The Goddess who Defied Fate

Chapter 11

Shiro felt the oppressing air of the dimensional zone. It wasn’t as hard to breathe as it would have been if she had been fully human. She felt it then. Hue’s power. He followed her here. She took off running.

“Hue!”

Hue appeared before her. “Why did you call my name?”

“Isn’t that obvious? I don’t want you to die.”

Hue picked her up into his arms. As she closed her eyes and inhaled his scent while he carried her, a memory flashed to the forefront of her mind. But it wasn’t hers; It was Hue’s.

In front of the reflecting pool, after she had died. He seemed so sad.

“You were always, always so reckless. Throwing away your life… What a stupid thing to do.” Throwing away her life? She didn’t throw it away. “But I loved that about you. You had a strength that I never had.” The water rippled, images of scenes on Earth reflected on the pool’s surface. “You really were an incredible goddess of fate. You’re the reason the Earth is doing so well now.” His quiet voice changed. The sound of him slapping the surface of the water echoed in the air. “But who cares if the world continues on? Without you, it’s meaningless. Why did just you have to be sacrificed?! Why did you have to smile like that and insist on going? Why…? If you were alive, you’d probably laugh at me and call me a fool. But… I don’t care,” he said, slowly lowering his eyes to look back down at the water. “You became a sacrifice for the Earth… But… I’ll sacrifice anything, pay anything to keep your soul from being destroyed. As long as your soul lives on…” Shiro gasped, her eyes widening as she realised what it was that she was witnessing. This wasn’t just any memory; this was the memory of him using forbidden magic to save her soul. The second his hand touched his left eye, everything was enveloped in a blinding light. Hue screamed in pain.

“Lord Huedhaut?! What are you doing?!”

“Your left eye… No… This light has the power to interfere with life and death!”

“Someone call Lord Leon! The wise man, Lord Huedhaut, he’s—” Gods crowded around him. It was a gruesome sight. Hue’s devastating sadness, his determination. She did this. This was her fault. With the stars in his left eye, he pulled her soul back from the brink as it was about to disappear.

Shiro opened her eyes and found herself next to the reflecting pool in the heavens.

“Hue…” she choked out. 

“You… What in the world are you doing? Travelling through a different dimensional zone to reach me. That was not a sane thing to do.” Shiro chuckled as she got up and stumbled forward. “Don’t move. You really did a number on your body.” She didn’t listen to him, instead running at full force and throwing her arms around him.

“I can’t let you die,” she said. Shiro slowly looked down at the reflecting pool. Just like before, she saw the world she loved in complete chaos.

“This is all my fault. Being with me took you back to our past. And now, even your power has returned…”

“None of this is your fault,” Shiro said.

“The nonstop rain is affecting Earth in a variety of ways. If it continues, ecosystems will start to fail. It will lead to Earth’s destruction. I will take responsibility for everything.”

“Hue, my powers didn’t come back because I never lost them in the first place,” she told him. Hue’s eyes widened and Shiro softly touched his hair. His hair, the gentle, all-encompassing blue of the night sky. “This isn’t your fault, and you don’t have to do this by yourself. You’re always so awkward and you don’t rely on other people.”

“Not everyone is as good with people as you are.”

“I like that you’re awkward, and I don’t mind that you can be hard to understand sometimes, and I love your gentle nature, too. I don’t want you to disappear.” She coughed.

“You’re really exhausted, aren’t you?” Hue held her hand.

She shook her head. “I’ll recover.” She smiled up at him. “I really missed you, Hue.”

“You really are a fool, Shiro. I should know. I’ve been watching you the whole time.”

“You never came to see me.”

“Shiro.” Hue smiled. As he quietly wiped her wet cheeks, he spoke, “I still have the stars in my right eye. As long as I have them, I can fix anything.”

“You can’t! If you use the stars in your right eye, you’ll cease to be a god. You’ll die.” Fresh tears streamed down her cheeks.

“I can’t allow you to do that.” Shiro wasn’t at all surprised to hear that voice.

She turned around. “Zyglavis.” She knew he’d follow her here.

“The situation has changed. The power this human possesses is stronger than I thought,” Zyglavis said.

“What do you mean?” Hue asked.

“Look into the reflecting pool. The Earth is in a crisis, and she’s not even there now. She’s affecting the entire planet negatively just by being alive. I don’t have another second to waste. Give me the girl, Huedhaut.”

“Do I look like I’m about to say, ‘Yes, sir!’ and hand her over? I don’t need another arrogant minister in my life. Leon is enough.”

“So you’re going to mutilate your other eye? She said it herself. If you lose the stars in both your eyes, you will die.”

“Maybe so, but that doesn’t change my mind,” Hue replied.

“What a fool. I thought you were an intelligent god. I was mistaken.”

“I don’t care what you say.”

Zyglavis’s voice boomed. “The former goddess laid down her life for the humans… Now, you’re going to lay down your life to save the goddess’s soul. Following in her footsteps? And on top of all that, you’re trying to lose another eye in front of the same fountain where you lost the last one. Wise man of the heavens, I wonder how much of this future you knew would come to pass.” His words were like a splash of cold water.

“You knew this was going to happen?” Shiro asked, looking at Hue.

“I suspected it might. My ability to see the future has its limits. I can’t see the future as it pertains to life and death. If I saw that… I’d want to use what I saw to change things,” Hue answered.

“You both want to protect each other… Ridiculous,” Zyglavis said.

“No matter what Zyglavis says, I will win this fight. I won’t let you die,” Hue told her.

“I’ve heard the pain of pulling the stars from your eyes is like torture. It’s madness, Huedhaut. This time, though, I’ll stop you before you’re able to experience that excruciating pain,” Zyglavis said.

“My, my. You never get tired of your own voice, do you, Zyglavis?” Shiro gasped and looked to the side.

“Kuro. You plan to stand in the way too, I see.” Zyglavis glared at her where she leaned against one of the pillars.

Kuro scoffed. “I bargained with the king when I became a goddess to be able to still see my sister. Do you really think I’d stand by while you try to kill her?”

“Ridiculous.” While Zyglavis was distracted by Kuro’s presence, Shiro felt the divine power from Hue emanating throughout the space. He held her from behind, his form changing.

“I’ve decided to protect you this time, even if you hate me for it.” Glowing with power in his god form, Hue reached for his right eye.

“I won’t let you!” Another gale, stronger than before, radiated from her body. “I love you too much, Hue! I won’t let you die!!” Golden light surrounded her as she tapped into her godly power. This wasn’t the end. She wouldn’t let it be the end.