Across Sanviria: Desires

8. More than one god

Elian's Journal

A week had passed. I was feeling much better. Lucius and his parents had taken good care of me. Since I was finally able to get out of bed, I tried to help them in any way I could to return the favor. I could really see how poor the people on Lasticus were. Hearing Lucius talk about the Oligarchs was one thing, but this was different. The amount of food they ate in a week I used to have in two days, and I wasn't exactly wealthy. They spent whole days working in the field, only to have three-quarters of the crops taken by the soldiers. The inevitability of spending the rest of my life there terrified me.

On Sunday, Lucius came to me while I was chopping wood behind the house. My goal was to one day build my own hut or at least a shed. Anything. I couldn't occupy one of their only two rooms forever.

'Having fun?' Lucius asked, watching me from a distance.

'Yeah, of course. This here is my definition of fun.'

'You know, it might be hard to believe, but there are other things to do here than work your ass off.'

He sounded somewhat thrilled. I thrust my axe into a piece of wood and looked at him, curious.

'And what are those other things?' I asked.

'What I mean is, I'm taking you to a pub. I already told everyone about you, so they probably won't kill you on sight.'

I couldn't hide my surprise. I hadn't seen the town yet, apart from what I could see from the house and the field behind it. I would never have imagined those people would have a pub in these difficult circumstances.

'You really thought we all just sat sad at home after work?' Lucius asked, amused.

'No... Yes.'

'Welp, so there's much you need to learn.'

I grabbed a fresh shirt from the house. We went to the town. It wasn't that different from Cassiento, where I grew up. Just less crowded and much dirtier. But people somehow seemed warmer to each other.

'You know, there is one thing that pesters me,' Lucius said while we were on the way. 'How is it that we speak the same language?'

'Yeah, that is truly peculiar. I mean, according to legends, your people were in contact with mine, but that was long before we were taught the Speech of the Gods.'

'The what now?'

'The Speech of the Gods.'

'Right. Gods. That's another thing that interests me. You always speak in the plural. You believe there is more than one god?'

'We don't believe. We know. The Blessed Ones and the Wise Ones are living proof.'

'Wow. You should probably keep all those stories for the rest of the guys.'

A couple of minutes later, we arrived at the pub. It was in one of the few brick houses in Petriusa. We entered the dark room, packed with people. For a second, almost everyone turned their heads to us but soon returned to their beer mugs. Lucius led me to a group of men our age, sitting at the back.

'Look who I brought!' Lucius said, excited, as we took our seats.

The six men introduced themselves, but I instantly forgot their names. I only remembered that the one sitting next to me, a handsome guy with smooth black hair and a small scar on his chin, was called Silas. The waitress brought me and Lucius beers. The portion was the size of half a small one in Mingaso. But I wasn't going to complain. For over a week, I thought I would never see beer again.

Lucius really told his friends all about me. They knew everything I told him and even prepared questions to ask me. I almost felt like I was doing a press interview. I wondered if they had newspapers there.

'So, Elian, how big is the rest of the world?' Silas asked.

'Well, quite big, I guess. We call it Sanviria. There are nine great continents, each created by one of the gods. I used to live on Ayzari, made by the Jackalope goddess, Obedia Jiyanta.'

'But why assume that there is a group of gods instead of one almighty god?' the one sitting opposite me asked. He was wearing an azure blue emblem on his collar.

'Be careful, Ambrose is a preacher,' Lucius said quietly to me. 'Elian said before that they have proof of those gods' presence,' he added louder.

'Exactly. Many proofs. You see, thousands of years ago, the gods used to live among humans, helping us evolve.'

'And that's when they taught you the language?' Lucius asked.

'No, that happened later. Because at some point, the gods left, and then people began to doubt their existence. So they came back. They gave nine great kings the power to transform into gods' form. They also created a new race, the Wise Ones, who possess their knowledge and magical powers. And those Wise Ones taught everyone the Speech. More or less. I didn't pay that much attention in history classes...'

'Wow, man. This is nuts.' Silas said.

'And what's the deal with your god?' I turned my gaze to the one called Ambrose.

He was visibly pleased I asked. He adjusted his collar and straightened up. He clasped his hands on the table and looked me in the eyes.

'There is only one god, our great Lord and Creator, Gyeon Coel. He controls the lands and the waters. We are his children, and he loves us unconditionally. He protects us from the perils of the outside world and dangers of our souls.'

'But he doesn't protect you from the Oligarchs, huh?' I whispered to Lucius.

Ambrose heard me and scoffed.

'We brought this fate on ourselves. Too many had turned away from our Lord. We must humbly accept this penance and pray that the Lord will forgive us and free us one day.'

I was close to rolling my eyes. How could he believe that? I understood they were afraid to act, but waiting for god's mercy while people were dying...?

'This is bullshit. You can't do nothing and hope the situation will resolve on its own. I know you're scared. I know you think it's better to tolerate all of this and just try to survive. But it's not. It is easier, yes. But you will never be free if you don't stand up to the Oligarchs. For gods' sake, they are only twelve people! We could overthrow them with half this tavern.'

I shocked myself with how passionate I was. But they didn't seem moved at all by my little speech.

'Listen, man. Life here sucks, we know,' Silas said. 'But you'll get used to it, like we all did.'

'It's... It's not like that,' I said, but I couldn't sound as confident as I wanted to.

I remained silent for the next few minutes. I thought about what he meant. Maybe he was right. Maybe I was just afraid for myself. Would I even care what happens to them if it didn't concern me?