The Scarlet Phoenix and the Prince of Winter

Chapter Eighty Seven

The arrow was laced with gold so the moment it pierces his skin and cuts his chest he would weaken. I don't know why this is the case, but Nievo dropped dead to the round right away. Of course, we did not want for this to happen. This was our last resort if we could not make him innocent in front of the hundreds of people watching.

My original plan was to question the decision. I would have liked it if I was able to raise the idea that Nievo was framed and I would open up the possibility of Kentan being behind it. Then I would go on to explain to everyone how an evil deity was on the lookout for a chance to kill the Queen. It would have deserved a further investigation if Nievo's mother did not write a letter like that. I am not even sure if it was really Nievo's mother who wrote that accusatory letter. It could have been just forged and no one would know, or it would have been too late to check on it anymore. Or it could also have been real, that Nievo's mother indeed wrote a heartbreaking letter just like that. His family could have been framed to write it, as I already know that the King and Kentan were the ones behind this evil scheme.

But it will be hard disproving them, especially the King. The letter would be considered a piece of strong evidence, so there was nothing I can really do about that. I must say, Kentan and the King had made their move smartly. They have thought this through and they have won. They pushed me to the edge and used this one last option that I have. And this was to kill Nievo entirely.

I remember how Collette looked when I told them that one last option. She was very much against it. "Pardon my questions, my dear deity. But why would it have to be us that will kill him? They are going to execute him anyway. Why should we do it instead of them?" she asked hours before the execution started. We met secretly outside of the Palace to discuss our plan.

"Because Nievo had to die by getting weak from gold," I explained. "That is the only way for his powers to activate. He has to die that way in order for him to be reborn again as a deity."

"A deity?" she repeated. "You mean that he can now return to being the great deity of winter, Volo, if he dies that way?"

I nodded. "That is what Amato said to me. He told me that if a human who was reborn from being a deity dies from getting wounded and being weakened by something that is made or laced with gold, he can return as a deity."

Collette gasped. She looked surprised but also pleased at the news that I had just told her. "Then if that is the case, then all we have to do is kill Nievo like that?"

I nodded. "We have no choice but to do that if everything else fails. Remember why Kentan is doing this. He wants to kill Nievo before he acquires the new power that he will gain from being reborn as a human so that he will just be reborn as a human again. Kentan wants to prevent Volo from coming back. He wants Volo to remain a human forever, that is why he had been trying to kill him all this time. And my suspicion also convinced me that Kentan is also the one behind the Queen's death. If the young Queen was really a deity reborn as a human as well, then it makes sense that Kentan also doesn't want her to come back as a deity. That is why he killed her."

Collette nodded. "Now I understand. So all we have to do is stop them from killing Nievo the way they wanted. We have to kill him using the process that you mentioned."

"That's right. It is the only way... And I hope Amato is right..."

Collette gasped again. "What do you mean, my dear deity? Does that mean that you are not sure if what Amato told you would actually happen?"

I nodded again. "Precisely. As no one had ever done it before. But he told me that it was the only way..."

And I paused as I recall the encounter and discussion that I had with the deity that lives in the sky. I was not really interested in meeting him, as he was one of those deities who thinks very highly of themselves. He never goes down to the human world as he feels like it was worthless. He stays up there on his turf in the clouds so much that almost no one knows that he exists. In fact, if it was not for Volo mentioning him before me, I would have not had the slightest idea that another deity lives not far from Aure.

But I suddenly remembered him when I was flying in the skies, back when I was still looking for a way to save Nievo and the Forresters from their death. I remembered how Volo told me once that this deity named Amato also died before and was reborn as a human. And when he returned to being a deity, he gained new powers that made him a lot more stronger. When I remembered that, I suddenly wanted to see him and ask him if there was a way for me to fast-track Volo's return. I was not sure if he would even talk to me and that was if I happened to find him. But I have to try. I have to, for Nievo.

So I searched the skies for him. It was not easy though. As expected, I faced and encountered a lot of challenges just searching for him. The skies are not always that calm and pretty as I thought it to be. There were violent winds up there, then cyclones and even thunderstorms. I had to endure all of those just to find his turf.

And after three whole days of searching for him, I found him in a far colony of clouds that looked strange even for an already strange place. It was like an island made of clouds, and a castle was even there. When I saw it, I immediately knew that this was his home. So I landed there and called him and I was not disappointed when a tall guy with three pairs of wings in a white robe showed up in front of me. He looked slightly pissed that someone was able to find him, but he did not look as violent as I initially thought him to be.

"Are you Amato? The mighty deity of the sky?" I asked tentatively when he did nothing when he came near me. "The one Volo knows who lives here in the skies?"

"I am," he replied coldly and that made me very happy. At least I was right. He was indeed the deity that I was looking for. "Though I am not sure with the 'mighty deity.' What is that even? A rhyme to impress me? Like I was that naive!"

I shook my head right away, as I think I had already rubbed the wrong foot on him. "I am so sorry if that offended you. It's just that Volo used to call you that when he mentions your name to me. He respects you so much that he gave you that special honorific."

That made him shut up for a while. I know that he was elated to hear that, but he was the type of deity to never admit that he is grateful for something so he said nothing. "That Vollo said that? What is he thinking? I am not as strong as he thinks me to be..."

"Oh, I know that Volo was trying to say the truth because I can see what he meant. Living up here all this time needs a different level of strength and I think only you could ever do such a thing."

He looked elated again as it was obvious that he was trying to stop himself from being flattered too much. "Enough with that, young deity. Why are you here, anyway? I am sure you did not reach this place by accident."

It was my time to tell him why I came here in the first place. I told him what Volo did in order to match Kentan's power. I also told Amato what is happening right now back in Aure. How the King wants Nievo to die. "They are going to kill him, and I am not sure of what to do. I have no idea of what will happen and I am afraid that I will commit a mistake if I make a move without asking someone who is more knowledgeable in things like this. That is why I sought you out. I wanted to ask for advice on what to do."

Again, Amato looked rather pleased that someone really came all this way to ask for his opinion on something. Based on my observation his isolation from other beings made him prone to falling from compliments such as what I said. And that is an advantage, so I was happy with this result. "Well, you came to the right deity, young one. Ages ago, I too died and became a human. It was a terrible experience, but I have learned so much from that. I became a human from a mistake. Another deity tried to trick me into getting weak without him knowing that it could lead to a deity's death. That deity was a stupid being. I wished that he would never be born again."

"And what happened when you became a human? How did you come back to become a deity?"

"That is simple. I had to gain a new power while I was a human. It is tricky though, as a deity reborn as a human does not have any recollection of his previous life as a deity, so it could take longer if you are very unlucky. But fortunately for me, I was a warrior so I had to fight other warriors like me. Through that, I was able to gain some mysterious items that gave me powers. That is how I gained a new power."

"Items? What item?"

"Anything that has magic in it. Things there in the human world might be dull and boring, but as deities live with them, some of the things in there had magic with them. Acquire those things and you will awaken something in you if you were a deity in your previous life."

"I see... so that is how you turn back into a deity from being a human?"

Amato nodded. "That is the 'normal and convenient way. But I believe that is not the only way to come back as a deity if you are reborn as a human. Just like how deities like us can turn into humans if we die, the opposite is not an exact science. It is a magical phenomenon and no one has studied it before so no one can really tell. But when I was a human and was able to gain a new power, I was also able to retrieve most of my memories of my previous life as a deity, so it gave me an idea of what to do. For example, if I wanted to remain as a human, I could. I will just have to die before I gain my powers. But at that time, it was already impossible for me.""

I frowned at that. "So it is really possible? If you die before you gain a new power you will be reborn again as a human? Not as a deity?"

Amato nodded again. "That is correct. As you have no new powers to support your soul into returning as a deity, you will not be able to transcend. What happens is that you repeat the cycle. You will be reborn again as a human. And that cycle will go on as long as you do not meet the necessary requirements. And that is to gain new power."

"I see... So if Nievo dies, then he will just become a human again. You are right, it will just become a cycle that he cannot escape." I did not know what to feel about that. A part of me wanted that to happen as it would make Volo stronger than ever as that would now make him able to gain two new powers. Amato confirmed this, as he himself confessed to me that it tempted him, in order to have as many newly gained powers as possible, he can just die and die as a human. But that also is a huge risk because what if you will never find and gain any kind of power in your lifetime as a human? That would just lead to being locked in such a vicious cycle.

I can also now understand why Kentan was trying so hard to get rid of Nievo. He did not want Nievo to go back as a deity, not now that he was going to be one. I think Kentan has already gained the power that he needed in order to come back in his deity form. That is probably why he went missing for such a long time after he tried to attack me back at Mt. Kal Ayu. And now before he comes back as the deity that I know, he wants to get rid of potential enemies first, like Nievo and Queen Hayana.

"But that is not the only way to return as a deity," said Amato which surprised me. "There is an unorthodox way that your friend Volo can use if he is still unable to gain a new power."

"What is it? What is the other way?" I asked excitedly as I was interested in what was he going to tell me.

"He has to die the way he died when he was still a deity. He has to die by being weakened by gold. And when he dies that way, drop his body into the place where he was born as a deity. I think in his case it is the ocean in a place called Plumba, right?" I nodded. "Then that's it. If he dies that way, I think his soul will be forced to be 'reborn' again. It is like cheating on the process though, so I don't know what will be the exact outcome if you do it to him."

I could not believe what he was saying. "But how is that kind of thing possible? And how did you know about something like that?"

Amato chuckled at my question. "The place where we are born is a magical hotspot, young one. If our soul is dropped there, just like a womb, it will make a new life for us. Think of flowers, when you pollinate them using farming techniques. That is the logic behind it. However, as It may be 'artificial' I don't know what the offspring will become, but I am pretty sure that Volo can come back that way. And it is a better way of dying now that his life is threatened, don't you think?"

I have to agree with him. And so that is how I came up with the plan. With the help of Collette, my intention was for Nievo to come back in that unorthodox manner. How can I possibly guess that it would give birth to the Eternal Winter?