Dark God Thespia

"Unbelieveable. An ordinary person?"

Tristan walked through the door to find the imagery of a large scale refinement complex. Molten lava pouring everywhere, tremendous heat pervading the air. And at the end of the path, sleeping on her left hand on a couch of white feathers was a girl who didn't appear too much older than Tristan.

She had jet black hair, wore a jet black frock and colored her lips black. The contrast was exacerbated by her extremely pale skin and the white feather couch.

She looked at Tristan with eyes that showed her concern towards him was insignificant. He might as well have been to her what the ants had to him. With a single finger she beckoned him towards her and snapped her fingers.

The entire place turned into a white glow. The molten lava disappeared and the caves streamlined to a perfect geometric shape. Excepting the door that Tristan used, everything else, couch included disappeared. When he reached closer, she snapped her fingers again and he was seated on a chair right in front of her, who was seated on one too.

Tristan could not get a grasp of the girl's power and capabilities. But her display easily convinced him that he had no chance against her at all.

"Aah, an ordinary mortal. And he's just a kid too! Is this who they decided upon? Or did you just barge in like a fool? Well I did decide on it.."

She seemed to be talking to herself loudly. Tristan couldn't make head nor tail of it. He decided to politely introduce himself.

"I present my heartiest greetings to the the Lady of the dungeon. I am Tristan of Sindry. Pray, could you tell me your name?"

She looked at him with disdain. A smirk on her face as if he were but a cockroach. She then changed her body posture to face the tall ceiling of the place.

"Lady of the dungeon? Hmph. I killed the dungeon master a long ago. You came here looking for that bumbling idiot? Tristan huh. The name's Thespia. I am also known as the Dark God and am the overlord of Darkness."

A god! What was a god doing inside a dungeon! Tristan had read about gods, powerful immortal beings who were the source of all the life and powers of the World.

Tristan decided that proceeding with caution is the best idea right now. He made a note to himself not to offend her.

"My lord, I entered this dungeon based on the instructions of my teacher..."

Tristan carefully explained the events that he had seen take place and showed the parchment and rusted key in the battered book that Melany had entrusted to him.

"I see, so that witch got so desperate huh. Looks like convincing failed..hmm... You have the key!?"

Seeing the key, Dark God Thespia got excited and began laughing like a mad woman, key in her hand.

"Excellent. Excellent! To think a mere child could clear this dungeon and bring the important key. I don't have to sit and wait for those foreigners anymore!

Ok kid, I'll tell you why you are here."

Dark God Thespia thought for a bit, then nodded.

"The world has been thrown into turmoil ever since the arrival of the immortals from another world - this you must know. But have you wondered why they are given a free pass to travel across the continent without worry? Or how they have such incredible skills or why they are immortal?

The first foreigners to arrive were the 10 administrators. In an instant they defeated all the gods of this world took the rulers by their side and destroyed the status quo.

Since that moment, the gods have been looking for a way to fight back and gain control. Once the administrators left, the gods were once again the strongest. However, given the immortality of the foreigners the probability of them eventually surpassing us again was quite high.

However, the gods have a secret weapon. When the administrators were about to leave after a complete show of dominance, the gods were paralysed in fear. It was in these circumstances that the god of mischief Loki manipulated those 10 powerful people into fighting each other.before his ruse was discovered and he was obliterated however, one of the administrators was murdered by some of the others among them! Loki managed to steal three precious articles from the death and stored them here, in the labyrinths of Urek.

I was later sent here to kill the guardian and protect the treasures from the immortals. Who wouldve imagined that an ordinary boy like you would clear this crappy dungeon? Immortals have been raising hell looking for it's entrance here.

The witch.. The other gods must have guided her to this book. Perhaps..."

Dark God Thespia teleported to a corner of the cave, curled up in deep thought. Tristan who had been listening to her, couldn't help get the feeling of being dragged into a battle much bigger than himself. Perplexed at the god's sudden child like action, he sat silently looking in her direction. He tried collecting his thoughts and began wondering.

Suddenly Thespia teleported back in front of him, their faces extremely close, and stared directly into Tristan's eyes without blinking. She then nodded.

"I saw your history now. Your growth is remarkable, but still within the ordinary realm of our world. Yes, I will accept this trade."

Huh? Trade? Tristan couldn't understand what was going on. Thespia seemed to speak to herself more than she spoke to him. Suddenly, a box appears. Rusted from.the outside, everything about it was ordinary. A cuboidal box of iron with a keyhole. Thespia gave him the key and urged him to open it using her chin.

When Tristan opened the box, his eyes were blinded by the outrageous glow coming from the insides. As his eyes adjusted themselves to the brightness, he found 4 ordinary looking trinkets inside the box.

A jet black rock, spectacles with green glass, spherical orb filled with purple miasma and the source of the glow - a stone shaped in the form of a tetrahedron that pulsated like a heart and emitted sparks of electricity.

Thespia took Tristan's right hand and bit the tip of his index finger seductively, making it bleed. Tristan winced.

"Drip your blood on the items other than the black stone. That is my payment for this trade."

Tristan obeyed her orders. Each time he dripped his blood on an item, they disappeared. However, when he dripped his blood om the last item, the spectacles, upon disappearing, Tristan's eyesight changed. He was surprised and shocked.

Thespia smirked as she saw his expression change. She then took the black stone in her hand and chiseled a tenth of the size from it to give it to Tristan. Urging him to apply blood on that as well.

Once he did that, Thespia swallowed the nine tenths of the stone she kept for herself. A few moments later Tristan began having seizures filled with pain. He fell to the floor into a cradle position and winced as electricity surged through his body and was visible from.the outside. An incredible pain that tore the very fabric he was made out of. He couldn't help but want to die, instead of suffer the pain anymore.

****

Tristan woke up to find himself on an extremely soft featherbed. He carefully tried to get up, but his muscles were failing as he couldn't get his lower body to rise. After several tried he finally managed to get into a sitting position, when he found that not too far away Thespia was riding a swing made from vines that looked awfully familiar. The white room was now a flowerbed and he could see the sun. It felt like a dream about summer.

"Ohh, you survived? Huhu, I half doubted my decision to give them to you when I saw you crying like a baby from the pain. Well, all's well that ends well, isn't it? You made these vines? They are quite good, haha!"

She gave him a bottle of black liquid, gesturing to drink it. Reluctantly gulping down a potion that could as well be a poison, he felt himself get revitalised and his body surged with power. He felt a little stronger than he was before he met this Dark God, but not a whole lot. His eyes however...

Refreshed completely, Tristan got out if the bed and walked to the swing.

"Your work here is done kid. I will seal the dungeon now."

"But.. There is a lot I don't understand. What were those trinkets? Where did they disappear? What was my purpose to come here?"

"Hmm, those 'trinkets' kid you will find out yourself what they are. After all haven't your eyes... Changed?"

Thespia said that with a smirk that threatened to deform her pretty face and eyes that glint like diamond. She continued.

"Your purpose... Well you can say that the red haired Witch put all her hopes on you instead of an immortal who would help the gods with betrayal. As to how that average magician got hold of this diary, I couldn't possibly know.

Well that was your purpose to come here. Those trinkets are now inside of you. Haha. Don't have to be so surprised. You are assimilating their powers into your body. Who knows how long it'll take.

What you should do now? Trace your past? Meditate again? What you do is your own choice. But you must get stronger, because you have been pulled into a world where the strong devour the weak. You are too weak now, but you have potential. Use your eyes...to see everything."

Tristan stood beside her still swinging joyously, looking at the sun, his eyes distant. He had decided.

"I must return to Sindry village. I need to find my family and friends. Trace back what has happened. I must protect those you are close to me."

"..."

Thespia looked away from Tristan's gaze and didn't reply.

"Well, I suppose that is your path. It will be a painful path, be warned. However, I've taken a liking to your determination kid. Would you like to become my pupil? If you manage to assimilate the part of the black stone I gave you, look for a village called Bardem in the east. Within the tree of Bardem you will find the lair of the gods."

Tristan nodded. He certainly wanted to get stronger, to protect his family. Falling into an trance, he had neglected his family and friends and slept through chaos. Things would change now, he surmised.

"Okkkayyy, I'll teleport you to another mountain on the opposite side of Sindry. You might find one of the people you seek there. Farewell, young fellow."

Dark God Thespia snapped her fingers. Tristan felt himself slipping through time as he could see his entire past play out backwards and then once again forwards. He lost his sense of direction as he saw himself in the heavens, extremely black void filled with countless lights. He kept moving at a ridiculous pace that freaked him out. After what simultaneously felt like passage of less than a second as well as an infinite period of time, Tristan found himself at the very end of a pitch black cave. From the warmth, it appeared he was deep underground.

It was time for him to find his family and friends.