Chapter 3 – The Girl With Goddess Eyes

The village was still smoldering.

Izumi moved carefully through the wreckage, the little girl in his arms resting her head against his chest. Her breathing was soft and steady—more like someone clinging to the last warmth in the world than someone asleep.

What struck him wasn’t the destruction—it was the precision. The fires hadn’t spread chaotically. Only certain homes were destroyed. Others had been left untouched. Whatever force attacked here hadn’t just wanted to burn the place… they wanted to leave a message.

Izumi stopped near the remains of what looked like a shrine. The stone steps had crumbled, and a statue once seated on a pedestal now lay split in half—its face eroded, its wings cracked. But the carvings on the base were unmistakable.

Ancient script. Celestial runes.

He’s never been here but that seemed very odd for a place like this. It looked like a village far away from anywhere he’s been before. He gently lowered the girl to sit on a patch of clean stone. She gathered her knees under the hem of a smoke-dusted dress.

Izumi – “Can you tell me your name?”

The girl blinked up at him, eyes glowing faintly gold under the twin moons of Solvain.

Alya – “Alya.”

He’d heard that name before. From one of the old tomes kept in the Grand Archives—back when he was still fighting alongside the Guardians. Alya, in the old tongue, meant Daughter of the Dawn. A name given to children of the goddess race

Could she be one of those? I’ve never met a Celestial before… I need to know more about what happened, and who she is.

Izumi knelt beside her.

Izumi – “Were those your parents? The ones who…”

Alya – “No.”

Her voice was soft, but clear. She looked down, fingers tightening around the edge of her sleeve.

Alya – “My real parents left a long time ago. They… went far away. Before I could remember much.”

Izumi – “Then who lived here?”

Alya – “An old couple. Grandma Lira and Grandpa Noth. They were kind. My parents asked them to take care of me when it wasn’t safe anymore.”

Izumi – “So your parents knew something was coming.”

Alya nodded.

Alya – “Before he left, my papa told Grandpa Noth… ‘Someday, a savior will come. A young man, Alya will travel with him and over time become like family. He will become her new father… Then Grandpa Noth told me to treat him as you would me. Trust him. He will protect you when I no longer can.’”

She looked at him with absolute sincerity, the gold in her irises steady as moonlight on still water.

Alya – “That’s why I called you Papa. Because you came. Just like he said.”

Izumi froze.

She was following a prophecy—one her father had left her as a legacy. Am I actually the one he saw… is this okay… what am I supposed to do now?

Izumi – “He said… to call your savior Papa?”

Alya – “Yes.”

Izumi – “Didn’t you miss the part when he said… over time?”

Her expression didn’t waver, full of love and hope.

Alya – “You saved me. Father and Grandpa Noth said you would”

There was no plea in her voice. No desperation. Just certainty. Like the sky being blue, or mana flowing through Solvain. Just a fact.

Smoke smolded over the thatched roofs. The wards etched into the shrine had been cut. Whoever did this understood Celestial protections well enough to unmake them. This girl… she wasn’t here just to get far away from the fighting her parents were involved with. She may be the whole reason for the fighting. And someone out there wanted her gone.

Izumi – “We need to go. The portal won't stay open long.”

Alya held out her hand. He didn’t hesitate this time.

Back on Earth, Izumi held Alya until they were out of the old station and back onto the main street. They were quiet and still. Midnight wrapped the city in a damp hush, distant headlights flickering across the overpasses, and street lights hummed with a glow. Izumi’s boots echoed against the pavement as he held Alya’s hand to his apartment.

She didn’t say much on their walk, but her eyes moved constantly. She was fascinated by this new world. She studied every light, every sound, every shadow like they were all pieces of an alien world.

Izumi – “You okay?”

Alya – “It’s really strange. And it smells weird.”

Izumi – “Welcome to Earth.”

She wrinkled her nose.

His building was quiet at this hour, no one was out this late, it’s probably for the best. He opened his apartment door and let her inside. It wasn’t much, one bedroom, a futon folded up against the wall, a desk with a half-finished math worksheet under a weight of dog-eared notebooks, a shelf holding exactly three plants (two real, one optimistic). It wasn’t a place made for guests

He handed her a blanket and headed for the tiny kitchenette. While he filled a kettle with water to make some instant soup. It was really all he had. He was supposed to go shopping but the pendant had other plans. While the kettle heated he turned to look at the small goddess child in his living room. She didn’t seem divine… Other than her eyes, she looked like a normal little girl. He grabbed some leftover food and put it in the microwave and started heating. The hot water was done.

He walked over and handed her the instant soup. She stared at the microwave like it was a bomb.

Izumi – “It’s not dangerous.”

Alya – “It’s buzzing.”

Izumi – “It does that.”

They ate in silence. She sipped the broth slowly, hands wrapped around the cup like it was sacred. What am I going to do with her now? She’s safe on Earth but can I actually adopt this girl I just met?

Alya – “Papa?”

Izumi – “You know I’m really not—”

Alya – “I know.”

She looked up at him, eyes soft.

Alya – “But I want to believe. Because if I don’t, I’ll be alone again.”

Izumi didn’t answer.

He watched her crawl into the blanket pile on the floor and curl up with a faint smile, as if she can relax for the first time in a long time.

Izumi leaned against the wall, one hand resting on the warm pendant beneath his shirt.

He’d crossed worlds again. He spent so long thinking about the world he left. Was this a fluke or was he able to cross worlds now because of the pendant. There is something wrong in Solvain, I need to go back and fix whatever was going on.

And this little girl needed him… at least for now and he wasn’t going to leave her.

Izumi – “Alright, Alya. For now… you can call me Papa.”

She was already asleep. But her smile widened just a little more. Outside, the city breathed, and somewhere between one world and another, something old stirred and turned its face toward Earth.