Goddess of Prayers
2513 Words
The goddess says, “I'm the Goddess of Prayers.”
The murmuring starts to spread like wildfire that can't be put out. Even the judge could not handle it.
“Goddess of Prayers?” they ask.
“That kind of power exists?”
“I've never heard of this power before.”
“It isn't in the books and annals of history!”
“So, it's a new power then?”
“Maybe.”
Everyone is buzzing about it and I can't seem to figure out why. Is this power a new thing? An unknown power? Or perhaps-
“How do we know you're not lying?” questions Mila. Everybody else stops talking.
Gwen looks at her with a stern face, honest in what she had said. “Shall I prove it, my lady?” she asks.
“It's too dangerous,” says one of the leaders. “Don't remove their cuffs or we will be in grave danger!”
I look at her cuffs and mine. They're the same. Are they suppose to stop deities from using their powers? It wouldn't work on me and Darius I suppose. My body feels like sighing so I did. I think I need to sleep. I'm tired after that battle.
“It's alright,” says Mila, narrowing her eyes. “I'm here to contain whatever she might threaten you.”
She looks at me. Oh, she expects me to do something in case Gwen does something that could hurt anyone. I slightly nod. Then she finally looks at the judge and waits for his permission.
“Do as she says,” he says to the guards beside Gwen.
They begin to remove her handcuffs. Every person here is looking and feeling so grim. It's annoying me.
Her left cuff is unlocked and she twists her wrist around. This put the nervous people on their edge of panic. All I see is just her feeling glad that this uncomfortable heavy cuff is removed. I would be glad if these are removed too. Well then…
I feel what's inside these handcuffs. How to unlock them is the use of a special key. An Olympian Steel key imbued by Lord Blaze's power. Wait… Lord Blaze? I never saw him… Is he… dead?
I remove the handcuffs with my power and just hold them. All of them looked at me with frowns and faces of fear. What? I'm not gonna do anything.
“They're uncomfortable,” I said.
The demigods grab the cuffs to restrain me again. I just show a face of disappointment until the judge says, “Let him be. Those handcuffs are just toys for him anyway. He could've hurt us all earlier if he wanted.”
There are sighs of dissatisfaction. Then Darius does the same by teleporting at a foot distance. He gets out of the cuffs too.
“Man, that feels good!” he sighs, stretching.
They finally removed Gwen's handcuffs. She doesn't do anything yet. Looking around, she meets the gazes of the people. Then holds her hand like she's praying. I never heard of a deity praying before but since she said that she is the Goddess of Prayers, this might be possible.
“To whom do you want to pray for?” asks the judge.
“Lord Leonide shall decide,” she says.
I'm a bit startled. I would be feeling better off with people not recognizing I'm here. I'm trying to be invisible, come on, man…
Well then, if I have to choose, it would be, “Lady Mila.”
Then it's at that moment I realize that I might put Mila's life at risk. She's looking at me, not smiling nor angry but cautious. I just felt like she's the right one to choose if this Goddess of Prayers is real. I can imagine how powerful this power is because I saw how Oso became a large polar bear without many prayers.
“Alright,” says Gwen as she starts to close her eyes. The white light escapes from the slits of her eyelids. I feel the power surging from her.
We waited for five seconds or so and Mila's eyes widen. I sense that she just became more powerful than usual like she can make an Olympian run for their money.
“It's working?” asks one of the leaders.
Just now, I notice that their eyes are widening like children seeing new toys. They want Gwen for themselves. As expected of them. They love prayers after all. It's their drugs. But making her a slave for them like how I feel Darius and I have been turned into, I don't think I can allow that. I didn't bring her here to be a slave.
“It's working,” confirms Mila. She is shocked as everybody is.
Murmurs explode in the room again. All of them are interested in Gwen's power. I have a bad feeling about this. The judge quiets them down.
“So it is true,” he says, standing from his seat, looking so interested at Gwen. It's disturbing. I never expect him to act his way. I thought he is a calm old man with no intentions. “She is the Goddess of Prayers!” he declares.
There are slow claps of amazement rather than celebration. As if they found the answer to all of our problems. Deities surely need prayers to be more productive in growing food and creating things that we need. But for some it means power. I expect some of them would think. Disturbingly, they fall silent but their faces are looking approachable that disgusts me. They're nakedly showing their interests.
Gwen, Jack, and Oso look at me as the one who brought them here. Whatever happens to her, it's my fault. I need to find a way to get out of here before it's too late. I know it's not gonna end well with her here.
“Excuse me, Your Honor,” says Mila. “What about the case with Leonide and Darius?”
He is startled back into a calm old man. “Oh, about them,” he says, sitting slowly on his chair. “Case dismissed.”
“What?!!” rages Shui as well as the rest of his House members seeking to condemn us.
I should feel glad about the dismissal but I don't know why I don't.
“What does that mean?” asks Darius, picking his nose like a dumb guy.
“It means, we're innocent, Darius.”
“Haha!” he laughs at Shui. “In your face, you gay!”
Shui rages so his House members stop him from going after Darius. Darius teases him even more. If I was Shui I don't think I can stand Darius's immature teasing too.
“Before we end,” says the judge. “I'll ask the captives if they are enemies to Olympus or not! Jack Devol, the past owner of Hughes Tech, are you an enemy of Olympus?”
“No,” he answers.
“Oso Verano, are you an enemy of Olympus?”
“No.”
“And lastly, the wonderful Goddess of Prayers, Gwen Carter. Are you an enemy of Olympus?”
“No,” she answers and almost everyone is happy about it. Not Mila, me, Darius, Gwen, Oso, and Jack. I think this judge is being too hasty.
Then that trial ended sooner than I expected. We're put back into our room surrounded by cameras and still not allowed any privacy. I can't sleep although I'm tired because I feel I'm being watched. Those three are now one of us and everybody gets along with them. Especially to Gwen—she becomes the center of attention among the deities. She even has her own room better than ours. They fixed Jack's prosthetics and I don't know what special treatment Oso received. Those Houses… they disgust me. If someone holds what they want, they are quick in befriending them. My frustration with everything just ballooned up.
Then I sense Mila approaching our door. I get out of my bed to open the door before she could even knock. She meets me with an awkward smile because her knock misses the door when I opened it.
Darius is asleep so I think it's fine if I call her without honorifics. “How may I help you, Mila?” I ask.
“Do you have time to talk?”
I look back at my own room while saying, “There's not much to do in here after all. So, yeah.”
“Come with me,” she says.
“Is it fine though?”
“Yes, as long as you're under my supervision.”
“Alright,” I nod, going out of the door and closing it. I stand at her left as we walk.
“Let's talk outside.”
“Outside the shelter?”
“Yes.”
“I reckon it's something important, as always.”
“Yes, it is.”
We go to the barracks first to wear our battle suits. My good ol' battlesuit… Looking old as always. I wear it and the mechanisms to completely fit around my body don't work anymore so I just use my powers to power them. Sometimes I pound the parts if they get stuck. Meanwhile, Mila comes out of the fitting room in less than a second. She's got a new armor.
Gotta keep my eyes off of the breastplate or I'm dead.
“You make me envious,” I compliment looking to the side just to fill the empty time.
“Thank you,” she says looking at my ugly armor. “Why didn't you ask the armorer to repair it?”
“They won't.”
We continue to the airlock when she says, “I'll tell them to fix it.”
“Thank you, my lady.”
Entering the elevator as well as it starts to climb up, we didn't have any conversation. Only the clanking, whirring, and fizzing sound of the elevator can be heard.
“Is your popularity getting a bad drop because you're helping us?” I ask out of concern.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean none of the Houses who hold the custody of humans are favorable of us.”
“They can't do anything about that,” she insists. “It's mandatory that they give me the portion of prayers so I could keep the balance in the Underworld.”
“But it affects the way everyone else sees you. I don't want them to think ill about you. You don't deserve that.”
“Well, I don't care what they think. I know you're a good person. Although Darius can sometimes be a jerk, he is good too.”
“Thank you.” She's so kind.
We finally reached the top and I meet the cold weather again.
As we exit, she says, “And I forgot to tell you that both of you will be under my command now.”
“Oh, that's… great...,” I exclaim as lively as I can to show her I'm glad although my body feels weak.
“We will be patrolling the north.”
“I thought we're just gonna talk.”
“Yes, we will, while patrolling.”
“What about Darius?”
“It's fine.”
“If you say so.”
She carries both of us on her cloud and I keep my senses sharp. I can still sense Jasper and the others but I think it's best that they remain hidden from everyone except me. The wind is so cold. It makes me shiver. The sky is dead grey as always.
“Are you cold?” she asks.
“I'm fine.”
“No, you're not,” she smiles, watching me shiver. With her clouds, she wraps me with it and it somehow makes me warm. I stop shivering.
“Thank you.”
“You're welcome.”
“So, what do you want to talk about?” I ask while yawning.
“Uh… about those people you caught.”
“Yes, what about them?”
“I dived deeper into knowing who they are.”
“Who are they?”
“I won't be talking much about Jack Devol but more about those two deities. Oso Verano is born on Earth but spent his life on Venus. But Gwen Carter is not in the records of Earth as well as the in the records of Venus.”
“Maybe the records were destroyed.”
“Not really. The reason for that could be that she is hiding her true identity or she is from the tribes of Venus—who are known to have violent intentions towards Olympus. Venus has been overrun by them before the Apocalypse. They might be hostile.”
“Did you tell the House Leaders?”
“I did but they won't listen to me. They don't trust me anymore.”
“They really want her, huh?”
“Yes,” she sighs. “I foresee that this will not end well if she stays here. The power of her single prayer is so vast, Leo. I couldn't believe it. It was like double of my prayers before the Apocalypse. So, this will question the existence of humans in the shelter. They will definitely forsake the humans if Gwen sides with them.”
“I don't like that. Do you have a plan?”
“I could ask help from Juliet but she's away. Cairo won't even talk to me. Even Eleanna is out on a mission. Banishing them would be fine but convincing the House Leaders is impossible. Also, we can't let her go or the enemy will have her instead. It'll be far worse if that happens. I don't know what to do.” Her voice is softer in that last sentence. “That's why… Leo,” She looks at me in the eyes. “If you have an idea, please tell me.”
“I'm afraid I can't think of anything. Should we wait for Lord Seok, Lord Narada, or Lady Hilde?”
“We could but I'm worried it will be too late. We don't have contact with them after all. The enemy keeps messing with our communications. We might be too late if we wait since it's already happening now. Earlier, I checked the rations for humans. I found out that they have been halved without consulting me.”
“Did you tell them to bring it back to normal?”
“Yes, but they all turned against me. Even the closest allies of our House.”
I have an idea in my head but I don't know if it's the right thing to do. “Then… uh.”
“What is it?”
“What if… what if we…”
“What?”
“What if… we give her to… Sayuri and Jasper?”
- Writer
