Eternal Promise: Fragments Of Us

SIDAPA

“WHY is that?” I asked.

“Because he already did enough. He died without regrets,” he reasoned. “Did I get it right?”

“What you said is true,” I uttered, before I opened a little portal just below us.

Libulan was alarmed. “Wait, what’s that for? That’s the portal towards the afterlife, right?” he reaffirmed. I just stared at him as I took back the soul with the use of the invisible force again and let it hover at the center of the portal.

The size of the portal was a meter in diameter. Its center was pitch black, and a deep purple smoke was circling around its outer area.

“Libulan, look at it for the last time,” I told him, and he stared at it and focused.

He frowned. “It’s still blue,” he said.Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.

“Are you sure?” I tried to shake his thoughts.

Libulan gave it another stare, and his expression slowly changed. “I can see some shades of black. It’s concentrated in the center,” he revealed.

“That’s the core of his soul,” I clarified. “Although he did his role as a perfect leader, he hid the fact that he molested several young women in their village during his reign. Most of them got pregnant at a very young age. If his people found out about it, they would surely banish him. Some might even kill him. What do you think he did to clear his crimes without getting caught?”

Libulan was horrified when he grasped the situation. “He got rid of them. He got rid of the evidence – the unborn babies!” he realized, and tears streamed down his cheeks.

“Do you think that’s enough to cover them up?” I asked.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“There was no assurance that none of those women would stab him at the back. One or two would surely reveal his dreadful acts to the villagers. So to silence them, he poisoned those women after they had abortion. These people believed in the existence of evil spirits. He simply told them that the women he abused were possessed by a demon and that they either committed suicide or bled to death because the demon’s power was too strong. He even lied that they were impregnated by a demon,” I revealed, and Libulan cried hysterically.

“No! No! Why would he do that?!” he sobbed.

“To protect his name – his selfish ego,” I replied. The man beside me was shattered. He must be doubting his belief that every human deserves a second chance no matter what they did in the past. It wasn’t wrong of him to think that way. “This is the harsh reality of being a human, Libulan,” I uttered. “When their resolve is weakened, they either face it and accept their fate. But some of them are gamblers. That’s what makes them human.”

“But still-!” He cried out once more as he trembled. It was clearly written on his face that he began to regret his perspective of mortals.

I sighed, before reminding him, “Like I said, don’t change your belief just because you saw some of their flaws. Even Gods are not perfect beings.”

“How can you be so calm about it, Sidapa?” he asked, before sniffing and wiping off his tears.

“Attachment,” I responded.

“Huh?” he said in confusion.

“Don’t attach yourself to anything, or to anyone,” I said. “Physical attachments, emotional attachments, material attachments… These things can turn even the purest human into a monster. This is why Gods were not allowed to meddle with the mortals, no matter what. We only exist to keep the balance between good and evil in their borrowed lives.”

I just realized that Libulan was a God who only wanted to see the good side in everything. He refused to acknowledge that good wouldn’t exist without evil.

“Is that the portal to the eternal void of nothingness?” Libulan asked. He calmed down a bit, and had stopped crying.

“Yes,” I simply replied. I flicked my hand, and the soul slowly descended into the portal. Libulan watched silently until the soul disappeared from our sight. “It will reach Magwayen’s salakab and there, that man’s soul will forever atone for his sins in that void.”

?I do not know if the souls with undecided fates will retain their memories from when they were still alive. If they do, I bet they will only remember the reason why they were sent to the void,」 I thought to myself. It was basically an endless cycle of regret, and they couldn’t do anything about it anymore. It was their own fault that they ended there in the first place.

“All these years, I lied to myself,” Libulan suddenly uttered. He leaned against my tree, and looked up to the sky. “I was the only one who insisted that evil had nothing to do to those humans who died without having the chance to redeem themselves. I thought you sent them there without a solid resolution. I didn’t know it was this hard. I’m sorry for underestimating you, Sidapa,” he apologized.

I smiled bitterly before asking, “Libulan… Are you afraid of death?”

“Yes…” he admitted. “Is that a weird thing for a God like me, who’s immortal, to say?” He was ashamed, but he was honest at the same time. And that honesty scared me.

“No,” I said. “It’s actually reassuring that you’re honest. If I were you, hanging out with someone who’s full of mysteries is scarier, don’t you think?”

Libulan chuckled. “That was deep,” he commented. “Now that you mention it, I wonder if Gods also have souls?”

“We do,” I declared. “If a God died a noble death, he reincarnates multiple times as a human. The chance of that God to regain his original powers is slim, and his memories are erased. Those with stronger powers sometimes regain their memories and they become great human leaders, or influencers. I’m talking about those humans that pass on our history from generation to generation,” I explained.

“Why are our memories erased?” he asked.

“Some of us die in a fight with another God. Some are sentenced to death for committing serious taboos like: a relationship between a human and a God, having a child with a human, and having a romantic relationship towards the same gender,” I told him. “Our memories are erased so that when we get the chance to live again as a mortal, we will be able to live honestly.”

Libulan was speechless. I didn’t expect that he knew so little about the gap between the Gods and the mortals. “Those Gods that commit a taboo… Do they get reincarnated?”

“You already know the answer to that,” I retorted, and I closed the portal that led to Magwayen’s realm.

Meanwhile, I sent the remaining four souls to the Realm of Rebirth. Those souls weren’t perfect individuals, but they should be given another shot at life. It was now up to them in their next life if they would be able to correct their mistakes and finally rest in peace.

?Gods and mortals… We differ in so many ways, but we’re very much alike when it comes to living and dying,」 I deeply thought.

Later that night, it poured so hard and Libulan stayed by my side until it was time for him to leave again.

?to be continued」