Sky and Sea Event

Asenath slid into the seat on the other side of Alterion, resting his cheeks against balled fists in wonder. He blinked innocently at the other lion, Alterion paused mid-sip of his drink. Slowly, he lowered the wooden mug, gently placing it on the table as he waited for the teen to speak.

“So, you’re a world jumper.”

Alterion blinked. “Yes. Basically.”

“And you’ve lived for a very, very, very long time.”

Alterion nodded again.

Then excitedly, Asenath scrambled closer to the table, leaning over with the brightest sparkles in his eyes. Alterion pulled back in response, knowing there could be nothing good coming from the mischievous black and gold lion. He was quick to scan the room for any oddities, in fear of another of the teen’s pranks.

His lack of caution had caused him the tuft of his tail before he’d had that fixed before, and if he was honest, he could only expect worse from this child who had no clue of ‘consequences’.

“Don’t be so guarded, Terry!” the teen laughed. Alterion raised a brow at the nickname. “Sorry – Alterion. But don’t worry; I’m not planning anything this time.”

Alterion was not convinced, but he tried to relax into the conversation, keeping his eyes on the teen yet concentrating more on his peripheral vision.

“What’s it like? To try – sorry, to have saved so many different worlds?” he asked. “Anything new here?”

Alterion sighed. “To say that I tried is correct. More often than not, the dwellers cause the end of their world themselves. They have so much hatred, animosity, greed, and pride. It all piles up together and they are unable to protect themselves from beings greater than themselves. If they had banded together against their enemies – if they had just put their differences aside for once, they may have been able to succeed. But their emotions, memories, expectations – they’re the true enemies.”

Asenath’s smile fell as he listened, straightening himself up solemnly.

“This world hasn’t been much different so far. The sky and sea kingdoms have been warring and woken the titan. And here I am.”

“Here we are,” Asenath interjected. “We’re here to help them too. Help you.”

Alterion shook his head. “It should’ve been just me. You lot are uninvolved; you shouldn’t even be here. You shouldn’t be risking your lives for those you don’t know. All of you are so… vulnerable.”

Asenath laughed. “Yeah, we’re just mortals without magic or weapons or whatever, but we’re here now. So we’re going to help you, like it or not.”

Alterion smiled. “I suppose, this world could go a little differently.”