Lost in Aestia

5. Surprises

Everyone was silent. I could hear everyone's breath while I run towards Bie as fast as my feet could take me. Bie runs to my arms and snuggles his face on my neck. I never felt so glad to see this obese feline coming out of nowhere. She is, after all, all I have left of my mom.

There was a gasp that caught my attention. It made me turn to look at the horrified faces of the people around me, their eyes wide with fear and what I can only decipher as reverence.

"Who are you to touch one of God's messengers?" The old woman tries to pry Bie away from me, but Bie hisses and almost scratches her. She gasps and takes a few steps back, she bows her head slightly. "Forgive me."

I furrow my brows at the weird situation. Just earlier, I went to the pool for my head to be decapitated, and now people were backing off with Bie in my arms. This is such a strange world.

"Bie, this is so strange," I say to Bie. She, of course, doesn't understand me and just snuggles at my neck protectively while hissing and baring her teeth at the people around her.

Then the sound of people moving as one as slowly I hear rustling. I look up and see everyone was bowing down to their knees and their gaze low. The old woman sounds frantic as she screamed for them to get up and that I wasn't anything but a foreign woman that should be sacrificed.

I gape at the people by my feet. I didn't know what to do or how to act, just a few seconds ago they wanted my blood and tried to f*****g decapitate me. I tightly hold Bie closer to me in as much as I can.

"Out!" The old woman growls at me. "Get out of my altar!"

Her screaming knocks me out of my stupor. I took this opportunity to run out of the horrid place, my eyes just looking forward and in front of me. My feet taking me as far as it can while I feel Bie's claws grips over my shirt from falling.

Before I can exit the altar, however, there was this tall girl who blocks me, our eyes locks and I just stood there gaping at her. She stares at me with such odd curiosity that I was just shocked to see someone looking at me so different from the others.

She stares at me then gazes at Bie who curled around my neck. Then she smiles, which was strange as since being here, no one has ever smiled at me. I've never seen anyone smile here either. I noticed how pretty she looks with her blonde hair and cerulean blue eyes, it was so blue it must be unreal.

"Hello" her voice sounds so exotic, and her face remains kind. "So, you're the strange one that they've been talking about."

"Amira get away from her!" I hear the old priestess shouts behind me. I turn and clutch on to Bie's fur even tighter while I look at her cautiously.

I can't trust this woman. She's the kind who would stab you as you went in for a hug, she's worse than a backstabber. Stepping back lightly while she makes her way towards us. I suddenly noticed her hands were shaking uncontrollably. Was she actually really scared of me?

"I don't see the harm of looking at this girl." The tall woman who I know is Amira says. She smiles at me again when our eyes meet. "She bears the mark of God."

"She can't be! Look at how she looks! No, God would want her" The priestess hisses

"Then why did you give her to meet the Moon God?" Amira's voice was suddenly cold. Cutting through the heated atmosphere.

The old priestess was speechless, she purses her lips in frustration. "We thought her disappearance would appease the Moon God."

"How foolish" Amira frowns at the old woman. She looks just a few years younger than I am, but it seems she was respected more than the priestess who tried to kill me. Twice.

She raises her hand to me, which made me flinch and Bie hisses at her. "I don't mean no harm, I just want to see God's mark on you."

"What?" before I can move away from her hand, it shot out from her side and lightly touches my neck. I feel the heat of her palm on my sensitive skin, making me blush.

My whole body jerks back to struggle against her, but her hold was strong, and I didn't want to be choked. Bie hisses and tries to chomp down her hand, but she quickly withdrew before she was able to do it.

I was about to say something, but then I saw it. I look at the back of my hand and saw strange markings glowing on my skin. It wasn't a bright white light, but it was grey and ashy. It reminded me of his hair, that arrogant and stupid God's hair.

"She is the property of Girhoe, your God, is he not?" Amira glances at the old priestess "Sinthiea, I think this woman deserves the best guest house in the village and some handmaidens. Even the lowest of the people know who she is but how come the high priestess does not?"

The old woman, now I know is named Sinthiea, which is a stupid name, by the way, is standing nervously and almost indignantly in front of us. I chose to ignore her for now as I look at the glowing on my skin. It snakes under my clothes, and when I took a peek inside my shirt, there were even more intricate markings on my body.

How is this possible? How…? I gape at it; my body looks so foreign now with this tattoo-like marking appearing on my body. Is this permanent? Would I be the walking glowing freak from now on?

The thought of me walking around glowing like a grey light almost made me panic, but as soon as my chest tightened, the glowing subsides. I breathed a sigh of relief, Bie was still on edge with her tail flicking everywhere in my arms. I just noticed now that Amira is looking expectantly at me.

"What?" I say cautiously. I look around to see three guards behind her looks different from the ones who pointed spears at me to the altar.

"Forgive priestess Sinthiea's inhospitality, her age has got to her and turned her a bit unfriendly to the…rare" she smiles lightly at me, her eyes never wavering from mine while I have to crane my neck up to meet her kind eyes.

"uh, that's okay…I guess" I look unsurely at the so-called priestess Sinthiea whose glare remained on me, she looks seething with rage but stood still with her fist clenched on her side. "I'm…completely lost."

Amira chuckles "Yes, you are. Perhaps it's better that I lead you to where you'll rest. I think you need it."

I must have been so out of it from the glowing to this strange kind girl that I just followed her to wherever she planned to leave me to. It was a bit of a long walk from the altar on the mountainside.

There were a lot of stares that came along as well as whispers and pointing. What shocked me most is that some people were bowing their heads down as if for respect. The guards that Amira seems to have brought were behind us, looking cold and emotionless. They are the complete opposites of the people around us.

"I hope you don't mind the staring though I think you have to get used to it at this point," Amira says. Is she trying to comfort me?

"It's…okay?" I try to match her long strides, but her long legs propel her farther than my short ones can.

"Don't worry, you're safe with me now. You are after all the beloved Girhoe's vial at this point. Your title is on par with mine."

"Your title?" I squint my eyes at her, trying to gauge out as to who she could be.

She smiles "I'm just one of the many daughters of the king of this kingdom. I'm actually just spending my time in this small village when I heard a… the strange looking girl was sacrificed."

"I take it sacrifices are common here?" I say when I finally found my brain. I think I went in to shock the first few hours of me being here.

This strange land filled with even more curious people.

She purses her lips, looking ashamed even. "Yes, sadly, especially when the moon God has been restless for a few days now. He's been pulling the moon closer and closer on Aestia. Everyone is in a panic because this might be how our world would die"

"The world…would die?" No matter how long I stay here, I couldn't understand what she's saying. But so far, I know that that arrogant asshole is trying to kill the world that I'm in.

WHERE I'M f*****g IN! I bite my lower lip to hide my annoyance. I don't know what propelled me to this world or the reason why I'm even here, but I need to f*****g get out. I don't have any plans on dying without seeing my mom again.

Amira suddenly stops, almost sending the guards behind us to hit our backs. She stares deeply into me while looking at my clothes as if she is seeing me again for the first time. "You're… not from here, are you?"

A lump in my throat started to form. I look unsurely at her while I held on tighter to Bie who is quietly laying on my chest now. Her head lodged on to my neck while her tail keeps flicking back and forth. "I'm not from this village" the lie slipped out of my lips before I even realized it.

She nods "You don't look it, but you do look like someone from the outlands of the kingdom. You're really far from home."

"It's a long story."

She smiles as if for the longest time, she finally did. She takes my free hand that wasn't holding on to Bie and pulls me to walk "all the more to get you to that guest house then."

It was then she led me to an exotic looking mansion that looks as if it morphed with nature. Vines crawled up and down the columns of the front of the house. There were stepping stones leading to the grassy porch as Amira pulls me towards it.

The roof was made of earth or stone, it looks like a mixture of both as it stood inside a circle of trees awning towards the house. The circular windows were open, and I see a homey living room and one that leads to a bedroom.

"This would be yours for as long as you want it to. My estate is just on the west with the yellow lantern—" she's cut off when one of her guards tapped her shoulder and whispered something in her ear.

I was too caught up with the beautiful home to try to eavesdrop on her conversation. I look at the wooden ceiling with intricate silver drawings. It reminded me so much of Kandinsky on steroids with silver paint.

Not much-made sense but it looks incredibly beautiful on the ceiling. Pink lilies were growing out at the corners of the roof, which made me panic a little of the possibility of the roof crashing on me if I stayed here.

"I can sense your worry as it is different from the usual houses in the outlands, but it's sturdy and safe. This guest house is only used for the friends of the royalty" Her voice surprised me and knock me back to reality as was I lost in my mind again. "There are clothes available there and some fresh fish for your familiar."

Familiar? I look at Bie who is staring intently at Amira. Do they think I'm some witch of some sort? "Uh, thank you so much for everything."

"It's nothing for God's vial. We have to keep you safe or else he'll be mad at us. And as much as I want to know more about you and the outlands, I have to go" she lets out an annoyed sigh "I have duties apparently, but there is a bell to summon some handmaidens. A guard would also be posted here."

I nod "Thank you again."

"It's nothing, but I must go."

Then she left but just as she said one of the three guards was left standing by the main door of the house. He is taller than me (as everyone seems to be here) with hay coloured hair and cerulean blue eyes.

He looks at me curiously but only for a second before he looks back up again and into the distance. Staring closely at him, I notice he's probably a bit older than me, but his boyish charms seem to make him look younger.

A few minutes of silence between us. I hear Bie's stomach rumbling in hunger and her loud meow in the complaint.

"Well, nice to meet you too," I say to him before going into the house to explore and feed the obese cat that saved my life.

God's Realm

"Your vial is well-liked by the humans" Aryo comes in barely with any clothes to cover his naked body.

For a moment, Girhoe thought about being annoyed by his nakedness or being disturbed in the few minutes of being by himself but quickly realized that that is time and energy wasted on a useless emotion.

He didn't say anything to the cheeky God who sits by the steps of his throne. He lays with legs apart while propping his elbow to support his weight. Aryo has been irritatingly carefree since they were children.

"Did you give her the gift of healing? It's all she seems to do since you returned her to the human world."

Girhoe couldn't help but scoff "I would not give a human such thing."

"Really? Then how come she can heal so many people in just a few days?" Aryo looks seriously shocked at Girhoe. He knows that he isn't lying since God's don't lie that much seeing it a pointless thing to do.

Girhoe raises a brow at him "Did you give her such power? She is a woman."

Aryo scoffs "Heara would kill the human before she can use any power, I give her. Plus, that human isn't mine, you touched her remember? She has your mark. She is called the 'vial of the moon God', and it has been a while since you pulled the moon closer."

Girhoe blinks at Aryo. It has been true that he has no urge to shoot the moon closer, meaning there were no earthquakes or chaos in the land of Aestia. Oddly, he just found himself staring at the distance and remembering the words the cat has told him.

My human is particular; her words echoed in his brain as it bounced in the walls of his skull. Special? A filthy human? How could such a cat, the messenger of the gods, revere a human like that?

"Hmm" was all Girhoe uttered before standing from his throne and walking out of his altar. Aryo rises to follow, but Girhoe had enough of him and seals the rock doors behind him.

"Hey! You know I can get out of this at some point!" Aryo hits his fists on the door

"Then do so" Girhoe whispers.

He steps into the red sky, the yellow stars gleaming brightly while the two suns of the celestial realm shine brighter than he wants it to. There was an odd feeling in his empty chest, it has been a while since he felt it and he couldn't recall what it's called, but it was familiar.

He followed this feeling to his room in the home of his parents. This room where he grew up in has countless scrolls and leather-bound books on the shelves, a large awning window to look out to the sky when it's night.

He draws the curtains to keep the suns shining through. He hates the two sister gods of the sun, they've always been giddy and incredibly repulsive in social events. They are the two goddesses he often avoids.

On his bed, there was nothing. No proof of him using it or anyone laying on it. It's been a while since he has slept, a choice not a necessity for him, or had s*x. They were all trivial to him at this point of his immortality.

He sits on the foot of the bed where he knows he only has a certain amount of time before Aryo escapes his altar and is set off to find him. his best friend is often annoying in that way.

Girhoe pulls the moon dust from nook and cranny of his room. Not like in the altar where the sand is everywhere, the floor of his office was spotless as per his mother's request. She's always preferred everything clean.

The dust gathers and soon an image forms of a cat and a girl on the human realm. Einith is sitting beside an ailing human that looks as if he suffered for years now of a disease. One look at his body and Girhoe knows he is close to dying. It should be considered some kind of miracle for him to make it this far. Girhoe watched her face closely.

Is she using this for fame? He looks closely as she pulls the man's upper body up to tip a cup of water to his lips. He looks around their surroundings, and there weren't many people around her—just more sick people who barely care what she does as long as it alleviates their pain.

He hears the prayers of the sick human around her. They were both praying to God, the certain God he locked in his altar, and this girl. They prayed of getting well and escaping the pain and that this girl would help them get better.

"There," She whispers, softly and gently at the man who looks about her age. "I hope this would make you feel a bit comfortable."

The man blinks, his eyes unfocused "Thank you, it's been so long that I've laid on the steps of Aryo's altar that—" he coughs and blood stained Einith's dress. She doesn't seem to mind. "I kept praying that I would go painlessly."

Einith's face is calm, but there was a look of compassion and empathy in them. "I wish I've found you sooner, I would have been able to help."

The man smiles, for a second, his eyes are focused on Einith's face. "I think the Gods have answered my prayers as someone finally is helping me."

"It was no God who led me to you. I wanted to help as many people as I can" She slowly lays him down on his back, her small arms struggling but she bit her lip in to gently placing him on the bed.

He chuckles but ends up coughing "You are a strange one, if only I was healthy, I would've asked for your hand."

Einith chuckles "I would've said yes if you took me out on a date."

"Date?" the man's brows furrow in confusion "What is that?"

"It's something that goes before marriage to see if we're compatible."

"ahh, I would've done that with you" The man slowly looks up at the ceiling. Tears fall from his eyes "I have to tell you a secret."

"what?" Einith whispers

"I'm scared…to die" he utters. "Alone"

Einith purses her lips in a manner that caught Girhoe's attention as another strange yet familiar feeling in his chest arises. "Maru, I'm here for as long as you can."

The man, Maru, smiles with his eyes closed "Can you tell me a secret then?"

"hmm, I don't know if this is much of a secret but…I came from a land where the Gods are asleep. People had to rely on people."

Maru's brows furrowed "That is strange."

"No, well, it was normal for us. why pray and wait when we can do it on our own?"

Maru smiles "I…somehow understand. It's less strange to me now."

"Maru what was your childhood like?" Einith whispers

"My childhood? It…was amazing, I ran the fields when I was a boy before my mother and father died of the same… predicament"

"Tell me about the fields."

"The fields?" Maru smiles even wider at the memory "It was so vast, the plants felt like hair when I run my hands through it as I run…gold and yellow as far as the eye can see."

"Just like your hair" Einith smiles

Maru nods as much as he can "Yes, just like my hair. I was named after the wheat you see? Maru is wheat."

"I can see that."

Girhoe never thought it was possible that as the man slowly slipped away, he didn't pray for a god to give him mercy. His soul detaches from his body with the image of his boyhood and the hair-like golden fields of his home.

His heart thuds heavily in his chest. He convinces himself it's just the shock from it that made his heart do such a thing. His mind is trying to rationalize why would a human not pray to any god for help at his deathbed but still it didn't make any sense to him.

He racked his brain for any plausible answer. Why didn't the human utter any god's name not even his name? He pensively stares at the image in front of him where Einith has taken a white cloth to wrap the now dead Maru. Her eyes close to tears but she sniffs and wipes away the ones that escape.

"I hope you are at home, Maru" Einith comfortingly whispers before covering his face with the cloth and stepping away to a small room where she prepares the burial rituals for the dead.

Girhoe, frustrated, he drops the dust, and the image falls away with them. The grey sand piled at his feet while his mind raced to the point of pain. Dying people either ask for mercy from a god or cursing them, but Maru wasn't any of that.

Maru was at home. At peace.

Before he would lose to his delirium, Aryo slams open the door of Girhoe's room with a cheeky smile. The God pauses, sensing turmoil in his friend. He frowns "Well, this is new."

Girhoe looks up to meet Aryo's gaze. "What?" he growls out

"You're…emotional. I wonder what you were doing while I was gone? Is there a woman that is hiding in your closet?"

"What?" Girhoe says even louder at him.

"Yes, that is ridiculous for me to even say. You haven't had s*x for a millennium now. Then what has got you in such an emotional state."

"I am not!"

"Ah ah ah, God of Pain and Pleasure, remember? I practically a detector of emotional states."

"Get out!"

"I won't until you tell me."

Girhoe seeing it pointless to converse with Aryo. He stops his feet as he stood and sent the sand on his feet in a flurry. He fades as Aryo shouts at something he could barely hear from the sound of the sand.

He doesn't know where he's going or escaping to, but there was a definite shock in him when he finds himself in the human world. Standing besides the dead Maru's body.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

He snaps his gaze at Einith and Bie, the cat, was on alert and rubs himself on Einith's legs. He stares openly at Einith's face. Shocked both at himself and the fact that he is asking the same thing to himself and he has no answer.