Orange flames blazed as the forest burnt, the rush of heat that roiled off it swamping the night air along with the fire's roar. It bathed the ramshackle temples of the place of small gods in orange light, casting giant shadows over the young ones. The newest of the small gods shrank back in fear as their playground burnt, but the older ones knew enough not to worry, and one in particular stood far too close to the flames, watching them eagerly.
Slowly, the flames died and flickered out everywhere except right in front of the waiting god, and a god far larger than any of those gathered in front of the houses became tangible and stepped from the flames.
"Right, then," he said, waving an arm to put out the remaining embers, "which story do you kids want to hear today?"
The small gods rushed him, each shouting their suggestion as loud as they could while tackle-hugging what parts of the fire god they could reach. The god who had waited for him jumped above his siblings and threw stretched arms around his shoulders, yelling incoherently. The fire god stumbled under the combined weight of the small ones and set about peeling them off his legs and stomach.
"Hey, now!" He shook another couple of small gods off his right leg and gave them a mock-indignant glare. "If you're going to be like that, I think I'll pick the story myself!"
The rubber spirit whined, "Awww, Aaaaace…"
Ignoring him, the fire spirit grinned and said, "Okay, I've decided! I'll tell you about the Bright King and the end of everything."
The small gods all suddenly perked up. A new story was nothing to be sniffed at, and this Bright King was definitely nothing they'd ever heard about before. The fire god sat on the well-charred stump he always sat on, and the small ones gathered around his feet.
Ace, for that was the name he took among his brothers, took a deep breath and began to speak.
"Look around you. Everything you see, the hills, the forest-" he pointed off into the distance, "-the mortal world-" he pointed skyward, "-the heavens-" he pointed downwards and lowered his voice, "-even the underworld and the land of beasts, all that is and exists must be destroyed. Not merely razed and defiled, destroyed. The lands, the seas, the skies, even the void, will be taken and made to not exist. It's a task that will take a hundred days and a hundred nights, and not a hundred of just anyone's days and nights; a hundred of the Bright King's days and nights.
The Bright King is the great destroyer, the god or spirit or possibly even mortal – I doubt it, though – who will take everything and make it into nothing. He cannot be stopped, and he cannot be made of one who lacks his will. His iron will is what he has that shall give him the strength to travel the worlds and find his warriors, what shall give him the strength to stand up to Universe Man, who holds the universe on his great shoulders, what shall give him the strength to make nothing from everything.
His time is coming.
Nobody knows who he is yet. He could be me, or you, or any god or spirit, maybe even one who is not yet born. But when he finds who he is and comes for his throne, he will shout his name to the god lands and the heavens and the underworld, and he will bring the world to its knees.
That's all that can be seen now."
Silence, save for the soft whistle of the wind, reigned over the small gods and their world. Even the rowdiest little ones were quiet, comprehension failing in the face of the idea of sheer destruction and the possibility that the harbinger of it sat among them now.
Luffy the rubber god was first to break the silence.
"That," he said quietly, "is so cool."
Immediately, chatter broke out among the gods. Arguing amongst the ones who agreed and those who were terrified out of their minds was the first thing to happen, with crying from those most scared a close second. Ace took advantage of the confusion to stand up and compose himself.
"Okay, okay, okay," he said. "Time for you kids to sleep, okay?"
There was whining from the mob of small gods, of course, but not nearly as much as usual. "C'mon, go," muttered the fire god as he hustled the young ones towards their temples. Most went to bed without a fuss, and even the mechanical god of magnetism made much less of a bother than usual. Once every young one was tucked safely in bed, Ace returned to the embers of the forest to go home…
…but he sensed a small presence behind him, and he turned to face the god who had followed him. It was Luffy, standing there in his sleep shirt, small fists clenched in determination. He took a deep breath and said, "Ace."
Ace cocked his head to one side. "Yeah, Luffy?"
Luffy declared with a slight tremble in his voice, "I'm gonna be the Bright King, Ace."
Ace looked him up and down, then kneeled and pulled the small god into a tight hug. Pulling the strings from his boots and weaving them into a band, with some of the shiny stones that littered the ground in the place of the small gods, he said quietly, "Okay."
He tied the band around Luffy's head, with the brightest of the nine stones resting in the center of his forehead. "There. Every king needs a crown, and now you have one."
Ace let go of his brother, patted him on the head and said, "Come tell me when you're king, okay?"
Luffy puffed up his chest and nodded stoically. Ace tilted his hat in recognition, burst into flame and disappeared from the place of small gods.
Small hands clasped firmly to his loose 'crown', Luffy lay down in the grass, dug a few stones that stuck into his back out of the dirt, and went to sleep.
And when the morning sun's rays shone into the shoddy temples, the small gods gathered around Luffy in awe because, as he slept, the small god had stopped being small and become a proper god.
Prologue, yay! ;) So, uh… yeah. Every ending needs a beginning, don'tcha know. Spot the cameo.
Oh, and just so you know, I'm trying to make this story as short as possible, 'coz frankly, I hate it when I find an awesome story but it's so fucking long that I completely lose interest by the third chapter. I don't want to slog through twenty damn pages of setup and setup alone.