The Star, The Demon, and The God - 4. Fish are Friends

Luno

“We should pull them out of the hole right?” I ask, a bit unsure, and still feeling gross and nasty.

Tobias nods while looking down at them.

I feel a bit bad about feeling grossed out, but you can’t exactly blame me right? I just fell on top of cold, dead bodies.

Shivering again at the thought, I wrap my arms around myself to calm my nerves.

What kind of evil thing dumps all these people into a hole? Why were they even in a hole? It is strange.

I am pretty sure a small spell was placed to keep the snow from caving in, so that must mean that whatever is doing all this damage is someone able to use magic.

I doubt it would be a mere human. So many people have fallen on a large scale. How could a simple mage have that type of power?

Since I am ruling that out, could it be an Angel? Of course there is the possibility that a God is behind this. Perhaps even more than one.

Peering over the edge, I cup my hands in front of me, spreading them out slowly. The hole opens up more, making space for all the people underneath the earth. Once it is wide enough for everyone to safely be lifted out, I rise my fists to the sky, lifting the ground the village people are resting on.

The earth trembles as it lifts everyone up to our level.

Once they are with us, Tobias leans down to inspect the bodies. I frown at that.

I know he must do that to figure out what is happening, but this feels wrong. I can feel their spirits. They are weak and they want to be brought back to their bodies. Oh gods they are so scared! They have no idea what has happened to them.

The sound of snow being stepped on grabs my attention.

Looking for the source, I see demons coming out of portals. There are four of them and they do not speak with it. They only give a nod to me before leap high on top of the village houses.

I guess they are ready to protect us again.

How do they always know when we arrive at a new location? It is slightly concerning. Eh, then again, Raiyo has his wispy messengers. No doubt one has been sneaking around, keeping an eye on us.

That is oddly comforting in a way. Knowing the God is keeping watch over us. Even if his name has a rather intimidating feel to it now.

“Luno,” Tobias says. “Are you ready to bring them back?”

Looking up at him, I bite my lip before nodding.

Checking once more at the other demons, I realize that it might be a bit concerning that I surrounded by them at the moment. Most would be scared I’m sure.

I guess I can say that one good thing about this little adventure, I learned that the Demons are not entirely bad. Unfortunately, I also learned that the Angels are not entirely good either.

“I need to change,” I whisper to Tobias.

He lets out a small sigh before nodding.

Giving a little smile, I retreat into one of the homes. I do not want to change my clothes in front of any of these Demons.

Each layer of clothing that I pull off feels like a breath of fresh air. I missed having less clothes. Sure, it has only been about half a day with the new clothes, but I hate them. They make me feel super claustrophobic.

Shivering at the cold air touching my skin, I quickly summon my traditional attire. It is what I have always worn. Tobias says I am wearing a skirt, but I am not! A skirt covers up both sides of the legs as well.

The most important pieces of my outfit is the jewelry. They were gifts from Mother. She had given them to me to properly control my deep rooted magic more. Going without them tends to lead to trouble.

For instance, the day I burned down the home of Viktor. It was my fault. I just know it was. What else could have possibly done that but me?

I like to think that my sadness somehow sparked the magic needed to unconsciously set the home ablaze.

Frowning to myself, I run my fingers over my left bracelet. There is a red ruby that is being held there by the silver metal.

The fire ruby gets its own separate piece. That was my choice to make. Never again will I create such destruction with fire again.

I have always missed Viktor and Monie. Lately I have been missing them a little bit more than usual. Surely that is never a good sign. Especially when I am the reason they died.

A knock on the front door grabs my attention.

“Luno, are you almost done?” Tobias asks. “We need to get moving soon.”

“O-ok!” I say. Swallowing on whatever air was stuck in my throat.

Is it never best to focus on the past. That is what Mother always said to me. It was the only way she knew how to comfort me whenever the subject of Viktor came up.

Taking a few deep breaths to calm myself, I check out my surroundings. This little home is rather nice. It is like a small cabin. A fireplace has been set up but the wood is covered in snow.

There is a large green couch with a small table in front of it. On the table is a small bird that has been carve of out some wood. The little shavings scatter along the table and have even fallen off of one side. The knife that was used to carve has fallen over onto the floor with the shavings.

Strange. Did the carver drop the knife when the attack happened?

I frown when I look at a table with half eaten food on the table. Some of the food has fallen out of the plates. One of the chairs lies on its side.

The people who were living here were pulled out of their home. Surely it was not just one person who could have done this. It must have been a group of people.

An idea pops into my mind that makes me rush out of the house to find Tobias.

As soon as I step on the snow, it sends a shiver up my spine.

Perhaps I have gotten too used to the warmth those clothes were offering. A small part of me is actually a bit excited to get those shoes on again…shame on me.

When Tobias sees me he rolls his eyes and crosses his arms.

“Ridiculous choices again,” He sighs. “More power to you I guess.”

I ignore his comments and tell him my idea.

“I just had a thought!” I grin. “What if we were to ask the humans what happened to them? They were the last ones that saw whatever killed them, surely they would answer some annoying questions.”

The more I speak, the deeper Tobias’ frown becomes.

“We cannot do that,” He says, a bit agitated. “As soon as they see us, they will be scared and think we did something wrong.”

I shake my head and frown. “No they won’t. We can tell them that we saved them! Then they listen to us. You just have to have a little bit of faith!”

Tobias shakes his head and steps away from me.

“Maybe they would to sweet, little you, but they sure as hell won’t to any Demons,” He glares at the bodies. “Go ahead and bring them back.”

He turns his back to me and goes to stand under a house.

I frown at his retreat and glance down at the bodies.

Now I am not sure how I feel about humans. I have only met them once before, but I have met their destruction many times over the last few years.

Varen was just an absolute nightmare, but being on the sidelines and seeing what the humans do to the world is not entirely nice to stomach either. They constantly have wars with each other. Constantly destroy the homes of all these innocent creatures that just want to live their lives. Why must they cause so much hatred? They always leave their mark no matter where they are.

Maybe that is why they are being killed. Someone sees how much of a parasite the humans can be and now they want are taking action against them.

No...calling them parasites seems awfully dramatic. I did meet some nice humans. It was only two out of a whole village, but they are proof that there are some good eggs out there.

Lately I have been thinking of Viktor a lot. That is not really a good thing when I need happy thoughts to bring all these people back to life.

Taking a deep breath, I try and clear my mind of any depressing thoughts about Viktor, or any mean thoughts about humans in general.

There is also the most recent stuff that has been bugging me, but not is really, really not the time.

Using magic to control the winds, I fly high into the air.

I believe this is my favorite place to be. It is so refreshing and clear up here. It was cloudy earlier, but the skies have opened up to show off its pretty blues.

I swear the air feels and tastes so much better as well. That could just be my imagination however.

A screech comes up behind me and I see Enfi flying around me, her wings burning from excitement.

She does a few tricks like rolling around and doing little flips.

Laughing at her, I shake my hand at her.

“Go hide your eyes, Enfi!” I call with a smile. “I don’t want to blind you!”

She chirps before diving down towards Tobias.

Well she brought my mood up already. I should bring her some raspberries as my thanks. She loves those to death.

Literally.

She has died multiple times for raspberries. Thank the gods she can rebirth herself.

I guess it is a bit funny that she was willing to go so far for them.

Taking a deep breath, I close my eyes and think about how funny Enfi is and how she likes to splash everyone with water when she goes for a drink.

Like always, the air around me goes silent. The usual brush of the winds stops and it stares. The sky waits for what I will do. It senses my magic coming to life.

The life in everything always pauses in this moment. The magic within everything can see that I am about to do something. It tenses up in fear. Thymestrys has gone through many things throughout the years. Even when I have brought life back into the world, it still freezes up thinking it will be hurt once again.

Crosses my arms over my chest, I concentrate on the magic within me.

Given the things I learned from Raiyo, I guess I now know what is inside me. It is a Star’s energy.

My energy.

I am glad it can bring things back from the dead. It actually makes me feel like I am helpful in some strange way.

Like clockwork, the spark that I feel inside begins to grow like a small flame building inside a campfire.

Well, I guess technically that would be like Raiyo, right?

Great. Now I found another thing that is supposed like him. Not only was I supposed to look like him, apparently I feel like him too.

If he could feel that is…

Stop it, Luno! Happy thoughts. The spark is becoming dull. Now is not the time to be bitter about Raiyo or anything else in that whole situation. Just think about Enfi and how funny she is. How sweet Kulu is. Just think about the Sanctuary. Think about home.

That pretty much does the trick for me. The spark feels like a small burn. A happy flame that feels like a bird spreading its wings for the first time.

Reaching forward with one finger, I trace a large circle in front of me. A small portal that swirls with fuzzy rainbow colors materializes.

I have always wondered what this does to me. I knew it brings out a special magic onto my skin. Magic strong enough to bring back old or even new life. Now I guess it is the innerstar of me that is being brought out. Shining my light on everything that can see me.

Slowly, I ease my finger through the large portal. Instantly a sonic boom goes off before a ripple of power surges across the sky.

My hand begins to shine a light so bright, I have to shut my eyes.

I keep easing more of myself into the portal. I always keep it at a slow pace because pushing it too fast tends to leave me a bit too tired.

It does not really feel like anything. Only the air brushing against my skin. That is pretty much the only reason I know I still have some kind of solid form.

Mother told me that I had used this form for evil when I was in the village of Varen. The fact that, that is even possible is scary.

How could something that brings life so beautifully be so dangerous?

I call it ‘something’ but it is me! I am dangerous. Was a star always able to be evil or is this possible because the Moon God has tainted me?

Huh. I never really thought of it like that. Tainted. Am I just some random star that has been corrupted? It makes me feel dirty.

Thank the Gods I have passed through the portal already, otherwise I doubt I would have been able to bring the spark back.

I do feel nasty now. Am I like a Demon now? Or an Angel? Capable of being evil.

Obviously both sides could possibly argue that they are good, but to me, based on how nature reacts to them, they both are not good. They could be better.

There are groans that can finally start to be heard. Most sound confused; others sound tired. The humans’ spirits are returning to their bodies!

Thank the Gods. Not going to lie, all this negative thinking just now had me a bit worried that maybe it would have ruined the magic.

Not entirely sure how long I should do this. There were a lot of them in that hole for such a small village. Maybe a few minutes longer just to be sure. I do not want anyone to be forgotten. Especially not even the animals.

Tobias said that we should not bother with trying to speak with the humans. I still think otherwise. Like the other times, he has probably already ran away to hide from the humans. That is okay! I will just speak with them myself.

One thing that I will definitely tell them is that Demons helped in bringing them back. Honestly...they are not really doing much, but they are wanting to bring the humans back. That says more than what the Angels are doing. They are doing the opposite apparently.

Giving it a minute or two, I finally bring myself back through the rainbow portal.

The light that shined from my body dies down instantly, the world going back to being lit by the sun.

Looking down at the humans, I see them sitting up or trying to stand. They all look like they just woke up from a long, long nap.

Most of them look confused. Others are in a daze. Staring off at whatever could be in front of them.

In most cases, it is a house.

I almost panic when I realize they have possibly noticed the Demons who were perched up there, but I see that the Demons have already disappeared.

Glancing at the house Tobias was standing under, I see he has disappeared as well. That brings out a small frown from me. I was hoping he would have listened to my idea and stayed to ask questions with me.

I do hope he realizes that I am going to ask the humans about what happened. I would not want them to just leave me here.

Enfi will find him if he tries to anyways.

Drifting down to the ground with them, I look for someone who could have recovered better than the others.

There is one man who does not look quite as confused or dazed. I walk over to him.

I regret it when I get closer.

He smells like fish. That does not exactly make me happy to speak with him. Still...he might have information that could help us.

“Hi there!” I smile when I stand in front of him. “I’m Luno!”

The man narrows his brow in confusion and looks anywhere but at me.

Tilting my head, I try and get into his line of sight.

“Hello?” I reach out and touch his arm. That manages to get his attention finally.

His eyes dart to my face and they widen in shock. He backs up a bit too quickly, running into a woman who was struggling to walk on wobbly feet.

Quickly, I go to help her up before approaching the man once again.

“Hey, hey, hey!,” I say, holding on his arm, pushing calming magics into him. “Everything is alright! Nothing to afraid of.”

Instantly his scared expression disappears. His breathing calms down and he takes deep breaths as well.

I have to use this magic sometimes when there are babies who are either too fussy, scared, or sad.

Good to know it does not only work on animals.

“What is happening?” He asks, looking back at all the people in the street. “Why is every in the middle of the street?”

Putting on a smile, I move him to sit on the steps to a house.

“You had all died,” I say. “I brought you back.”

“Died?” he exclaims, his emotions starting to freak out again.

Frowning I put more calming magics into his arm. “You do not remember? Nothing at all? It would really help me and my friends. We are trying to help others like you.”

“Other?” He narrows his eyes. “What do you mean? There are others who are dead?”

I nod.

He bites his lip and wraps his arms around himself.

It is strange seeing such a grown man do something like that. It reminds me of a child holding themselves.

“Do not worry,” I grin. “Everyone will be better soon enough. I will make sure of it!”

He nods and lets out a shaky sigh.

“I-I would like to thank you and your friends for bringing my village back,” he says. “We could never be more thankful.”

I smile and give him a quick hug. “You are quite welcome. You can thank the Demons as well. They helped me bring you back.”

His skin somehow pales even more at that.

“Demons?” He almost shouts.

I nod. “Of course! They have been working hard to save you humans. Without them, you wouldn’t be able to come back.”

Yes, it is a small lie, but I do not want humans thinking Demons are all evil. Tobias is nice after all!

...Sometimes.

“I...I guess that is nice of them,” he blinks and stares at the ground.

I pat his shoulder and then move to go and find another who can tell me what happened here.

Fifteen minutes later of lots of calming magics used, I end up with nothing. Nobody remembers how they died! They only remember what they were doing before it happened and then nothing. Blackness. Their spirits just floating in between the realms, unsure of where to go.

Moving to find Tobias, I leave the village.

Whatever is killing the humans apparently wants to erase the memories of said killing as well. How strange.