GOD

Chinatsu and Miyabi stumbled into a stone pillar-lined room with no windows, lit only by the same kind of otherworldly glow as the mirror maze. In the center was a circular pool, with an archway that reflected on the still water as a perfect circle.

“This is it…?” Chinatsu said, letting go of Miyabi.

The room seemed like an old temple, but there was nothing spectacular about it. No gilding, no embossing or carvings–just simple stone not unlike the walls of the maze they’d traversed. The two of them stood between two pillars, rooted to the spot and reluctant to go further.

It was so quiet in there that it felt like their heartbeats were liable to echo off the walls. At first, the sound Chinatsu heard was like the faint crackle of static. But it grew louder into a low hum. Like electricity coursing through the air, it crescendoed with a loud snap.

Chinatsu shielded his eyes from the sudden flash as the archway lit up. Colors swirled and danced as the light within the arch shimmered like aurora borealis. It was hypnotic.

A portal that would send them home.

The two of them dropped the things they’d been carrying and moved slowly towards it, entranced. Chinatsu’s chest pounded and his breathing intensified as he stepped into the shallow pool.

He’d expected it to feel cold against his skin, but it was neither hot nor cold. It strangely felt like nothing. It was only a few centimeters deep, and the only indication that was even really there was the light splashing noises he and Miyabi made as they walked.

They stopped just short of the archway.

“H-how does this work? Do we just walk into it?” Miyabi asked, her voice just barely above a whisper.

“Only one of you may pass through the gate and return,” a light voice echoed throughout the room, making Chinatsu nearly jump out of his skin. He and Miyabi whipped their heads around at the sound, looking for the source. Behind them was Peony, making exaggerated throat-clearing noises. “Ahem, ahem…Or something like that.”

How? How could they be standing there right at that moment? A ghost? And on top of it, they looked like nothing had happened at all.

“You…” Chinatsu began to speak, but was immediately cut off by Peony.

“Died?” The Elf rolled their eyes and shrugged their shoulders, letting out a soft chuckle as if the idea itself was preposterous. “I got better.”

“How did you get here?” Miyabi took two steps towards Peony. Her face was pale and her voice trembled as she spoke. “There was no way you were right behind us the whole time.”

Chinatsu was so shocked that Peony was standing right before them that he himself hadn’t considered how they even got there. Remembering how much the sound echoed when he threw the shoes down the stairs, even if they couldn’t see anyone, they should have at least been able to hear the Elf following.

Peony frowned, scratched their head, and shuffled their feet. It was like an adult trying to figure out the best way to answer an uncomfortable question from a child. Then, a playful smirk crept across their face.

“Watch this,” they said, strolling over to a stone pillar to the right of the pool. Peony put out a hand, pressed it against the solid pillar, and slipped into it like it was nothing. It was like the stone absorbed them.

As Chinatsu was trying to comprehend what he’d just witnessed, Peony emerged from a pillar to the left of the pool, completely across the room.

“I wasn’t behind you. I’ve been waiting for you two,” Peony said, striding up to Chinatsu and Miyabi.

“Have you always been able to do that!?” Chinatsu yelled in shock. Peony had never, not once, given a single inkling that they were capable of something like that.

“How do you think I was able to come to your aid so quickly when I found you two on the brink of death?” Peony replied. They looked back and forth between Chinatsu and Miyabi for a moment before locking eyes with Chinatsu. “Furthermore, how do you even think that I knew you needed me to step in and save you?”

Peony’s expression was unreadable. They never had any indication of whether they were telling a lie or telling the truth. No subtle clues to point to a lie, like a nervous tic or averting their gaze. A sudden realization struck Chinatsu.

“Peony…” Chinatsu’s mouth felt dry. The words felt stuck in his throat.

Their small hand reached out and rested gently on Chinatsu’s shoulder. As if reading his mind, Peony answered. “Yes. I am the one who controls this world.”

In other words, the god of this world.

“Does that mean everything you’ve told us so far has been a lie?” Miyabi said in a low, harsh voice. Her hands were balled into fists and trembling. After all, she was the one who initially harbored doubts about the Elf, but buried them for the sake of harmony.

“No,” Peony answered immediately and without hesitation. They removed their hand from Chinatsu’s shoulder and raised it to their heart. “Everything I told you about myself was the truth.”

Reading between the lines, everything else was simply a lie of omission.

“Then how!? How are you the god of this world when you’ve only been here for fifty years!?” Miyabi demanded, her frustrations spilling over. She was vocalizing all the feelings and questions Chinatsu was feeling, but couldn’t bring himself to express in the moment.

Chinatsu thought Miyabi must feel somewhat vindicated in knowing her initial gut feeling was right. But Chinatsu, who had put blind faith in Peony from the beginning, wanted to continue putting his faith in them. He found himself wanting to know more–maybe there was something Peony could say that might justify it all.

“If you don’t believe me, will you allow me to prove it in some way?” Peony offered, extending their hand to them.

“Yes,” Chinatsu said, taking their hand. “And then I want the truth. All of it.”

“Chinatsu!” Miyabi shouted, yanking Chinatsu’s hand away from Peony. He gave her a pleading look as he freed himself from her grasp.

“Then what proof would convince you?” Peony pondered aloud. They tapped their chin, trying to give the impression they were thinking hard. “Oh! How about I fix your bodies?”

That got Miyabi’s attention. She stared at Peony for a moment before uttering an incredulous, “...How?”

Chinatsu was curious too. Peony had never given any indication that they could fix their problem, but now they were saying it was possible?

“Kneel,” Peony said, pointing to the floor outside the pool. Miyabi stepped out, followed by Chinatsu, and the two of them knelt side by side on the cold, hard stone floor.

Peony stood in front of them, looking down at them. Chinatsu could see their mask was slipping and that Peony seemed to derive some sort of delight from having this power over them. He swallowed hard, not knowing what to expect.

“As far as I can tell, your souls are in the correct bodies,” Peony said, squatting down in front of them to get eye level. They reached out their small, thin index fingers and poked both of their foreheads at the same time. “What seems to have gotten all jumbled up was your minds–like your memories and maybe a little bit of personality along with it.”

“H-how!?” Chinatsu was trying hard to believe in what Peony was saying.

“It wasn’t me. It must have happened when you crossed over,” Peony said, shrugging. They sighed like the task at hand was so burdensome before putting a hand on the sides of Chinatsu and Miyabi’s heads. “Anyway…”

Peony bonked their heads together hard and let go. It hurt. It hurt like the worst headache ever. Then, the pain subsided as fast as it came on.

Chinatsu had closed his eyes on impact when their heads collided and slowly opened them to find he was now sitting slightly higher. He looked to his left and locked eyes with Miyabi–the real Miyabi.

She burst into tears. Was it shock? Relief? Or was she happy to be finally back to normal?

Miyabi buried her face in Chinatsu’s chest and hugged him. He put his arms around her and stroked her hair. Being back in his body now, he finally understood all those strange and unfamiliar feelings he’d been experiencing the whole time were her’s. Now that they were out in the open, there was no longer a reason to hold them back.

Chinatsu looked up at Peony, who was once again looming over them. What was the look on their face? Disappointment? Boredom? It didn’t matter. They proved their god-like powers, so now they owed them the truth.

“I’m willing to hear you out,” Chinatsu said. It felt strange to hear his words in his own voice again. He helped Miyabi to her feet as he stood up. Now it was his turn to look down on Peony.

“I met the creator of this world exactly three times,” Peony said. They held up a finger as they rattled off each point. “The first time was when I was abandoned here as a sacrifice to Leonheart’s ambitions. The second was when I had finally given up on everything. And the third time was when I finally killed that so-called god.”

“H-how do you kill a god? Is that even possible?” Miyabi asked, her voice soft and hoarse. She continued to cling to Chinatsu even as she calmed down.

“I wonder about that myself, because the one I killed turned out to be a mortal man in the end,” Peony replied brightly. If it wasn’t clear before, it was now that Peony had more than a few screws loose. “He was simply a very powerful mage who created this labyrinth some time ago and lived beyond the limits of normal men before I stole his power over this place.”

“How did you steal his power?” Chinatsu asked, knowing full well that the answer wouldn’t be pleasant. But what Peony said next was far more disturbing than anything he could have imagined.

“I ate him.”