Mad GodBook I - A New BeginningIt was a sunny and warm spring afternoon. The blue sky was dotted with small patches of white, fluffy clouds drifting about, without a care for the happenings on the ground or above the heavens. The soft winds gently pushed them around as they also caressed the leaves of the trees below, along with the faces of children pying in the lush fields.

  Peddlers traveled the dirt roads while farmers worked in their lords' fields. In the big cities, people shuffled around like busy ants while guards yawned, standing on the walls and leaning on their pikes like bored statues of false vigince.

  Ministers were indulging in their maidservants' bosoms, even before the night had fallen, while the same was happening next to the docks' red light districts, where the huge, anchored cargo ships' sailors were having fun before heading back out. It was their most beloved pastime after a long journey on the endless waters, from which they may never come back.

  This day was the same as every other before it. For the world, up in the north, a blizzard was waging its never-ending war with the mountain rocks. In the west, the endless dunes were trying to gobble up the horizon; somewhere on the eastern steppes, two tribes were waging a bloody battle, and the fields were soaked with the blood of men and horses by the thousands.

  That's when it happened. It wasn't loud; it wasn't powerful; it was like someone tearing up a sheet of paper. It was soft, quiet, and unimportant, yet everyone heard it. Bugs stopped moving; birds ceased their constant singing; a wolf pack was just about to hunt down their prey, but now they were lying on the ground, frozen.

  The waves on the ocean seemed to stop. It became calm, like the surface of a giant mirror. The battle on the steppes quickly halted, and the moaning of the injured under their dead horses ceased, as they couldn't let out even a whimper. Even the most vigorous sailor went limp while looking out the window as their eyes followed the sound to its source.

  Everyone saw the same. Be it the lord of a country, an emperor of a dynasty, the beggar on the biggest church's steps, or just a cat zily soaking up the sun's warmth, lying on a porch. The scene that followed that sound… no, not sound, that feeling... Yes... the feeling as it was… The one that was felt all around the entire Realm, by every living being, deep within their soul. It was beautiful yet horrifying.

  No matter where they stood, whether they were born blind or deaf, they were still sharing the feeling it gave.

  The Tear in the Sky.

  It was as if two invisible hands tore a giant hole into reality itself, revealing what was behind the veil that no mortal's eyes should ever pierce. The chaotic space was filled with indigo mists and constant purple and red lightning bolts. At first, it was without sound, but not for long. The howling arrived quickly after, followed by the otherworldly wind… The wind didn't move any trees or even a bde of grass, but it still knocked people and animals off their feet, blowing through their flesh, bathing them in essence, and stirring their souls into action.

  "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

  Rumbled a shout through the whole Realm, deep and coarse, like two metal scraps grinding against each other.

  "YOU'VE GONE MAD!

  Another voice came, feminine, charming… but cold. So cold.

  "You are always quick to call me that!" echoed a chuckle as a simple reply. It was... a cheerful voice. One that carried extreme satisfaction.

  Above the heavens, where no mortal's eye could see, a man in a long, bck garment was right below the Tear in the Sky. His white hair hung loosely behind his back. His red eyes were calm and collected, like nothing was happening to him or to the Realm. His hands were hanging beside him, useless and torn to shreds, while his golden-purple blood was slowly dripping down his fingertips. Before those precious drops could fall downwards, though, the Tear above him gobbled them up, defying gravity and the ws of nature.

  In front of him stood another somewhat skinny man in tight-fitting leather armor. His bald head was decorated with scars; on his back, he wore a battered, rusty sword that looked like it was about to disintegrate at any moment.

  To his left stood a young woman wearing an elegant, long, green dress. It covered most of her body, but still, it couldn't hide her almost perfectly shaped, sculpture-like body. Her bck, long hair flew freely behind her while her deep blue, starry eyes watched him with cold, baleful anger.

  Soon, another pair arrived, wearing just as severe expressions, walking out of thin air, materializing from nothing. The boy and girl had simir faces, looking no more than fourteen, both wearing bright red outfits, a color often associated with schors and priests amongst mortals. Their green eyes widened with shock as they gazed at the Tear, their blond hair dancing behind them and their murderous auras rising.

  “H-how… why…?” The young girl asked, but her voice was much older than her looks suggested.

  "With my hands," came the clear answer, almost like a joke between family members.

  "You've gone mad!" said the young boy, drawing his eyes to the white-haired man, watching him like an executioner would watch his prisoner.

  "Yeah, I heard that before," the one who was being surrounded answered. He just shrugged, then rolled his eyes before scanning them again and giving a wide smile. "You are all afraid. Afraid of what comes next. You would watch the world stag-"

  But he couldn't finish his words as the bald man, moving like lightning, stabbed his rusty sword through his chest. The bde was like a sponge eating up his blood the moment it had shed it, not allowing the Tear to suck it up before it could.

  "Quick!" The green-robed woman shouted, flying past them towards the Tear in the Sky as soon as her bald counterpart made his move. The twins followed her just a step behind, forming a triangle around her. Their bodies were emitting bright lights that tried to cover the Tear and pull it together, albeit very slowly.

  "It's too te. I tore it open, and now the Realm has been blessed. Even if you close it now, the pure energy behind the Sky will seep into the world!"

  Nobody said anything. The bald man held the sword firmly while the white-haired man's skin started to crack and dry up. He did nothing to stop it from happening, just watching the others as if it were a show. The other three seemed like they were going to be able to patch the Sky as the Tear was slowly closing, but every one of them felt that he was right.

  It would never be the same.

  The chaotic energy continued to swirl through the Tear, repeatedly washing over the Realm. Some people were getting back to their feet after the initial wave, but others were clutching their heads or their stomachs, moaning. They felt as if millions of animals were stampeding through their veins. Animals were groaning and howling around the world, feeling the same sensation, and trees swayed without wind, their roots growing dozens of meters by the minute. Fishes under the ocean started swimming in weird formations while their previously glossy eyes were now filled with actual intelligence.

  "You can call me mad… I'll take that title and make it my own then," the white-haired man said, looking into the Tear that was slowly closing thanks to the effort of the three. But he was still smiling...

  "Shut. Up." The bald one groaned, twisting his bde in his chest, but the only reaction he got was an even wider grin while he slowly raised his bloodied hands.

  "We were gods for eons. I ascended after all of you, yet it was still so long ago I forgot how the world looked when I was nevertheless walking its fields. You are content... I am not. You are pleased to maintain the status quo and settle for mediocrity. I am– Ugh… What? Twisting it again because I'm right?"

  He ughed mockingly, and his red eyes started to glow much brighter while the bald one tried twisting his sword to shut him up. Yet... feeling something was off, the bald man's eyes became more severe than they had been before. Without waiting, he decisively pulled out his sword, teleporting backward, while the dried-up skin on the white-haired man started to crack and glow. It was quickly causing simir cracks to appear around him in space... It wasn't the same as the Tear in the Sky, but those wound-like cracks were still terrifying, even to the Gods.

  "You call yourself Gods. Laughable! You are tyrants who sealed the Realm and stripped it of its energy! Gobbling it up by yourselves! So that you stop the birth of more... more of Us!"

  "Don't you dare call yourself the same as the US!" the green-clothed dy barked at him while they were still closing up the Sky, and the Tear was getting smaller and smaller. Their faces were pale, and their clothes were getting soaked by sweat... They no longer remembered these feelings that appeared in their minds. Fear? Exhaustion? They didn't feel it for eons. Supposedly, only mortals were affected by these ailments, but now it washed over them as they hoped to fix something that could not be restored.

  "Yes, yes… I'm mad… I know… And I'll gdly be Mad one more time. You suppress even your factions, pnting false hope in them, but not letting anyone reach OUR level anymore. You fear others will appear. You fear they will be stronger. Good! Remember that feeling. Because from now on, in just a few millennia ter, Gods will rise, and then, THEY will reopen the Sky to go further than any of Us!"

  He said, and while he started to ugh, he pced his hands on his chest.

  "STOP!"

  They screamed almost instantly, but everything happened in a fsh. He jabbed his fingers into the hole in his chest, tearing it apart while ughing so loudly it sounded like a thunderstorm from beyond the Heavens.

  The Tear that had just been patched up trembled, and a thin, golden-purple bloodline formed between It and his chest, more precisely between It and his God Crystal inside his chest. At the same time, his voice traveled around the Realm, ringing in every living being's soul.

  "My name is the Mad God. I opened the path for you… Now, walk on it! Stand up and start walking… because… it’s…”

  His voice grew fainter and fainter as his body began to disintegrate. In contrast, his God Crystal grew brighter and brighter, illuminating the entire Realm, even reaching underground to the earth or to the floor of the ocean.

  "FUN!"

  The Crystal, fed by the energy beyond the Sky and its own powers, reached its limit and shone brighter than anything for a second before going out like a candle... no explosion... no violent death. Just... gone. The bloodline between it and the Tear broke apart like a twig, while the God Crystal vanished like it never even existed.

  The quartet of Gods was standing there, watching each other, not speaking, not moving, and not even thinking. Their minds were empty, filled with one emotion, an emotion they felt vanquished so long ago. Fear. Fear of the unknown…

  …….…..

  On a snow-covered peak, three youngsters stood somewhere in the northern mountains, between sixteen and seventeen years old. There were two men and a woman. All three wore coarse clothing made from animal skin, typical of the tribes in the mountain ranges. But if someone looked at them closely, they could tell their skin was too perfect to be that of actual barbarians, without a blemish; their chestnut hair was silky and smooth, and their brown eyes were filled with vitality and power.

  "Master did it," said the girl with a soft, happy voice that would enchant anybody. "A new era is upon us!"

  "Yes," nodded the other two simultaneously, wearing smiles on their faces. "We need to be ready when he returns to us."

  "We will wait! No matter how long. We still have a lot of work to do, but we must be careful!"

  "Those four will watch everything, but Master was right. The energy behind the Sky is something even Gods can't see through."

  Said the younger-looking boy, raising his hand, which glowed with light purple-like energy before fading away. They took a st look at the Sky, and then all three vanished…

  Corty