#arkami

For @dreamcreator01...

Everything has its place.

Each interaction had meaning. The scars they earned? Stories for the future. Even every single word was intentional. The Emperor and Empress of the Celestial Plains had conversed about sending Okami Amaterasu to many places outside of Nippon as soon as Yami was defeated. They never once considered why, or how the Origin of Goodness could help new places. Nor did they think about the consequences of the Mother Goddess dying in a place other than Nippon.

They simply called upon her, and she responded.

All according to my plans.

She was given a plan to visit two places before any others. Mystic Mysts and Mt. Ebott. Mystic Mysts was in dire need, seeing as the monsters under Mt. Ebott weren’t going anywhere. But Mystic Mysts had so much magic that the world was starting to fold in on itself. Time loops were everywhere, sometimes blatantly so. If someone wished to change or gain power, it was usually that easy. Power imbalances made the looping and folding worse. Ammy had no clue how to even begin.

She came across a teenager with teal hair named Arly, who seemed to be acutely aware of the problem. “You need to help me find a way to restart this world,” he told the goddess. “I think that would be in everyone’s best interest. If we restarted, maybe I can keep watch and see when and how things started to go screwy.”

Everything has its place.

The wolf goddess sat and pondered everything she knew about her own world and the world in front of her. There didn’t seem to be any way to restart or go back, except for the pockets of looped time scattered everywhere. But there was something she could try.

She had sensed the teen’s powers long before he noticed her. He could absorb quite a bit of power and energy and release it back, potentially in a way that could benefit his world. He seemed to understand what she was thinking because he frowned, “Are you suggesting I become the point with which this world restarts? What would happen to me? ...an observer? But I want to change this outcome! ...what are you saying? If I become the fixated point, then somebody else will be destined to come by and fix it?”

Everything has its place.

He held a dragon tattoo wrapped around his right arm, but at his tone, the dragon peeled away and faced the wolf goddess. Its voice was shimmery and hard to understand. Ammy realized that Arly was the only one who heard it constantly unless it wanted to be heard by others. Arly was then staring at the dragon with a conflicted look of horror and excitement. “Etch, really? Have me become the destined fix-it guy? ...I suppose that would be better than having some rando swing by…”

The goddess wagged her tail and the dragon slithered to her. Arly stared straight ahead and narrowed his eyes. Wait… is he... looking… at me? Us? “What kind of sickness is this?” He asked, scowling. We stay quiet, still not sure who Arly’s talking to. The wolf and the dragon look at him in confusion until the dragon’s expression changed.

Everything has its-

“Stop repeating that phrase!” Arly snapped. “That’s just as bad as ‘it is what it is’!” Oh shoot, he is talking to us. Or is it to me? “What are you doing to my world? Time bubbles? Really?”

But… I don’t understand. How can he…? Also, why does it matter? He’s just about to fix it! The three of them are! Their world is so close to being repaired!

“We were about to fix it, but why should we? At least, why should we use your method?”

Because… it’s... your world? And my way will work…?

“And how many other worlds do you have? You must be torturing them too, right?”

The goddess nudged Arly’s hand, looking towards where he was looking. Right at me. The dragon, Etch, did the same. Arly raised a hand, and a sword appeared just above it. He caught it and pointed it at me. “Why should we trust you? If anything, you probably screwed this world up, so why don’t we just dig out the root of our problem? You?”

Everything has… everything used to... have its place… what just…?

Arly lunged, slashing his sword.

The lights went out. Purple fairy lights softly lit the walls. I sat up, gasping. Sigh. Looking around, nothing seemed to be different in my room. Except the light. When did those turn on?

No matter. Everything has its place. The dream was already fading.

I went to the bathroom rubbing my face. It felt… a little more pained and wet than I remembered. I looked down at my hands.

Blood.