Emil:“Archgodess!?”
Initae:“Its been a bit hasn't it, little boy. I'm surprised you recognized me in this form, it's very new.”
“Why, of course I would recognize you, Archgodess! I would be able to tell it to you no matter what form you take. But, why are you here!?”
“Well, I guess for the same reason you are. I merely wished to join Ko and Ray upon their journey through the universe. I have thus made dear Ko my apprentice.
Oh, and I'm also like one of the most important political figures in the universe.”
“As expected, your holiness would naturally rise to the highest heights attainable!”
Ray:”Sorry to intrude on your reunion, but how exactly do you two know each other?"
Initae:”So you know how I've been alive for a long time, right?” Ray nods, “Well, during my time the Order of the convergence is not the only order I've formed. Among others, I served as the Archgodess for Emil’s people.”
“Oh that makes sense, so you've just been casually galavanting across time and space as a goddess in various forms. And Emil happens to be one of your former worshipers, a pretty devout one at that.”
“Yeah, that about sums it up.”
What an interesting turn of events. Our new ally was once serving under Initae who was a goddess. Honestly, I'm not that surprised since Emil said he was from a long dead species. I figured that Itokin couldn't have been the first time she interfered with the universe.
Ko:”Well, now that we've got introductions, or rather reintroductions. We should probably figure out what the klack we do next, we finished all the altars.”
Sy (Ship AI):”Admiral Ducker, allow me to provide insight. We have received coordinates to another planet. Based on the information provided, it seems that there will be an event held in one week’s time.”
Ray:”Another event! Hopefully we get a chance to dance again, I bet Emil here can break out some sweet dance moves.”
Emil:”Actually-”
Initae:”Yeah, can't wait to see what he can pull. After being sequestered for such a long time he must have some fancy dance moves from such an old era.”
Ko:”You should try dancing too, Initae. I'm sure you could make a big impact.”
“No thanks, I think if I tried dancing I might accidentally destroy the ballroom.”
Ray:”The scary part is that she isn't lying.”
Emil is just standing off to the side, watching the three of us interact. I think he isn't the best at joining conversations. Especially those that involve his literal goddess casually conversing. I'm sure it won't take long for Ray to break him though.
We sat down on the bridge and discussed our next plans. From our current location we can travel basically anywhere within the milky way within about twelve hours give or take. Thanks to the power of shifting into the sanctum. This means that we have about six or so free days before we have to attend the event.
So, what do we do with this free time you ask?
Why, we go to an amusement park of course!
Several hours later / Random Alien Amusement Park
Ray:”hey, whatdya say when an angel, a god and two humans walk into an amusement park?”
Several seconds of awkward silence
“Aww, cmon. You guys really don't get it?” We all shake our heads no, “Well it's funny because… [explanation about why the joke is funny, I still don't understand].”
Initae:”Anyways, kiddos, lets have some fun! Its an amusement park for sev’s sake.”
Ko:”Yeah, let's go enjoy this crazy place!”
It is now that Ray and I enact our grand plan. I grab Ray’s hand and quickly tug her away from the old geezers. We quickly make our exit and disappear into the amusement park, leaving the two of them to reminisce about bygone eras.
There are many other parkgoers, it is quite packed. We chose a Shesah-run amusement park in an otherwise ordinary nearby world. Apparently the IEC must've commissioned this palace with the expectation that contestants would stop here before the last event. Or at least, that's what Initae hypothesized.
Ray:”Look! It's a roller coaster! We've gotta ride it.”
With no chance to resist, my grip is reversed and it is now Ray that is tugging me along. Oh, how quickly things can change.
Now here's a problem, I hate rollercoasters. Ray is aware of this fact too. If I admit to it, she will relentlessly tease me. However, if I go along with it, I'll be terrified the entire time.
I contemplate my next actions as we chat while waiting in the fairly long line. She still refuses to let go of my hand. She is issuing me a challenge, to see whether I will try to get out of it.
So, naturally I do the best thing in the scenario.
I cheat.
We board the rollercoaster ride, a strata inverted flying floorless coaster. Just thinking about it gives me a horrible feeling. Apparently this one goes up to 100km/hr at points.
“Are you sure you're good with this?” Ray asks, clearly expecting me to try to get out of it.
“Yep, this is going to be so much fun!”
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
The ride starts, as we approach the first turn I implement my strategy. I project some raw inae around myself and Ray. As for the inae around me, I use it to dampen the forces so that I barely even notice I'm on a rollercoaster. It actually makes it quite pleasant.
Of course, I use the bubble around Ray to amplify the effects upon her. Though, she just seems to be enjoying it even more, so maybe my plan backfired.
We both end up enjoying the ride. Once we get off, Ray gives me a big hug for some reason.
“Wow, that was so much fun, do it again!”
“You know what, I think I've been converted. That was so much fun!”
We then proceed to try out several dozen other roller coasters of varying extremity. I use my clever cheat for all of them. The fellow parkgoers look upon us strangely.
I mean, we do kinda stand out. Two humans with brightly colored hair, one with some pretty intense markings. Just casually laughing off the most extreme rides like they are nothing, while they cause the average parkgoer to projectile vomit.
“Ko.” Ray whispers from beside me, holding a large stick of cotton candy.
“Ray.”
Without any warning, she quickly tries to stuff my face with the cotton candy. I choke due to the sudden massive intake of sugar. The devil’s cotton as I like to say, the stuff is so sweet it'll kill ya.
“Gah, why are you trying to commit homicide! Death by sugary clouds is not how I wanna go out.”
Intense giggling, “But, it's so funny to watch you struggle!”
“You're evil, there is no way around it.”
“Well, I'm cute and evil. It's a part of the facade.”
“Sorry to disappoint, but I don't think you pull off the cute thing. Definitely more of a violent and beautiful vibe.” I notice a faint blush rise upon her cheeks. She then proceeds to give me a pretty hard punch to the shoulder. “Case and point.” This earns me a great huff and she turns away from me.
We continue to walk on. Somehow I have ended up holding the cotton candy as she slowly eats it off of the stick. We stop at various attractions and have a great time. It's a fairly typical human amusement park. Although some of the rides do have a bit more of an extreme spin thanks to advanced technology.
We approach the grand ferris wheel. It is massive. It must be 60m in size. Dwarfing whatever humanity has tried to construct.
”We are going to ride that thing all the way to the top.”
“Of course we are, Ms. Evil Genius Prodigy.” It seems my new nickname was not well received and I gained a nice elbow to the side.
We then proceed to board the ferris wheel. For some reason the carriages are super duper small and the two of us barely fit. We are smushed together quite closely.
“This is way too close, even for us.”
“Meh, it has that homey feel. Almost like we are godlike beings that have returned back to Earth and are amazed at how small everything is.”
“Fair enough, though this thing is legit small. I think they got the size wrong, how is anyone besides Pota and Humans supposed to fit inside? It ruins the entire romantic appeal as well.”
“Well, maybe to the Shesah super closeness just adds to the appeal. They do kinda look a bit like cat-people.”
“Now that you mention it, their ears are almost perfectly shaped like cat ears. I wonder how soft their fur feels. I wonder if they like to be pet.”
I now do perhaps the most embarrassing and completely illogical thing since that time I raised my hand in middle school and got the question wrong. Like seriously, I don't remember what thoughts were going through my head at this moment. “Meow.”
An extremely awkward silence fills the cabin.
About a minute passes and then Ray seems to recover from her shock.
What does she do next? She strokes my head in a very calming way. I end up leaning into her and forgetting my embarrassment. I notice a slight blush creeping up onto her face. I think it appears upon mine as well.
But neither of us move away. Somehow we've just ended up in this bizarre situation. Sitting in a tiny carriage of a gargantuan ferris wheel. On an alien planet who knows how far from Earth. Ray just petting (in a totally normal and not weird way) me like it is the most normal thing in the world.
After a few minutes, the carriage reaches the top of the ferris wheel. The view we are greeted with is beautiful. There are a bunch of snow capped mountains in the distance. The setting star is perfectly framed by them as its last light casts a vast plain in a brilliant blue. The light reflects nicely off of Ray’s hair, making it look like she has suddenly started radiating a nice light.
“Hey Ko. You mentioned that you didn't wanna die of cotton candy posing earlier. But, if you had to choose, how would you go out?”
I contemplate this question for a few minutes and settle on an answer that I hope will satisfy her.
“While I can't deny that going out in a blaze of glory on a battlefield could be nice. To be honest, I think I would be happiest getting married and retiring to an old timey farm on Earth. Then just naturally passing away of old age surrounded by people who have been to hell and back alongside me.”
At my words Ray doesn't appear nearly as shocked as I thought. She merely continues to stroke my hair, which has now made my freshly styled purple hair all messy.
Ray whispers into my ear, “You know, that doesn't sound like such a bad way to go out at all.”
The ride ends and we exit the ferris wheel. The star has now firmly set and the park has an air of darkness. We wander around for a bit more until we finally encounter Emil and Initae.
They are sitting on a bench with cotton candy and ice cream in hand. Laughing merrily at some memory or another. Bonding over memories of an era so long past that the Sol system wasn't even formed yet.
Once we get a bit closer Initae notices us, we are still walking hand in hand for some reason, and motions us over.
“Kiddos, you've gotta get a load of this guy. His princely self is hilarious. Cant believe they kept him locked up in court for so long. By the way, did you two enjoy a day of totally not flirting? It seems you had quite a lot of fun from the gossip that has been spreading through this place.”
Ray:”Wait, what gossip! I wasn't informed of this.”
“You two do realize you are celebrities known all across the universe? It's only because of the IEC’s strict codes that you two aren't constantly swarmed with attention. The feeds are nonstop talking about how the lovely Moonlight Duo had a nice date at an amusement park today.”
“Oh no, it totally wasn't a date! I must correct this PR nightmare right away.”
She then pulls out a data tablet and gets busy furiously typing. No doubt working tirelessly to ensure that this catastrophic misunderstanding is resolved. Side note: it only makes it worse.
“So, what have you two been up to all this time while we were off?”
“Oh you know, stuff and things. This guy is a real humorous guy, did I tell ya.”
Emil looks quite embarrassed and nervous to receive such high praise. I guess he still hasn't reconciled the all powerful Archgodess with this childlike god-girl that sits before us.
“Kovon, I have something that I wish to give you, Archgodess has advised me to do so. It is a chip containing the story of my fallen people. I should wish the two of you to know our story.”
“Thank you for entrusting me with such an important story. I am deeply honored.”
“No, it is I, the failed scion of a dead empire. That should be honored to have my story be known by someone that is headed for such great things as you are.”
I accept the data chip containing the story of his people. I think I'll be sure to translate it into my journal, so that they may always be remembered. I should also see if I can get something from Initae, she has told me practically nothing about her past. Though I can tell it is quite important to her.
Ray returns from her social media mission and we decide to return to the ship and proceed on with our minor vacation period.
I am sure that whatever is to come in the future is something that we can handle. After all, Ray and I are together and luce lunae per aspera ad astra et ultra. So, bring it on.
End of Chapter 43
A/N: Welcome dear reader. It is once again time for I, the author, to ramble for a few words about this ever growing story. I mean, it's just about time for the first trial to officially conclude. Whatever should come next? Who can really say… (I mean, I could say, but I'm evil so you’ll have to stay tuned to find out).
As always, if you are enjoying this story, be sure to follow/favourite/share with a friend, it is always appreciated! See ya next time, dear reader.
- Cathrix