章 23: The Records of the Other World
Two females were sitting under a cherry blossom tree. They were drinking from a flask and were sharing stories from their adventures from the last three hundred years.
“I’m telling you sis, Biannaiad really likes you.” said the younger woman with a cheeky smile.
“What nonsense are you talking about? Biannaiad is busy managing the affairs of the Netherworld.” answered the older one.
“Bah! You two look perfect together!” grinned the younger one. “Please let me be your matchmaker, Elthesia.”
“Nyxtriel, maybe you should use that skill in finding your own husband.”
“Boring. I’m a warrior. And I’m still five thousand years old. I don’t have plans on getting married yet. I’m still considered young by high god standards.”
“Oh yeah? Then lay off my love life as well.”
“You’re no fun sis.”
The two women were Elthesia and Nyxtriel, princesses of the Fox Clan as well as mighty warriors of the Celestial Realm. Both were praised as goddesses of war due to their performance during the previous war against the demons.
All of a sudden, an officer from the celestial palace came running to the sisters’ spot and immediately dropped to one knee.
“I bring news from the celestial king!”
“What is it?”
“A rift had been reported to have been opened in the mortal realm. Right now, there are reports of beings from other worlds to have breached Afasia!”
“”What?!””
The siblings looked at each other. With a flick of a finger, the two vanished from their seats and immediately headed to the area in question. The officer sighed.
“They could’ve at least brought me with them.” he shook his head and ran back to where he was stationed.
***
I flopped on my bed and watched the streets of Azte be illuminated by various magic ores. I watched as the busy streets became colorful. My eyes drifted to the large moon which was glowing brightly in the night sky.
“I wonder how they are.” I muttered.
Even though I was in the manor, my adoptive siblings were nowhere to be found. Even Torii, who was busy with her student council affairs, was not in the manor. My attention was caught by the book which I borrowed from the library a few days ago. Despite arguing with Peter about it, I never really got the chance to read it. Since it was the weekend, I finally decided to give it a read. I glanced at Vyfal who was already asleep on my bed and walked towards my nightstand.
I picked up the thin book and headed to the study table near one of the windows of my room. I turned on the magic ore to have some light and started flipping the book.
[The Records of the Other World
By Athena of Olympus]
The title was eerie enough, but I found the name familiar. In my memories, I still remembered it very clearly; the day when a rift in the universe opened and it gave way to citizens of a world called Earth. It wasn’t just mortals though, a few of that world’s deities also crossed over to Afasia.
The name Athena of course made an impression, since she was elected as the representative of the foreigners to contact us.
Glancing at the book, it made me wonder if she really was the one who wrote it. But then again, she was the goddess of wisdom and battle strategy in her pantheon. Or so she said.
I flipped on the first page.
[Chapter One – A Short Introduction
How did the world came to be? What factors were considered for the creation for the world?
For Earth, who witnessed the rise and fall of countless civilizations, there are many versions of how the world came to be. But listing them one by one would make up most of the pages, so let’s skip that.
Just remember that Earth was a mash up of various mythologies. Each civilization or countries or even regions had their own folklores and mythology. And by extension, they had their own sets of pantheons. So, let’s not dwell on that.]
I couldn’t help but laugh at what I was reading. The writer had a sense of humor.
[Before Earth’s destruction, the world was fine. Gods oversaw human civilizations and their innovations. They watched as humans evolved from beings that lived in caves and discovered creating fire for the first time, to making machines that could fly in the sky and even dive to the deepest depths of the ocean. The gods just watched them as they grew and made use of their creations.
Humans created their systems modeled after ancient civilizations. Although the belief on ancient gods had become miniscule, a few still believed in the gods’ existence. Those humans were even employed by the gods on various occasions. The gods would also give advice to the humans. A beneficial way for both parties.
Humans invented airplanes that could carry tens, if not hundreds, of people in the sky and travel from one distant place to another. They invented metal ships that could sail in the seas, trains that could travel at high speed on a fixed path called a rail, and cars that traversed the lands.
Perhaps, the greatest inventions of humanity on Earth were the internet and communications devices; computers, laptops, smartphones and even smartTVs.]
Well the book was quite lengthy. Each chapter was a description of famous civilizations (like the Greeks, Egyptians, Chinese, Roman, Aztec, British, etc.), famous myths and legends (Hercules, Jason and the Argonauts, The Odyssey, King Arthur, etc.), famous historical records (the world wars, American Civil War, bombing of two Japanese Cities, etc.), a map of Earth before its end and the seven continents and its famous countries, human inventions and lastly, the apocalypse.
It took me a week to finish the entire book. It had too many words and only a few vague pictures. It was very interesting. Descriptions and stories of an entirely different world from Afasia. Obviously different and more advanced. Magic was mostly lost on Earth, yet its deities still walked the world and humans made things for convenience.
The last chapter though, was quite disturbing.
[The Last Chapter – The End and a New World
Everything has an end, even the universe. No matter what factors were held accountable, Earth perished. Humans used up all resources given to them in their home planet and the resources they discovered in distant galaxies were running out as well. Whether it was the creators’ anger or just human fault, the end came.
Everything was a mess; stars exploded, planets crumbled, pandemic spread, humans died. To survive, the last remaining mages of Earth devised a huge spell with the help of the various deities and opened a rift in the cosmos. The rift’s other end was an abundant world to start over. But we miscalculated.
That world, Afasia, already had its citizens and even deities that governed it. But with the impending doom, we had no other choice. A few chosen humans crossed over the rift and gods who wished to not die along the world’s destruction crossed as well.
In the new world, we met…]
My thoughts drifted to memory lane.
Elthesia and I were two of the gods who first responded to the appearance of the rift. Mortals and deities alike crossed to Afasia, wishing to avoid the destruction of their own world as well as their own deaths. Of course, the locals did not appreciate that and it almost ended up in an all-out war against the foreign gods and their people. Luckily my sister, Elthesia, offered a deal.
“Your people, the mortals I mean, can live with the citizens of Afasia.” she said. “They will be sent to various places all throughout Afasia and start anew.”
“But what about us?” asked the female goddess who wore full battle armor with a strange shield on her arm. The shield had the head of a woman with snakes for hair. It was a very gruesome and scary sight that it made me nervous. “We are deities of Earth from various pantheons. Even if our world had already ended, we are still divinities.”
“I am aware Lady Athena, but this is not Earth. At most, we can ask you to not interfere with mortal affairs. I am sure you are aware how much mess it can cause once an immortal meddles with the fate of mortals.”
There were a few in agreement from both deities of Afasia and Earth.
“We can ask you to either work with us or stay out of our way.” my sister offered. “That’s the only choice I can offer you.”
The decisions of the foreign gods were quite split. Some opted to work with the gods in the same sphere of influence while others chose to stay out of the way, Athena being one of them.
That event was never really revealed to the mortals of Afasia. Some Earthlings merged with the Afasians while some chose to also isolate themselves to preserve their tradition and culture. Well that was approximately five hundred years ago. I had never heard about the earthlings or the foreign gods after that.
I was brought back to the present when I felt a weight on my head. Vyfal flew on it again to sleep. I took a deep breath.
“Foreign gods huh. I wonder how they are doing.” I said to myself. “Even though it was Elthesia who made the deal, it was the celestial clans who made a lot of profit over it.”
When I was on my way to return the book since I had already finished it, I was in for another surprise.
“Student Hysi, you have not borrowed any book to be brought outside.” said Professor Delia.
“On the first day of school?” I asked.
“No. If you did, we would have a record. Why?”
“Uhm…” my mind drifted to the book I stored inside my inventory. “Nothing. Just checking. I’m swamped with school work so I thought I had forgotten to return a book or something.”
-Smooth Luna.
“Oh, I see. That’s a good habit. Keep that up.”
“Thank you professor.”
I made my way out of the library, still dumbfounded at what was happening.
-I’m so sure I borrowed the book on the first day of school. Why does it not exist anymore? What’s going on?
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