Chapter Text
“Many are the tales about the Gods and their deeds, the stories about those immortal beings raising mountains with a wave of their hands, or destroying whole civilizations with a single snap of their fingers are known far and wide. To respect and fear them is basic human survival, as well as a must. No matter where you come from or how you were raised, every mortal knows to respect and never challenge those greater beings, to share this mortal realm with them is the greatest bless of all, and to challenge one is a death wish, that’s what the elders always say. Many have gone off their homes in quests to defeat a God, to prove themselves, only to ended up meeting their grave, completely forgotten by all, and only serving as an example as to why a mortal should never challenge a God, as no matter how merciful some might be, a God will always get rid of those who opposes them.
Not all of them willingly walk among the mortals, why would they? All Gods have their own realms, their own places that's fully blessed by themselves and that radiates power. In the rare occasions a God might hear someones pleas in their prayings, they always send their bless in some mythical way, few are those willing to appear for the mortal who pleaded to them in person. The sight of a God is something to be awestruck by, after all. Because of that, every living being knows that if a God ever appears to you in person and demands something, you have no choice but accept their demands, unless you are willing to risk a cursed life, or have a death wish. A God’s demand is something to NEVER turn your head away, as they definitely have the power to get what they want, so is better for everyone involved if their wish is fulfilled willingly, and as fast as humanly possible. And most importantly, NEVER try to trick a God. No God like to be taken as stupid, attempting to trick a God out of their wish is just as bad as denying doing it, they might not kill you, but your life might as well be over anyway.”
The human sighed, closing the book he was reading for probably the fourth time by now. Why did the village elders keep demanding he learns more about the Gods anyway? He already knew all of this. He knows to respect the Gods and all that, is all of this study REALLY mandatory when becoming a guard? He literally was mainly doing it so he could keep his best childhood friend safe at all times, Gods knew that girl could be a trouble magnet. Shoving his golden hair away from his eyes, the male got up, securing the huge book back at is place in the bookshelf, he should probably just go to the training grounds already and actually train with a weapon for a while, he was already late to the scheduled training anyway. Putting on his light leather armor and picking his sword, the young adult made his way off his home towards the main building in the village: The Chief’s hut. But before he could fully reach his destination, he was stopped by a voice he knew fairly well.
“-Getting ready to train once more, I see.” Said a young female with long teal hair, wearing her own set of armor with a spear in hands. “-I was wondering why you were taking so long to join us today. ”
“-I was stuck in ‘history lessons’” The male simply said, adding air quotations at the end of the phrase. “-I don’t get WHY the Chief keeps having me have those lessons, I already know them! Why do I need to keep reading those old history books over and over again? I don’t remember you needing to do it, Pistachio.”
“-You would be right about that, Knight.” She let out a small laugh. “-I obviously HAD to to it, it was only once though. I think the chief just wants the lesson to stuck to you more than normally.”
“-Obviously.” -He puffed frustrated, swinging his sword to hit one of the training dummies nearby.- “-WHY though?! Wouldn’t it be more efficient to just have me train alongside the other guards instead?” Knight turned to the female, frustration clear in his voice. He just wanted to prove his best, why couldn’t the chief see it?
“-Knight, you already ARE and amazing warrior. I’ll go as far as admit you might be the best warrior in the whole village, everyone INCLUDING the chief already knows that! But...” Pistachio paused, taking a long breath before turning back at Knight. “-I think the chief wants to make sure you are the best guard you could be, since you ARE going to the position to be Princess right hand guard after all, if I was in his place, I definitely would want the one protecting my daughter to be the best they could.”
“-I know, I know…” He sighed, taking a few frustration blows at the dummies before stopping and turning back at Pistachio again. “-But the chief knows me practically my whole life! My father was HIS right hand guard, I’ve known Princess since we were both toddlers, we grew together, Pistachio!” Another swing at the dummy “-If he knows I’m an amazing warrior, then why isn’t he having me do anything else BUT learn about the old Gods?”
“-You...COULD use some learning about the Gods though…” She said in a low voice. “-No offense Knight, But I think the whole village knows about your… View towards the Gods.”
“-LOOK, I know what everyone says behind my back, alright?!” The male said, a scowl in his face. “-I don’t know if they think I can’t hear them or what, but I CAN say most of what they say is completely bullsh-”
“-Language, Knight.” Pistachio interrupted the other frustrated rant. “-Look, I know you. I’m your friend. I know a lot of what they say isn’t accurate, but you also cannot deny some of it IS lowkey correct.” She turned towards Knight, placing one hand on his shoulders. “-I know some of the tales and stories might sound dumb, but we all have to respect them. The Gods, I mean. They are the most powerful beings around the world after all.”
“-I do respect them…” Knight said in a low voice. “-I just don’t understand this- BLIND adoration towards them!” - He replied frustrated.- “-Yes they are powerful, yes they do amazing thing mortals like us could only dream off, but just look at where we live, Pistachio! Our village might be incredible and be thriving, but we still are just a small village in the middle of the forest, the last time ANY of the Gods ever came in contact with us was centuries ago, when the village first came to be! Whenever something bad happens, we are quickly to push the blame towards one of our own, but when someone does something amazing, everyone thank the Gods instead! Isn’t that a little unfair? Why do we keep focusing on building altars and leaving offerings to Gods that don’t really come by, instead of focusing on our own people?”
Pistachio sighed “-I understand where you are coming from Knight, really I do! But the Gods are always around, even if we don’t see them, they are always doing something. The offerings and altars are exactly so we don’t have to face the wrath of any of the more violent ones, you SHOULD know that.” -She frowned.- “-The last thing anyone wants is to have a God unhappy with our people, who knows what they would do? We can’t risk the chance of finding out.”
Knight turned away from Pistachio, deciding to just focus on the actual training. Why do everyone keep telling him the same things like he didn’t understand? He did, he really did, but why did none of them understand HIS point of view?! Respecting the Gods and their powers is something he did, praying for the Gods is something even he would do whenever he had doubts and fears, he just didn’t understand this blind adoration, this whole deal of putting the Gods in top of everyone else. Knight knew what the Gods could do, but shouldn’t the people be focusing more on themselves? He remembers clearly when he was just a young boy and the village had a shortage of food, everyone was growing desperate, not because of the fact people might not have what to eat, but because they were afraid to not have enough offerings for the Gods instead. He remembers clearly some elders literally starving to death because they gave up the little food they had for the Gods instead of eating it themselves, THAT’S the blind adoration Knight didn’t understand and wanted nothing to do with. A guard should protect his village and the people on it, not putting their lives behind the one of a God who would most likely never even appear and do anything around to help.
Releasing his frustrations on the poor training dummies helped a little, Knight could hear Pistachio and a few other guards doing the same a few meters away, some also training with the dummies, while other were sparring between themselves. Knight could ask Pistachio if she was willing to have a spar session with him, but after that conversation, he decided it would be better to just train by himself anyway.
After a few hours passed, the sun was beginning to set in the horizon. Knight could hear some of the guards deciding to end the training for the day, walking by the benches to rehydrate themselves and what not and returning to their homes, slowly but surely, the training grounds where getting empty, but Knight wasn’t stopping. Training helped him clear his mind, and he sure had a lot of pent up frustration that needed to be released right now. Pistachio came by to try to have him to stop at some point, sweating, clearly ending her own training session after hours, but Knight simply pushed her off, telling her he still had energy to keep going. Knowing it was a lost cause, she left back to her own place, shouting about how “Knight better not train the whole night and forget he actually needs to stop and sleep, because she wasn’t willing to carry him back to his place again.” To which he just gave a grunt in response.
And truth be told, maybe he would have spent the whole night training. Is not like he didn’t take a few breaks every now and then, he wasn’t stupid to use all that energy without making sure he was properly hydrated after all, still, he also wasn’t the best at keeping track of time, looking around from his place sitting in once of the benches, Knight could see the moon high in the sky, alongside many stars, a gentle breeze flowing by, it was a good night. He had no idea how late it was, but judging by the fact he could hardly hear anyone around, and could only see a few houses with their lights on, it was clearly late. He should probably go home for the day, last thing he needs is to hear more complains about the noise he was making late at night.
He was gathering his things, ready to head home, when he could feel a presence behind him, quickly turning around, Knight was only startled for a second before realizing who was in front of him.
“-Oh boy, who would have guessed it was you still around the training ground at this hour, huh?” The small pink haired said, a playful tone in her voice. “-Knight, do you even know what time it is?” She asked, hands moving towards her hips.
“-Princess.” Knight gave a small bow, setting his sword safely back on his hip. “-I...I’ll admit I might have lost track of time…” He turned away, small blush on his cheeks. “-But I was getting ready to return home, anyway.”
“-Oh Knight…” Princess sighed. “-What was this time?” She asked the other, a serious look on her face. She knew her old childhood friend with the back of her hand, so she could tell there was something bothering him.
“-... Just the same things as always, I suppose…” He sighed, sitting back at the bench. “-I just got frustrated while talking with Pistachio. Nothing bad, just… The usual stuff.”
“-Still mad about dad making you read all those books about the Gods huh?” She asked, taking a seat next to the other. “-I told him you would be mad about that, but he insisted it was ‘for your own good.’ Or something.”
Knight huffed. “-Yes. I still don’t understand why he keeps insisting in having me read them over and over again. I get where he is coming from, but I doubt just reading the same thing over and over again will change the way I view things…”
“-Hey, you think YOU have it bad? I had to learn about these things on top of learning how to run the village pretty much since I could read!” She playfully shoved the other, laughing a little. “-But for real…” She paused, a understanding smile on her face. “-I do understand your point of view Knight, you’re always thinking about everyone safety and well being before your own, but for some people, their safety relies on the Gods, to give them offerings, to pray to them, that brings them peace and comfort…” She puts a hand on the other shoulder. “-I’m not saying you have to go as far and do what they are doing, but maybe try to understand their own point of view as well. You are going to the position to be my right hand guard, and that means you would be around the people even more! Dad might not be using the best methods to change how you see things, but he too only wishes the best for you, he doesn’t doubt you will be my right hand guard, but he also knows that being in that position, means you will have to accompany me in all the God ceremonies and what not, so you probably would need to be into it as well and what not…” She sighed, pausing for a few seconds. “-That’s basically what he told me at least.”
Knight was quiet, what Princess said made sense, and he was well aware that he WOULD need to participate in the ceremonies and what not when he was her guard, no matter how much he didn’t see the point in them.
“-I suppose you are right. Again…” He let out a small laugh. “-Even if is not something I fully understand the reasoning behind it, just like I do not enjoy when people try to change my way of viewing things, I shouldn’t try to do the same with others…”
“-Now, there is the Knight I know!” The girl gave him a small side hug. “-Look, I’ll talk with my dad, see if there ARE some other ways for you to ‘learn about the Gods’ other than just reading those boring books, Gods knows they get tired REALLY fast.” Princess frowned. “-Who knows, maybe I can convince him to just have you spend time with the cleric Milk instead.”
“-I suppose that would be SLIGHTLY better. Sitting still reading for hours isn’t really my style of doing things…” He let out a small laugh, to which Princess gave one of her own. “-Anyway, it really is late. I should probably head back home, and so should you. I’m sure your father might be getting worried about why you are taking so long as well.” Knight said while getting up, offering a hand to the other to help her up as well. “-Do you want me to accompany you to your place?”
“-My home is literally a few meters away Knight, I’ll be fine!” She said, taking the other hand and getting up herself. “-Worry about yourself for once, alright? Go home, take a shower, eat something since I KNOW you probably didn’t have a good meal in hours, and then have a good night of sleep! That’s an order as your future chief!” She said with her hands on her hips and a playful tone that did have some hint of truth behind it.
Knight let out a small laugh, just nodding his head in agreement. Princess gave him one final hug before turning to run back to her place, wishing Knight a good night, who turned back to his own place. As he expected, the paths were completely empty, just the chirp and sounds of small animals from the forest nearby could be heard, Knight reached his home after a few minutes of walking, leaving his weapon near the entrance and locking the door, he sighed, thinking back to everything that happened that day, he finally could feel the exhaustion hitting him, still, he managed to go and have a shower and change into something way more comfortable than the armor he was wearing the whole day long, walking into his small kitchen area, he managed to grab himself something to eat, he was running out of supplies he noticed… He should probably stop by the market district tomorrow and grab some stuff. After finishing eating, he set the dirty dishes in the sink, he thought about washing them, but a loud yawn made him decide he should just go and get ready to bed. Let that be future Knight problem. Making his way to his bed, Knight turned off the lights and got comfortable under his blankets, wanting nothing more than to just sleep undisturbed until the morning.
Whoever, he didn’t get to have that, as he woke up in the middle of the night, with screams and shouting happening right outside his window.
Quickly getting up his bed, he didn’t have time to change, just grabbing his sword, Knight quickly ran outside, ready to defend his village and its people at all costs, whoever when he stepped outside, the sight in front of him was enough to make him wish it was all a nightmare of sorts.
Houses were burning and coming down, flames dancing all around while the people ran to safety as their lives depended on it, he could hear children crying and people screaming, he could see other guards up and about, taking the people to a safer place and desperately trying to put some of the flames off, one fear suddenly struck his mind, Princess! Was she alright?! What about her father?! Where did this fire even came from?! Knight quickly turned to run to the Chief’s hut, it seemed the flames hadn’t made their way towards there yet, which made him let out a sigh of relief, until he suddenly caught a movement at the top of the house. Was...Someone there? Or had the flames caught up with the house but just on the other side? Knight could see more guards scouting people around, relief struck him when he caught sight of Princess familiar pink hair, but before he could take a breath, that breath was stolen from him at the sight of what what is front of him.
From the top of the hut, what he thought were simply flames, a form stepped down, it was tall for what Knight could see, orange skin, adorned with golden jewel, carrying a scepter on their hand, Knight almost thought they were on fire, until he realized the flames seemed to dance around them, never hurting them, on their head, more flames seemed to take place as some sort of hair, when the being opened their eyes, Knight could feel himself freezing in place, could feel the power from the being right in front of him.
It was then, that Knight realized, that wasn’t just any being in front of him.
That was clearly a God.
A Fire God. The reason why the whole village was up in flames to begin with.
Knight suddenly realized he DEFINITELY wouldn’t be getting a good night of sleep.