Chereads / The Oracle of the Gods / Chapter 19 - Afterlife

Chapter 19 - Afterlife

Miss saw a figure dive in to aid her. Once the figure touched her hand, she felt her body become lighter as she ascended. It was a man that was holding her hand the entire time. He turned to her and only smiled. The man gestured for her to face east. As she turned towards the said direction, she felt strong winds hit her face. The man didn't seem to mind the winds and simply pulled Miss. Everything was a huge blur to Miss.

She was led to an area where many people were lined up. She stood in line herself and the man waved goodbye before he left. Above them were two doors, and two whirlpools below. She watched as people would either go up or down, depending on where the judges in front would tell them to go. When she looked down at the part where there were no doors, she saw familiar faces reaching up, wailing as if asking for help. They couldn't seem to get out. Her eyes widened when she realized who they were. It was the family she killed when she first got to Silverstar. For years, she had dreamt of their deaths and them being locked up in an inescapable prison. Her dreams were right, it seemed.

It was Miss' turn. The three judges before her laughed.

"I thought I would still have to wait a bit more before seeing you here. You hurried to your contract, I see" One of the judges said.

The judges gestured for Miss to leave. Puzzled, Miss simply followed. Once she left the line, she felt herself getting dragged down to the whirlpool below her. The rapids pushed her deeper and deeper until she could no longer feel the currents.

She found herself floating in darkness. She felt weightless but she couldn't rise to the surface. She was stuck in place. For some reason, she felt watched... Like the darkness around her was alive. She closed her eyes, fearing that when she kept them open too long, she'll see something in the darkness staring back at her. Her whole body trembled and she curled up. She felt piercing gazes towards her. Soon enough, she could hear voices everywhere, as if they were talking about her.

....

It has been so long, Miss could only take so much of what was happening around her. Slowly, she started to question why she ended up there in the first place. She ended up recalling her life in Silverstar.

So this was the fate of everyone who would die. If she fell, she must have done something wrong, right? She remembered the only phrase that led her life... "It is what the gods willed." If all she followed was the will of the gods, why did she fall?

That was right... Everything was because of this Katie. Miss felt her chest tighten. She never really mattered. The gods were only waiting for her to create a contract for her incarnate. When their goal was reached, they didn't think twice to kill her. Now, she ended in eternal darkness, meant to suffer this loneliness forever. She felt an overwhelming sadness and she sobbed and cried. Her incarnate was the only one that mattered to the gods. She was terrified of her surroundings... And she was left there, unable to shut anything out. She felt so vulnerable but she couldn't even seem to hide anything.

"Why!?" She cried out, "What have I done to deserve this!?"

Suddenly, light tore the darkness and her vision finally brightened. She now found herself standing by a cliff overlooking a green and lush valley. She looked around and only a lone tree stood beside her. In front of her was a giantess, a brilliant light shining behind her. Her red hair was long and seemed to reach the end of every direction, her dress resembled the night sky and red twine wound around her arms and her feet. Curiously, her eyes were closed but she was smiling.

She pointed at Miss and a figure materialized in front of her. Miss recognized the figure immediately. It was Alexander, holding out his hand, like the way he used to whenever he would take her away from the cliff in Silverstar. Tears flowed from Miss' eyes and she reached out. She managed to grab Alexander's hand but she lost her footing and fell. Alexander disappeared and she found the red string wound around her arm as she plummeted towards the valley below.

The cruelest force in the universe truly is fate, she thought before she hit the ground.

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She woke up in a field covered in green fog. She noticed she was holding the red string on her hand.

"Is anyone there? Hello?" a voice called from the foggy field.

She turned towards the voice. It was unmistakably Katie. She walked towards the voice and saw her. She felt anger rise from her gut. This was the girl the gods favoured. Sparing her from her contract was only letting her go easy.

She needs to suffer like I did, Miss thought.

She stood before Katie. "Do you swear your servitude to the gods and act upon their wishes?"

Katie's response echoed all over the field. Miss smiled, hearing Katie answer so surely with a "yes". The green fog started to surround Katie. The red string around Miss' arm travelled in midair and spun around Katie's arm. She walked closer to Katie and stopped only a few inches away from Katie, looking directly at her emotionless eyes.

"It's your turn to suffer," She muttered with so much bitterness.

Miss grabbed Katie's hand and the red string tightened, tying their hands together. The fog settled, revealing an endless meadow. Unintentionally, Miss' actions allowed her to see Katie's memories.

"Katie" one voice immediately overwhelmed Miss' senses. A motherly voice but somehow, Miss feared her. "Education is all we can give you."

Miss felt her chest tighten. She heard a woman crying in the distance. "Please be safe."

A cascade of voices filled Miss' mind. It was so overwhelming that she fell to her knees. She looked at the red string that now bound her to Katie and recalled her time in the darkness. The voices were there... but it was nothing compared to what she was experiencing now. These voices were too loud and too overwhelming. She could hear the memories, thoughts and questions of her incarnate and it was too much. They all hit her in large waves and she immediately felt her soul being drowned with emotion.

Finally, the voices died down and one voice echoed everywhere. It was Katie's voice.

"Just who am I meant to be?"

Miss remembered the times whenever she would scry just to know about her future. Seeing Katie's memories of her own attempts, she felt almost sorry for her. It was almost as if she was not permitted to discover her own identity. She looked up at the Katie before her... The representation of Katie's thoughts. She kept muttering "I'm okay, I'm okay. I'll be fine" over and over. For a while she watched Katie mutter the same thing. Eventually, Katie fell to the ground and her tears started falling down her cheeks. Katie curled up, and buried her face in her hands. She sobbed for a while then looked at the restless meadow in front of her. She released a cry and everything in the meadow calmed. Miss could only feel intense sadness from Katie's cry. It was probably the only thing Katie could do to calm her mind.

Miss felt guilty. All she could do was stare. This was what her incarnate was feeling all this time. It was all in her head but she couldn't escape it either. Miss walked to her incarnate and hugged her tightly.

"Katie," she whispered, determined to keep her promise, "I will be your comrade... Even when the entire world is against you. Even against the gods themselves... I will be with you. Never forget that."