Chapter Text
In the beginning there was nothing. But it wasn't nothingness for long, soon enough came land, love and the abyss; and along with those three from the nothingness came the night and the darkness that accompanied it. This living nothingness was soon no longer nothing but something, though, we don't get to meet it until later.
From the land came her partner, her equal and opposite; the sky. And from the night and it's darkness came the cycle of day and night. From the land and the sky came the first beings. The first generation if you will.
But that isn't the cast we’re focused on in this story. This story is focused on the second generation of deities; lead by the Goddess of Death; Lady Kristin and her immortal assistant.
Let's begin.
Above the rolling lands a large black cloud cast a shadow, and the cloud was headed towards Etherium or “The thousand year tree”. The cloud of black moved closer to and landed at the top of the weeping willow, the cloud exploding and dispersing into a million crows as it hit the leaves, a blonde man with wings black as the midnight sky stood in its place.
The blonde man stood on air, although it felt like he was standing on firm ground. If he were to strain his vision enough the air around where he stood glimmered gently, as if it were a large pane of clean, polished glass. He stood on the plane of gods, and it accepted him with open arms.
“It’s been a while,” A feminine voice spoke, “Hasn’t it, Phil?” There was an area where something akin to a portal stood, and out stepped a woman, soft, kind eyes met Phil’s. She was easily 8 feet tall, a large hat with a black veil hanging from the edges was placed upon her head, long, wavy black hair framed her face and a dress similar to that of a kimono was what she wore. The woman had wings much like Phil’s although they were a colour akin to the light given off by a sunset opposed to being black as midnight.
“It has, Lady Kristin” Phil smiled, moving over to the side of the goddess, taking her hand in his own and leading her to the edge of the godly plane, to look down at the fields that surrounded the Thousand Year tree.
“I told you to just call me Kristin, Phil.” Kristin laughed softly. Just from her behaviour you’d have no clue that she was the Goddess of death, however if you were to see her interact with animals or regular humans you’d learn that she was. Most of Kristin’s interactions with purely mortal forces ended in their demise.
The two sat in silence for a moment, a gentle humming coming from Kristin. The sun had begun setting with how long the two stood at the edge of the plane. Many animals ran across the rolling fields, birds travelled across the sky; though any and all crows tended to flock to Phil so there were still plenty of birds resting in Etherium.
“Have you gotten any visits from the overworld gods?” Phil questioned out of nowhere, ”Boomer? Slime? Hannah and Niki?” He looked in the general direction of the Immortal Swamp, and then the Slime Caverns, and lastly the Gardens of Tranquility as he spoke. His midnight black wings flapping softly, as if he was filled with a sudden energy. Not even Phil knew where this sudden hyperactivity came from.
Kristin shook her head, cupping her hands together, “Unfortunately no.” She sighed, “I’ve been too busy dealing with everybody in there,” She nodded towards the gentle ripple in the air, “so I haven't gotten the opportunity to.”
“Would you like to?”
“I think I would, Yeah.”
Not long after their little conversation the two found themselves standing on the edge of a vast swamp. The wetland was dark, hidden from the sunlight by the many trees grown across it; their branches tangling together and creating an umbrella. Many different animals were roaming the waters and what little land there was; but the croaking of frogs overwhelmed all other sounds. The many frogs only quieted down when Phil and Kristin stepped into the swamp, as if the amphibians were expecting something, or someone.
“You know,” a voice that was brash but it wasn’t harsh or violent; more laid back, “It’s been a bit since anybody’s entered the Immortal Swamps.” A bark-like laugh followed the sentence.
“Where are you?” Kristin spoke strongly, like a leader would.
Another laugh followed that question, although much softer and like a chuckle compared to the previous laugh, “I’m everywhere and nowhere. This is my swamp afterall Ms. Death.”
“Boomer. Now.” The goddess of death had her hands held patiently at her sides, though her tone of voice was displaying the opposite.
A sigh followed and the sigh was followed by the owner of the previous voice dropping from the above trees and landing on a conveniently large lilypad was a man that stood at around 6’1, he had purely white hair, and wore purely white clothes. Surprisingly the man was completely clean for being stood in the center of a swamp, almost as if all mud and dirt was repelled from his being. “Welcome back to the swamp, Phil, Kristin.” Boomer greeted with a happy voice, glad to have some visitors for the first time in a while.
“Boomer,” Phil nodded in greeting, “It’s been a bit, hasn’t it mate?”
“It has been!” As Boomer spoke, the frog hat he wore was almost emoting along with him. “What have you guys been doing?” Boomer questioned, cupping his hands together, “ Seeing as you’re the only ones who actively visit the swamp .” he spoke the last sentence under his breath, just loud enough to be heard by Kristin and Phil
Kristin gave a quick smile and laughed, “What, do the frogs not keep you company?” She took a step closer to the swamp god; walking gently across the plants that floated on the water’s surface. “Phil and I only just reunited today. I’ve been watching over everyone that resides on Etherium. I don’t know what he’s been doing.”
Phil just shrugged, “I haven’t done much. I haven’t really needed to.”
The previously hushed croaking from the many frogs became louder, and louder until they reached an unbearable volume. Boomer acted like nothing was happening. “I know guys, I know.” he spoke to nothing, or to the frogs. “It is boring. They don’t want you here anymore.” He spoke with a boredom that wasn’t there before, the swamp’s water beginning to create angry waves. “I’d leave while you still can.”
The Slime Caverns were much more difficult to find compared to the Immortal Swamp. Unlike the Immortal Swamp being a swamp that stretched on for thousands upon thousands of miles, the Slime Cavern was located in a small ravine within a mountain range; the crack was extremely unnoticeable if you weren’t looking for it, but looking like a deep scratch torn into the Earth’s crust if you were.
They stood six feet from the ravine. The hole looked about five feet wide at its widest part. Distant and dying screams echoed out from the hole; the only sight from the surface was darkness. It didn’t look like a cave at all, just some screaming maw of the void.
“I guess we should go in…” Phil stepped closer to the edge. He wasn’t looking forward to entering the caverns.
It was then that the smell hit him. An indescribable scent hit his nose; the best description being disgusting with a hint of sweetness. The smell would probably increase tenfold down there. With an unsure sigh Phil spread his wings and motioned for Kristin to come to his side. He took a breath and jumped into the crack; listening for the sound of Kristin jumping in after him, which followed shortly after.
As feet hit hard stone ground Phil nearly gagged at the smell. Sure, he’d been down in the Slime Caverns plenty of times, but he was sure he’d never get used to the horrid scent of the decaying bodies.
The view inside the caverns was one you’d expect from any old cave, except with all kinds of bones scattered throughout the place; many lodged within the flesh eating slime that was found throughout the entirety of the caves.
“Where is he,” Phil wondered aloud, beginning to wander through the caves searching for the God of Slime and Decay.
Suddenly a bloodied hand grabbed at Phil’s ankle, the face of the person that it belonged to streaked with tears and covered with bruises. “Please… sir… help me…” The dying person pleaded, the flesh and clothing at their stomach slowly yet surely dissolving as the slime that they were stuck in crept upward toward their head.
Phil pulled his ankle away and tried not to give a face of disgust. Kristin stepped towards the person who was being eaten alive, she crouched down in front of them, offering her hand.
“Please miss..” the person took Kristin’s hand “Help…”
Kristin gave a gentle smile, “It’ll be over soon, don’t worry.” She spoke softly, gently squeezing the dying person’s hand; letting go after and standing up. The goddess watched as the person immediately fell deathly ill, and smiled again, repeating her earlier sentence.
The person succumbed to the peace of death, no longer having to worry about the situation they were in.
After a bit of wandering in the deep caverns soft footsteps could be heard wandering around one of the smaller caves furthest away from the entrance. Pacing around the little cave was a man that stood at around 5’11, he wore something that roughly resembled clothing but patched in multiple places with fabrics that didn’t quite match his short brown hair was extremely unkempt and messy, and in some places on his body you could see slime and bone instead of skin and muscle. Kristin and Phil knew this man as the God of Slime and Decay; Charlie or Slime. He wasn’t a well liked god amongst the other gods; namely because he tended to cause trouble and be an annoyance to the other gods.
“Hey Slime.” Kristin greeted Charlie, giving a quick wave.
“Hey! Uh,” Charlie spoke with slight surprise, giving a nervous chuckle, “You’re not mad, right? Right?”
“Why would we be mad, mate?” Phil questioned, crossing his arms in confusion.
“Y’know… you two only come into the caverns when you’re angry at me and then you come to tell me to not annoy the others but I still do… y’know all that.” Charlie huffed.
“No, no no.” Kristin laughed, “We’re just here to visit this time.”
“Now why would you want to do that?” The slime god chuckled; crossing his arms. “Why would you willingly want to come and spend time in my death riddled caverns?”
“Why wouldn’t I?” Kristin smiled, “ Death is my name after all.”
The conversation after that was a pleasant one that lasted about two or three hours. Charlie led Phil and Kristin through the caverns; showing them around. A lot of it was the same sight; stone walls, slime, stalagmites that could stab through your foot if you weren’t being careful, things like that. Charlie managed to make the tour fun with his occasional puns and other jokes though. And soon enough the tour was over with the three being stood back at the entrance of the caverns.
“Well,” Charlie smiled, a slight hint of sadness in the smile; presumably with the knowledge that the Goddess of death and her immortal assistant would be leaving him alone in the caverns again, until the next time some hopeless adventurer would come along and get trapped in the slime, “It was nice to see you.”
Kristin nodded, and Phil hummed; both in agreement. “We’ll see you next time Slime.”
“Yeah. I’ll see you.”
And with the goodbyes Phil and Kristin spread their wings and made their way out of the Slime Caverns.
There was a soft silence and a certain calmness as the two made their way to the Gardens of Tranquility. A serenity, if you will. The earlier wind had turned into a gentle breeze and any unpleasant scents had become floral and nice.
With enough time came miles upon miles of golden fields; wheat fields if you were to look close enough at it. These were the outskirts of the Gardens of Tranquility, Phil and Kristin continued on, flying until they saw the waterfall, one whom’s water fed all the plants in the garden; keeping them all alive. It had a name, though not many other than the Garden’s caretakers; the goddess of nature and the goddess of goods and the harvest, cared to remember it.
As the head goddess and her immortal assistant grew closer and closer to the waterfall and the main area of the gardens, the small figures of two people standing in one of the wheat fields grew more and more noticeable. Gentle and precise movements from one, the figure harvesting the wheat but taking care not to horribly destroy the plants so that they could grow back. The other, held a basket of assorted colours within it; presumably flowers, this figure watched the other, careful as to not disturb their work.
Two sets of feet made contact with the ground, gravel crunching under their feet. There were winding pathways, all paved by gravel, leading to different parts of the gardens, though there was one clear split in the gardens, on the left side of the waterfall there was farmland which gave plenty of healthy produce, and on the right, a beautiful flower garden with an assortment of different species and colours. The most abundant flower being red and pink roses. Aside from the thriving flowers and plants there were also a few animals roaming the place; flocks of sheep wandering the place happily, doves, and other birds spending their time in trees and by other plants, honeybees and bumblebees spent their time around flowers, collecting pollen and nectar, and the occasional fox was found wandering the place; just to name a few.
Kristin was taken aback by the beauty of the gardens, life on Etherium was usually quite bland. The waterfall split into two different rivers which went into each section to keep the accessibility of water throughout all the gardens. There’s a reason that this place is called the Gardens of Tranquility; it’s a very calming and beautiful place.
Soon enough from the farms on the right came two women; the first was wearing what looked like a comfortable knee-length sundress, and had her brown hair up in a half bun with roses of multiple colours intertwined, she was carrying a basket of flowers and the other wore a top that was a pale yellow and a pair of overalls, her hair was about shoulder length and a soft pink colour, she was carrying a basket filled with various fruits and vegetables in one arm and a few bundles of wheat and other grain plants in the other arm. The two were chatting amongst themselves, not having noticed Phil and Kristin just yet.
The woman with the pink hair was the first to notice the visitors. She mumbled something to the brown haired woman, causing her to finally notice Kristin and Phil.
“Hey!” The brown haired woman waved and walked closer to the pair, the pink haired woman following her, “What brings you to the garden today Kristin?”
“Just a visit Hannah,” Kristin smiled, clasping her hands together, “How have you and Niki been? I see the garden’s been thriving.” Kristin commented.
“We’ve been good! We just finished going for this season’s harvest, as you can see.” Hannah motioned to the baskets in her and Niki’s arms. “These all get given to the animals and the humans that live in the place.”
As if on command a human shepherd approached the goddess of good and harvest, with a flock of about 13 sheep following him. His sheep all had baby blue wool that appeared to be extremely well cared for, he spoke softly to the goddess holding out his hand in asking for a bundle of wheat to give his sheep. Niki handed it to him as he finished talking with a soft smile on her face; watching as he nodded respectfully and wandered off somewhere else. The goddess turned her attention back to the other three that were previously in conversation (and still were).
Maybe an hour of conversation passed when a new pattern of footsteps could be heard approaching.
Step, step, step, step.
Each step was calm and calculated. Phil seemed to be the only one to notice the walking. The crunching of the gravel grew faster and faster, but nobody commented on it.