Jigan was waiting, very soon he will have an important person to meet. At the same time, Jigan was indifferent to the meeting, since he knew what the whole discussion will be along with its conclusion. After helping many people for so long, Jigan looked at the sky that night and wondered whether all the help he supplied countless people with gave any value to his life.
And whenever Jigan wondered the sky was ready to respond to his irritated and worried thoughts. The sky immediately told him that his life was no more than a speck of dust, just like any other human or any other being in that regard.
If he ceased to exist most people would not care, and those who care will be sad that a source of benefit had disappeared. Then another person would replace Jigan and life would continue the same way it did for thousands and thousands of years. Life is not cruel nor kind.
It was an ugly answer, as usual, Jigan thought.
Nevertheless, the answer he received was better than none. After all, the sky was the only thing that he could not anticipate its words or actions, which kept him from going insane.
Jigan then looked at the sky again and said, "Will my life continue like this till I die?" And again he instantly received his answer, "You will know when the time comes." Jigan was sixty years old.
Jigan now heard the feminine footsteps of his expected visitor.
"I came as promised Jigan," she said. "I assume you are obviously aware that I asked Raivy to heal my mother as you have advised me. But why did not you tell me this decision would make her die? And my father is also missing..." The lady fell to her knees as tears flooded her eyes and dropped to her cheeks.
"Erya," said Jigan. "I have told you consequences of healing your mother three months ago, and you agreed to them. That it would reduce her lifespan and of the person she hated the most, her husband. I am aware that you mostly came here to know about what happened to your father, but that I cannot tell, for you have to uncover the answer yourself."
Jigan continued, "With that said, the side-effects of knowing what happened to your father will similarly be tremendous. You will have to farewell everything you hold dear; your village, your friends, your dreams, even your current body, but in return, you will lead and be worshiped by a whole race. Will you agree to such conditions Erya?"
"I had enough with these tough decision that you keep giving me Jigan," said Erya. "I just want to relax, no, I just wanted to lead a normal, plain life. Can't you help me with such a simple request?"
"I am afraid there is no such a thing as a normal plain life Erya," Jigan replied. "And even if I wanted it to, it is not within my control to provide you with such privileges. I am no more than a medium between you and the sky; the sky hears with my ears, sees with my eyes, and replies with my mouth. In fact, you would not insult me by calling me a mere puppet. The sky had heard your pleas, and it only informed me of the path I have just told you no more." Jigan had squeezed his green, leafy dress so hard that some of its juice leaked out.
Jigan continued, this time with eye contact, "You will have to choose now, for another guest is about to come. As I have said, the route will answer all your questions about your father, make you lead and be worshiped by a race you have never seen before, but the cost of that will be losing everything you have today."
"I never thought that I would ever be worshiped in my life," said Erya. "I mean, someone so helpless and depressed about life like me? But at the same time, what kind of daughter would I be if I discarded my father behind and searched only for my own pleasures? Honestly, I am not sure whether I would digest seeing people bowing down to me, but I feel this would be the best choice. So please show me the way Jigan."
You have grown up Erya, Jigan thought while looking at her with satisfied and warm eyes.
"Of course," replied Jigan. "But note that proper worship yields benefit to the worshipper, not to the person being worshiped. In other words, they will worship you not for your sake but for theirs.
Now to show you the way, boil a blood mixture of any ten animals, and then swallow the hard bits that will remain after all the liquid evaporates. Once you do so will notice a significant change in your body, and you will also see that a red mist will appear in front of you, which you will have to pass through. Passing through the red mist will make you enter another world, and then you will never ever return back to Earth."
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So I will be leaving Earth... Earth had been cruel, leaving me with nothing but sadness, Erya thought.
"Fair enough," said Erya. "Then I suppose this will be the last time I see you grandfather."
"Indeed it is," said Jigan. He had forbidden Erya from calling him grandfather ever since the sky had possessed him. He did not feel worthy of that heavy word, but he ignored it this time. "You have been a splendid granddaughter."
With that Erya bid farewell to her grandfather, and to her last living relative.
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Erya's head was full of questions. Who killed my mother? Who murdered Raivy's mother, Arbara? Where did Raivy go? What kind of race will worship me? But since the cost of the route she had chosen is too high, Erya felt that most if not all these questions will be answered sooner or later.
Immediately after she left Jigan, Erya went to a butcher in her village's market to buy blood. She purchased from him the blood of a horse, sheep, cow, mouse, and rat. And luckily, the butcher was very cooperative for he wanted to have revenge on the mice and rats for chewing on his meat inventory for years.
Erya then went to her neighboring village Medres to buy the last five blood ingredients that she could not find in her village. She got the blood of a dog, cat, turtle, donkey and lastly a fish from a witchcraft store. But Erya had to leave the witchcraft store as fast as she could muster, for saw every human body part on sale.
Why no one complained about the existence of such a store, Erya thought.
Erya felt that she might be burned at the stake had anyone saw what she's about to do. So she headed to the most lifeless spot in the forest, placed dry wood under a black pot containing all the blood that she had obtained earlier.
After she lit the wood and the blood mixture began to boil, Erya felt that she had never smelled anything that foul before. She went to a rose-field nearby and stuffed her nose with a handful.
At least with this nasty smell not a single animal would dare to ambush me, Erya thought.
The liquid part of the blood mixture needed about half a day to evaporate, and caused a loss of Erya's her sense of smell. But once she peered inside the spot, the thick and concentrated smell burned her eyes and lungs that she threw up. Erya ran far away from the pot for thirty minutes to recuperate.
Eventually, Erya returned back to the pot. But this time she held her breath, spilled all the remaining bits from the pot on a plate, which looked like a gray powder. Erya then swallowed it all without a second thought.
And once she did Erya noticed the two odd changes Jigan had told her about. She felt all her skin burning, and that the bright red mist loomed in front her.
The burning sensation, however, brought Erya to her knees as her skin began to sharpen, darken and harden, penetrating through her clothes. Erya crawled to the red mist. Fortunately, the mist was not that far. Then once Erya's whole body entered the red mist, she gave in to the pain and lost consciousness.
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After a few hours of Erya entering the red mist, ten six-legged beings suddenly appeared encircling the unconscious Erya. Their skin was obsidian black, with sharp fangs and claws, and with two long antennas above their heads.
They did not make the slightest sound as they kept sliding their antennas across Erya's body to investigate it. At this point, Erya's body was nothing like that of a human. It grew bigger, and in fact, looked almost the same as the ones surrounding her except that hers was more slender with a reddish sheen to it.
"A gyne!, a gyne!," uttered the ten beings around Erya, joyful with the priceless treasure they have found. The largest one of the ten proceeded to hold Erya on his back while the other nine circled him as they walked for a few minutes. They reached a wide hole leading underground that they entered also according to the same formation.
What will happen to Erya?