ตอน 116: Origin of Winter
Sitting around the fire, we all stared at Rhefia as she took a sip from her warmed mug of milk, her amber eyes glowing just as much as the flames behind her.
Her excitement was palpable as she prepared to tell her story, and it was one that we were all interested in.
So, as she took a deep breath, we all found ourselves instantly immersed into her tale, the Deerkin's words weaving together into the wondrous tapestry of the Origin of Winter
~~~
Demetra Pov
Gazing down on the lush, green orb that was Teran, I smiled warmly as I waved to Gloria, who was lazily walking over the planet below us, her two solar spheres in tow.
My relationship with Gloria and her lover Lunalata was one of mutual benefits; our lovemaking produces various fruits and herbs for the mortals that grace the surface of the world, and all three of us love watching them discover each of our products, seeing them thrive due to their discovery.
The children between Gloria and I were numerous, and there were even a few that could have been Lunalata's as well, but we all loved each of the Goddesses that were birthed from my womb equally.
Returning my gaze down towards the sunny Teran, I smiled as I watched the mortals go about their days, farming and rearing livestock, hunting, bickering, cooking, telling stories...
So many activities happened during the day, and I loved watching over them, even giving my blessing to a few mortals that caught my eye.
A green thumb here, a smooth birth there...
Nothing major, but the mortals adored me, and I loved each of them like they were my own children.
Sometimes I even ventured down to the surface, mingling amongst these 'children' of mine and taking part in their lives.
Sometimes small, sometimes large.
I had a few children down on Teran, each one from a mortal that caught my eye in one way or another.
While I may sound like a benevolent Goddess, I wasn't purely good.
Wars still raged on, famines blighted some lands, women died during labor...
I helped a few, so that the rest may understand that the Goddesses weren't always going to support them.
My inaction pained me sometimes, but it was necessary.
Divine inaction spurred creativity and choice, allowing the mortals to grow and grow...
They needed to learn to... walk on their own two feet, to live on their own.
So, when I finally decided to visit Teran again, I found myself drawn to an area that wasn't prosperous, but wasn't impoverished either.
A healthy inbetween.
Like always, I hid my divinity from the mortals, instead taking my preferred mortal coil.
As the leading Fertility Goddess, I planned on leaving a few children behind this time as usual, so I took form of a beautiful, breedable woman; plump in the right places, thin in the others.
Perfect hourglass figure, smooth, silky wheat gold hair, and verdant green eyes.
My sun beaten bronze skin made each feature stand out, and I smiled warmly at the women around me as I entered the city, already noticing a few interesting mortals.
Unlike Freyishtra, I didn't have sex for the sake of the sex itself; every time I was bedded by a mortal, I planned on bearing their child, to begin a family alongside them.
Of course, sometimes my partners wanted no part in having a family; it wasn't rare, and I didn't blame them, nor resent them.
It was a large responsibility, and it was one that not everyone could bear.
So, I wasn't surprised when the Orc that I had laid with disappeared the next day, my belly filled with her fertile cum.
Knowing I was pregnant, I continued on with my life, finding a job as the Noble Houses' Gardener, where I also became the Mistress' Nanny, helping her through her birth before raising her daughter.
Since they were Nobles, and her partner had poor health, the woman needed to take care of the city, so she needed time to do her job...
I happily cared for her daughter, before I eventually gave birth to mine.
Years slowly passed, and I enjoyed my time on the mortal plane.
A Goddess had no true job in the heavens, and I could still grant my blessings to those who desperately needed help.
I found a temple dedicated to myself, Gloria, and Lunalata, and I began to go frequently, to answer the prayers of the truly needy and bless them.
My daughter grew up wonderfully, and her name was Winter; it was a mixture of a few old Orcish words, and I found that it had a beautiful ring to it.
As for the Nobles girl, her name was Summer, and she was a pretty Sol Elf, her golden skin and regal aura already making her look older then she was.
The two were inseparable, and while they were different, they complimented one another perfectly.
Little Winter wasn't that similar to an Orc at all; she was a shy, quiet little girl, and she spent her time reading.
She had these gorgeous blue eyes that she retained from her Dama, and she also inherited her Dama's hulking frame.
That invited many problems though, as the quiet Winter was subject to bullying; nothing major, just name calling and childish jokes, but it still hurt to see.
However, those jokes stopped when Summer would threaten whoever bullied Winter, the Sol Elf looking so menacing as she raised her fists towards those children, frightening them away instantly.
Winter would always be surprised, and embarrassed, that Summer had to save her, but the Sol Elf swore that she was fine doing it, because Winter was her friend.
Watching my little girl slowly grow older was a privilege as always, and I watched as love blossomed between Winter and Summer.
The voices surrounding the 'freak' Winter continued on, but when the Sol Elf awakened to such potent Fire Magic, the voices fell away, fearful of the serious, deadly Summer.
As for Winter, she found her calling in Water Magic, and the magic she used complimented herself beautifully; soft, gentle, and calm.
The towering Orc loved to use her Water Magic to tend to her gardens, where she grew all kinds of flowers and herbs.
Pursuing alchemy, Winter tried her best to provide for her loving, yet sharp fiancee Summer, who was constantly going off to quell the rising hordes of monsters or various bandits.
Life continued on further, and Summer finally set the date for her marriage to Winter.
The Sol Elf cast aside every other marriage proposal, declaring she would only love Winter.
That declaration upset many, but I thought that the fear surrounding the youngest Duchess in history would stay the mortals hands, for fear of finding themselves reduced to ash.
I stayed far longer then I thought I would, but I had become enamored with Winter, doting over my growing daughter as I lovingly watched over her and her fiancee, who was now my daughter in law.
One night, when I was tending to my garden, I smelt something.
Smoke.
Ash.
Charred Flesh.
With wide eyes, I scrambled around the palace and followed my nose, finding myself in front of Winter's garden.
The entire garden was scorched to the ground, each and every one of Winter's beloved flowers and herbs little more then ash coating the ground.
Laying in the middle was a black, shriveled husk of an Orc, and I felt my heart drop instantly.
A half dozen mortals stood around the corpse, snickering to themselves.
"She screamed like a damn pig didn't she~?"
"Yeah, it's a good thing we bought that sound dampener; her screams and squeals woulda woken up the whole palace..."
"Damn, couldn't I have had a go with her again? Virgins always feel the best..."
My eyes widened as I looked between the group of women, my body shaking with dozens of emotions.
"Y-You..."
They all jumped as they heard my voice, though they quickly chuckled again as they arrogantly looked me over, lust in their eyes.
"Oho~! Looky here girls, a buxom whore wandered in~! That damn bitch Summer won't be coming back again, so anyone want to-"
The entire courtyard stilled as my divinity flooded through my mortal coil, and the six women dropped to their knees as they stared at me in horror.
Mortals cannot truly perceive the divine, and to them, they were staring into something so far beyond their capabilities to perceive.
"G-G-Goddess..."
Only one managed to mutter something out, and my head snapped towards the Tigerkin.
My glare alone made the woman shriek, and she began to desperately claw at her eyes, ripping them from their sockets as she tried to escape my visage.
The others trembled in soul wrenching dread as I took a deep breath, the woman evaporating and funneling towards me as I breathed in.
With her gone, I turned towards the rest, and they continued to tremble as my voice reverberated around us forever, as well as never once making a sound.
|WhY WoUlD YoU Do ThIs?|
Leaning forwards, I looked between them before gritting my teeth.
The air around us plummeted, the temperature reaching such low levels that frost permeated the air they breathed.
Each began to convulse as their lungs froze over, and I growled in anger, watching as they all stiffened, blood seeping from their seven orifices.
Their hearts exploded, their lungs froze, their organs popped or shrunk, their veins twisted, and their bones shattered.
All whilst their souls perceived it all, before being dragged towards me.
As a Goddess of Fertility, I am the beginning of lives, the beginning of all living things.
I may not be Osiristra, the Goddess of the Dead, or Helta, Goddess of Spirits, but I know a thing or two about souls.
So, I began to unravel their souls, searching through each strand as I looked desperately for the answer to my question.
Why?
Why would they do what they did?
Sadly, I thought too much of mortals at the time.
I believed them to be too good as a collective to be like this, but...
As I looked through their souls, my hatred spiked.
For all of the mortals that I saw committing atrocities, and...
And myself.
How could I have been so naive?
I witnessed their bad, but I didn't know they were this...
This...
Capable of evil.
Such utterly debased wretchedness permeated these souls...
They devised a plan to separate Summer from Winter using a controlled monster horde, where they would plant assassins to hide amongst the monsters to kill Summer.
Then, while Summer was being dealt with, this group would infiltrate the palace and kill Winter, to end the regime that Summer and Winter had created.
Why?
All because it would cut into the business of this group trading slaves and drugs.
It would cost them money, so they killed two people who were working to better this land.
Money, and hatred.
The owner of the group was a former marriage candidate of Summer, and she wanted to use her organization for good alongside Summer, but Summer declined, stating she would only marry Winter.
Jealousy sprouted, and this woman organized all of this...
To kill my baby girl.
My time spent on Teran had dulled me, and I grew complacent.
I was to blame for her death, and even someone as powerful as I couldn't bring back the dead.
After all, her soul already went to Helta, and all Goddesses were forbidden from attempting to resurrect the dead.
A rule that I made myself, centuries ago.
A rule that would be enforced by all the Goddesses, good and evil, friend and acquaintance.
My heart turned cold at that thought.
Winter was gone.
She was dead.
Rising to the heavens, I frowned as I saw that Summer was dead too.
They had been planning names for their future children too...
Spring and Autumn.
Words mixed from the Sol tongue and Orcish tongue.
Names I had suggested to them, and names they had leapt on, saying that they would use them for their future daughters.
So, as my hatred spiked once more, the world was coated in cold.
These mortals deserved none of my gifts.
None.
Not a single one.
If they wanted to live, to thrive, they needed to be better.
And so, Teran knew of Winter for the first time, and my anger lasted for six long, frigid months.
Then they knew of Spring, who would have comforted and warmed her mother; they knew of how Spring would have been a softer version of her scorching Dama, Summer.
The world dreaded Summer, just like her enemies did; a blazing, scorching, serious time, where little could truly grow and thrive due to the heat and lack of water.
Finally, they knew Autumn, who would have been a peaceful, quiet, calm girl, like her mother Winter.
The mortals were blessed by this period, where Autumn allowed for the perfect time to grow food again, whilst still fearing the cold, suffocating dread that Winter brought with her, for the world will feel an ounce of what she felt in her final moments.
The agony and dread of being cold and alone as you died.
Thus, the world was blessed, or cursed, with the Seasons; the family that would have been.
My daughter, Winter.
Her fiancee, and eventual wife, Summer.
Their two unborn children, Spring and Autumn.
Thus, the world knew that I was angry.
I was always going to be angry.
I revoked my blessings from the world, leaving the mortals alone to fend for themselves.
Creatures capable of such good, and such evil, needed to learn for themselves.
They needed to learn that their actions have consequences, not just for the individual.
Millions died during that first rotation of Seasons, and I ignored each and every prayer, only letting the world know four things.
What each season was, and what they represented.
I spoke four times, and that was it.
Since then, I have not once cast my gaze to Teran, leaving it to fend for itself.
Like it should have been in the first place.
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