3 The Beginning (Part 2)

Between the realms of the Gods and the realm of the Mortals, is the realm of Existence. It is where the souls from either realm travels through to the next. It is also known as the domain of Rebirth to the Gods. In this realm where the area above is white and the area below is the stars, there is a black void in between where small islands of rock or meteors float about with about with no purpose. Everything is bland and colorless in the void, except for one island that has a single tree with beautiful green grass growing around that tree. This tree with leaves that shine like silver from a distance is known as Kiola, the Tree of Life.

The roots that peak out below the island stretch below into the stars, while the canopy of the tree was twice as big as the island. Underneath the tree stood two figures. The first, who looked to be female, had long wavy black hair and black eyes with white skin. She wore a plain white high collared long sleeve dress, her feet that were bare, peaked out from beneath her dress. The figure next to her looked to be male. He had long wavy white hair and white eyes with alabaster black skin. He was dressed similar to the female except the color of his clothing was black. These two figures who stood next to each other were the Originals of Life and Death.

The female was watching the distance while nervously griping her dress. The male next to her, who stood without moving, calmly glanced her way before he gently grabbed her hand and held it. This action caused her to flinch before she held his hand tightly and calmed down.

The female, who's eyes were still glued to the horizon, nervously spoke to the male. "W-when do you think h-he will be here, Kifo(1)?"

He gently gave her hand a squeeze. "I'm not too sure, Zoi(2)." He turned back to look at the horizon. "He only said that he was going to appear before us. He did not say when though."

She whimpered. "He…he won't eat...eat us, right?"

"He cannot."

"R-really?"

"If he dares to do so, he will be punished by Order." He looked at her. "Order will never let him go out of control again. Remember that, Zoi. He cannot ignore the ones who stand above all."

"O-okay…"

Beneath the Tree of Life, the two Originals were waiting for an incredibly special and unexpected guest. They were given a message from Rayah, the carnivorous God of War and Death, that he would be visiting them and Kiola. Although they were scared, they were also curious of this one God. They had heard about him, but none of the things they had heard were good.

Rayah, who was known as a God, was actually the Original of a special race known as the Rabbi. Many of the Gods and other Originals know that the Rabbi were born from Chaos. Not made, nor created, but born from Chaos itself. And although Rayah was also know as the God of Death, it did not actually mean that he had control over death, it was just a title given to him by his people. But one thing they absolutely knew, was that he was an abomination that could eat other Gods and divine beings. He could eat the souls of other Gods and erase them from existence. The Gods that were eaten could not journey through Kiola to be reborn again. This is one of the many reasons why the other Gods do not bother him.

"Do you think…the rumor about him being cruel and h-horrible…are true?"

"I do not believe in those petty rumors and neither should you, Zoi."

"So…that means…its false?"

"I do not know. But all rumors originate from a source. And with many of them being the same…there might be some truth to that rumor."

"*hiccup*"

"Relax, Zoi, he is only coming to visit. I believe he might be coming here to choose a champion. Just like the other Gods and Originals."

"O-okay, Kifo."

"Indeed. I'll leave as soon as I get what I want."

Both of them turned to look toward where the unknown voice came from. Zoi immediately held onto Kifo's arm in fear as she saw the being they were waiting for appear in a space rift. Rayah, who was covered in fresh blood, stepped through a space rift dragging a half-dead unknown creature by the tail. In his other hand he held what looked to be a half-eaten heart. He finished the heart off in a couple of bites. The noise of him chewing the heart and the sight of him covered in blood caused Zoi's breathing to become erratic as she froze in absolute fear. Kifo glared at Rayah as he pulled Zoi into a hug, making her turn away from the gruesome sight. Although she was the Original of Life, she has never seen such horrid sights before. Kifo, who was the Original of Death, knew about this and has always did his best to make sure that Zoi never saw anything like war or tragedy. He has always wanted her to be happy and untouched from such knowledge.

"Ah…sorry…I had to get something to eat before I came here." Rayah wiped away the blood that was dripping down his jaw.

"Just hurry up and choose, myasetare(3)." Kifo gently rubbed Zoi's back to calm her down as he glared menacingly at Rayah. "Then leave."

Rayah was unaffected by Kifo's words and hostility as he merely shrugged and turned away from them. He let go the leg of the creature and walked toward the tree. His eyes scanned the canopy above looking for the pure white puff flowers that symbolized a great soul. He needed to choose a soul that would become his champion. He saw one flower that was growing on a low branch. It seemed to be the biggest from the lowest level. He walked toward it and held his bloody hand out to it. The puff flower that was shinning white turned dull and wilted. This made Rayah frown with disgust.

"Weak." He turned away and went to another puff flower. Each flower had the same reaction as the first, they turned dull and wilted. Although the few black sickle leaves that he passed by tried to reach for him he simply ignored them. They were weak souls that only wanted power. He gradually began to climb the tree as the flowers below held no interest to him. He was beginning to get frustrated as each soul that he went toward we either to weak or were only power hungry.

Just when he was about to break the branch of yet another weak flower, his eyes were caught on something interesting. Just above him were two white flower puffs that were growing on the same stem. Although it might seem ordinary, many of the souls grew by themselves on their own away from others. He went toward them and reached out his still bloody hand. The flower closest to him tried to avoid him as it began to wilt. He began to growl and was about to grab that soul to eat it out of anger when the puff flower next to it covered the wilting one and began to puff itself up as if to defend it. It was smaller than the wilting one but when it puffed up it was able to shield the wilting one behind it.

Rayah, intrigued by this, poked at the defensive puff flower. His bloody finger left traces on the white puff flower. It wasn't scared at all, but it seemed to become more irritated and moved itself to hit the finger away. A soft smack rang out from the hit of the puff flower.

Kifo, who stood holding the now calm but still shaken Zoi, was stupefied. Although most of the souls that grew on Kiola had some level of awareness, it was not to the point of lashing out like that. The souls level of awareness was on the raw instinctual level of a common mortal creature, their most basic fight-or-flight nature was visible. It did not matter if the soul were a powerful God or brave hero, as long as they grew on the tree, the nature that they hid would be visible. So, the powerful God could have no power and the brave hero could have a weak soul.

And even if they had a strong soul they would still cower before a divine being, especially if that being was Rayah. His aura and temperament were born from chaos, so the souls that were at the most instinctual level knew that they should not mess with this being. Both Kifo and Zoi knew of this. A soul would have never done that while they were in that state.

"O-oh no." Zoi was horrified. She knew those two souls. They were considered special to her because they were different. They both grew together, and they never shied away from her or Kifo. Although she wasn't supposed to show favoritism to the souls on Kiola, she ignored that and only talked with them. She was the one that did the most talking but they both would share feelings with her. One was calm while the other was energetic. She had a lot of fun with them and she didn't have to see them leave because they were flowers. They were going to be chosen by some God sooner or later, but that later was going to be a while, and that made her happy.

"P-please…please don't hurt them!" She did not want to watch those two evaporate into nothing. She was going to save them but Kifo held on to her.

"No! You can't, Zoi!"

"I can't watch them die! Let go of me, Kifo!" She struggled to get out of his grasp, but she was too weak compared to him. "He's going to eat them!"

"He-"

"I won't do something like that, whitey."

Zoi and Kifo froze as they looked back to Rayah.

"This one." He looked at Zoi satisfied as he pointed to the energetic puff that was still in defense mode. "I want it." He looked back to see the one behind it was not as wilted as the other ones, but it still hid quietly behind the one protecting it. "Hmm…I'll take this one too."

"Wha- No! That's against the rules! You can only choose one champion!" Zoi realized that she was yelling at him. "Y-You can only ch-choose one…champion."

"Hmph, who said that I was going to choose both of them as my champion. This energetic one is my champion. But this weak one…the energetic one seems to be attached to this one so I'll take them both to my world so that they can stay together."

"R-really?"

"Of course."

"Th-thank the stars." Zoi relaxed into Kifo's embrace, happy that he wasn't going to do anything horrible.

"So, shall we wrap thing up here? I know you guys want me gone and I want to get back to eating. I'm still hungry."

"O-of course!" Zoi tapped Kifo's arms to let him know that she was okay at the moment. Kifo reluctantly let go of her. She floated up to Rayah with Kifo following close behind her. Rayah moved out of the way as Zoi reached out to gently hold the defensive and the weak flower puffs. They both sensed her and perked up in joy. She smiled as they nuzzled her hand while sending her joyful feelings.

"Hoh~" Rayah watched this display of affection. "I thought you weren't supposed to show favor to the souls?"

Zoi flinched but kept quiet. She knew she was bad at lying so she refused to say anything. As she ignored Rayah, she held the two souls and plucked them from their spot. She smiled with tears in her eyes as she cradled them in her hands, while floating to the ground. They sent feelings of reluctance and anticipation toward her as they knew that it was their time. When she reached the ground, she raised them to her cheek to nuzzle them both as a last goodbye until it was time for them to return.

"Grow up strong and healthy, little ones." The two souls were sad, but they still said their goodbyes to her. When they were done, she pulled them away from her and held them toward Rayah who followed her. "Please watch over them."

"Of course." He held his hand out toward her, in which she gently placed them into his open hand. The energetic one puffed up in defense but stayed in place as the weaker one snuggled up toward it. Rayah was amused by it. "Don't worry. I won't eat you." The weak one flinched but didn't move. Rayah watched the brave one and thought that if it were an animal it would be growling at him.

"Don't forget to bless it, myasetare." Kifo crossed his arms as he scowled at him.

Rayah looked toward him and scoffed. He looked at the energetic one and thought about a good blessing. "Hmm…I think this one will work." He smirked. As he moved his free hand toward his mouth and bit his finger, creating a small wound that began to leak dark red blood that released pure chaos energy. Kifo watched in shock as Rayah placed his injured finger above the energetic soul.

The energetic one now seemed to shake in fear, but it still held its ground and refused to move. "Excellent. Very good." He nodded in satisfaction. "My champion shouldn't cower in the face of death."

"Wai- What are you thinking?! Do you think that what you are doing is going to have minor consequences?!" Kifo wanted to stop Rayah but he couldn't. The potency of the chaos energy in his blood was stopping him from going any closer. "It will be pure chaos! Stop!"

"Oh no!" Zoi looked toward Kiola. Its branches and leaves were swaying violently due to the chaos energy. The souls that were on it could be blown away and lost in the void if nothing was done. She left Kifo's side to create a barrier around Kiola so that no more harm could befall it or the souls.

"Heh." Rayah didn't look at Kifo as he began to condense the chaos energy into one drop of blood. "She's my champion. So, its only right that she becomes my kin in the process." He squeezed his wounded finger to release the condensed blood filled with chaos onto the prideful puff flower as he spoke to it. "As you are my champion, I'll bless you with my blood. All of my strength and knowledge in combat will go to you. I hope that in future you will join me in the realm above." The drop fell on the puff. "But be careful," he continued to speak as the blood was absorbed into it, "do not fall into carnage and bloodlust." The puff began to shake as if in pain. Its color rapidly changing from pure black to blood red to white, until the color gradually settled onto white. "Or I will have to kill you myself." The puff that seemed energetic in the beginning now was weak, but it did not wilt, nor did it cower before its God. The weak puff that was being protected since the beginning moved in front of the other one. Although it was wilted and seemed scared it seemed to desire to protect the one that protected it before.

"I'm starting to look forward to the future now." He walked away from the mess that he created toward his food, only to discover that his food was blown away into the void. He scratched his head and just shrugged. "I can always hunt for more after I'm done." He raised his free hand in order to create a rift toward his planet. He looked back at the two Originals and the tree and smirked. Then he entered the rift and disappeared from their realm. After a moment of silence, Zoi nervously called out toward Kifo.

"Br-brother…" she forgot to use his name, and instead addressed him as brother, "what h-happened?" She then slowly released the barrier that surrounded Kiola. She saw how her brother reacted toward Rayah and his actions, but she didn't understand why it was considered bad.

"…" Kifo continued to stare at the spot where Rayah left from. "It's nothing," he looked at her and smiled, "it'll be alright. Here. Let me help you."

"…alright…" Zoi knew that something was wrong but decided against asking anything else. She knew that Kifo would tell her if something was wrong. Her thoughts then turned toward those little puff flowers. She hoped that they would be okay with such a God like him.

Kifo, on the other hand, was worried for many different reasons. But the main one that stuck with him was that the feeling of danger was looming closer then ever before.

But unknown to all of them, in the far depths of the void, the pure white door covered in black chains began to shake until one of seven chains snapped in half. The shaking stopped as the chain dropped and knocked on the door with a thud. The spot where the chain touch slowly began to change color as if black ink fell on white cloth. As if it was a signal, a dark and sinister laugh that was indistinguishable echoed from behind the door.