Chapter 12.5 - Faith

It was cozy inside the old roadside temple, though the path was mangled, from years of disrepair, there was nothing quite like the serenity of a temple, for a little fire.

Argo took a bite out of the mutton he was holding, and chewed, as he stared at the door, idly pondering about Durleigh.

The Old Witch of Durleigh had sharp ears, and facial features, like the edge of a blade, and eyes to match, with the flairs of magic, which allowed her to hold power there, with an iron grip.

Rouge had been working in the shadow of the Old Witch, establishing power, to try and move into Hacuray Markets, and Thetesian Markets by extension, since the Thetsian Pirates sold to Hacuray merchants, who smuggled and off loaded it in Bridland and Karlan.

Durleigh, being the town at the foremost frontier, was naturally the first to receive those goods, and Rouge's cash cow.

But with them gone, every bloodhound in the region, was making a move to fill the vacuum.

Even rogue monks, had the gaul, to try and move in, using faith and promises of paradise, to set up a cult, and take control.

"...Why are you so calm? They're all dead, gone." He heard a voice across the fire from him, she was wrapped in a blanket, staring at the flames.

It had rained, not long ago, and she had gotten wet.

It was unlikely, to impossible, for her to get sick, but, being wet was still uncomfortable.

"People die," Argo turned over, to look at the pile of dead, he would have to burn them, to prevent wild animals who arrived here later, from associating people with food, "You would be worse off, if we had lost." 

They had stumbled onto group after group, again and again, she was forced into combat, cutting people apart.

Even after nearly fifty people, she still tried to get them to surrender, to back down and hand themselves in.

It was commendable.

Naturally, they stumbling upon these places was no accident.

Sin had done it's chores, and knew where all the bases of the people moving into Durleigh were, but, it was impossible to hunt them all down, without exposing Sin's involvement in the matter, and dragging more unwanted attention.

But, Durleigh was too much of a powerhouse to leave alone.

If they did not get it, another group like Rouge would appear in some years, and come back to try and push them again, perhaps, win this time.

So, he decided to show her the ropes.

If she was going to be Karlan's hero, she couldn't be a laughing stock, in front of other nations, or else Karlan would look weak, and others might get ideas, be they internal affairs, or domestic.

Besides, she had saved his life, with her blessings.

He was going to teach her a valuable lesson.

"You believe in the Goddess. But you don't even flinch at the sight of them. My hands are stained, with blood that I can never wash off." She stared at the fire.

He almost laughed.

If she was stained, than what was he? 

He took another bite of his mutton, it was going to go cold soon, and if it went cold, it would be like a brick.

"The Goddess of Life, is also the Goddess of Death. When you breath life into something, you must know you also cast death. There are no immortals, not even the long lived Giants of the Mountains. Or the Dragons of the sky. Everything is going home one day. It was simply their day this time."

The way he saw it, the Goddess was probably real, in some facet.

And the after life, may or may not be real.

But it was certain from his first breath, there would be a last breath.

He did not know when, nor how, but he knew it would be sometime.

And so, he didn't waste time pondering it.

"Then, can the Goddess also die?" Constance's eyes widened, and she shook her head, closing them, and muttering prayers.

Argo looked at her scared form, and wondered if he'd gone too far, before sighing, the mutton tasted foul, now, he threw it into the fire.

"Magic is against the natural order. It is finite and infinite, since the natural magic, cannot be exhausted, nor can it be increased. In order to manipulate it, the laws of the world must be bent. The Goddess exists outside of the natural order that she created. It's likely she's immortal. You can't judge her, by mortal standards." 

He laid back on his hands, staring at the ceiling.

This place was likely once an orphanage, as all the temples of the Goddess were, places where life flourished, and all that draws breath, finds peace.

Yet, it too, had rotted.

He didn't know, if his explanation was true.

But, it didn't matter if it was, or wasn't.

No one could possibly know the truth, unless they were dead.

But the dead didn't speak.

Constance simply needed something to latch onto.

He heard her mutterings grow weaker. 

He let out a breath, and stood up, kicking the fire out.

He walked passed her, "Childish Heroes, are my favorite." 

"..I am not a child!" Constance looked at him fiercely, and stood up.

Argo glanced up, the rain had cleared up, "Tell me more, once your eyes go back to normal." 

"..." She bit her tongue, her eyes had puffed up quite a bit, staring at the fire, and she had cried a little, at the fearful thought of the Goddess being mortal.

She was either emotionless or too emotional, she either felt nothing or felt everything too much, she was impossible to convince at times, but so childish at other times, if someone took advantage of her, with bad intentions in mind, it would be a disaster for all of Karlan.

There was a great deal of work to be done, before this girl could become a Hero.

…He felt a familiar headache coming on.