An entire history, condensed into a small story told before me – I couldn’t help but falter as I tried to understand all of its details. I stared at the Origin Goddess, who used to be a simple otherworlder named Sistina.
After she was betrayed by the other Claude that ‘I was oh so familiar with’, Sistina’s core was absorbed by the planet. By doing so, she had become the de facto goddess for the other side, a champion to replace the one they had defeated.
And after being sealed for many years, I had stumbled upon where she was imprisoned in the Divine Isles. I didn’t know if it was fortunate that she was standing before me, but at least, it seemed like she had the answers I needed.
Still, the gravity of all these events prior to my existence was hitting me like a ton of bricks. To think that I was a piece of the god that made me, raised merely to convert more of this planet into divine energy. All the help that I received from him made sense in that aspect. He needed me to succeed until his plan was realized.
And it had, with this current cycle.
His ultimate plan had come together. He had slain all the other gods, his former companions, to gain their respective powers. And now, he was pretty much untouchable.
“So… what now? He got his power and can go revive the Earth or something like he imagined. He got his wish after leaving everyone else in the dust. What happens to us now? To this planet called Leguardia?”
Sistina shook her head, looking quite remorseful.
“This planet has not long to live. The powers of the deities are now his, and he has left for Earth to restore it. With such a void in mana, the remaining life of this planet will dwindle to nothing. Maybe not immediately, but surely in the future.”
“Damn… So killing myself in the end didn’t stop him after all…”
“Claude the Architect took that power with him and warped to Earth. There was no need to cast his eyes back on a place that he didn’t call home.”
“And let me guess, now you don’t have enough to support what remains of Leguardia.”
“It is all that I can manage to hold together the sole continent that you and your friends lived upon. That which holds my name as a kingdom.”
“How did that end up happening anyways?” I chuckled. It seemed strange to name a kingdom after a sworn enemy of the planet.
“Believe it or not, there were people that held great grudges when the gods couldn’t prevent their homelands from perishing. Those that escaped and sought refuge where the ‘deviant goddess’ happened to lay – they became the cornerstone of a thriving people taking advantage of still blessed lands.”
A fraction of an entire planet was held together by the meager power of a lone goddess, cast away for being the sole person not strung along by Architect Claude’s plan. I finally realized it. Sistina had tried to reach all of our cores in an attempt to keep herself going. However, the divine power in our bodies from the Gods made the purple mana of the planet feel ‘evil’. It made us go berserk and distorted our desires and emotions.
Apparently, the ‘Ascension’ of the Electi was the final straw. We had converted that last bit of power bestowed from the planet into divine energy, which was then stolen by Architect Claude after Operation Godfall activated.
“Ha… powerless now that I am, what can I even do? Makes me wonder what knowing all of this will do any good now.”
“You’re wrong about that, Claude,” Eryn interjected. She spun me towards her, where I saw the same fiery passion that I had always known. “Didn’t you break free from my grip? Using the purple energy from your core, the power of the Origin Goddess, you tore yourself from the false reality that I imposed on you.”
“That? It pales in comparison to the power I had before. And what use is it against someone that has all the powers of the Divine Gods within himself?”
Eryn placed a hand over her heart, a boast that countered my statement.
“Not all of them. I still possess the Power of Life, that which was given to me by Cielle. And if there was no hope, then I doubt that Ms. Sistina here would have called upon me to bring you here. Isn’t that right?”
The Origin Goddess nodded lightly. She raised her hand up high, like she called forth something. Immediately, I felt the purple glow burst forth from within me. Turning to Eryn, I saw a similar cowl of energy around her.
“All these years. I have placed a part of myself in all of you. It was a seed of desperation. It started off small. But while all of you grew in strength, so did it. That power didn’t transfer to the higher plane each time you perished. But rather, it accumulated. Each cycle, each core reborn – the power of the planet within you all grew more intense. And even with the many measures of ‘cleansing’ yourself to be aligned with my former companions, that power could never be truly erased.”
“Cleansing oneself meant becoming ‘Ascended’, right? With everything we faced, it seemed like the normal thing to happen after passing a set of trials.”
“And who determines those trials, Claude? Who decides what is right and wrong? The box that you have molded yourself to believe is correct has been under the guidance of the very God that bestowed you that power. It is a test of recognition, a limiter to prevent you from acquiring too much power before proving your allegiance.”
I shook my head at that. Never would I have thought that proving oneself would create such a result.
“So, I’ve been tricked by the hand that gives the rewards.”
“Like everyone that has walked a similar as you. Power given freely is always taken for granted.”
“And what makes this power any different?” I pointed to myself with a cheeky grin. “You gave us this power, right? Wouldn’t that make you exactly the same?”
Sistina chuckled at that.
“Always the astute one. That hasn’t changed, even after millennia of incarnations… But your powers are your own, fostered by all your other selves. I have no control over them, as this power given can be neither good nor bad.”
At that moment, Eryn dove forward and grabbed Sistina in a hold. She brought her hand up to her neck and squeezed, like she was ready to smite the Origin Goddess where she sat.
Surprised, I panicked, wondering just what was going on. I expected Sistina to lash out at us, but she simply gave a resigned sigh.
“The powers you two hold now equal my own. And with your battle experience, I have no chance at winning. Kill me, and take my power. You have that freedom to choose. And if you so wish, you can go find the others, taking their powers into you. Only then, will you have the strength to stand against Claude the Architect. Defeat him and restore the mana where it belongs.”
I walked right up to Eryn and Sistina, placing a hand on them both. It was like she was giving me the option to go the same route as my other self, but I wasn’t buying it.
“You know full well that I’m not the type to go and kill my friends. So I’m going to wager that you mean something else. But at the least, that means that they exist somewhere on this world still.” I gave Eryn a sharp glare. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten what you hinted at.”
Eryn sighed and let go of Sistina, backing off.
“Yeah, yeah. I used my power to send all of you to sites all around the world. But I had no control over where they went, so they all scattered to who knows where.”
“The God of Life’s power is great, if limited in execution,” Sistina exclaimed. “I can feel where some are. Those you call ‘Electi’ have been restored into bodies on separate sites, placed in a fabricated environment much like one you awoke to. Others close to them have been granted a role by their side as well.”
My eyes lit up in surprise. A spark of hope rose from within my body.
“Then… they are all safe? We just need to seek them out and reunite with them?”
Sistina nodded, and for a moment, my heart felt full again. But then, she burst my bubble.
“However, they are the masters of their own domains. And there is no telling what to expect of their subconsciously created spaces. As drifting souls, you have no way of knowing what you will become when you step foot there.”
“Drifting souls?” Somehow, a sinking feeling came from me when I heard that.
“Where do you think we are, Claude?” Eryn sighed. “The higher plane. We both had to die and leave our bodies behind to come here. That’s what happened the moment we exited the site without any protection.”
“WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL-, I guess there was no easy way to put it, now that I think of it.”
“Aren’t you glad that your God left the planet, so you didn’t get absorbed into him?” Eryn poked me in jest. “But yes, this was the only way to show you the truth.”
“And you? You didn’t get absorbed by that God of Life, Cielle was it?”
“No. In my case, you had truly killed the very person that bonded with me. And when I stole back that power, it became my own.”
I recalled my fight with Eryn. I had somehow separated the wavelengths between Eryn and Cielle, directing my attack to only target the latter. Killing that God had granted me her power. But it was undeniable that Eryn had been given that power once and was attuned to it, making her the natural successor.
“Then, I guess that just means that we have to combine our powers once again. Now that we know who we are up against, we can be prepared. So let’s get going! I can’t wait to find everyone again!”
I looked back to Sistina, determined to get started with the next journey. With her power, we could invade a site where our friends were revived. However, there was no guarantee that I could bring them back. The environment was heavily tailored by its inhabitants and the shadow of each God that hung over it. We would have to dive into their subconscious and break them free from it. Just like how I had revived my powers by tearing free from the desire of a ‘perfect life’, they were hostages to a system that they were programmed with. The system that determined how they were raised as ‘heroes’.
But I didn’t care. We would take our chances and figure out a way to free them. We had to unchain our friends from the Gods that held them in place. I wanted to believe in the bonds we shared on this world. They were stronger than the ones that Claude the Architect tried to impose with his ‘plans’. And then, we would figure out a way to keep this planet alive.
“C’mon, Eryn. I know we can do this! As long as we’re together, we can overcome anything!”
I headed toward the portal that Sistina created to connect with the first site, pulling Eryn by the arm impatiently as I walked on. Suddenly, I felt her shake off my grip. Wondering what the matter was, I turned around to see her give me a thin smile.
A smile that was undoubtedly one of farewells.
“I’m sorry, Claude. But you’ll be fine without me. This is a path for you alone, an enemy that only your abilities can compare. That is why I’ll give my all to you.”
With that, Eryn dove forward and wrapped her arms around me. Even as mere spirits, I tasted her lips. I felt her body. Every inch of her spoke of one thing.
“I love you, forever.”
