Existence Is My Woven Tapestry

The reflection no longer mirrored the room they were in. Clomere could see fates unravel before her, gods play and toy with worlds like a game of chess as they laughed and chuckled at the results, war, death and destruction. Beyond that, she saw something, something that unlike what she saw stared back at her.

It was Solon, his steady smile arched way higher than it should that sparkled not with life but agony. The souls of horrors, gods and demons he had devoured, realities he had fractured or civilizations that descended into madness and ruin. Her body ran cold, shuddering the more she kept looking at the reflection.

In front of Solon, she was nothing more than an ant, her mind barely capable of comprehending what she truly saw as his figure stretched way up into realties where principalities and concepts never existed. And that was just his smile, the rest of his figure seemed to lurk all over, beneath and above her, in her nightmares and her visions alike.

In every thought that her mind came up with, he was always there with his perfect smile. Her breathes slowed significantly as it wasn't terror or existential crisis that overcame her but bliss. Euphoria that she had no power in his game as he always kept his mind shattering eyes on her. Ever shifting but never once taking their attention off her.

His right hand she now recalled was nothing more than a distant thought and yet she felt his figure brush against her back, his soft breathes on her neck. "Drink, my slave." The words echoed through time and space. Out of instinct she bit down and a cool and refreshing tinge washed her tongue.

Before she knew it, she was now sucking on his thumb and the scene shifted once more. Laughter bombarded her ears, not out of sobriety but madness that clawed on every living being. From worms, humans, gods, horrors and concepts themselves. All with their beings seemed to kneel at his presence as they devoted themselves to the gaping maw that was his smile.

And the more they laughed with madness, the wider his grin grew. And before she knew it she found herself starting to let out a chuckle. A faint whisper echoed through her ears jolting her back to reality, everything that she saw fractured like an irrelevant dream and back in her body, she found herself sucking on his thumb.

Enthralled in the moment as her mouth kept on sucking regardless. "It seems that someone's enjoying it a bit too much." As much as she wanted to keep on going, her demeanor came back like a truck. "I'm so sorry my Lord, I don't know what overcame me." Her tone fervent as she broke into endless apologies.

"It's fine Clomere. Your mind couldn't help itself." He wasn't angry but that smile that defied reality was there. This time it didn't scare or perturb her but merely make her smile as well. "Now I know where your loyalty lies." He mused before taking off his shirt, his hand held with hers.

"Do you mind taking a bath with me?" Her face blank, still trying to process what she had just saw before a response came. "Please, I'm nothing more than a humble slave of yours." In her mind, she paused. 'Slave? I'm his maid and yet the word feels... natural.'

And just like that she took her leave, her faint footsteps echoing through the room as he took the rest of his clothes. "My master, your parents required for your presence before you returned back to school." He gave a light hum, before sinking into the bubbly waters.

The door shut behind her leaving him with his thoughts. 'Oh creator, please don't bore me.' He chuckled lightly before shutting his eyes.

***

At the very heavens all the gods had converged, something that had never occured in over dozen millenniums. Each of them had grim looks on their faces as they knelt at a figure that remained seated on his throne. It was the same old man from before now drowning in holy radiance.

The first was the god of Flame and Rebirth, Ignovar. A temperamental god with a warrior's pride. The second being the god of the Mind and Madness, Azrith. A shifting entity with a face always grinning. Master of phrenomancy, delusions, dreams, and the shattering of will.

The third was the god of Shadows and Secrets, Velethar. A silent, robe-draped entity. Voice never heard, yet always understood. The fourth being the goddess of Nature and Hunger, Thyelune. Neither cruel nor kind, merely ravenous and blooming.

The fifth was the god of Storm and Strife, Kaelorin. Made of thunder and broken steel. The battlefield is his altar and conflict his hymn. The sixth was the goddess of Time and Memory, Elaris. Holds a mirror that reflects all possible selves. Her eyes shimmer like shifting sands. She rarely spoke. The seventh one was the god of Death and Passage, Myreth. He never killed, but guides. Gentle, cold and inevitable.

The last god was the god of Light and Binding, Solthuriel. She was once the supreme out of them all but now humbled by the Creator's summoning. Speaks of justice, but her chains are many. None of them dared to look up.

"My pitiful pawns, today I come to you with delightful news. This world will perish in the hands of our new visitor. A horror far older than I seeking nothing more than entertainment." The old man started off, his tone heavy. Some of their faces contorted between disbelief and shock, few remaining indiscernible.

A ripple formed in front of them all and the image of Reynolds came to view. His body which had started to decay now began to sew itself anew. New bones forming over the old ones as flesh kept on mending itself. They were perplexed as they failed to sense any form of vitality off his corpse.

"I know that some of you have wondered why I chose to spare the rogue god that birthed demons and the truth of the matter is because of my amusement. At the time it intrigued me to watch what you would do with your power but overtime I became a dispassionate observer till recently."

He paused, his eyes already peering through their minds. "And to quench my thirst for boredom, a player has chosen to play this game however it is not cheap. I'm certain that I'll perish no doubt but my boredom shall flee and hopefully I can taste something else other than divinity." His tone bored however for the eight of them, it echoed through the halls of with great power.

"Generous he has decided to let you pick champions to play this game, serve as your pawns but do know this, he wants it to be intriguing and so do I." Without another word their figures appeared outside of the divine court and into the empty halls.

All of them silent as they processed what they had just heard. "Why would he be so pleased with our world coming to an end and us along with it?" Kaelorin, the god of storms quizzed.

"It would seem that that old man has finally lost it. We simply can't watch from the sidelines and wait for our death! Why don't we make a move on our visitor?!" Azrith, the Phrenomancer asked as they sat down.

"Because first, if our visitor is capable of killing our creator then they are clearly no joke, also the use of champions as pawns clearly appeases the two." Velethar the god of shadows pointed out. " Elaris remained silent as she formed a crack through space and watched Reynolds slowly come back to life.

"This is an insult to the holy cycle of life and death. And yet I can't seem to trace anything, it's as if he's lacking a soul." Myreth, the god of death mused, rubbing his skeletal chin in contemplation. "If we're going to be sending champions then it's quite clear that we can't kill him yet." Another god pointed out.

*Plop*

Without warning golden blood splattered all over the place, Elaris meeting her cruel death on the spot. The rest were visibly shocked as they watched her body slump callously onto the floor. "I- I can't revive her!" Ignovar the god of Flame and rebirth said.

"She's lacking in the cycle of life and death as well. It's as if her existence was wiped out. Myreth pointed out, all of their faces turned grim. "It would seem that she was trying to peer into the future to get a look at the visitor was." Azrith sighed. With Elaris' death, it was clear that they lacked their clairvoyance to navigate the future like they were accustomed to.

At first they thought that their visitor was idle but it would seem that he or she was watching their every move. "We can't dwell on her death, we have to pick out champions." Ignovar spoke, his tone heavy as he too was fazed with the sudden death of their own.

From there a heated yet controlled debate arose on which champions would be sent and after the gruesome picking, they finally came to a content conclusion. At this point they knew that the world they had tried to save from falling into the hands of demons was a canvas for what was to come. A carnage that was painted in the blood of mortals an gods alike.

***

The void had been cold to Reynolds who remained suspended in limbo. He had no means of calculating the time thus he could only wait till he descended into madness or he was liberated from his purgatory. By now he had slowly drawn nearer to the brink of insanity and yet something held him from jumping off that cliff.

"Reynolds, I bestow you a gift or a curse to devour to your hearts content however your lust for crimson will only grow and turn you into a madned butcher..." The voice echoed through the expansive nothingness.

He thought that it was another hallucination but next, his vision was flooded with a calm and starry night. He was back to his old body, but something about it was different, it wasn't as sturdy or as sensitive as it was now.

He spat the mud out of his mouth as he crawled to the stream for some water but unlike before, the water wasn't acidic, or was much worse. His skin burned and sizzled upon contact even before it reached his lips. "Aaarghh!!!" His voice echoed through the forest, now callous of what of predators that he would attract.

And it was then that he took a look at his reflection. The eyes hazelnut were his, his skin the same but nothing else seemed to be his. His teeth were now sharper, his eyes dilated with ease narrowing at a blade of grass with ease and his ears now pointed could hear much clearer and much farther away.

But what stuck out to him were the two horns on his temples. Short, black and facing the sky, it felt like a dream to him but every second of it felt alive. The pain from earlier had yet to simmer away and now looking at her hands he realized that his tissue had started to heal.

'What have I become?!' He thought in his head.