Sap, all hail the sap!

Jesse lay on the ground in the middle of an empty street. He was bothered by both the fact that he had lost to his own father, and that despite being close to Christmas, it was warm and sunny. On Christmas, it was supposed to snow and be cold. He had even gone to the trouble of buying a gift for his wife and child.

He wasn’t sure why God’s eye was here. Ito had to have been wrong. He couldn’t have been able to see the future and regenerate. The sap granted only one wish.

There was the possibility of Ito being a god. Perhaps, a very small, weak, god had avoided attention and made its way to earth. That was possible.

However, he was assimilated into God’s eye, which shouldn’t have happened if he was a god.

This was going nowhere. He had to figure out what he was going to do next, or he’d really be in trouble.

God’s eye had left Japan for the time being. It probably wouldn’t be back until it had finished assimilating the rest of the word. Then it would come back to pick off any stragglers.

It was pointless anyway. Jesse’s “father”, if it could even be called that, wasn’t going to learn a single thing about humanity. Unlike Jesse. He smirked. That would be his trump card.

***

Zaza stared at the sap god’s eye as it slowly dripped down towards the ground. It’s mouth, which was located a bit higher up and to the right, let out a loud wail.

She realized that she was no longer standing in Scarlet's kitchen. Her feet were submerged in a thick black sludge. The “ceiling” mirrored the ground. Thin lines of the sludge connected the ground and ceiling.

The sap god’s mouth, eyes, nose and ears were all encased in droplets of sludge that fell from the ceiling. Its voice sounded muffled and gloopy.

“Ohhhhhhh, please, tell me your wish quickly”

She didn’t know what to say. Years of research and praying and sacrificing and she didn’t know what to say.

“I uh, just one wish?”

The sap god’s eye fell to the ground with a sickening plop. A new one appeared above. It was a bit larger, and fell faster.

“Honnnnney, you don’t know the rulllllles?”

She shook her head no. Of course she did.

“Okaaaaay, this is how it works. You make a wisssssh, I grant it, and I get tooooo ruin your life somehowwwwwww, understand?”

“Yeah”

“Goooood, goooood, now make a wish- ah!”

Its mouth hit the ground. The next one was much nicer than the last.

“I want to become like a god” Zaza covered her mouth. She wasn’t sure if she was quite ready to make a wish like that.

The sap god waited for a few moments before opening its mouth to speak.

“Okaaaay, if that’s what you wannnnnt, that’s what you're gonna gettttttt. For your punishment…I realllllly reallllly liked what happened to that Ito boy, that was funnnnnn”

Zaza burst into flames.

“Hahahaha, oooooooh, look at that, look at thatttttt”

Despite being on fire, she realized that nothing more than her skin and hair was burning. She seemed to have enough regeneration to counteract the flames. She did realize, however, that her regeneration didn't nullify pain.

“Hey heyyyyy, off you go”

The sap god dripped some sap on her forehead, and she was sent back to the land of the living.

***

Isaac and Scarlet stood in front of the Smith family’s house. It had burnt down to the ground.

“Wow, looks like it really got burnt down to the ground” Isaac said, laying a comforting hand on Scarlet’s shoulder. She started to fall over.

“Hey there, sorry. It’s your house, after all”

“Not really”

“Haha, yeah, I guess it’s a little bit Jesse’s”

“It’s all Jesse’s. I don’t want it”

She started to cry again and Isaac took her back into the car. He had made her cry three times, and was getting a bit nervous that it was more than just general stress over God’s eye. Especially when he removed her eyepatch. Her eye was fine, she could see, despite missing the other. He didn't know why she would cry over something like that. He wished Em was on speaking terms with him. Maybe Scarlet was one of those women who only felt safe talking to girls.

He slammed the door and made his way back to the remains of the house to make sure there wasn’t anything left. There was a reason he had suggested the name for the Decider’s Guild. If there was something that humans were definitely good at doing, it was killing things.

Isaac winced in pain as he tried to move a large piece of wood. The fire had only died out recently. He noticed there were a few burn marks on nearby buildings.

Then he saw it.

He wasn’t sure why he hadn’t thought of it since his initial encounter. Regardless of its purpose or significance to Jesse he knew it was crucial to something. Nothing in this world could even come close to that horrible, despicable shape.

It hadn’t been harmed by the fire, because of course it wouldn’t. Something like that would probably relish the pain and destruction brought about by fire.

He decided to touch it. Perhaps he could carry it back to the-

No, definitely not. His hand felt like the kind of icing that makes the back of your throat tickle.

“Oh, that survived”

Isaac jumped and spun around. Scarlet was standing right next to him. He wondered how long he had been standing there.

“Y-yeah. You said it was a family heirloom?”

“That’s what Jesse said”

“I don’t think Jesse has a family”

Scarlet looked to the side.

“Is Jesse a girl or a boy?”

Isaac smiled.

“Do you understand what Jesse is?”

“I don’t think he was a very good husband”

Isaac sat down and motioned for Scarlet to join him.

“Can I ask some questions?”

“Sure”

“Okay, thanks. Did Jesse ever…do things you thought were strange?”

“I don’t know, maybe. I do things that are pretty strange, though”

“Such as…?”

Scarlet blushed.

“I hit people in the head with my head. Like this”

She made a headbutting motion with her head. Her face lit up with a full smile now. Isaac found it contagious.

“Well, that’s a little odd, but I meant really weird. Like supernatural”

Scarlet thought for a while.

“Yoshi didn’t really like that heirloom. Eventually she got used to it, but as a baby, she wouldn’t get near it”

“That’s a pretty good observation”

“Thanks”

It was starting to get dark.

“Well, it’s not going anywhere, probably, so we can head back. Don’t worry, we’ve got a room for you”

He started to walk back to the car, but Scarlet didn’t move from her seat.

“Hey Isaac?”

“Scarlet?”

“Can I sleep on the floor next to your bed?”

“Yea”