Chapter 1: The Chaotic-Hearted God
It all begins with an air of serenity.
Right at the edge of a long, outstretched beach lays a quaint little village. The sun shimmered atop the ocean as colorful, sentient fish-like creatures splashed amidst the rolling waves and basked in the sun's rays. Some of the plump fish people waddled back onto shore with what appears to be hybrids of fish and squids in their webbed hands, amongst other captured sea creatures. Others walked to and fro on the streets in the village itself, often making stops to socialize with their brethren. An unbroken atmosphere of peace lay over the community like a thick, warm blanket, and the sun seemed to watch over the cheerful residents.
Along with a foreign, green-skinned figure, who cackled at the sight of the peaceful village.
"Sire!"
An impatient-sounding voice rang out from downstairs. A small, cyan fish-person, likely a child, sat upon his bed, intensely focused on fixing the bow-tie of the dark blue and black tuxedo he wore. His black beady eyes were dead set on his work, unblinking, while his fat, purple tail slowly wagged back and forth behind him. Upon hearing his mother, however, he squeaked and lost concentration, and the untied ends of the incomplete bowtie slipped out of his meaty grasp and hung down like ribbons. Sighing, he answered the loud voice with a meek "Y-yeah, mom?!".
"Are you done dressing up yet?! We're going to be late to your auntie's wedding!" the voice called again, having gone shrill from having to wait fifteen minutes for young Sire to slip into the new suit that they purchased for this occasion just a few days ago. Unfortunately for the young boy, it was a tighter fit than he had anticipated, and it showed as some of his little boy chub was somewhat visible in the waist and tail areas.
"No…" he whimpered to himself, trying once again to tie his bowtie around his thick neck. He wanted to look as nice as he could, even if it ended up choking him.
Unfortunately for the boy, time had officially run out as movement could be heard downstairs. "Hurry up or we'll leave without you!" another voice laughed as the front door creaked open.
"E-eek! No!" Having been made to make the difficult decision to give up on his perfectionist endeavors, Sire pushed himself off of his bed and bolted downstairs. Well, bolted to the stairs, where he slowed down and carefully tiptoed down the steps, as it was a rule to never run up or down the stairs. This is a very prominent rule in all households and buildings in the village, actually, as all the villagers are coated with a moist and slippery film to keep themselves from dying out. As a side note, some of the people hate their permanently slimy skin so much that they have taken to laying on the beach to dry themselves out, although this always seems to backfire, judging from countless hospital visits every single day.
Once Sire had reached the end of the stairs, he finds that his parents were already walking out the door. "W-wait for meeeee!" he cried, running up to them, his purple catfish-like barbels bouncing with every little step he took. He slowed down once he reached them, stopping to catch his breath.
Sire's mother, a darker blue fish-person with brown highlights, bent down to tie Sire's failed experiment for him. "Now now, Sire, you should know better than to run with your new dress shoes on. You might dirty them." she sighed as her son replied with a strained whimper caused by the tight bowtie.
Meanwhile Sire's father, an orange-skinned fish-person with white tips, excitedly bounced on his feet like an adult shouldn't. "Come on, Blasse! I haven't seen my sister in so long!" he blurbed to his wife, his own black beady eyes sparkling, "Aren't you excited?! Tell me you're excited!"
Blasse stood back up and adjusted her long white and green dress, smiling at her husband's contagious excitement. "It'd be good to speak with her again. She's a good woman. I know she'll treat Karra well, and he'll treat her well, too. They're lovely together." The dark blue fish's elegant composure was betrayed by her thick, wagging tail, which Sire had to step back in order to avoid having it get his clothing wet. Though, since any clothing his species wears instantly becomes dampened due to their natural body film, that was ultimately pointless.
Sire couldn't help wagging his own tail, though. "I-I've never met auntie Rampa or any of my cousins before…! What are they like, dad? Mom?" he asked, still shy even through his excitement.
His father chuckled before removing his hat and placing it onto his son's head. "Uh-huh-huh…! You'll see when we get there! And see, that looks a lot better on you than it does on me!"
The hat, which was a dark but vibrant blue, was a bit too big for Sire, as it ended up sliding down his head a little. Despite that, though, he wore it with pride. The small cyan fish-person giggled with glee as he pulled his father's hat down tighter on his moist head.
"Heeyyyy!" A familiar young voice sounded from behind Sire. A yellow and orange fish-child slid up to Sire and tackled him, laughing loudly, while a pink child with green tips followed closely behind.
"Careful, boys! We don't want Sire's new tuxedo to be ruined!" Blasse exclaimed, gently pushing the yellow child off her son. She then scanned the victim's body, checking for any bruises or wrinkles.
Said victim squirmed as his friends eyed him. "H-hey, Fenni…! L-Lurun!" he blubbed nervously as he didn't want his friends to see him all dressed up like he was right now.
The pink-skinned fish-child, Lurun, swiped his curious gaze over Sire and his parents anyway. "Wow, you guys sure look fancy! Are you going somewhere?" The young boy blinked, wagging his thick green tail. "I sure wish I could look as fancy as you guys one day!" he added, tugging on his pastel yellow and green turtleneck sweater a bit.
Fenni, meanwhile, took the current moment of distraction as an opportunity to yank Sire's hat off his head, who protested in the form of a high pitched but low volume whine. "Yeah, what's with the get-up? Where are you going? Wedding? Funeral? Some other fancy party?" The yellow fish-child spun the stolen hat around his plump finger, snickering at and also foiling Sire's half-hearted attempts to snatch said hat back.
Blasse briefly shook her head at Fenni's shenanigans, then lightened up. "Well, Yinch's sister, who lives on the other side of the continent, is getting married right here in this village."
"Yup. Rampa's getting hitched with my best bud Karra!" Sire's father added, chuckling in glee, "They've been together for so long, we were all wondering when they were actually gonna do it, you know?! They're crazy for each other, too!". He didn't seem too bothered about watching his hat get stolen by some slimy kid and used as a frisbee as Fenni tossed said hat over to Lurun. It almost went over the pink fish-child's head, but he managed to catch the flying headwear without completely tripping over his fat green tail.
Lurun stared at the tossed hat for a moment. Clearing his throat, he handed it back to Sire. "Sorry about that, Sire." he apologized on Fenni's behalf.
"Agh! You're no fun, Lurun!" Fenni complained, throwing his arms down and loudly letting an irritated sigh out.
"Ah heh heh… Sorry, Fenni." the pink fish-child awkwardly chuckled.
"They're so crazy for each other, in fact, that they've already started a family before getting engaged!" Yinch continued, happily thwapping his large white tail on the ground behind him.
"Is that legal?" Fenni blinked.
Sire's mother sighed, though still smiling. "I really wish they had waited until they were married before having children, but that can't be changed now." The dark blue fish-person looked up at the sky to check the sun's position. "Now, we should get going. We don't want to be late, do we?"
Sire himself, who has stayed quiet throughout most of the conversation, thumped his tail in anticipation. "I… I really wanna meet auntie Rampa and my cousins…! I want to see what they're like! I…" the shy child blubbed, though barely above a whisper. He then tucked his head into his father's hat like a nervous turtle for a couple of moments to gather his thoughts before peeking back out. "I'm just… just really excited…! This is gonna be the best day ever!" he exclaimed, his beady black eyes sparkling. Sire couldn't help but giggle just a little.
His giggle was accompanied by distant laughter.
The group paused. They looked around. There wasn't anyone else nearby on the street.
The strange laughter grew louder. It echoed all throughout the small village like thunder.
"Heyy! Who's laughing?!" Fenni asked, scrunching his face up. "Where's the crazy lady that's laughing?!"
Blasse gasped sharply. "Wh… who's that…?" She was still looking up at the sky, and now her eyes were dead set on something floating in the air.
"Who's what?" Yinch grunted, his mood now ruined by the new mystery that has arisen and the fact that said mystery is keeping them from attending the wedding.
Before Sire's mother could say anything, meteors suddenly fell out of the sky. "GET DOWN!" she screamed, grabbing Sire and throwing herself to the ground. Though the meteors had already struck by the time she realized they were coming.
The very ground shook beneath the group as the meteors destroyed the buildings around them with an ear-splitting crash. Including Sire's own house.
The five were stunned into silence. That silence was soon broken by the same booming laughter from earlier.
They finally looked up at the figure in the sky.
More thunderous laughter emanated from the figure. It sounded maniacal.
"D'aw, how did I not hit ya fucks down there? But good thing I didn't, yeah? I forgot to introduce my ass, afta all!"
The figure lowered herself out of the clouds where she could somewhat be seen, though she was still mostly a silhouette due to her having her back against the sun. What could be seen, though, was nothing like anyone in the village had seen before. Her clothing was long and pointed, and a large, green cape flapped in the breeze, accompanied by her waist-long brown hair. Her face was shrouded in shadow, though light seemed to shine off her eyes and her wide, sinister grin. Occasionally, bright red sparks crackled on the visitor's body, briefly illuminating some of her features.
"Sheesh, I thought there'd be at least SOME screamin', but ya're all silent! That's fuckin' boring!" the figure in the sky snarled, scanning the wrecked town under her. Despite her seemingly speaking normally, her voice carried very well through the fifty plus feet between her and the fishfolk. What carried even better than that, though, was the resounding crack her neck made when she suddenly snapped her head back up.
It made Sire wince along with the rest of the group.
The shadowy being chuckled as she took a brief moment to gather her thoughts. "Aighty, gimme your ears! ...Metaphorical ears! I am the Great Sara, the god of absolute strength and power!"
"A god…?" Blasse breathed. She turned to look at her family with a questioning look on her fishy complexion.
"I thought gods were things religious people made up so they had something to worship…" Lurun added on, looking a bit confused, "Is she telling us that they really do exist?"
Yinch stifled a cough. "We grew up in a religious household but we never heard about any god like her!"
"GYAAHAHAHAHAAAH!" The god cackled loudly as if she somehow listened to the conversation way below her. "Of course ya mortals've never heard 'bout me! Of course you fucks made your own gods up! Alla ya… ALLA you are SO damn BLIND to errythin' around you!" As the figure shouted this, the sun began to dim as dark clouds rolled right in front of it. The shadows covering her face and body began to gradually fade, though she was still hard to see clearly since she was so far up in the sky and now partly covered by clouds. "Get your heads outta your asses an' look around! Ya keep thinkin' that the world revolves aroun' ya while there are a shit-tonna gods watchin' your erry dumbass move! But they don't do jack shit! An' why don't they? ...'Cause they're lazy." The god, who was previously shouting angrily, suddenly calmed down with a single snort. She just silently floated there in the sky, like a kid in theater class who forgot their lines.
Hundreds of eyes were locked onto the standalone figure, anticipating her next move. "SO?!" Fenni shouted up to the green-skinned being, cupping his fat yellow hands around his wide mouth, in an effort to get her to continue her monologue.
The god snickered again in an effort to cover her hesitation up. It seemed like speaking wasn't her strong suit, judging by her constant swearing and slurring. She snorted before continuing. "It's hilarious, really! Ya really think ya can continue livin' as peacefully as THIS, bein' as pitifully weak as you are?! Look at all of you! Flabby-ass fish fuckers? Ya drag your slimy asses on the ground all the time 'cause your legs are made entirely of fat an' can't even support your damn body weight! Maybe you shoulda stayed in the ocean where no one can see you suckers flopping all over the place!"
A beat or two of awkward silence followed soon after. Sara had lost her train of thought yet again.
"Well, we're late for my sister's wedding, so…" Yinch murmured as he began to back away, urging his wife and son to follow him.
The god was visibly upset as more fish-people started to slowly scoot away. "Ah fuck it! Let's get this shit started!" she growled. She raised her hands halfway up, telekinetically ripping sizable chunks of rock and building from underneath her and hoisting them around her. "Jus' know that you're all weak an' DON'T DESERVE TO LIVE!" the green figure roared as she flung her boulders down at a certain part of town. Fortunately for the group of five, this was in the opposite direction of where they were currently located. Rather unfortunate for anyone in the targeted vicinity, though.
Sire was abruptly yanked to the side and away by his arm as his father grabbed said arm and hightailed it out of there with a cry of "EAAAAAHH!", a scream shared by everyone else around him. His mother tailed behind him, dragging Fenni and Lurun behind her.
In the meantime that familiar thunderous laughter boomed behind them as Sara lunged into her chosen part of the village. Shrieks and screams of fellow fish-folk echoed all throughout the town as the menace did who knows what to them; these screams were drowned out only by said menace's laughter.
The five kept running through the deserted streets, led by Yinch, who seemed to know exactly where to go, while Blasse was more focused on keeping the rear and making sure that no one lagged behind. Fenni swiveled his yellow head all around, scanning his surroundings with unwarranted curiosity, while Lurun kept his gaze strictly forward, daring not to look back even once. Sire didn't even try to see at all, opting to press his father's hat tightly against his head with his free hand, keeping his little eyes covered. They were deathly silent as they were making their feeble escape, as if a spell had been placed over them. That is, until they were about halfway out of the village, which is where Blasse noticed not where Yinch was going, but where he was not going. This is because, instead of taking a sharp right turn towards the beach to hide in the ocean, he instead kept running along the path.
"Hey! Yinch!" she shouted, looking back at the missed turn, "Where do you think you're going?! The ocean's THAT way!"
Her obviously small-brained husband tried to give his reasoning, but choked on his words a little. "I-I… I… I'm sorry, Blasse…! I just… I need to get to Rampa!" he blubbed with a very noticeable quiver in his voice, "I n-need to see if she's okay! And Karra, and our nieces and nephews…! We… W-we-!"
"IDIOT! Are you even sure if they're alive or not?! That monster could've gotten to them already!" the dark blue fish roared, finding it increasingly difficult to run with a dress on. Not to mention that, with the way the entire species is built, complete with short legs and elongated, slimy bodies, that it was simply a miracle that the five had made it as far as they did without slipping or even collapsing.
Yinch merely replied to his wife's harsh words with a wince, not unlike Sire himself.
"Yeah, okay, but why are we getting dragged along with you losers?!" Fenni retorted, scrunching his yellow face up again in frustration. "Last time I checked you guys aren't my parents!"
"Just hush." Blasse curtly commanded, not bothering to look down at the young child.
Lurun let a distressed sigh out, glancing away from the group with a worried expression drawn on his pink, fat face. "I'm… I'm really worried about my family… I really, really hope they're gonna be okay…"
"Lurun, c'mon!" the yellow fish-child huffed, "They live at the center of town! Isn't that where that crazy lady went?!"
Realization hit Lurun like a punch to the stomach. Almost immediately, his hand slipped out of Blasse's grasp as he keeled over on the pavement. "Guh… n-no…!" he breathed, his face contorted in a wide, gasping expression before scrunching right up as the boy curled up on the ground, "M-mom…! D-dad…! Please, no…! No no no noooo…"
The rest of the group was forced to halt. Everyone looked down at the pink-skinned child, who began to sob uncontrollably.
Fenni felt hot with guilt and embarrassment as attention was then drawn to him. "H-hey, Lurun… I was just kidding! Really!"
"N-no, you're right…" the grieving child sniffled, briefly uncovering his even wetter face to speak. Even then he stared only at Fenni's feet, not even bothering to look up at him. "They're gone forever, and they died worrying about me. I should've been there…"
"I-I mean, my family's probably dead, too…" Fenni muttered, looking away.
Blasse sighed. "We need to keep moving. I'm sure your parents would have wanted you to stay safe." The dark blue fish-woman approached the child, who was basically catatonic with grief, and scooped him up in her arms.
That is, she was about to, until a certain green-skinned god dive bombed out of the sky and landed squarely on Lurun's back, crushing his ribcage with a series of sickly cracks.
Blasse reeled back at the sudden sight, as did the rest of the group. The act rendered them mute as they stood in place, petrified.
Lurun immediately went limp underneath Sara's black boots. Vibrant green blood spilled from his open mouth as the life was sucked from his tiny eyes.
"Huh. Thought the li'l fucker would stay alive longa than that." Sara snorted, with a slightly disappointed expression on her dark lime face, "Wanted to hear a real fucked-up scream. I'mma rememba that for next time."
With that said, Sara turned her gaze towards the potential victims in front of her. Now that she was finally at ground level and no longer obscured by light or clouds, her appearance was clear. Her dark green coat and light green shirt were stained with the multicolored blood of the townsfolk, mostly on her arms, though that didn't mean her dark blue pants and green cape were free from blood, either. There was even blood on her long brown hair, which looked shaggy and rough to the touch, like she had just gotten out of bed. The dark red sparks constantly discharging from her body didn't help to smooth her hair down.
The face that the god wore was arguably more frightening than the blood she was coated with. A large, sharp-toothed slasher smile was stretched out on her face; a smile that she always seemed to wear proudly. Either that or her mouth was stuck like that. The fish-people didn't know. Sitting behind a set of silver wire-framed glasses were a pair of wide, crazed-looking eyes, the brown irises small and the pupils like pin tips. Basically, she looked like a stereotypical serial killer, which she definitely was.
Sire, who has stayed silent throughout the entire event, choked with a high-pitched, loud hiccup after a few moments rolled over everyone. The sight of his best friend's body underneath the cruel woman visibly sapped the light from his eyes. Without any warning, the young boy yanked himself out of Yinch's grasp and over to Lurun's flattened body with an ear-grating wail, his father's hat flying right off his wet cyan head.
"Gheheh… Gettin' it ova with quickly, aren'tcha?" Sara snickered, welcoming the small mortal with open, bloodstained arms, "Can't tell if you're real smart or real fuckin' stupid."
Before Sire could throw himself into the metaphorical jaws of death, Blasse grabbed the collar of his tuxedo and forcefully pulled him over to her side. "YOU IDIOT!" she shouted at her son in such a volume that would make even Fenni flinch, let alone the normally timid Sire.
The green god snorted. "Man, you fucks are no fun." she muttered as she watched the group of four run away from her. However, instead of chasing after them, she opted to lift off back into the air and into another part of the village.
As the party of fish people hit the ground running, the young boy did not go back to turtling as he usually did. His small, beady gaze was unusually vacant as he actively struggled against his mother's grip. "Luurruuun…! LuuUURUN…! I need to saAVE HIM! M-MY BEST… my best FRIEND…!" Sire wailed with varying degrees of pitch, "I can't… I CAN'T LET HER TAKE LUruun…!"
"SIRE YOU STOP THAT RIGHT NOW!" Blasse angrily shrieked, squeezing the child's hand so tightly it made said hand ache, "HE'S GONE, SIRE! THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO!"
"HE'S THE ONLY ONE WHO CARED ABOUT ME!" Sire screamed back at his mother, which is another behavior he has never displayed up until now. This silenced the dark blue mortal, who didn't expect such a thing. Meanwhile Yinch and Fenni, who kept their mouths shut during the short exchange, continued to stay quiet as the former kept leading the four to the wedding site.
Finally, after what felt like ages, they reached their destination. However, what they saw… really should have been expected, as there was really no way a large gathering of mortals would have gone undetected by the cruel deity.
Dozens upon dozens of the eviscerated bodies of relatives and close friends were carelessly scattered all throughout the plot of land, all resting in a sea of their own mixed blood. Injuries ranged from stab wounds and shattered bones to disembowelment and severe electrical burns, so severe that those who were electrocuted still had Sara's trademark red sparks dancing on their charred corpses. Dismembered body parts laid along with the rubble of the destroyed tables and chairs. The once-beautiful stone arch that stood at the end of the plot was now largely unrecognizable, lying in ruins on the bloodstained grass with its floral decorations still smoldering. The sight resembled something straight from a particularly gruesome horror story.
The destroyed monument wasn't just resting on the grass, however, as Yinch and the others soon realized. The orange fish-person, who had been on the verge of vomiting when he first arrived, finally let his cargo loose when the sight of a badly mangled dark blue tail met his tiny black eyes. "R-RAMPAA!" he screamed, dashing through the makeshift battlefield, not caring if he stepped on or even tripped over the corpses of relatives.
"YINCH!" Blasse yelled after her distraught husband, gripping the hands of the two remaining children tightly, who both have gone completely silent. She began to make her way through the mess, keeping the kids close to her.
Yinch shoved the stone blocks off the fish people underneath them. "Rampa… Sis… p-please be okay...!" he pleaded with a shaky voice, tears rolling down his face as if he already knew his sister was long gone. ...Which she was, as it only took once glance of Rampa and Karra's flattened bodies to know what they were not going to recover. Rampa, a gray fish-person with dark blue tips, looked rather nice in her light gray and red dress, while her lover, with black and blue skin, complemented her a bit with his aqua green and lime green suit. As the residents of their planet all had blood matching the colors of their tails, Rampa's dark blue blood blended well with Karra's brighter blue blood. They truly were meant for one another.
Sire's father fell to his knees with a soft, defeated-sounding thud. In contrast, he wept grossly and loudly as he huddled over the bodies of his sister and the man who should have been his brother-in-law. Blasse, despite the current situation, gently walked up behind him and gave his back a light, reassuring rub, having let go of the children for once. "I knew coming here was a bad idea…" the dark blue fish-woman muttered, dipping her head, "We should've escaped to the ocean as soon as possible." Even though she was seemed to be comforting her husband, her words still had an impatient edge to them.
"Wh-who would do this…?" Yinch weakly whispered to no one in particular, "Why would anyone do this…?"
Blasse sighed as she stopped rubbing and started prodding the orange fish-person's back. "We shouldn't stay here. That alien woman could get us at any moment." This did nothing, however, as he refused to budge.
Fenni uncharastically huddled up against Sire. "H-hey… Hey, wh-what do we do, man…? What's gonna happen to us?" the yellow-skinned kid mumbled, blankly staring at the lavender hand Sire was unknowingly standing on. It reminded him of the young pink fish-child he and Sire used to play with. "Lurun… I can't believe Lurun's gone… If… if I hadn't said all that crappy stuff to him he'd still be with us…"
However, Fenni's words fell on deaf ears, as Sire had relapsed back into a trance, this time a silent one.
Meanwhile, Yinch still has not stopped crying over his sister. Well, maybe he has calmed down a bit. "Is… is this just some kind of sick, twisted game to her…?" he murmured.
Once again, before anyone could react, Sara appeared out of nowhere and claimed another victim. Although, the green genocidal maniac gave them more than enough time to do so, as she simply ambled through the scene without anyone noticing. She even walked right in front of Sire, who was too busy being in his little trance to take note of anything two feet in front of him. "Damn right it is." she smugly answered, announcing her presence to the party. However, by then, it was too late, as Sara had already cruelly stabbed Yinch right in the heart through his back, which made the victim squeal with agony. Curiously, she did not seem to be holding a weapon of any kind. Rather, she had her entire right hand buried within his fat back, with stark white blood bubbling out of the wound and ruining his green suit. Sara's free hand did, however, have a long, dark red blade seemingly made entirely out of energy, and judging by the small bit of the same dark red that was around her right forearm, it was safe to say that this is the weapon that she used to impale the fish-man.
It was unclear whether Sara had misjudged the length needed to stab a large fish-person or she was just compensating for something. What was clear was that her blades were just too long, and the one that had entered Yinch actually went through to the other side and poked Rampa's dead body a little. Unfortunately, her brother's blood was going to ruin her dress as well, on top of everything that had just happened to her today.
Nevertheless, Yinch had only a few moments to live, and he took those precious seconds to slowly cup his meaty hands around the tip of Sara's cruel blade in shock. This was a dumb idea, because now he got his white fish juices all over his hands and wrists as well.
"D'aw, what's wrong, big boy?" Sara snickered, briefly rocking to the side on one foot in an effort to make some kind of eye contact with her latest victim. "Ya should be happy, really. Ya get to be with your dead-ass sister and whatever that other one is. Isn't that great?" When Yinch rudely did not return the favor, she returned to her original position. The god looked back at the remaining group of three, flashing them a malevolent smirk. "You should all be thankin' me. No one should have to be forced to live as a pathetic species like yours. I'm jus' doin' ya fuckers a favor and freeing you from that fatty burden, y'know?"
Everyone else looked on in horror, and perhaps they were internally kicking themselves as well. Sara had once again taken another member of the party from them in just a single attack, and no one did anything to stop it. This time, however, Sire finally learned to not stupidly fling himself at the murderer. He actually did the opposite and, with his stubby legs filled with adrenaline, sprinted away as fast as fishmanly possible, throwing Fenni off of him in the process.
Blasse tried to call after him, but her voice was stuck in her throat for some reason. Same with the yellow kid.
Sara tilted her head, snorting. "Welp, guess the kid lost its spine an' became a coward like the rest of ya."
Despite the situation, Blasse instinctively shot Sara a dirty glare for insulting her son.
Said glare was met with a simple raising of an eyebrow and, of course, a smug grin. "Issat a challenge, bitch? If ya don't like me talkin' shit 'bout your useless kid then how 'bout we square the fuck up?" the god offered, retracting her dominant hand from the gaping hole in Blasse's husband and pointing it in the fish-woman's direction. The red hot blade crackled and sizzled, burning any of Yinch's blood off of Sara's hand. The resulting odor was absolutely repugnant, although it didn't seem to affect Sara too much, as if she was already used to it.
Blasse, however, did not get a good whiff of the burnt blood smell, as she had already grabbed Fenni and booked it.
"Yea, that's what I thought." Sara grunted, somewhat dissatisfied at the constant cowardice of the fish people. Effortlessly willing her long red energy blades away, she lifted herself back up into the air, and glanced around at the ruined village. "This bitch's already empty. That didn't take long. But what else would I expect from these flabby fish fucks?" she muttered to herself, scratching the side of her face. Flakes of dried fish blood, a mix of green and pink, floated away in the wind, seemingly headed toward the ocean.
As she briefly watched the specks of blood, she witnessed movement in the corner of her eye. Somehow, Blasse had already reached the shore with Fenni in tow. "How the actual fuck did they run so damn fast? They literally have no legs!" Sara snarled.
Meanwhile, the two were blissfully unaware of the deity watching their every move. The ocean lapped at their thick ankles, inviting them in. Blasse wordlessly dived into the waves, forcefully yanking Fenni along with her.
Having evolved lungs but still retaining their gills, their species could thrive in the sea as easily as on land. "We just have to swim over to the other villages… We'll be safe then… If she hadn't destroyed them as well, that is..." Blasse muttered, a brief mournful look flashing across her face. "So many lives were lost for no reason… If we had just gotten here earlier, they'd… Yinch and Sire…"
"Lurun, too…" Fenni added guiltily, still blaming himself for the loss of his pink-skinned friend. The yellow child blinked, shaking his head. "I… guess we're leaving Sire behind, huh...?"
The dark blue fish-woman shuddered with barely-contained grief. "...Just follow me." She began to slowly swim deeper into the sea, with Fenni tailing her.
However, they couldn't get far as they soon hit a small crowd of villagers who were smart enough to head for the ocean as soon as the attack happened. Before she could ask why they were all just idling about, she soon saw the reason why. A barrier of large, jagged boulders blocked their way to safety, their surfaces too steep and slippery to climb over. Blasse assumed this barricade encircled the entire village, at least the portion that touched the water. "She's… she outsmarted us…" she breathed, feeling truly boxed in with no way out.
"H-hey! Isn't there any way around this dumb wall?!" Fenni yelled at the trapped villagers, fear rising in his young voice at an alarming rate.
One fish-person looked back at the duo, hopelessness glinting in their beady eyes. "We've tried everything… There's no way around this thing… or over it!" they sighed, holding their terribly injured purple hands up for emphasis. Long gashes and scrapes covered the thick meaty palms, definitely having been caused by trying to climb the rock wall countless times. Behind the purple fish-person, the splashing and barely-contained grunts of pain of other villagers attempting to climb over the barricade made it clear that, even though they showed at least some diligence, it was all fruitless in the end.
Thankfully, their suffering was finally put to an end as the water suddenly lit up with an intense electrical current, frying everything in the contained area. Countless bodies of the villagers and other sea life floated up to the surface. "GUHRAHAHAHAHAAAHAAAAAA!" Sara laughed, admiring her handiwork. "Man, it sure was a good idea to lay that net around the colony before I dove in! Look how many bitches I got!" She dusted herself off as she scanned the desolate area below her. "With that, I guess I got all of 'em. Can't sense anythin' else… eh?" she blinked with realization before smirking. "Heh…"
There was still one last miniature energy signature.
Sire didn't dare stop running, even if his little fat legs screamed in protest. He just had to get home! Everything will be alright if he got home!
Eventually, he did make it home, but, of course, it was completely demolished thanks to that green monster who took Lurun and his father away.
No… She didn't…! This was all just a bad dream! He'd wake up soon… right?
Sire slipped underneath the rubble, managing to find his bed right where it shouldn't be. The young boy coughed and hacked as the dust he stirred kept trying to invade his lungs and gills. Crawling underneath the covers, he curled up, finally letting the trauma of everything that had happened hit him like a heavy truck.
At first he cried loudly, screaming for his parents as tears freely spilled down his dust-covered cheeks. More dust and debris was sucked into his gaping mouth whenever he gasped for air, making him choke as he bawled. It was a wonder how Sara never heard him during this. Over time, however, Sire slowly quieted down into a soft, barely audible whimper. Why couldn't he wake up from this horrible nightmare?
His flesh was sticky from his natural film mixing with the dust from the ruins of his house. He itched all over, but he was much too exhausted to bother to deal with it, now that the adrenaline had completely left his tiny body.
All the destroyed houses he had seen. All the eviscerated bodies of the villagers he had known. Lurun, his father… maybe even his mother and Fenni…
Even though he kept telling himself it was all just a nightmare, that he'd wake up any moment now, an ever-growing part of him knew that this was no dream. Everything that Sire had once known was now gone. He was completely alone; the only one who survived.
Several moments of silence passed. Then Sire could hear footsteps.
"I wonda how a bitch managed to escape me like that. I made sure that the colony was completely empty before cookin' 'em all in the ocean. Probably 'cause the Ki signature is so damn tiny."
It was that green woman. The very same monster who had ripped Sire's entire life away from him. The young fish-boy curled himself up even tighter, holding his breath in hopes of her not noticing him.
The footsteps stopped. A beat passed. Then, a low, gutteral chuckle came from outside the wreckage, gradually building up into a more familiar hyena-like laugh. It reverberated all throughout the ruins of the neighborhood and shook the very rubble Sire hid himself under. "Are you fucking dumb? In case ya didn't know, I know you're there. I see all, bein' a god an' all. Ya can't escape me. Jus' come on out already and maybe I'll make your death at least somewhat painless."
She… she was just bluffing…! There was no way she'd know he was here!
"Jeez, you fucks are all the same. Even when you have literally nothin' to live for anymore you still try to live. Why? Death would be a much nicer option than lettin' you live at this point, which is hilarious. Maybe I should let you go. I love makin' people suffa."
A moment or two of silence pass. Sire heard a snort from the murderous god. Has she given up? As he thought this, footsteps could be heard again. They got softer as Sara walked away. Then, nothing.
Sire allowed himself to breathe again, coughing a little from the dust.
Suddenly, light flooded in as his cover was torn off and thrown to the side. "SUP BITCH!" Sara loudly greeted with a wide malicious grin stretched out on her face.
"H-huh?! Eek!" Sire squeaked at the sudden appearance of the deity. He quickly scrambled underneath some more rubble, but that was almost immediately tossed to the wayside by his pursuer. Briefly looking back, Sire saw that Sara hadn't even moved an inch from when he saw her appear, and they were about a good ten feet away from each other. The child attempted to hide under some more of the destroyed building, but that was removed as well. This time, however, the pieces floated in the air above Sire's head while Sara held her dark green hand out, as if she was telekinetically holding them there.
"The fuck are ya standing there for?" she inquired, cocking her head to the side but still wearing that sinister smile on her face, "Aren't you gonna, I dunno, try to run? I thought you wanted to live." With a flick of her wrist, she flung the suspended debris into the ruined building next door.
The fish-child hesitated for a split second, processing what was just said to him. Then, finally deciding to take Sara's advice, he turned tail and ran away. Or… he wanted to, but he continued to stand there, looking up at the murderer's cruel face. Sire noticed an immense pressure all over his body, gluing his feet to the ground and locking his bones in place. He couldn't even breathe.
As it turns out, Sara had never dropped her arm when she threw the rubble aside. She kept her arm up, and now had it pointed straight at the small child. "Gotcha." she snickered, slowly dropping down to the ground. "Heh, look at your clueless-ass face. Ya really thought I'd just let you actually run away like that? Adorable."
Sire could do nothing to escape as Sara took her sweet time striding toward him. He was starting to get light headed from the lack of air thanks to the god's tight psychokinetic grip on him. Well, both that, and the absolute helplessness he felt as he was forced to watch someone who would surely kill him draw ever closer and not be able to do anything to get away.
The lime-skinned deity stopped right in front of her prey, mere inches from his face. There was so much she could have done right then and there, but she instead vouched to release her hold on the child, letting him collapse on the ground in a coughing and spluttering heap. "Oh wow, was my grip on ya that hard on your ass? I was bein' as soft as I could, too. Your species really IS pathetic!" Sara snorted, snatching Sire's thick purple tail while he was preoccupied with gulping precious air.
Sire whimpered as he was suddenly hoisted into the air and was left dangling upside-down right in front of Sara's face. His tiny black eyes met hers; the thick-lensed glasses that perched on her face did nothing to hide the crazed glare she shot at the child. Sara's eyes were widened, and thick and dark at the edges. Her gaze was not unlike that of a wild beast's, with her brown irises burning like a raging, uncontrolled wildfire. It was clear that there was a certain undying anger behind those eyes; an eternal fire, blazing for much longer than Sire could ever comprehend. What could Sara even be angry about, though? It was Sire and his village who had suffered on this day, not her. The child just could not grasp the reason for her rage. He wondered if she even knew why she was angry herself. Whatever the reason was, Sire was still burning up from the god's glare. The red sparks that constantly blanketed her occasionally zapping his flesh didn't help, either.
Sara spent a few moments staring the fish-boy down, contemplating on what to do with him. This was the last kill of the day, wasn't it? And so early in the day, too! Well, why not have some fun while she was here? "Man, it sure must suck, bein' all dressed up like this an' all ready for some important day or whateva. Then all of a sudden, some asshole drops outta the sky and butchers erryone ya knew an' loved and yanks your whole entire life right from unda your fat li'l feet."
The child looked away, cringing at his captor's words. He didn't even bother struggling or even crying. He just wanted to go to sleep, wake up, and have his life back again.
"D'aw, look atcha. There's jus' no fight left in you, huh? Poor tired li'l mortal, left all alone in the world with no one to care for it." she snorted, using her free hand to turn Sire's head back towards her. "Well, I did say I loved making people suffer, but maybe… Maybe this might be a bit much, even for me?" Sara attempted to contort her face into a look of sorrow and guilt, her chevron-like eyebrows unbending themselves as they hiked upwards. Despite this, her eyes still betrayed her true feelings of malevolent amusement.
It was clear to Sire that something was off about this exchange. "U-uh…? But, you...?" he started, managing to muster the strength to speak at least a little bit. Though before he could finish his thoughts, he was flipped onto his back and into Sara's bloodstained arms. Her rock-hard, bulging muscles pressing against him as well as the lightning slightly singeing his cyan flesh made him squirm.
"So, 'ere. I'm a nice person. Why don't I take you in as my own?"
The young child blinked in surprise. "H-huh?!"
Sara patted the captive child's slimy head in mock affection. "It just makes sense, y'know? I don't have a kid of my own, an' you literally don't have any relatives around anymore. Well, relatives that care aboutcha, anyway. So why not?" She paused to playfully pinch Sire's cheek, though she ended up either accidentally or purposefully misjudging her own strength and pinching much harder than needed.
"AAACK…!" Sire yelled out in pain, shrinking back as much as he could from the offending hand. A sizable dark purple blemish formed on the child's cheek as broken blood vessels leaked underneath his light blue skin. Sara's face didn't change from her expression of pity, aside from the corners of her mouth twitching like she was trying to contain her laughter. Sire looked away from the god and down at the ground, gingerly rubbing his wound.
"Y'see what I mean, right? How pathetic an' weak you are right now? I didn't even pinch that hard at all!" Sara chuckled, tapping on the area where Sire's nose would be if he had one. "I could change that. Unda my wing, you might be able to grow up into a nice, strong fish-fucker, just like your ancestors! Who knows? If I feel like it, maybe I could help you break your li'l mortal limits and grow past 'em. Maybe you could even ascend and become a god yourself! Isn't that ex-eheh-ghehehEHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAHAHAAAAAAH! GEEEAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAAAAH!" the insane deity cackled loudly, having been unable to finish telling her false promises.
Sire went as stiff as a board in fear.
"Guhuhuhuhh…! Sorry, I just can't help it! It's jus' too hilarious! A mortal? Becoming a god?! GYAHAHAHAHAAAAH!" The dark-lime god kept laughing for a solid minute or two, making her victim extremely uncomfortable and fearful for his miniscule life.
The small cyan-skinned child attempted to roll out of the monster's arms and escape, but Sara shot a hand over and grabbed him by his practically nonexistent neck. It was impressive how she kept her grip, considering how slippery Sire's skin still was.
She held him an arm's distance from her, wearing that sinister grin again. "Heheheh… Please, don't tell me you actually believed me for a sec there. If ya did, then you're even dumber than I thought. An' that's saying something, considering how dumb mortals are. How all you Mermanians are." She paused for a moment, noticing an expression of confusion flash on Sire's face. "Ah, that's right. You fucks are so primitive, you didn't even name your own planet yet. Ya know, your species used to be cool, being these big ol' eel-shark things. An' you were all muscular, and had real sharp teeth an' all that. Ya ruled the seas! What happened to that? How'd you whores get so fat an' weak as soon as you gained sentience?" Sara snarled, her eye twitching in anger. She stuck her free arm out to her side, conjuring a crackling dark red aura blade that extended from the middle of her forearm to at least a foot past her hand. "You're the worst damn type of mortal out there, and I've seen all of what mortality hasta offa. Congrats on that shit. Be sure to tell your people when you meet up with 'em again."
As Sara drew her arm back and pointed her blade at Sire's chest, the child found himself once again immobilized and unable to breathe in the line of fire. Of course, even though he currently had a hand crushing his windpipe, he still managed to let loose a blood-curdling scream as the cruel blade pierced him directly in the center of his chest. A great burning pain flowed all throughout his upper body while everything below the stab point instantly became numb as his spine became severed. Bright purple blood gushed out his chest and his back, sizzling against Sara's red-hot Ki blade.
Sara snorted in sick amusement as she retracted her sword of energy and chucked her victim onto the streets, watching him bounce a bit on the pavement, his violet blood splattering everywhere in his wake. "Geheh… Man, if only you weren't born as a weak, powerless mortal. You might've been able to live if you had been a god. Maybe. But ey, it's not your fault your entire species is trash. But it doesn't matta whose fault it is in the end. Shit happens." the god said, shrugging and shaking her head in mock pity. "Don't worry, though. Your li'l colony was fun to slaughta. I'm definitely gonna come back and visit another colony in a few decades or so. Maybe even less. Hope you're looking forward to watchin' that from wherever the hell ya're goin'. Saranara." With that said, the cruel deity turned her back on Sire, flourishing her cape as she did so. A brilliant light soon washed over her body, hanging around for a few seconds before dissipating, seemingly taking Sara with it, as she was nowhere to be seen afterwards. The one who had taken Sire's life in only a few hours was finally gone.
...It hurt. It hurt so much. Sire could only watch his own blood spilling out from the gaping hole in his chest and onto his clothing and pavement. The nice dark blue tuxedo his now dead parents had bought for him was completely ruined. The child never got to see what his relatives were like. He never… he… his mind was getting fuzzier by the second, along with the rest of his body. Well, what he could still feel, anyway. It all ached, and he felt sick.
Something fluttered in the corner of his eye. His father's hat was laying next to him, thankfully within reach. He grabbed it and held it tight against his face, trying to will himself into the eternal darkness he was slowly falling towards.
Was it bad that he actually wanted to die? Because, if what Sara said was true, then he'd see everyone again. His father, Yinch, good-natured and carefree. His mother, Blasse, serene yet fierce at times. Fenni, a good friend who could be rude but usually meant well. And Lurun, his best friend… He was always so nice to him, allowing Sire to stay at his place when his mother's punishments got too harsh, and always cheering him up whenever he felt down. Sometimes Sire preferred to stay at Lurun's house over his own. He didn't know what it was, but he always felt good around the pink-skinned child.
Sire wanted to see him again. To see everyone again. He curled up as much as someone without the use of the lower half of their body could.
As darkness washed over the tired boy, the last thing he heard were footsteps.