Desrho: Each vow has a motive ~ Past

Electryone did not truly understand what was happening, and in a way, she knew that the only person who could give her answers was her grandmother Halia. For that simple reason, she didn’t want her to die by the spear that woman had thrown.

That was her will, and so, the giant winged monster stopped that spear before it hit its target. It was only when she saw Halia disappear that she understood she had committed a grievous mistake and that she should have let her die.

But how could she have stopped it? That was the second thought that went through her head. When it did, the beast turned around and looked at her confused, as if even it knew the answer to it. Why, of course, how could it not, if the monster was also her.

“You… did you just…” Said the woman, looking at the space where Halia, or Leucothea as she knew her, had disappeared.

The Goddess of Wisdom was completely shocked. As someone who had domain over knowledge, she had a comprehension of cause and effect that some people could even consider future vision, but even then this a future she could never see coming. More precisely, ever since the winged monstrosities that would be later known as Keres had broken free, every single one of her predictions had fallen apart.

“Do you have any idea what you just did, you foolish brat?” Screamed the Goddess, the events in her mind rearranging, but all of them reaching the same endpoint.

An unending onslaught of beasts that would end all life on the planet.

The God of the sea was unarmed, as his trident was now stuck on the back of the Telchine that was about to attack her partner. His only choice was to not provoke the winged monster that had landed just at his side, so he stayed completely still and silent while Wisdom started walking towards Electryone. When she did, the monster immediately moved forward to separate the two.

Surprisingly, the Goddess didn’t seem scared of the creature in the least, watching her dismissively, as if it was only a nuisance.

“This is… your violence. Of course, so that’s how it goes. You understand, don’t you? This thing is a manifestation of your power, something that should have entered your vessel but failed to find its host.”

Electryone was scared, as she had seen the Goddess annihilate the entire race of beasts in a single movement. She didn’t know that it was a one use blessing the God of the skies had given her, or that without her spear the Goddess was indeed defenseless. The only thing she knew was that she should not let her get close, no matter what she said.

“Leucothea knows full well the ritual to call a God, so she could not have messed this up. That means you must have ruined your preparations without her knowing it, but how? The compass was your soul, that was the only thing you had no way to ruin…”

The Goddess stopped before reaching the monster, and instead, started walking to the side, towards the God of the sea and the wall where her spear was stuck in.

“This can’t be, this kind of oversight… Someone would have had to notice? But if you had the head priest on your side, and you blackmailed the servants… Oh, this all makes sense. Truly, I should have seen it coming, human nature is just like that, isn’t it?”

The Goddess reached her spear, awaiting on the floor, still wet with the blood of Leucothea. When she grabbed it, she immediately took a posture as if preparing to fight.

“To make it short, and really, I can barely believe this myself, but you have a son, don’t you?”

Electryone let out a scream as the beast threw itself at the Goddess in a desperate fit of rage, but the fight would only last a second. Before its claws could reach her, she made a wide movement of her spear and cut both eyes of the creature out, blinding it immediately. After that, and still before the claws could reach her, she dove in, spear high, and cut the stomach of the beast that was now flying over her, its movement only making the wound bigger.

The Goddess slid under it, finishing her movement when reaching the back of the beast, while avoiding to be reached by a single drop of blood.

“Cute try, but you have no idea how to handle that kind of power.”

In no time, she ran towards Electryone, putting the spear up to her neck.

“Now, I know that thing is coming back to life behind me as we speak, so do me a favor and calm yourself, will you?”

She worded it as a petition, but the way the pressed the spear when finishing the question made the implication of what would happen if she didn’t obey quite clear. The monster had been split almost in two, but it was already putting itself back together while cowering away from them, as Electryone had now commanded it.

“I see you understand how this goes, and as a fellow Goddess, let me tell you that I am sorry things had to be this way.”

She took Electryone by the neck of her robes and sat her in the bloodied altar.

“Now, I am quite angry at you right now, so I’ll ask you a series of questions and all you have to do is nod or shake your head. And don’t try to win any time, believe me, you don’t want to see me angrier than I am right now.”

The spear pressed again on her neck, drawing blood this time.

“Now, usually, your soul would have been almost completely vanquished when God entered your body, but judging by your look, I would say that you are still quite yourself. You are the first God of death this world has seen in a long time, and although around here they would call you Thanatos, I think Mors would fit you better. Are you okay with this name? Asked Wisdom, with a gentle voice, as if she wasn’t threatening her while saying those words.

Electryone, on the other hand, was both terrified and confused by the apparent emotional whiplash that she was going through. It took her a while, but she simply nodded in response to avoid infuriating her more.

“Great, now, Mors, tell me something. I know that you failed to uphold your vows, and I get it, for a human some years in a shrine can seem like a great deal, but you should not have done so anyways. If I may guess, I would say that you actually escaped a lot, and broke every single one of the restrictions you had. Didn’t you?”

A cold sweat went down through the back of the Goddess newly baptized as Mors. Knowing that lying would be useless, she had to nod again.

“What an honest child you are. You see, those restrictions exist for a motive, we don’t ask the vessels to uphold a vow of chastity because we want to enter a virgin body or something dumb like that. You see, if you were to break a chastity vow, and for example, had a child, can you guess the things that could happen?”

Mors felt horror bathe her entire body as her biggest fears became true in front of her. Even with the spear on her neck, she felt the necessity to lie, to shake her head in denial with all her might, but it would be useless. She was asking her, but she already knew the answer from the start.

“Reticent to answer I see? Well, the entire island is a mess, and unfortunately, the vast majority of the people that remained here are now dead. Don’t you want to check on him, or her?”

Mors’s entire world was falling apart, and the strength she had remaining to keep fighting had disappeared almost completely. Even if she tried to hide it, they probably would be able to kill the baby with great ease. If at least she could reach him, maybe there could be a way for the two of them to escape.

“Now, I can guess what kind of stupid ideas you are cooking in that naive head of yours, but let’s leave that aside for now. Let me tell you, if I’m right, and I am, we must go and see that child right now, for its own good.”

The Goddess of Wisdom forced Mors to stand up, and with her as a guide, they moved from the ruins of the palace to a bundle of small houses nearby it. The steps became a run, as the worry of what could have happened to her kid started to dawn on Mors with increasing strength.