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It was all so… Green.
She’d seen some of the other planets made by other gods, and they were all sorts of reds and black. All stone and dust. Drista’s brother had really outdone himself on this one. She understood now why he’d hidden it from her all this time. It was great foresight on his part-- Dream must have understood she would’ve messed around with it.
But come on! How else was Drista supposed to get his attention? He hardly answered her summons anymore, and he always ignored her at Pantheon. Really, it was only Dream’s fault that she came all the way to his corner of the universe to see what he was working on-- maybe spruce it up a little, Drista style of course.
She had heard of only one planet like this before. It had been a passion project of that Goddess of Reality, and at Pantheon she had been making such a fuss about theft and whatnot. She accused just about every star in the universe of taking her planet that could grow life-- the first of its kind.
Ah… Perhaps her brother had been just as naughty as Drista.
Well, then of course Drista had to have her hands on this planet. She couldn’t let Dream have all the fun.
Drista’s hands hovered over the globe, her fingers much too large to touch the surface lest she destroy something.
She frowned.
Perhaps she could… Enter the planet?
Drista floated backwards and willed the Universe to shrink her to the size of the planet so she could see what the fuss was about this planet with this ‘life.’ Her vision blurred as she shifted, going from complete darkness down and down and down to a brilliant blue to a dazzling green to rich brown.
Face in the dirt, Drista picked herself up, dusting off her green cloak white mask of the earthy material. She moved the mask to the side of her face, just over the right half so she could really look around.
The Goddess of Reality had really outdone herself. She could see why Dream would steal such a planet from her, though Drista didn’t really know how much longer he would have it before the Goddess of Reality caught him.
Everything was so intricately connected. The trees seemed to create breathable air, and the dirt and the water seemed to keep the trees alive. Two seconds in this new world and Drista already witnessed a small white furry creature take a chunk out of a leaf and scarf it down.
Everything was connected.
After witnessing everything she felt like there was to see in a forest, Drista wanted to see other things. Sand basins, jungles, concrete mesas.
She floated around for a while-- well, a while on the planet. The only way she realized time was passing was because she’d pass plants then come back and they’d be wilted. Other times she’d see a flower she really liked, only to come back to find a new, different flower in its place.
It was such a damn shame that everything went by so quickly-- she could hardly enjoy anything so fully when it went by so fast.
What could Dream possibly want from a planet where everything dies with the snap of a finger?
Well, Drista got her answer soon when she stumbled upon quite the structure.
A town.
A town! Some of the life forms created a society! Which mortals became so advanced to create buildings, aqueducts, transportation, government? Which is it?
Oh, how exciting!
Drista dropped from the air once more, letting her bare feet experience the stabbing feeling of little bits of gravel poking the soles of her feet and getting in between her toes. Perhaps it was the little furry creature she had seen a short while ago. Or maybe it was that great beast with the large tusks protruding from its top row of teeth.
She walked right into the town, sure that her divine being would protect her if the mortals were violent. What she found was… Well, Drista couldn’t find it in herself to be shocked. Of course the Goddess of Reality was so vain to do something like this, and of course her brother was arrogant to covet something like this.
The most advanced life forms on this planet were none other than creatures made in the image of gods, and they probably didn’t even know it. Of course this planet worked on a celestial level, it was because the main contributing life forms were just copy and pastes of their divine selves. Had Drista not had an aura of divinity, she would be unable to tell herself apart from one of these mortals.
… There was a morbid curiosity that came with this revelation.
How much did these mortals even know about the Universe? Did they only know that their nose was on the center of their face and they had two feet, right and left? Could they feel the divinity in Drista’s aura, or was she really just another mortal here?
“Hello, little miss!” someone called out to her. He was a stout bearded man with a strange white hat covering his head with a matching apron. He stood behind some sort of street stall, smoke coughing up from some sort of stovetop. There was a short line of other mortals waiting for this man to make them some sort of delicacy, whispering private conversations about their own lives.
They had language too! This was so cool!
“Hi!” she chirped back, cutting to the front of the line to get a whiff of what the man was cooking.
The man chuckled. “Excited, huh? I’d love to serve you, little miss, but you’ll have to wait like everyone else.” Drista glanced down, looking at how the meat on the grill sizzled against the heat of the burner, how the juice squirted out and was extinguished by the fires.
“I want to eat now,” she replied pointedly.
The man cocked his eyebrow. “Wait.”
“Now.”
“Little miss, I don’t have to serve you at all!”
Drista’s eyes lit up with electricity, her hands storming loud as she lifted off the ground. “You dare deny me?” she bellowed, her voice echoing through the skies.
So much for playing mortal.
The man dropped his spatula on the burner, falling onto his back, slack-jawed and eyes full of fear. “I-- I-- I’m so sorry, Your Holiness, I didn’t know!”
He scrambled onto his knees, placing one hand over another and knocked his head onto the ground. The people in the line did the same, rising and falling as they kowtowed to her. Drista only sniffed. “Serve me now!”
“Yes! Yes, of course!” the man said, tears exploding out of his eyes as he grasped for his spatula, flipping one of the divine delicacies onto two pieces of bread.
A burger! This was so cool!
Drista fell to the ground, snatching the plate out of the man’s hands and munching happily on the burger as she decided to walk around the town. Drista wagered the rest of the town witnessed the man’s impertinence, because everyone steered clear of her after that. They parted the roads for her, jumped out of her way when she entered stores, and practically fled with their wagons when she tapped her finger on her chin when she was deciding what she wanted to do next.
All but one.
“Hey,” someone called out to her. It was a child-- in the stages of becoming a man but not quite achieving it yet. Blonde mop of hair, electric blue eyes, and pale skin matched with a tall lanky figure. He ran up to her with a smile and a wave. “I’m Tommy.”
Drista snuck her mask back over the top half of her face, suddenly wary of the proximity of this human. “Why do you approach me?”
“I saw you in the village. You look like you know how to have fun.”
“Of course I do! Why wouldn’t I?”
Tommy put his hands up in his defense. “I’m saying it because I also know how to have fun. We should have fun together.”
“What do I get from having fun with you?”
Tommy grabbed something from his back pocket. It was a small box of matches. “Arson?”
Drista considered Tommy’s offer. Every other mortal was avoiding her. It seemed like everyone in the Universe was avoiding her-- Dream, his friends, every goddamned life form besides Tommy. It wouldn’t help to have a little company, and besides, Tommy seemed to have a particular humor that Drista appreciated.
Greatly appreciated.
She held out her hand for a handshake. “Drista.”
Tommy took it.
They went back into town to terrorize it. Drista made Tommy throw his little matchbox away because it was useless when Drista could summon lightning and fire with just a snap of her fingers. Tommy made for good laughs sometimes. He had terrible jokes, but within the context of standing next to a burning building, well, she couldn’t help but give in to the base urge to chuckle.
After they finished with that town, they moved onto others. Drista didn’t realize she would end up traveling with Tommy, but it made for much more fun than what she had been doing before. It felt like Tommy slowed down time in a way. She’d see a flower and she’d see it again. Animals didn’t die when she blinked.
It wasn’t all laughs though. These mortals were formed in the image of the gods, and so they had increased brain capacity. Tommy had thoughts and feelings and liked to talk about them sometimes, and other times he’d cover it up with more humor.
“What’s the worst word you know?” was a common question she’d hear when there were long stretches of silence.
She’d always combat it with, “Well, what’s the worst word you know?” and he would get all flustered no matter how many times they danced the same dance.
He asked one time in the evening next to their campfire: “Do gods have families?”
“Yes,” she replied. “I have a brother. He looks sort of like me.”
“XD, right? I’ve only ever seen one of his churches in my life, but I bet he’s a wrong’un.”
Drista agreed. “He sucks, but he’s my brother, y’know?” She wondered how names got lost in translation here in this planet. How he went from Dream to XD. How the world seemed to have forgotten about their creator, the Goddess of Reality, entirely.
“I have brothers too. They’re real bastards, y’know? Both older, both think they’re so much better than everyone else. Pretentious fuckers. And my dad always takes their side-- always. And they always make fun of me because I-- I can’t really do anything.”
“You make a pretty mean fire,” Drista supplied. Tommy turned to look at her with a soft smile, the softest either of them had ever looked at each other. It was always jokes and explosions with them.
Tommy went to bed soon after that, but Drista didn’t need sleep. Time didn’t work like that for her. She spent the nights staring at the sky, marveling at the Goddess of Reality’s handiwork and suddenly feeling a bubbling rage for her. How could her brother have stolen this planet from her like it didn’t even matter?
How could she have been down on this planet for so long, this planet he treasured so, and he still hadn’t noticed she was gone?
Without realizing it, their antics had scaled up. Drista and Tommy had found a major city and had only planned to burn it to the ground, but Drista thought they could do better. She told Tommy the same thing. “Don’t you get bored of doing the same thing over and over again?”
“I mean, no flame’s ever really the same, is it?” he countered.
“The results the same,” she argued. “What if we did something more? I promise it’ll be funny. You’ll definitely get a kick out of it.” As a god, Drista had a certain level of persuasiveness. She supposed the twin netherite daggers she summoned helped a lot.
Tommy gulped and nodded.
Drista laughed. “Perfect! Do you see that really tall building right there?” she pointed. There was no way Tommy could miss it-- it was the tallest building in the entire city, towering over its neighbors.
“The hotel? Sure. What’s the plan?”
Drista summoned an armful of dynamite and unloaded it into Tommy’s arms. “Go to the top of the tower and let it rip.”
“What? Me?” he squeaked. “Isn’t that dangerous?”
“Where’s the fun when there’s no danger?”
“Easy for you to say.” Tommy rolled his eyes and headed towards the hotel. Drista made sure to disguise the dynamite so it looked like he was carrying a bunch of towels. In her time with Tommy, Drista realized these mortals were quite scared of fires and explosions, and they would certainly stop Tommy and their antics if they knew the nature of what he was holding.
Drista herself floated to the top of the opposing building, still a massive height disparity between the two, but she made it work. It would be another twenty minutes before Tommy made it to the top of the hotel, panting and sweating as he dropped to his knees.
He stared down at the dynamite, a look of uncertainty in his eyes. How could he be having second thoughts now when he’d already climbed all those stairs? And how could he be having second thoughts when it was he who approached her so long ago now?
Was it really that long ago? Or did it just feel like it?
Is this what companionship did to a lifeform? Did it make the time go by?
Tommy took another ten minutes setting up the dynamite around the roof of the building. A bit foolish in Drista’s opinion-- she would’ve set it up in the center of the building to really hit the structural integrity of the building, but this was Tommy’s prank, not hers. Drista would take the step back.
He was all ready, everything was set-- and then Tommy just stood there.
What are you doing? She screamed through the wind. Set it off!
Tommy managed to spot her down below. He looked at her and shook his head.
What? What’s the hold up?
He shook his head again.
Drista laughed. It was slow and breathy before it turned into a full on guffaw. A wrap-your-arms-around-your-stomach kind of laugh, one that took the goddamned breath out of her even though Drista didn’t need air. Air was a material made for these lifeforms, not her.
They needed to make an explosion! They needed to make a mark! What was he doing? Why did Tommy want to ruin this for her?
If you don’t light those fuckers, I will!
She snapped her fingers, and let it rip.
It was instantaneous.
Smoke and fire filled the air, debris fell from the top of the building, raining down on the streets below. Guttural screams filled the air from inside the building and down below, but it all sounded like music to Drista’s ears.
She even began to whistle.
She hoped the music would reach the ears of the other gods. Maybe Dream would hear it, and he’d come and see her handiwork, give her a clap on the back and apologize for not answering her summons. Maybe he’d invite her to sit with him at the Pantheon.
She flew down to the streets, dancing in the fire and throwing rocks at people who dared to run from her art. She danced in a circle and then in a line, stopping when she nearly tripped on something soft and crisp, like a body. Something shaped like a god, but not quite.
Tommy.
His cheek was pushed into the ground, laying on his stomach with his arms over his head. Every limb was pointed the wrong way. Cuts lined his body, half of his clothes were burnt off, and his skin too.
Drista’s arms dropped from their celebratory raising, staring at the body with unblinking eyes. What was wrong with him? Why was he just laying there?
She crouched, poking him with her index finger in the face. It made a squelching noise when it made contact, blood spurting out of the lesion. “Get up, Tommy. You’re being boring.”
Tommy didn’t respond.
“Get up! Why don’t you do what I say anymore?”
Silence. Just the noise of the flames licking at her feet but unable to burn. Tommy’s pant leg, clinging to him still, was able to burn though. It caught on, flying up his leg and to his skin, already red and brown and black.
“Get up, Tommy, you’re burning.”
Nothing.
“Get up! Get up get up get up--!” Drista grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him up, his shins dragging along the road as he had height over her despite her divinity.
The world seemed to darken after that. The fires were doused with darkness and the screams of the mortals were muted by an oppressive force that did not originate from Drista.
Another god was here.
“Dream?” called Drista. “Is that you? Do you like what I’ve done with the place?” She gently placed Tommy back on the ground. His lower half was no longer on fire. She’d deal with him later. It seemed like Tommy was set out on annoying her today.
She glided up to the sky to get closer to that divine presence, but it was different from what she was used to. It didn’t feel like Dream’s or George’s or anyone she really knew. “Who is here then?” she mused aloud. “No way Dream would let just anyone visit this planet. It’s too precious.”
“You’re right about that, my dear.”
From out of the atmosphere, a massive hand shot out, apparating out of nowhere and grabbing Drista whole, as she was still the size of the mortals. Drista squirmed in the hand’s grasp, trying to shoot out. She summoned lightning and fires and anything else she could think of, but the hand would not budge.
It was made of much older things than she was.
A face appeared in the sky-- an angry woman with dark, angry eyes and thick furrowed brows, full lips carving out a growl, and whetted teeth ready to bite a head off. “You insolent godling,” the Goddess of Reality growled.
“I didn’t do anything!” Drista protested. “My brother stole the planet, I swear! I was just looking around!”
The grip around her body loosened, and Drista found herself falling to the ground at terminal velocity. The Goddess of Reality’s face and hand disappeared, shrinking to be twice the size of a mortal still. She shot into the city, and Drista’s curiosity, which had already gotten her in trouble with a supreme being of the Universe, peeked out and decided to follow.
Drista caught herself in the sky, floating gently through the Goddess of Reality’s warpath. She had flown into Drista’s art, right next to where she left Tommy. Perhaps the Goddess of Reality heard the sound of Tommy’s laughter and wished to hear a joke. Drista could save her the trouble since he was giving everyone the silent treatment.
She wrapped him up in her arms, cradling his head into the crook of her neck, rocking back and forth gently. It sort of reminded Drista of how her brother used to act with her at the beginning of her time existing. He used to be so gentle and caring, and now she was nothing more than a pest to him.
Drista didn’t get it. She was a divine being-- why didn't she receive the love from a divine brother that a mortal could receive from a divine being?
“Why won’t he get up?” Drista asked, approaching from behind, missing the feeling of flames at her feet.
“He’s dead,” the goddess answered, turning to glare at Drista. “He is not divine, he is mortal. He doesn’t last forever.”
So… Their games were over? Tommy would not come back to blow up more things with her? Well, that wasn’t really fair. She didn’t tell him he could leave. And why did the Goddess of Reality care so much about Tommy above all other lifeforms?
“Who are you to him?”
“I created this planet for them. My ideal world for a little family. My angel would raise our boys here and everyone would be happy. The other lifeforms were so they would not get lonely,” the Goddess of Reality answered through bitter tears. “They would not die by natural causes, that much I could promise. But what you just did… You killed my boy.”
“I don’t know that word.”
Other things could pop into her mind instantaneously, concepts created by mortals. Burgers, air, plants, explosions.
But what is death? What is ‘kill?’
The Goddess stood up, casting a shadow over Drista. “ You made him go away forever. And for what? What was this all for?”
Drista shrugged, watching as Tommy’s unsupported head lolled back. “We were bored.”
“That’s not it. Don’t lie to me, godling.”
Drista pursed her lips. “I wanted Dream to wonder where I was. I wanted him to see my art.”
The Goddess of Reality smiled, and Drista just knew that whatever was going to come out of her mouth would be cruel. “Your name has not passed his lips once. You’re an afterthought.”
Drista remained silent. “Then I’ll be louder. Brighter. I’ll burn this whole world. If it was precious enough to be stolen, then it’ll hurt when he loses it.”
“You forget, godling, that this planet isn’t his to lose. It’s mine! It was always mine! And I did not submit to participate in your wicked games!”
Tommy taught her time. It was something Drista had experienced forever, but when one experiences something for so long, it tends to fade into the background, becoming nothing more than a second glance. The flowers wilting, the trees changing.
Tommy slowed it down. They had conversations and Drista thought about things rather than just saying them and he was a person but people don’t last forever.
Did the people in the hotel go away forever too?
“Did I ruin it?” Drista whispered.
Passion kindled in the goddess’ eyes. “Yes.”
Drista could see it-- the second she was on the planet, faced off with the Goddess of Reality, and the second she was back out in the stars, expelled from the planet. She grew herself back to her divine size, looking around then looking down at the planet, patches of black in place of the green that used to be there.
Oh god, it used to be so green!
“Drista? What are you doing here?” Dream was right behind her, his expression unreadable from the mask that fully covered his face, unlike the mask that Drista wore to match him that only covered half of her face.
“I-- the-- you--”
Dream pushed past her and examined the planet, looking the sphere up and down and gasping at the charred parts. “What did you do?” he growled. “This-- this isn’t mine, Drista. If--”
“She knows,” Drista said meekly. “She’s down there.”
“What?”
“So was I! I just wanted to see what was so special about it if you stole it, but then I was having fun and I wondered, ‘Will you see me if I make enough noise?’ And things just got out of hand, but-- well, did you?”
“Did I what ?” Dream snapped.
“I was in there for a while, I think. Did you see? Did you ever wonder, ‘I wonder what Drista’s up to right now?’ ”
Dream straightened his back. “You’re not a godling anymore. I don’t need to follow your every movement.”
“No, but would it kill you to make sure I still exist every once in a while?” cried Drista. “God, the only thing that ever stuck around was Tommy, and now…! Now he’s-- he’s gone away forever. I did that. I did that.” Her voice turned into nothing more of a whisper, repeating over and over again her guilt.
She had found it-- she had found companionship. Someone who listened and someone who responded and she blew it all up to try and get this fool’s attention.
So who was the real fool?
She left Dream like that, at the mercy of the returning Goddess of Reality, who while in mourning would not be kind for the crimes committed against her. Drista swam through the stars, floating on her back, completely and utterly alone.
The absence of warmth in space was truly felt, now that she knew what fire felt like. Not the sort of fires she started on the street, but the soft fires in the forest, sitting next to Tommy while they swapped stories and jokes.
The ones that kept one warm but did not burn.