Chapter 6:

The Watcher

The War of the Gods


An angel's wings are something to be beheld. White as snow and soft as a feather. Their objects of legend, flapping through the air with a simplistic beat. Some people had even described the sound as a melancholy beat. None of this mattered to Ariya though.

The fruit seller flapped his wings as she stared blankly ahead. Dangerous thoughts ran through her mind, Teach’s smile at the forefront.

It'd been around an hour since Ariya and the fruit seller had escaped the explosion of spells, flying through the air without saying a word to each other. The clouds had gathered above them, turning a dangerously dark shade.

“We're heading down.” The fruit seller spoke for the first time since their flight began, soaring down towards the ground. His white shining wings were soundless as the wind scoped down the wings through every feather.

Ariya looked up slightly towards his face before fixing her eyes back on something unknown to everyone but her.

The grasslands came into focus as Ariya’s shoes touched the ground, the fruit selled slowing their momentum before coming to a complete stop. Something seemed to startle Ariya, making her jump and look around at her surroundings. “Huh, where am I?”

“Outskirts of Gairua, capital of Geris. There's a storm brewing.” He pointed his hand towards a nearby cave, sticking out of the field of grass “Come with me.”

He headed off before Ariya could say anything, forcing her to run to keep up. The grass seemed to grab Ariya’s shoes, trapping her in place over and over as she tried to keep up.

“What’s your name anyway, you could at least tell me that,” Ariya asked.

“Futaro.”

“Like… is that it? Do you not have a last name or…?

“Not important. I’m just a fruit seller.” He sped up as they entered the cave, just as the first few raindrops began to fall. It wasn’t long until a sheet of raindrops covered the cave’s entrance, the sound of thunder reverberating around the cave every other minute or so.

Futaro gathered a few sticks seemingly from thin air, setting them in a natural dip in the cave. “Furame.”

A small ball of fire appeared in his palm, making the flame flicker in an uneven light. Futaro slowly lowered his hand into the pile of wood, setting the fireplace alight. “We’ll stay here till morning. Get some sleep.”

“Sleep? After all that? I have too many questions to even think about sleeping.”

“It's for the best if you wait until tomorrow, Ariya.” Futaro laid on the cold hard ground as his wings disappeared into a shower of light.

“I…” Ariya closed her mouth as she realized any talking would be in vain. “Fufuya”

The stone below her feet started to soften, becoming bouncy to the touch. If one couldn't see, they would assume it was a mattress by how it felt. She jumped on the stone mattress.

It wasn't long until her breathing became steady in the dark cave. The day's events washed over her mind. She would be asleep for a long while.

I floated out of the cave, passing through the rocky walls. Those angel wings of Futaro’s were impressive. It’d take me ten whole minutes to cover what he did in eightish hours. Not bad for a rule-following human.

Space bent to my will as I launched myself towards the royal castle. Clouds became circles, rings for me to pass through. I could feel the air moving throughout my non-existent body, slightly rustling at the disturbance my body, if you could call it that, caused.

Below me, buildings started to pop up more and more frequently until I passed through the solid gates of Gairua. At this time of night, the normally bustling streets were quiet as a mouse. Granted, there was probably a lockdown of the city to help.

A few people were scurrying around on the ground, a feeling of uneasiness coming from them. Criminals, if I had to guess. I probably should have reported that, but meh. The knights were probably going to kill them all off soon enough. Not my problem.

A few seconds later, I was looking at the stage, or what used to be the stage anyway. An unblemished half sphere was carved into the ground, around a thousand feet wide. Nothing remained of the stage or even the courtyard. Only dirt remained of that battle that once was.

I flew into the castle for a second, only to see Wyatt arguing with a guard. Figured he would have to pull overtime with the little stunt Ariya and that fruit seller pulled today. Him noticing me again would only cause more hassle for him. Besides, I actually had something to do.

I flew up towards the sky, high enough that I could see the whole city with my eyes. This was going to be the hard part. I started to scan every person in the city, one by one. I had to stay under wraps here, what a pain. Already had enough people on my back for every decision I made it felt like. If they knew I did shit like this, I’d be in major trouble.

Fifteen minutes later, I still had no sign of him. What a pain. Reading every single civilian was so boring. They were all the exact same, no individuality it seemed like. At least with magic, people were unique. Looking at person after person was exhausting.

After what felt like forever, I finally hit the jackpot. Bingo. He was tucked in a basement apparently, passed out from exhaustion. He could have saved himself by doing something interesting, but atlas.

In a blink of an eye and I was there. Ketan was curled up in a single blanket, breathing raggedly. Part of me felt bad. None of this was his fault really. He was only a kid who got too curious, but I had a world to run.

“Ketan, I’d wake up if I were you.”

“Huh…” His body shifted in the blanket as his mind awoke. Eyes stared into mine before he backed up in terror.

“Wh-wh-who are you? Wh- what do you want with me? I’m sorry I practiced magic, ok! I’ll never do it again!” Poor kid could barely talk. Of course, he was only digging his own grave with every word he spoke.

“I’m what you would call a god, kid. You know, one of those all powerful beings you see in those old beat up books”

Ketan immediately bowed. Ooh kid, wrong move again. You just can’t hit the ball, can you? Only strike after strike.

“Yeah yeah, anyway. You got any last words kid? I don’t got much time.”

“Huh, wha…” Before he could finish, I’d already pointed my finger towards his head and blasted. The odds were always low, but never zero that someone was watching. The faster I got this done.

His body disintegrated into a pile of ash before sinking into the dirty floor. Green grass started to arise from the grave, followed by a variety of flowers. Least I could do that for the kid.

Returning the only thing on my list, I skyrocketed into the air. The kid should have been more interesting. Sitting in a basement wouldn’t be fun to watch. I wanted action, drama, violence, romance. I wanted it all, interesting people.

Ariya and Futaro, now that was an interesting group. A stoic mysterious figure, guiding a witch in training, who was naive in the ways of the world. Who wouldn’t be interested in their tale?

Ketan should have gone on that path, maybe planning a rebellion in the underneath’s of the city, honing his magic all the while, or wanting revenge, dedicating his life to it. Both of those options would have kept him alive. Alas, he had to be a little coward. What a pain.

The clouds around me started to turn into rings again, this time truly dark as night. It was probability two in the morning if I had to guess. Spending sixish hours scanning people was not exactly my idea of fun, but who knows. There’s probability some wackjob out thair would love to do that, day and night.

The cave came into view a few minutes later. I passed through the rock walls to see Ariya and Futaro still fast asleep. These two were interesting, I didn’t want anything to happen to them while I was gone.

With a gesture of my finger, an invisible bed appeared next to me, floating in the air. Sleeping like this was hard at first, but at this point, it was second nature. I’d been doing it for years after all.

I wonder what events will befall those two tomorrow. Worse case, I could always throw a few obstacles their way. I didn’t want to kill them just yet but seeing toys squeal was always fun.

Deep inside, I had another reason as well. That girl, Ariya, she had something. I wasn’t sure what, but there was something to her, something unknown to me. If all went well, maybe she could expose it, expose this world for what it really is.

The chances were slim to none, but as long as those chances were there, it was worth a shot. I didn’t have much to lose anyway. If the public could know, then this world could be free, I could be free.

She could be the one, the one to free me from my eternal suffering. I’d push her hard, harder than she can probability handle, laughing all the way. If she survives though, then I may be free.

If she survives, then this world can truly become free.

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