Tears of a Mortal, Regret of a God

On Mount Olympus, one law is ironclad: a god must never fall in love with a mortal. But Aresios, the God of War and heir to the King of the Gods, bound his very soul to mine. For me, he endured ninety-nine bolts of divine lightning and knelt before the Olympian altar for three days and three nights. Ichor soaked his armor, yet he smiled and kissed my lips. "Elara, don't be afraid. I want only you." The gods finally relented, on one condition: he had to leave behind a pure-blooded divine heir. After that, the words I heard most from Aresios were, "Just wait a little longer." The first time, it was to wait while he bedded another goddess. He and Cassia, the Goddess of Fate, lay together for thirty nights, until his golden ichor quickened in her womb. The second time, he told me to wait. Their first child was a girl, unable to inherit his divine mantle. The gods demanded a son. So he lay with Cassia for another ninety-nine nights, until she once again conceived a divine child. Just when I thought the ordeal was over, their newborn daughter was struck by Hydra's venom. The entire divine realm was convinced I had done it. As I was thrown into a cold bronze cage by the river Cocytus, Aresios stood outside the door, his eyes crimson. "You know what Hydra's venom does to an infant god. Why would you harm our daughter?" That one word. Our daughter. I was too numb to feel the pain. When the bronze cage door opened again, I unclenched my blood-drenched fists. This time, I would not wait. Chapter 1 On Mount Olympus, one law is ironclad: a god must never fall in love with a mortal. But Aresios, heir to the King of the Gods and the God of War himself, bound his very soul to mine. He had defied the gods for me, enduring divine lightning for the chance to take me away. The gods finally relented, on one condition: he had to leave behind a pure-blooded divine heir. I waited three years, only to learn he had fathered a child with Cassia. After he condemned me for poisoning their child without a second thought, I sank to my knees, letting the blood from my palm drip into the river that flowed beneath the cage. I prayed to the Elder Titans. "I am willing to leave Aresios." "Please, send me to a corner of the mortal world where the gods can never find me." ... A low hum echoed from the water, deep and distant, like an ancient bell. "A single trip to Cocytus seems to have taught you your place. A mere mortal, thinking she could taint our noble, divine bloodline?" "In ten days, I will open a passage at the world's edge to send you away." Oceanus's voice dripped with contempt. "When that time comes, you will never appear before Aresios again." The ripples in the water subsided. I leaned against a cold, colossal pillar of the temple and managed to pull myself to my feet. Not far away, Aresios was bathed in a warm, sacred glow as he played with their daughter. Cassia rested in the crook of his arm, her belly slightly swollen, a look of pure contentment on her face. A family of three, bathed in divine light, like a holy tableau. The sight was a divine arrow to my heart. "Elara's back?" Cassia noticed me first. She immediately sat up, alert, and instinctively pulled her daughter behind her. Aresios instinctively retracted his divine power and handed the child to a nymph, who carried her back to the inner sanctum. Their guarded gazes stung more than a viper's strike. The man who once swore he would only claim a child born of my womb now regarded me as if I were a godslayer. Only after the child was taken away did Aresios walk over. He reached out, as if to check me for frostbite from the underworld's chill. "You're back. Were you hurt in the cage?" The man before me was the one who had taken ninety-nine lashes of divine punishment for my sake, yet now he felt like a complete stranger. A bitter pang shot through me, and I turned my head to avoid his touch. He frowned. "Elara, in a situation like last night, the more I protect you, the harsher the gods' punishment will be. You have a mortal body. If they truly decided to inflict a divine punishment, you wouldn't survive..." "Besides, we're about to leave this realm. I don't want any more complications. The child is innocent. Why do you resent her?" "I told you, it wasn't me," I said, my eyes burning. "Hydra's venom corrodes a god's ichor. How could a mortal like me ever get her hands on it?" Aresios seemed taken aback by my fierce reaction. He paused for a moment before softening his tone. "Alright, alright, it doesn't matter now." It doesn't matter now. The careless words stabbed my heart like an icicle. He still didn't believe me. Seeing the atmosphere grow tense, Cassia approached, stroking her belly. "Elara, I should apologize as well. I was just so anxious. As a mortal, you might not understand a god's instinct to protect one's bloodline..." She raised a hand to brush back her hair, and a simple, jade-colored pendant on her fair neck glinted faintly. My breath caught. I grabbed her shoulder. "Where did you get that pendant?" "Cassia liked the little trinket from the mortal world, so I gave it to her." Aresios pulled my hand away, his tone matter-of-fact. "Consider it an apology from you to her. It's just a pendant." "That was the only thing my mother left me!" My voice trembled. "How could you give it away? You knew how much it meant to me!" I reached out to snatch it back, but Cassia used my lunge to her advantage, staggering backward as if she'd been struck. She fell, clutching her stomach and groaning in pain. "Ah, my child! My divine power is in turmoil..." "Elara!" Aresios shoved me away, his eyes filled with a terrifying cold. "She carries my heir! Haven't you done enough?" A war god's strength is absolute. I was thrown hard against a temple pillar behind me. My head struck the stone, and warm blood trickled through my hair. But Aresios never looked back. He swept Cassia into his arms and vanished in a flash of golden light. "Aresios..." Cassia sobbed weakly in his embrace. "Our child... is he all right..." "Don't be afraid. I'm here." His voice was gentle, yet each word pierced my ears. "You and our children are the future of this realm. Nothing will happen to you." Chapter 2 As Aresios disappeared with Cassia in a flash of divine light, I remained slumped by the pillar, blood seeping from the wound on my head into my collar. I stared in the direction the light had gone, so urgent, so frantic, without a single glance back. I suddenly remembered how he used to be just as anxious about me. My natural gift with herbs and healing had earned me a place on the edge of the divine realm. I was first assigned to be a guardian in the Hall of Ancient Records, where I sorted through old parchments while studying the lost art of mortal herbology. Aresios first saw me in the old border market. When a few fallen demigods started harassing me, he drove them away with a bolt of lightning. In the scuffle, his arm was gashed by a dagger dipped in the waters of the Styx. The poison spread quickly through his veins. I had read in an ancient text of an herb that could neutralize the corrosive poison of the Styx. For three days and three nights, I stayed by his side, using moonpetal grass and holy water to draw out the poison inch by inch until he finally recovered. After that, Aresios began to appear outside the Hall of Ancient Records more and more frequently. One night, as I was organizing scrolls late into the evening, Aresios came in. He handed me a crystal infused with his own divine power. "Come with me. You don't need to do such hard work anymore." I paused, then pushed the stone back. "There's no need, Lord Aresios. Watching over these ancient scrolls is no hardship for me." He gazed at me quietly for a long time, then left behind a crest engraved with his divine sigil. "I am Aresios. I will come again tomorrow." The next day, he came as promised. When he saw I was busy, he waved his hand and used his divine power to buy every damaged scroll in the hall, just for a chance to have dinner with me. For the next three months, to win my affection, the God of War resorted to countless outrageous and defiant acts: I refused his starlight roses, so he had nymphs deliver freshly picked flowers from the golden apple orchard every day, their fragrance filling the entire library. I refused to ride in his divine chariot, so he walked with me through the muddy markets of the mortal world and escorted me all the way home. I told him mortals and gods were of different worlds, so he took off his magnificent armor, knelt by the dusty shelves, and helped me restore the tattered parchments with his own hands. He stayed with me in the Hall of Ancient Records for three whole months. Every time I refused him, he came back again, and again, and again. It wasn't that my heart was unmoved. I was just all too aware of the chasm between gods and mortals. I couldn't, and I dared not, let myself fall for him. Until, one day, he shielded me from the hellfire spewed by a hound of the abyss, a hideous scar burned across his broad back. Golden ichor dripped from his wound as he writhed in pain. Yet he smiled at me and said, "Elara, I'm disfigured now. You'll have to take responsibility for me." I reached out and touched the wound. Tears fell, splashing onto his searing hot muscles. After we got together, he spoiled me rotten. If I cut my finger organizing ancient records, he would summon the god of healing himself. If I casually mentioned I liked a certain wild fruit from the mortal world, he would use his divine power to ripen an entire grove of fruit trees for me. When my mortal body ached from the cold, he would hold me in his arms all night, warming me with the divine heat of his body. Once, I missed a step and scraped my knee. He was so distressed his eyes turned red, and his hands trembled the entire way as he carried me to the healing temple. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I told him I knew of medicine myself and that there was no need to trouble the gods. But he said, "Mortal bodies are too fragile. It might look like a flesh wound, but what if it's been tainted by miasma? What if the bone is fractured?" He insisted on using his divine power to examine my body and had the best healers treat me. And now, I looked down at the pool of blood beneath me and suddenly laughed, a desolate, miserable laugh. I walked, step by step, to the Spring of Healing at the edge of the divine realm. The nymph guarding the spring saw how serious my injuries were and quickly cleaned and bandaged the wound with the spring's water. By the time she finished, I had lost so much blood that my vision was turning black, and I could barely stand. As I staggered away from the spring's edge, my wrist was seized in a harsh grip. "Elara!" Aresios's voice was tight with anger. "Cassia's unborn child was nearly lost, and you still can't stay put? What are you doing wandering around here?" His brow was furrowed, his eyes sharp and cold. The cloyingly sweet scent of stardew, Cassia's scent, still clung to him. "I came to the border, not to cause trouble." I pointed to my newly bandaged forehead. "You shouldn't be wandering the border." "The divine energies here are chaotic. They will attract unnecessary attention and disrupt the order..." "A wound inflicted by a god is not something I can heal on my own." Aresios's expression froze. Only then did he seem to notice the reek of blood on me, which had been masked by the floral scent, and the thick white gauze still seeping crimson. He paused, then reached out to touch my forehead. The moment his fingertips made contact, his frown deepened. "What happened?" "You pushed me," I said, dodging his touch. "I hit the pillar. For a god, it was just a casual wave of the hand, wasn't it?" "Aresios, you once said you would take me away as soon as she gave birth. But can you even see me in your eyes anymore?" Perhaps remembering his own loss of control, Aresios said nothing, only gathered his divine power to try and heal my wound. After a long moment, he pulled me into his arms. "Elara, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I was just afraid something would happen to Cassia. She carries the future of our realm. If anything were to happen, the gods would never let us go, and our departure would be delayed again." I let him hold me, my gaze empty as I stared at the pale dome of the temple. I had heard these words too many times. "I understand," I said, pushing him away. "Go be with her." I turned to leave, but he caught my wrist again. "Elara, no matter what, you have to believe that you are the only one I desire. Everything I'm doing is so we can finally leave this place and have a life of our own." The pad of his thumb gently brushed over the gauze on my forehead, his movements careful. "I'll have the nymphs escort you back. Try not to get the wound wet." He let go and, as he turned to leave, added, "When I get back, I'll have the nymphs bring you your favorite floral nectar." He transformed into a streak of golden light and vanished toward the Sanctum of Celestial Healing, where Cassia was being tended to by the finest healers in the realm. I stood there, watching the divine light fade into the distance. I suddenly smiled, even as tears streamed down my face. "I don't believe you anymore," I whispered to the empty air, to my own broken heart. "Aresios, your promises... I don't believe a single one." Chapter 3 Aresios was gone for three days. For those three days, the Mirror of Fate in my room projected a series of heartwarming scenes. In the mirror, Aresios conjured a small horse of starlight to amuse his daughter. Cassia nestled against his shoulder, watching them play, her smile one of pure bliss. To expend divine power each day just to show me this, Cassia was truly going to great lengths. But her goal was clearly achieved. I endured the dull ache in my chest and watched until the very last image faded. I saw him stand guard by her divine bed late into the night. I saw him feed her divine wine with his own hands. I saw him hold their daughter with infinite care. His eyes, which should have held the mercilessness of a war god, were now filled with a doting affection so thick it was tangible. With every scene I watched, a needle pricked my heart. But as the pricks continued, I grew numb, no longer feeling any pain. Perhaps my soul had already died when he personally locked me in that bronze cage. Just as I was about to shatter the mirror with a wave of my hand, its surface rippled again. The jade-colored pendant my mother had left me was being slowly caressed between Cassia's slender fingers. "Do you want your mother's keepsake? Then come to the Sanctum of Celestial Healing." I shot to my feet. The aftereffects of the blood loss made me dizzy, but I paid it no mind, rushing down the long corridor that led to the sanctum. Inside the Sanctum of Celestial Healing, Cassia was holding her daughter, softly humming an ancient starlight lullaby. "Father loves you the most, doesn't he? All the pure power of the God of War will be poured into you one day..." She looked up and saw me, her smile deepening. "Elara, you're here? Did you know, Aresios hasn't even gone on his battlefield patrols these past few days." "He hasn't left my side, using his divine power to soothe me and the heir in my womb." She deliberately emphasized the word "heir." I clenched my fists, trying my best to stay lucid. "Where is my mother's pendant?" Cassia lazily picked up the simple pendant from the jade table and dangled it between her fingers. "You mean this?" She curved her red lips into a smile. "How about this? Give me your deepest, most reverent bow, and I might consider giving it back." "You are a mortal, and I am the future queen of the gods. It is only fitting." I trembled with rage. "Cassia, don't push me too far." "And what if I do?" Cassia's eyes were filled with nothing but disdain and arrogance. "Elara, you are a mere mortal, with the lifespan of an insect. The purest blood of Olympus flows in my veins. Who are you to think you can compete with me for Aresios's affection? To have you kneel before me is an honor you couldn't earn in a dozen lifetimes!" She held the pendant over a burning brazier. "I'll count to three. If you don't kneel, this turns to ash." "One, two..." I bit my lip until I tasted blood. My knees, heavy as lead, finally gave way, and I crashed onto the cold jade steps. I bowed low, my forehead touching the gleaming stone. Cassia laughed out loud. "The way you kneel... you look like a pathetic little animal." With that, she raised her arm. I immediately reached out to catch the pendant, but just as it was half an inch from my fingertips, she opened her hand. Clink! The pendant hit the stone tiles of the sanctum and shattered into pieces. Cassia covered her mouth, feigning surprise. "Oh, my. How clumsy of you, you couldn't even catch it." Shaking all over, I scrambled forward to pick up the pieces, but Cassia suddenly let out a piercing scream. She threw herself backward, sliding down a divine pillar to the floor. At that exact moment, the doors to the sanctum were thrown open. Aresios and the Elder Titan Oceanus stood in the doorway, their faces grim. Several lower-ranking gods followed close behind. "What happened here?!" the Elder Titan Oceanus demanded, his voice sharp. The divine pressure of an ancient ocean washed over me, nearly suffocating me. Cassia threw herself into Aresios's arms, weeping. "Aresios! My divine soul... quick, look at our daughter! I just saw Elara chanting those vile mortal curses at our child..." Aresios rushed to the cradle and lifted the infant god. On her delicate body, which should have been glowing with golden light, wisps of dark energy had appeared. It was the aura of sickness, an affliction of mortals. I was in disbelief. "I didn't! I didn't even touch her!" I shook my head frantically. Oceanus strode forward, his eyes as cold as an ancient tide. SLAP! The blow, laced with primordial power, struck my face. My vision went black, my ears roared, and blood poured from the corner of my mouth. "Vicious mortal!" Oceanus's voice boomed as if from the ends of the earth. "You dare to harm a pregnant goddess and the bloodline of the gods!" A lesser god beside him added, "The last punishment was too light. Guards, take her to the altar. She is sentenced to the Furies' scourge: twenty lashes!" The viperskin whips of the Furies not only tore flesh but shredded the soul with every strike. Aresios's fists clenched abruptly, and he took a step forward. "Lord Oceanus!" "You still wish to protect her?!" Oceanus cut him off sharply. "She has harmed your own pure-blooded heir! Even if you insist on taking this mortal away later, you cannot erase the fact that your divine blood flows in this child's veins!" I trembled, instinctively looking to Aresios, almost pleading with him. He remained frozen in place, the knuckles of his fingers white from the force of his grip. He looked at me, his eyes churning with conflict and pain. But when he met Oceanus's unyielding gaze, it all gave way to silent compromise. He slowly turned his head away, silently consenting to the punishment. I stared blankly at the side of his averted face, my heart torn to shreds. The next second, I lifted the corners of my mouth and actually laughed. I laughed at how utterly stupid I had been to believe he would actually help me escape the divine realm. I laughed at how pathetic I was to think that vows and promises could ever compare to a single drop of divine blood. I laughed at myself for still, even now, holding onto the hope that he would choose me. On the temple altar, two divine guards held my shoulders, forcing me to kneel on the stone slab carved with ancient runes. When the first lash bit viciously into my flesh, the pain made my vision go black. In a daze, a memory surfaced. The day he decided to defy the gods for me, I tried to end it. A torrential rain fell on the mortal world that night, and Aresios stood drenched outside my window all night long. His wounds from the battlefield had not yet healed, and he just stood there, letting the storm strip away his divine power. The next day, his wounds had worsened. When I went to see him, his consciousness was hazy, but he clung to my hand and wouldn't let go. "Elara, remember this. Even if I must slay every god in the heavens, you are the only one I will ever call my bride." The second lash fell. I bit through my lower lip, and blood trickled down my chin. I remembered the time he had crossed an entire sea of stars to rush back overnight, just because I had a nightmare and had unknowingly sent a flicker of fear through our soul-bond. The third lash, the fourth... The viperskin whip felt as if it were striking my very soul, a pain worse than any tearing of the flesh. By the sixteenth lash, I thought I heard his gentle voice from long ago, whispering, "How did you get hurt again? Let me soothe it. It will stop hurting soon." By the nineteenth lash, my consciousness was completely fragmented. All I could hear was a high-pitched ringing. I vaguely heard someone screaming my name as if they had gone mad. But I could no longer tell if it was real or a hallucination. The final lash came crashing down. I couldn't hold on any longer, and my vision went black. In the last second before darkness took me, I saw Aresios break through the guards to shield me in his arms. Chapter 4 When I opened my eyes again, I was lying face down on a soft bed. The slightest movement of my back sent a searing pain through me, as if I were being consumed by fire. "Elara!" Aresios immediately leaned down, his eyes bloodshot. "You're awake? Does it still hurt?" I looked at his anxious face and suddenly felt that everything was unreal. In the mortal world, if I so much as caught a cold, he would stay by my bedside just like this, never leaving. He would hold me tight, his war god's warmth a comfort, and press his lips to my forehead to soothe me. But now, I had nearly been torn apart by his own kind, under his cold, watchful eye. And he had only watched. I said nothing and pulled my hand back. I didn't want to look at him for another second. Aresios's body stiffened. He began to explain, his voice urgent. "Elara, it wasn't that I didn't want to save you. But in that situation, the more I resisted, the harsher their punishment would have been." "Oceanus was even considering killing you outright! I had to find a way to save your life first..." "So," I asked, my voice cracking, "you believe it too? That I cursed your child?" Aresios was silent. In the end, he said nothing. Those few moments of silence were like a blunt knife, brutally carving away the last shred of hope in my heart. My eyes red, I slowly began to speak. "I will ask you one last time, Aresios. By the name of Olympus, by the bond that ties our souls, do you believe me?" "Elara." He frowned, his tone strained, as if he were holding something back. "The child was tainted with mortal energy. Cassia identified you. The gods saw it with their own eyes. What am I supposed to believe?" "I told you before, just wait until this all blows over. Why did you have to provoke Cassia?" Tears rolled down my cheeks without warning. I had thought I was numb to the pain. But my heart still ached as if a piece of it had been torn away. I turned my head away, unwilling to let him see me in such a miserable state. "Leave," I said, my voice barely a whisper. "Just wait a little longer, please?" His voice softened, and he tried to move closer to me again. "Soon, once Cassia gives birth to this child, we can leave. I swear it on my honor as heir to the King of the Gods, I will take you to see the sea of stars at the edge of the world, the one that belongs only to us..." I squeezed my eyes shut. My throat felt as if it were full of sand, and I couldn't say a word. I knew. That sea of stars, we would never see it. He had Cassia now. He had a bloodline that could inherit his divine station. For them, he hurt me again and again, chose others again and again... I slowly turned over, my back to him, and said no more. Aresios stared at my back for a long time. Finally, he could only gently stroke my hair. "Sleep. I'll sit here with you." Before the words had even faded, the chamber door was thrown open. A divine messenger stood there, frantic. "Lord Aresios! The goddess Cassia's divine power is in chaos! She keeps crying out your name. The healers say the mother's emotions are violently affecting the fetus in her womb..." I heard Aresios stand abruptly. He hesitated for a moment before finally saying, "Elara, I..." I let out a cold, self-mocking laugh and whispered, "Go." "Wait for me here. I'll calm her and the child down and be right back for you." When I turned back around, all I saw was his hurried, retreating back. I smiled bitterly. Liar. Aresios, you're not coming back. Aresios did not return that night. After he left, the protective ward surrounding my room grew extremely weak. I sat on the cold bed, just staring at the empty doorway. Suddenly, a thick, putrid stench tore through the ward. A shadow beast, escaped from the depths of Tartarus, sank its venomous claws into my shoulder. I screamed, but no one answered. My mortal strength was gone. I cried out to him through our soul-bond, again and again, but all I felt was a high, impenetrable wall. The surrounding darkness felt like it was about to swallow me whole. The tearing sensation in my shoulder was driving me mad with pain. I had no choice. Clutching my bleeding wound, I forced myself toward his main hall to seek help. When I finally reached the main hall and tremblingly reached for the door, I froze in place, my eyes fixed on what was happening inside. The scene made my blood run cold. The divine realm was warm, but I felt an inexplicable chill, as if a great, empty hole had been torn in my chest. A cold wind from the abyss howled into it, a void that could never be filled. Inside the main hall, divine light blazed. From the wide, divine bed came Cassia's sweet, trembling gasps. "Aresios, I know your heart belongs to Elara," she whispered, her voice soft and trembling. "But this situation is... unique." "I... my divine power is stagnating in my chest, the pain is almost unbearable, and the child won't stop stirring in my womb." She sobbed. "None of the usual methods are working. The healers said... they said that only the most primal union, the father god infusing his boiling ichor directly into my womb, can stabilize the unborn child. Just... think of it as for the child. Help me, just this once..." "Don't worry. Elara will never know." I heard every word clearly, and it felt as if every nerve in my body was being pulled out, one by one. Inside the hall, I couldn't see his expression, only his tensed back. After a long, dead silence, I saw Aresios slowly raise his hand. He untied the thin gauze at Cassia's chest, and his broad palm covered the snow-white skin beneath. I watched, my eyes wide, as he took his primal warrior form, their bodies twisting upon the silk sheets. His boiling, golden ichor poured from his body into hers. Chapter 5 I stood frozen, as if struck by divine lightning. Time stretched on, each second a blade carving the scene into my eyes, branding it onto my soul. I watched as Aresios lowered himself, as his lips kissed every inch of Cassia's skin, as the golden ichor that was the very essence of the war god poured through their joined flesh and into her body. Then Cassia let out a soft, satisfied moan, her slender fingers tangling in his hair. "Mmm... fill me with your power..." Aresios's movements paused slightly, his voice hoarse. "Aren't your spiritual channels already full?" Cassia didn't answer, only tightened her grip around his waist, pulling his face back down toward her body. Aresios was silent for a moment, then lowered his head once more. I couldn't watch any longer. I turned and ran, just as a rare storm of chaos descended upon the divine realm. Thunder and rain poured down, but I felt as if I had lost all my senses. My mind was filled with memories of my first time with him, of how the high and mighty god had tempered all his sharpness, how careful he had been, how he had treated me like a priceless treasure. Back then, he had sworn in my ear, "Elara, you are the first, and you will be the only woman for whom I share my essence." And now, his lips were on someone else. It hurt. Everything hurt. It was a million times more painful than the lashes of the Furies' whips. I crouched in the wind and rain, bent over in agony until my legs went numb, until the last lights in the temple were extinguished. Only then did I rise, a wandering soul, and find an empty side chamber to collapse in. In the dead of night, a fever took hold, swift and fierce. The soul wounds from the Furies' whips began to fester. In a daze, I heard Aresios's low, gentle voice from the main hall. He was using an ancient Olympian chant to create a breathing bond with the child in Cassia's womb. It was just like the promise he had once made, his chin resting on my shoulder. "When we have a child, I will sing him to sleep with the songs of the stars every day..." After an unknown time spent in agonizing darkness, I felt someone gently calling my name. "Elara? Elara?" I forced my eyes open and saw Aresios sitting by the bed, holding a cup of glowing nymph's nectar. "How did you get such a high fever?" His eyes filled with pity as his warm palm touched my forehead, his movements just as tender as they had always been. But the moment he came near, the image of their bodies tangling together, wild and decadent, flashed before my eyes. I turned my face away, not letting him touch me. "Elara, I've left the divine medicine and morning dew on the table." He paused, his tone strained. "Cassia's body has not yet recovered. She is still with child and must look after our daughter. I was thinking of letting them move into the main hall for now." "For the next few days, you'll have to stay in this side chamber. Try not to go out, to avoid your mortal ailments and sorrows disturbing the fragile, divine infant. I will place a sealing ward outside the door, and I'll have the nymphs bring you soup and food on time every day." After speaking, he left as if fleeing, rushing to care for Cassia and her children. He didn't even dare to look me in the eye. Tears streamed down my face, but I only found it laughable. I, who was once the sacred cause for which he would have renounced his godhood, was now a plague to be sealed away. In the following days, no nymph ever brought me so much as a drop of water. I knew Cassia's nature, so I hadn't held out much hope. I dragged my fevered body through the long days, so hungry my vision swam at the edges, my ears filled with the sounds of their laughter from beyond the ward. The Mirror of Fate was a cruel device. It not only made me listen, but it also made me watch every single detail. There was Aresios, reading mortal storybooks with Cassia, the same tales of the mortal world that he had once shared with me a thousand times over to win my favor. They drank nectar together at the long, starlit table, the same nectar he had once brewed only for me, a ritual he performed every night after shedding his divine armor. Full of hope, they even discussed names for their second child, just as he had once held me tight, whispering in my ear with soft anticipation, "Elara, for the child born of you and me, if it is a boy, shall we name him Leon, and if it is a girl, Cora?" And now, I heard him tell another woman that if their child was a boy, he would be named Leon, and if a girl, Cora. I curled up in a corner of the bed, biting down hard on my own arm to keep from crying out. Chapter 6 After three days and nights of grim endurance in the cold and damp, the festering wounds on my body and the high fever finally, barely, subsided. The day I stepped out of the sealed ward, it happened to be the day of the "Star-Bestowal Ceremony," where Cassia's eldest daughter would formally receive the blessings of the gods. The grand ceremony was held on the highest sacred ground of Olympus, a celestial dome suspended in a sea of clouds and orbited by endless trails of starlight. Sacred fireworks lit the sky, the scent of nectar drifted for miles, and the gods in attendance raised their goblets in celebration. The Elder Titan Oceanus and the twelve major gods, all smiles, surrounded the swaddled divine child, graciously accepting the blessings of the entire divine realm. Spiritual artifacts symbolizing authority and rare deep-sea pearls were piled high on the altar. "Aresios, this is an honor Cassia has earned." Oceanus presented a jade box. Inside lay the Crown of the Firmament, a tiara that shimmered with the light of a vast starscape, symbolizing the supreme status of a divine queen. "She is dedicated to bearing strong bloodlines for our divine race. She deserves this honor." Aresios took the crown and placed it on Cassia's head. His voice was gentle. "You've worked hard." Cassia nestled shyly in his arms, the family of three bathed in divine light. The gods gathered around the cradle, praising them endlessly. "Those eyes are just like Cassia's. She will surely be a goddess who commands her own domain one day!" "A perfect fusion of the noblest bloodlines. All glory to the God of War and the Queen of the Gods!" "I can only imagine the power of the heir growing in the queen's womb!" I stood in the shadow of a stone pillar in the corner, watching it all. The wound on my shoulder had reopened, but I felt no pain. "Elara." Cassia, having spotted me at some point, suddenly walked over with a cup of ambrosia, her smile sweet. "Why don't you join us before the Mirror of Fate and capture this memorable moment?" I shook my head. "There's no need." "What's wrong? On such a joyous day, why spoil the mood?" Cassia grabbed my wrist and forcefully dragged me before the divine mirror and lowering her voice to a provocative whisper. "You see how well Aresios treats me now? He stays with me every night, nurturing me and our child with the very breath of a war god." I closed my eyes wearily. I didn't want to listen, and I had no intention of arguing. I just wished it would all be over soon. As I turned to leave, the Foundation Stone, the central pillar supporting the entire Olympian dome, cracked with a sharp retort. "Look out!" The instant the foundation stone shattered, Aresios shot into the air and pulled me into his arms. But Cassia, standing beside me, was caught in the storm of divine power. She cried out as she fell, a stain of dark gold blooming across her white robes. "Cassia!" Aresios let go of me and rushed toward her like a man possessed. Outside the Sanctum of Celestial Healing, Aresios paced back and forth, his face filled with rage. I watched his anxious state and remembered when I had fallen from a cliff while gathering divine herbs for him. He had been just as frantic then, his eyes red, staying by my side for a whole night without a moment's rest. "Lord Aresios!" The god of healing rushed out of the sanctum. "The goddess's divine soul has been severely damaged! Her spiritual energy is dissipating too quickly. We must immediately infuse her with the highest grade of pure divine power to repair it!" "Use my power," Aresios said at once. "Absolutely not!" The healer, sweating profusely, blocked his path. "You cultivate the power of war, your energy is too feral and violent! The goddess Cassia's divine soul is extremely fragile right now. A direct infusion would tear her to pieces." "If there were a vessel that could connect to your soul, one that could first bear and then refine your power, tempering it into a gentle, pure divine energy, that would be ideal..." The healer's gaze fell on me, and Aresios looked at me as well. In that instant, I felt as if I had been plunged into the coldest of lands, frozen in place. I took a sharp step back, my voice trembling. "I refuse." This mortal flesh, which they regarded as lowly as dirt, was now to be nothing more than a living crucible to purify his power for another woman? "Elara!" Aresios seized my wrist, his eyes sharp. "This is not the time for your temper! The future of our race is in her womb! If anything happens, the gods will never spare us, and we will never be able to leave, do you understand?" My heart trembled violently. Was he afraid he couldn't leave, or was he afraid something would happen to her and her children? "And if I resist to the death?" I forced a bleak smile and asked softly. His face darkened. "Cassia was hit because I was protecting you. I saved your life. Is it so much to ask that you act as a conduit?" "Elara," he whispered, his voice laced with disappointment, "how did you become like this?" My heart was squeezed tight. After everything, it was all blamed on me having changed. It was he who had pursued me relentlessly in the beginning, saying that I was the only partner for him in this life. It was he who had sworn that in all of heaven and earth, he would only recognize me. And now, he was telling me I had changed? "So," I asked, my voice trembling, "do you regret saving me? If you could do it again, you would save her and her children first, wouldn't you?" Aresios was taken aback. "What nonsense are you talking?!" "It's not good, the goddess's divine soul is about to dissipate!" the healer urged anxiously. "If we delay any longer, both mother and child will be in danger! Lord Aresios, you must decide quickly!" Aresios's gaze hardened. He no longer hesitated and turned to the divine guards outside the sanctum. "Take her to the altar." I was bound in the center of the cold refinement array. Aresios cut his own veins and forced the violent, boiling ichor into my mortal blood. It was a furious divine blood that even a low-ranking god might not be able to bear directly. Now it felt as if it were burning through my limbs and bones, a heart-rending, soul-tearing agony. And through it all, Aresios never once looked back at me. As the blood vessels in my body began to burst, the healer, unable to watch, tried to intervene. "Lord Aresios, Elara's mortal body is too weak. If you continue to infuse her..." "Continue," Aresios ordered, his back still turned to me. As the burning reached its peak, my vision began to fade to black. On the verge of my soul shattering, I saw him again as he was at our first meeting: the magnificent god standing outside the library, smiling with such abandon. "I am Aresios. I'll be back tomorrow at sunset." At the last moment, I completely lost consciousness. When I opened my eyes again, Aresios was by my side. I thought he would coax me, beg for my forgiveness, as he had before. But when our eyes met, what I saw was a pair of ice-cold orbs. "The crack in the Foundation Stone. Was it your doing?" Chapter 7 My mind went blank. "What did you say?" "The council of major gods has investigated. The foundation of the Sacred Mountain was partially severed by some ancient rune. Traces of mortal aura were left behind." Aresios's gaze was sharp. "In this entire divine realm, who else could it be but you? Who else would be so determined to harm Cassia?" A chill ran through my body. "I will say this one last time. It wasn't me. The poisoning, the curse, none of it was me. Do you believe me or not? Aresios, I dare you, swear on your warrior's essence, through our soul-bond. Do you sense even a hint of guilt in me?" I practically screamed the last sentence. "You still deny it?" The cold in his eyes turned to ice. "You're always forcing me to believe you, but what have you yourself done? Time and again you've framed Cassia, even attempting to erase a pure-blooded divine heir!" "How many times must I explain that I nourished her with my essence for the sake of an heir, to stabilize the court? Why must you be so unreasonable? Even if you made her miscarry, what good would that do you?!" My chest heaved, a thousand grievances and furies caught in my throat. I wanted to scream, to refute him with all my might, to tell him I had never harmed anyone. I wanted to ask him if he had forgotten his promise to always believe me, no matter what. If he had forgotten his vow to always stand by my side. But in the end, I just looked at him wearily. "Fine. If you're so convinced it was me, then let this be the end." "Then sever the soul-bond between us. I grant you your wish. Go enjoy your life with your divine queen and your pure-blooded heirs." Aresios froze. "What did you say?!" A savage, bestial growl, the true sound of a war god, escaped his throat. "Was I not clear?" My eyes were red as I met his gaze. "I want to sever our soul-bond. I am giving you to Cassia. Willingly." BOOM! Aresios smashed the jade divine table beside him with one punch, golden divine power scattering wildly. He seized my wrist, his eyes burning with a furious blaze. "Elara! What nonsense are you spouting?! I have only ever loved you! And you would give me away to another woman?!" My eyes red, I stared back at him, my gaze like a pool of dead water, not wanting to say another word. After a long standoff, Aresios took a deep breath. He forced his spiraling divine power under control and pulled me into his arms. "This matter ends here. Cassia has forgiven you. I will not pursue it." "But you remember this," he tightened his arms, his voice hoarse, "you are never to mention severing our bond or leaving me again! Never! Everything I have endured, all the humiliation, has been to take you to that star that belongs only to us!" I didn't argue. To hell with his eternal star. I had already resolved to leave. "The high and mighty Goddess of Fate just let me off so easily?" I asked softly, my tone numb. "And what was her price?" Aresios's back stiffened abruptly. He was silent for a long time before he released me. His expression was dark as he slowly spoke. "She... demanded a divine wedding, one sworn upon the River Styx." "Cassia said she must use the supreme laws of heaven and earth to secure this child's status. She needs the entire divine court to witness the war god's favor, to give the future heir a legitimate claim to succession." He paused, looking at me with pleading eyes. "But this wedding is a charade, a formality to appease the gods. I have no feelings for her. You must not overthink it." I felt as if I had a thousand words to say, but not a single one could come out. My heart felt as if it were being torn apart by a demon, every beat a soul-rending agony. Aresios, you poured all your divine blood into her body, you've fathered two pure-blooded children with her, and now you're even going to hold Olympus's highest honor, a wedding sworn upon the Styx. What are you still asking me to wait for? And what, in all of this, am I? Aresios was still anxiously explaining something, his voice a distant hum, repeatedly stressing the necessity of this strategic ploy, promising to take me away the moment the wedding was over. I stared blankly at his moving lips, a bone-deep exhaustion settling over me. I slowly closed my eyes, letting his words turn to dust and settle on my already dead heart. From beginning to end, I did not speak again. Aresios stayed in the side chamber with me for three whole days. During those three days, he cared for me with meticulous attention. When he fed me water from the divine spring, he would warm it with his power before carefully tipping the cup to my lips. If I made the slightest movement in the night, he would startle awake, frantically gripping my hand until he was sure I was alright before daring to close his eyes again. When the healer came to remove the last of the violent energy from my body and treat my soul wounds with divine power, he held me in his arms, his palm gently covering my eyes, whispering, "Don't look. It will be over soon." But once my body had stabilized, he eagerly turned to prepare for that Styx-bound wedding. To prevent me from having an emotional outburst, he directly locked the magical array of the side chamber and dispatched two full rows of divine guards to watch me day and night. In the vast temple, only a single nymph was left to attend to me. I offered no resistance. As night fell, I walked to the clear spring behind the side chamber, to an ancient watercourse long forgotten by the gods, one that led to the world's end. I cut my palm and let my blood drip into the spring, silently contacting the Elder Titan Oceanus. "I swear upon my soul, I agree to leave the divine realm forever." "I ask you to use your authority over the 'River That Divides Worlds' to open a path for me to a corner of the mortal world beyond the gaze of the gods." There was a long silence from the other side. "Elara, you should have understood all this long ago." A silver light rose from the bottom of the spring, settling in my palm and coalescing into a small, sea-blue stone. "On the day of the wedding, crush this stone," the voice rumbled, ancient as the tides. "You will reach the place you desire." On the day of the Styx-bound wedding, the seal on the Mirror of Fate was lifted, and it was filled with images sent by Cassia: Aresios, dressed in the majestic golden armor of a war god, was gently placing the queen's ring on Cassia's finger. They embraced amidst the cheers of the gods, a family standing in divine light, enveloped in eternal brilliance. Every scene was torture to my already ravaged soul. I took the crystal from my pocket, the one infused with Aresios's own essence that he had once given me, and smashed it on the ground. The bells of the Styx-vowed wedding rang out from a distance. I stood on the balcony outside the temple, staring at the sea-blue stone in my palm. "Aresios, may we never meet again." The next second, a rift surrounded by the waters of the abyss opened at my feet. I took one last look at the golden splendor of Olympus. From this moment on, I would fall back to the mortal world, bound once more to the cycle of life and death. We would never meet again.