Sacrifices To Jupiter VI

My heart, or well, the place where it's supposed to be, pains. Something grows there. It tickles, and sizzles.

She sits cross-legged, trying her best to avoid looking at my chest.

Mira raises three fingers.

"Let me start from the beginning, then…"

I listen to her attentively.

***

Before man came to be, before hope came to be, and before the universe came to be, there was complete and utter darkness.

In the dark roamed eldritch horrors.

Not much, if anything, is known about the beings of the void.

Nobody knows how they came to be, or what they were, really.

All that is known is that those fearsome entities aren't subjected to logic.

Just like the creation of the universe.

Just like the coming of the First Thresher—

The Adjudicator

The Progenitor

The King in Yellow

The First Thresher isolated the space from the void.

The First Thresher founded the stars and the planets.

The First Thresher blessed the land with life and light.

That was how the universe came to be.

Then came the Second Thresher.

The Architect

The Prismancer

The Tyrant in Blue

The Second Thresher established the laws and the limits.

The Second Thresher colored the world in vivid emotions.

The Second Thresher governed the forces and the conduct.

That was how the hope came to be.

Then came the Third Thresher.

The Anarchist

The Puppeteer

The Regent in Red

The Third Thresher opposed everything and everyone.

The Third Thresher sowed seeds of horror and evil.

The Third Thresher toyed with destiny and truth.

From ruin, man was shaped.

With man, sin was born.

Demons were born.

***

"Hold on—" I raise my hand in a stopping gesture. "That's an interesting tale and all, but I don't get what the point is. I'd rather you explain to me how magic works, what the dungeons are, and why the weird mechanical voice keeps popping in my head."

"You serious? You told me to explain everything, no?" Mira asks with an annoyed expression.

Son of a bitch. Wait, no. Daughter of a bitch.

"Can I?" she asks, raising a brow.

"Oh, of course!" I shout merrily, waving my hand like a bourgeoise. "Also do explain to me what you ate today for breakfast! Oh, also what your favorite bird is and why! Oh oh, also also what you saw in your dreams today! I'm sooo~ interested, bestie~"

I snatch the purplish pointy hat lying beside us and put it on, clasping my hands like a princess. "While we're at that, why not prepare some cookies and a steaming tea."

"BITCH!" I shout. "Just get to the magic part! Magic! Can't you see, I'm a magical demon girl! A fucking daemon! That's me!"

"Not a magical gundam! Not a priest or historian for fuck's sake. Kid, keep the cosmic fairy tales bullshit outta—"

Mira extends her arm and presses her right fingertip against my lips.

"You call me a kid, but you talk and shout like a baby, no?" She smiles widely, mockingly. Her eyes narrow with mischief. "Besides, how old are you to call me a kid? I may be short, but I'm sixteen, you know? We are probably of similar age, give or take a year or two.."

Alright. This is it. Fuck the principles. I'm skinning this kid alive—

Without notice, my hand shoots toward her hand.

I'll just settle with an arm this time.

No-no, maybe a finger. Yeah, cutting a finger seems a reasonable enough punishment.

I end up plucking a strand of her amber hair, and immediately chewing on it.

"Ouch!" she hitches in pain, her body shuddering. "You serious?!"

I have no idea, girly. This is the best self-restraint I've managed so far.

All I know is that you truly are a one-of-a-kind moron.

I mistook you for a smart kid, but no, you are just suicidal.

She really wants to nominate herself as a sacrificial lamb.

She really wants me to eliminate her from this life.

But I'm going to give her one more chance.

"I've lived exactly thrice as long as you have," I tell her. "So yes, you are a kid, and you should call me uncle."

"Uncle?" She sneers and squints, finding what I said ridiculous. "Bah… Then you call me a princess, yes!?"

I smile. "Of course, Princess Marisella!"

Her body shudders once more.

"Umm… No, nevermind… Just call me Mari…"

"I wouldn't dare, Prin-cess, Ma-ri-sel-la!" I bow with a hand clasped on my chest like a servant would.

Hahaha! How great it feels to bully children! Did I, perchance, develop sadistic tendencies, too? Just look at her disgusted expression!

"You… you're a creep, aren't you?" she whispers.

Two out of three women I've met have called me a creep.

The one who didn't call me a creep was a creep herself.

So what does that make of me?

Well, the two who called me a creep are kids.

So, that doesn't really count.

Which means I'm perfectly fine!

"Just continue with the tale."

***

The Third Thresher didn't stand a chance against the other two in smarts or power.

Yet the third had no bottom line, nothing to protect and nothing to lose.

And it is a known fact that it is easier to destroy than to protect.

So the third did. The third turned hope into despair.

Trillions wailed, billions shrilled, more vanished.

The universe stood on end, about to perish.

Barely any life remained incorrupt.

Yet the creators withstood the destructor by combined force.

The two Threshers sacrificed themselves to eternally seal the third.

With the end of the three, came a new era. Eleven Pillars came to be.

Gray, The Pillar of Life, traversed the universe, settling on a rogue planet known as Nova.

She was mesmerized by its beauty, so much so that she envisioned life on it.

As she felt lonely.

As it'd be such a pity to hoard such beauty to her and herself alone.

Gray wanted to have children, and share the beauty of wonder and wander with them. Gray wanted listeners. She wanted listeners, and those listeners in turn would share the epics with the future generations.