The Madness Within ✓

XXVII.

The Beginning.

The Midforest village was a normal, peaceful village back then, just like any other. The village was unaware of the blessing they were given by the Gods, but eventually, they learned about it with the help of the Gods themselves.

One day, a young girl was wandering around the forest. She was looking for wild berries, wanting to see what they taste like. If they were tasty enough, she wanted to use them for a cake that she was baking. She roamed the forest, looking for any type of fruit, but found nothing.
Suddenly, she saw something swiftly run by her, from one tree to another. The panic in the young girl's eyes rose. She was no longer worried about the berries.

She looked from side to side, and when she saw nothing around, she continued walking. She was more cautious now, wondering about what she saw a while ago. She thought she wouldn't see it again, but the young girl was wrong. What she saw there was about to change her whole life.

The same strange thing happened again. Something ran past her, this time it was closer to her. At this point the girl knew that something was wrong. Was it a wolf? A demon? Or was it something else?
Fortunately, the girl was brave. She wouldn't let some strange thing scare her off. She clenched her fists and yelled out: „Who's there?"

The forest was silent. The only sound that could be heard was the distant screeching of hungry birds, the rest of the forest was only listening in to the strange screaming. And so was the girl. She waited for a response, then yelled out the same sentence again, this time louder and more clear, to show that she's not afraid of whatever was hiding from her.

All of a sudden, a tall creature peeked out from one of the trees. Its wide smile immediately made the girl feel calmer, though she was still a little afraid. She has never seen such a thing before, nor has she ever heard of this tall being.

„Do not be afraid," said the creature with its deep voice that could pierce through anything.
The girl stood by the creature and listened to its deep voice. She wasn't afraid anymore. For some reason she felt.. safe with the strange being. She felt like she knew it wasn't going to hurt her.

The creature continued speaking. It introduced itself as an otherworldly being that came here to bless us with joy and health. And it wasn't alone. “There are 12 others," the creature said. „Together we will guide you to eternal joy."

And when the girl felt safe enough to proceed with the agreement between human and god, the creature began explaining what the village must do. First, they must create 13 identical statues of the creatures. They must all look the same, as they do in reality too.
Next, they must build a house - a house that will be used as a church, a place, where all people will meet up and together celebrate their new leaders. It must be in the forest, in the place where the girl met the creature, as the forest is where they live, and it is a place where they are the closest to their new Gods.

And so the girl listened to the creature and did as she was told. She ran back to the village by the forest, assembled all the villagers in the middle of the village and began explaining what happened and what she saw. She told them what they must do and what will happen if they obey the creatures, and after a while of convincing the villagers, they agreed with the young girl and got to work.
The people who mastered arts and crafts got to work on making the statues. They put all their hard work into making the creatures as identical as possible, not missing out any detail that they were given by the young girl. After days of hard work, they were finally finished with 13 identical statues, just as they were requested to make them.

Then the rest of the village began working on building the house. This took a bit longer, 3 years to be exact. But the villagers never gave up. No matter what age, height, weight they were, they all worked together. And they didn't stop until they were completely finished. They put all their trust into the little girl, they saw the spark in her eyes and immediately knew that she was telling them the truth.

And finally, after working for so long, they were all finished. With all their hard work put together, they created a beautiful house that would serve as a church, where the villagers would assemble every week and thank the Gods for blessing them. For choosing them over anyone else. For giving them such a big opportunity to be happy.

Once all the work was finished, the young girl wandered the forest alone again, looking for one of the Gods again to tell him that all is now done. She stopped by the lake when one of them appeared in front of them. She told them everything - she said how everyone put all their strength into making all this possible. She was really happy with the outcome, and so were the Gods.

„Dear," the creature said, „You've done well. As a reward, you will become their prophet. You will live in the house that you all built together and you will come talk to us once a week. We will bring you orders and you'll spread them through the village."

The young girl was shocked by the sudden opportunity that was given to her, but of course, she agreed. She accepted the offer and by next week, she moved into the house.
After that, the young girl always visited the village and told them about the ceremonies that they'll be hosting. She ordered them to stop hunting animals, as that'll be what they'll be offering to their Gods. And of course, everyone agreed and did as the Gods said.

The villagers agreed with her becoming the prophet and promised that they'll listen to her, as they believed in her and trusted what they told her.

The Gods are so forgiving.

The villagers were eventually given second chances. When someone betrayed the religion and the Gods found out, the villagers were given a second chance.

Of course, they had to prove somehow that they still believed in the Gods. It wasn't a punishment, it was more of a contract.
The girl explained that anyone who betrays the Gods has to give them a part of themselves. Their left eye, specifically. It was to prove that they still cherish the Gods and are thankful for everything that they've given to them.

And as soon as this was said, villagers began preparing eye patches for their friends to show that they forgive them and are still welcome, even after making such a terrible mistake that they'll surely never repeat.

There was, of course, a punishment if they did that. Nobody knows what it is, but nobody even dares to know what it is. And they don't need it anyways, as they'll never betray the Gods twice!

After everything, the villagers all gather in the house every week where they thank the gods for all that they were given. They read to them, sing to them, do anything that could show their love to them.
There is also a ceremony held every month where we offer our dearest resources to the Gods to show them just how much we cherish them and love them.

Thank you for everything. May the Gods bring us joy forever. And do not dare betray them, dear friends.

Because they are not bad Gods.

They never were.