The two men rested in the fruit, seizing this moment, even if a fleeting one. They had been given the opportunity of rest and it was the first one that they had had in the last few days.
Amais looked at himself. He breathed and felt his heart. Yet, he no longer needed it. It was so natural in his being that even knowing that absence of it felt unnatural. There was still a beat sometimes but other times it was absent altogether. Even when he felt it, it was strange because of this now-alien body of his.
"I-I still can't believe this," he admitted, his voice laced with disbelief.
Tobi looked at him and simply nodded.
"It's similar to a phantom pulse. If you lose an arm or a leg, you can still feel it, even though it's not there. In your case, you can still feel your heart and even use it, just like you can still breathe, but there's no real need for it. You're already dead. It'll all come naturally with time. The weirdness will fade. And despite being dead, you're still human."
Tobi said reassuringly as Amais nodded, processing the Hunter's words when suddenly the world around them had faded to black.
Amais was confused and Tobi simply stared at the black; his finger came up and alight like a candle to uncover the dark surrounding them. Amais stepped out from the fruit, his instincts on high alert as they found themselves in an alien landscape. The ground beneath them was covered in grass. But they were on top of the tree? How could there be grass?
Amais wondered if the shadow had returned and glanced at Tobi, who watched the scene with dead eyes. Amais was curious about the Hunter and his origin. Today, he would get his first glimpse of what he was.
Tobi raised a hand as fire surged, lighting the area; the tree itself began to glow. Flowers bloomed across its surface, their petals unfurling with a radiant, beautiful light. The serpent-like branches, which had once writhed, now stood still as they intertwined to form a massive dome of wood that engulfed the men. More branches sprouted from them, each adorned with glowing flowers that shined a golden and white hue. The men stood amidst an otherworldly vast expanse, and before them was a luminous forest that felt like it had been suspended in time. The very ground was now covered in soft grass, fungi, and trees, all emanating their own gentle glow. It was breathtaking, with above them the flowers resembling stars.
Something significant. No, something monumental was about to happen.
Tobi felt perplexed as he watched the scene. What's happening? he asked the Lord of Flames, hoping for an answer.
The god simply laughed; anticipation had dripped from his tongue as he could feel the lord's excitement.
Then, the fruits began to rot at an unfathomable speed, each one turning black before disappearing entirely and completely, all to create a singular small bud at the very peak of the great tree. And then... people emerged. They climbed out from the earth like zombies, but they paid no attention to Tobi or Amais. Instead, they ascended, their focus solely on the apex of the tree, where a single, unopened bud remained. Something shimmered in it, a radiant, golden light. And now men, women, even children are all climbing towards it and vanishing into the swelling bud, causing it to grow.
"What the hell's happening?" Amais muttered in horror, which echoed Tobi's own thoughts as he looked at the bud.
The Lord of Flames let out a manic laugh, his excitement uncontainable. The scene made Tobi weirdly nostalgic and nervous. He remembered a time something similar had happened to him.
A memory from his past. There was a being that had been formed through the collective essence of many different kinds of creatures to form a single god in its most primal and terrifying form and it was meant to be beautiful but only horror ensued. Tobi's eyes widened slightly as understanding dawned. And then, in a single breathtaking instant, the bud bloomed.
A radiant being emerged; its form was a dazzling fusion of beauty and divinity. It rose into the air in all of its divine glory, a celestial, godly entity of incomprehensible grace. It was like an angel Its head, shaped like an intricate blossom, sang a soothing and loving hum. Its presence alone is enough to inspire awe and demand worship. Its body was akin to a man but it was anything but. Standing at ten feet tall, it gazed down at them with an unreadable expression as it stood at the apex of the tree.
Tobi clenched his fist, summoning the strongest flames he could create and struck at the dome, trying to burn a hole through it, which would serve as their escape route, but the wood was too dense and worse, it repaired itself almost instantly. There was no way out. But that didn't matter.
"Amais, go," Tobi said simply as he looked curiously at the being in front of him.
Amais hesitated, but Tobi's eyes had reassured him. The man never seemed worried despite these cosmic beings he faced. So Amais turned and ran, running as fast as his body allowed him. His instincts screamed at him. This was something beyond his understanding, beyond his place. He had no role in what was about to unfold. But as he reached the middle of the tree, he saw the all-too-familiar staircase, which would allow him to leave. He glanced back one more time.
And what he saw was nothing short of divine. Tonight was a great celebration. For a new god had been born and Amais would be a witness to it and all its glory, as a clash of heavens had occurred: a supernova of flames clashed with the radiant sprout of life. It was a battle of creation and destruction. The air crackled with power as the hunter faced off against the newly born god, their conflict shaking the very world. Amais had no part in this. This was beyond him. He turned away and continued down the staircase, escaping into the unknown.
In his head the Lord of Flames spoke.
You'll die, mortal. Are you a fool? Do you not fear your end?
He flew; the world was frozen. he had not anticipated this, nor had he remembered his past. Conviction, regardless, stayed with him. An unwilling tenacity gripped him like a vice to this life he did not know as he recalled who he was.
I cannot die for that is what I am, He uttered simply as his hand grazed the mask of his.
The god let out a thunderous laugh at the remark.