Power of a Deity.
1483 Words
Right at that moment, Kevin and the man stood eight feet apart.
A cold wind rustled through, shaking leaves from an apple tree nearby. The setting sun shifted from gold to deeper orange.
Kevin scanned the environment, then glanced at Feyi—still frozen in stone. He looked back at the man, who smirked and adjusted his hat with thumb and forefinger.
“Your move,” the man offered.
Kevin didn’t move.
“Okay. Fine—I’ll make mine,” the man said.
He raised his hand toward the sky.
A high-pitched, strident screech ripped through the area.
Kevin winced, clapping his hands over his ears.
“Ugh! What... is this sound...”
The screech cut through bone. Kevin staggered, his head spinning, eyes shut tight.
“Oh, come on. Don’t tell me it affected you too!” the man taunted.
Kevin forced his eyes open. Blood trickled from his ears.
But the man had changed.
Now he was encased in full, gleaming plate armor. He crossed two long swords over his chest.
Weirdly, his cowboy hat still sat perfectly on his head.
“You’re lucky you get to see this side of me,” he drawled.
“I go by the name Asher.”
He started walking toward Kevin.
All around them, the screeching noise tortured anyone in earshot. Passersby collapsed, clutching their heads and crying out.
Kevin’s eyes flicked to them in horror.
“Stop this. Please! You’re hurting them!”
Asher rolled his shoulders, approaching lazily.
“Stop? They can’t see us—but they can hear my sound. So let’s play a game. If you win, I’ll stop it. And I’ll save her.”
He pointed a sword at Feyi’s petrified form.
Kevin fell to his knees. The sound was too much. Blood dripped onto the ground as he coughed violently.
“Is this... how I’m going to die... again...?”
Memories crashed through him—his old life, this boy’s life, both families, friends he’d shared, the promise of reincarnation.
He exhaled shakily, lowered his hands from his ears, and clenched his fists.
Then he slammed them into the ground, over and over.
Asher paused, swords resting on his shoulders.
“Huh?”
Kevin kept punching the dirt, veins standing out on his arms.
Then he threw back his head and screamed to the sky:
“Out of everything in the world... WHY CHOOSE ME?”
Lightning seemed to crackle around him.
Asher’s eyes narrowed.
Kevin’s form shimmered. Armor of banded mail formed over his body, plates clinking into place. In his hands appeared two butterfly swords, gleaming like polished silver.
Above them, the sky changed color, an aurora swirling across the horizon.
The screeching stopped.
People who had been crying out now blinked, looking up at the dancing lights in awe.
Asher glanced around, impressed.
“You did this? I’m a bit surprised. But you still broke the rules.”
Kevin smiled coldly.
“I don’t need to go all-out to beat you,” he said as the banded mail faded from his body.
He raised his butterfly swords.
“I just need these.”
Without warning, he charged.
He blurred between them, blades whistling.
Asher barely crossed his swords in time to block, the impact cracking the ground.
The world around them shook, though no one could see them. Asher had cloaked them from mortal eyes.
“Look who’s talking about not going all-out,” Asher grunted.
Kevin’s eyes darted to Feyi, then the people around them.
“Eyes here!” Asher growled.
He shoved Kevin back. Kevin skidded to a halt, almost touching Feyi’s statue.
Asher smiled and let his armor and swords vanish with a screeching sound.
“I’ve seen enough,” he said, voice lower.
“You noticed the people. You cared about them. I believe you could save your world.”
He tipped his hat once more.
“Bye for now.”
With another screech, Asher vanished.
At that moment, Feyi turned back to normal and collapsed unconscious to the ground.
---
---
Hours later.
Stars pricked the velvet sky.
Kevin trudged along a dirt path, Feyi sleeping on his back, her cheek pressed to his shoulder.
He glanced over, smiling softly.
When they reached her house, he stopped and gently shook her.
“Feyi. Feyi,” he called quietly.
She groaned and shifted, her cheek sliding to his other shoulder.
He sighed.
“Feyi, we’re at your house. It’s late. Wake up.”
“Okay...” she mumbled.
She slid down from his back, rubbing her eyes and clinging to his side.
She yawned.
“Did I... fall asleep? I remember that weird man and then...”
“Nothing happened,” Kevin lied gently.
“You got dizzy. I carried you here.”
He looked at her house, gesturing.
“Welcome home.”
Feyi blinked.
Then smiled.
“Thank you.”
She leaned closer, their eyes locked.
Everything felt hushed.
Their breathing deepened.
Feyi’s lips trembled as she moved closer.
“I... I love—”
Kevin swallowed hard.
He pressed the gate bell frantically.
“It’s getting late and, uh, hot—I mean cold—out here,” he stammered, mashing the button.
Feyi sighed and turned away.
“You’re right,” she whispered.
“You can stop pressing the bell.”
“Oh. Sorry.”
They stood in awkward silence.
Finally, the gate creaked open.
Kevin glanced at Feyi.
“Thank you,” he said softly.
She blinked at him.
“For what?”
“For caring. Because when I talk to you... I don’t feel alone.”
Feyi’s eyes softened.
She lowered her head.
“I don’t know what to say.”
“You’ve said it all,” Kevin told her with a tired smile.
“No regrets?”
Feyi smiled back faintly.
“No regrets.”
The gate opened wider.
Her father appeared.
“Good evening, Dad,” she greeted, dropping to one knee respectfully.
“Good evening,” he said, frowning.
“You had us worried. Where were you? We tried calling but your phone was off.”
She tapped her cheek with a finger.
“I forgot to charge it. I’m sorry for being late.”
“Your mother’s inside waiting. Come on.”
She turned to introduce Kevin.
“Dad, meet my friend Ke—”
But the space beside her was empty.
Her father glanced around.
“Who? There’s no one there.”
Feyi blinked, stunned.
“But...”
“Come inside. It’s cold.”
She nodded slowly, stepping through the gate, glancing back one last time in confusion.
---
---
A few miles away.
Under the cold night sky, Kevin walked alone atop a hill, the wind chilling his skin.
His eyes glowed green for an instant, then faded.
He stared at his hands.
“What... is this feeling?”
Tiny dew droplets on the grass began to rise and swirl around him in the cold air.
Kevin exhaled.
“I get it now. I’m not just gifted with reincarnation—no, ‘Reincarrection.’ I also have the memories and the ideas of how to save this world.”
He smiled up at the sky.
Clouds hung frozen over the crescent moon.
Dew formed around him, reacting to his power, his eyes glowing again.
He took a step—then launched himself into the air.
The dew froze mid-flight, suspended.
He soared upward, piercing the clouds in seconds, the moon looming before him like a silver billboard.
“Wow. It’s so small from the ground... now it’s right in front of me,” he whispered.
He felt his feet solidify on an invisible floor in midair.
He looked down, marveling at the tiny lights and buildings below.
His glowing green feet shimmered.
Slowly, he reached toward the moon.
In his vision, it grew bigger, brighter, filling his world with light.
A smile broke across his face—a feeling he hadn’t had in years.
He’d never flown in a plane. Never used a telescope. Now he was standing in space.
Kevin blinked.
“...Eh?”
He flailed soundlessly.
“I’m in space! Oh no—oxygen—oxygen—!”
He clutched his neck in mock panic.
Then he froze.
He could breathe.
He lowered his hands slowly.
“Oh...”
He looked around.
“Now I get it. My powers don’t obey physics or reality. I’m like... a spirit. But alive.”
He clenched his fists, green light flaring.
“With this strange gift, I can be anywhere light touches.”
He looked back at Earth, his gaze hardening.
“The danger isn’t just the end of the world. It’s who I’m protecting it from.”
He took a deep breath.
“Well. Time to head home. I’m sure they’re waiting for me.”
He smiled.
“But first...”
Kevin rocketed toward Earth like a green shooting star.
- Writer
