Chapter 140 - ALI MINI THEATER Side Story 8

The Story about a very mischievous deity and a devious fiend…

WHOOOOOOSH

A huge blue bird-like female creature flapped its wings, its head bent over to accommodate its master sitting atop of it. With them were two other harpy beasts, one the color of blood, the other the color of the forest. The three of them made up the trio of the great harpy sisters: Podarge, Aello, and Ocypete.

The master's long, chestnut hair danced with the wind as the harpies circled the sky. His hazel eyes, sharp as a hawk's scanned the ground below for any movement.

"Anything?" he demanded, and the harpies looked at their master and shook their heads. They flew away, resuming their search elsewhere afterwards, unknowing of the pairs of eyes staring at them from below.

Down on the ground was a beautiful huge lake – an oasis amidst the barren land consisting of miles and miles of volcanic rocks and geysers.

"Master, isn't that the God of Wind Stribog?"

At the question, a lanky, handsome young man with raven hair and a pair of ice-blue orbs turned his gaze from the sky towards a group of mermaids lounging by the rocks near where he lay. He was taking an afternoon nap under the tree when he'd sensed his friend's aura and was awoken.

"But if he is Stribog, then shouldn't he have descended to say hello to Master?" another voice asked the friend and all mermaids looked at the handsome young man, waiting.

"But if he was here and didn't show his face to the Master, isn't that rude? Nobody should intrude in the God of Flame's territory without paying respect to the Master," another voiced out loud, and the young man frowned.

"Silence," he reprimanded the group, who all shrank back.

It was not that they totally feared their Master because of fear itself, but because they all loved him and was really afraid of displeasing him.

"Master, we apologize," they chorused, their stance demure, as they cast puppy eyes at the striking young man.

"I, Kresnik, do not care for formalities. My friends are welcome to come and go as they please in my land," the young man who was also the God of Flames declared. 

It was the truth that normally, Stribog's action would be considered rude. Intruding on another deity's territory was not a good idea in the first place, as gods would be hostile to other gods. However, Kresnik was indifferent. He really didn't mind as long as the visitor didn't have any ounce of malice in him, and it was Stribog.

Kresnik was close friends with the God of Wind, Stribog – the best of friends in all actuality. When he had sensed his aura earlier, he had thought he was here to hang out like he usually did. But he didn't – and it seemed he was here for an urgent matter.

The God of Flame was a bit of a hermit and didn't go out much. He had a very volatile temper, and he had no patience for fools. He couldn't put up with people he didn't like and would gladly explode on the spot if he's displeased. Because of this, he's not really familiar with the other deities and some issues with them, except for his friend.

He wondered what was wrong. The last time he heard from his friend was around two full moons past. It was when he was called by the King of Heaven, Perun, Stribog's older twin brother to care for his niece, who was reported to be errant and mischievous for a girl.

Kresnik placed his fingers in between his lips and whistled. The sharp sound pierced into the air and echoed across the land. Soon, a vermillion bird appeared, its shrill cry echoed back as it landed on the young man's arm.

The bird was a blazing elemental, its feathers were made of red flames, and yet, the young man was not burned. In fact, he patted its fiery head as he gave it an order. "Go find Stribog and ask him what the matter is," he commanded, before letting the bird fly away again.

His pair of ice-blue orbs watched the fire elemental vanish into the sky.

Not long after however, the vermillion bird returned. Within its beak was a necklace with an orb pendant. The orb was a magic sphere that could keep voice messages. Kresnik took the orb and crushed it. As soon as he did, Stribog's frantic voice resounded.

"My niece is missing! That little girl said she's going to bust the myths of the lake. My brother will kill me if something happens to her!"

Ha?

Kresnik and all the other creatures that were there were dumbfounded upon hearing Stribog's message. They could clearly imagine the wind deity going out of his mind in fear of his older brother. Well, all the other deities, except for Kresnik had an abnormal fear of the King of Heaven.

Remembering the message, Kresnik wondered how he could help his friend.

"Myths of the lake?" he asked audibly. He never heard of that before.

The mermaids, however, giggled loudly upon hearing this, and the master turned to them questioningly.

"Master, it's those rumors about finding one's true love if he offered his most treasured thing to the lake."

Kresnik frowned. "There's such a thing?" he demanded, and everyone shook their heads.

"It is but a rumor Master. Of course, it's not true," one of the mermaids told him.

Kresnik however, felt as if a headache's brewing. True or not, rumors such as this one would definitely attract foolish guests – Stribog's niece being one of those. With a sigh, he decided to lend his friend a hand and look for the willful princess. If he ever saw the child, he would give her a spanking or two and an earful, he reckoned just as he put on a thick black cloak and mask to hide his face. The God of Flames valued his privacy, and he disliked dealing with people – most especially spoiled brats.

He was about to leave when a commotion behind him took his attention.

"Hey, mister, mister!" a female's melodic voice called out to him.

With a scowl that was hidden behind his mask, Kresnik turned to the intruder only to stop and stare in silence. In front of him was a raven-haired beauty with twinkling silver eyes and a smile that was as bright as the sun.

"Mister! Is this the mythical lake?" she asked, breathless as she walked towards him.

Kresnik didn't move or speak. His pair of ice-blue orbs remained on studying her every move, however. But before she had gotten close, one of the mermaids had called out to her, and she happily ran towards the creature.

Nymph.

It was the only word he could think of as he watched her excitedly talk to the mermaid. Their conversation barely registered in his brain as he was only focused on her clear, lilting tone as she spoke animatedly with the mermaid.

Unbeknownst to him, while he was mesmerized watching the girl, his subordinates were doing the same to him with knowing fascination in their faces. It was very rare for the God of Flames to be interested in anyone – most especially females. To see their master this absorbed watching a female was a pleasant surprise to them.

"What? This is your most treasured item?" the mermaid's voice broke the silence and everyone wondered what happened.

It seemed the mermaid had asked the girl for her offerings and was given a piece of roasted meat.

The beauty looked upset. "Why not? I love chicken. I would fight to the death with anyone for my chicken," the girl argued, making everyone dumbstruck.

Kresnik, however, threw back his head and laughed.

This woman's daft!

All the God of Flames' subordinates, however, were now beyond amazed. Their master was laughing!

Kresnik however, decided to turn away and leave. His one last glance however at the beautiful woman who was still debating with the mermaid was warm – yet another miracle. Everyone watched as the Master remained looking at the strange beauty until he disappeared.

The God of Flames didn't know what happened after that. However, the memory of the laughing girl remained in his mind. He had left to go look for Stribog's niece but failed to find her. The little minx, as he called the child of Perun was too wayward. If he'd known it was going to be a futile search, he'd have stayed at the oasis to watch the funny girl.

Too bad, he'd never see her again.

Or so he thought.

Stribog came knocking at his door that very same day.

"What happened?" he asked the God of Wind who had a frenetic look on his face, and then he frowned. "Don't tell me your niece escaped again?"

They went separate ways to look yesterday. The God of Wind had found his niece the night before and had brought the child back home without being able to say goodbye to Kresnik in person as Perun had arrived back home. If she sneaked out again…

The little child deserved a huge spanking!

Stribog shook his head. "No, no, no!"

"Then why are you like that?"

"My niece had lost her voice!"

Ha?

"She can't speak?"

The God of Wind nodded. "There's a trace of enchantment on her – and it's a mermaid's."

Hearing this, Kresnik's eyes widened as he remembered the laughing girl of yesterday, the one who had stubbornly argued with one of the mermaids. "Chicken!"

"Ha?"Stribog was confused. "What chicken?"

"Your niece is not a child," Kresnik stated in wonder as the realization hit him. "She's a full-grown woman who likes chicken," he deadpanned and Stribog's eyes widened as he nodded.

"How did you know?"

How did he know? He had met her yesterday but didn't realize she was the errant niece as he was looking for a small child.

"Long story," Kresnik replied blandly, as he shook his head, thinking of his mischievous subordinates. "I'll get her voice back," he told his friend who looked delighted.

"You will?"

"Of course. She must have been teased by the mermaids," Kresnik replied, and he made Stribog return.

A mermaid could steal people's voices. But only they or their master could return the voices stolen. It was useless for Stribog to stay as Kresnik wouldn't have any choice but to go to Perun's place to return it.

He was set up. His equally mischievous subordinates had tricked the silly girl so Kresnik would see her again.

He was right. The mermaids smiled sheepishly at him as they handed the shell with the girl's voice inside.

"W-we thought Master would like to see the girl again," they told him honestly, and Kresnik was not able to say anything but sigh.

They were correct in a way anyway. He was curious and interested. But he couldn't say anything more other than he wanted to see her again to check if he'd still find her interesting the next time they'd meet.

So he did. He arrived at Perun's place and was led towards the girl's room.

As it did before, her beauty rendered him speechless; he couldn't say a word for a while until he remembered where he was and who he was with.

"Kresnik, I'm glad you came," Perun announced in delight upon seeing him.

The God of Flames cleared his throat. "Well, the King of Heaven summoned me. Do I have a choice," he replied, but of course deep inside, as he looked at her face, he was also glad that he came to see her again.