Chosen one

Even Appu Illapu had never set his foot inside the main temple since the creation of the temple of hanging gardens of Babylon. Being an apostle of the sun god Inti he was ordered to remain in the temple while guarding the main temple.

Not even the person who built the temple was aware of the secrets hidden inside the main temple.

A legend has been passed down from generations among the babylonian people that the person who built the temple was blind and thus he couldn't see the secrets hidden inside the main temple.

Everybody doubted about the fact that the creator of the temple being blind. There was not even a single soul who didn't question about the legitimacy behind the passed down myth.

A prophecy has been passed among generation of the babylonian people since the creation of the temple of hanging gardens of babylon.

One day a chosen one shall appear and open the gates of the main temple. The day when he/she opens the gate of the main temple is the day when the curse left behind by sun god Inti is lifted from the lost city of Babylons.

And Appu Illapu, the apostle of sun god Inti was stationed at the temple acting as a protector of temple. He was stationed in order to carry out the mission of guiding the chosen one inside the main temple.

Despite not knowing the reason behind his mission he never complained about his mission and remained faithful to his god.

Appu Illapu has been guarding the temple while waiting for the chosen one for more than few centuries. Years passed, decades passed, centuries passed, yet nobody appeared in the temple. But despite that he has been guarding the temple for so long that he had already forgot about how long he had been guarding the temple.

Not even a single soul trespassed during his time of acting as the guardian of the temple. The appearance of Zan and his party was the first appearance he witnessed during his what seemed to be like never ending long mission.

Thus he was shocked when the gate to the temple finally opened. Even though he didn't want to admit that he had already given up on his mission on multiple occasions, the appearance of Zan and his party greatly rejoiced him.

While Appu Illapu was expressing his feelings suddenly Fey interrupted him.

"Wait... wait... wait... So does it mean that there could be a chosen one among three of us?"

She questioned him while interrupting him in the middle.

As Appu Illapu mentioned before, he had already given up on his mission on multiple occasions. And also he was so happy to see them that he didn't even consider about the possibility of one of them being the chosen one. Thus he was left dumbfounded by her questions.

"Now that you mention about it. There might be some possiblity that one of you could be the prophesized chosen one."

He exclaimed while striking his chin.

While trying to reminisce something, he told them that if her or Herman were to be the chosen one then something might have already happened when they approached the main temple. But since the main temple showed no reaction, he concluded that the two of them were not the prophesized chosen ones.

Disappointed by the fact that she wasn't the chose one, she sulked.

Herman who was standing beside her showed no signs of emotions. He was neither happy about the fact when she mentioned that one of them could be the chosen one nor was he saddened when he heard from Appu Illapu that he wasn't the chosen one. Herman was simply amused by the information revealed by Appu Illapu.

Fey's gloomy eyes suddenly gleamed with anticipation as she looked towards Appu Illapu.

"Then what about Zan? Could he be the chosen one? I mean he has yet to approach the main temple and afterall he's the only one left behind?"

In a cheerful tone she questioned him.

Appu Illapu was left speechless by her words. With his head tilted and eyes facing the ground he stood frozen while thinking of something. A complete silence engulfed the whole room. After some time he finally opened his mouth and spoke;

"You might not be wrong. There's still that possibility afterall. He has yet to approach the main temple, so he could be the chosen one. But I can't guarantee it as I was not told about any specific details regarding the chosen one. I was simply ordered to guard the temple and guide the chosen one."

While thinking about the possibility of Zan being the chosen one, all them looked towards Zan who was lying in the ground, sleeping atop the bedsheet made up of herbs.

His tiny frail appearance made everybody to question his legitimacy. But Fey who had seen the twisted side of him never doubted him. She knew what he was capable of and was fully aware of his potential.

The mana which he exuded during the time when he was allocating mana. His unique nature of mana and the presence of ethereal amount of mana in his tiny body.

At the moment only she was aware of Zan's secondary personality.

"This boy does look mysterious at times but I'm not sure that he could be the chosen one."

Herman exclaimed while denying the probability of Zan being the chosen one.

"Yeah how can he be the chosen one? hahaha"

Appu Illapu nodded his head while letting out a cheerful laugh.

'Hmph... You two don't know anything about Zan'

Fey murmured while berating their claims of Zan.

Appu Illapu and Herman, both being a herbalist and old folks among the four people present at the moment, clicked with each other. Their sense of humour was pretty much the same and even their ideals and hobbies matched with each other.

While Fey sulked in the corner, Appu Illapu and Herman exchanged cheerful laughs and continued to joke about Zan being the chosen one.

Irritated by their stupendous jokes and loud laughter she rolled her eyes away from them, towards Zan.

'Oh Zan! If you're listening to this conversation then don't take it to your heart. They're just bunch of good for nothing oldies afterall'

She murmured while staring at him.

'Also are apostle of gods supposed to be like this? What happened to his calm and cold demeanor of before? Was that only a facade to scare others?'

She mumbled in disbelief.

Unable to withstand their chatter any longer, Fey then walked away from them while walking towards the hallway.

"Oii Fey where are you going? You know that Appu said that you can't go anywhere you please right?"

Herman exclaimed while shouting her name.

"Yeah yeah I know. I'm not going anywhere I just felt like looking at the scriptures carved in the walls."

She replied while clearly expressing her annoyance in the way she spoke.

As she walked towards the hallway, Appu Illapu and Herman carried on with their conversation.

Just then from behind them a voice reverberated in their ears.

"Are you talking about me?"

Zan spoke while standing behind them.

Unaware of his awakening, they were startled by his sudden appearance.

"Aaaaaaaaa"

Both of them screamed as if they've seen a ghost.

"You? You? When did you get here?

Herman stammered.

"Just recently. It was too hard to sleep because of your loud laughter."

"How are you able to move this quickly? I was sure that it would take at least an hour for you to recover even after seeing your recovery speed. But you woke up much faster than my prediction. And even more you're already able to walk?"

Puzzled by Zan's sudden appearance, Appu Illapu questioned with a perplexing look.

Zan who was unaware of his physical conditions couldn't answer his questions. The last thing Zan remembered was the encounter with the sun god Inti.

As he tried to reminisce the memories of after the incident, his memories got hazy. The more he tried to force himself, his head hurt and he could feel a throbbing pain in his head.

"You don't have to force yourself if you can't remember it"

Herman consoled.

Heeding his advice he stopped straining his mind.

"But what were you two talking about? I'm sure that I heard my name in your conversation."

Curious about their conversation, he questioned.

Hearing him they started to brief him about the conversation which took place between them. They explained him in detail about the mentioned prophecy, Appu Illapu's mission, the talk about the chosen one and how they all anticipated him to be the chosen one. Without missing a single detail they explained him everything that took place between them.

Just then Fey came back from the hallway after hearing Zan's voice.

"I heard Zan's voice? Is he awake?"

While itching her ears, she entered the room.

When she saw Zan awake infront of her, her eyes widened and her jaws dropped. Shocked by his appearance she was left speechless.

Zan upon seeing her, smiled and waved his hands at her, greeting her.