“Why are you helping me?” I asked even though the elf only shot me an annoyed glance at first.
“Ask that the goddess.” She said and pointed towards someone I knew too well. Irminsul’s figure glowed a little greenish as she appeared in front of the elf. She looked sad … but that wasn’t enough for me.
“You … you promised me you would save my parents!” I said, anger slowly boiling up within me.
“I …” The goddess of life bit her lower lip in frustration. “I … Sofie, I only wanted to save you, and the only way of doing so was by separating you from your parents at all cost.” She claimed unhappily.
“You lied?! You could have … you could have asked your followers to fight these demons! You could have …” She was a goddess! How on earth was she struggling with saving a single girl like me, and why couldn’t she save more?
“Oh, my, you haven’t told her? How was this called again … World Charta article four: Gods may not interfere with the world except through an apostle. Sofie, you are her sole apostle on this world, you are her shot at influencing this world. Only one of us here follows her.” The elf mentioned without caring about what the goddess did.
“Then why … why did you safe me, and solely me?” I asked in despair.
“I lost fifty of my most capable men just because you refused to jump out of that damn window alone. Do you really think we were capable of saving anyone except you when we got out of that mess with nineteen unwounded soldiers?”
“I … then why me? I´m not any special to anyone except the goddess.” I muttered, just barely holding back my tears.
“I will not let you die, Sofie.” The goddess said firmly. “I will do whatever it takes to keep you alive, no matter the price … a price I will pay in the near future. I am incredibly sorry what happened to your family. I wish for this world to be a better place, but sadly, it isn´t. If there is anything I can do for you with my limited strength on this planet, you only need to tell me.” At least she admitted that she couldn’t do much … which was even worse for me.
“Bring my parents back.” I demanded.
“That is …” She turned her head towards the right and avoided my gaze entirely for several seconds. “… sadly not possible. The dead do not come back, Sofie.”
“Then leave me alone!” I said angrily and turned around. I didn´t want to see her. Maybe, she didn´t do anything wrong … but she still lied to me. Furious and sad at the same time, I walked back towards the camp and laid down on the grass. For several minutes, I couldn’t sleep at all until the elf came back to the camp, only to lay down near her horse and close her eyes. Nobody was keeping watch as I closed my eyes as well, probably because the goddess could tell exactly if there were any demons around.
And thus, I wept myself into sleep slowly but surely. My lids got heavier with time until I couldn’t open them anymore. I could feel the grass beneath me changing, growing a little bit higher and even saw the sun through my eyelids.
It took several minutes for me to open my eyes again and gaze at a field filled with my friends of the spaceship. Familiar faces, unchanged by the time we spent apart gazed at me, but none were able to utter a single word.
We could only struggle to stand up as someone, or rather something strode through our ranks. A completely black silhouette, covered by a black nebula walked past each and everyone, gazing at our faces at least once. And as my time came, I could feel a cold airflow touching my skin, sending shivers down my spine. It stared at me for a second, and then continued on towards Julius to my side. Several minutes later, I looked behind me and gazed at another person, equally covered in a black nebular. I frowned slightly as it wasn’t able to move that well apparently. After the first mysterious person finished looking at us, it stepped out of the field of my friends.
“My dear apostles.” Someone who I vaguely remembered from my first time at this place said. “It does seem that most of you accustomed to Solaris rather well. Sadly, I have to inform you that some of your less fortunate friends perished due to illnesses, hunger or other factors. In total, 46 of you haven’t made it this far and already returned to the normal circle of reincarnation. Sadly, some of these deaths were entirely avoidable. One of you has turned against humanity and gathered so-called demons under him. He is currently in the process of taking everything above the Bhima River and already brutally ended the life of eleven of your comrades with his minions. This was never expected to happen, I am deeply sorry. He is threatening your lives … I do want not to ask you to stand against him, but I fear I have to. Humanity and the elves will otherwise be wiped out from existence. Thus, I can only hope you will use the powers given to you wisely.” The god of hope said without giving us any chance to reply.
One by one, we were teleported out of this place, back towards our original bodies. During that whole time, I could feel how both of the two mysterious persons clad in a black aura stared at each other, as if they tried to read the other one.
Well, whatever the result of that was, I had no business in it. One of them was surely responsible for my parent´s death while the other one … seemed opposed to him. Well, it all didn´t matter. One of them was responsible for my parents’ death. He was the reason I was crying so often. Whoever it was to do these horrible things to my family … he wouldn’t be my friend anymore.
“Why are you helping me?” I asked even though the elf only shot me an annoyed glance at first.
“Ask that the goddess.” She said and pointed towards someone I knew too well. Irminsul’s figure glowed a little greenish as she appeared in front of the elf. She looked sad … but that wasn’t enough for me.
“You … you promised me you would save my parents!” I said, anger slowly boiling up within me.
“I …” The goddess of life bit her lower lip in frustration. “I … Sofie, I only wanted to save you, and the only way of doing so was by separating you from your parents at all cost.” She claimed unhappily.
“You lied?! You could have … you could have asked your followers to fight these demons! You could have …” She was a goddess! How on earth was she struggling with saving a single girl like me, and why couldn’t she save more?
“Oh, my, you haven’t told her? How was this called again … World Charta article four: Gods may not interfere with the world except through an apostle. Sofie, you are her sole apostle on this world, you are her shot at influencing this world. Only one of us here follows her.” The elf mentioned without caring about what the goddess did.
“Then why … why did you safe me, and solely me?” I asked in despair.
“I lost fifty of my most capable men just because you refused to jump out of that damn window alone. Do you really think we were capable of saving anyone except you when we got out of that mess with nineteen unwounded soldiers?”
“I … then why me? I´m not any special to anyone except the goddess.” I muttered, just barely holding back my tears.
“I will not let you die, Sofie.” The goddess said firmly. “I will do whatever it takes to keep you alive, no matter the price … a price I will pay in the near future. I am incredibly sorry what happened to your family. I wish for this world to be a better place, but sadly, it isn´t. If there is anything I can do for you with my limited strength on this planet, you only need to tell me.” At least she admitted that she couldn’t do much … which was even worse for me.
“Bring my parents back.” I demanded.
“That is …” She turned her head towards the right and avoided my gaze entirely for several seconds. “… sadly not possible. The dead do not come back, Sofie.”
“Then leave me alone!” I said angrily and turned around. I didn´t want to see her. Maybe, she didn´t do anything wrong … but she still lied to me. Furious and sad at the same time, I walked back towards the camp and laid down on the grass. For several minutes, I couldn’t sleep at all until the elf came back to the camp, only to lay down near her horse and close her eyes. Nobody was keeping watch as I closed my eyes as well, probably because the goddess could tell exactly if there were any demons around.
And thus, I wept myself into sleep slowly but surely. My lids got heavier with time until I couldn’t open them anymore. I could feel the grass beneath me changing, growing a little bit higher and even saw the sun through my eyelids.
It took several minutes for me to open my eyes again and gaze at a field filled with my friends of the spaceship. Familiar faces, unchanged by the time we spent apart gazed at me, but none were able to utter a single word.
We could only struggle to stand up as someone, or rather something strode through our ranks. A completely black silhouette, covered by a black nebula walked past each and everyone, gazing at our faces at least once. And as my time came, I could feel a cold airflow touching my skin, sending shivers down my spine. It stared at me for a second, and then continued on towards Julius to my side. Several minutes later, I looked behind me and gazed at another person, equally covered in a black nebular. I frowned slightly as it wasn’t able to move that well apparently. After the first mysterious person finished looking at us, it stepped out of the field of my friends.
“My dear apostles.” Someone who I vaguely remembered from my first time at this place said. “It does seem that most of you accustomed to Solaris rather well. Sadly, I have to inform you that some of your less fortunate friends perished due to illnesses, hunger or other factors. In total, 46 of you haven’t made it this far and already returned to the normal circle of reincarnation. Sadly, some of these deaths were entirely avoidable. One of you has turned against humanity and gathered so-called demons under him. He is currently in the process of taking everything above the Bhima River and already brutally ended the life of eleven of your comrades with his minions. This was never expected to happen, I am deeply sorry. He is threatening your lives … I do want not to ask you to stand against him, but I fear I have to. Humanity and the elves will otherwise be wiped out from existence. Thus, I can only hope you will use the powers given to you wisely.” The god of hope said without giving us any chance to reply.
One by one, we were teleported out of this place, back towards our original bodies. During that whole time, I could feel how both of the two mysterious persons clad in a black aura stared at each other, as if they tried to read the other one.
Well, whatever the result of that was, I had no business in it. One of them was surely responsible for my parent´s death while the other one … seemed opposed to him. Well, it all didn´t matter. One of them was responsible for my parents’ death. He was the reason I was crying so often. Whoever it was to do these horrible things to my family … he wouldn’t be my friend anymore.
