Orphan

[Caira Ayryn]

Here it was. The clean, glassy, and infinite surface of the sky, the boundless light that spanned as if the sun were aglow by a giant star.

The Oververse.

Caira rejoiced and it showed in the dance of her quickening step. So this is what it all came down to, right? She found herself standing on a plume of cloud and her muscles seized in fear. She was still, undeniably afraid of heights. After a few serious tests, Caira announced her arrival by doing a huge jump off of the ground. She landed, and the cloud remained thick and sticky, while it leaked out a few wisps of white on her collision.

It was sturdy enough, she decided, and began her journey, targeting the giant golden city that beamed on the horizon.

[Caira Ayryn]

The Knight of Camelot and bounty hunter was greeted by a strange looking creature whose features she could not quite define by simply using words.

Caira couldn't help finding herself shaking a tad out of fear, and put on a well-plastered smile as she almost didn't ask it directions. With a simple motion, she was directed onward. The prime nodded and response, and couldn't help but feel curious as to if these Angels were Primes, or if they were secondaries, anointed with the highest possible award: They got to live in the Oververse.

Caira wondered why it all existed as she made her way across the land. With every hopping pounce, more wisps came from her feet. Even though her fears had invigorated her heart rate, and made the rush of her blood seem like it had nothing but canals and skin to bind it in, she was surprised that she found herself having fun with it.

The Oververse was a strange place, after all.

The girl continued to traverse the land, her eyes swept across the land, and her thought nagged at the back of her mind. Meanwhile surges of curiosity, and a flurry of other emotions stabbed at her. She attempted to gulp down her insecurities, and failed.

The Oververse.

She reminded herself after a while, but every time she seemed to close her eyes, she saw Merik's face. If Caira hadn't been raised in a monastery, she probably would have cursed his name. But no, she had plans for him, that is, if she ever saw that backstabber's face again.

Bury me alive in a coffin! It was terrible!  Almost died. What an ordeal that would have been. Of course, primes aren't supposed to die here, but I'm sure they can. The lucky cat on her shoulder seemed to hear her qualms, and to soothe her nerves he brushed his furry cheek against hers and purred. As if reminding her that these were all questions for Omni. And that she was finally here.

There it was.

The glowing streaks of light and gold below her feet all led in a distinctive web to what Caira thought resembled the deity's chair.

Suddenly she stopped in her tracks. 'Did she want to know the answers to the questions she would ask? Would he even answer them? Would he be able to save her home? Save their lives?' she had come all this way, but working for the goal now seemed much easier than the final task. The prime took a few breathes, and couldn't quite tell what lay before her.

Omni's face, everything since the beginning of her existence here flashed in her mind, and then, everything before.

The girl stood there, on the way to Omni, in the middle of her course and deliberated for what seemed like an eternity. She could go back. But back to what?

She didn't have to meet him. The face she once saw as she teleported to this place could have been a mask, after all it didn't have eyes. He could even be a husky for all she knew.  

But really, it wouldn't matter. Because not only was Omni now just a stroll away from her –or at least seemed to be– she was a just stroll away from him too.

...

There was really no "deciding" factor in what made her take the next brave step toward him, not one that could be defined by a single, straightforward emotion.

Another short moment passed and the girl had sauntered closer to the God than ever before. Her pace ever faltered, nor her eyes never wavered.

As she approached Omni, his face grew more distinguished against the white light of the background sky. His lack of eyes made it seem like he was staring right into her flesh. As her footsteps took her near, she finally slowed to a small halt ten feet away from him, and gracefully collapsed to the ground.

She sat cross-legged and looked up at him, her expressions mixed for a while, from confusion, to traces of tense fear, and then finally, her eyes held on where his would be, with simple, pure, and unadulterated awe.

[Omni]

Omni held up an open palm. “Hello, Caira.” His voice resonated off the gold walls. “You’ve come a long way.”

[Caira Ayryn]

Her violet eyes glittered and wavered, looking at him and only him.

It was stupefying. He knew her name. On the other hand, this was no surprise. She blinked and regained a breath, but just when her lips finally came to say something, the words would not come.

[Omni]

After a pause. “Finding me is not exactly something that one does on a whim. You must have reasons. Since we’re here, why don’t you elucidate for me?”

[Caira Ayryn]

"OH um, you're quite right!" Of course he was right, he was Omni. The girl really should have prepared a list or something, rather than seem disrespectful for not speaking up immediately to who she assumed to be the creator of this universe.

Instead however, there was a swarm of thoughts in her mind, one which she had trouble sorting. As though blindly sticking her hand in a dark crevice, she finally plucked one at random.

"Can I ever return home?"

[Omni]

“That would be difficult,” said Omni. “As in your home world, you died. You’re not that you any more. You’re a new you.”

[Caira Ayryn]

The girl's ears perked. Her jaw hung low, as though paralleling the ground as she muttered to herself. "I died." In the next instant, she voiced her thoughts louder as she asked Omni.

"Did they... My people... Did they at least make it?"

Her violet eyes were bright and luminescent as they shimmered with shades of sorrow. She paused, and thought of her own death. It was easy to bring the image to her mind, despite it being so long ago.

[Omni]

“They survive the meteors, yes.”

[Caira Ayryn]

The new knowledge slammed into her like a ton of bricks. Caira had saved her planet in her last effort, but it seemed it was at the sacrifice of herself. Still, she tried to stay on task, and remember she was in front of the deity said to have made the Omniverse.

She wanted the truth. And so much of it. A kernel of information seemed to have been dropped, among what was more or less factual history.

"Alright," she collected her scattered thoughts, "Did you really create this world? The Omniverse that you say the new me inhabits."

[Omni]

"Yyyyyeeeeesssss."

[Caira Ayryn]

Caira looked at the gleam in his smile, and his lack of eyes. Her 'ability' wouldn't work on him for that reason, but the possibility did come to mind. She wondered what body structure Omni had, if there was anything peculiar about the way the being's body functioned, or if she would even be able to sense it. She inched closer, curiously, and intrigued still to see how he would respond to her next question...

"And how do I know you are telling the truth?"

It was not meant in a disrespectful way, but the way someone older would question an adorable child who still had crumbs left on his shirt from a secret trip to the cookie jar.

[Omni]

"Hey, I never said I was telling the truth. It was your choice to assume I was. Maybe you're just having a bad dream, hm?" He stuck his pink tongue out.

[Caira Ayryn]

"So then... You don't know about my parents?" Caira's eyes wobbled, as her real motive for being here was revealed.

[Omni]

Smiling, Omni brought his hands together, then separated them palms-up. "What do you want to know?"

[Caira Ayryn]

Her brow flexed, how did she know he was telling the truth?! After a moment she realized she had to trust him, she had made it this far, and if anyone knew about her parents, it would be Omni himself.

Omni. That was who she was talking to, she reminded herself, "Who were they? What did they do? How did we get... Separated?"

These may have been foolish questions, and surely there were better things to ask and say to the great Omni, but nothing was more important to Caira than learning the origins of her history and of her name.

[Omni]

Omni took a moment, it seemed, to ponder. His mouth balled up into a single dot as it moved to the side. Then: "It's probably easier if I just restore your memory. How about that?"

[Caira Ayryn]

"Restore my memory? What will that do..?"

Caira was curious, now more than ever. One, it would dissuade her own skepticism that the playful deity was telling the truth, but on the other hand, she didn't think there was anything to forget. Questions were swarming her mind, faster than usual, and Caira could only endure them as she waited, or rather, hoped, for an explanation.

[Omni]

"Restore your memory?" Omni smiled blankly. "It'll ... restore your memory."

[Caira Ayryn]

Caira felt the brief urge to chuckle bubble from her stomach. A little of the light tune rolled from the butterflies, past her throat, and out her lips. But it was a serious moment, so she strained to keep herself on task. "Well, yes," the girl's expression turned into a worried fret, "But I haven't forgotten anything..."


Caira could very much remember her childhood, she had been brought up with monks. The rest of the town more or less feared her, so she was put to work as a guardian for the state, and apprenticed under a loyal warrior for the town. That was, until he died in the line of battle, leaving her on her own to face the threats that the city would face, only with the demeaning guards who thought that Caira should be exiled beyond the walls, something that would mean certain death. She thought of all the trials and tribulations. Perhaps it was all a lie. What if her memories were not her own? But they felt real, and now it seemed only Omni held the key to unlocking you secret. Caira tried to look as willing as possible, and passing through her mind were the subtle thoughts of not only her own struggles, but what of Omni's?