Ribbontail: Enter Emalia
Chapter 23: A god


Author's Note: Please read my artist's comments before continuing. :3
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It was sometime in the afternoon when Ribbontail awoke, curled over in a tight ball and aching hellishly. With the arid midday sun glaring down upon her, the young goddess was roused to the feeling of great discomfort. To say the least, she was dry. Her dream left her in a dry, hot, and aching body.

“Hey dude, you doin’ okay?”

Ribbontail had expected her feline friend to be the one to greet her. He was always there for her, often when his presence wasn’t wanted at all. Without a single warning, the feliulf flung himself onto Ribbontail’s side and tapped her shoulder.  

“You were having a totally gnarly dream there,” he meowed, sliding off the wolf’s side when he saw her squirm uncomfortably.

A painful groan escaped Ribbontail’s mouth as she shifted her body and slowly rolled over onto her belly, feeling her limbs twinge with a terrible aching. The girl said nothing for the longest time but opened her eyes and locked them with O’liday’s. Indeed he was there, standing with his paws splayed and a look of relief across his face.

The three of them were nestled at the top of a hill, at the crest of a dune that fell away like a cliff. Behind them sat a structure of boulders, providing ample shade. But the heat remained unbearable.

Ribbontail clenched her teeth, having no energy left to speak. Menaced with a throbbing pain that gripped her body, the girl sighed and pressed both paws to her face. She could barely move.
A second time O’liday threw the question her way, this time with a more firm tone. “C’mon Ribs, get up.” O’liday once more climbed atop Ribbontail and patted her ribcage, his paws sending stings through the god’s aching body. “Gotta talk with you about something, kid.”

Ribbontail moaned. When at last O’liday discovered that he was causing much discomfort to her, he dismounted and took a sitting stance next to her. But still Ribbontail ached all over; she wished she could return to the realm of the dead, where she wasn’t affected at all by the morning’s flight. Clenching her teeth and groaning groggily did she finally rise into a half-sitting position.

“Wh…what…?” she moaned, trying to shake sleep from her eyes.
Her feliulf partner, aided by PuppetRibbontail, approached the wolf and helped her sit upright. She swayed and teetered uneasily as her friend asked again, “Are you doing alright, dude?”

A hard, dry gulp later and Ribbontail could nod. O’liday patted her paw sympathetically.

“You just ran dude like Hell, for hours and hours straight. Dude I’ve never seen ANYBODY run like that before! I swear that you were in a daze or something, because after that one hill where we heard OmenBeast… you just ran and wouldn‘t stop.” The look on O’liday’s face was authentic awe as he pantomimed something hitting a wall. “Then round noon you just stopped suddenly and collapsed. Both Pups and I thought you’d gone and died, dude!”

Ribbontail took in a sharp breath suddenly. She must have collapsed when she had to enter the realm of death, as Kerberos’ spirit made its way to the River of Life. The young blue goddess blinked at this thought, then nodded dazedly.

“I’m… I’m alright, really,” she simply noted, “Just tired. And sore. Really sore, actually. I hurt all over.”

With another compassionate pat on the paw, O’liday smiled up at his canine friend. But as he backed away from Ribbontail to give her room, she sank back down onto the ground. Through hooded eyes she looked up at O’liday, but remained silent despite his inquisitive frown. Ribbontail could tell that he was analyzing her; for once he seemed to be actually observing her, his mind seemingly observing her body language, face, fur, and tails. “You…um…you okay to talk? There was something I wanted to ask you.“ When Ribbontail gave no immediate response, the feline crossed his arms and snorted.

Silently Ribbontail lifted her head and opened her mouth to ask something to her friend, but he instead turned and trudged off to the edge of the cliff. Looking out over the endless sea of dunes, O’liday sat silently. He was almost contemplative for once.

“Strange…” thought Ribbontail. She moistened her lips for a second and turned to her spirit guardian, PuppetRibbontail, who sat loyally beside her. “Do you know what’s wrong with O’liday?” she asked with her mind.

Indeed her thick-furred friend was acting strange. Normally overflowing with energy and a sense of coolness, but now he seemed pensive: lost in thought, almost, which proved to be strange for his character.

PuppetRibbontail acknowledged O’liday for a second before turning to answer her master, shaking her skeletal head in a silent “no”.

Groaning with discontent, Ribbontail managed to slide to her paws. With a quick ‘stay’ gesture towards her spirit guardian, she then dragged herself out of the shadows and out to the edge of the cliff.

O’liday sat there silently, with the soft whirling of the desert wind playing at his hair. He failed to notice Ribbontail at first, with the reflective look upon his face not changing once. But when Ribbontail crumpled down beside him, he turned and frowned up at her.

“So...” he meowed quietly, “You feelin’ well enough to talk?”

Holding her head low, Ribbontail nodded and turned to check upon PuppetRibbontail, who still hung in the shadows of the rocks. The frail thing looked away, a sure sign that she would not listen in. Ribbontail turned back to her feliulf friend and she nodded again.

“Dude... what that OmenBeast thing said about you. He called you the goddess of death?”

The tone in O’liday’s voice was for once serious, and the look on his face appeared to tear through Ribbontail for an answer; all the wolf girl could manage was an uncomfortable shifting. Knowing her well, O’liday took this as confirmation. He nodded and sighed.  

“Should’ve believed you...” he thought out loud, his head turning to face away from her. “Something in me’s always said there was something weird about you.”
Ribbontail cleared her throat and attempted to reply to this, but her dry mouth prevented any response other than, “Uh-huh.”

“I mean, who literally attracts more attention than you?” he grumbled. Placing a paw to his face and turning to stare at her sideways, he shook his head. “I’ve seen more Eclipsians in this one week than I normally see in a year. I could’ve been killed twice...no...three times.”

Deep down inside Ribbontail had always feared the moment when O’liday realized her divine background. She wanted to keep it a secret from him, so that he would forever regard her as a mortal like himself.

It was apparent that he was caught in disbelief as well. When Ribbontail said nothing, he continued on with a wrinkle in his nose. “But...” In his lack of words he lifted his paws then let them drop back down. “But that would explain everything. Why Eclipsians follow you around, why Puppet looks like Riddle, why that dude Kerberos gave his life for you...”

O’liday turned and looked out over the desert for a second before mumbling, “I can barely believe it. Can you seriously be a goddess or something?”

Though her body still ached terribly, Ribbontail licked her lips and found that she was now regaining the ability to speak. She coughed once, cleared her throat, then finally croaked, “Unless this is all just one big dream, I definitely am a god. I... can barely believe it myself.”

“What do you mean by that, dude?”

“Well you see, I...” Ribbontail paused, partly out of the thought that O’liday would not believe her story, “I wasn’t born in this world. In fact, I didn’t even know this place existed until I... died.”

O’liday’s ears shot up.

Ribbontail continued hesitantly, “I lived in a world called Earth, which was a LOT different from here. I was just a regular person, with regular parents and a regular life. But then I guess I died one day-” Ribbontail paused to cough and clear her throat, “-and when I woke up I was in this snowy place called the Realm of the Gods, or something like that.”

Retaining his silence, O’liday swished his tail and scratched his head. “So...er... that’s all true? No lying?”

At this point Ribbontail knew that O’liday would be liable to believe anything. He looked back at her with a look of confusion, and she nodded silently.

“I met the god of ice named Pola, and I also got to see the other gods. En Fuego, Natas, Ai, Why-Yeh... they were all there, and they all said that they were the protectors of this world.”

O’liday cocked his head to the side. “But how do you work into all that, kid? Are you like a replacement or a servant or something?

“My mother is Riddle the Cunning, who’s the goddess of death right now,” Ribbontail replied hoarsely, “the gods said that they sent me to Earth to be raised there. Then when I died I showed up here... and they treated me like I was one of them. A god, would you believe it?”

For a brief moment O’liday seemed thoroughly stumped, but he nodded and retained his silence.

“I... I’ve only been in this world for a week,” she croaked, “that’s why I don’t know anybody or anything. It’s all very, very new to me. Animals didn’t talk, magic and monsters like the Eclipsians didn’t exist, and there were no such things as gods... at least, I don’t think so.”

O’liday’s ears flicked as he took this on, and he meowed hesitantly, “Heavy, dude. I didn’t think gods existed either. I just thought that they were...” In a show of deep contemplation, the feliulf rose to his feet and paced along the face of the cliff. “I just thought that the gods were like fairy tales that you’d tell your kids, you know? I didn’t think that they ACTUALLY existed and ACTUALLY were among us.”

Indeed, the concept of gods- let alone being a god- befuddled the both of them. Ribbontail wasn’t sure that she felt any different than he did. She felt like a regular mortal in this world, not like some heavenly being. It was only in the Realm of Death that she felt her holy energy flowing; here in the mortal world she was like any other being.

The conversation was cut for a second, and the two friends sighed and looked out over the vast desert ahead of them. Ribbontail could see her guiding star still in the distant sky. It was a grim reminder that she had a mission to complete.
Then, as though sensing that their conversation was ebbing, O’liday brought forth another question. “So, Ribbontail... if you’re a god, why’d the gods send you down here with us? Does it have something to do with that scroll of yours?”

O’liday pointed a paw at the strap around Ribbontail’s neck. The wolf glanced down at it, assuring herself that Kerberos’ book and the scroll were still there, then nodded with a pained smile. “Yeah... you remember Fidei from a couple days ago? He and I are both children of gods, I guess, so we’ve got to train to become a full god. They sent us down here into this world to train. They give us a quest and we complete it.”

“Hmmm... sounds like a total drag, dude. You mean they can’t just turn you into a full god or anything?”

Quietly, Ribbontail shook her head. “That’s what I thought. That would make it so much easier, huh?”

“Hahaha! Well I guess that gives you plenty of reasons to be down here with us, kid. You can’t expect to be able to be a god of a world that you’ve never been to, huh? Plus, think of how many other Emalians don’t know of your existence. You’ve got to get your name out there, dude. It’s just me and Puppet and Kerberos who knows who you are... think of how many more folks you need to meet!”

It was odd that O’liday seemed to be himself now, with his stress-free pose and his contented smile. Ribbontail had thought that he would react in an overwhelmed manner, like the deceased soldiers had reacted to the sight of Ai the Fierce. Ribbontail smiled at this and nodded, but said nothing else. Again they looked over the desert, and though the searing heat the two began to feel comfortable and relaxed.

Ribbontail invited PuppetRibbontail out of the shadows and over to them; together the three sat. Then, after scratching his head in thought, O’liday finally proclaimed, “Well okay, my good godly friend-” O’liday bowed gracefully at the word ‘godly’- “shall we be heading on?”

“Sure... we’ve got a long way to go.”

Easing herself up onto her paws and stretching her aching limbs one-by-one, Ribbontail shook off her fur and briefly licked herself clean. Now that she was awake she could stand and walk properly, and though her body was still laced with pain she felt that she could travel. The dream from the early morning had left her energized. The memory of Kerberos burned in her heart like a wildfire. She would go on for that old man- that’s what he would have wanted.

Onto Ribbontail’s shoulders O’liday climbed, and when he was positioned in his usual sitting place the three continued on. Then they continued on their way, heading slowly down the steep hill and back to the desert below.
She was indeed right: they had a long, long, long way to go.

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Ribbontail and her friends didn’t get far that day. Still sore from the morning’s flight, Ribbontail hurt everywhere and couldn’t travel fast at all. She finally lost her motivation as the sun began to set, and the trio settled down in the middle of the vast desert.

Comforted now that the searing heat of the desert no longer suffocated them, Ribbontail relaxed and stretched out on the sandy desert floor. O’liday and PuppetRibbontail were both there leaning against her. With Kerberos’ old Emalian storybook in his lap, O’liday hummed a contented tune.

“So this is what they really look like in real life, huh Ribs?” asked O’liday after a good ten minutes of page-flipping. Ribbontail lifted her head the looked to see just what her feline friend had been looking at.

The open pages in O’liday’s lap were graced with faded images or the Emalian gods. Ribbontail recognized each and every one of them, from the two-headed En Fuego to the furry Pola. Even Sasha was there in the etching, holding her characteristic staff. The image resembled a Chinese painting to some extent, with delicate lines and swirling clouds.

Ribbontail blinked down at the page and nodded. Those were the gods, indeed, though in real life they were a lot more realistic. “Yes, that’s what they looked like.”
Running his paw along the creased page, O’liday chuckled. “Wow, so they’re real dude? Every last one of ‘em? I’d kill to meet the gods,” he meowed, mystified, “You think you can someday let me meet one of ‘em?”

“Uh...” Ribbontail paused, “I don’t know if that’s possible. I don’t even know if they can come down here into this world.”

O’liday swished his tail. Looking back at his blue-furred friend, he gave an approving thumbs-up. “I bet they can, dude. You’re down here with us, right?”

Smiling, Ribbontail shrugged and laid her head back down. “I guess... I can never really choose when I can talk with the gods, but next time I see them I’ll be sure to ask.”

“Chill, dude,” O’liday laughed, “You gotta hook me up someday. Boy will I have a story to tell my bro!”

"Sure thing, O'liday." Though her body still ached, Ribbontail was happy to finally be able to relax. The thought of OmenBeast still lingered on the edge of her mind, but for now she was content to be undisturbed. The happy memory of Kerberos reigned in her heart now, and the relief of her coming forth to O’liday made it all the better.

Ribbontail smiled. Then, as she settled down to ease her muscles further, she wished to herself, “Hopefully I can see Sasha or Pola sometime soon.”