Reincarnation to the Past

Chapter 89

Lì's POV

(Aug 18th)

(-night-)

Father: Well, when I first met her, she was a very delicate and weak person who you'd think could be scared of a mere ghost. I wouldn't have matched her with you then. But now... She's changed. She's more wild and daring. She speaks her mind, stands up for herself, and is quick to punish others but forgive them if they mean it. She doesn't cower before others like she used to. According to my sources, she used a whip on a maid fairly well, even though she had no prior experience, and slapped another maid for disrespecting her. And for someone who's never even trained or cultivated her qi, she magically has a pretty strong beast by her side.

I leave Father's room and head down the path leading to my residence, pondering all that he had told me. I hadn't heard from Yǔ since I left her domain over two days ago, and after spending the last two days replaying all my interactions with Yǔ in my mind, I had so many questions and one leading suspicion that made me go to my father for answers. He seemed close to Yǔ so I figured he'd be of some help. Though he wasn't much, since most of what he knew was from reports.

It was pretty obvious at this point that Persea and Yǔ were two different people. The way she spoke of her past—her father, mother and friends—didn't seem to relate to 'Yǔ' in any way. And how else could someone who's never so much as left her room, let alone the Li Residence, interact with and form relations with those people? How could she have so much extensive knowledge of qi when 'Yǔ' has never been taught the same? Even her experience and mastery of her powers, weapons, and alchemy didn't seem possible for a mere 14-year-old. 

They sounded too different to be the same person; not even a life-threatening event would cause such a drastic change in someone. From what I concluded, the real Yǔ must have died after she was pushed into the lake by her sister and the real Persea must have disguised herself, pretended to be Yǔ and replaced her sometime after the accident. Maybe to hide from her family and those people who were after her. She was clearly not from the country, given her extensive knowledge of certain concepts and her lack thereof for others.

From how she seemed to care for Yǔ, it would be accurate to assume that she had nothing to do with her death and sought to avenge the girl she was impersonating. From that itself, I could tell she wasn't a bad person, not that it was ever a question. 

But the real question was, did any of it matter to me???

I stop in my tracks at the gates of the palace and stare at the woman standing a few metres away from me, her face hidden under an umbrella, protecting her from the ever-pouring rain. I didn't even need to wait for her to tilt the umbrella back to reveal her face to know who it was—Persea. I stared into her sea-green eyes, which seemed to swim in anguish and I knew the answer.

It was Persea. It was always Persea. I fell in love with the sea-green eyes, with the micheviously confident smirk and even with the sorrow that hid behind the happy façade. I never knew Yǔ, never met her... My Yǔ has always been Persea.

I closed the distance between us and stopped right in front of her as she held out the umbrella without saying a word. Without even wasting a second to think, I wrapped my fingers around the stick and didn't flinch as the shadows rose and surrounded us.

*****

(Olympus—Third POV)

The council of gods flashed in one after the other, in response to the emergency meeting called upon by the god-king, Zeus. All the major gods, even the King of the Underworld—Hades—were present. Which showed the seriousness of the matter at hand as the said god's presence was only allowed during the winter solestics.

Although initially viewed as unimportant, the incessant fall of rain for the past week had started to bother the gods, as it was clearly not caused by Poseidon. Neither Poseidon nor Zeus could control or alleviate the never-ending violent showers that seemed to show no bias and poured into all corners of the world, something that had been unheard of. And it was starting to get worrisome, as the domains had never rejected their rulers before.

"Have you found the reason for the storm, Poseidon???" inquired a furious Zeus, fed up with the week-long downcast weather.

"YOU THINK YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE BOTHERED BY THIS!!! My domain is rejecting me. There was no problem before this week and now the rain won't stop. There are freaking tsunamis, floods and hurricanes in some parts of the world!!! Do you know how many boats have been shipwrecked and how many properties and crops have been destroyed?! And I'm being blamed when I didn't even do anything!! Heck, many of the naiads and sea creatures are being thrust left, right and centre because of it. The palace has become overcrowded with refuges because the seas are rushing around violently!!!", shot back an equally enraged Poseidon, who was starting to get seriously worried and annoyed.

"You must have some idea as to..." started Hermes before shutting right up after receiving a glare from Poseidon.

"Maybe the sea is just reflecting Poseidon's bad mood." suggested a bored Ares, ignoring the exasperated growl that came from Poseidon.

"You think I would be this worried if that were it?"!!! My MOOD IS BAD BECAUSE OF THE BLOODY FLOOD!!!"

"You must have some idea as to why the sea is acting this way." Hades asked with a sigh, a migraine already presenting itself from all the ruckus, reminding the said god why he preferred it downstairs—in his own teritory.

"I haven't the bloodiest clue... The seas are acting out... They're showing anger, overwhelming sorrow, and frusteration. It feels like the sky is actually crying. Its like they're..." Poseidon came to a halt as he tried to find the right word to describe the emotions he was receiving from the waters.

"Like they're in mourning..." Hestia finished, murmuring quietly, recalling a past conversation that caused her demeanour to turn sour. Poseidon whipped his head towards her excitedly, not noticing her distress. "That's it!!! It's like the waters are mourning for someone, yearning for something that's lost forever. It's reflecting some sort of unrecoverable loss."  He finished satisfied.

It didn't take much for two gods, Hades and Hephaestus, to figure out what was going on from the explanation. They both frowned as they came to the same realization and the same face crossed their minds. The face of a seemingly beaten-down girl who always masked her pain with a smile. Their faces shot towards Hestia as she banged her fist on the arm of her chair, taking all the gods by surprise.

She rose up and glared at the faces of each of the gods, taking them by surprise, not understanding what had set off the calm, sweet goddess. "Sometimes... sometimes I really hate the family that I was born into... A person can only be so much cruel but you all seem to always be able to take it to the next level. It's disgusting!!!" she exclaimed as she waved her fingers towards the hearth and the flames simultaneously rose before dying out, causing all the gods to jump up in shock and worry.

"Hestia, what is the meaning-?" Zeus started, only to be met with a firm look from Hestia, one he had never seen before. A look of pure hatred that didn't suit the soft-hearted goddess.

"You do not deserve any warmth... especially not today!!!" She stated sombrely before disappearing in a phume of smoke. Two other gods silently followed her out, unnoticed by the confused gods that remained.