Through Her Eyes

Chapter 7: Welcome Home

There was once an Emperor that wanted nothing more than to give their only daughter whatever pleased her. One day this daughter fell very sick and was on the verge of death. In a bid to save her life, he prayed to the god of creation, god Hania, to restore her health. He offered up his kingdom in return for her life, and his wish was granted. The girl recovered and lived a healthy life afterward. Soon enough, the Emperor died, and the girl took over the kingdom. She remembered her father's promise and made sure that a temple was built to honor the god Hania's kindness in her life. The years of this kingdom were bountiful, and they prospered in everything they did. Then the fifth generation ruler was put in place, and prayers increased on the man's negative rule not long after his coronation. Hania frowned on this fact, so he made a god of punishment put things back in place.

Unfortunately, the new Emperor was worse than their expectations, so immediate action was taken against this ruler. The god of punishment decided to destroy the town, but the people cried out for mercy. Out of grace, he only got rid of the Emperor and all his corrupt officials. Due to this decision, the lives of many were spared, and the nation once more bloomed. Then this god of punishment went against his purpose and eloped with a human. This angered Hania, and he banished him from the heavenly realm. The god of creation still needed someone to watch over his people, so he created a goddess Sykros to keep track of the people's behaviors. For her not to fall off track, he made a goddess of reconciliation to watch over her. This goddess's name was Erlia, and she had a somewhat caring and inquisitive character. She would often travel to the human realm in her mortal form to learn more about the earthlings' nature. This made Sykros annoyed as she despised interaction with the humans'.

One day, goddess Erlia went down to earth again, and this time, Sykros secretly followed her. Erlia was by the waterfall area around a rural district. She enjoyed the sound of water very much and thus came down to earth to hear it frequently. Sykros was rather pissed off by this fact and decided to come out of hiding and confront her. 'What are you doing here!' Sykros yelled. 'I'm just enjoying the beauty of nature. What's it got to do with you.' Erlia looked frustrated at Sykros's approach towards her and decided to ignore her. This angered Sykros, so she took her by the hand and forced her back to the heavenly realm. Once they got there, she reported to Hania about Erlia'a frequent travels to the human realm. Hania decided to place a temporary ban on Erlia to avoid her regular involvement in human things. With this, she stormed out of there, bursting into tears. Sykros felt a little pity for her, so she went to apologize. Erlia refused to listen to her but eventually gave in when she saw how sorry she was. After that incident, the two characters became best friends and wouldn't ever dare leave each other.

Then the 21st century came, and there was a lot of evil grooming in this beloved empire. Due to this, the god of creation was deeply saddened and sent the gods of punishment and reconciliation. Arriving at the human realm made Sykros feel a severe sense of disgust, so she felt the need to eradicate them. On the other hand, Erlia suggested that they beckon the god of sickness to send a plague that destabilizes them and puts them back on track. They did just that, and the humans were shaken, but they returned to their past ways rather quicker than usual, and they had to send another sickness. The third time, the god of disease couldn't aid them, so the burden fell on Erlia and Sykros. The only issue was that Sykros currently lacked in strength, so the task was for Erlia. She couldn't have the mind to just claim people's lives, so she made it a mysterious affair. Not many were killed, but the reaction she got for the humans was not what she expected. To ward off the god who has now tagged a spirit, they broke her mind and body. This caused her spiritual essence to deteriorate, and she was reborn. In anger, Sykros slew as many as were involved in a pitiful attempt to regain her lost one. She requested the lives of twenty newborns to be appeased, hoping that one of them might be her lost one.

Eventually, Erlia was reborn by a female worshipper of one of the shrines responsible for her death. In a rage, Hania destroyed that shrine and sent two attendants under the pretense of humans to pick her up. Sykros so desperately wanted to see her Erlia once more, but she knew she couldn't until her mind and body were one once more. So they all waited for her mind to grow strong, after which they began reminding her about her past. Along the process of doing that, her powers began influencing her acts on earth. In all these, Sykros watched over her with a caring figure.

'So you see, this is your home Erlia' She had finished the story and was now looking at me, waiting for a response. I suddenly felt very exhausted and fell to sleep. I saw a trapped Mary inside a container in my dream, and once I touched it, it broke. I held her hand to get her up, and as I did, she grinned. With this, she held my hand and walked into me. I began to remember everything, and I felt rejuvenated. I woke up to find myself on the laps of Sykros. She had her hands hidden and her hair fully out. 'Sykros, I remember everything!' I was so happy to see her again. 'Erlia,' she replied with a soft smile. I hugged her so tight my hands hurt. We stayed like that for a while before I finally agreed to let her go. I was so happy to be back. Soon enough, she took me to see everyone else. Hania was so pleased to see me and I felt loved once more. I only regretted leaving behind my co-workers who had been by my side on earth for so long. Hania promised to grant them prosperity throughout their lives and their generation if they stay good. Everything was just right.