WC-Mutare and Reira pt. 1

“Mutare! Mutare! Where are you, Mutare?!” said the young boy, wandering through the dense thicket of trees. “This isn’t funny anymore, Mutare! Where’d you run off to?!” The boy continued to yell, but failed to receive a response to his shouts. He soon withdrew his shouts believing that they were in vain for his search. The sun was beginning to dim and the boy figured he would need to find Mutare fast so that the two of them could return to the village before nightfall. Mutare had done this a lot over the years; the boy figured it was always her way of secretly torturing him. But yet, he continued to worry for his friend.

It was then he began to hear the voice of his friend, Mutare. However, the young boy could also hear an unfamiliar voice talking with Mutare. The boy surprised by this hid behind a tree and watched slightly older boy with long red hair talking with her. The boy was in the middle of the clearing sitting on a stump playing with some grass, while Mutare was standing nearby. “Who is that Mutare is talking with?” whispered the young boy to himself.

“What are you doing out here, little girl? Most humans-I mean people aren’t allowed in this area. It is strictly prohibited” said the other boy, uncaringly.

“I’m sorry” said Mutare, with a bow. “My friend and I were playing hide-and-seek and we wandered here.”

“I love hide-and-seek, could I play with you?”

“Sure. Though I don’t know where my friend went. I was with him only a few moments ago…Could you help me look for him?”

“Okay. What’s his name?” said the other boy, dropping several pieces on the ground as he stood up from the stump.

“Reira. He is about my height, and has black hair.”

“Okay. Let’s start searching for him” said the other boy. “Reira!”

“Reira!” shouted Mutare. Realizing that his hiding spot would soon be discovered anyway Reira pretended to stumble inside the clearing where the other boy and Mutare had been talking. “Oh there you are, Reira. I met another boy here, and he wants to know if can play tag with us. Do you have a problem with that?”

“No. but I should be going soon. It’s almost dark and my mom will worry if I’m not home soon” said Reira.

“Okay, I should be going soon too. It was nice to meet you.”

“Same here, Mutare wasn’t it?” said the other boy.

“Yeah. Well we got to go now. Hopefully we’ll each other again!”

“I’m quite sure we will” said the other boy, who then turned away and disappeared into the trees.

“Let’s go. We don’t want to be late” said Mutare, turning towards Reira.

“Right” said Reira. With that the two made their back to their houses. Not realizing how that small encounter would change the rest of their lives.

-12 Years Later-

In a garden there are nine people. The dragon gods that look over this world. They each have their own element and dominium; Estarriol-fire and war, Undine-water and wisdom, Laranel-earth and nature, Iridirina-air and love, Loriealene-lightning and strength, Hikari-light and good, Shikouten-darkness and evil, Rasheed-the mother goddess, and Shirrad-the Adorian Creator. The Dragon Gods live within the Garden of Gods and hardly leave the garden. The Dragon Gods assume the forms of humans most of the time, hardly revealing their dragon forms. Most humans that do stumble accidentally past the Garden of the Gods only believe that they’ve seen children, rather than gods. The dragon gods have looked over the world for thousands of years, though they have appeared not to have aged a day from when they were selected for their positions. But over that period of time they have grown old inside and had a longing to leave the world. They believed it was time to select new dragon gods that would look over the world, so they can pass on to the next.

“It is time for us to retire” said the god of war, a young boy with a red ponytail. “We no longer can have control of this world. I grow weary of keeping control. I just want to pass on.”

“I agree with you, Estarriol. I too grow weary of looking over this world. We must find new ones to look over the world” said the goddess of good, a cheery little girl with a golden ponytail.

“You’re right, Hikari. If we keep this up my face will begin to wrinkle” said the goddess of love, playing with her long silver hair.

“Oh yes, Iridirina! Our main concern is your looks! Tch! Beauty is for the weak” said the goddess of strength, hiding behind her black lightning mask.

“And strength is for the absent minded!”

“Why—”

“Would you two both shut up? Let’s not get on a tangent on who is better than the other” said the god of darkness and evil, from the edge of the clearing away from the other dragon gods.

“I agree with Shikouten. I do believe our time in this realm has come to a close. What do you have to say about this, Laranel?” said the goddess of wisdom, pulling her eyes away from her book she was reading on a stump in the middle of the clearing. She directed her attention to Laranel, who was staring at the trees surrounding the clearing. “Laranel…! Laranel! Are you listening to me?!”

“Oh? I’m sorry, Undine. I was just admiring the trees and the landscape. I agree with the rest of you that our time is over. I can see the trees and the rest of the landscape, and I cry for them. I don’t want to see them suffer any longer. Yet…I don’t want them to disappear. But they suffer…” said Laranel, god of nature, solemnly. All of the gods remained silent after this. All of them had one thing in the world they cherished, something that suffered, but they still wanted to keep. But they were also suffering from their long years.

“I can’t take this anymore! I don’t know what to do…” said Estarriol.

“I agree with all of you” said the mother goddess, who had yet to speak of yet.

“Of course you would agree with all of us, Rasheed. Ha, ha! You have been keeping quiet Shirrad. Enlighten us, O wise creator!” said Loriealene mockingly.

“…” Shirrad was laying sprawled in the middle of the clearing playing with a piece of grass.

“Were you listening to me?!”

“Everything suffers…” said Shirrad quietly, still playing with the piece of grass.

“What was that?”

“…But it depends on the individual or the being on what to do with that suffering. Some choose to run away from it. Either they end their lives or they continue to fight it. Though the latter’s cause is a noble one….they have no chance of winning. Suffering is something that exists throughout life. Whether we like it or not. It is our choice now on what to do with the suffering amongst ourselves and the world. Do we run away from it and disappear from the world? Or do we stay and endure the suffering, so as we might ease the tension that this suffering brings? I don’t care which you decide on. I created this world, but it’s your decision on how to rule it” said Shirrad, getting up from his location on the ground and heading out of the clearing.

“Where are you going, Shirrad? If we’re going to decide what we’re going to do next we need you here” said Undine.

“I already told you….I don’t care what decision the rest of you make. It’s not my choice anymore. It’s yours” said Shirrad, turning his head towards the god for a little while. The other gods watched him walk away until they couldn’t see him anymore through the trees.

“Well…what are we going to do?” said Hikari. “Without Shirrad here we have to make that decision by ourselves now.”

“I think we should continue our original idea of leaving. We can always leave this world to a new set of gods to watch over it” said Estarriol. The other gods in the clearing gave a slight nod to this statement.

“So it’s agreed…We’ll leave this world and leave it to a new set of gods to rule over it” said Undine.

“But how do we select those next gods?”

“You only pick one of them. And that individual chooses the next god and so forth……” said Rasheed. “….Shirrad thought you would make this choice….so he already selected an individual that would fill that role.”

“He did? Who is it?” asked Undine.

“A young woman named Mutare.”

***

The clearing remained empty. No longer would the old Dragon Gods inhabit it any longer. Those who had passed onto the next life or whatever may lay beyond. The trees had only kept their color and their rustling in the wind because a new Dragon God would begin to fill the gap that was no longer present. The woods were still an empty place, but that wasn’t anything new. It had always remained a dormant place. A perfect selection for the location that the Dragon Gods who looked over the world would live. So that those who watched them, wouldn’t be able to find them. Only once in a while would humans come, but they would always find the empty clearing in the middle of the forest. Never would they witness the grandiose palace that the Dragon Gods lived in past the clearing.

It was lush and large palace, made entirely of strong marble; in the walls, ceilings, and floors. Because of the marble in the palace any sound made in the palace could easily be reverberated to the other side of the palace. The only things to absorb the sound were the lush carpets that were laid on the ground of the vast hallways and the glorious jewels and vases that were placed to enrich the flavor. Ever since the old Dragon Gods had left the palace had remained barren and empty, awaiting its new master.

It had been months since the previous Dragon Gods had left, but the human they had selected to take their place had yet to come to fulfill her duties. In recent days the sky and wildlife had begun to darken with the absence of the being that was to oversee that everything. If things had continued this way the world might begin to lose the balance that existed due some of the power left by the old Dragon Gods. The days would only continue to darken without the presence of the new Dragon God and eventually might cause the world to its precious balance. But there was nothing the world could do, but wait. Wait for the day that individual who had been selected to take charge of the world would come and take the power that was assigned to her.

***

One day, there was a quite echo of footsteps echoing throughout the palace. It had started faintly, but then began to grow over time. A scantily clad young women dressed in green and black appeared with a smoking pipe in her hand, still lit.

She entered the main lobby of the palace inspecting some of the statues lining the walls of the lobby. “This place is so drab!” she said, wiping off some dust off her hands. She then walks to the throne in the back of the room. She then lounges herself on the throne “This place is such a bore! I think I shall start selecting those other Dragon Gods. This place needs to be a little more…lively.” She storms out of the room as a pair of eyes watch her march out.

***
A small drizzle of rain coats the surface of the lake, further refreshing the lush landscape. A wind cuts through the branches of the trees and bites the rain-drenched man. The man is dressed in the traditional clothing and robes with a weight chained to his leg. He stares down at the rippling water and begins to wade in. “This is it” he says and his wades through the water at his knees. He continues to wade in to his chest, taking a quick look back at shore before he continues to wade in. He wades up to his nose, before taking a last look at the shore then wading in so that his head could no longer be seen. Bubbles can be seen above the water as he tries to give his last breathes.

Underwater he could see the murky bottom below, sprawled with algae, rocks, and a large tree trunk. He was being dragged down by the weight he had chained to himself. He moved his head slightly as a fish passed by his head. Looking up he saw a bright blinding his eyes. He opened his mouth and the water flowed in, but he wasn’t drowning. He then heard a voice distorting through the water. “I have chosen you, Reira.”