19-Feb-2001
Disclaimer: I don't own GW. I am poor. Deal with it. This fic is for entertainment only and has mean people, death...but not of any GW characters...and if you can't deal, don't read.
The Goddess of Darkness stared at the woman kneeling before her alter. Long ago the Gods had banished her to this remote location, placing her alter deep within a cursed forest. For someone to come here, they must be truly desperate. Yet the woman wasn't promising anything. Instead, her prayers offered friendship in return for a child.
Peering into the soul of the person, Lady Dark discovered a gentle, kind house wife. For years, she and her husband tried for a child with no results. Both traveled to the capital city and prayed at every God's temple. They gave all their savings in offerings, only to have the Gods ignore them. The Goddess sneered. OF course those high and mighty idiots wouldn't listen. None of them cared enough. It was only when they needed something that they ever noticed their followers.
With no other choice, the woman, called Raine, came to the last God. Without money. Without offerings of any kind, except friendship. Such courage! Deep in her heart, the mortal trembled, but not outwardly. And the things the woman thought the Dark Goddess did! Still, since the other Gods spread lies about her, what else was the human to think?
But friendship? It had no value. Yet...yet...maybe she could use it. Decision made, the Goddess made her presence known, appearing before Raine in he most pleasant of her forms. She was dressed in a full length black gown with only her pale hands and face showing.
"So you think your friendship is a fitting gift for a Goddess?" She said softly to get the mortal's attention. Surprisingly, she young woman didn't look up. Most humans wanted to see a God.
"It is all I have lady." The woman stammered. "And if I may be so presumptuous?"
"Speak human. But be warned, I do not tolerate lies." He voice turned cold. "Lie to me and you will not leave this place alive."
"Very well. You are out here. Miles from the nearest city and I know no one visits the forest. You have no other temples anywhere in the country. Isn't that lonely?"
The Goddess stood stunned. How dare this...this...this MORTAL presume to know how a GOD felt? Raising her hands in anger, Lady Dark prepared to destroy Raine. Yet, as she looked at the silent, form, with her head bowed, she knew the woman spoke the truth. For more than five millennia she'd abided in this place. No one to talk to. No one to share with. Withdrawing her power, the Dark Goddess made her deal.
"For one year you will come here every week. Pick a day that is most convenient for you." Since the forest was two miles for the small town in which Raine lived it seemed fair. She was not a cruel God. "I will not appear to you, but you must talk to me. I believe your word is gossip. At the end of the year. We will see just how valuable your "friendship is. If you miss a single week, the offer is withdrawn. Do you understand?"
So the deal was made.
At first, the Goddess found the talks boring. Slowly though, having nothing else to do, she listened. Thus she heard about Widow Shera's cow always getting into Widower Mason's garden. The thought was amusing, so she went to see them one day. Both cared deeply for each other, but was afraid to say anything lest the other person not feel the same. The cow gave them an excuse to talk. Marveling at the stubbornness of mortals, she used just a bit of power to twist the old man's ankle when he returned the cow. When she left, the pair were talking about the future.
Raine's next visit revealed the pair were getting married. For some reason, that simple little fact warmed her heart. Over the rest of the year, she came to really know the townsfolk and care for them. More than once, she used her power to ease a sick child or increase the harvest to make things better for a poor family.
When the final day of the deal came, the Goddess knew the value of friendship and was honored by the mortal's gift. For the first time, she had someone she cared about. A sister to her mind.
"I will grant you a gift on one condition, I will be your son'd Godmother."
It was happily agreed to. Thus, nine months later a yelling mass of energy was born. The boy had violet eyes which marked him as tainted by the Dark Goddess, but it was a simple thing to erase the knowledge from the townspeople's minds. The child was called Duo as he was both mortal and God.
So ten years passed. Raine brought her chestnut haired, violet eyed son to she his "Aunt" every week. She even baby-sat when his parents had to visit the big city to sell their crops. Lady Dark taught the boy not to lie and always call on her when he needed help. Those years were immensely happy for her. The other Gods all had children and she wasn't exactly forbidden from having them, it was just a solitary existence usually suited her.
Then it was shattered. On a beautiful summer day, Duo entered the forest screaming her name, tears streaming down his face. Sobbing out his story, Duo told her soldiers had attacked the town and his mom ordered him to run to her. Darkness danced before her eyes. Someone dared to disturb her town? Then Duo begged her to save his mom and friends. Seeing her nephew and true son terrified snapped something in her. Teleporting the boy to her alter, she put him to sleep and sent herself to the town.
When she reached it, her senses told her no one still lived. Everywhere fire reigned and dead bodies littered the ground. With a dread filled heart, she approached the house of her mortal sister. Inside lay the ravaged body of the young woman who bore her son. Another lay close by, mauled beyond recognition; no doubt her husband after trying to defend his wife. The first tear ever cried by the Goddess of Darkness ran down a porcelain cheek.
Casting out her power, she "saw" the men who did this marching back to where they came from. Two of them were the sons of the God of War. Blue eyes, unruly hair, and inhuman self-control. Slipping into their minds, she saw they used the town as practice for a war their father wanted them to fight. The country's leader allowed it, wanting the God's backing and support.
Fury unlike any she'd ever felt tore at her heart. How dare they? How dare they take the only peace she'd ever known? Violate and kill her sister? Drawing all her power to her, the Goddess brought all the men, even the two half Gods, back to the city, circling the center of town. There she froze them in place and set up a shield not even the so-called King of the Gods could break.
Not speaking, she slowly, by hand, gathered every body in the town square, into a huge funeral pyre. Distantly, Lady Dark could feel the God of War vainly trying to gain entrance. His men's fear emanated from their bodies. A foul stink.
When she was finished, her power lit the bodies on fire. Turning to the assembled men, the Goddess of Darkness smiled.
"Join them," she said softly and every mortal walked straight into the flames. As the last man died, she dropped the shields.
"Bitch!" The God of War roared. "How dare you take my men!?"
"Lady," The King put in his appearance. "To take another God's followers is forbidden."
"Then why did you allow his sons to wipe out mine?" She hissed.
The Gods stood shocked.
"This village is cursed," The Goddess drew herself straight. "Any who enter here with evil or violence in their hearts will die. No one is allowed here again. Ever!"
With that, she left them and went back to Duo. Thus is was she missed War's youngest son, Heero, looking at the bodies intently, searching for a small body with long hair.
End Part 1
Phoenix
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