The Star, The Demon, and The God - 32. A New Quest

Tobias

Never in my life have I been shoved into a harpy’s purse.

Never have I woken up and found myself freefalling in a dimension with flashing purple lights for hours.

Never have I screamed for a minute straight before realizing that I was in some never ending hole of purple bullshit.

And...never have I fucking been dumped out of a purse in front of Drulai and a bunch of random Spirits.

Out of all that, I think I win the ‘Weirdest Bullshit’ award.

I had planned to live in solitude to keep Luno safe. Now of all things, I find myself right back in his presence.

Fate clearly is not on my side in this life.

“Tobi!” Luno practically cheers before running over to jump on me.

His weight drops on top of me almost as soon as I realize where I am. I haven’t even gotten off the ground yet!

“Luno?” I exclaim. “What the hell are you doing here?”

He wraps his arms around my shoulders tight and squeezes me.

“I’m so happy to see you again!” He says into my hair.

I try and pull him off because I remember that we have an audience. I would rather they not see how close I have gotten with the Star. I bet some would call it a problem if word got around; especially to the Mother Goddess of all beings.

When I look up at her, I see she has an amused smile on her face.

Pushing Luno off slightly, I finally stand and take in my surroundings.

I have never been in Drulai’s palace before. I have heard plenty about its existence, but to actually be here...it is strange.

Why am I here,or more importantly, why the hell is Luno here?

“Would you mind giving me an explanation?” I glare at the Goddess. “I kind of had a destination in mind!”

The harpy scoffs at me and moves to sit next to the Spirit Sailor of all people.

Why is he here? Or the harpy? Why is any of this happening?

Who did I kill in my past life to get into shit like this? Why can’t I ever catch a break?

“Perhaps?” The Goddess shrugs. “Only if you promise to bring your attitude down to a one. That will make things go by so much smoother.”

I roll my eyes and glance at Luno next to me.

He smiles up at me and his flowers turn a small shade of pink.

Gods help me.

“Fine,” I grunt and cross my arms. “Whatever.”

Drulai nods to me and waves her hand in the air.

There is a small energy that vibrates the air around us all. A shining light spawns into existence and I have to turn away because it is so bright!

The light dulls down enough for me to look at it again.

I frown when I see what Drulai brought out here.

“Why do you have one of those,” I frown.

She had brought out one of the moon necklaces that we needed to stop Raiyo. Apparently they were useless so why does she have one now?

It floats in the middle of the air; spinning around slowly. A faint voice can be heard, almost like it calling from a distance.

It is a little girl’s voice.

The light dies out and the voice vanishes as Drulai grabs the necklace and holds it by the chain.

“This is the original necklace,” She says with a smile. “Based on some sources that wish to remain anonymous, it could still be the key to helping us save the world once again.”

Narrowing my eyes, I cross my arms.

“So the thing that was supposed to stop Raiyo is also supposed to save the world?” I say. “So you’re saying this has something to do with him again? Surely the last failure would have been our way of knowing to stop.”

She shrugs. “Yes and no. This is mainly about Morgoren.”

My chest clenches up when I hear his name.

“Morgoren?” Luno whispers next to me. “I...I-I can’t be here for that! Mother said he is dangerous!”

Drulai steps closer to him but I move in front of him to block her off.

I raise my chin, daring her to try and get closer.

I could not care less if she was the Mother Goddess.

That probably shows how stupid I am in all honesty. Not like I didn’t know this already since apparently Luno has some weird aura that attracts all kinds of creatures, spirits, and beings.

“Calm down, Demon,” The Spirit Sailor’s deep voice says to my left. “She won’t hurt the little Star.”

I glance at him for a moment and turn my attention back to Drulai.

“Do not worry,” Drulai says, looking over my shoulder at Luno. “We will still take precautions to keep you safe. I promise. I know it will be dangerous, but you seem to be the only one who could possibly trigger certain events.”

I shake my head in annoyance.

“The hell does that mean?” I bark. “You can’t just say some shit like that and expect us to understand what you’re saying!”

Luno’s hand drops on my shoulder.

“Tobi it’s alright,” He says in a soft voice. “Calm down.”

I glare at Drulai but I do keep anymore of my thoughts from escaping my mind.

“Come,” She gestures to some picnic table where the Spirit Sailor and Harpy are sitting. “Sit and eat while we discuss things.”

I was going to tell Drulai she can shove her food up somewhere it shouldn’t go up, but Luno stop me by grabbing my hand and gently pulling me to the table to sit down.

Not wanting to disappoint him since he already asked me to calm down, I glare at the table and brew in my anger.

A plate is set in front of me as well as a golden fork and spoon.

Of course they are made of gold…

A slab of steak is dropped down onto my plate along with some corn on the side.

When I glance at Luno, I see him staring at my plate; surprisingly with an unreadable reaction.

Knowing him, he must be pissed.

Drulai wishes to ask the Star for help, but she serves me a cooked animal.

Perhaps the end of the world won’t be stopped after all!

I push my plate away so I won’t make Luno angry with me for eating it. I really want to though...it's so juicy and smells heavenly.

The things I put myself through for this Star…

Luno smiles at me and moves his plate between us, offering some kind of carrot soup.

At least it comes with bread. Bread I can trust.

Wait no! It’s sparkling!

Can’t trust the bread apparently. Great.

“So what do you want with us,” I say, taking my eyes off the stupid magic food.

Drulai drinks from a golden cup and smiles at me.

“Not necessarily with you, but the Star.” She says while nodding to him.

Frowning, I lean back in my seat, a bit annoyed that I am being pulled into this when I am not an important part!

I suppose I wasn’t before either. I was only leading Luno around.

Let me guess...I will have to do that again?

“While I have no use for you,” Drulai says. “I thought it best that the Star at least have a friend he knew to go along the journey with him.”

Of course.

I roll my eyes and stare at my delicious steak again.

“You will both be guided by one of my own however,” She says. “This will require more than just the two of you.”

Now I am frowning again.

“Why do we need to be babysat?” I glare at her. “We do not need help. We managed before, we can manage again.”

Drulai shakes her head.

“While you did wonderfully before, now the situation is more dangerous. Raiyo is one thing but Morgoren works in entirely different ways. I am positive he will try and stop you.”

Luno’s hand reaches for mine under the table.

I squeeze it to comfort him.

“If he is so dangerous, why would you send Luno?” I say, trying not to yell. “That is the last thing you want! You are pretty much teasing the Moon God like you would a dog with a stick!”

Out of the corner of my eye, I see the Spirit Sailor nodding along to my words.

Drulai nods as well surprisingly. “See? Now you know why you need the extra protection! Not just for a guide, but someone who can lead you in the safest way possible.”

She gestures to the Spirit Sailor. “That is why the Spirit Sailor will be joining you on this quest. He has traveled the world for many years. He will be the perfect one for this cause.”

The Spirit Sailor gives a double take before standing.

“You did not ever mention something like this happening,” He hisses. “Why are you dragging me into this mess? You know I want to lay low and do my job!”

Drulai nods. “I know this, but you are still the most qualified of all the spirits here. Surely you can see that?”

He is silent but his eyes stare daggers at the Mother Goddess.

How strange it is to see one of her followers do such a thing. They all treat her as the mighty being that she is.

Not the Spirit Sailor though.

Strange…

Luno clears his throat. “What...what is it that we are supposed to be doing? You still have not told us.”

Right...I have been so annoyed with the fact I was dumped here and then learning that I will have a babysitter, I completely forgot to ask what the quest even is!

“Oh good,” Drulai chuckles. “The one without experience is smart enough to ask the bigger question!”

Me and the Spirit Sailor let out huffs of annoyance.

“As I said earlier, this deals with Morgoren and Raiyo,” She starts. “I have been informed of some catastrophic information. My son wishes to destroy us all. Now just us, but the very fabric of time.”

“Morgoren wants to rewrite the history of Thymestrys. He wishes to tears everything apart until it is a blank slate. To bring the end and start anew.”

Luno interjects. “Why?”

Drulai frowns and takes a sip of wine before speaking again.

“Because he wishes to be the most powerful being in all of Thymestrys. He does not want competition. He wants everything to be in his image. To be the only god. The only one on top.”

I frown as she keeps talking.

I knew the god was sick in the head, but I never realized he was someone who wanted to straight up destroy the entire universe!

Damn...this makes Raiyo’s incident look like a walk in the park.

Morgoren wants to kill his entire family as well? His own Mother?

The god is hardcore I’ll give him that.

“What does this have to do with Raiyo,” The Spirit Sailor asks, still sounding annoyed.

“Yeah,” Luno chirps. “Why the necklace? It didn’t work!”

Drulai gives a small sigh before speaking.

“It did not work because it is broken,” She says. “It is missing a diamond. We need it.”

I groan in annoyance. “Why? For gods sake tell us why!”

She glares at me for a moment before speaking.

“Because it should push Raiyo into killing Morgoren.”

There is a shocked silence.

Everyone is taking in the words they just heard from Drulai herself.

Since nobody else seems to want to speak, I will.

“You...you want Raiyo to kill your son?”

She nods. “Better he die than everyone else.”

“I suppose that’s true,” I say, “but how do you know Raiyo would help us? He clearly doesn’t care about anyone. We could be wasting our time.”

She voice rises. “What other choice do we have? Morgoren is too strong for any of us to fight head on! What could we possibly do?”

She takes a small breath to calm down.

“We must send Raiyo after him,” She says. “He cannot die and he may be our most powerful ally is we succeed. It is risky, I know, but we must take our chance if we wish to win.”

The Spirit Sailor glares at Drulai. “This is a stupid idea. Why not send all your children and maybe an army of angels, demons, and humans to stop him?”

She gives a deadpan expression at his words.

“Raiyo could easily bring down the toughest fighters of my children. What do you think Morgoren could do?”

I had not thought of that honestly.

Raiyo did bring them down easily. What chance would they have against the most powerful god?

“You are still asking too much from him,” The Sailor huffs. “We need another plan incase this one fails.”

Drulai slams her cup onto the table, making most of us jump in our seats.

“There is nothing else we can do,” She shouts. “Enough is enough!”

She glances at Luno and I before taking a deep breath.

“I know we all have our reasons to find this difficult, but now is the time to set those aside and try to take fate into our own hands before time runs out.”

What reasons? Are some of us having second thoughts?

Who in their right mind would have second thoughts about this? Luno? The Spirit Sailor? Me?

No wait, not me. That was dumb to think about.

The Spirit Sailor seems pretty against this plan, so obviously it's him.

I guess that most people in the afterlife hate it and want to stick to boring jobs and such, but I am sure there are other Spirits who can guide others throughout the realms just fine.

Look at that Harpy’s purse for instance!

Bitch.

~~~
~~~

Luno

I want to go home now.

Why would I want Raiyo to be on my side?

He killed my friend! That is the last thing I want to do!

Lets not forget that weird thing that happened when I made him go to sleep.

His eyes turned green like a human’s!

There is something else going on there and I want nothing to do with it. He is already dangerous enough. Why would we want to get close to him when he tried to kill us before?

Morgoren is the real problem.

Drulai thinks Raiyo is all of a sudden some kind of savior that could fix all our problems.

Surely she must realize that he has created just as many problems recently? He might have even done more!

Okay maybe that’s pushing it…

Still...it is strange that Drulai is so willing to turn to Raiyo after he killed Mother.

Now she wants him to kill Morgoren.

It is slightly insane to think about.

Drulai clears her throat.

“My sources claim that the missing piece to the necklace is located somewhere in the desert. The Spirit Sailor should be able to lead you to the general location that we’ve been told.”

I blink.

“The desert?” Both the Spirit Sailor and I exclaim.

Tobias rolls his eyes and leans his head back on the top of his chair.

“Great. More walking,” He says, his voice oozing with sarcasm.

I frown and shake my head.

“No there won’t,” I say and point to the Sailor. “He can bring us there in an instant!”

Tobi laughs.

The Spirit Sailor gives a slight shake of the head.

“I’m afraid not,” He says. “There aren’t any close bodies of water. Not even a pond.”

Now that doesn’t sound right. I’ve seen a map of Thymestrys.

“There is an entire ocean surrounding it!” I grin. “I’m sure you can bring is close enough to ride on over!”

He shakes his head.

“The waters have always been dangerous. I get by because I am only there for a short time in one spot. Both Angels and Demons seem to think the oceans are the perfect battleground for their little disagreements.”

Tobias grunts at his words and crosses his arms.

“What does that mean?” I ask.

Tobias answers for him. “It is basically a fight club, only instead of trying to knock each other out, we try and kill each other. Well...well I guess it is more of a ‘mini war’ than an actual fight club in all honesty.”

My face cringes just thinking about it.

“You sound like you went to a few of those,” I say accusingly.

He grunts and looks away.

“So? It is in the past now. Let's not dwell on it any longer.”

I cross my arms and stare up at Drulai, waiting for whatever else she can add to this quest and not wanting to hear anymore about these "fight clubs over water".

To my surprise, the Spirit Sailor speaks before she can.

“There is nothing in the desert,” He says. “Why waste our time with something that is clearly not there?”

His voice betrays his emotions. He clearly sounds angry.

Drulai blinks and plasters on a smile. “I know you so badly want to stick to your work, but you do realize that if you were to ignore these warnings, there will be no more work to be had?”

The Spirit Sailor looks like he wants to say something else but he bites his tongue and stays quiet.

The Goddess glances between us all. “There is something you must do before you run into the desert; something far more dangerous.”

“Because that is definitely what we need right now,” Tobias says sarcastically.

She only gives him a small glare before she continues.

“There is an ancient place,” She starts. “It was once my own sacred grounds for magical life. Now it is but a corrupted version of its old self. A breathing corpse that houses special waters that will awaken the magic sealed inside this necklace.”

She holds it up for us to see.

“It is my old forest. There is a pond that you must wash the necklace in. One of you will need to submerge yourself inside. Unfortunately, due to the corruption of the forest, I have no idea if the water have any effects on you.”

The Spirit Sailor abruptly stands up in his chair and glares down at Drulai.

She blinks at the sudden movement and pauses, pursing her lips and staring off, waiting for whatever he could say.

To our surprise, he simply stomps off and out the room, slamming the door shut behind him.

“I...I will let him know where he must take you after he calms down,” She says, clearing her throat.

She sighs and closes her eyes, reaching for her head.

“There is something else,” She says. “I am not sure how much I can tell you but know this, in the desert, you will find something...something dark. When you find it...it must be destroyed.”

She is staring us down now.

“Do you understand? No matter how wrong it may feel, you must destroy this dark power, otherwise the magic that will bring Raiyo to our side will not work.”

Tobi and I are silent, a bit uncomfortable at her words.

What could this possibly be? What could make us feel so wrong to destroy?

“Tell me you understand,” She shouts. It makes me jump in my seat.

Tobias answers for us.

“We understand,” He says, a bit in a smaller voice than normal.

She nods.

“Good...it would be best if you did not tell the Spirit Sailor about this little detail.”