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“At last, we’ve made it!”
The group of natives cheered, but then they quieted down in an instant. Their great god was sleeping, and they didn’t want to wake him up. The final destination of the great god was a mystery too. He usually erected statues of himself in cities or villages with abundant amounts of people; however, right now, the great god was sleeping underneath a golden statue in the middle of a field. There wasn’t a soul in sight—except for the path creators, of course. There were hundreds upon thousands of them, most of them looking weary. They had cleared a path nonstop: cutting down trees in the way, removing the tall wild grass, placing down logs to line the empty plains, but now, it seemed like it was over.
The leaders of the endeavor chattered amongst themselves with the help of several translators. One of them stepped forward and addressed the men behind. “This is going to be the location of our holy city!”
The same announcement was made several times in different languages. One of the more rational path creators raised his hand and shouted, “But there’s no water! If this was a good place to settle a city, there would already be a city here!”
The leader of the natives froze. Then he broke out into a smile. “That isn’t an issue! Haven’t you seen? The great god can spew out ice from its mouth. An abundant amount of water is already pouring out, do you not see?” He pointed at the sleeping god. A snot bubble was growing out of its nostril, and underneath the bubble, there was a torrent of drool pooling into a large puddle by its head.
“That’s drool.”
“That’s a great god’s drool!” The leader pointed at the man who spoke out. “Is a great god’s drool not good enough for you!?”
“That’s, that’s not what I meant,” the man said. He trembled when everyone glared at him. “I just mean to say, there’ll only be water whilst the great god sleeps! And is there enough for everyone here? There simply isn’t.”
“When the great god wakes up, he’ll bless us with abundant amounts of water!” the leader shouted, forgetting he was supposed to keep quiet to prevent the great god from awakening. “The great god hasn’t rested in months. It wanted to unite all of its people. Now that it has stopped and brought us to paradise, are we going to turn it down and leave? If so, what was the point of building all the roads? I declare, this new city shall be named Where God Sleeps!”
Meanwhile, four elementals were sitting atop the so-called god, staring down at the gathered natives in the form of different-colored rocks. Beside them, there was a spirit rabbit, translating the words coming from below. Upon hearing the natives wanted water, three of the four elementals turned to stare at Mistle. She swiveled her rocky body back and forth, meeting their gazes. “What?”
“They want water,” Sheryl said, staring at Mistle with her coallike eyes.
Mistle was unfazed. “So?”
“You can provide them water,” Sheryl said, still staring.
Mistle snorted. “If they want to get married, I can marry them too, but does that mean I should?”
“That’s different!” Sheryl said and puffed her rocky cheeks out. “Giving them water doesn’t cost you anything! Marriage does.”
Mistle rolled her eyes and waved her sticklike arm. A jet of water flew out of Vur’s back and splashed the leaders of the natives. “There,” she said, ignoring their yelps. “I gave them water.”
“No,” Sheryl said, drawing out the word and shaking her head. “Not like that. You’re supposed to give them a whole lake! Maybe even a river that leads into the ocean. How are they going to build a city around a little splash like that?”
“They should’ve thought of that before deciding to build a city here,” Mistle said and crossed her arms. “I’m a very prudent person, and I can’t help but look down on those who aren’t. I’m not going to help people who haven’t thought to help themselves.”
“But Mistle,” Sheryl said and tugged on one of the ocean elemental’s arms. “They need your help. If I were an ocean elemental instead of whatever kind of fire elemental I am now, I’d totally give them water!”
“Well, I’m not you,” Mistle said and sniffed, turning her head away. The spirit rabbit stared at her before placing its furry, misty paw on her shoulder. Mistle stiffened and pursed her rocky lips. The rabbit placed its other paw on her shoulder as well. Mistle sighed. “Alright, alright. I’ll give them some water.” She glanced at Diamant. “If you want me to give them a lake, then you have to dig out a hole.”
“If you dare help her, I’ll erode you away, Deedee!” Zilphy said, finally speaking up.
“Don’t be like that, Zilphy,” Sheryl said and released Mistle, grabbing onto the gust elemental instead. “You can’t let personal grudges prevent you from helping those in need.”
Zilphy pouted, and she turned her body to the side. The spirit rabbit hopped over and placed its furry paw on her arm. It stared at her with sparkling eyes that were wet with tears. Zilphy gulped, and the rabbit pawed at her again. Like Mistle, a sigh escaped from Zilphy’s mouth. “Fine. You can help her, Deedee.”
Diamant stared at the rabbit as if it were a pile of gold. At last, there was something out there that could mediate between Zilphy and Mistle. With a bounce in his step, Diamant walked to the edge of Vur’s body and waved his arms. The brown rune on Vur’s foreleg glowed, and the ground rumbled as it caved in, revealing a pit that was two hundred meters deep. The natives shouted and scattered, but they stopped running once water flowed out of Vur’s back, filling in the pit.
The native’s leaders exchanged glances with each other. “The great god has heard our wishes! The new city name shall be Where God Sleeps and Listens!”