twelve centuries

[crexmii]

sitting in her room, sirius stared at an hourglass.
there were few grains of sand left in the top. another mortal would die. very soon.
sweeping it aside with her tail, sirius disappeared in an instant.

"mom. cloudberry. you're going to die. take your herbs, please..." a brown molly sobbed.
"oh, youngster. don't you worry, plover. i'll be fine! death ain't gonna come for me so soon-"
the last grain of sand fell to the bottom of the hourglass. sirius touched cloudberry's chest gently.

the old she-cat fell silent, eyes beginning to glaze over. "no. no. no." plover choked, placing a paw on her mother's chest to feel for her pulse, for a single breath, for any tiny sliver of life.

she was definitely dead.

"come on, interrupting me while i was saying some last words to my daughter?" cloudberry groaned, staring at her dead body and then glancing at sirius.

the chimera sighed, waiting for an upset response, but cloudberry's eyes only twinkled in laughter.
"ah, i'm gonna miss her. look after my daughter for me, alright?" cloudberry's pale fur shone with starlight.



the two walked alongside each other in silence until at last, sirius found a suitable spot. it was a small, shaded part of the forest.
smiling at the death goddess one last time, cloudberry padded away and disappeared...somewhere. wherever spirits went after they died.

sirius hadn't seen that place at all, strangely. she simply guided the spirits.
a yowl of anger cut through her thoughts.
"there you are! you took my mother away from me!"

plover was sitting a fox-length from sirius, glaring at her with pure fury and grief.
an eye twitch. more yelling from plover.

sirius was sick of this.
interrupting the fawn molly, sirius abruptly stood up.
"do you think this is a job i wanted? do you think i laugh whenever some cat dies because i caused misery to your family? do you think i mindlessly go around and kill cats? the answer is no! i don't! i'm sick of how you mortals react to me. with fear, with anger, with hostility. you all belive i'm a monster, i'm cruel and emotionless. gods have feelings too, you know."

seeing that plover looked stunned, sirius didn't continue. she simply mumbled to herself, "oh, why am i ranting to mortals? they don't understand me. besides, gods aren't supposed to interact with mortals anyway."
she was surpised when she heard the patter of pawsteps beside her.

"woah. i'm... i'm sorry. i didn't realise your job was that hard. i guess i was just...i just didn't want my mom to die so soon, that's all." plover mewed, sighing.
sirius glanced at plover in shock. "it's alright." she mewed, smiling at the fawn she-cat.

"i guess i'll go...bury cloudberry. do...do you want to come? or are you busy doing...you know, your job."
sirius glanced down at the necklace she was wearing. "no...i can stay. i mean, if you want me to."

"that'd be fine by me." plover meowed.

———

sirius looked on in silence as plover buried her mother. the molly seemed to flinch away whenever she got too close to sirius.
understandable...wait.

"wait. how did you even know i was here in the first place?" sirius hissed, hackles raising defensively.
plover turned around and noticed the suspicious god. "oh..i...i....can sort of see...you guys, you know." she mewed sheepishly, pelt prickling in embarassment.

"you can see spirits?"
"no....just...you all...i don't know what to call you, deities, i guess. i don't know why. that's how i followed you."
"oh." the chimera calmed down, letting her fur settle down.

"i'm going to miss her." plover sighed, raw emotion in her voice.

awkward silence.

"oh. also...your mom...she said she hoped i would look after you." sirius meowed uncertainly, hoping it would break the awkwardness and tension forming around the two once again.
plover's eyes lit up. "wait, really? does that mean you're my guardian angel?!"

guardian angel.
she wasn't an angel of any kind. she was cursed.

"oh, no, no, no...i..i just came to take your mother away- i'm not an angel of any sorts. i don't think she knew what she was talking about."
"well, you may not be an angel, but you might be a guardian!"

the duo chatted for a short while after the burial.

a sudden twinge.
few grains of sand left.

"oh. i've got to go. um...another cat needs...to well...die." sirius meowed nervously.
plover smiled warmly. it seemed she had been cheered up slightly, but sirius could still sense the grief in her heart. "well, i hope to see you again sometime!" the fawn she-cat purred.

"i..don't think we're going to see each other again." sirius stated as nicely as she could.
"that's alright, but i have a feeling you'll be back. it's been nice metting you, um...what's your name?"

"sirius."
"it's been great meeting you again, sirius. maybe we'll cross paths again one day. just remember me, plover, if we don't see each other again, alright?"


as the chimera left to take another life, she felt.....warm inside.

———

sirius never thought she would make a friend. especially a mortal friend.
unfortunately this means that you would outlive your friend if you were a god, which sirius was.
and you would also have to take your friend's life if you just happened to be the goddess of death.


the ache in her heart worsened.

———

plover and sirius had bumped into each other several times "by coincidence", and the two had eventually formed a bond.
sirius felt like plover brought out the silliness in her. the duo joked sometimes, and sometimes had heart to heart chats.
point was, plover listened and understood her. (or, well, tried her best to understand.)

but as plover said, "mortal lives are short but sweet."
both of them knew that sirius would outlive plover.
yet somehow sirius didn't want to believe that.

so of course, when plover's hourglass finally ran out of sand, sirius broke down.
she tried everything. turning the hourglass over. she almost went to moira to beg, but stopped herself.

after all, the rule was death is inevitable, and it cannot be prevented.
and so she lay next to the dying molly, she touched her head, and it was all over for plover.

saying her final goodbyes to plover as she guided the spirit to the entrance of the spirit realm, sirius felt all alone once again.
back to getting into arguments with her sister, getting annoyed with the gods' antics, grudgingly doing her job.

plover lived for 12 years.
a very short span of time for sirius, yet a whole lifetime for a normal cat.

and the chimera still has five centuries left.
five long, lonely centuries.
but even then, she wouldn't die, would she?
she'd be a voidlurker for eternity.

thoughts like those make sirius's heart hurt even more.

[crexmii]

four centuries after plover’s death, new gods formed, like mania, the wind twins and melione. gods got older. and worst of all, reality broke due to the unstable condition of the hourglass that sealed the void.

sirius was sick of it all. endless panicking, endless arguments, endlessly blaming HER, when she didn’t even have anything to do with this. okay, she might have turned phoebus and unintentionally, alora and aequore into one of those things— no, don’t let the guilty thoughts get to you.

fae hated her guts now. she was sure of it. ever since that bond breaking argument recently. the only cat who seemed to look up to her was lunette, and she didn’t understand why. the periwinkle molly was a strange one, and she seemed to be hiding something about her.

for so long, sirius felt like she didn't belong amongst the gods.
which is why when everyone else was focused on fixing reality, sirius got her chance.

and now, she was free.
nobody would possibly know she disappeared from the pantheon...right?

she thinks that for this last century of hers, she shall keep to herself.
no more making friends with mortals. it still hurts

however, if one of the gods were to identify her, that would be a problem.
sirius needed a disguise.

the plan seemed easy enough.
don't interact with any other cat, don't be seen, don't draw attention to herself.

sirius had to admit, this was going to be a lonely last century indeed.

———

two decades had already passed. sirius had kept to herself mostly, simply wandering the lands aimlessly.
eight decades left.

and being alone for a very long period of time is enough to make old thoughts you thought you'd thrown away resurface.

and what are you going to do? abandon your job?
the voice in her head. that darn voice. always made her remember everything she needed to do. she wished it could leave her alone. it's come back.

a moment of pondering under a large birch.
she would perform her job....or she could find someone else and pass the power onto.
after all, she wouldn't be sirius anymore after this century has passed..

but no interacting with mortals.
would she be willing to break the rule she had made to herself?

perhaps. after all, her time was running out.
but no, she won't intentionally find another cat.
she'll wait for that cat to come to her.

and sirius knows she's probably spouting nonsense like a maniac, possibly like mania (who she has to admit, kind of misses..
no.)


sirius is not okay. she needs to go lie down.

[crexmii]

"so...that's pretty much the end of the story."
sirius sighs.

"but then...what happened next?"
you ask, eyes shining in curiousity.

the chimera smiles at the kit before her. "well....you know that cat i'm going to pass my power down to?"
you nod.

"it's going to be yours now."
gaping in astonishment, you look up to her with shining eyes.
"i..i'll do my best!"

this look of determination is just what sirius has been looking for.
"now. i know i technically...am not a god anymore, but this cat before me...shall take my place.
i declare you the new god of death."


the kitten stares up at her in wonder.
"woah.”

a moment of silence from both parties.

“…what do i do now?"

she thinks for a moment.
admittedly, she doesn't want a new god to take her place.
what was this feeling? ....envy? that this kitten would grow up and have a normal, not cursed life?
but it's for the pantheon's god. i don't like the other gods either, but the pantheon collapsing is the last thing any cat wants.
this was for the lands' own good. she was doing this to save the realm.

the kitten stared at her with confusion and curiousity in those wide, baby blue eyes of theirs.

"well....you should go back to the gods. they'll find you if you go to caelestis mountain."
"okay!"

and in almost an instant they are gone.
sirius smiles and stares up at the stars in the ether.
my story is almost over.
but the story of the gods is not.

a flash of light streaks across the ether.
who knows what she saw?

her look of relief turns into one of horror.
"not yet." the chimera deadpanned.
"but soon."

flashes, memories, things that will come next. they are still flooding her mind.
she will not "live" to experience them.
but suddenly, she feels grateful that she won't be around for them.

[crexmii]

ARCH YOU DON'T NEED TO LISTEN TO THESE :sob:
although you can if you want !!

dumb dumb — mazie
gilded lily (sped up) — cults
rather sleep — kero kero bonito
estranger — jack stauber

[crexmii]

and so you come to the end of my entry !!
RAAAAH IT'S FINALLY OVER LET'S CELEBRATE
firstly, i want to congratulate whoever wins !! you deserve this cat!
secondly, i am like so proud of myself rn <33 i was in huge burnout yet i still finished my entry!

thirdly, aughh im so sorry it's kind of rushed bcs i didn't have a lot of time :sob:
as you can see i tried to make the story tie and end during like...the present, and make it slightly interactive yet still connected to my lore at the same time !! [hint, hint, i might be using my unnatural edit with an myo to make them real....hehehe..also they are gonna cause a lot of trouble later on.]
and lastly, here's some free art (complete or unfinished) that didn't really fit anywhere in my entry. free goodies for you arch :)

art
lil side page doodles (supposed to be for the nothing ever lasts forever sketch but I left the layer hidden since it takes up a bit too much space in the drawing)
unfinished animation one
unfinished animation two (yes, the phoebus scene was meant to be animated! then i gave up *sobs*)

anyway, i hope you enjoyed reading through my entry <33