'The goddess Hethel? That girl?'
Yeah, now that I think about it, they do look similar.
In Catalonia, where Hethel was worshipped as a deity, there were statues made in her likeness all over the place. Although she looked a little younger than her, her facial features were very similar.
'But why is the goddess here... Wait a minute.'
Come to think of it, I lost consciousness after the goddess's symbol appeared.
And I was trapped here, unable to move, watching their situation.
As if I was peeking into someone's memories.
'I wonder if the goddess is trying to show me something.'
Thinking about that brought a flash of light to my mind, and I opened my eyes wide and stared at them.
At that moment, a man who was crouching down and looking up at the goddess asked in a dark voice that sounded just like hers.
“The owner of this land?”
“Yes. I created this entire world. I breathed life into what was once a barren wasteland. From a single weed blooming in the field to a single bird flying in the sky, there is nothing that has not been touched by my hands. But...”
The goddess tilted her head in confusion, saying, “I have never created anything like you,” and asked again.
“Who the hell are you?”
But the man just shook his head.
“I don’t know. I’ve just always existed here. This has been my home since time immemorial.”
“Your home? So you’ve been living here the whole time? In this damp, dark underground?”
Hethel looked slightly embarrassed as the man nodded.
“What did you eat to live? There’s no way there’d be anything worth eating in a place like this.”
“Eat? What does that mean?”
The man tilted his head to the side.
It was as if he had no idea what the word 'eat' meant.
The goddess's expression became even more mysterious at that reaction.
“You were born without my touch, and you can live without eating. You are a transcendent being like me.”
“Transcendent?”
“Those who transcend the bounds of the ordinary. Those born to create and reign.”
“I never thought there would be someone like me,” said the goddess, who had been scratching her brow, as she smiled brightly and held out her hand.
“Anyway, we are born with the same fate. Come with me. I want to show you my world.”
The man looked up at her blankly without taking her hand.
The goddess, who had forcibly raised him, headed towards the entrance of the cave with light steps.
She must have been thinking of getting out of there with the man, but only the goddess passed through the entrance.
"Uh...?"
Tung-
Hethel's eyes were filled with deep bewilderment as she looked at the man who had been bounced off an invisible wall.
But unlike her, the man had a calm expression on his face, as if he had expected this.
“I can’t leave this place. This underground space is the only place I’m allowed to go.”
“What the... Don’t talk nonsense. We are transcendent beings. Nothing can limit us.”
The goddess spoke firmly and tried to break the barrier.
But despite her great power, the barrier did not waver at all.
“Why is my power... This is a world I created. Who on earth put these restrictions on...”
She was so embarrassed that her face turned bright red, but then she started to struggle to break the barrier again.
But no matter how many times she tried, she couldn't put even a single scratch on the barrier.
The man who couldn't stand to watch tried to stop her.
“Stop it. This isn’t something that can be solved by force. It’s the way of the world.”
"But..."
“But thanks to you, I realized that I am not alone in this world.”
The face of the man who said that was still expressionless, but unlike before when no emotion could be felt, there was a vague sense of joy.
The joy of not being alone anymore.
The goddess noticed the loneliness contained within and made a pitiful expression.
“Have you been staying here alone the whole time?”
The man nodded.
“Subordination?”
Yeah, now that I think about it, they do look similar.
In Catalonia, where Hethel was worshipped as a deity, there were statues made in her likeness all over the place. Although she looked a little younger than her, her facial features were very similar.
'But why is the goddess here... Wait a minute.'
Come to think of it, I lost consciousness after the goddess's symbol appeared.
And I was trapped here, unable to move, watching their situation.
As if I was peeking into someone's memories.
'I wonder if the goddess is trying to show me something.'
Thinking about that brought a flash of light to my mind, and I opened my eyes wide and stared at them.
At that moment, a man who was crouching down and looking up at the goddess asked in a dark voice that sounded just like hers.
“The owner of this land?”
“Yes. I created this entire world. I breathed life into what was once a barren wasteland. From a single weed blooming in the field to a single bird flying in the sky, there is nothing that has not been touched by my hands. But...”
The goddess tilted her head in confusion, saying, “I have never created anything like you,” and asked again.
“Who the hell are you?”
But the man just shook his head.
“I don’t know. I’ve just always existed here. This has been my home since time immemorial.”
“Your home? So you’ve been living here the whole time? In this damp, dark underground?”
Hethel looked slightly embarrassed as the man nodded.
“What did you eat to live? There’s no way there’d be anything worth eating in a place like this.”
“Eat? What does that mean?”
The man tilted his head to the side.
It was as if he had no idea what the word 'eat' meant.
The goddess's expression became even more mysterious at that reaction.
“You were born without my touch, and you can live without eating. You are a transcendent being like me.”
“Transcendent?”
“Those who transcend the bounds of the ordinary. Those born to create and reign.”
“I never thought there would be someone like me,” said the goddess, who had been scratching her brow, as she smiled brightly and held out her hand.
“Anyway, we are born with the same fate. Come with me. I want to show you my world.”
The man looked up at her blankly without taking her hand.
The goddess, who had forcibly raised him, headed towards the entrance of the cave with light steps.
She must have been thinking of getting out of there with the man, but only the goddess passed through the entrance.
"Uh...?"
Tung-
Hethel's eyes were filled with deep bewilderment as she looked at the man who had been bounced off an invisible wall.
But unlike her, the man had a calm expression on his face, as if he had expected this.
“I can’t leave this place. This underground space is the only place I’m allowed to go.”
“What the... Don’t talk nonsense. We are transcendent beings. Nothing can limit us.”
The goddess spoke firmly and tried to break the barrier.
But despite her great power, the barrier did not waver at all.
“Why is my power... This is a world I created. Who on earth put these restrictions on...”
She was so embarrassed that her face turned bright red, but then she started to struggle to break the barrier again.
But no matter how many times she tried, she couldn't put even a single scratch on the barrier.
The man who couldn't stand to watch tried to stop her.
“Stop it. This isn’t something that can be solved by force. It’s the way of the world.”
"But..."
“But thanks to you, I realized that I am not alone in this world.”
The face of the man who said that was still expressionless, but unlike before when no emotion could be felt, there was a vague sense of joy.
The joy of not being alone anymore.
The goddess noticed the loneliness contained within and made a pitiful expression.
“Have you been staying here alone the whole time?”
The man nodded.
“Subordination?”
“Subordination?”
“Those who were born with you. Those who assist you.”
“Oh, is this what you’re talking about?”
The man extended his hand toward the goddess.
As I opened my clenched fist, a black darkness gathered over it.
“Is this what you mean by subordination?”
"I don't know what subordination is. But if it were born with you, that's all you have."
“Hmm, you’re so different from my subordinates. Can’t he speak?”
“Well, I’ve never spoken to him before.”
“You must have been lonely, living alone in this vast underground world without a companion.”
The man did not answer those words.
But even the goddess must have realized that silence was an affirmation.
She took his hand affectionately.
“It’s okay. You have me now. I won’t leave you alone, the only one like me.”
The man's expression became slightly blank as he looked at that warm smile.
***
The goddess kept her promise.
Not a day goes by that she doesn't visit a man, even giving him the name “Moz” when she doesn't even know what it is, let alone if he has a name.
It was the first moment of light in his previously dark world.
“Moz, I have decided to create a new species. The species name is human.”
"Human being?"
“Yes. Unlike other species, we will make it so that it can speak like us. Its appearance will be modeled after you and me, and it will be able to think and dream for itself. It will make this world brighter. What do you think?”
“Good. Amazingly, there will be another being that looks just like us.”
“Right? The world is becoming more and more complete. It will become more crowded once humans are created. I wish I could show you that.”
The goddess felt regretful, but the man didn't feel any regret about such things.
Hethel, I really wish I had her by my side.
The man had special feelings for the goddess who saved him from the deep swamp of loneliness, and the goddess felt the same way.
As time passed, they naturally developed into lovers, and the goddess soon conceived a child.
“Your once flat belly has swelled up so much. I’m afraid you’ll burst.”
“You don’t have to worry about that. Don’t worry about useless things and just feel my stomach. It’s been moving more and more lately.”
“It moves too?”
“That’s right. Look, now!”
“...”
“Did you feel it? Our child is rolling his feet!”
“...Yeah. I felt it.”
Hethel could sense a faint tremor in his voice as he answered softly.
The goddess felt the man's emotion from that trembling and smiled brightly, and the man hugged her without saying a word.
It was a truly happy sight, but it didn't last long.
The goddess who used to come every day started to come less and less often.
The man grew impatient with her visits being delayed by two, three, or even a week, but he knew that she was busy with one thing or another, so he tried his best to endure without complaining.
But as the gap between them gradually grew longer and longer, reaching two weeks, he began to get worried.
What's going on? The man, feeling uneasy, wanted to run out of there and find her right away, but unfortunately, he was a slave to the underworld.
He sent darkness up to the ground in place of his bound self.
The darkness that came to the ground according to the master's will wandered everywhere and pursued the goddess.
And it reflected her appearance exactly as it was.
The image of a goddess reclining on a cozy bed and having a pleasant conversation with her beautiful servants.
The man felt jealous of her and seemed to have completely forgotten about himself.
Unlike his world, where she was everything, her world was crowded with people who loved her, which was unbearably frustrating.
But the man did not complain.
No, to be exact, he didn't show it outwardly.
He didn't want to be caught in this vulgar desire to monopolize her.
He didn't want to burden her with unnecessary things and make her feel like a burden.
He didn't want to upset her.
Unable to leave the underground, he was always in the position of waiting.
He really didn't want to lose her.
But despite his efforts, what was to come eventually came.
“Moz. You, did you send darkness to the ground?”
When she came back after three weeks, her face was filled with anger he had never seen before.
Support Novellate!
Comments
Post a Comment