The girl, who had previously only been able to see black, could now see white. White, with a roundtable in the middle. A roundtable with thirteen seats, each with a little animated decoration at its head. A roundtable with each seat but one being occupied.
On one side of the empty seat was an old man with white hair and beard but whose face could not be seen. He wore an all-white suit and had a cane next to him. He gave off a holy aura, so holy that even those who believed in nothing would do nothing but kneel before him. His chair's decoration was a cross with a crescent moon on top and a six-sided star within the crescent moon.
Next to the old man was a demon, with the widest of grins and the deadliest horns, giving off an aura of smug authority and rebellion. He was staring directly at the old man, something the old man apparently wasn’t registering. He took a glance at the girl before going back to his non-existent staring contest, which brought shivers to her spine. The decoration on his chair was a pitchfork, with a fire burning at its tip.
The next two people seemed to be a pair, with one being a bearded man with a spear leaned on the table next to him, and the other a woman wearing a veil over her face, with scars almost everywhere on her exposed body, almost as if she was burnt. Both seemed like they were out of ancient Japan. Although the man was being given the cold shoulder, it felt like there was more to this relationship. The man’s decoration was the number 1,500, whilst the woman’s decoration was the number 1,000, both numbers written in Japanese kanji.
Next to the two was a woman, listlessly looking at the empty void, occasionally replying to the others when talked to. Despite being shaped like a woman, her body was made out of space, galaxies being created and destroyed, colliding with others or straight up missing. Whatever that existed in her body seemed to be chaos itself. Her decoration was a circle with eight arrows coming out of it, all pointing in different directions, constantly changing length.
There was another who, despite being present in this oppressing atmosphere, was peacefully sleeping. However, the occasional tumble from it and the white void would briefly change colour, almost as if its dream was about this very space. Their decoration was an abstract creature with Zs coming off it, surrounded by some more abstract creatures circling it, almost as if it were a dance.
Next to the sleeping one was a fairy with a high mighty aura, that of a queen, with a face of complete boredom, as if this was a place where she couldn’t do what she wanted. Although not paying attention to the table's goings-on, she occasionally looked at the summoned girl, giving a mischievous smile. Her decoration was a fairy with a crown, whose wings occasionally fluttered.
Next was a man with a pyjama cap and an umbrella, but what was more peculiar was his skin and hair made of golden dust. Although it was faint, there was a stream of golden dust connected to the person sleeping at the table, almost as if the man could see into its dream. His decoration was a cloud, with tiny clouds under it, making it seem like a dream bubble from comics.
The next person sat with the regality of a king and the sun's heat. Almost as if he were competing with the others, like his pride was on the line, his aura gave off the most power, which made the girl scared of him the most. His decoration was that of an ankh, with a burning sun on top of it, fully animated with flares coming out.
Next to the bright man was a dryad, whose top half was blooming with green, but if one were to look further down, the more dead her skin would look. This however was not her most peculiar feature, as along her lap was a giant snake, whose jaws were attached to her thighs, and its body wrapped around her bottom half. Her decoration was a giant tree, with locations all over the place. There were locations at its roots, in the middle, at each branch end, and just below its leaves.
Next was what appeared to be a normal human, or as normal one could get at this table. However, should one further inspect, they would see that her hair were squid tentacles and dressed in pirate garb. She is silent, only observing the others, almost as if instincts are telling her she should not move in the slightest. Her decoration was that of a ship being crushed by giant tentacles.
The last was a being that could only be described as a cloak. Nothing could be said about its appearance with no skin visible and just a cloak being its clothing. What can be noted is the scythe on its back, almost twice the height of it, and its decoration, which was a skull.
The masked, cloaked person proceeded to face the girl. “Come, Evelyn, we have much to talk about. All of us.”
The cloak pointed at the empty chair, clearly wanting the girl to sit upon it. The chair itself was like all the others. A simple, wooden chair with an animated decoration at its head. This chair's decoration was constantly changing, originally being a witch’s hat, to a maid outfit, to a fedora with a snake wrapped around it, to a ninja mask and kunai, to a cowboy hat and poncho. The only element that stayed the same was a female figure that wore or held whatever the decoration showed.
The masked one started talking again. “Evelyn, let us tell you who each of us are and why we brought you here. It has something to do with that self-made Pantheon of yours.”
The only thing going through the mind of the girl at this moment was a simple question. How did I get here?
Arslein· Mar 22, 2020
roundtables
