Eternal Promise: Fragments Of Us

SIDAPA

WHEN the world was created, several Gods were given important roles to keep the balance between good and evil. Some became the Goddess of the Sea, some became the God of the Sun, and others chose to be a lot closer to humans and took many forms.

Gods and Goddesses all had their true forms. In order to relate themselves to the mortals, a lot of us took the form of humans when they visited their realm.

One of the few, who neither looked like a human nor a God, was me. Born from darkness and light itself, I became the God of Death. In the near future, humans would have known me as the Grim Reaper.

When I came to the mortal realm, I took residence in the highest peak of the mountain called Madja-as, a place that no humans dared to climb for it was known to send them to their early deaths. All I had with me was the giant, black tree.

There, I silently welcomed every new soul that was yet to be given a body to live in. I would measure its lifespan and carve it to the tree with the use of my machete made out of my horns. And when it was time for them to revert back to their original forms, I would put judgment upon them whether these souls deserved to be reborn again or remain in the afterlife. Souls with undecided fates would be delivered to Magwayen, the Goddess of the Underworld. She would then trap these souls in her *salakab and let them wander the eternal void of nothingness.

For thousands of years, I had witnessed all kinds of birth and passing of humans. Some of them asked for my forgiveness and promised to do something in return. While others thought calling out to me was the best choice when they wanted someone they resented to die a horrible death. Neither of them were right. I didn’t become the God of Death to feed their egos. The more time I spent observing their actions, the more I concluded that humans were weak creatures. They would turn against themselves in order to get what they wanted. Taking away the life of another had transformed them into merciless killers. But the world was always changing. It was their way of surviving and adapting. If they didn’t change, living would be meaningless. That part of them piqued my interest for some time.

But one day… I suddenly got bored of everything.

THE night was young. I was immersed in carving another mark on my tree. A bunch of new souls just arrived and all of them were giving off such positive glows.

A soul in its original form would look like a ball of lights the size of a droplet that would emit a very bright glow. Their white glow represented their purity. These glows would faint as they grew old. Some would change colors throughout their lifetime. Those who saw the beauty of the world had bright colored souls, and those who were exposed to the ugly side had faint colors of gray. Those who lived a chaotic life and did things beyond the imaginable had very dark souls.

“There,” I said, before putting down my machete on the ground. “These new arrivals all had long lives. I hope they cherish it properly,” I said to myself while staring at the new carvings that I made.

I briefly recalled the first time I carved someone’s lifeline on this very tree. This used to be pretty plain and lifeless. Now, it had unique patterns that reminded me of all the lives that I watched until it was their time to leave the physical world. The tree had become rough to the touch, especially its trunk, but it gave me the feeling of fulfillment. It became my personal masterpiece.

After sending all the souls to their respective human bodies, I decided to take a break. It was cold, but I didn’t mind it. My tree was located at the center of the mountain, and it was surrounded by a forest. The vastness of the forest veiled me from the outside world. It was also one of the reasons why people refused to go here because they would likely lose their way. It took me a while to arrive at the cliff. I went closer to the edge, and slightly bent over.

At the bottom of this mountain, just a mile away, rested a small village. The people that lived there highly acknowledged my existence. Every year, they would hold a festival in celebration of me as their God. Ritual sacrifices were done, such as killing a goat while facing the mountain, and they hoped that I would be pleased and granted them longer lives.

“Humans are so interesting,” I said to myself. If I was not mistaken, two weeks from now another festival would be held.

I could see children playing in the open while their parents were busy putting up decorations. The hunters were out to take down some wild boars to serve in the festival. The elders, who stood as the village’s leaders, were quietly watching their people.

?The old guy with a beard and long, wavy hair… He’s about to die,」 I thought as I kept eyeing on them. 「Well, he lived a noble life and molded great hunters. But he is hiding something from all of his people,」 I further thought, before smiling faintly.Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

After a while, I heard a loud thud, like something fell from above. It happened near my tree so I hurried back to see what it was. As I got closer to the center, I saw a glimpse of glowing light.

“A fire?” I furrowed my eyebrows. “Did Agui come by again to watch the bonfire? But the festival is not today!” I grumbled in annoyance.

Agui was the God of Fire. When he heard news about the small village that held festivals for me, he got fascinated by it. The ritual became his favorite part as they would display big bonfires during the sacrifice of one goat, and sometimes a deer. Agui was more attached to mortals, so he openly exposed himself to them many times.

But my annoyance turned into suspicion when I realized that the glowing light wasn’t Agui’s doing. It was something else, and the only way to find out was to see it for myself.

As I inched closer, the light got dimmer by each second. Soon, it died out. It halted me and heightened my awareness. What if a human actually made it to my lair and decided to take it down? I never wanted to have anything to do with them. Aside from the fact that Gods were forbidden to meddle and get affiliated in their business, any human who would witness my true form would be terrified without doubt.

I GOT back to my tree, but I saw no one. I looked around, searched every bush and tree, and still nothing. When I got tired, I walked back, disappointed.

“Um, excuse me?” I panicked when I heard a voice speak behind me.

I assumed it was hovering over me so I lifted my head up to the sky, but it turned out that it was standing right in front of me so I looked down. My eyes widened.

Before me stood a being whom I had never seen before. It had long, silver white hair that stretched down to its waist. Its skin was so pale, and their icy blue eyes were gorgeous. It wore a silk robe that covered very little of its skin. I couldn’t tell if it was a man or a woman, but one thing was for sure:

(It was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life.)

“Who are you?” I asked in a soft voice. But since I was in my true form, what was soft for me would sound very deep and scary for others, like talking to a creature that came straight from the underground.

“Can you please help me?” he begged. I had to assume he was a man. I was surprised that he didn’t flinch or cower in fear when he heard my voice, let alone saw my frightening appearance.

“What’s the matter?” I asked. I wondered if he noticed that I was staring holes at him. I just couldn’t take my eyes off him. He was dazzling.

He looked around and seemed worried about something, before answering me. “I fell down and hurt my leg,” he said, and that was when I saw the nasty scratch on his right leg.

“Are you alright?” I inquired, and bent over to have a closer look at his injury. I almost touched him, but I was quick enough to stop myself. I didn’t want to scare him away.

He faced the other side to hide his injury, then said, “I’m fine.”

“Does it hurt?” I asked, and tried to peek but he would just avoid my attempts.

“No,” he denied, but it was written all over his face that he was hurting.

“You’re hurt,” I insisted, but he just pouted at me. “If it’s okay, you can rest underneath my tree. Just… don’t touch anything,” I offered, a little embarrassed.

His expression suddenly brightened up. “You live inside that tree?” he exclaimed in a fascinated tone.

“Underneath,” I corrected. “Well, mostly. But I don’t technically live there,” I clarified. “Just come,” I told him, and he became gloomy again.

“It’s actually hard to walk now. My leg started swelling,” he said with a saddened expression.

“Then is it okay for you if I carry you back there?” I asked. He became happy again. Funny how fast his mood changed every time.

He stared at me for some time before noticing, “You’re pretty big. How tall are you, Mister?” he asked curiously.

“Seriously? You ask that now?” I sarcastically replied. “Enough with the questions. Hold on to my back,” I told him. “And don’t fall down,” I added.

“Can you carry me like a princess?” he requested.

“What?” I was dumbfounded.

“I’m afraid of heights!” he reasoned.

“I see,” I said, and I carefully carried him in my arms. It scared me when I felt his delicate body. If I were some vicious killer, I could snap him in an instant. That was how delicate he appeared to me.

The beautiful creature trembled when I slowly elevated him, but he tried to hide it by closing his eyes shut.

?Where did he come from?」 I thought as I silently threw glances at him. 「He still hasn’t said anything about my appearance. I wonder if he has some eye problems?」

What was I thinking? It was unfair of me to think of him that way. Maybe he wasn’t the type to judge someone by their looks.