Servants and Followers (The Legends of Arria, Volume 2) (20 page)

Popo went up to the mountains that he
had built, but he came back down to visit her whenever he was
lonely, and saw what she had created. He loved her in his own way,
snow and ice melting whenever he embraced her, and trees grew upon
his slopes, but she felt no warmth from him that could compare with
the embrace of the earth she adored. It felt soft and rough in her
fingers, crumbling into dust whenever she touched it, yet it felt
firm beneath her feet. She stood rooted upon the earth, never
dreaming of wanting more.

Animals came to her when they wanted to
be fed, and she provided them with food through nature. She could
think of no better life for these creatures. She knew many things
about the forest that the other gods did not know, and she kept
these secrets to herself because she knew that she could not share
these secrets with them without spoiling something perfect. She
kept that perfection within herself.

And then she came across Menthar.
Menthar was wild, feeling alive for the first time as he looked up
at the sun and thought to himself that he could burn brighter than
his brother. He moved fast, spreading like flames through the
forest as he laughed, enjoying himself and seeing what he could do
to make himself feel stronger.

And then he came across Mila. He
grabbed her, and gripped her so tightly that she could not escape
as he burned, scorching her and searing her branches. She screamed
as he consumed her with flames. Pained and overheated, she began to
crack and fell over onto the forest floor. The crash disturbed
everything for miles around.

Menthar skipped over her and continued
on, not even feeling remorse for her death as he felt invincible.
The forest burned to cinder and ash, and he controlled the flames
that had caused this. He thought that he would not be punished.

Popo, who had gone up to higher ground
to take a look over the land, spotted the flames and smoke from a
distance. He knew that Menthar must be in the forest, when fire was
Menthar’s way of dealing with things, but when he heard Mila’s cry,
he realized that something must be wrong. He rushed back, and saw
the whole forest had been destroyed. Popo was unmoved by most
things, but when he saw Mila’s corpse on the forest floor, he wept
and snow blanketed the earth.

He picked up Mila, as if she was
nothing more than a leaf in his arms, and carried her to the
mountains that he had made. Loqwa came afterwards, and followed the
snow, leading up to where the mountain god was resting, bearing his
beloved goddess.

Loqwa said, “I come to take her away.
She will not disturb you anymore.” His voice, low and soft, was
perhaps the first voice to utter words--firm and undeniable.

“
I do not want her to
leave.” Popo said. His voice was just as rough and uncouth as the
rock he seemed to be made of. But the crack in his voice seemed to
indicate that, where Mila was concerned, he had a weakness. “Where
will you put her?” Popo asked.

In darkness, Mila awoke and looked
around--darkness and light swirled together, forming a tunnel.
“What is this place?” She asked.

“
It is another
world,” Her brother Loqwa spoke, turning to her. “A spirit world of
the dead. It is almost empty, for now.”

“
A spirit--” Mila
gasped. “I cannot be dead.” She said, “I am a goddess, a goddess
who--”

“
We are not
immortal.” Loqwa said. “At least not yet. We are gods who have
charge of our worlds, but that does not mean we have immortality.
We must earn immortality with our powers.”

“
Our--what?” Mila
shook her head. “No one told me that. I have done enough, have I
not?” She asked. “I have done more than enough to earn my
immortality. I have helped the animals, grown the forest, and--”
Mila hesitated. “I have done enough.” She said.

“
Not just yet, I’m
afraid.” Loqwa said. “There is just one or two more things left to
do. Now, be quiet, I am speaking with Popo in the living
world.”

“
In the earth, where
she belongs.” Loqwa said. He did not want to disturb Popo in his
mourning, but he insisted, “She does not belong among the living
anymore. She is dead.”

“
She is not dead.”
Popo said. “Gods do not die.” His voice thundered. “I refuse to
believe she can.”

“
We nearly did die.”
Loqwa said. “In the water, do you remember? I remember.” Loqwa
closed his eyes, smiling to himself. “The water closed in over us.
And though we might have struggled, it would have claimed us in the
end.”

“
What do I have to do
to earn immortality?” Mila asked. “And how can I do it here, when I
am already dead?”

“
Do you want
immortality?” Loqwa asked, turning to her. “It is a hard thing to
have, or so I am told. You will have to live with it for the rest
of your existence.”

“
The earth saved us.”
Popo said to Loqwa. “The earth--rose to greet us, because we were
meant to live,” He said, looking down at Mila as Loqwa opened his
eyes. “We are gods. We are beings beyond the mortal; we were meant
to populate the earth.” Popo said as he raised his head. “Mila
would have seen to that. She knew that we could not live without a
reason. We were meant for more in this life than to
die.”

“
I want immortality.”
Mila said, nodding.

“
Then I will tell you
how to get it,” Loqwa said.

“
She is dead--Mila
cannot do anything more than lie there, dead.” Loqwa said to Popo.
“I need to take her to the other side, and so consummate this
event.”

Popo turned back to Loqwa. “Yes, she
can do more--in life. Bring--her--back!” He roared. “Bring her back
to me, and let us live in this world forever.”

“
I cannot do that.”
Loqwa said. “It is not my job--I am in charge of death, not of
life. I am only supposed to take her away. I do not want her to
disturb you, the living, for she is in my domain now.”

“
The first thing you
must do,” Loqwa said, “is gain believers.”

“
Believers?” Mila
asked.

“
Believers who will
hear what you have to say, and then decide that you are their
goddess
,
and they will worship you for that. For all that you have
provided to them, they will worship you. That is belief, and that
leads to immortality.” The god of death said.

“
What if you can
bring her back?” Popo asked, standing up and towering over even
Loqwa. “Have you even tried?”

“
What have I to try
with?” Loqwa said. “Life has barely even begun on this earth, death
is not part of it.” He said, “But I should not,
because
…”

“
How can I get
believers?” Mila asked. “All there is to worship me is you, our
brothers, and the animals. Where is the
intelligence
,
where is the belief in that?” She
asked.

“
Menthar took
her
,
Menthar raped her
…
Menthar killed
her
,
” Popo said. “Surely that is
unnatural enough that she could be brought back, for a second
chance at life?”

“
I believe in you.”
Loqwa said Mila.

“
I do not know about
life
,
I only know about death,” Loqwa said, but he glanced down.
“However, I might reconsider...for a price.” He said.

“
I believe in life,
for I am death
.
T
here cannot be death without life, nor
life without death.” Loqwa told Mila. “I believe in you for I have
nothing else to believe in
.
Y
ou are the source of life
here.”

“
What price?” Popo
asked.

“
Life can exist
if
…
you must make it snow, Popo.” Loqwa said. “You must make it
snow every few months, and bring the cold to this world for a
couple of months. You must bring the rain every few weeks or every
few days, depending upon where you are. When it is hot, let it be
hot. When it is dry, let it be dry. There are places where it will
almost always be hot and/or dry. There are places where it almost
always be cold and/or wet. In all of these things, you must let it
be so. Things will happen that will be out of your
control
. L
et them come. You cannot control everything, Popo. You may be
a god, but you are not the only one. You are one of many, and
powerless to do anything without the help of others. You have your
domain, they have theirs
.
T
hat is the way it will always be.” Loqwa
said.

Popo frowned, but slowly nodded.

“
What do you want
from me?” Mila asked.

“
A taste of life,”
Loqwa said, approaching her. “Just a taste, and that is all. To
know what life is and what is valuable about it.”

Mila and Loqwa kissed. “That is good.”
He said.

“
I will grant you
what you want.” Loqwa said to both of them in that moment. “The
price has been paid. Something will come of it--many things.” He
said, retreating back into the spirit world.

Mila breathed again in Popo’s arms.
“Popo?” She asked, looking up at him.

“
I am right here,
Mila,” He said, grasping her close to him.

“
I was--I was--” Mila
gasped. “Popo, I am not--”

“
You are not dead,
Mila, you are alive!” Popo cried.

“
No, Popo, that is
not what I was going to say.” Mila cried. “I was pregnant, but now
I am not. Where is the child?” She asked.

Down in the valley south of the hills
and forest, green grass grew from the ground for the first time.
This was followed by flowers, and from one of these flowers,
blooming for the first time, the petals opened to reveal a being no
bigger than a seed sitting in the middle of the flower. The being
stood up, and jumped down from the flower, growing to the height of
a pet cat by the time its feet touched the ground. He walked on
across the valley, growing to the size of a child and then a man
and then even bigger as he went to the hills and forest where his
parents lived.

Meanwhile, Popo had found Menthar, and
set forth to punish him for the very first crime. Mila testified
against Menthar as the first witness and victim, and Popo was the
first judge who sentenced Menthar to banishment as he could not
bring himself to execute his brother. He sent Menthar to the desert
that had formed on the other side of the hills and forest, where
Menthar would burn under the hot sun without anything to sustain
him. Menthar went, with the full force of Popo and Mila pushed
against him, but he hated his banishment.

Popo and Mila settled down, uneasy even
though they were satisfied for now that Menthar had been punished.
They felt restless because of everything that had happened, because
of their unanswered questions, because of their discomfort with
each other now that things had changed so much. Suddenly, they were
startled by the appearance of a strange, new god, one that they had
never seen before. They had thought it was only them and their
siblings.

“
Who are you?” Popo
asked, staring at the strange new god, who seemed familiar yet
different.

“
My name is Tau,
Popo.” Tau said. “I am your son and Loqwa’s son and Menthar’s son
and Mila’s son, of course.” He said, looking around at his first
two parents.

Mila and Popo stared at one another in
horror.

Monika rode off,
furious. “I
said
you might not like it!” Oaka shouted at
her.

“
Oaka--” Basha said,
rounding on his brother. “Do not provoke her. And do not threaten
her.” He insisted.

“
You do not know
her,” Oaka said. “You do not know what she is capable of, and--” He
shook his head. “Never mind, I should not have brought it up.” He
said, riding off in the opposite direction of where Monika had
gone.

Basha sighed as Fato returned. “What is
going on?” The falcon cried.

“
Nothing, just
some
stupid squabbling going on between
Monika and Oaka, again,” Basha said, turning to the falcon. “What
about you?” He asked. “Where do you always go flying off
to?”

“
Now that is none of
your business,” Fato remarked, flying away from him
again.

“
Everyone keeps
secrets,” Basha said, and stopped, thinking to himself. “Everyone
keeps secrets...” He said, eying after Monika’s path.

“
Monika?” He called,
following after her.

“
Should you not go
after Oaka?” She asked, stopping her horse Deja and turning towards
him. “After what--”

“
He can--I--” Basha
sighed. “I do not want to lose him, okay? But I don’t want to lose
you either.”

“
Why?” Monika asked,
staring at him. “Why are you so certain that I am good
company?”

“
You have your reason
for coming with us.” Basha said. “I believe that reason. You said
you wanted to protect us--I believe that as well. I believe--you
saw my new sword, you know what it could do, and I think you know
it was responsible for what happened at the warehouse.” He
said.

Monika looked away. “I believe you are
right.” She whispered.

“
I know that Oaka
distrusts you
.
H
e has a reason to when you do not reveal
everything you know about the sword and
yourself.” He said. “You have a very complicated life, I
know. You say little about your life in the desert, and never
anything about how you got from there to Coe Baba and then to Coe
Anji. I was about to ask you what the Oracle had said to you when I
got hit in that bar fight, but
Monika,
what happened to you?” He asked.