Blobby's Arc

Chapter 4 of 4

One stone would never fill a temple. Blobby knew that on the flat rock, staring at the dark pool. So Blobby made a new plan. If worship could be stolen, Blobby would steal it. Across the ridge stood a temple already full of followers. Its master was the Sun God of Power. Blobby would learn how he did it, then take his crowd. The temple rose in white brick, capped with golden suns. Blobby crept up the cracked steps with Bobby close behind. Kyle came too, harpoon in hand, uninvited. "If you're building something," Kyle said, "I want to see the competition." Inside, the Sun God sat before a polished mirror. He was a yellow star blob wrapped in glowing light. Every corner of the temple was famous. He was the blob whose name lit the sky. Now he leaned close to the mirror, dimming and brightening his own aura, practicing. A messenger waited by the door. An interview, Blobby guessed. The star was making himself shine for it. "Wait outside," Blobby whispered. But Kyle shoved the door wide. It banged the wall. Three blobs spilled into the bright room. The Sun God turned. His aura flared. "You broke into my temple," he said. No fear. No question. "Speak. I am busy being adored." Blobby froze. The plan had been to watch quietly, to copy the trick. Now the trick stood glaring right at Blobby. "I came to learn," Blobby said. "How do you fill a temple? How do the crowds come?" The Sun God studied Blobby's soft white body. Then he laughed. "You want my worshippers. A marshmallow wants my sky." "I only wanted to see how it's done," Blobby said. "I will show you," the Sun God said. He lifted one bright arm toward a window. Beyond it stretched a dark stretch of land, cold and gray. "That corner used to feel my heat. Now it is dark. My light does not reach it anymore." His aura shrank a little as he spoke. "Worship is not filling a room. It is reaching the dark places others cannot. Fill your temple with a hundred stones. Empty light. They will leave you the moment a brighter thing appears." Blobby stood silent. The words landed hard. Kyle snorted. "So the famous star can't warm his own backyard." He hefted the harpoon. "Sounds like a job. Dark places, dangerous things. That's what I hunt." The Sun God's eyes sharpened. "You would go where my heat cannot?" "For a price," Kyle said, grinning. And Blobby saw it. Not stones. Not stolen crowds. The way to be worshipped was to light the dark corner the Sun God had failed. Reach the place the famous god could not. "Then that is what I'll do," Blobby said. "I'll bring light where you couldn't." The Sun God's aura flickered. For the first time, the famous star said nothing.