Zero sneezed himself awake, tumbling to the floor of Aladdin’s cramped office. As he looked around, attempting to rise, he found his legs unresponsive and numb.
“Uh, well then, that isn’t good,” Zero muttered.
“No, no it is not,” Aladdin’s voice resonated, drawing Zero's gaze toward the desk where Aladdin was deeply engrossed in his quill and parchment. “When’s the last time you ate?”
Zero pondered. “Uh, about a week ago? How long have I been out?”
“Nine days,” Aladdin replied.
“Nine days, right. So, why don’t my legs work?” Zero inquired.
“Dragons can only go seven days without eating before things start to go awry. Eight days and their mana pools go haywire. By day nine, they can’t fly, and around thirteen, they become paralyzed and lose use of their back legs,” Aladdin explained.
“Why does that even happen? How long has it been since I ate?” Zero probed.
Aladdin shrugged. “How would I know?”
“You’ve got a lot of books, and you seem to know a lot about dragons—how do you know I’m a dragon?” Zero pressed.
Aladdin smirked, returning to his writing. Zero tried to stand again, but his efforts were futile. “Hey, answer me!” He dragged himself across the floor until his arms collapsed, rendering him face-down on the ground. “You’ve GOT to be kidding me.”
Aladdin glanced over. “Have you really not eaten in a month?”
“I don’t know,” Zero replied. “I don’t keep track of that kind of thing.”
Aladdin looked perplexed. “That... I... Uh….” He slammed down his quill, exasperated, and stood over Zero. “You are the strangest little individual. Did I create you?”
“What?” Zero asked, bewildered.
“What?” Aladdin echoed.
“No, what did you just say about me creating you?” Zero asked.
“Are you a Higher?” Aladdin probed.
Zero shook his head. “No?”
“I thought it said you were a Higher.”
“I’m the son of one?”
“Oh, I must have misread.”
“Aladdin, you’re so peculiar. What are you?”
Aladdin placed his hand over his chest. “Me?” He chuckled softly. “Has it really been so long that Arrithians don’t recognize us anymore?”
Zero shook his head slightly. “To be fair, I’m not very bright or good at remembering things.”
Aladdin smiled and shook his head. “That is quite apparent. But I am Aladdin, an Old God.”
Curiosity surged through Zero, using every ounce of his strength he lifted his head from the floor. “You’re an Old God?”
“Correct.”
“Like Lord?”
“Correct.”
“What about Virgil?”
“Who?” As Aladdin spoke, a new book materialized on the floor at his feet and right in front of Zero’s head, and just like the other two, it began writing pages itself, filling its volume with loose parchment that quickly sealed itself into the spine of the book. Aladdin let out a sigh and reached down for the book. This had been happening more and more lately; new books writing themselves. They had always done this; it was his spell after all, a way to make sure he was always up to date on things in the universe. It was also how he hoped to regain his full power.
When the Old Gods put an end to the war between the Dragons and Highers, they didn’t do it without cost. It took quite a bit of their power to not only end the war but anchor the All Tree to Arrithia with the help of Vol. This left them weak, and with their weakness, came great loss. It didn’t take long, but each and every Old God found themselves on Arrithia, dazed and confused. Their memories were sort of intact, but just like Zero, they were marred by gaps and their powers were far beyond limited than what they were before. They were nothing more than equal, maybe even a bit stronger than the Warlords of Arrithia.
Aladdin had used his extensive knowledge of magic to create a spell that would write books with new information that he would need in any given moment. He hoped one day it would tell him how to regain his full strength, but for now, it was really good at making him look like a stalker of whoever he was talking to.
“If you’re an Old God, why do you feel no stronger than Orpheus?” Zero asked.
“Is that the Warlord of this island?”
“Yes, didn’t you help make this entire universe?”
Aladdin closed the new book abruptly and turned his focus back down to Zero. “No.” He walked over to the shelf, placing the book in the gap that had formed. The bottom shelf of the bookshelf finally had a book sitting on it, Aladdin had been wondering how long it would take. “No.” He said again, continuing on. “We did not create the universe, we awoke from the All Tree, the universe was already here, we just helped create Arrithia and eventually and inadvertently the Dragon Realms.”
Aladdin made his way back to his desk where he began writing into the scroll, leaving Zero on the floor still. “When we explored this universe, trying to see if there was anything or anyone else, we never found anything, nothing more than traces of mana, floating just outside our reach, other dimensions called us, but we had no way to access them.”
“Like Volja Vatre.” Zero stated. “The afterlife.”
“That is one of them it would seem, yes.” Aladdin finished a sentence on a small section of scroll and as he did, a white light erupted from it for a moment, forming a small wooden bowl of rice. He grabbed ahold of it and put it down on the floor in front of Zero. “There are others, but I don’t know what they are called, I am just now learning the name of the one we felt all that time ago. Volja Vatre. I don’t believe I will ever get a chance to see that place, even when I get my powers back to what they were, I am immortal, I will never die.”
“We weren’t dead and we were there.” Zero stated, dragging himself with his chin. He began to bite into the warm rice, eating it like an injured dog, but nothing is shameful if you’re shameless he says.
“You’ve been to the afterlife?”
Zero talked between chews, clearly more focused on his food than anything else. “Yeah. Gotta go back too. Get some people and bring them back.”
Aladdin had completely stopped writing on the scrolls and was now completely enthralled by Zero’s tale. “You have a plan to get into the afterlife without dying?”
Zero leaned up from his empty bowl, his strength just barely coming back, but enough to lift his head effortlessly this time. “Who said I wasn’t dying?”
Zero sneezed himself awake, tumbling to the floor of Aladdin’s cramped office. As he looked around, attempting to rise, he found his legs unresponsive and numb.
“Uh, well then, that isn’t good,” Zero muttered.
“No, no it is not,” Aladdin’s voice resonated, drawing Zero's gaze toward the desk where Aladdin was deeply engrossed in his quill and parchment. “When’s the last time you ate?”
Zero pondered. “Uh, about a week ago? How long have I been out?”
“Nine days,” Aladdin replied.
“Nine days, right. So, why don’t my legs work?” Zero inquired.
“Dragons can only go seven days without eating before things start to go awry. Eight days and their mana pools go haywire. By day nine, they can’t fly, and around thirteen, they become paralyzed and lose use of their back legs,” Aladdin explained.
“Why does that even happen? How long has it been since I ate?” Zero probed.
Aladdin shrugged. “How would I know?”
“You’ve got a lot of books, and you seem to know a lot about dragons—how do you know I’m a dragon?” Zero pressed.
Aladdin smirked, returning to his writing. Zero tried to stand again, but his efforts were futile. “Hey, answer me!” He dragged himself across the floor until his arms collapsed, rendering him face-down on the ground. “You’ve GOT to be kidding me.”
Aladdin glanced over. “Have you really not eaten in a month?”
“I don’t know,” Zero replied. “I don’t keep track of that kind of thing.”
Aladdin looked perplexed. “That... I... Uh….” He slammed down his quill, exasperated, and stood over Zero. “You are the strangest little individual. Did I create you?”
“What?” Zero asked, bewildered.
“What?” Aladdin echoed.
“No, what did you just say about me creating you?” Zero asked.
“Are you a Higher?” Aladdin probed.
Zero shook his head. “No?”
“I thought it said you were a Higher.”
“I’m the son of one?”
“Oh, I must have misread.”
“Aladdin, you’re so peculiar. What are you?”
Aladdin placed his hand over his chest. “Me?” He chuckled softly. “Has it really been so long that Arrithians don’t recognize us anymore?”
Zero shook his head slightly. “To be fair, I’m not very bright or good at remembering things.”
Aladdin smiled and shook his head. “That is quite apparent. But I am Aladdin, an Old God.”
Curiosity surged through Zero, using every ounce of his strength he lifted his head from the floor. “You’re an Old God?”
“Correct.”
“Like Lord?”
“Correct.”
“What about Virgil?”
“Who?” As Aladdin spoke, a new book materialized on the floor at his feet and right in front of Zero’s head, and just like the other two, it began writing pages itself, filling its volume with loose parchment that quickly sealed itself into the spine of the book. Aladdin let out a sigh and reached down for the book. This had been happening more and more lately; new books writing themselves. They had always done this; it was his spell after all, a way to make sure he was always up to date on things in the universe. It was also how he hoped to regain his full power.
When the Old Gods put an end to the war between the Dragons and Highers, they didn’t do it without cost. It took quite a bit of their power to not only end the war but anchor the All Tree to Arrithia with the help of Vol. This left them weak, and with their weakness, came great loss. It didn’t take long, but each and every Old God found themselves on Arrithia, dazed and confused. Their memories were sort of intact, but just like Zero, they were marred by gaps and their powers were far beyond limited than what they were before. They were nothing more than equal, maybe even a bit stronger than the Warlords of Arrithia.
Aladdin had used his extensive knowledge of magic to create a spell that would write books with new information that he would need in any given moment. He hoped one day it would tell him how to regain his full strength, but for now, it was really good at making him look like a stalker of whoever he was talking to.
“If you’re an Old God, why do you feel no stronger than Orpheus?” Zero asked.
“Is that the Warlord of this island?”
“Yes, didn’t you help make this entire universe?”
Aladdin closed the new book abruptly and turned his focus back down to Zero. “No.” He walked over to the shelf, placing the book in the gap that had formed. The bottom shelf of the bookshelf finally had a book sitting on it, Aladdin had been wondering how long it would take. “No.” He said again, continuing on. “We did not create the universe, we awoke from the All Tree, the universe was already here, we just helped create Arrithia and eventually and inadvertently the Dragon Realms.”
Aladdin made his way back to his desk where he began writing into the scroll, leaving Zero on the floor still. “When we explored this universe, trying to see if there was anything or anyone else, we never found anything, nothing more than traces of mana, floating just outside our reach, other dimensions called us, but we had no way to access them.”
“Like Volja Vatre.” Zero stated. “The afterlife.”
“That is one of them it would seem, yes.” Aladdin finished a sentence on a small section of scroll and as he did, a white light erupted from it for a moment, forming a small wooden bowl of rice. He grabbed ahold of it and put it down on the floor in front of Zero. “There are others, but I don’t know what they are called, I am just now learning the name of the one we felt all that time ago. Volja Vatre. I don’t believe I will ever get a chance to see that place, even when I get my powers back to what they were, I am immortal, I will never die.”
“We weren’t dead and we were there.” Zero stated, dragging himself with his chin. He began to bite into the warm rice, eating it like an injured dog, but nothing is shameful if you’re shameless he says.
“You’ve been to the afterlife?”
Zero talked between chews, clearly more focused on his food than anything else. “Yeah. Gotta go back too. Get some people and bring them back.”
Aladdin had completely stopped writing on the scrolls and was now completely enthralled by Zero’s tale. “You have a plan to get into the afterlife without dying?”
Zero leaned up from his empty bowl, his strength just barely coming back, but enough to lift his head effortlessly this time. “Who said I wasn’t dying?”
