Meeting the Beast God

Edited by: ASaltedFish

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After breakfast, Ellery led the way to the barrier with Orin, Darya, Edros, and Akimitsu behind him. 

No one else followed them because Edros and Akimitsu had them do other things, like looking for anything edible on this planet. If they could find food and fresh water, it would allow them to stay on this planet longer. 

Ellery stood in front of the barrier with the crystal orb and knife in his hands. He spoke as loudly as he could, "Excuse me, Beast God, I apologize for disturbing you and your wife, but my companions and I would like to meet you. We have this knife that was given to a noble family living on Hezyria. Their family was given the knife by your wife to hold onto, and they have been wanting to give it back but could not find you.

"I also have something I would like to ask of you. Could you please let us in?" 

Ellery's voice echoed throughout the area, but they didn't hear anybody responding. The barrier also did not move. 

After waiting a full minute, Ellery sighed and reached out to touch the barrier. Akimitsu stood right behind Ellery, prepared to catch him if he ended up flying backward. 

He gently put his hand onto the barrier, but it didn't hurt him. He slowly pushed his hand through the barrier and found there was no resistance. 

"I can go inside… Thank you, Beast God!" Ellery first offered thanks toward the building inside the barrier and then looked at Edros, Akimitsu, Orin, and Darya. "Can you all try to go inside?" 

Darya walked up to the barrier and could touch it, but she could not push her hand through. She shook her hand. "It won't let me in." 

Edros, Akimitsu, and Orin also tried, but it was the same as Darya. They didn't get hurt, but they couldn't go in. 

[Ellery, why don't you try holding each person's hand and going in with them? Maybe the Beast God will let you all in that way.]

Ellery thought Aster made a great point, so he grabbed Darya's hand. "Darya, would you like to see if we can go in together holding hands? Maybe the Beast God would let us in this way." 

Darya didn't see why not, so she nodded and let Ellery guide her into the barrier. Ellery went first and was able to pull Darya in after him. After that, he came out of the barrier with a smile on his face. 

"Line up one by one so we can all go in." 

Orin was the first to go, then Akimitsu, and finally Edros. Each person was able to go inside with the help of Ellery, so they all bowed toward the building to give their thanks. 

While he was waiting, Edros let the Scout captain know that they were going into the barrier. He wasn't sure if they could contact anyone, so he asked if they could wait for them while looking for water and food on the planet. 

With everyone inside the barrier, they were finally able to see what the building looked like. If Aster had to compare the building, it looked like the Pantheon in Italy but twice the size. 

Only the Beast God and their wife were living there, but it was a lot of space for two, nonetheless 100 people. 

"Everyone ready?" Ellery looked at everyone after taking a deep breath to calm his nerves. 

"Ready," They all responded at the same time. 

Ellery nodded and then started to walk toward the building. It didn't take long to reach the building made of white stone and marble floors. The building didn't have a front door, but it did have a long stream flowing through the building. 

Koi-like fish swam up and down the stream with other small fish. As they walked deeper into the building, they finally reached a wide open door. 

Inside, they could see a large circular bed in the center of the room. A white canopy draped the entirety of the bed, but because of the material, everyone could see the silhouettes of two people. A male and female-like figure was sitting, staring at the door. It was like they were expecting them to come at this moment. 

"You must be Ellery, the one to call out to us outside of the barrier, correct?" A male's voice resounded in their minds. "I am the Beast God you all have been looking for." 

"Thank you, Beast God, for allowing us to meet you. It is an honor to meet you both." 

An androgynous voice responded. "I see you have my knife. I didn't think the descendant of that family would be here to give it back to me. I gave it to them, knowing I would not be able to get it back." 

That descendant was Akimitsu. His male mother's side of the family had been holding on to the knife for generations. 

"It is an honor to meet you… Um, how should we address you, Beast God's wife?" Akimitsu responded but then realized no one knew their name! 

"Well, you know me as the Beast God's wife, but you can call me Adel. As for how to address me… Well, I don't have a specific gender anymore, so you can address me using she/her pronouns. I was in a female's body before, so it is much more comfortable to be addressed that way." 

"I understand; thank you, Miss Adel. Please accept the knife back. Our ancestors never used it, waiting to give it back to you." After he said that, the knife flew out of Ellery's hands and gently landed in Adel's hands. 

"Wow, you all really didn't use it. It looks the same as when I gave it to your ancestors… Well, I thank you for giving this back to me." 

"It is no problem at all!" 

After that, there was a brief silence. Ellery did not know how to bring up his situation, but it seemed he didn't have to explain himself because the Beast God sighed. 

"Ellery, I know why you are here." The Beast God got off of the bed and opened the canopy. 

Everyone could finally see the Beast God. He had antlers on his head and eyes that resembled a snake. There were scales on his neck, feathers on his arms, claws for nails, and a fluffy long tail that looked similar to a tiger's. A long but simple white robe covered most of his body. It was just like the scriptures that depicted the Beast God's appearance. 

Still, he looked handsome but also terrifying at the same time. 

"And your twin brother's soul that is in your body, you go by Aster, right?" 

"Twin brother?" Orin, Ellery, and Aster shouted at the same time. 

"Yes, you two were supposed to be in separate bodies, but the Gods and their minions governing reincarnation and death messed up. With Aster's reincarnation and Ellery's rebirth, the timelines became distorted, merging your bodies in the womb, but it could not merge your souls, hence why there are two souls in one body. You should have been two separate people in this timeline." 

Everyone could understand each word the Beast God said, but at the same time, when they heard the words spoken together, it didn't make sense! Or, more like, it was unbelievable? Were there actually different timelines? How did it work? 

"Well, that stuff is confusing to mortals, who do not understand the flow of time, so just know it was a mistake for Aster's soul to be in Ellery's body." 

"Okay…" Ellery nodded but then nervously asked, "Then, is there anything you could do to separate us?" 

"Let me see." The Beast God stood in front of Ellery and put his hand on Ellery's head.

Ellery felt his soul being sucked back to where Aster's was, and then it came rushing back. The sensation made him nauseated, but he did his best not to stumble or throw up. 

After the Beast God took his hand off of Ellery's head, Ellery felt his body fall forward. Thankfully, Akimitsu quickly caught him. 

"Are you okay?!" Akimitsu brought Ellery into his arms, checking to make sure he was okay. 

Ellery was fine, but he was a bit pale. 

The Beast God didn't care what was going on with Ellery, just waited for him to adjust himself. 

Once Ellery could stand on his own, the Beast God smiled. "I can separate you and Aster, but there's a 50% chance it will fail." 

"What happens if it fails…?" Ellery hesitantly questioned. 

The Beast God shrugged and nonchalantly said, "Then you both will die."