Giggles echoed as the forest itself froze, birds in mid-flight and mice mid-scurry. His surroundings pulsed with yellow aura as trees bent backwards, pushed by two invisible hands as giant floating red eyes locked onto his.
As the two eyes neared, flames scattered into a full circle around him , trailing off sparks alike a sun raising out of the ground itself.
Eventually a full face would appear above the trees with the rest of her body colored messily in by what seemed like crayons. As such, only her face seemed real, and everything else doodled into the sky— an odd and surreal sight itself. It clearly revealed a girl; blonde of red eyes and freckles along her face. She was colored in by oranges, reds, and white.
“You! You killed my plaything!”
The giant’s mouth opened, though in sync to the words she words she spoke to him.
“You ONLY lost an arm and ruined my plaything!”
Scribbled hand reached in between trees and carefully rose the fallen deputy, shaking him around like a rag doll.
If blood loss hadn't paled Korosu white as a ghost, this would have done it. His mouth gaped and he stared at the enormous being in complete terror. "I..." He started, lost for words. After a moment, Korosu gave her a nervous frown. "Your plaything? I beg to differ- who's the one that kebabbed him?" He dared, voice trembling but still poking back.
Dropping the deputy to clatter onto the floor, hand reached for him instead— a very tangible, very REAL hand pressuring him as gigantic nail held up to his throat.
“Kebabbed or not, he’s been my favorite toy since—“
The voice abruptly silenced mid-sentence, the being’s face morphing into the same crayon-like look as the rest of its body before a much smaller, more realistic version also appeared before him. Of course, he was still being tightly gripped, but at least he was to talk to someone more to his level.
“Since he was practically born! And you messed that up. WHY?”
Korosu cringed away from the grip, muttering a "No..!" before his neck was pinned by the nail. His eyes traveled to the new form that had appeared. "It...It seemed like a fun thing to do, of course." His voice sounded weak as his eyes started to close and knees began to buckle. His unattended wound hurt like nothing his physical body had ever felt before and soon it was going to have the best of him if she didn't let him wrap it up.
Cheeks of both gigantic and smaller goddess puffed up at the sight of the pale demon. He had the NERVE to kill her plaything, spoke up against her, and now had the audacity to die in her presence? Such a sight went beyond someone with guts. Even if he couldn't help the whole 'dying' thing.
With a loud sigh, the celestial being beckoned flames to rise up and wrap around the demon's arm, taking shape as a temporary replacement for what he lost. Of course, with it came full movement as well as it kept him from bleeding further.
"There, now calm down and listen, I can't even scare you right like that. HE'S fun! And you go and kill him! Which is definitely impressive and all, but over what? For fun? It's not like you even know about the blessing which makes it so much more frustrating when I can't even congratulate you."
The more the goddess thought about it, the more frustrated she became, moving her giant's nail to tap atop his skull.
Korosu watched with both alarm and excitement as the new hand and forearm took shape. "Blessing?" He asked, not quite grasping the power of the word. "I don't imagine you could understand, great maiden. For I don't think you are of my kind..I live for tragedy, you see. Just a demon in his natural habitat." He joked, and why shouldn't he if he was about to be offed? Besides, this odd humongous creature was seeming less and less frightening by the minute.
"I'm sure you do understand, however, that humans are terribly wonderful to bully and abuse. It's my job and it's my addiction. Know what I mean?" Korosu gave her a childish smile full of teeth.
Circling around him, the goddess's frustration mellowed to annoyance as she swept a hand through his hair, marveling at the jewelry he had come to possess. Soon, she had herself plucking the few she fancied, mostly marveling at rings matching her own gradiental colors.
"There's a clear difference between poking and puppeteering."
With a wave to her giant counter-part, Crayon-Goddess dug a nail into the demon's skull, pushing him down and out of the hold he was restrained in. Backwards she floated, flicking a ring up to catch within her palm.
"Regardless, I don't give a damn about the others, but Maware! Poor Maware..."
Covering her face by an arm, a gust of wind shot down from above, a clear attempt to knock him down-- or at least onto his knees.
"Just kidding. He was fun, but it can't be helped. Are you satisfied for that hand as a blessing? Or would you rather something greater? Oh, and the demon thing doesn't bother me one bit. I don't discriminate like that."
Korosu dropped to the ground and attempted to stand up before getting thrown back onto his ass by the wind. He didn't seem to pay any mind to her blessing offer as he sat up, for he was watching that ring she had taken like his life depended on it.
No amount of deep breathing could get her to keep a sane mind. A mere low-class demon, ignoring an almighty goddess? Her anger was starting to boil over, burning all plant-life and creating a heat wave between the two.
"Don't you dare order me, demon."
Flame-like and sparkling irises scanned the ring as she flipped it over several times in her hand, analyzing what was subtly written and magically attached to it for a moment.
"Why in all of the seven divisions are you walking around with this? ...Oh, I see. I see! Very well then! I know exactly what to bless you with. No need to thank me."
With her mood taking a complete-180, she tossed the ring back to him. By some unseen force, the rest of the jewelry followed suit and returned to his hair, secured by something out of sight.
As the goddess herself grinned, the very sun rose up from beneath his feet, leaving Korosu's body to again enveloped by flames. They moved in, closer, brushing his figure as they rained down his face and into his mouth and nose. Unlike prior, these were not cool to the touch.
May the fire guiding your soul grow never extinguish.
The disappearance of the flames was sudden, as was the returning sound of the forest. Everything had been restored to normality, with the goddess no where to be found.
The demon held his head and cried out in pain as the flames entered him and his hand melted away to reveal the charred stump he'd been given.
Then, the ethereal creature was gone. What just happened..? Putting the ring safely in a pocket (how could he possibly braid it into his hair now? Stupid Maware.), he quickly slipped down into the Avinus pit and eyed one of the spears in frustration. He knew what he had to do before he went back to camp. Before he did it though, he took one of the spikes and stabbed it into the wound he'd given Maware. All of this was much harder with one hand, but he made do. Afterwards, and wasting no time with thoughts full of dread, Korosu glared down one of those spikes before smashing his arm against the sharp, splintered tip. He hit it, again and again until it was spurting and full of wood. He bent over and screamed inaudibly, his head going numb from so much pain. Gasping and shaking, the man took his severed hand out of Maware's grip and dropped it near one of the spikes. Finally he fell to his knees in exhaustion. There was no climbing out of the chasm tonight. This had certainly not gone as planned, but it had been interesting. Maybe someone would find him, maybe not. Maybe he wouldn't bleed out. Maybe that creature was just a hallucination, but what if she wasn't? What creature? What was he thinking about again? Slowly his eyes closed and he began to pass out.
As he finally laid to rest, a magical force kept him slightly upright. Warm pressure was held against his bloodied stump, the ends of fabric being rolled and wrapped around it. Should he have opened his eyes, he would have been met with only a silhouette of dimly-lit garnet supporting him, no specific features to note other than a familiar presence and outline.
Ring was eventually taken out of his pocket and set back into his hair, fixed with a messy braid mixed of dried blood.
Call upon the goddess and she will gift you a blessing.
Words were faint, though each held a different note as though being sung to him.
For all the wrongfulness the demon had committed in life, he didn't deserve such blessings or kindness... Yet, it was exactly that which he was given.
