Souls

Chapter 3

Despite her efforts, Syn barely said a word the entire journey, giving vague answers to anything she asked at most. He didn't let her rest either, keeping a quick pace as they marched through the kingdom. At several points Naia refused to continue, stopping and sitting down anywhere she could, but the man just kept moving regardless of her. She soon stopped trying and just followed in silence. 

Several days later, they finally stopped at an inn where he got them a single room, Naia was too tired to care. As soon as she sat on the bed she passed out and didn't wake up for at least half a day. When she did eventually wake up, she was surprised to actually see Syn laying across from her, she figured that he would have left her given the pace they were maintaining the past few days. 

Now that they were inside and not moving, she finally got a good look at him. His hair was impossibly dark, yet his eyes were bright green. He was slightly taller than her, and had several skins across his face and arms, probably from various battles he's had with this so called rebellion. Something about him just didn't fit in though, like something was missing from him. He didn't even notice she was awake, giving his book his undivided attention. "So, since we stopped for now, do you mind if I ask you some questions?" She asked, sitting up.

Syn closed his book, laying it down by his side and closing his eyes. "Might as well, it's pouring outside so we aren't going anywhere."

"Where are we going? Why didn't you let me stop to rest? What's going on with this country? Why-" he cut her off before she could continue speaking.

"One at a time, if you ask that many questions immediately then i'm going to skip over a few. Now to answer your first question, we are going to the rebellion's base of operations. I've been away for far too long and I need a better grasp over the situation that has been happening, which is why we are in such a hurry. As for why there is a rebellion in the first place, that's entirely because of the Council." 

"What do you mean Council, when I left this kingdom last time I gave specific instructions to the king that this country must remain a monarchy if it will survive, council's never work, trust me. One person speaks up against the rest and suddenly we're talking about if humans are work keeping around or if we should just start over." Syn shot her a concerned look for a moment. "Don't worry, you guy's are safe. For now."

He stared at her for several seconds before speaking again. "Right... well, about four centuries ago the king at the time was assassinated, and since he had no children at the time, a council was made from his most trusted friends and military leaders. They all decided on who shall become the next king, and it's been his bloodline that has sat upon the throne ever since."

Naia nodded, thinking. "That makes sense, but it doesn't explain why there was a rebellion." 

"If you let me finish, I was just getting to that. When the Kingdom was started, the stories go that you gave us a crystal necklace, something that we must treasure above all else, it's called a Soul Crystal. Apparently, a single drop of blood was all it took, and when you died your soul went into the crystal, although I have no idea why anyone wants to be stuck inside a crystal for all their life. Anyways, once the council was formed, a man who went by Wenst something decided to study the crystal, and somehow made more of them. Since then the Church has had a strict rule, if you sin you get sent to a crystal where all criminal's souls go, and if you do good then you go to one where everyone nice goes. Soldiers got their own too, but if I understand that one was the original."

Naia stared at him in horror. "What? No, I never would have left a Heaven down here, it's impossible. I never gave anyone anything, and the fact that you humans actually made your own Heavens is more disturbing than anything. Syn, you have to take me to the Capital right now, I need to collect those souls and send them to their proper resting places."

"Ha, yeah let me get right on that. That's exactly why this rebellion was started in the first place. Me and a couple of others know that this is all kinds of messed up, we aren't supposed to just spend all eternity in some damn crystal, we're supposed to move on and go somewhere else. Unfortunately, i'm the last one alive from the founders, and so this all falls on me to lead. Which is why I need to get back to the base as soon as I can. You aren't exactly helping with your constant complaining." Syn sighed, turning away from her and trying to fall back asleep.

"Well, this all makes me want to ask another question. How do you know all of this?"

"I'm the Kings son." He said nonchalantly. 

It took several seconds for Naia to process what he just said. "Wait, you're a Prince? As in the Royal Prince?"

Syn sighed again and swung his legs over the side of the bed, standing up and stretching. "Yup. My name's Saint Takatifu Nuru, Prince of this damned country. As for how I know so much about the crystals..." He dug into his shirt and pulled out a necklace with a crystal amulet hung on it. Without needed a second glance, Naia knew it was a Heaven. "I have one dangling around my neck constantly. I took it before I left to start the rebellion."

Naia stood up next to him, staring straight into his eyes. "I demand that you give that to me this instant. As the Goddess of this kingdom and of the afterlife, that Heaven is my responsibility and should have never been in the hands of mortals, give it over immediately."

"No."

Naia blinked several times, not sure she heard him correctly. "No?"

Syn nodded. "Yeah, no. I need it for now. Once I take back the Capital and disband the Council, then you can have them all, until then it's mine."

Clenching her fists, Naia glared at him. "No, it isn't Hand it over right now or I swear I will make sure that you suffer a pain a thousand times worse than the Void."

"Listen Goddess." He started to say but was cut off.

"Call me Naia."

"Good, I hate titles anyway. Call me Syn, everyone else does anyway. I get where you're coming from, I do, really. But I need this Heaven or whatever to win this war. It gives people hope that they aren't going to die in vain. The last battle is coming soon anyway, so I need it now more than ever, just in case. I give you my word, or soul I guess, that I will give you all of them as soon as I take the capital, but until then I need it."

"How do you even know that you'll take the capital? You could lose and die, then what will I do? Search a battlefield for a single corpse?"

He smiled actually at her. "I won't die, and it's exactly that reason that I do need it, in case I lose." He left the room after saying that, going down the hall. 

Naia followed close behind. "One last question?"

"That was a question."

"Why do they call you the Hero of Darkness?"

"Well, the Church is of Light, and we technically oppose it, so they coined the name on me and brought out my sister to be their 'Hero of Light'. It's not a name I want, trust me, it's more cliche than our meeting." He stepped outside the Inn, looking around. "Come on, the rain's letting up. Let's go."