The Festival of the Gods - Day 2 (pt.4/4) "My Immortal"

As soon as Rina said those words, Caisey lost all his nerve. He recoiled violently at the prospect of singing before hundreds of important people. Except, these ‘people’ were gods, many of whom were revered for their abilities in poetry, song, and dance.

“I really don’t want to do this!” Caisey hissed at Rina as she cleared her throat and spiritually projected her voice into the overflowing crowd. Most of the realm had gathered there by now, the area itself magically expanding as new observers filed in.

Against his better judgement, Caisey wondered aloud what witchery was responsible for this cruel punishment. Then he ducked, arms over head, waiting to be struck by lightning. But of course, none ever came. Caisey wasn’t going to be put out of his misery that easily. He knew he was going to have to fight for his life today.

Meanwhile, Rina was hyping up the crowd, exclaiming, “Now for our second-to-last festival event to begin, presented to you by yours truly and my special Chosen One, Caisey Legna…” Rina paused for dramatic effect and there was a spattering of individuals humoring her with the pitter patter of a drum roll. Eventually, the participation was satisfying enough for Rina to carry on with, “Eternal Karaoke!”

Wh-What now?! Eternal? Caisey cried to himself, and then he rushed toward Rina, yanked her aside by her dazzling dress, and asked out loud, “What in the heck is ‘Eternal Karaoke?’ It better not be what it sounds like it is!”

Rina was laughing—like always—and took hold of both Caisey’s shoulders. She fixed herself against his body like she was the Band-Aid and he was the hand before twining her fingers around the back of his head and pulling his face down closer to hers. When Caisey was this close to Rina, it always did something to his senses, slowed them, shrank them down to a hyper focus on her, drowning everything else out.

Here, they stood before a wild congregation of eyeballs, and Caisey was ensnared in Rina’s eyes, as if they were the only two to exist in the whole universe. The crowd he’d usually be so self-conscious about was of little importance now, and he waited, hoping what he wanted to come was coming.

And then, it did. The bubbly beauty, now radiating an inescapable allure, was pressing their lips together in a searing hot kiss. It instantly melted Caisey’s mind away while his heart pounded in his ears.

The kiss wasn’t long, nor was it particularly sensual, but it was an impactful second kiss. One initiated by Rina, no less!

And when Rina pulled away, she had a twinkle in her eyes as she said, “Eternal Karaoke is exactly what it sounds like,” in a voice that terrified Caisey to no end.

Caisey choked on a wretched gasp, Rina giggled as she twirled and leapt away, the crowd cheered as if something important had just happened, Rina shouted, “Who’s ready for a duet?!,” and Caisey worried whether he was just paranoid or if this was real-life cult energy. Lisa and Don were in the crowd somewhere, probably inhaling cult fumes, eyes swirling and arms waving, and it would be all his fault because his cursed powerful mind had wished them there.

For probably the millionth time since informally ascending, Caisey wondered what he’d gotten himself into.

Music started playing through the gargantuan speakers attached to the stage. It drew Caisey’s attention to his goddess like a rubber band. Though she’d probably just outed herself as an evil mastermind planning to force everyone in attendance to sing until they lost their minds and died, Caisey couldn’t help reacting to the tell-tale first notes of one of their favorite songs.

My Immortal by Evanescence. Heartbreaking yet beautiful, simultaneously in contrast to Caisey and Rina’s situation while also hilariously similar to it. It was a song that, from the moment Caisey typed it in at karaoke one night, fit their voices together like a glove.

It had been all Caisey would listen to for days on end when Rina had disappeared that summer afternoon. It was interesting to Caisey that she’d chose to sing it right now.

Rina started off, singing in her light, captivating tone. She walked the length of the stage as she sang to the audience, and she turned to look at Caisey when it was his turn to sing. It was cute and almost made Caisey laugh as he remembered how they’d first sung together, turning too frequently to ask one another with their eyes if it was their turn to sing or not.

Caisey sang loud and clear. He spotted Don and Lisa in the crowd and was momentarily taken aback by the expressions on their faces. Then, he realized in surprise that this was probably their first time hearing him sing this song with Rina as, back in the Mortal Realm, they’d fall asleep moments after the song began, every time.

It was obvious that the Gods’ Realm was affecting them much like it affected Caisey.

As the song neared its end, the pair on stage locked eyes when singing the breakout part in unison, the part that usually rang in listeners’ ears for a long time afterwards. Caisey noticed something in Rina’s eyes.

“But though you’re still with me, I’ve been alone all along.”

It was pain. Pain and truth glistened in Rina’s eyes and Caisey had to stop himself from dropping his microphone and asking her all about it.

Finally, the song ended to a roaring round of applause and cheers. Caisey, while a little embarrassed about the crowd, rushed over to Rina in concern for what he had seen.

“Rina,” he started, and she stopped him with words of her own.

“I’ve waited a millennium and four centuries for this moment, Case.” Caisey looked at her with gentle eyes as she continued, “All this time I was limited to meeting you only in dreams, and then I got to meet you in person because your spirit was finally strong enough and it was—you were—everything I had ever hoped for. I could finally summon you here…”

She paused to lower her head, looking like she was trying to stop herself from crying. Caisey hoped to the gods that she wouldn’t cry. He felt near to tears himself, because he was understanding what Rina was saying to him.

He was as irreplaceable to her as she was to him.

Caisey thought about the risk involved in summoning someone from the Mortal Realm. As the two stood in momentary silence among the curious gaze of the members of the audience. He realized that one summons was all a person generally got, excluding extraordinary circumstances. And once failed, they never heard from their god again.

Caisey felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude at the thought, and said in a soft voice, “Thank you... For summoning me.”

Rina lifted her head to look at him, smiling a little, “Thank you for—”

“Before you finish that, remember that I literally had no choice.”

Rina burst out laughing and Caisey thought, That’s better, as his eyes narrowed into happy crescents behind his smile. “I was going to say, ‘Thank you for staying,’ stupid.”

Staying. Caisey thought and breathed the word in. He’d been terrified of the prospect at one point. Every now and again, he still was, but he now felt more at peace with it. It was a big adjustment and commitment, but Caisey knew he loved Rina and wanted to be with her no matter what. The fear of losing her was too great.

“Obviously, dumb dumb.” Was his answer, and he welcomed the tiny shove Rina gave him as she screamed with laughter. She was clearly ecstatic that she wouldn’t be alone anymore, that they would no longer have a wall of dreams between them.

With a relaxed smile, he suddenly understood the meaning behind the name Eternal Karaoke.

“So, what’s our next song?” Caisey prompted, and Rina looked like a balloon blown back to life.

She shouted, “Ooh! Drop the beat!” and ran off, ever the woman with otherworldly, mature beauty but the most excitable, youthful personality.

The ‘song’ festival ended after several more songs. Countless gods and goddesses took their turns screaming into the microphones up on the stage, performing weird jigs and bobbing their heads too hard. Some performed beautifully, obviously the other Muses and musically blessed gods. The Realm even welcomed Don and Lisa to the stage, and watching this was like food to Caisey’s soul.

Later when the festival-ending fireworks burst throughout the sky, Caisey still had his eyes on his friends. Lisa had her head on Don’s shoulder as she watched the skies. Don had his head on hers, looking so relaxed he could’ve been sleeping. The two of them appeared remarkably comfortable in the world of the gods.

“I have to find out a way to win that bet.” Caisey mumbled to himself, sitting beside Rina on the stage. From there, they had the best vantage point of the bursting artificial stars.

“What bet?” Rina asked, and after he told her, she said, “Oh, I can help you with that.”

Caisey raised an eyebrow. “You can?” He narrowed his eyes when she smiled toothily at him in response. “Yeah… I don’t trust you.” He said.

Rina chuckled, but she sounded devious. “Trust me.” She said.