A Splash of ink

Chapter 84- The forbidden word! (Upper Realm)

Star continues his chase, Toby reminicies on old times and the Deities fear is only elevated

——

Upper Realm

Annoying dog happily bounced behind Star as yet another door was destroyed by the babybones and yet another thing having caught his attention with the little SOUL. Their capacity to learn, to adapt was near unnatural and he couldn't help but admire it. He was somewhat aware some monsters found it alarming, even terrifying to witness Star's seemingly random actions but he thought it was pure art.

The way the Code was manipulated was fluid, every part accounted for to achieve the goal the babybones tried to achieve for himself. It was admirable how Star didn't give up when they first failed and simply tried something new, it looking clunky and a bit savage at first glance, if you were blind to how the Code was affected up close.

He did have to nudge a few bits of Code here and there to prevent the whole realm from collapsing a few times but Star was getting better at not repeating such mistakes as he had observed with his avatars while watching Star's little journey.

He had enjoyed watching them, it hard not to go straight to them but the way they had reacted to one of his avatars had been a bit disheartening, the first visible fear he had seen in the little one since they woke in this life being due to him had hurt.

He had tried to back off after that point, even if it was hard but had at least tried to stay out of view, which had worked out rather well in the end.

Star now had a large family, learned so much and had truly grown from the fragile SOUL he had first encountered so many years ago.

His little hiccup in placing them in a multiverse to be isolated for a few centuries was not part of the plans but it had worked out in the end if he said so himself!

Star was having fun, their amusing little companion only added to the chaos of the once pristine halls of this realm. It looked so much better in Toby's opinion, bringing even more nostalgia for the old days when he'd play games with the Deities when he was trying to understand what he had accidentally created in his younger days.

It was so very long ago and he knew how memories could be ever so murky for the younger folk but perhaps a few still remembered him. That would be nice, then he could perhaps have another game with them like old times but for now Star was having fun playing and hadn't tried to set him on fire again.

Truly excellent progress and something he tried to think on how to reward, hopefully some positive reinforcement would work and then Star would be happy for him to stay even longer forever with them and follow their amusing adventures. He surely wouldn't ever get bored then or get lonely again.

For now he contented himself with Stars's little game, helping to prolong it by swatting away a few of the defenses that would only hinder Star and make the little impromptu game take longer. Poor Star looked hungry and he was almost tempted to go trip one of the Deities before the babybones got fully grumpy even if that would be adorable.

He could spot what he assumed was LIFE's fur and contemplated his choices, perhaps he could sneakily crack off a bit of their essence for Star to 'find'. It would grow back in the end so he was sure they wouldn't mind.

Then he could play the favoured game all the Deity had adored before.

Tag!

He had an extra bounce in his steps at his genius plan.

———

"...someone thought the forbidden word. The prophecy is coming true"

INSANITY randomly spouted seriously, looking oddly spooked for the usually lackadaisical Deity, especially when currently in one of his more manic phases.

Even SANITY briefly faltered in trying to drag his counterpart to safety while INSANITY insisted on trying to knit that monstrosity for the small child.

"You really need to get over that fear.."

SANITY sighed, ever since they existed INSANITY had insisted none of them ever utter the name of a silly children's game the mortals liked to play. They had been very insistent about it and said with pure seriousness it was a sign of bad times if it was ever spoken in this space.

He loved his counterpart so had agreed with the others eventually joining if only to avoid INSANITY glaring at the 'offender' like they murdered one of his rubber ducks and then endure a ten hour rant on why what they did was a sin.

It was just seen as another quirk for the odd Deity. That's what everyone thought...initially that it.

Until one day they all seemingly felt fear of that word, even if none could practically remember why with INSANITY only muttering about a 'White Demon' and even more twitchy then before whenever a mortal uttered that word.

It should have been insane, some sort of prank that one of them was playing on the others but the longer time passed and no one admitted to the 'prank' with INSANITY still as serious about the subject, an uneasy feeling spread through them all.

So in the end they did what they did best when encountering something not fitting in their worldview of being at the top of the food chain, they all pushed it back to never think of again. Although all had a small part of them recalling an unsettling feeling of being stalked like a defenceless mouse, none ever able to shake it off but all intuitively knowing the others also experienced it.

It's what kept the dysfunctional group together in one space despite their sometimes clashing personalities. Annoying dog sneezed, feeling he was being talked about and unaware of the one unintentional good thing he had contributed to this entire mess.

SANITY still always tried to downplay it whenever INSANITY brought this odd topic up, ironically for everyone else's sanity as they saw the collective shiver in the room.

"Im sure its nothing. Now we need to focus on-"

His voice was cut off when a white blur suddenly knocked him over, a scream stuck in his throat at the beady black eye sat in the deceptively innocent fluffy face.

Something inside him shrivelled up and screamed, his voice getting louder when a piece of his magic, his SOUL was sliced apart with the precision of a surgeons blade and then he knew no more.

~~~~~~

Star: *Ripping through reinforced doors like a rabid squirrel* Where are you, my precious food?!

Annoying Dog: *Admiring the casual breaking of several laws of magic with a manic grin* Isn't he perfect?!

Deities: *Trying to run to avoid being eaten* Are you insane?!

-

Annoying dog: *Nostalgically thinking about the past* Ahh, what good times i had in this realm. I bet the Deities miss me!

Also Annoying dog: *Planning to chip off some of the Deities power to feed as a snack to Star* I'm sure they won't mind!

The Deities: *Old trauma response once again kicking in* WE NEED TO RUN FASTER!

-

All Deities: *Having a fear of a singular word but in denial it means anything* Im sure its nothing!

INSANITY: *For once being completely right* It's the white demons fault! He's here again!

Annoying dog: *Oblivious to what he has caused or the amount of trauma he left behind*