An Archer's Promise

Chapter 6: Vision

Beta read by n1ch, Shigiya, Solitary heart and 8kagi

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She saw hell through the eyes of the young boy.

The raging blood-red flames kindled the sky in an unholy shade of red, as the world burned in an unholy fire. The screams of despair echoed through the inferno, the cry for help which turned to begging as they burned alive in agony. People lost hope as they were being slowly swallowed by the fire. The smell of burning flesh and the stench of death was palpable, clinging onto her form as a terrible specter.

Even as a Goddess, Celestine had never seen the Underworld and the realm of the dead. But this… she would have thought that she was in the deepest pit of purgatory. From the tales she heard from the spirits, from the horrifying retelling of the battles against Olga, nothing came close to this— nothing to this terrible inferno. There were no orcs, no imps or any kind of demon that she saw in her long life. Very few atrocities could ever match this moment… this terrible scene. Raging flames that burned everything that it touches. The smell of rust filled her nostrils, before it was slowly burned away, making her nautiouse from the stench. But the worst part was the malevolent evil that surrounded the area, a presence that made her very being tremble in fear.

Step

Her attention soon turned towards the boy her spirit was following. Why was this child walking through this hellscape? She did not know. Why did the gods abandon such a gentle soul, she could not fathom. Even with her status as a reincarnated goddess, there were still moments that the gods' actions were still a mystery to her, and their actions to the mortals. She wished she understood why such travestys have to happen but at the same time she didn’t want to know the answer. No answer would be able to justify this… this scene. A mystery in itself, a puzzle she dreaded to solve but one she wished to know the truth behind—the hidden meaning. Her heart broke into pieces from watching the child travers through this burning maze. Watched as the child slowly lost bit by bit of his soul as he ignored the pleas of help, all in order to survive.

He was crying, tears streamed down his cheeks.

Was he sad? Hurt? Angry? Scared?

She could not tell as his face remained devoid of any expression, nothing more than a blank canvas. But she could see one thing from him, slowly haunting her the longer she looked. She saw as he slowly died. With each step, he threw away part of himself to feed the fire; his eyes no longer having any signs of life.

He was already broken.

He was nothing more than an innocent child. One that should have spent his time frolicking in the field with his friends, playing games, smiling, laughing, and just enjoying life. Celestine saw the many burns and wounds littering his body. Exhaustion marred his being as he trudged forwards, trying to escape this hellish place.

She wanted to hold him, bring him close to her, and take him away. Wanting to soothe the boy that everything will be alright, that she was there for him and that his life was no longer in danger. Wanting to be his salvation and his beacon of hope.

But she couldn't. A cruel fate she was forced to live through. A nightmare she wished to escape from, yet remained just for the boy's sake.

He began losing more of himself with every step. Anger, curiosity, fate, happiness, love, everything. In the end, starting to become nothing more than an empty husk of a human being—he threw it all away to the flame to burn.

His legs gave up on him and the boy fell to the burned ground, unable to walk any further. "No!" Celestine's voice escaped her mouth as she tried to hold him, to catch the boy before he succumbed to his demise. Yes, she was once again reminded that she had no presence in this reality, her hands passed through the boy and she watched in horror as life began slowly leaving the boy's eyes. "No, please! You must live, don't die!" She ignored the aspect of this being a vision of the past, future, or nightmare and just tried to hold on to the boy.