“Mayari... do we have to go all this way? He is only a child; we should understand him more. You did not have to bring over the council of the Sun, we can handle this on our own. Mayari, please listen to me!” Malyari cried out to the moon warrior goddess who only ignored her pleas.
The Moon Goddess Malyari could not look at the situation of the poor guardian out of pity and pain. She tried bargaining with Mayari to lessen the punishment that will be put on Libulan but to no avail, especially when Apolaki is present and has solid proof of the whereabouts of the said Moon Guardian.
What surprised the goddess Malyari is the participation of the young sun god who has returned from Laya, bearing the sadness and lifeless orbs once again. Head hanging low as he walked towards Apolaki, and she noticed some burnt marks on the young sun god, too.
"Mayari... " she begged, trying to reach out for her but the stone-cold goddess did not even move a single finger to stop everyone.
“Bring the guardian in.”
The gate opened revealing the moon god in shackles, dragging him as they go, and it was also obvious that he tried fending off the other Sun warriors due to his bleeding injuries, but Apolaki immediately subdued him.
He was weakening.
They stripped him off of his guardian clothes, jewelries and even his weapons were taken away from him. He only looks like a filthy, immoral mortal with nothing to offer his people.
"I cannot believe how disappointing you have become, Libulan. To think that you knew what kind of being was around you. You kept it from me, from us, and from your people. You of all gods, remembers the castigation for this matter so I hope you are ready for this." Mayari coldly said, enough for every witness on the Moon Palace to hear, every being were shaking in fear for their guardian.
Mayari gasped, she wanted to run towards Libulan but Apolaki held her tightly so she won’t interfere anymore. The moon goddess of the eight rivers glared in anger at the smiling sun god.
"This is unbecoming of a guardian," some of the Sun councils scoffed as they looked down on him like tiny being, ready to be squashed any moment. He no longer have the power of command upon being castigated.
Libulan was kneeling on the basalt floor, a tormenting method that weakens the mobility of the convicted, that wounded his knees with his hands tied above his head and he no longer wears a veil, but a dirt rug wrapped around his head to cover his eyes.
He was crying, and sobbing in pain, not for oneself but for the beings of Laya that Mayari and Apolaki have slain and sealed off. His eyes could not believe everything he had just seen a few moments ago before he was captured.
He was scared.
He does not know what this feeling was.
To be hurt by those you trusted your life with.
"I... saw...everything..." he sobbed, nearly choking on the lump forming on his throat, his lips quivering in fear, and sweat ran down cold from his porcelain yet bruised skin.
"You have no utter rights to speak," Mayari snarled, glaring at the sight before one of the palace servants handed over a book to her that contains incantations about divine castigationㅡ a form of punishment only for guardians as Libulan do.
"... Mayari...." Libulan pleaded through his muffled cries, and this made Malyari unable to look at him even more. While the sun god, Apolaki, kept smiling through the process.
"The Serpent that has devoured the previous guardian, the Serpent who invoked fear among our people, the one who destroyed our villages, the one who killed our believers, and the Guardian of Moons who is supposed to be the protector of his people from the Serpent's kin, was found together."
The moment Apolaki announced it, everyone gasped in horror and started whispering to each other as they question the actions that their guardian has committed. Malyari could see the disappointment on their faces, and it slowly turned into disgust, then anger.
"Hence, Libulan will be removed from his title as the sole guardian of the moons and will be isolated away until summer solstice to redeem himself."
By every word they say, the louder the whispers became, and Libulan can hear them all behind him. He wanted to defend himself from all of this nonsense, yet he cannot understand why he is being treated like this. He knew he did everything they said, he became the guardian as they wanted.
"The Sun Maidens performed a ritual to discern if our beloved moon god is and have remained sanctified. Unfortunately, the purifying ember no longer responds to our moon god. He has been tainted."
His breathing hitched.
Libulan cannot believe the accusations he is hearing right now, nor the reactions he is receiving from his own people. Everybody was bewildered, overwhelmed, and entirely disappointed for what has he become. Words passed through his ears like menacing venom that made his whole body tremble, tears were running down his cheek, and being unable to see anything right now, makes it all maddening.
"Libulan committed treason against the Lunar Realm, became a tainted chamber of his soul. He will receive a tantamount of bolts of lightning to purify his body and a powerful heat from the sun that is enough to cleanse his sin. We shall now begin the Sealification." Apolaki said.
Sealification is a divine castigation where a deity will be punished for straying away from his/her duties as a god, and they usually have to go through a lot of painful and excruciating absorption of powers from deities that have held them punishable. It can only be stopped once the convicted deity will no longer shed blood, and tears but still breathesㅡ there, this divine castigation will be lifted.
"Chosen One! This is for your own good!"
"Purify our god! Purify our god!"
"Free him from his sins! Mahabagin!"
Libulan ran cold upon realizing what he has been put at, he has read this in textbooks before but never knew it will personally happen to him.
"The final verdict for the Serpent will be eternal death."
"...no....please......Mayari...." he begged through his sobs, trying to move away from the position he is in right now but the pain and burning sensation of the basalt floor makes it even worst once he moves.
He wanted to scream, he wanted to yell, he wanted to beg, he wanted to tell them what he had seen, what he have heard, what he have learned from the time he was with Bakunawa. He wanted to tell them that he did not do anything wrong. He wanted to protect him at all costs.
"A hundred slash from the sword of Mayari that imbues a lightning falcon that could purify any tainted soul and the seven thousand and a hundred seven rays of the sun that can cleanse his sin."
The two deities chanted spells on their swords to perfect the ritual.
“Mahabaging Bathala, may you show mercy upon this god,” they both whispered.
Malyari shivered beside the cold-hearted Mayari who did not even blink once Apolaki began the punishment by burning the flesh of the screaming Libulan. She could no longer take it that she walked away from the hall, knowing she cannot do anything to help the poor god.
All she ever heard next was the bolts of lightning that made Libulan emit a bloody piercing scream that broke her heart into pieces. She did not want the poor moon god to go through this, but she was too powerless before the deities before her.
Libulan was left with no deity to defend him nor protect him, all he felt were pain, confusion, and fear.
It never stops.
Each hit.
Every slash.
Every cry.
Every scream.
It just never stops.
It kept stabbing him, electrifying him, and suffocating him.
The slashes were even slow and burning on his skin, he does not know how long this torture does will take but he just want it to end now. He cannot take any more of it, especially with the bolts all around him, pressing him down in reality.
No longer in his dreams.
Help me. Help me. Somebody.
Please help me. Make it stop. Make it stop.
Help me. Help me. Help me. Help me.
Help me. Help me. Help me. Help me.
Make it stop. Make it stop. Make it stop.
Help me. Help me. Somebody.
Please help me. Make it stop. Make it stop.
Help me. Help me. Help me. Help me.
Help me. Help me. Help me. Help me.
Make it stop. Make it stop. Make it stop.
Adlaw gaze upon the almost naked and torn limbs of the guardian, he should be feeling nothing at all, but deep inside of him, he wanted to move. He wanted to save him but at the same time, he thinks it is wrong to save a traitor like him. It confused him, it stirred so many emotions inside but remembering his father’s wordsㅡ he decided to keep watching anyway.
“At this rate, the moon god will die from the castigation… he is no longer bleeding…” The moon people watching whispered as they watched their guardian hanging like a lifeless branch from a tree.
Yet... golden sylphs began to surround the hall where Libulan was being castigated, and everyone was confused at first until they realize who owns these sylphs.
"I-It is him..."
Apolaki detected another presence inside that he recognized immediately who it is.
"Halt," Apolaki told Mayari who held her sword for a while, "this place sure likes to invite unwelcoming guests." The Sun god grinned in delight, especially when the uninvited guest he was pertaining to, have removed the shackles from Libulan and immediately lifted the frail body of the moon god.
"Ah, those eyes," the Sun god chuckled, "the same look you gave father and I before. Does this scene remind you of something memorable, dear Sidapa?"
The death god paid no attention to whatever Apolaki was saying anymore, his eyes only glued to the weak figure of the god he promised his heart to.
YOU ARE READING
Libulan, The Moon God (COMPLETED)
Fantasy(Vol. 1) Libulan is the third born of the deities of the wind and the sea. A tragedy fell upon him to forget about his past and became the guardian of the seven moons. While at it, he has to encounter many challenges like love.
