"Where is everybody?" I questioned in astonishment.

The planet that we came into was enormous compared to the other planets that I saw during our travels through space. This planet was tawny in shade and once we landed on the ground and marked our arrival with footprints, I perceived nothing but smooth and soft sand that went on for eternity.

There were some parts that had more heaps of sand than the other and the sun made the sand seem like they were scorching hot. We transformed into our physical bodies and truth be told— it was ridiculously roasting. I won't be surprised if the people here died because of this heat.

Did the Higher Order of Gods keep me in that hoosegow longer than I estimated? They kept me locked up for five hundred and six years for the same comeuppance but was I too flummoxed from the times I was electrocuted?

"Did everybody go extinct when they heard I was coming?" I asked causing Kogen to chuckle. He turned to me and grinned.

"The inhabitants of this planet live between life and death."

I rubbed my forehead in hopes that the friction will spark an understanding of what he just stated but even when I was starting to form fire from the rubbing motions on my forehead I got nothing.

"So they...aren't alive but they aren't dead as well? I think I'm just going to go back to the hoosegow because the Higher Gods of Order were easier to understand."

Unless all of the inhabitants here were spirits then I will continue to be the God who lost his intelligence somewhere along the universe. This must be Guardian's doing. I blame him for everything.

Kogen began to walk and as he did so, he began to explain what he meant. "This is planet Belraria and it is currently in the afternoon. As you know Corlos all creatures in the universe live between life and death. Time gives us the opportunity to live but when the last grain of sand in the hourglass drops at the bottom, that's when time decides to say: "Excuse me, your time is up."

"Excuse you, you got the wrong person," I retorted back. Kogen laughed and gathered me into one of his arms. "I still don't get it Kogen. Explain it further," I demanded and crossed my arms.

"Well the people of Belraria take the 'Living between life and death' in a literal sense. By day they are in their physical form and by night they live in a spirited form making the afternoon and dawn the bridges of their shifting from life to death and death to life."

"It must be hard dying every day," I commented.

"It's just an everyday routine for them. They don't even pay notice to their transformation that much," he reassured.

"Is there a specific reason for this?" I asked. I applaud the God of this planet for His or Hers' creativity and imagination but there must be a purpose for murdering and resurrecting your creation every single day and night.

"Just as when this planet was created, creatures from another world arrived one night and slaughtered every single Toscan living here. These outsiders only appear on nighttime and hide under the sand on daylight," Kogen explained.

I looked down on the harmless sand beneath me and had this urge to just dig and find the extraterrestrial beings that Kogen told me about but the God that I was with was more uptight than I thought.

"Don't even think about it," he warned me.

"Too late," I snickered and just continued walking. Kogen was no fun at all. He and Guardian will be great friends.

After a long afternoon of trekking and as the sun started to settle the end of its reign with an obnoxious orange hue of goodbye, I could feel the sand beneath me shift.

"How big are these outsiders again?" I asked Kogen one last time.

I know they were big and slimy and overall disgusting as what Kogen described them to be but I need a physical appearance to be able to get the full image. I've been stuck in the Planet of Gods for so many years that I know nothing of the universe.

"I just know that their tentacles can reach the skies," he replied.

I cocked my head in question and sized that estimation with my hands which was impossible because my limbs were short. My curiosity was breeched and was given with a soaring answer when a thick and long tentacle shot up from the sand from afar and dark clouds began to swirl around the slithering tip.

Ah, now I can picture it. Kogen wasn't lying when he said that it was gargantuan.

Lightning struck the tentacle causing the rise of more of its kind from beneath. The dry sand of the world that welcomed us slowly darkened from the water that began to flood the parched planet. My eyes widened in awe as the endless and dull sand wasn't so eternal after all. The blue moon made its appearance and the rising water reflected its praise over the King of the night.

I felt Kogen pat my back to try and get my attention. "Let's transform back into our spirited forms. The outsiders are now taking over the night."

"They drowned the Toscans?" I asked.

"Yes, they weren't much of the swimming kind," Kogen replied.

I wanted to see what Belraria looked like if it was flooded by water but we were after the Toscans and not these creatures. Where were they from I wonder. Were they homeless? Did their planet get destroyed?

I began to transform into my spirit form but I did it as slowly as possible so I can witness a little more. The water was blue but darkened as night fell. My transformation finished just as when the water reached the top of my head.

Soft murmurs became vivid and grew intensity, tone, and volume. I heard the bustling state of the once silent planet and finally perceived the original life forms of Belraria appearing around me with the swirl of the winds giving them existence in the afterlife.

The Toscans had huge wings covered with feathers. Their feathers varied in dark gold, silver, and bronze. They had huge pointy beaks and claw-like hands and their skin were covered with scales. They stood at a height varying from eight to ten feet. Compared to the dry land that we witnessed in our physical forms, the land that we got to access through our shift had fertility. There were lagoons and trees hidden from the eyes of the living that no matter how much they search, they can never visit the oasis as long as they possessed the breath of life given to them by their God.

I gazed up the sky and found the moon gazing back. I suddenly felt thankful that Guardian kicked me out.

"I'll investigate for the stones, have a look around and entertain yourself," Kogen stated and pulled my hand and placed a heavy pouch on my palm. "The currency on this planet is called Seeds. The bronze seeds are five hundreds, the silver are one thousands, and the gold are two thousands. Spend these all like you're the God of Greed," he chuckled.

Kogen turned around and walked away while I opened the pouch. I saw that every single seed was gold. Wasn't I lucky to have an opulent constabulary God for a companion?

What do I do with this anyway?

What Guardian always taught me about visiting worlds was visiting emporiums not for weapons but for the planet's well-known delicacies. I walked past the bustling streets and squeezed past the bodies of shopping citizens.

"Get your crocotta libum! They are fresh and newly baked from the sun's scorching heat!" a silver-winged toscan female shouted. She had brown scales and was taller and bigger than me like the rest of the universe.

There were lots of toscans gathering on the long table beside her and with the looks of it, she was selling a lot of those. More toscans worked behind the table and assisted those snatching hands which were desperate to purchase the bread.

I peered down on her goods which were on a long table covered with a white cloth. There were heaps of small and round breads baked into a light-brown color. The heaps of bread built up to ten feet height. When the toscan female found me looking at the breads which were just of one kind, she immediately came to my aid.

"Why hello there little boy, you look like you're new here. Have you tried a crocotta before? They are made from the meat of a wild crocotta in the desserts," she told me and picked up one piece from the pile of many and handed one to me.

She placed a hand on top of my head and I took a bite off the crocotta. The rich flavor of meat generously seasoned into a sweet and salty taste was moderated by the humble flavor of the bread keeping the ground meat together inside of it.

"How much is this?" I asked.

"That cost one hundred seed per piece young man but I'll give that one for free!" she enthusiastically replied before squeezing my cheek with her claw.

I shoved the remaining bread into my mouth and took one golden seed from the pouch that Kogen gave me. I noticed that I caught the attention of a toscan male standing beside me who was also buying bread. His eyes focused on the pouch I was holding.

"I'll take twenty," I said before swallowing the masticated bread into my throat. I took another seed from the pouch and placed it on her claw. "And I don't accept charity, here's the pay for my first bread. Keep the change."

The female toscan was taken aback from my purchase and she hurriedly packed my breads into a bag. While she did so, I gazed at the tall toscan eyeing my pouch.

"What are you looking at?" I asked him in the most threatening way possible causing his eyes to widen. "You think I'm small and you're big?" I scoffed. I gazed at his muscular scaly chest and then up to his face which strained my neck a little because he was about a feet taller than the average toscan. "Well you're right, nice observational skills," I added.

I was just noticing it now but everyone seem to have stopped moving ever since I conversed with this bird-o.

The toscan male suddenly bent on his waist to get a better look on my face. "You're not from here aren't you?" he asked.

I rolled my eyes and snorted. "No, I'm from here. My mother kept me in a cell because of shame. I had birth defects. Nice beak you got there. I wish I was born with one so I wouldn't be so different."

The toscan male yanked the bag containing his purchase from the female toscan assisting him without breaking eye contact with me. "Watch your tongue boy or one day you'll find it plucked out from that pretty little head of yours."

The big and bulky males standing behind him snickered in amusement and I gave him a deadpan of a stare.

The female toscan who was assisting me came to my side and pulled me to her body.

Why was she so afraid for me?

"I'm so sorry for this Skrooth but please spare the boy!"

Why would she even beg for me?

Skrooth let out an annoyed "hmph" before saying: "I'll spare him but he needs to beg first."

What annoying mortals...

"I don't need your sparing but how about some sparring?" I challenged.

Shit.

I didn't notice that this bird-o got to my nerves.  My pride as a God had been tarnished and I was suddenly starting a blood bath. My hands were already trembling with excitement but the male toscan must have interpreted it as fear.

I can't wait to kill you! I mean, ah wait—

"Ready to pee on your pants?" he mocked.

The toscan female squeezed me and released a nervous laugh. "Oh silly boy! Such a silly boy! We should really find your mother."

Woman if only you knew.

"What's the average lifespan of toscans?" I suddenly asked.

"Ah? Oh um eighty years old?" she replied.

I hummed and turned around from them before taking the bag of bread on the table that was for me. "I won't waste my time playing with children."

I must take my leave now before things get out of hand. I don't want to start an upheaval on the first planet that I visited.

The female toscan chased me and I turned around to pay my respects to the woman who stood up for me no matter how much it annoyed me. "Wait! I cannot let such a young boy wander about. Where's your mother?"

"Don't worry about me," I assured her. "You should worry more about the people around me," I added.

I honestly did not know my own capabilities and how much disaster I can cause.

"You should stay with us until your mother finds you. Skrooth and his gang are the terror in this village and they pay no mercy to anyone whether it may be woman or child and especially now as you have caught his attention," she explained.

I waved my hand in dismissal. "It's really fine. I can handle myself. I'm not as fragile as I look," I laughed.

Multiple gasps and screams ruptured out and everyone was pointing at the sky. A blazing asteroid was rushing down the village and the toscans began to pack their things in a hurry to leave.

Why were they leaving? It was just an asteroid and besides, we were in spirit forms.

"It's a ghosteroid!"

Oh. The universe sure was full of surprises.

The female toscan and I were separated from the rushing people and I didn't bother moving from my spot seeing that I had nothing to pack with me anyway. All of the villagers poured out of the village and I waited for the ghosteroid to crash to test if Gods can be harmed by such. I fished out a piece of bread from the bag and pushed it pass my lips before having my Godly senses kick in.

I did think that I was the only one here however; I heard a cry of an infant.

My eyes narrowed and I darted my gaze at a basket placed on the ground in front of a door. Were these people serious? They brought all their material things that can bring them profit but left their child to be taken by the hit of an asteroid? I pulled the blanket off of the basket and confirmed that there was indeed a toscan in it.

"What are you waiting for?" I heard Guardian's voice spoke through my head catching me off guard.

"Guardian?"

"You will be unharmed by that ghosteroid but the infant will perish. Do something worthwhile other than challenging morons on the street."

"What should I do?" I asked him.

"I don't know; maybe hugs and kisses will make the ghosteroid disappear or maybe just sit with the baby and give each other pats of reassurance that maybe someday the world will be good."

The ghosteroid was fast approaching and all I had was a bunch of bread in hand and a sarcastic Guardian nagging on my ears with his useless advice. Can you blame me? I was locked inside the hoosegow for years because of not killing and destroying things like  I was supposed to.

"Or you know maybe yell "Stop! Disappear you vile rock!"

"Guardian!" I screamed at my sarcastic parental figure.

Two thin and long swords materialized in my hands and I grasped the shafts tightly. The blades released a purple hue of air which grew in blaze just as my excitement heightened.

"If you still don't know what to do with that then just carve my ass on wood and place it on the grave of the infant."

A grin spread across my lips and I leaped up in a soaring height in an absurd velocity. I raised my blades above my head and as if my body was already practiced on destroying things with style, I drilled myself inside the ghosteroid and broke above it. I flipped in midair and I swished my blades below me creating waves of piercing winds which heightened the flames of the ghosteroid but broke it into tiny little pieces causing it to rain with flamed rocks.

I think I made it worse.

"Corlos!" I heard Kogen from below and found him waving at me with the infant in his arms. To my surprise the tiny rocks bounced on the invisible barrier covering the village and it caused me to question why I even tried.

I landed back on the village and met up with Kogen who was carrying the sleeping infant in his arms. "There was a barrier?" I asked.

"Yes, but it couldn't have protected the village from a ghosteroid with that size," he informed me. "Nice save," he praised.

The villagers returned and gathered around us and each offered us with gifts and gratitude that I didn't need but was forced to take because Kogen told me that it would be rude to not accept.

The female toscan from before squeezed through the crowd and immediately lifted me up from the ground. "Oh what a brave young man!"

More female toscans crowded around me and began to fuss about my looks and strength. 

"Oh please peck me brave  warrior!"

"I will bear your eggs!" 

"Bear my what?" I asked in confusion.

Kogen whispered the answer to my ear and I immediately cringed. "No thank you, I was born with impotence."

It was my first time being adored like this when all my life I was resented by the other Gods for being different. It was a taste new to my tongue but this was wasn't entirely sweet; it had a bitter aftertaste because of a few people who weren't fond of my actions.

I ignored the looks that Skrooth and his friends were giving me and followed Kogen who was being entertained by toscan females.

No matter where you go, no matter how much of a good person you are, it will never change the fact that you can't please everyone because not everyone had the same tenet and sentiment as you.

"Be cautious Corlos; the universe still has many surprises for you."

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A/N: HELLO MY TWINKIIIIIIIIES. I'm sorry for my absence. I hoped ya enjoyed the chappie. Muah.