Chapter 35: the seven god's solider, the seven lights

They were in the castle cafeteria, with Rin cooking for everyone. He handed a dish to Sabana, and she asked him, “Are you sure you don’t need any help?”
Rin smiled and said, “No… I’m already done.”

They all ate the soup in silence, discomfort plain on their faces. Mika handed a bowl to Ayk, but he refused to eat. Mika said, “Ayk! You need to eat!”

Ayk stammered, “I didn’t hit him that hard… I didn’t hit him hard at all!”

Everyone looked on, seeing regret etched across his face. Mika stood there, alarmed, not knowing what to do. Another hand took the bowl Mika was holding and shoved it in front of Ayk. He looked up to see it was Fojta, who said, “Eat.”

They all watched the two of them, watching Fojta sit beside him while she ate her own dish. Ayk’s shaky hand reached for his bowl, and he began to eat the soup. Its taste was mixed with the bitterness of tears in his throat. Lifting the bowl, he nodded at Rin, “Thank you, Commander Ren…”

Rin gave him a faint smile. Ayk turned to Fojta, his face full of gratitude. He’d nearly broken down in front of Mika, but she stopped him. Mika sat opposite them in silence, eating as well.

Andra tried breaking the awkward silence, “I’ve never eaten anything like this before…”

Everyone looked at him without responding—just staring. Andra’s face turned bright red with embarrassment, “What!!”

Sabana laughed. “Sorry, it’s just…” Her laugh spread to the others, too, and Andra said irritably, “What?!”

Riz laughed, “Your face, kid… How are you able to eat with a face like that?!”

Andra said, “What’s the problem?! There’s nothing better than a tasty meal after a fight!”

Rin said, “Unfortunately… There were a lot of dishes I wanted to cook for you all, but… Frata doesn’t have much food left.”

Andra asked, “What? Why not?”

Rin replied, “God no longer grants us plants or animals. Our resources are nearly gone.”

Riz turned to Seeta, “Aren’t you gonna eat too?”

Seeta didn’t answer. Riz tried again, “You seemed worried about that boy… Do you know him?”

Seeta still didn’t respond. Riz said, “Listen… I’m sorry about what I said! You seem pretty strong! You really beat me good… so… I want to be your friend.”

Seeta spoke, “I’m worried about Nier…”

Riz smirked, “You in love with him?”

Seeta’s eyes went wide, “What?”

Riz laughed, “You can tell me; we’re friends now.”

By then, Rin had finally sat at the table to eat. Andra joined him, eyeing the book Rin was carrying. Andra asked, “What are you reading?”

Rin showed him the cover, “It’s an old book about the Fires.”

Sabana turned his way, “Right… you already knew in the fight about their charms and incantations…”

Mika’s face grew troubled and sad. Rin said, “I just like reading.”

Andra exclaimed, “Man, if I knew how to read, I’d read tons of books.”

Rin gave him a puzzled look, “What? You can’t read, Andra?”

Mika cut in with a snicker, “What did you think? That Bial taught us anything? You’re lucky in Bial if you learn enough numbers to count money!”

They fell silent. Finally, Seeta said, “Which is your favorite?”

Rin, confused, “Huh?”

Seeta clarified, “Book… which book is your favorite?”

Rin glanced at her, then gave an awkward laugh, “That’s a tough one… but if I had to pick just one… I’d pick the Old Religion book.”

Riz asked, intrigued, “Really?”

Rin nodded, “Yeah. It’s got all sorts of stories about human life in the ancient world.”

Seeta said, “Could you tell us one of those stories?”

Rin set down his spoon, “Sure… Let me see.. Ah okay… One of them talks about how the god Vihara created the universe. It says that god Vihara lived in paradise, and he created an army of Lights to serve him, The Lights were beautiful beings with golden wings and golden halos. They did nothing all day except worship and honor the god, serving him. They had no emotions, no goals, no desires. They didn’t even know each other’s names.

“They lived for centuries, worshiping and serving Vihara. Seven leaders presided over the Lights: Rimeil, Zoral, Elikha, Kastil, Amita, Firtel, and Nieth. They each had powers beyond those of the other Lights and held specific roles in paradise. Firtel was responsible for fertility, the growth of plants and trees in paradise. Elikha oversaw animals and livestock. Rimeil handled metals and shaping precious stones. Zoral was in charge of the spirit of youth—maintaining the Lights’ youth and immortality. Amita was responsible for distributing beauty among the Lights. And Nieth… was responsible for guiding the Lights along the righteous path, keeping their hearts free of desires and disobedience to god. They existed like that for thousands of years… until god created humans.”

Rin paused, then went on, “Humans, as the book says, were creatures resembling the Lights but without wings or halos. They possessed all sorts of desires and free will, able to choose what they wanted to do—something the Lights could never do. They could commit sins or do good deeds freely. The god liked this idea—he found humans fun and interesting—and created the world for them. He commanded Firtel to create plants, forests, trees… He commanded Elikha to create various animals and spread them across the world… He commanded Rimeil to create metals and gemstones and scatter them across the earth for humans to discover… He commanded Zoral to set different lifespans for humans, and thus their lives would end someday… He commanded Amita to grant humans beauty… But Nieth was unable to use his powers to guide human souls or strip their hearts of desires. God forbade Nieth from contacting or approaching the human world.”

Mika asked, “What about the Fires?”

Rin fell silent briefly before resuming, “The Fires were beings formed from the god’s excessive firepower. That was constantly leaking from his body. They had no bodies—just masses of flame. They lived in the eternal fire which later became hell to punish sinful humans. They also had access to the human world, though humans couldn’t see them. But humans knew of them, developed incantations to harness them for their own use… And that was what God loved about humans—how they evolved and how clever they were. They constantly surprised him. Humans were the god’s favorite creations… until… he began to feel threatened by their independence. So Vihara declared a threat against humankind: the end of the world if they didn’t turn back to him. One day, he would wipe out all humans, who would then rise to paradise or fall into hell.”

Andra exclaimed, “What?? That was written in the book? Why didn’t humans prepare better for that?”

Rin answered, “Because believers had to accept the god’s words and carry them out, welcoming them if they wanted to enter paradise. They had to accept the world’s end and humanity’s destruction to go to paradise.”

Andra said, “Man, those ancient humans were really crazy…”

They all fell quiet, absorbing Ren’s words. Seeta rose to her feet and said, “No one’s ever told me a story before. That was nice… Thanks, Commander Ren.”

Rin smiled, and they all got up and headed off to their beds.