Kick to my right, I defend it. Ouch, my arm's burning. Kick to my left, I dodge it. It's my turn now, brat. I spread my wings as I jump and aim at the boy. A fly towards him, who rolls to the side and throws a fireball towards me. I grab it with my resistant hand.
I jump towards him. Am I too fast to you, boy? I grab his head and throw it to the ground, destroying a small area. He swings his leg towards me and hits me in the stomach, launching me towards the sky. I open my wings, but he takes a small rock and throws it towards them. Ugh, my wings are too damaged to work now.
This is the time, I have to try it. I open my mouth and spit fire. The grass and surroundings are burning now. I guess I went too far... Huh? The boy hid in the smoke and jumped towards me. He throws a kick, which I barely defend with my arms. Argh, they're burning now! I'm the one who should be burning everyone, not you!
We both fall, a bit tired.
— I thought this would be an easy win. Looks like you're not that bad.
— Oh, thank you! We have similar powers, so it's a bit hard to decide the winner.
— I didn't stop because I gave up, brat. Do you really want to know who's the winner here?
Nocus steps in.
— There's no need to continue this, guys. The mansion will be affected if you keep burning everything.
A dragon cub, the size of an ogre, walks in the fight.
— If your concern is destruction, young master Nocus, we can propose something different. How about a speed contest?
— That's not a bad idea! But what if they run through walls and break everything anyway?
I'm not that careless!
— I don't know about your brother, but I can control my powers well. There's no such thing as "too fast to control" for me.
— Well, I can say the same! I was holding back in the fight because I didn't want to damage our property.
— The hell you were holding back! I dare you to release everything you've got now!
— Ladies first. My dad will be mad if I do it first.
— G-Guys, don't do that, please!
The dragon cub gets closer and smiles.
— They're excited to better themselves, young master. But I have a solution to the problem of destruction: how about we have an air race?
An air race? I know dragons have wings, but what about the boy?
— Sounds great! I can sort of fly with my power, so it's fair.
The boy jumps and releases small explosions below his feet, pushing him upwards. Not bad, I must say. You've been training for a while now, to know how to control it easily.
— Alright, I'm in. Where are we heading to?
— That island over there.
The dragon points to another floating island almost disappearing in the horizon. The boy recognizes it:
— Oh, our sky neighbor! But it's a bit far from here. What if someone passes out in the way?
— Then I'll have to carry you, boy. Because I'm not the one getting tired this easily.
— Young master Nocus, can you please count the time?
— Yes, but... how do I know who arrives first?
An eagle lands on the girl's shoulder.
— I can do that, young master. My eyes can magnify thousands of times.
— Thank you, mister eagle! I'll count down. Are you ready? 3, 2, 1... go!
Me, the boy and the dragon jump at the same second. If we started flying, we would have a disadvantage in initial speed. The boy still had a boost, because his jump was much more powerful than ours.
He leaves a trail of fire and smoke, since he has to turn his feet into thrusters. I jumped higher than the others, so I can dive to gain speed. The dragon didn't do that, but is almost faster than me at my full speed. Dammit, he had a lot of time to practice his flying.
The boy extends his hands and throws fire curtains on both sides, because he's in the middle. Our flying pattern changes, because the hot air is messing our aerodynamics. Hey, that's cheating, bastard!
He points his hands behind him to propel his body further forward. Now he has four thrusters, amazing... Suddenly, the dragon rolls himself in the air, turning his body upside down, with his head facing back. He breathes heavily and opens his mouth.
Then, he spits fire at such a large scale that it almost reaches the initial island. He gains so much speed that his body landed on the final island faster than we could see. After roughly two minutes, me and the boy finally reach the finish line, exhausted. I was the last.
The dragon is resting on the ground with his belly up and eyes still open.
— Is he dead?
— I don't think so. He just used too much firepower at once. It happens to the best of us.
— You're saying that like he's dead!
— Thank you for your concern, young master and half-dragon, but I'm still alive. I can't do this on the way back, though.
— I'm not carrying you back.
— I didn't say I had to be carried. I'll just have to rest a little here. I'll say a hi to our neighbors while I'm at it.
Sun, the boy, approaches me.
— It was great, for sure. Thank you both for giving it your all.
He extends his hand to me. He's showing respect, huh... Well, I think I respect you a little more now. I take his hand and squeeze it.
— Ouch, take it easy there! I'm not as durable as you!
— Well, it's only fair after you cheated back there.
— Good night, Mitsurugi! I'm glad we all had fun today!
— Yeah, I'm happy too...
— Are you happy? Is that not a strong word anymore?
— Yeah... yeah, I'm happy. Thank you, Nocus.
— You're always welcome here, don't forget that! You're from the family now!
— I hope that stays the same... Goodnight, Nocus.
— It will, you can be sure about that! Have the best dreams, Mitsurugi!
— You too...
Is this really right? I feel like everything changed so suddenly... I feel like... I'm not where I belong to. What if they die of old age, like humans do? What if they forget me after someone brainwashes them with a spell? What if the mansion gets invaded and everyone dies?
— What if you could change that?
Huh...? That's not Nocus's voice... Am I finally dreaming?
— Humans always think about what it would be like if they could change something. That's useless thought. There are many things out of reach even for a god.
Who is she...? She has emerald short hair, with a bunch of different colors... her dress is also emerald... Why is this place so bright? It should be night now... She doesn't look like a human... her presence is ethereal.
— But that's also useless thought. Humans would be able to do anything if they found the real truth. Science is a simulated truth.
— Who are you...?
She turns around to look me in the eyes. Her eyes are rainbow and crazy. I feel like I'm being hypnotized.
— My beauty is hypnotizing you, but not objectively. People from the mortal world can't comprehend my appearence perfectly, that's why your vision is blurry.
— What do you want...?
— That is my question. As for yours, I'm Nedina, the goddess of this world.
— What do I want...? Why?
— There are huge things called stars. They're part of galaxies, which are much bigger. We're inside of a galaxy. Eventually, ours will collide with another.
— What...?
— Humans are unable to change this truth. But it's a simulated truth. If they managed to find the real truth, they would be able to control anything.
— Can you change that...?
— Who knows? I'm as powerful as my creator wants me to be. Only he knows what I'm capable of doing. But you're different. He created you, but not directly. You can surpass that limit.
— Why would I want to do that...?
— That's my question. You can become truly immortal if you try hard enough. You can stop time if you become strong enough. You can be omnipotent if you want. You can stop galaxies from colliding if you become a goddess.
— I don't want to be a hero...
— But you want to be a villain. Not one that does evil for fun. You aspire to be a goddess, hated by most, but invincible. You want to decide everything for everyone.
— No, I...
— Humans have done that to you since you were born. It's time to repay. You can help anyone or kill everyone. That's your choice. No one can disagree with an omnipotent goddess.
— But that's wrong!
— Everything is wrong in someone's eyes. Follow your truth. What do you truly want?