Sleeping Elf Princess of the Forest, Part 5
Before they knew it, the sun had completely set. After a quick, simple meal, the party decided to call it a night inside the log cabin. Normally, they would have taken turns standing watch in three shifts, but since they were resting indoors tonight, there was no need for that.
Some time after they extinguished the lantern hanging from the ceiling and went to sleep, Yohan flinched. He woke up reflexively, sensing a sudden presence approaching him.
"Shh."
The one approaching him was the Goddess. Even in the pitch-black darkness, Yohan could feel her distinct divine energy. Gesturing repeatedly for him to be quiet, she glanced toward the entrance. It was a clear sign that she wanted to talk outside. Yohan rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, got up, and quietly slipped out of the cabin with her.
"What's this about in the middle of the night? Why'd you wake me up?" Yohan grumbled under his breath, looking around. The campsite was dead silent, everyone else fast asleep. The only sound was the occasional chirp of insects carried on the gentle breeze. Inhaling the crisp, chilly night air instantly cleared his head. Great. Even after this talk is over, there's no way I'm getting back to sleep.
"So, why the sudden wake-up call?" The very fact that she had led him away so the others wouldn't hear was significant. There was undoubtedly something she couldn't easily share with Falco and Billy. Because of this, Yohan didn't just blindly vent his annoyance at having his sleep interrupted.
"I have something to tell thee regarding the guardian deity we met today."
"Figures." Honestly, there wasn't really anything else important enough to warrant this.
"My Apostle. Why dost thou think I bestowed upon thee the duty of an Apostle, transferring the majority of my divinity to thee?" Yohan remained silent at her question.
"Because beings like you survive on the faith of mortals." After a brief moment of organizing his thoughts, he offered his answer.
"Indeed. Beings like myself, whom mortals call gods, may possess eternal life, but to sustain that eternity, we must rely on the collective unconsciousness known as faith." This irony existed because, as the Goddess said, the gods of this world were born from the collective unconsciousness of humanity.
"My Apostle. Dost thou know what emotions I felt during the thousands of years I was sealed away?" Yohan shook his head at her follow-up question. Words like 'lonely' or 'fearful of an inevitable death' couldn't possibly capture the full depth of those emotions.
"I have lived for far longer than thou canst possibly imagine. Yet, every single day of my imprisonment in that dark pit remains as vivid to me as if it happened only yesterday." Born as an immortal deity, she had nevertheless felt the creeping terror of death while trapped in that abyss in the abandoned land. The Goddess suddenly closed her eyes and took a ragged breath. The mere memory of her past was enough to elicit such a reaction; Yohan couldn't even begin to fathom the sheer scale of the suffering she had endured during her confinement.
"My Apostle. Compared to me, that guardian deity has lived a mere fraction of my lifespan. To put it kindly, she is pure. To put it bluntly..."
"She lost her mind the moment her tribe was wiped out." Yohan cut her off. The Goddess didn't scold him for interrupting; she simply offered a silent nod of agreement.
"Then, why dost thou think I did not succumb to madness as she did?"
"Because you pride yourself on being the Goddess of Justice."
"Correct. It may sound absurd, but it was my identity as the Goddess of Justice that allowed me to endure that vast stretch of time." She reached out, her small, delicate hands wrapping around Yohan's rough, calloused hand. "And thanks to that, I was able to forge a bond with thee and walk upon this earth once more."
Normally, Yohan would have cringed and complained about her saying something so cheesy. But he knew all too well that now was not the time for lighthearted banter.
"..." The Goddess's tiny hands trembled slightly. The reason was simple: she was deeply worried. She had a foreboding premonition of what a guardian deity, long consumed by the terror of death, might do.
"I have existed for an immense period, and I hold the virtue of justice above all else. But what of the guardian deity we met today?" She was young for a god. Moreover, she was not a deity who championed universal values; she was born solely to protect a single elven tribe.
"Wait a minute..." Yohan suddenly realized why the Goddess was so deeply concerned about the guardian deity.
"My Apostle. Suppose thou wert trapped in a place where no one would ever come, alongside a being far weaker than thyself." The Goddess continued to stroke Yohan's calloused hand. "If there were neither food nor a single drop of water to drink, a terrible thirst and hunger would soon consume thee."
"I would..." Yohan's voice wavered as he spoke. The Goddess looked up at him, a faint smile playing on her lips.
"I know. Even if thou wert to suffer from starvation and thirst until thy final breath, thou wouldst never harm thy companion."
"Well... though if they attacked me first, I'd beat them to death."
"But that is self-defense, is it not? As I have said time and again, righteous retribution is also a form of justice." Just when the mood was getting all dramatic, she had to go and say something like that. Yohan shook his head and clicked his tongue.
"Let us return to the matter at hand."
"Right."
"The reason thou wouldst make such a choice is due to thy human instinct to avoid harming another of thy kind, and because thou hast been raised to understand the concepts of good and evil."
"Good and evil, huh..." Yohan muttered the words under his breath.
"This is not the place to debate the philosophy of good and evil."
"I know."
"Then what of the guardian deity of the Dawn Dew Tribe?" But she was different. The guardian deity did not adhere to universal concepts of good and evil. Her entire purpose of existence was the preservation of the Dawn Dew Tribe, and she had lived solely for that goal.
"The tribe she was meant to nurture has perished, and she, having lost her source of faith, was destined to fade away. Yet, Falco, who still holds a connection to her, has returned."
"...Yeah."
"She will stop at nothing. She will never let slip this opportunity, which may never come again." A divine being, who had lost her purpose and felt the terrifying grip of death for the first time, was now faced with a chance to live again. The Goddess cupped Yohan's hand between both of her palms. "What separates a god from a demon is whether or not they cross that line." She spoke in a low, solemn voice.
Morning came. Led by Yohan, the party quickly stepped out of the log cabin. "Alright, let's head out. Whatever happens, we have to try and talk her down first." Yohan silently prayed that the worst-case scenario the Goddess feared wouldn't come to pass.
"But why aren't we riding the horses like yesterday?" Billy asked, looking at Falco, who was piggybacked on Yohan's shoulders.
"Because if things go south, we need to make a quick getaway. If I really put my mind to it, I can run faster than a horse."
"Th-then what about me?"
"What do you think? You'll have to run for your life."
"Hahaha..." Billy let out a dry,