Destined

20. Forgotten Power

"You like to make me seem important, but my role is not as grand as it sounds." I eyed Artemis for a long moment before any affection disappeared. "I guess you call me something as a caretaker for the love and light of this world, but Alva has the reverse, the horrors, and shadows. At one point, Terra had little life to it. Most people revered the two of us as gods. We were well-known. However, that time past and our positions stayed the same. People forgot us. Alva and I had a long-standing argument which is why I also left." I stepped away from the dais. Artemis followed me.

"So, why come back at all?"

"Pay attention, or I may reconsider behaving." Alva snapped at the crest bearers. "Without him, this world would be dead, and pests like you would have found their graves."

"Alva," I grabbed his attention. "You gain nothing by threatening them, or did you forget what happened when you tried it." He folded his arms. "You let anything bother you."

"And you are too carefree you think explaining anything to these pests will change what we know is true."

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Your concerns become manic, and people end up hurting even me. You will be the end of me the way you suffocate my life."

"Jaiden, what argument?" Artemis was curious.

I shifted uncomfortably. "As I said, Alva lied and decided to leave my input out of it. There was a foolish bunch of people who thought I was a monster. They tried to hunt me down. I avoided their traps, but soon I became a target of interest for unsavory reasons. I got wounded bad enough that Alva had a hell of a time healing me." I glanced over at him and continued. "Unfortunately, I came close to dying. That was what set him off. When I passed out, he killed every single one of them."

"You know I was not wrong in doing so. Those hunters had no right to lay a hand on you." Alva frowned. Then, he bit his lip. "You should have told me they were hunting you, but no, you have to be all-forgiving."

I sighed. "You killed the entire town, Alva." I glared over at him. "It would have been one thing to kill the hunters, but you killed innocent people alongside them."

"Do you have any idea what happens when you die?" Alva threw out the question. His eyes gleamed. "You come back, and I have to convince you over and over that we are friends. I must be the reminder for you to recognize yourself. Every time you revived, you always changed a bit more each time."

"So, this was all over who was in the right and wrong?" Mesmer eyed us. "Oh, good lord, was that it?"

"Not quite," I added, and Alva softened his eyes on me blankly at what more I had to say. Everyone here may understand, but it was not just morality we fought over. "It was not long before he finally snapped, destroying all of the people. He soon just made it impossible for people to get close to me. He killed them on sight. He lost faith in people, just like they forgot us."

"The world turned against you, and I was only trying to protect you. Not my fault those people were foolish enough to think they could win."

I squeezed Artemis's hand. She glimpsed at me. "No, you just wanted a reason to start over. Like me, you grew tired of people forgetting us. So, you used that one incident to justify destroying the world I built, and you did it several times." I stared at Alva. His eyes widened. "Did you ever once consider that you were the reason I changed? You tore everything I had a part in front of me using the same excuse that nothing could be worth saving, but you know it's wrong to assume you knew anything."

Alva shook himself loose from his surprise, but everyone saw now what I had seen brewing within him. He had rotted away his tolerance for any creations on Terra. "You abandoned everything, and now you want it back, my friend. Why change your mind? Was it because you found what you believe is worth saving?" He scoffed as he eyed the allies I made in this life. "They won't believe you or me, so you might as well give up on this world."