When the Goddess was Struck from the Skies

When the Goddess was Struck From the Skies

By Dreamstar

Feng was staring at the Sorceress of the Sea, and she was smiling back at him, revealing bloodstained, pointed yellow teeth. 

Her skin was grayish-blue, she had filthy, tangled curls of dark blue hair, and wore ripped, grayish rags. Her eyes were a hollowed blue and her face was also skull-like.

“I was beautiful once, you know,” she said. Her voice was brisk and strong.  “And it’s rude to stare, so what do you want?”

“Well--I--uh--” Feng stammered, his hair waving slowly in all directions like some monstrous, many-tentacled creature.

“Come on, come on, we haven’t all day. I’m a busy woman, you know, so many clients asking for Seaweed Rejuvenation draughts, and they take a full moon’s cycle to prepare…” She continued muttering under her breath, hobble-swimming inside the cramped hut.

“Are you coming inside, or should I wait until the ocean evaporates?” she asked sharply, sticking her head out the door.

“Oh yeah! Sorry.” Feng hastily swam through the open doorway, the enchanted breathing shell floating along, still bound to his neck.

The interior of the hut looked like a cross between a buisnesswoman’s office, and a decrepit library.

Waterproof paper and scrolls were everywhere, loose-leaf, stacked on the desk, stuffed haphazardly in drawers, even littering the little bed stuffed in a corner.

A small, extremely dusty, cobwebbed stack of thick leather books were also crammed in another corner. Feng made out the cover on top: Potions for the Potent Pioneer.

“Would ya like some Summer Splash?” the Sorceress asked, motioning for Feng to sit.

“Um… sure, Miss Sorceress,” Feng answered, assuming this was a drink.

The Sorceress grinned again. “Call me Minnie.”

“Right.”

Minnie headed to the tiny kitchen and poured a pitcher full of light yellowish-beige liquid into two tall glasses. It did not leave its container.

“Now,” she said, sliding a glass across the desk to Feng and taking a long swig from her own, “Why’re you here? Do you need a Pimple Potion, or something?”

Feng, who had just swallowed some of the coconut-pineapple drink, choked.

“Not--not exactly, no,” he spluttered. The tiny droplets of Summer Splash that he had coughed out hovered sickeningly in the water.

Minnie flicked them away lazily. “Then what in the name of Serpentine do you want?”

“Um… I need to… I need to, erm…” Feng cleared his throat.

“Spit it out! Not that you didn’t already,” said Minnie dubiously, eying the droplets that were floating out of her window.

“Why has the sky fallen?”

Now it was Minnie’s turn to burst into fits of coughing mid-sip.

“Why--the--sharks--would--you--want--to--know--about--that?” she wheezed.

“Because the world is ending because of it.”

Feng had not meant to be so blunt.

Minnie stared at him.

“Well, it’s true!” he said, slightly defensively. “Everyone will cease to exist in two days, and I’m the only one who can stop it. But to do it, I need to know...about the Light Goddess.”

Minnie’s face hardened. She looked suddenly murderous.

“That was hundreds of years ago, boy. Long before you were even thought of. Why are you bothering with her?”

Feng gazed defiantly into those haunted blue eyes. “Tell me.”

“Fine,” Minnie spat.

“Five hundred years ago, the Goddess of Light ruled over Earth from the Heavens,” she said very fast. Feng tensed. “She kept watch over it through the sun in the day, and the Northern Lights at night. The people on Earth rejoiced at her goodness and wisdom and beauty, both in and out. 

One day, a stupid and arrogant boy--” She broke off, glared at an eel that passed by the window, then continued, taking deep breaths. “One day, an--archer named Li proclaimed that he could shoot an arrow through the sun. Everyone gathered to watch while he attempted it. And it worked.” Minnie spat beside her. It floated upwards, and Feng’s stomach felt queasy. 

“The sun and the Goddess both bled, their blood feeding the Northern Lights and spilling across the lands. Eventually the sun had no more blood to spill, and vanished, but the Goddess was immortal. She couldn’t be killed by one boastful boy and his piercing arrow!”

“But she couldn’t live in the sun anymore either.” 

“She fell from the skies and crashed into the ocean, and when her body hit the water, the Lights sensed that they would have to hold up the skies on their own.” 

“And so they did, but they couldn’t do it without the Goddess for long--without me.” She spat furiously again. “So, the sky fell when they couldn’t hold it any longer, right?”

“And let me guess, an evil creature made of starlight named Loki was free of the bindings I set, so now he’s wreaking havoc across the planet, with the assistance of Li’s spirit,” she finished bitterly.

“Yes,” Feng replied breathlessly. He became aware that he was perched on the edge of his seat.

“And now you know my story, even though everyone forgot about it, even though it used to be the stuff of legend. So what will you do now?”

Feng’s mouth was ironically dry. “Ask if you can help me and my sister.”

“And why should I do that when the world turned their ungrateful backs on me?”

“C’mon, you can’t honestly say you like it better down here than in the overworld?”

“Actually, I can. I'm comfortable down here, I've got my routine, I apply Essence of Squid, make my brews, ignore the world's criticisms of my disappearance, it's mainly a good life!"

“So you choose Essence of Squid over world-saving?”

“It does wonders against pock-marked skin.”

Feng resisted roaring in frustration. He stood up. He felt the shell pulsing against his chest. Lilo was waiting. “This your final answer?”

“Yup. Now get out.”

Without a second glance, Feng swam out of the hut and towards the dark sky above.

Cruel cold air greeted Feng as his head burst the surface of the water.

Lilo, who had been sitting on a rock near the shore, saw Feng sagging with tiredness after all the swimming, and dived in to help.

Once they were both safely on shore, Lilo produced two wool blankets and handed one to Feng, her teeth chattering. “W-well? W-will she h-help us?”

Slowly, torturously, Feng shook his head.

Lilo groaned, collapsed on the ground, still wrapped in her blanket, and stared up at the starless sky. Red and gray lights furled and unfurled above them, bitter reminders of their failure and the loss of the Lights.

“I hoped it wouldn’t come to this,” Lilo said quietly, her eyes following the progress of the Dark Lights. “But we’ll have to ask the other gods for help.”