Chapter 104: Atonement Through Eternal Solitude
Beneath the temple's shattered dome, a bright bonfire burned. For the first time in thousands of years, there was a flicker of life in this place.
The firelight stretched their shadows, casting them onto the cracked walls. The murals were now faded and indistinct, and the statues were broken and worn, but you could still just make out the form of a goddess: Eges, the Goddess of Procreation, the being they had once faced.
The smoke from the burning wood drove away some of the dampness. Eirik and Somme were resting, leaning against a pillar. Norne was writing in his grimoire. With Rhodes's help, the book was coming along smoothly. It wouldn't be long now. The first human grimoire.
Serie was sitting in a corner, a little distance away, a book open on her lap. She had already finished all the grimoires from the dwarven ruins; this was one she had requested from the Elven King before they left. It contained magic she had never seen before.
Rhodes sat beside her, occasionally adding a log to the fire.
Just a short while ago, he had told Olivia everything about the true and false goddesses. She had been silent for a long time, her eyes vacant as she stared into the flames. To think, there was no 'true' or 'false', that the Goddess she had worshipped and the usurper were one and the same... The Goddess of Life and the Goddess of Procreation shared the same authority, just with a different approach to the creation of life. And the conflict between them had started because of her own people, the Sky-Winged.
After a long silence, she finally spoke. "Lord Rhodes," she said, her voice soft. She had reverted to her formal address, a sign that she had something important to say. "When this is all over, no, when we have defeated the Goddess of Procreation, I will persuade the Goddess of Life to let the Sky-Winged leave this world."
Rhodes paused, his hand still on a log. He looked up at her. Even Serie turned to look.
Olivia did not shy away from their gazes, her holy eyes filled with a new resolve. "This war has gone on for too long, and we have lost too much. The council is in shambles, our warriors all but gone."
She had once thought she would follow the commands of the Goddess without question, just as her fallen predecessors had done, to live and die for glory. But after all that had happened, her faith, her very being, had been changed. "The Sky-Winged were a race born for war. And though our people have dwindled and the war is almost over, the sins we have committed will not be erased."
Her gaze drifted up to the massive hole in the temple's dome, as if she could see the Divine Strike descending once more, a scene of utter devastation, all life extinguished, just as it had been for her own people. Only after having suffered the same fate could one truly reflect on their actions.
"As you can see, the ruins of this temple are a testament to that. We are not as holy and pure as we claimed to be. We just blindly followed orders, without ever questioning their truth."
"I think..." Rhodes began, but the words caught in his throat.
No matter how he might try to defend her, the fact remained that the Sky-Winged's reputation in the Age of Myth was not a good one. They had destroyed many races. If not for the demons being even more brutal, more uncommunicative, the elves and the dwarves would have never allied with them.
Olivia continued. "Our strength is no longer enough to remain in this world. To stay would only be to become the source of a new war, or to be once again swept up by some other will and repeat our mistakes. The rest of our people... I will persuade them to leave, to seek a new home."
Rhodes listened in silence. There was so much he wanted to say, but he didn't know where to begin.
"And you, Olivia?" Serie suddenly asked. "Will you go with them?"
Olivia shook her head. For some reason, Serie's gaze was unusually intense, but she decided to tell her the truth. "No. I will stay, alone, in the Heavenly Kingdom. I will atone for the sins of my people through an eternity of solitude."
She raised her hand and gently touched her stomach, feeling the connection between the magic circle within her and Rhodes. She was no longer a servant of the Goddess. The very power of her faith now flowed to him. If she were to go with her people, she would be seen as a heretic. She knew this. And so, she would stay in this world, in the Heavenly Kingdom, a final testament to the existence of her race. "Even if the Sky-Winged leave, the core of the Heavenly Kingdom will still function. I will stay there and be the last connection between it and this world, to prevent it from falling into the hands of the demons." She paused, her gaze once again falling on the ruined temple. "With my solitude, I will atone for the past sins of the Sky-Winged. This is the path of exile and redemption I have chosen for myself."
"Atonement," Rhodes repeated softly. "I have no right to forgive you on behalf of the races you have destroyed. But one who has no blood on their hands should not have to atone for the sins of others."
"But it is the only thing I can do." The life of a Sky-Winged was a long one. She didn't even know how long she would live. And in that long life, she needed something to live for. Sometimes, to bear a sin is to find a reason to live.
He was silent. In the end, all he could say was, "Let's talk about this after the war. And then, I will find a new path for you."
He couldn't just agree to her request. Perhaps he had his own selfish reasons. He wanted her not just to protect the Heavenly Kingdom, but the entire world. But he couldn't say that yet. Not until he had slain the god, and put an end to all of this.
As if sensing his complex emotions, Org began to glow, and another vision of the future flashed in his mind.
He saw himself, raising his sword against a majestic figure. He saw figures, more than one, being swallowed by an all-consuming black mud. He saw a person, setting out on a journey once more. And he saw a person, kneeling alone in an empty grand hall, praying.
The images flashed by too quickly for him to see them clearly, and with them, the unspoken words were also lost, until all that was left was the silent flow of time.
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The next chapter will be a thirty-year time skip. In the meantime, I'll be revisiting the Kraft-saves-the-world storyline from the original work.
(End of Chapter)
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