The idea of collecting that much tears dawns on me, and stress starts to set in.
Doing all I can to prevent myself from spiralling out of control, though, I take a deep breath to calm myself and get into the right headspace for thinking.
Alright. One thing I've learned so far is that there is ALWAYS a way. Always.
I begin to walk around as I observe everyone whose souls are deserving enough to be here.
They're all in such high spirits, and it's almost nigh unthinkable to believe that it'd be easy to collect tears from these people.
How about if I make them laugh enough that they start crying a bit?
I guess that'll make it possible, but how long would it even take for me to get an entire oka of tears?
Jokes aren't my forte. But even if I somehow manage to make them laugh hard enough that way, I'm not confident that all of them would get to this state.
Consumed by my dilemma, I don't notice that a few people have been calling out my name for some time now.
It's only when they're one step away from me, that one of them gets right into waving their hands in front of my face like a crazy person. Looking straight up, it's only when I recognize who they are.
"War Goddess Khirelle, it's you! It's REALLY you! I haven't seen you in forever!" A happy-go-lucky smile graces a male demi-god's face as he greets me with eagerness.
My face lights up, and I energetically reply, "Oh! Holy cr- It's you! Byrka! How have you been?! It's honestly been TOO long!"
Byrka is a demi-god I'm quite well-acquainted with due to having similar interests in all things 'war'. It helps that he's quite the pleasant person to be around and he is also brilliant.
The smile on my face starts to fade a little however, when I remember how he ended up here in the first place.
Byrka... died in a battle that I couldn't participate in.
The enemy was cunning and ruthless; they were ambushed and severely outnumbered. It's a miracle that he stood his ground long enough, on what was supposed to be a total massacre.
An oncoming surge of pain suddenly pricks both my eyes and nose.
Tears start to well up in succession.
I couldn't help but feel vulnerable because of the memory of such an event. My heart feels like it's caught in a vice grip, like it's being squeezed out of everything it's worth.
"Oh, no! No! Ma'am Khirelle, please don't cry! It's supposed to be a happy thing that we can still meet each other here! Though... I wish you came here more often, haha. If I still could, I would've gone to bug you lots, just like the old days!" Byrka says with a conflicted smile on his face.
I pout and tell him off, "I told you to stop calling me ma'am! It's bizarre, alright?! God... How many times do I have to say this?"
He goes into a fit of laughter, and I subtly hiss at him because of his overreaction.
'Ahem!' the people around us start to cough and clear their throat.
Oops! I almost forgot that there was a small group that has me surrounded earlier.
"Ahh! Sorry about that!" I spit out and quickly scan the small crowd that's gathered since earlier.
After saying our hellos to each and everyone, we immediately try to catch up, and I go ahead and update them on the things each of them wanted to know.
How has the world been ever since a specific period?
Anything exciting happening over at Mt. Olympus?
There are even requests of passing along some messages to some gods or goddesses, but I have to turn some of them down as it's already borderline harassment.
Some even asked if I could check on their families, but I couldn't do those as it's a little bit too much to ask.
Which have, of course, disappointed some, but I've already secretly planned to somehow get their messages across anonymously. As long as neither of them knows, that's good enough for me.
...
The group of people starts to thin out, and they all go back to what they're doing earlier before I arrived.
I feel instant relief that it's over now, as it was starting to feel a bit too overwhelming with all the attention I was getting.
Stretching my body out, I let out a huge sigh. A chuckle comes from behind me, which, I'm almost sure it belongs to Byrka. It's hard to forget it when it sounds as distinct as they come.
A small smile blooms on my lips, and I turn around to face him.
We don't stop walking, though, and I continue to walk backward.
"So, what brings you over to this side of the world? As sad as I am to admit this, I'm sure it's not to visit me." As always, Byrka not only asks me what's up, but he somehow manages to throw in a way to tease me still.
Ahhh, I'm tired of answering this! I know how he's like, so I'll go straight to the point.
I look at him with seriousness in my face, and I answer, "I'm doing some errands for the Fates so they can help me create a husband."
It's like time froze and his mouth is hanging wide open while he's in the middle of smiling so widely. The corner of his eyes is stuck the same way too, without moving an inch.
Feeling slightly perturbed, I poke him on the shoulder to see if he's okay.
As if snapping out of a trance, Byrka continues, "Uh... Ah... I think I heard you wrong. Did you say you are doing something for the Fates to... cr-create a HUSBAND?"
"Yup. You heard me right, mister. I want to make one."
The poor man continues to stutter from extreme confusion, "Li-Like... create one out of thin air?! Out of nothing?! Just... like that?!"
I bite back my tongue and decide to humor him just a little bit longer. "Well, I won't be making one out of thin air or out of nothing. I have to collect some ingredients for this to happen, after all."
You're so damn lucky that I like you a lot as a friend, Byrka, or this halberd might have ended up somewhere else by now.
Juuuust kidding... or am I?
Nah. I'm kidding, obviously.
After a quick thought, he asks me innocently, "Why not go down the asexual route and just get it over with?"
"No, no, no! That's different!" I shout back at my good friend with exasperation. Maybe I should take back what I said earlier and give him a little stab? It's not like he can die twice... heh heh...
Byrka immediately launches himself into an explanation, noticing the expression I have on my face, "Uh oh... There's that blood-thirsty look in your eyes. I almost forgot about them. Put them away, please! I'm legit curious about this!"
Pfft. I can't get mad at him for too long, he's just too silly of a person, and I know he wouldn't purposefully piss me off this much.
It looks like he's not the only one who has forgotten about a few things.
My annoyance subsides, and I heave out another sigh, "I want to do it using the Adelchi spell. It's nothing ordinary, you see. It'll allow me to meet the person that's meant to be my perfect 'other half'..." I take a breath and break into a smile, "So mm, once I manage to pull this off, it'll be worth all the pain I'll go through once I do."
Byrka rests a loosely closed fist under his chin; his lips pucker slightly as he nods.
After a moment's breath, he claps his hands together in attention, "Woop! Okay! I'd like to support ya on this, my most favorite goddess in the world. I remember how much luck you need when it comes to... men."
I playfully try to punch him as he dodges to the side, quickly meeting my fist with an open hand, smacking right into the middle of his palm.
Heh. Just like old times! We both smile at each other, and I tell him all about my three errands.
[...]
After getting Byrka up to speed, my back slumps, and he gives me some pats on the head.
"Wow, they're not letting you catch a break, huh? So you need heroes' tears from here..." His voice trails off, and he goes into contemplation.
"Mm. I thought about making them laugh until they cry a bit, but not only am I not confident, even if I manage to, how much tears would they shed that way?" My smile quickly turns into a pout as I whine to the man beside me.
"Well, what about this, my goddess? We can always try dredging up some memories of the past. It sounds kind of doable that way, at least."
...
Looking down, I try to digest what my friend says and respond, "I haven't thought of that, Byrka. For some reason, I had it in my mind that it has to be happy tears and not sad ones? Or maybe it's because I assume it isn't possible to feel sad here."
With a tinge of hope, I look back up again and meet his gaze, "Well... I guess they didn't specify what type of tears. Guess that sounds like another way as well. How about we get right on that, then?"