Chapter 53: Prophecy From a Crossplayer
Standing before the messenger of the one he worshipped so deeply, Snide was seized by an overwhelming, reverent fear.
Snide dreamed of the day he would receive counsel from one such holy figure.
He became a shaman in search of answers to his misery, hoping to understand why the world was so cruel—why it forced its inhabitants to endure trial after trial.
Why did the Ringed Star Mother place her most treasured children on this world? Were humans placed in this world as a test?
Despite the many years that had passed, he had yet to find a clear answer. He had gleaned much wisdom through his lived years, but none that would satisfy his burning curiosity.
A burning curiosity—one he hoped would be satisfied through this interaction with a divine entity.
And yet…
“Star Priest Snide. You will soon make a most grave mistake.”
A prophecy. One that hinted at an undesirable future.
To a mere mortal like Snide, this felt like a death sentence. One handed down from the Goddess he so revered. The very same divine entity said to be warm, loving, and protective of her children.
Was this in response to his recent declaration to Nova’k? Could he have lost favor with his Goddess after that exchange? Could it be that she’s taking the side of those ill-born?
He felt his faith in his Goddess crack ever so slightly.
But before the fear that seized him, such blasphemous thoughts had yet to surface. Instead, only the echoes of a simple question invaded his most wretched mind.
Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?
W H̴̢̧̛̭̲̽̐́͊̐̕͘ Y ?
He had to know. But he knew he could not act so impudently as he had with Nova’k.
The being before him was of divine blood and make. To lash out rashly, driven by his volatile emotions, would do him no good.
While an old friend like Nova’k could tolerate it, would the messenger of a Goddess be the same? Surely not.
Those in power typically demanded respect, and surely this messenger—so close to the Goddess as her mouthpiece—would be no different. Humans were, after all, a mirror of their Goddess. Was it so presumptuous to believe the divine would not behave much differently from themselves?
He would not dare test such a thought. So, even as his old, wretched mind spiralled with the simple question of ‘why’, he sought his answers more respectably: through subdued inquiry.
“... I do not understand, messenger. Would you please elaborate for this… old, frail mind?”
“...”
Through the messenger’s silence, Snide kept his head planted to the ground. He bit his lip in frustrated anticipation of the messenger’s response.
Then, the woman spoke. Her voice was ever clear as it penetrated his mind, as if reverberating from within it.
The tides have already turned.
The waters now flow in a new direction, and so too shall the river carve a different course, branching away from what once was.
This is a fate that can no longer be undone.
Those who stand in the river’s new path may yet flee from the oncoming surge.
But the waters will not yield, nor will they divert themselves, and they will swallow all that remains before them.
The channel has already been carved.
This will be your sin.
You, who have cut the path that leads to ruin.
Sin.
A new word in this primitive world.
Though Snide was unfamiliar with this word, he understood what it meant instinctively, as if the word had already been seared into the back of his mind by divine touch. The message was clear: he had done an evil recognized by the Goddess herself.
“W-What is that supposed to mean?”
Despite this realization, Snide played the fool. No, perhaps it was more accurate that he wanted to be a fool in this very moment. He wanted this to be a mere misunderstanding on his part.
Though the messenger’s words were veiled in ambiguity, their meaning could not have been clearer. The river of the metaphor was humanity itself, and those destined to be swallowed by its newly carved course were the gnomes.
He had furnished them with moral justification—to cast the gnomes into damnation, to feed the resentments of the elders who still clung to grudges born of a distant past, and to teach the young to inherit that hatred.
The young would teach those who came after them, and so the cycle would persist as generations passed, driving the new current along the path humanity would come to walk—a path carved in hatred.
Before the Ringed Star Mother, all are embraced by Her love, unbound by birth or form.
A mother is gentle and nurturing, yet she is also stern; ever watchful, never blind to the hearts of her children.
Within you, the Ringed Star Mother beheld a seed of hatred—one destined to take root, to spread, and to choke the soil around it.
She hoped that, in time, you would come to see the error of your path and turn once more toward what is good; that your resentment would cool, tempered by wisdom and years.
Yet you have remained resolute in defiance. You have denied others their rightful place within Her boundless love, seeking instead to claim it solely for yourself and for those who share in your corrupted thoughts.
She knows now that even her words of correction cannot turn you from this path you have carved—a path shaped by hatred. You stand beyond reason, and this you know well, for you have spoken Her name in vain to draw others after you, forging a new current in Her world.
Thus, She has sent me to speak what must be spoken. This is your warning, and Her final mercy, before the Ringed Star Mother herself descends to deliver judgment.
Judgment.
Another word—new, yet carrying a power that stirred deep, instinctive fear in all who heard it.
Snide, the intended recipient of this dread, felt it rise within him like a tide. To be judged by the Goddess herself… a fate beyond death, beyond mercy, beyond escape.
And yet, that fear did not break him. It forged him instead. Irrational anger, mingled with grief and terror, coalesced into a fierce, volatile courage. The cornered rat bites hardest.
Snide suddenly rose, locking eyes with the expressionless messenger before him. At last, they stood on equal footing, as his words surged forth from his mind like water bursting through a fractured dam.
“Judgment…? Upon ME?!
I—ONE OF HER MOST FAITHFUL—AM TO BE JUDGED?!”
Though his emotions took hold of him, the ounce of rationality that still remained kept him from lunging at her. The woman’s unnatural beauty did little to douse the flames of his fury.
“I SPENT YEARS PREACHING IN HER NAME! YET FOR JUST AS LONG, I HAVE NOT HEARD HER VOICE WHISPER EVEN ONCE INTO MY EAR!
I TAUGHT THE YOUNG THE RIGHT WAY TO LIVE! TO SHARPEN THEIR SKILLS, TO RELY ON ONE ANOTHER, TO PLACE THEIR KIN ABOVE ALL ELSE!
WHAT SIN IS THERE IN TEACHING THEM TO SHUN THE AFFLICTED ONES? THOSE RESTLESS CREATURES WHO KNOW NOTHING OF RESTRAINT!
THE VILE AND ILL-BORN ARE WEAK, YET INSATIABLE! NO COMPARISON TO OUR STRONG BODIES AND MODEST NEEDS!
THEY DEMAND WITHOUT END, TAKING FROM US IN OUR HOURS OF TRIAL, INFLICTING PAIN AND SUFFERING, YET LEAVING US TO ENDURE THEIR INCOMPETENCE!”
Haaa… Haaa…
Haaa… Haaa…
The man was tired.
The sudden outburst drained him, leaving him panting and trembling after unleashing his torrent of thoughts at the woman. Yet still he persisted, his anger boiling, driving him to resist despite his exhaustion.
“If the Goddess… truly loved those vile creatures, then why grant them such detestable forms? Small, stubby… incapable of running fast, incapable of lifting even modest weights… Yet they tire not, always hungering… Hungering for more… More and more… Draining us until there is nothing left… Haa…”
Though exhausted, his eyes remained locked with the expressionless woman’s eyes as she regarded him with an unchanging face. Her apparent indifference stoked the burning embers in his heart further, pushing him to act in defiance.
“Why do you not answer me…?”
“...”
“TELL ME! TELL ME WH–”
With that last strand of rationality broken, he charged at the woman, intending to grab her by the neck, when rings of light suddenly emerged behind her. The rings, carrying divine energy, emitted a powerful force that sent Snide tumbling backwards pathetically.
THUD! CRASH! THUD!
Though he had been sent flying a fair distance, he had suffered no major injuries. Pain coursed through his body all the same, yet he endured, biting his lip as he glared at the woman with simmering resentment.
Her full form was now unmistakably clear beneath the rings’ holy light.
Long black hair fell freely over her shoulders and down her back.
She wore a white robe of unfamiliar make—smooth, almost silky at a glance—draped loosely over her shoulders, concealing the breadth of her frame and softening the hard lines of her form into something gentler at first sight.
Another adornment circled her neck, obscuring its true shape beneath a muted silver sheen.
She was unmistakably a woman, yet taller than most—tall enough to stand eye to eye with him.
Her face was flawless, unmarred by even a single blemish, her skin smooth and fair save for a lone beauty mark beneath her eye—so unlike his own weathered, sun-worn flesh. And her expression… never once changed from the moment he laid eyes upon her.
The indifference she showed him, which once fueled his anger, now instead filled him with growing dread. Rationality returning, he realized what he had done—showing hostility to a being of holy descent.
Yet, having cast the first stone, he could no longer back down—submission now would mean accepting a fate far worse than death. So he pressed on, maintaining a fragile hostility toward the being before him.
“I WILL NOT RELENT! THE AFFLICTED ONES MUST BE PURGED FROM THIS HOLY LAND! ONLY THEN WILL THE PEOPLE OF STARFELL KNOW PEACE FROM HUNGER! ONLY THEN WILL STARFELL PROSPER! AND ONLY THEN CAN WE FULFILL OUR SACRED MISSION!”
The woman’s small lips stirred, shifting ever so gently as she responded.
You will see the Ringed Star Mother’s judgment in the following days.
Then, the woman suddenly disappeared from her spot. Gone, as if she had never existed in the first place.
Her sudden disappearance made Snide wonder for a moment if it had all been a daydream, born from his tired mind and aching heart. But the sharp aches from being thrown into the dirt told him it wasn’t—this had really happened.
“... I will not relent.”
Snide swore, glaring resentfully at the place the woman had been.
“So that my dearest Lune may know peace in the afterlife, I will not relent until the afflicted ones—the gnomes—are driven from this land.”
And so he turned his back on the lake and his lover’s grave, heading toward the town. He knew he needed to prepare more carefully if he planned to succeed.
I feel like I lost something important today.
Never before have I subjected myself to something as unmanly as this. Is this divine punishment for being human waste to society?
It feels so… free down there. Disturbingly so.
I’ve never worn something this non-restrictive before. Even cargo shorts can’t compare. It’s making me feel so fucking vulnerable.
“G-Good work, Lord Yvell! You were amazing out there! A-And quite beautiful too!”
“Oog.”
Why the hell are you blushing so hard while looking at me, Esphera? And what was with that intense stare I felt drilling into the back of my head while I was trying to play my part earlier?
“... Yes, thank you.”
I’ll… just take the compliment, even if it doesn’t exactly feel like one. No, I know she means it genuinely—but it’s bruising my manly ego so hard that I can’t even feel the pain anymore, just a hollow feeling left behind.
Giggle.
At least Sylvie looks happy, clutching that rubber chicken of hers as always while cradled in Ramube’s hairy embrace. I should be glad I hadn’t lost my own chicken down there in the process. This wasn’t some sudden TS after all.
I glance around the lake and see that Snide is already gone. Esphera had teleported me a little ways off, to a spot where the rest of the group stayed hidden to watch the scene play out. The grave was still visible from here, if you looked at it from the right angle.
Looking around, I realized Graille and Ori were gone. Great… where did those two troublemakers disappear to? The women behind this mess are nowhere in sight.
“Sir Gorilla, have you seen where the two others went?”
“Oog” (Shakes Head)
Great, so even Ramube doesn’t know where they went off to?
I really should give them a piece of my mind once this is all over. Not to mention, I need Ori’s help with getting rid of the natural-looking makeup.
This was nothing like drawing war paint on my face. I felt like the longer I kept this on my face, the more I would lose out on my own masculinity. Ugh…
Rustle. Rustle.
“Yo, we’re back.”
“W-We have returned, Sir Yvell!”
“That is great to hear. Where did you two—is that a fucking camera?”
Graille was blushing furiously as she looked at me, just like Esphera had, while Ori… Ori was juggling a tripod in one hand and a high-end camera in the other—one of those fancy ones you only ever see at cosplay photoshoots.
Why does she have that with her right now? I’m pretty sure she only brought her necessities when she came over.
Don’t tell me–
Suddenly, a pit opened in my stomach. I couldn’t see her full expression behind that usual face mask, but I could practically feel the smug grin spreading across her face. Is that why people always say to look someone in the eyes to read how they’re feeling? ‘Cause her eyes sure scream ‘smug smile’ to me.
Casually, she flicked a latch on the camera and pulled out a small card—the camera’s memory stick.
“We’ve made some fond memories today, now have we, Vell?”
“OOOOORRRRRIIIII!!!”
After she casually handed the camera and tripod off to Graille, what came next was obvious—I took off after Ori as she sprinted away with the memory stick, all while I was still in crossplay.
“HAHAHAHAHA! I CAN’T WAIT TO SHOW THIS TO THE OTHERS!”
“DON’T YOU FUCKING DARE, WOMAN!”
Today wasn’t going to be the end of my part just yet. There was still more to come.
