fades, we may only hope we find an ocean rather than a crevice.”

“I’m not sure how to find anything when I can’t see anything.”

“Indeed. The guidance of a god of light or sight would help us greatly, but under the designation of my champion, you could not receive them even if you sincerely prayed. We will have to rely on what senses we do have left. The flow, the territories, hearing, smell, and touch. I would not recommend tasting anything here.”

“Right.”

     I remember being told about these senses from the beginning, when I first received the demon suit, but I so seldom used them that I largely forgot about them or ignored them. But, now that my sight was gone, I could feel them much more clearly. The Flow moved throughout the air from above me to below me. I suppose it could be another way to know up from down if my balance ever fails. I could also feel the Flow within the goddess, an immense amount that was similar, yet very different from what was within the demons.

     As for the sense of territories, when I focused on it, I could certainly perceive the borders as they rushed past me, or rather, as I flew through them. Dozens or hundreds of small pockets belonging to some small demons that were, thankfully, nowhere to be seen. I could feel one huge territory somewhere below me, and as my glide slowly descended, I was steadily approaching it. It was larger than Sero’s territory, much larger. Who did it belong to? A king? Or a god?

     Then I could feel it. Something, dozens of somethings, all moving through the air toward me. They had their own flow, their own territories. Demons. Ones that could fly. With my senses, I couldn’t discern their exact appearances, only their vague shapes and sizes, and that they were, with certainty, approaching me.

     I couldn’t risk losing balance by shifting the weight of the wings with more metal, so I diverted power to Sero’s abilities, charging small crackling arcs across my body that gave brief sparks of light. Using my feel for the flow to pinpoint the oncoming demons, waiting for them to get closer, then...CRACK. An arc of electricity snapped from me to one of the oncoming demons, incinerating it in an instant. The others began to take evasive maneuvers, but they couldn’t dodge lightning. CRACK. Another fell.

     Perhaps due to the noise, light, or the fluctuations of the flow, I had attracted the attention of something larger. From its vague shape, it was as if some kind of gargantuan flying eel slithered through the dark abyss. It was above me, distant at first, but quickly approaching. With its approach, the other demons scattered, but I could do nothing to speed up or slow down, only tilt myself forward and attempt to dive lower and gain speed.

    The eel sped up as well, quickly gaining on me, and all I could do was try to fight back.

“Do not forget my champion, you have my power at your disposal as well. Punish any insolent demon who dares think this goddess as some mere morsel!”

     I could feel it, something within me mixing with the electricity generated by Sero’s ability, creating something more, greater than merely putting them together.

[Divine Punishment]

     An eruption of brilliant white lightning struck from above, lighting up the surroundings briefly as it struck the colossal demon. CRAAABOOOOOOM.

     The monster screeched as that power scorched its flesh and surged through its nerves, and wrought it an intense pain, punishment for some sin it could not even conceive. Even after the initial strike, it screamed, screeched, writhed and thrashed as it careened downward and away from me, but the immense wind pressure from its thrashing body still disturbed my flight. I lost balance, trying to correct myself only to over-correct.

     CRASHHHHHH. The sound of something huge breaking the surface of a fluid. With it, I knew that the vast ocean was not far beneath me and switched my abilities back to Durus. Orienting myself to be facing downward, I began to form the shape of a simple boat made as wide, thin, and light as I could, then ejected those glider wings from my back and allowed myself to fall. CRASHHH. The boat struck the ocean, sinking inward, then rebounding and splattering whatever fluid around, but certainly still floating to the surface.

     I took a moment to simply lay upon the bottom of the boat and sigh, wishing once more that I could just go home.