M.R. Short Story: Eight Rivers of Ry

Eight Rivers of Ry

Sei's golden eyes opened abruptly. They lifted their scaled head, glancing around their temple room. There was a powerful energy nearby. They sniffed the air. No—there were three powerful energy sources nearby.

Wondering what it could be, Sei got to their clawed feet. They flicked their serpentine tail once, and found themself outside the temple. Being an almighty creator—despite being a created creator—gave them special powers like teleportation and shapeshifting. They could even change their size if they wanted to. Outside in the fresh air, they deemed that they would change their size. Sei therefore shrunk to the size of a mouse, after being the size of a hill. The red dragon then flicked their tail again, and appeared near the three energy sources.

Sei ended up on the edge of a clearing near murmuring trees. It was indeed Mernao Rulek and Ry Pengol they had detected. Mernao looked much like he had the last time Sei had seen him. He had short red hair and slanted blue eyes, and he was even wearing his black-and-red instructor uniform. Pengol was taller, with short brown hair and bright blue eyes, and dressed in the same attire. While Sei wasn't too pleased to see the two people, they wouldn't have minded if it wasn't for the third figure.

Sei's lip curled at the sight of the scarlet phoenix. It was the same phoenix that had protected Mernao from Sei, when Sei had possessed the person years ago. Of course, time worked differently in the spirit realm, but it certainly felt like it was ages since Sei had possessed him.

Sei had taken over Mernao's body to lead the fight against the Blackouts, a terrorist group in Rupqer at the time. Monarch Vundur, leader of the trolls, asked for Sei's help to eliminate the threat before it unbalanced the world. Sei agreed, happy to have more souls to add to their collection—after all, they were the creator in control of death. But then that phoenix came, ruining Sei's plans at the very end, in the last battle against the Blackouts. That phoenix protected Mernao, shielding him so that he could never be touched by the red dragon again.

So Sei had returned to the spirit realm in shame—not that they had ever left. They were quite unable to enter the physical world. But they waited their time, until they were able to reach out to Pengol.

Pengol came a few years after Mernao's takedown of the Blackouts. The Kaster had been desperate for a chance to physically enter the spirit realm, and Sei manipulated them to give up their magic to do it. Of course, Pengol couldn't take their magic away themself; even the trolls had to unite their powers to take away one person's magic. Sei had to ask for permission to help, which Pengol gave up to them readily. Sei then snatched Pengol's magic, locking it away in the heart of the spirit realm, and abandoning Pengol entirely. They had what they needed: magic.

Sei didn't have magic—not like the mortals did, or even like the other creators. Sei was the "fourth" creator. The one who was made after the triplet creators were born. They were an outcast, even amongst their older siblings. Their abilities were limited, as they were merely supposed to be in charge of dead souls.

But Sei wanted to be alive. They wanted to have magic, they wanted to enter the physical realm, they wanted to have the same powers as the other creators! Yet whenever Sei tried to ask for the same permissions, they were always denied.

So that's why Sei took to possessing the two people standing in front of them. Mernao was simply a test. Sei had never possessed a person before, and they quickly realized that they needed permission in order to do it—even as a supposed creator. But Mernao was foolish and gave up his body to Sei, who loved the bloodthirsty battles that they got to fight in. After losing Mernao, Sei turned to Pengol.

Sei snapped out of their thoughts, focusing on the conversation that the trio was having.

"I can't believe we've found you again, Thorn," Mernao was murmuring to the phoenix.