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The sun beams slowly creep into my room, and when I finally take notice, I curse under my breath. I’ve been playing video games all night without realizing it, and I have to meet with my mom this morning.

I grunt out loud, not that I’ve had no sleep, but because I still haven’t beaten this boss. Damn it, now it’s going to take even longer to beat this guy. I really want his weapon too… oh well. I reluctantly put away the controller, keeping the game paused. Should I sleep for a little bit first? I’m not required to, but it’s still really nice, and I could still get a good night sleep if I jump grounds, but I probably shouldn’t. I know I’ll want to get right back to the game when I wake up and not visit Mom.

Walking to the bathroom, I decide to wash up before meeting with mom. After a hot shower and some fruit, I put on my favorite orange-red shirt and shorts, and head out of my house.

It’s far away, so walking will take too long. As always, I’ll have to use my favorite- and only- method of transportation; magic. I draw a circle with my finger at my feet. A small trail of magic sparkles follow my finger, enchanting my feet to float slightly over the ground. Checking it really quick, I shift my weight to move side to side, sparkles floating around with each movement. The spell is good to go, so I start flying to my mom’s house.

So, I guess on the way, I should tell you guys what my world is like. That’s right, I know you’re reading this story… though not all the time. I kind of have to focus hard to be able to be as self-aware as this. Usually a tedious task like flying to mom’s house is when I’m especially aware of you people.

Anyway, the world I live in is about the size of a city, but is built more like a village. All the shops and businesses are family owned, none of which are very large. Because of this, the area where people live and businesses are built are kind of blended together. On the plus side, this leaves plenty of room for plants and vegetation. This town is just as much a forest as it is a city. The sky is filled with stars and galaxies, all of them still young from the newborn universe. The first generation of stars have just barely died, so there are barely any planets, and extremely few forms of life. Normally it takes billions of years just for the universe to cool down, but time here works differently, basically reducing our wait time.

That’s the general idea of how this world is. Except for the castle in the center of the town, my mom’s home. It makes sense that she’s the queen, she is the creator of this world and the universe. Yeah, I probably should have opened with the fact that were gods too, but that’s a topic for another day.

While gliding down Main Street, several shop owners begin opening shop. The local baker begins displaying the first batch of bread. They notice me and beckon me over. I slow myself down and stop in front, still hovering in the air.

“Hey Teagan,” The lady baker greets. “Off to meet your mom?”

“That’s the plan. Seems she has a job for me off in the universe. Looks like it’s cooled down enough that I can do more than just shift dust and planets.”

“That’s wonderful to hear. In that case, take our first sandwich of the day. I already know your breakfast was probably just a piece of fruit, so you’ll need a little more than that if you’re traveling the universe.” She grabs a sandwich from the shelf and hands it to me, which I gladly eat quickly.

“Thanks, it was good as always. Well, I’ll be seeing you.”

“Good luck out there,”

I fly away on those words. I’m greeted by a few others who I come across, but I don’t stop very often as I head over to the castle. Eventually, the castle, built with bright colored stone and sense of openness, stands in front of me, and I walk to the gate. The drawbridge comes down on its own, the castle fueled by Mom’s magic, rather than regular soldiers. Not that people haven’t insisted soldiers in the castle, but Mom prefers the soldiers protecting the people. I agree with that, especially since she is the Creator of all. Nothing made in her universe can stand against her.

Walking through the halls, the rows of knight as protection, and floating fabric as the servants, I walk toward the north tower. Mom’s observatory and personal dock (You’ll see what I mean in a few minutes) is here. Once inside, I can see my mom looking through a telescope.

Now, I’ve stated that mom is the queen and the creator of the universe, but her appearance would say otherwise. She’s still pretty, but her regality is subtle. I’ve been told that she’s approachable, yet sublime. I wouldn’t know though, I’ve known mom almost all my life, so for me she’s just mom.

Speaking of, she finally notices me, and walks towards me. The first thing she does is greet me with a hug and a kiss on my forehead. “Hello, sweetie, I’m so glad you could come.”

“It’s great to see you. Though, was the kiss necessary?”

“It has been a month since I’ve seen you. The universe is still young, and there’s so much to manipulate to give it an abundance of life. I missed you, that’s all.”

She began walking to the other side of the room, but I wait a moment before I start following. “Um… about that… do you really think that’s a good idea? You know, a universe teeming with life? I mean, I’m all for communication across exoplanets in one solar system, but…”

She turns around, smiling patiently. “I know your feelings, but don’t worry. What happened at the end of the universe you were born in was a mistake on my part, and I’m resolved to ensure it doesn’t happen again.” She leans in close. “Are you angry at me for it?”

“Of course not. Gods aren’t responsible for every-single-thing that goes on in their universe. I know that now,”

“Thank you for understanding, despite what you’ve experienced, and I appreciate you trying to look after my universe. Which brings me to why you’re here.” She continues to the next room and I follow. This room has red velvet carpeting, bright solid stone walls, wooden railways, as well as a hatch in the corner of the room. On the other side of the room there’s a stack of huge grimoires and a box of stones.

I look to her. “I think I see what you have in mind. You want me to set up temples, each one with a grimoire. I’m guessing to establish the beginning of magic based civilizations in the universe?”

“Preciously. The box has some magic to hold all the stone you need. If you run out, there’s plenty of dirt for transmutation magic. Place one grimoire in each temple, and place them on each continent.”

“Got it, shouldn’t take longer than a few hours.”

“Now, the route is already set on the compass, and-”

“And the hatch below is where I can sleep and play if I want to have the trip last without slowing down the ship. Mom, I’ve driven this ship to black holes and escaped without trouble.”

She smiles, clearly a little proud about that day. “Alright, Teagan. I’ll leave it to you.”

She walks past the doorway, closing the curtain. With a trail of magic particles encircling the entryway, it changes to a wall. That’s the indication that the ship has been released from the Sleeping Grounds. This is what I meant earlier about this room being a dock; this is where she keeps her ship to travel the universe. We can go to the edges of the universe in no time flat- or for as long as a couple of weeks, depending on if we want to make a little vacation out of it without giving up speed.

I turn back to the helm in front of the window, though it’s now a windshield, and prepare to fly to the planet the compass points to. Stepping on the button on the floor, I accelerate the ship faster than light, and keep the time flow slow, so there’s not much waiting as I approach the planet.

Another perk to using a separate dimension as a space ship is that I can land without any atmospheric resistance. I’ve landed right where I need to be with no trouble at all. The first stop I make is a grassland area with a few groves, but there’s not much else to see. It’s not until I step out of the ship before I realize that the sky is pink with a red star floating above me. I think there are a couple of moons next to it, but it’s hard to tell.

As nice as it would be to sight see, I have work to do. With a grimoire and the box of stone, I begin working on turning an open field into a temple. As I flick my wrist, magic sparkles wrapping the box, stone floats and flies sequentially, gradually building the foundation, the walls, roof, and the staircases. The last thing to be built is the pedestal. I place down the brown, leather grimoire the size of a table tray, ready for the locals to find and help build their civilizations.

That being done, I move the box back in the ship, and prepare to travel to the next location. It’s already been set, so I just fly where I need to go and set up, just like before. This time I’m in a rainforest, with rain clouds floating by. Like before, there’s an open field that I can build the temple on. Good thing too, I’d rather not tear down these trees just to make room for it. After setting up the new temple and placing the blueish grey grimoire on the pedestal, I make my way to the next few continental plates and repeat the process.

The fifth temple I begin working on is where things get interesting. While I work on the temple, I catch the eye of a native child. My immediate observation is that the child has pale skin, two eyes, nostrils, and a wide mouth. The child only has a loincloth, the expected garb for a new intelligent, self-aware species. I’m sure clothing is still a new concept as well. Instead of coming towards the child, I instead kneel and beckon them with a gesture.

The child, with long purple hair, walks towards me cautiously. They look closely at the temple and point to it while repeating the word, “big, big… big…” Obviously it’s in their native tongue, but my magic allows universal translation, so we can communicate without problems.

I smile, offering a friendly presence. “Yes, it is big, and very important.”

“Im-port-ant?” They repeat with difficulty.

“Yes child. This will show you how to use your magic.”

“What magic?” I demonstrate by generating small magical orange-red particles around me, then they immediately repeat the process themselves with purple magic particles. “Oh, you do shiny making too!”

“Uh, yes… with the big book up there, you can do lots of stuff with shiny making.” Man, it’s hard to simplify my words. “Do you have someone in charge of you and other people?”

They nod. “Che-Che tells us all what to do.”

“Okay, then tell you Che-Che to come here when the light rises again. Okay?”

They nod, and they begin to run off, making sparkles along the way for fun. I put my hands on my hips. Talking to a kid that talks like a baby is hard, but they sure are adorable. I walk back to the ship and fly to the last location. It’s a tropical island, surrounded by red water, with an active volcano at the edge. There appear to be huts and a village where the locals are.

As they go about their business, all as pale and purple haired as the child, I chose to stay away for now and head to another clearing nearby. From there I set up just like I’ve done before. After placing the blue grimoire, I walk down the stairs, noticing something that makes me gasp.

Standing before me is a Familiar, a being made from magic. Only this Familiar is crazy strong, filled with more magic than any mortal soul around here. It’s a flame creature with horns and armor made of lava rocks. Each step it takes creates magical fire, the same kind that makes up its mane. Without saying a word, it takes out a jagged sword with lava dripping from the blade.

“You have nerve, child of the Creator.” It says, clearly aware of what I am. It’s large amount of magic must have somehow given it a kind of enlightenment to the ways of the cosmos. “Showing up here and trying to force your ways onto my mortals.”

I shrug. “All I’m doing is giving them a helping hand with magic. They can burn the grimoires for all we care. If they do, though, they’ll be missing out on some cool tricks.”

“Shut up, all they need their magic for is to give to me. Each prayer they make for me, they give their magic as well. The people made me to rule them, and they have perpetuated my rein for centuries. That is how it shall remain, so leave and take your worthless grimoires with you.”

I tilt my head. “Thanks for the exposition. And no, I won’t take them back. This is a request from on high, my mother and mother of this universe. Her will be done, whether she has help or not. You, of all beings should know that in this universe, my mother is unsurpassable.”

“She is also never to be seen. Nearly all these mortals will never know their true Goddess. I, however, will always be here. Even when I take their lives in sacrifice, they will know that it was me that did it. Where is your precious Goddess when these people need one?”

“You can’t be serious… she’s the most powerful being in the universe, but even she can’t be everywhere at once. It’s a cruel fact, but I’d rather have a kind Goddess that can’t be everywhere than a malevolent Goddess that can. Who are you to judge another so harshly?”

The deified Familiar takes out another lava blade. “I am a god!”

It rushes to me, fully intended to kill me. As it launches fire at me, I chose not to move an inch. Instead, I use my magic- indicated by the presence of magic particles- to cast a windy ice spell to stop its fire. The only reason that fire didn’t even get near me was because my spell was much stronger than his. Normally, I would have to consider conserving my magic at least a little, but I don’t think that will be an issue in this case.

Next, the Familiar tries to slash me with it’s blades. Before it gets close enough, I gather magic and summon a crossbow in each hand, preloaded with ten magic arrows. The design is customized to allow automatic reload, as well as small shields made of pure magic- just like the crossbows and arrows- which I use to defend against him. When I stop the Familiar’s attack, surprising it, I push it back and proceed to shoot at it. These arrows are also made of ice magic, cold enough to freeze even its molten armor, and slow it down a little.

Thankfully, the Familiar is made of magic fire and lava, so cold-based spells and lightning spells are effective ways to attack. Firing these types of arrows on it, I manage to hurt it quite a bit, but before I can do anything definite, it gets on the defensive, dodging my arrows as it regains its heat. Damn it… if this was a regular Familiar, it would be weak and easy to crush. Yet, this Familiar has a reserve of magic the size of a swimming pool. Add to the worship of the natives, it can even replenish its magic reserve, as if the swimming pool had a fountain to match. Fortunately for me, my pool of magic is larger, and replenishes much faster, so I can’t help but grin at this guaranteed victory.

The Familiar spews molten rock at me, which is easily blocked by a barrier I cast. With the barrier covered in molten rock, concealing me, I decide to take advantage of it. Warping around and stopping behind the Familiar, I start shooting lightning, water, and ice arrows at it. These arrows though, have a substantial amount of magic behind them, making them deadly to a creature of heat-based magic. The result is an electric explosion of ice and frost. Even my clothes are frosty after it. The Familiar is reduced to a boulder sized chunk of ice, slowly trying to melt its way out.

My crossbows are reduced back to orange-red particles while I prepare a stronger spell to suppress it. The ethereal particles that make up my magic surround the Familiar, building up for my spell. This spell will take a lot, but it needs to, to perpetuate a blizzard.

It begins to get cold. Frost spreads around the ice chunk, snow brewing around it, and the ice branches further out, creating a powerful ice prison. The spell finishes with a snow cloud hovering over the ice prison to maintain its freezing temperature. I put my hands on my hips. Let’s see how much prayer it takes to free it from that.

Now, it’s time to head back home, but suddenly the natives swarm in after seeing the tiny snow storm. They watch their god attempt to escape, reduced to a flaming core. The sight of it makes them start crying and yelling at me. They moan and grieve for their god, who bragged that he would kill them for power.

I step back as they all start to call me monster and abomination. “Wait a minute…” I begin, frowning as I lose my words. “You guys got it wrong… he was willing to enslave you for your magic… Please, stop. You have to listen.”

Yet they don’t. They start to throw stones, continuing with even more vulgar insults and words I don’t recognize with malicious tones. I don’t want to hurt them, I mean their just mortals, they can’t really hurt me… right?

In a panic, I retreat to the ship and take off before I hear anymore of their insults. The ship falls into total silence as I travel the stars and back to the Sleeping Grounds. I get startled when the phone suddenly goes off downstairs. Opening the hatch, I walk to the phone and answer, obviously expecting it to be mom. Sure enough, when I answer, I hear her voice.

“Hey, mom. The temples are set, I’m on my way home.”

“That’s good, I just wanted to make sure things are okay. I know you haven’t been to other worlds in a thousand years, so I just wanted to make sure things went well.”

“Oh, yeah, no problems at all. The temples are set up, and I even got to meet a few of the locals.” Should I tell her about what happened with the Familiar and their people? No, I don’t think so… she has a lot on her plate with the entire universe, and the Familiar is a joke for us. Besides, the problem isn’t just the people, it’s me. I’ve spent most of my life surrounded by people that know me, so suddenly having strangers act this way is severely out of my element.

What was I supposed to say to them to quell them, to persuade them into understanding that their god was a fraud and the real monster? How was I supposed to handle the situation I was in? “Teagan? Are you still there?”

“Oh, yes, sorry.” I laugh nervously. “The trip gave me a lot to think about, that’s all. Anyway, I’m going to make a little vacation out of the trip back home, okay?”

“That’s fine, sweetie. Have fun, but just know that afterwards, I don’t have anything else for you to do, so you can go home afterwards.”

“Alright, sounds good.”

“I’ll see you in a moment. I love you,”

“See you in a week. Love you too,” I hang up the phone.

During this “vacation” I’ll have to figure out how to handle people better. If I don’t, I’ll quickly be hated by the entire universe in no time. Normally that’s not much an issue if you’re a god- if anything, it should be expected- but it would be a lot better to feel embraced, like the way it is in Mom’s kingdom.

I really don’t want Mom to worry about my personal issues, she’s done plenty for me already. However, I can’t say I know how to approach this problem. I’ll need help, but from someone else. Now that I think about it, Mom has taken me to other universes before to meet friends. I wonder if I can ask one of them to help me.

I smile, realizing that’s exactly what I should do. I’ll try to get a hold of someone the same way any Archetype would, and see if they can help, even if I must make a deal. If this goes well, I can prevent situations like earlier from happening needlessly.

Yeah, this will definitely work.