greek mythology stuff

Chapter 104 "One day, I will restore your glory, when you need it!"

The Third Event: The Lost of the Church of Anser
Hephaestus followed Otis, perfectly concealing himself in the darkness.

The pace of his and Otis has always been highly consistent, just like a person and his shadow.

He had been away from his residence for some time, perhaps two years.

When Asuka brought the letter to Otis, he began to follow the mortal in front of him on this journey of thousands of miles.

The birds are free, and so is Otis.

He had run in the rain, as he had left home; he had groped his way through moonlight and mountains, as he had left Sata.

Once, he was a pilgrim who traveled thousands of miles to worship a god named Anser, even if he could not hear the revelation of the god, even if he could only see the face of a statue.

Even, deep down in his heart, he felt that he was an unbeliever.

His soul is always free, his heart is firm, he has a goal, he is willing to work hard for it and face the fear of the unknown and death.

During the two years of returning home, Otis was alone. He needed to hurry, day and night, and would not stop for a rest until his immortal body felt tired.

In front of him, there seemed to be a kind and kind old man calmly facing his unknown fate.

The old man let it go, but Otis couldn't let it go.

But in a sense, Otis is not alone.

Behind him, there will always be Anser, who he has crossed thousands of mountains and rivers to worship.

When he was running in the rain, Hephaestus would always step on the footprints he left. When he was groping in the dark without a torch, Hephaestus would turn into moonlight and guide him on the right path.

Hephaestus, who has sheltered his scholar from beginning to end, awaits his choice, ponders whether to enlighten him away from himself.

He doesn't hate Otis, and he doesn't resist people's beliefs, because this is their own choice.

He respects everyone's choices as he respects his own.

He was just tired of the unrealistic chatter of mortals, who prayed to the gods for a better life, but they didn't know that a better life was created by themselves.

According to Hephaestus:

Every living being, they are independent individuals, their destinies can be intertwined, or they can be separated, and it is definitely not that one person is attached to another.

And all the spirits in the world, including himself, are born free. They choose responsibility from the heart instead of being chained, and they pursue a better life instead of begging for the approach of a better life.

So he hoped that Otis could make his choice from the heart.There are many ways to solve problems. It is not necessary to choose the most decisive and irrational path, but to leave room for repayment.

He hoped that Otis would still be the scholar who could talk to him, not a humble prisoner.

because.

To be his follower, to be a follower of a fictitious deity named Anther, is to bind oneself in chains.

This is meaningless to Hephaestus, and painful to Otis.

Otis, his soul is full of traces of freedom. The invisible shackles he chooses to wear are far more terrifying than iron or copper sealed cages.

It would take away his spirituality, every inch of the brilliance in his eyes.

It would also... trouble Hephaestus.

He hoped that the immortals would be colorful, just like Sata, an Anser priest who stepped into the realm of the gods, instead of a poor wretch whose edges and corners were smoothed out, and would only whisper one word in his ear all day long. does not belong to his name.

Such an immortal is not as good as an ordinary mortal.

At least, even if a mortal lives for a hundred years, there will be splendor between life and death.

And an immortal who is not as good as ordinary people, then why should he live forever?Why have priceless eternal life?
If so, deprive him of his eternal years and take back his immortal body.

Hephaestus chose to do this even if doing so would overtake his own mother, Hera.

In the world, there is no need for restless and unsteady immortals, especially when the gift of eternal life is related to himself, Hephaestus thinks so.

After two years, Hephaestus followed Otis, and they returned to the place where they started—the Temple of Anser.

Near, very near.

By the light of the moon, Otis could see the open, decaying door of the temple, barely visible of the rough or fine carvings that had been added later.

The walls are mottled and covered with green plants; the ground is rough and covered with moss.

It has been a long time since no one lived and took care of it, about two years ago.

With the decline of Anser Church, the crowd gathered because of Anser Church disappeared again.Today, it is just a decaying temple located in a barren mountain, without gods, priests, or believers.

Otis moved in little by little.

He glanced around, and all he could see was vines and moss—animals did not dare to set foot here, their instinct from the Creator was always alerting them, this place was indeed the temple of a great god.

Otis called out while searching: "Sata! Sata!"

"Where are you, I'm back..."

There was no response, and the place was indeed empty.

Otis saw the brazier on the altar, and inside the brazier were some messy, incompletely burned firewood.

Otis noticed that the brazier seemed to have fallen, and was righted again.

He took out the torch, fiddled with the firewood, and lit the flame after two attempts.

The fire spread to the surroundings, and the dark temple was lit up.

Otis began to search along the wall. His fingers brushed over the mottled wall, and he could vaguely feel the lines that had been carved.

He was in a hurry.

"Sata, I hope you will leave a message for me..."

Hephaestus, not wanting to disturb Otis, left the mortal man alone.

He walked out of the temple and stepped on an invisible step to the top of the temple.

He sat down freely on the top of the temple, looking at the full moon in the sky.

At this moment, he didn't want to see Artemis, so he couldn't see her. The moon was just a silver plate in his eyes, not a young goddess.

The history books and streamers have been driven into chaos by him, instead of him to store the past history.

Every moment, he is getting stronger.When he has accumulated enough "underground", he will be able to leap towards the highest.

The final decisive battle will definitely come, but the time has not yet come.

But he has done what he should be prepared for.

Just like the forerunner Erebus, the God of Darkness, he could only wait quietly, and then—a desperate fight!
But before that, the virtuous figure of Clotho suddenly flashed in his mind.

During the time when his sister Aglaia was gone, Clotho would weave cloth on the loom in the temple, and he would go to the bottom of the volcano in Lemnos to forge iron to make some "baubles".

Clotho will cook for him when he comes back, and he cooks very well.

Speaking of which, Weaver Girl and Blacksmith are really a good match...

……

A person stepped out from under the temple, it was Otis.He carried a teaching and a letter away from the temple, and went deeper into the night.

It seems that he has found a new goal.

Hephaestus thought it was good.

He sat on the top of the temple, blowing the cold night wind.

He held out a hand, palm down, and landed a spark, which set the temple on fire.

Bathed in the fire that burns the temple, Hephaestus is a deity invisible to mortals.

Feeling the heat wave, Otis, who was drifting away, looked back.

There were three things tightly clutched in his arms—a copy of the teachings of the Anser Church, a piece of yellow paper, and a letter.

He intends to use the channel of knowledge to gain the power of ignorance according to what Sata said; he is going to call Sata according to Anser's revelation and give him the power to return.

I still remember that Sata once told him inadvertently that he couldn't see God, but he could feel God, and he could vaguely hear their whispers, as well as the will to like or hate.

Now, he felt it too.

He reached the realm where Sata once was.

He could feel an outline in the sea of ​​fire, that was his outline, that was Anser.He sat on the top of the temple, bathed in fire.

He is by his side, always there.He is the moonlight, but also the shadow, the vegetation, and the flowing water, and he is—a god who gives generously to everything.

Otis knew that his god didn't like them, didn't like the Church of Anser.

He burned the last vestiges of himself on earth.

Otis didn't miss it anymore, he ran forward, and there was a sentence hidden in his heart: "One day, I will regain your glory, when you need it!"

(End of this chapter)