Chapter 3: The Emperors’ Palace / Family Drama

“So this is the palace, huh? I like it here. Peaceful. Nice pond.” Evan said, looking out over a pond full of lily pads and koi.

It was beautiful and serene.

“Hel..lo? That’s nice, but who are you? And why did you randomly just appear out of thin air?” A voice asked

“Huh? Ah. Sorry about that, I didn’t mean to startle you.” Evan said

“It’s fine. Who are you?” The voice asked

“Huh? You aren’t questioning why I can do that?” Evan asked

“Does it look like that matters to me? It’s a movement technique, right?” The voice said bitterly

“No, it’s magic and wh-oh. Sorry about that.” Evan said

The voice was a girl, around 16, sitting in a wheelchair, alone, watching the water like he often did himself.

“No problem. But you still haven’t answered me, and I’m getting kind of curious. I’m Yumi. It’s nice to meet you.” Yumi said

“Ah, I’m your god. You can also call me Evan. It’s a pleasure.” Evan said

“God? Wait, what? That’s….” Yumi said, confused

“That confusion is absolutely normal. And you have no reason to believe me. So here.” Evan said, popping up the console, and healing her

“What do you mean? You appeared out of thin air. That’s pretty god-like to me.” Yumi said

“Um. Can you try to move or feel your legs? Just like, poke them, I guess.” Evan said

“Huh? Ah! What was that? That tingles!” Yumi said, poking her right leg

“Alright, you have feeling and partial control over your legs already. Good. I’ve healed your body.” Evan said

She tried to walk

She couldn’t get up

“Yumi, stop. Wait. You’ve never used your legs before. You’ll have to learn how to walk. It’s going to be difficult, and you won’t be able to do much at first. You aren’t used to having working legs, yet. If you try too hard you might injure yourself instead.” Evan said, stopping her

“Fine...but why?” Yumi asked

“Because, if you try to walk, you will fall, and you could injure yourself if you fall the wrong way.” Evan said

“Not that. I meant, why did you heal me?” Yumi asked

“I’m god. It was on a whim. Plus, you seem to appreciate this beautiful pond like I do. There’s still one thing I’m curious about, though. Where’s everyone who takes care of you? Is there not a single person?” Evan asked, looking around

“I...send them all away. Unless I need something, I try not to bother anyone. I’m not smart, I’m not clever, and I’m not strong. I’m a burden. Since I don’t want to die, I’m just trying to make myself as little of one as possible.” Yumi said

“You realize that an attitude like that can be a greater burden on someone who cares about you, even more than taking care of you would be, right?” Evan asked

“If only that were true.” Yumi laughed, bitterly

“Not even your parents?” Evan asked

“My parents are in there. On their throne. You think they care about me?” Yumi asked, pointing

“Pretty sure they do, Let’s go check. Me checking might be a burden on them, though.” Evan said, disappearing with a smile

“Ah. There we are. You’re the emperor, right?” Evan asked, popping up out of thin air

“Another hallucination? Honey, do you mind slapping me awake?” The emperor asked

“That’s not a hallucination, my dear. Who… who are you?” The queen asked

“Not freaking out. That’s good. Anyway, I’m your god. It’s nice to meet you.” Evan said, waving hello

“Um. Hi, it’s nice to meet you, too.” The emperor said, going back to work

“Darling. Wake up.” The queen said

“He’s sleep deprived, little queen. This should help.” Evan said, poking the emperor

The emperor woke up

“Haha! Hot damn! I feel fit as a-wait, hold on, who the fuck are you?!” The emperor said, springing up out of his chair

“Do you guys, just like, not have guards, or something?” Evan asked, looking around.

“Um. Ahem. Sorry, I lost my composure for a second. Honey, I told you to let me know if there are visitors. Who are you? Is there a reason for your visit?” The emperor asked

“Oh, yeah. Right, it’s nice to meet you. I’m god. And I’m here to ask if you see your daughter as a burden.” Evan said, wording things poorly

“How dare you. Even if you are god, which I don’t believe, that’s quite rude.” The emperor said venomously, upset

An arm from a wooden chair broke under the queen's strong grip.

“Woah, woah. I’m not asking to be rude. She thinks of herself as one, so I’m wondering if you guys would think of her as one if she started actively joining in on the entire family thing.” Evan said, trying to calm them down

“Huh? Of course not. It’s more worrying to us that she is refusing to interact with us at all. I’d say most of the rings under my husband's eyes are from worry, rather than exhaustion from work. Why exactly are you here asking that?” The queen asked

“She thought of herself as a burden, I told her no, she said I was wrong, I came to get an answer that would prove me right. And I did.” Evan said happily

“What? Since when did Yumi know god?” The emperor asked his wife

“We don’t even know god, you idiot. You think I have the answer to that? We barely get to see her, how would we...know…. what she’s going through. See, it’s stuff like this, even god’s worried now. What are we even supposed to do, huh? She doesn’t listen to us. And we can’t really go over there ourselves.” The queen said, depressed

“You are literally sitting in a chair, doing nothing.” Evan said

“You think I want to do this? It’s law, decreed by god.” The queen said

“Yeah, but the decree wasn’t for the emperor and empress.” Evan said

“What...exactly do you mean by that.” The queen asked

“Sigh. Here. Look, it says ‘And they shall sit side by side, forevermore, until the end of time.’ It is not referring to the emperor.” Evan said, poofing up a book out of thin air

“Oh. Oh my god. This is the holy scripture.” The emperor said, holding the book in his hands reverently, before carefully handing it back to Evan

“Do I have to repeat this? I’m your god. I shaped your world. I made this damn book.” Evan said, patting the cover

"It's how I brought mana to you guys, so it isn't holy, exactly. Rather, it's magic. It's the conduit that draws mana from another dimension to here. So I agree with treating it like a holy artifact, but still." Evan said

“Oh. Dear mE.” The emperor said, voice cracking a little

“Anyways, Yumi. You heard the important bits right?” Evan asked

“Yes, but you didn’t have to keep me pinned down.” Yumi scowled

“Yes, but then you would have barged in and made things worse, so I did pin you down. Are you going to apologize or not.” Evan said

“Yeah. Sorry, Evan.” Yumi said

“What? No, not me. Them. Themmmm.” Evan said, pointing to the emperor and empress

“Oh. That was your point. You could have just said that they care for me.” Yumi said

“I did.” Evan said

“Oh.” Yumi said

“I’ll go, you guys talk. Also, little queen, instead of just sitting, visit your daughter. I’ll let you guys be for now.” Evan said, leaving