“Moria! Why? Did you really need to take that attack? I had him already,” Harlequin ran towards the goddess of the wind.
The goddess smiled as blood trickled down her lips, “You know you can’t struck him as long as he has the chain of destruction,” it was the painful truth that they could not accept.
The wound on Moria’s chest was not bleeding at all. The only thing present there was the golden lights that were floating up. Moria’s body was slowly vanishing.
“I love you Johannes Harlequin Moriarty, my hero, you can return to your world now,” Moria said with her usual soft melodic voice.
“No, stay with me, stay with me Moria,” Harlequin cried. It was a scene to behold.
Holding in his arms his most beloved goddess as she slowly disappear, the hero shed a waterfall of tear, clutching Moria tightly as if it could prevent her from going away.
“Remember that day we sat under the shade of the biggest tree in the Pinwood?” Moria asked the tear filled hero.
Harlequin shook his head fervently, “Why are you thinking about that? We need to hurry; we can still close your wound. Yahya, I can summon Yahya so she could heal your wound.”
The goddess held Harlequin’s frantic face. Her cold palm making Harlequin’s heart ache more.
“Listen to me Harlequin, you know you can’t summon Yahya anymore, it’s okay now. You need to live happily, and we cannot be together anyway.” Moria painfully said. “Under that tree, with you, I… felt I was normal. With no obligations in my hand it was my happiest moment, to be able to hold your hand and kiss your lips, like a normal wizling without any fear of what may happen to the world.”
Harlequin closed his eyes to forcefully stop the tears that were still flowing out of his eyes. Moria was getting more transparent, the golden lights were surrounding them. It was warm and peaceful, like the goddess who only has moments left till she says goodbye to this world.
“I love you too, and my only regret is not dying with you,”
“You know that is not I want right? So live, and please don’t forget about me,” Moria smiled slowly vanished from her lips, it was replaced by a suppressed crying face.
“I don’t want to leave you, I’m scared that I won’t see you again,” she agonizingly said. Slowly her tears streaked down her face.
Harlequin embraced her, wishing that even the embrace can lessen the pain, but he could not grasp Moria anymore. What was left of her was only the mirage of her image.
“No, no, not yet,” Harlequin cried as she stared at his palm.
“Harlequin, it’s okay. Now smile for me,” Moria said.
Harlequin, with tears in his face smiled radiantly at the goddess before she became one with her element. Into the wind she disappeared.
*********
“You cannot recognize me, because the moment the goddess of the wind disappeared, my existence was made blurry to all beings who knew me, it was my punishment, so when I come back to this world, I would not be able to remember and you would also not remember.” I explained to them.
The people present inside the room was only Monk Amon, Johann, I decided to call him Johann especially when people are around, and the spirits.
“H-how, I’m sorry but… how did you come back? Aren’t you dead?” Lalia could not help but ask.
I smiled at her and answered her question.
“Gods, our souls are with Gaearandys; our body is only our medium to be in this world. The chain of destruction that the Grand Arch Wizard… was not completed. Because of that, he could only destroy my body but not my soul. Gods can easily go back, materializing a new body if the current body gets destroyed.”
“Then why did you not come back?” Johann asked.
All throughout the conversation, Johann remained silent beside me while clutching my hand. It was like he could still not believe that I was there.
“I told you I have a punishment, it was for breaking the High order, and requesting order. The High Order forbade the gods from leaving the realm and interfering with the fight, but I did. Further, I requested for the order, to unleash the full potential of my power to use it to interfere with the wizling’s war.”
“So where were you throughout the years?” Monk Amon asked.
There was a nostalgic feeling from her gaze. It was the gaze she gives me when I was the goddess of the wind.
I smiled at her. Now that I remember everything, I see the monk as a girl who was following me like a puppy back then. But the feeling the current Moria has was stronger, it was that Monk Amon was the person who guided me as I grow up.
“I was in a dark void. I was floating there for years; it was until after I saw a light. The light was the world tree Gaearandys. Then when I saw the tree, I stayed in its branches for a long time until I just found myself falling from the sky,”
“That was the time when the prophecy arrived, so we were really right when the propechy was telling of your descent in Llfhame not a goddess descent,” Monk Amon stated.
“How come you knew who I was?” I asked.
I do not understand the glitch that happened. Maybe that was the reason that I recovered my memory when the ender heart triggered it. I doubt the punishment was easily broken due to the effect of the spell. This was because of the glitch that happened, because someone remembered.
“Johannes remembered, or rather he knew from the very beginning. That night he brought you to the temple, he told me you were the goddess. I did not believe him at first but when I saw you, my memories came back,” Monk Amon explained.
I glanced at Johann but he shrugged.
“Maybe the punishment did not apply to me, and as I told the monk about you it created a butterfly effect causing her to remember too,”
“So the prophecy, it says the gods will come back,” Thomas suddenly voiced out. We all turned to him.
I wondered at first how he knew the prophecy but then understood that if Johann knew then it was not weird for them to know.
“I am not sure what it entails yet, but the sure thing is, the enemy will be back,” I gravely said.
“But first, I thought your contract was temporary? How come they are still here?” I asked Johann regarding the spirits.
“When you disappeared back then, I have vowed to wait for your return, since I could not return to my own world, which was your final wish,” Johann said looking straight to my eyes.
“I’m sorry, I should have carefully decided on everything. But the reason you could not return was because he was still alive,”
“Who do you mean? Don’t tell me…”
“Yes, we did not completely finished him off, someone got him out, saving a part of his soul,” I stated turning my eyes to Monk Amon.
She bowed her head, “It was my brother,” she confessed.
Everyone in the room remained silent. It was already a known secret. Nobody just voiced it out afraid it might hurt the monk. Who would have expected that the brother of the leader of the Supremacy who was the number one adversary of the milieus was the top executive of the enemy group himself.
“He is now gathering the seven enders needed for his awakening, when I was in the world tree, I saw how the branches withered as the white mahò was converted into black. If this continues, the world tree might die and this world will perish.”
While spending time with the world tree, I have spoken with it, I was told that things that I cannot even imagine happening in this world. It was the destruction that will occur if the world tree disappears. The things that it was currently holding with its power will collapse and the world will end.
“We need to talk to the king, we need to prepare for war,” I voiced out with urgency.
Just after I finished speaking the office doors harshly opened revealing a panting Mayo.
“T-the Academe is on attack!” He yelled in panic
“What do you mean? Explain in details, calm down,” Monk Amon attempted to calm the panic stricken Mayo. For an Ace to be this perturbed, the situation is grave.
“Why could we not hear the attack?” asked the monk carefully.
Yes it was indeed a wonder why an attack that was nasty enough to cause panic did not let a single shrill occur.
“There was a barrier, the attack was in the dorms where there were no professors, a barrier was erected, a sound barrier. When you attempt to enter or go outside it will produce a shrill that makes the ear bleed.” Mayo said, calming down a little.
“Now, are the professors informed now?” I asked
“Yes, b-but, they are fighting in grounds, it was the first milieus executive,”
This is getting out of hand. Why are they attacking now? And worst, it was the first. And Zeph was the first executive. I glanced at Monk Amon to see her expression, but she was calm. Good, she took this situation well.
“Is he alone?” Johann queried
“I don’t know captain, I was told by uncle to call you quickly, the other professors are having a hard time holding him off, but they are putting up a fight thanks to Joseph Debra. But it’s only a matter of time before he reaches the dorms.”
“How did a barrier get erected inside the academe?” Yahya asked.
It was a question that was also running inside my head. The academe cannot easily get infiltrated, so no one can erect a barrier from the outside there was only one answer.
“It was the traitor,” someone from the door spoke. It was Luther.