Oh God. This dream again. After three months, it returned to haunt Eternity Larva in what was supposed to be the safety of her own dreams. She wasn't even sure what it meant, Lord knows she tried to figure it out, but no amount of thinking could help her hammer down an answer. It was always the same three scenes played out in succession, each of whom seemed to connect to each other in chronological order.

There was the first. Eternity was still there, but she felt like something was missing. Usually it was her wings, those things that gave her her identity as a butterfly fairy. She sat silent in a room across from a human, a man who towered over her. His gaze was soft, yet an air of cunning blanketed him. He would always look down at her, with that same smile, saying those same words.

"Do you want to be a God?"

Eternity would never say anything. Even if she wanted to, she couldn't; it was as if the events were playing back for her to watch, rather than to experience. And yet, physically, she felt as if she was there.

"I can make you a God," the man would say. "My little caterpillar, with my help, I can make you into a beautiful butterfly. All I ask is for your trust, and for your cooperation."

Trust? Cooperation? She would ask exactly what he meant, but she knew where the dream was going. She knew what he meant. She hated what he meant, she hated what it symbolized. She wanted to hate him too, this damned mystery man who haunted her dreams year after year. And yet, for whatever reason, she couldn't. She just couldn't.

"You don't have to do anything. You just… have… to trust me…"

The transition was never a smooth one. In fact, it was almost always jarring. The next scene was always her in another room, some kind of temple. Dimly lit, if it was lit at all, with small flames near the walls. She would see the human standing to the side or in front of her, it seemed to change every time, but there was always a group of humans kneeling, some even bowing. Humans were rather tall, intimidating things, yet these were… below her. She was above, they were below.

Powerful. That's how it felt. To loom over these humans who would dote on her at best, or recoil and attempt to crush her at worst.

"Behold, the God of the Everlasting World," the man would often say. "The Tokoyo God. Here she stands before you, Pray before her, offer all your mortal possessions, and she shall grant you, too, fortune beyond your understanding. The old shall become young, the poor shall become wealthy."

To be trusted with such responsibility felt overwhelming. Yet she always knew at the back of her mind that she didn't have to do anything. Not that she could with these dreams, but it was just a feeling. Things would just work themselves out. They always did, as the man would always say. She just had to keep trusting him, just as those humans he preached to trusted him. Trusted her.

"So praise her," he would say, "for she is your salvation. You just… have… to trust her…"

The power always felt great, but it never lasted. Eternity was fully aware of where this was all going. The whiplash was always greater in this transition, like she was being flung through a window.

The third and final scene would take place. Eternity stood once more, still towering over those disciples. No longer missing her wings, she was now the butterfly she was promised to be. The man had told the truth, and she had thus sworn to forever trust him. After all, she had no reason not to. As far as she could tell, her followers were all far better off now that they were offering her their faith. It felt… it felt…

Even as she wanted to say how good it felt to feel wanted, to feel needed, she couldn't bring herself to say it. She knew what was coming.

A shout. A loud, affirmative yell coming from behind a podium, followed by the sound of footsteps. It wasn't long before the shout had a face attached to it; a woman with pale, blonde hair and a distinctive orange outfit. She gave everyone in the room a glare, but it was first and foremost centered on herself and the man.

"False priest. False God."

False God? She felt real, as far as she knew. She had faith, she had followers. Was that not enough to be considered a God? And as for the man… a false priest? He certainly seemed the part, at least to her. None of it made sense.

"As chief of the Hata clan, and on behalf of all of Japan's downtrodden, your scam ends here. No longer shall people waste their time and belongings on your false blessings."

There it was again, with the falsehoods. The scamming, the false blessings. What was it all supposed to mean? It felt like a big lie this woman was perpetuating, that all she had done was in and of itself a lie. All that she had done for these people, and this was how she was repaid? All of… all of…

What… what did she do? She… she trusted the process. She trusted that things would be okay, that these people would see their fortunes turn around. Yet she… she didn't do much of anything, did she? She was promised that all she had to do was act as something to worship. To offer faith to. It was just as the man said; she didn't have to do anything. And yet here she was, being accused of being a scam artist.

And then the voices.

"Really? The God? A scam? I don't want to believe it, but…"

"I cannot lie, I've only gotten poorer since I've joined. How foolish of me to put my faith in her."

"I knew it was too good to be true. When people promise you the world and ask for nothing but trust, you should always be doubtful…"

Nothing but trust… so was it true? Was she really a criminal? She could only look at the man, who simply looked at her solemnly. The cunning was gone, in its place sat deep contemplation, perhaps even regret. He offered no words to her, only offering his hands to the woman. A group of men would enter behind her and grab ahold of each arm, only for another pair of men to approach Eternity. He was carted off, and as far as she was concerned, that was the end of him.

At this point, she would begin to dissociate. Her voice would spew words, yet Eternity never registered them, never thought deeply about them. And yet, she'd memorized each and every one of them.

"This isn't over!"

"Sorry to say, but it already is."

"No! It's not!"

She could see herself wrestling for control of her arms from a pair of surly humans who towered over even her human friend. No longer did she seem to loom over the human worshippers, who now stood over her like everyone else had. No signs of reverence, it was pity at best and revulsion at worst.

"Hear me, Hata!" Eternity belted it at the top of her lungs. "You've made an enemy for life! I'll get you back for this! You'll see the truth! They'll all see the truth!"

"So be it."

The Hata chief slowly approached her, glaring deeper as she took each step. Eternity could point out a severe limp in her step, like she was struggling to stay upright. It, however, did nothing to make this woman any less intimidating.

"Trust me, Tokoyo god. If you want to make an enemy of me? Then I will be your enemy, and you mine. I will be waiting for you to make your move. Even if I have to wait for all of eternity.."

For all of eternity. Whoever she was… was she still waiting? Did she even exist? It didn't matter if she was real or not if her feelings felt so genuine. For all Eternity could feel… was fear. Powerlessness. Helplessness. The man was gone. The followers were gone. All there was was her, and this woman. Her gaze, piercing her very soul and cutting to the depths of her psyche, making her feel all the more seen. There was nothing Eternity could hide, and there was nowhere Eternity could hide. For the chief of the Hata clan was always going to be there. She would be waiting. Those words reverberating, like a record skipping.

"For all of eternity."

"Eternity."

"Eternity…"

Silence. Then…

"...Eternity!"

Eternity shot out of bed and began to hyperventilate. Her wings were wrapped around her body like a blanket, only adding to the pile of blankets that were already there… yet she felt less trapped now than before. All she felt was a chill in the air, unbefitting of the spring weather outside.

"Eternity, calm down! Ya can't keep doin' this every time I come over!"

She needed to force herself to calm down. If not for her sake, then for the sake of whoever was talking to her. The very act of slowing her breathing felt laborious, yet through some effort, she was able to get it done. And with one last, deep sigh, she could look around her home to see who was talking to her.

"Finally, you're back to your senses! Dai wanted to check up on ya, and who am I to turn down her requests?"

Indeed, she could see that familiar Daiyousei - most of the other fairies called her Dai - standing worried over her. Next to her was the clear source of that chill, the ice fairy who was as strong as a low level youkai.

"H-hi Dai, hi Cirno… thanks for checking up on me, but I'm fine…"

"The heck, you are! I'm here, and you're still sweatin' up a storm!"

"You were having that dream again, weren't you?" Dai asked, her head tilted and a frown plastered on her face. Damn her, she always seemed to read her mind.

"I… yeah, I'm sorry, I did…" Eternity unfurled her wings from around her body and hung her head slightly. "I hadn't had it in so long, too…"

"Hey, it's okay," Cirno attempts to reassure her, "it's probably a load of nothin'. I mean, you, a God? I don't buy it for one second. You've been Eternity for as long as I can remember."

"Yeah, I've been Eternity for as long as I can remember, too…"

Eternity shook her head and threw the blankets off of herself, before forcing herself out of bed. She wasn't going to accomplish anything by sitting and being mopey all day. Maybe these two had some plans?

"Hey, uh… Cirno? Dai? Did you have plans? For today? I need to get out of the house…"

"Wait, you actually wanted to join us?" Dai's eyes widened and she covered her mouth. "It's been ages since we've gotten to spend time together, and it wasn't over some incident! We'd be happy to have you tag along!"

"I know, right? Anyways, Dai and I were gonna go over to that pond to freeze some frogs, but some stupid youkai's been hogging the place up and stoppin' us. You wanna help us deal with 'em? Strength in numbers!"

Eternity always thought Cirno's frog freezing adventures were stupid. Ridiculously so, in fact. Still, it was something to do. Something to help her forget about that dream she had. Plus, since she was with friends… maybe it wouldn't be so bad?

"Sure, I'll come with you."

"Great! We'll be the strongest trio right here! Fairies of Light, eat your hearts out!"

Cirno made a mad dash out of Eternity's home, leaving Eternity and Daiyousei to try and keep up. The rest of the day was, frankly, uneventful by the standards of fairies. Frogs were frozen, shrine maidens got involved, and everyone went home with a bruised head. Still, none of them could say that they regretted it, especially not Eternity. For it was those small moments, those times when she had to work together with Dai to make sure Cirno didn't accidentally shatter one of the frogs, that made her days worthwhile.

That was the good thing about that dream at least. No matter how frustrating and confusing they were, it was only a small part of her day. She could spend the rest outside with some friends, whether it be engaging in shenanigans or simply enjoying the flowers. Even if those negative feelings lingered, she was quick to replace them with those small, positive moments that gave her motivation to keep going. Maybe it didn't matter if she didn't figure out what that dream meant just yet, she had the present to enjoy. After all, she was a fairy.

She had all of eternity to figure it out. And that, she could trust in.