Afterwards, Zeran was at the home of the elder. He was holding the Ru plush doll, while it was looking around the very place. Its eyes were seeing the s.p.a.cious place, in which you"d see in a native world. The walls of bamboo and the simple appearance without any sign of any desirable luxury. Though, there were exotic masks and feathers hanged on the walls, relieving up to the standards of a chieftain. The elder sat on his tribe-fitting mat, such as he was a wise man of age. Zeran took a seat too, but he wasn"t on the mat. Then, the elder asks Zeran,"Now then traveler...what brings you here on our humble village?".
As Zeran heard the elder"s direct question, it made him to be shocked in his thoughts, turning Zeran to feel very tense whether or not he should tell them,
("Geh! I forgot...I can"t say that I"m here to...")
("HEY, DON"T MIND ME! I"LL JUST PUT OUT A FLARE OR FIREWORKS OUT HERE...").
The elder noticed that Zeran can"t tell his prime objective for some reason. Though, the elder just didn"t mind Zeran"s real reason upon coming to their haven. Instead, the elder let out his guiding words,
"It seemed you are lost on your way too..."
"But don"t worry...this must be the trial of the dark G.o.ddess...but, soon you"ll be rewarded by the light G.o.ddess at the end of the path...".
Those words of the wise elder made Zeran to be puzzled in his thoughts,
("Now that"s new...usually...most village elders and priestesses would say...")
("May the brilliance of the light G.o.ddess shine upon you...and the darkness of the dark G.o.ddess away from your soul...or whatever...")
("This place seemed quite different...").
Soon enough, the elder had stopped wearing an eager look unto Zeran. The face of the elder was now masking a welcoming smile upon him. More than that, the elder said,
"But as the tradition of our village goes..."
"When a lost traveller comes, that"d mean it"s the COMING OF THE NIGHT SPARKLE..."
"And you must be tired...dear traveler...please do stay at our shabby inn...".
Zeran replies,
"Okay...thank you elder...".
Zeran stood up and bowed down with great respect and the adorable Ru plush doll waved goodbye with its small arm. He took the plush doll later. Though, as he went outside, he was quite dumbstrucked by the unusual words of the elder, turning him to be curious in his thoughts,
("The coming of the night sparkle?").
Zeran was now going to the inn that the elder had said, while he was holding the plush doll like it was some kind of object, since he"s a man. As he was almost near the entrance of the inn, he saw a local li"l girl with her mother walking along. He overheard their voices.
"Mama...Pu-chu will be alright right?"
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,the li"l girl asked.
"Yes...sweetie...she"ll be guided by our dark G.o.ddess Ruhime then she"ll be sent to the light G.o.ddess Angehime for better life to all living beings...".
,as the mother replied her caring words to her worried daughter.
As Zeran noticed that the teachings of this village were very different from the other villages, towns, cities and kingdoms, he was more and more convinced in his thoughts, while he was wearing a smile filled with relief,
("So that"s how it is here...")
("I don"t know but...It felt better for me that Ru is being regarded here like that...rather than being like an evil villain...").
Though, sometime soon he was laughing in his thoughts too,
("But that name...pffft Pu-chu!").
He went inside the inn. Though, the place was quite strange, since there were no doors nor stairs leading up to the rooms but, there was a receptionist at her desk that looked-like one of the natives. Though, she looked more or less beautiful than the others. The innkeeper gave him his key, since the elder already told her that a traveller will be staying. Zeran accepted the key. Though, as he looked around, there were no rooms nor pa.s.sages that would lead to his destination. Suddenly, the innkeeper clapped her hands two times. In a split second, the hidden underground stairs revealed itself below the sliding floor at the noticeable corner. Zeran was surprised but, the innkeeper just gave off a nice smile, so he just went along with the natives" eccentric living and hospitality. As he was about to go below the stairs, the Ru plush doll waved at the innkeeper, turning the innkeeper to wave back aswell, while Zeran didn"t notice anything. He had trodden along the stairs leading undergrond and entered his respective room. As he got inside the designated room through the sliding paper door, he witnessed that the room was quite simple and clean. There was only a futon and a pillow at the center and nothing more from the large s.p.a.ce. Thereon, he says with an uncertain look on his face,
"Okay...I guess this is what they call..."
"Zen...".
Though, he didn"t mind the simple place for him, since he was feeling very tired from the long jouney, so he flopped to the futon with great satisfaction in his look. Soon, he stretched his body to relieve himself more and he expresses,
"So tired...".
He rolled around the futon like a kid, since he was feeling bored of the quiet atmosphere. It seemed he was missing a part of his heart as he says to himself, calling unto someone he truly hold dear,
"Ugh...it feels so different and empty..."
"Without Ru here..."
"Ru...".
After sometime, he has lulled himself to slumber unnoticeably, turning him to dive into his fleeting dreams once again. He was standing and seeing Ru in front of him such as she was an evangelizing G.o.ddess, free from all darkness and sinistry. The atmosphere was very serene and the feeling was very soothing to the touch. He calls unto her,
"Ru?".
Sadly, Ru didn"t respond such as she was just an image. She brought out her hands. She wreathed him around her fragile angel-like arms and embraced him tight with all her heart, as she was wearing a thankful smile. Not only that, she left out a crystal tear that was seeped in a blend of happiness and sorrow. Zeran felt that his heart was filled yet, again. He felt her warmth and presence such as his ideal G.o.ddess. Suddenly, Ru disintegrated into crystal particles and disappeared into thin air. As he felt that her presence was totally gone, he looked at his hands, witnessing that Ru turned into magical dust. His eyes started to leak out tears of immense sadness, such as his heart was struck by a torturing dagger. The next moment, he exclaimed his heart out,
"RUUUUUUUU!".
He snapped out of his dreary trance. His eyes opened wide but, he was seeing with a blurry vision, witnessing that Ru was near in front of him, while he was positioned looking at the side. He rubbed his eyes and his vision was cleared soon enough. His eyes were now noticing the Ru plush doll was standing and it was now holding a rice ball. He said to the plush doll, even though it can"t talk,
"Oh...you want to give me something?".
The plush doll nodded like an obedient little girl. He grabbed the riceball and ate it. As he was chewing the riceball, his mouth felt the moist and the chewy sensation of the riceball he was eating. The pinch of mild sweetness of its whole form and the sudden sebrimmed saltiness from the seaweed were blended in which, that gave off the far eastern experience. He sensed the aromatic scent of the fresh rice-mill from the riceball too. As soon as he was done eating the snack, he was delighted and thanked the plush doll. Then, the plush doll pointed both of its stubby arms at the other side. Thereupon, there was a mountain of riceb.a.l.l.s. As he noticed that there were so many, he was very shocked and surprised, since he can"t finish all of them in one gulp. Afterwards, he thought to himself that he has that extraordinary ability built for convenience and aimed for preservation. He sighed and let out his hand such as he was casting out a grand magic or something at the mountain of riceb.a.l.l.s. Suddenly, the riceb.a.l.l.s disappeared in a glimpse like the other food that were put into his dimension inventory. Sooner or later, he was seeing with his extraordinary vision the text saying,
["100x Riceb.a.l.l.s obtained..."].
He was shocked, as he saw those huge numbers. The Ru plush doll looked glad and pounced unto him and tried to hug him, since he took its generous offer. He hugged it, since he doesn"t know what to return in exchange. Though, he felt Ru"s fragment of a presence, while he was embracing the doll. Not only that, more or less he was convinced by how familiar it acted such as Ru"s real nature, since it made delicious food and its pa.s.sionate actions were very similar to the real G.o.ddess Ru. He looked at the plush doll and asked with his eyes wide opened,
"RU is that y—".
That sudden moment, he was interrupted by the female innkeeper who came inside,
"Sorry for interruption traveler but...the FESTIVAL of THE COMING OF THE NIGHT SKY SPARKLE will be held outside..."
"With that, you are very much invited and very important on this festival of ours...".
Zeran replies awkwardly,
"O...kay?".
Zeran took the plush doll and followed the innkeeper until they were outside. The sky was blanketed in the dark sky but, there were no signs of stars or anything, since it was shrouded by a thick ma.s.s of clouds. He witnessed that all of the villagers were eager to see him, as the whole place and ambience were ready for their grand festival. There were torches lit with searing fire and the place was wreathed with scattered glistening blue petals all around. There were lavishing exotic food prepared on the huge gathering wooden table in a native tribe. Zeran was awe-inspired by the whole place. Later, the elder speaks up to him,
"Glad you had come traveller...apparently we weren"t able to tell you beforehand...Yet with that said..."
"Why don"t you let out the GRAND SPARKLE for our festival...".
Zeran was in his thoughts after,
("They must be talking about the flare gun that Ange gave me...").
He brought out the flare gun that looked-like a modern pistol from his pockets. The villagers looked excited when they saw the harmless weapon. For some reason, the Ru plush doll looked alarmed. It pounced and tried to grab his harmless weapon, such as it was trying to release it and grab it from Zeran"s hands. Sadly, due to his strong hold, it wasn"t able to s.n.a.t.c.h it away from him. Though, Zeran had different thoughts, when he saw the plush doll was grabbing the flare gun,
("Huh? Ru"s excited? or...she"s trying to tell me something here?").
He didn"t mind its/her unusual action, as he aimed at the sky above, readying to release the signal. A little while later, he exhaled and pulled the trigger. Thereon, the bullet of flashing light traversed into the sky. Soon enough, the light scattered into very beautiful and magnificent fireworks, forming into an image of a golden fox in the aftermath. The villagers were seeing the fireworks with awe-inspiring faces. Suddenly, a shower of flaming arrows fell upon the whole village, searing and burning the whole place in dangerous flames. Not only that, lots of warriors and knights clad in golden armors rushed-in then thrashed the place. They even tried to kill the innocent villagers and kids with their golden swords. The other villagers noticed the terror that came upon them, so they tried to run in fear but, they were all killed and caught by the other knights in waiting. Zeran was witnessing the destruction and desecration of the whole place. The poor children were stabbed and the other elderly people were all being dismembered by the steeled warriors. Though, the other gorgeous-looking native females were all caught and kidnapped, even the innkeeper that was serving Zeran before. There were raging and burning fires everywhere. The ever glorious and festive native village was being terrorized and ravaged by the foreign people. Zeran was frozen in fear and he couldn"t believe his eyes and ears, since he was hearing their cries of agony and blood spurting out of their bodies or being burned down with the flaming arrows. Thankfully, he was still alive, but he fell to his scarred knees, while he was convuluded in his thoughts,
("No...what"s happening here?!").
"WHAT"S GOING ON?!"
,as he said out loud. Soon, Queen Fae appeared in an elegant form ridden in an demonic aura. She went to him and caressed his head, but he didn"t feel any kind of warmth but, the touch of a menacing devil of a woman. She bent her knees and said, while the whole place was still being destroyed to the ground,
"Glad you gave us the SIGNAL my dear Zen..."
"Who knew you"d be useful for once...".
Later, she kissed him directly into his lips, letting him feel her soft lips. Though, he didn"t feel any affection from his former wife rather, his very expression was frozen in fear and he left out a scarred tear too, as it would seem he wasn"t happy, while she was destroying the village into nothingness. He tried to utter out his words and do something yet, it was all too late. Soon, she had stopped kissing him and told him again,
"That"s your reward for helping me in smiting down HERETICS such as these..."
"But that was just your first reward..."
"Soon you"ll be truly rewarded by the GREAT G.o.dDESS ANGEHIME herself...".
She went away and ordered her knights and warriors with her powerful influence and voice,
"Now destroy everything in this village!"
"Do not let anyone escape!"
"As they are..."
"HERETICS!"
"Though...you can take some of them if they are into your liking..."
"And turn them into your own SLAVES...".