Meeting

The villagers were in disbelief as they saw the water went upstream as if it being sucked from above. They sprouted the words of praises, to the goddess that had protected their land for so long. In their mind, this must be one act of her might. A glimpse of what she could do.

The old man's mouth quivered as he looked at the boy not even in his twenties did what he couldn't do. He could only imagine the pressure Lyounus felt. It must have been like a mountain being thrown at your shoulders, or like lifting an entire city.

However, Lyounus didn't seem to be as excited as the villagers did. He knew the pressure was greater than before but it didn't even scratch the surface of what his soul was made of. Cold as ice, hard as Damascus steel, he was unfazed by the presence of divinity.

After it took the sun to almost finished its daily cycle that the pond was finally emptied. Lyounus suddenly couldn't hear what the villagers said behind him, nor he felt the wind, nor the smell of nature. He closed his eyes before he took a deep breath. He slowly opened it before the scenery in front of him changed.

He was now standing on top of the surface of clean water that stretched as far as the eye can see. The sun was setting on the west as the clouds shifted colors from white to orange. Lyounus put his gaze against the sunset he didn't feel mild but he felt the calm that was brought out.

"Beautiful isn't it child?"

A female voice was heard behind Lyounus. It was a sweet voice belonging to a beautiful woman who veiled her face. Her glistening black hair was tied into a ponytail with bangs on the front. Her figure was astonishingly perfect and her bright ice complexion was eye-catching. Her skin was smooth as a baby and there were no scars visible under her unique garment. Her dress was blue as the sky and orange as the present clouds. She had an earring on the left in the shape of a thin red diamond. Her thin waist was like a goblet and her beautiful bosom could entice any man while making cutting boards jealous.

Lyounus didn't turn around to respond, instead, he stood still against the sunset.

The woman became curious before she smiled. (This boy, he must have been stricken from my divine aura). The woman tiptoed slowly as she approached the boy from the side. However, her eyebrows raised before she took a step back. The black sword the boy carried was giving her a bad premonition. The 'death' that the black sword permeating was enormous. It wasn't a thing a normal human could carry, let alone a young boy at Lyounus's age.

"Mortal boy, who are-ah? You're hurt?!"

The woman rushed toward as she put her hand over Lyounus's right wrist. Her hands glow as the water from below rose up and enveloped his right arm. The swelling could be seen recovering by naked eyes along with the cut wounds.

"Stand still."

The woman heaved a sigh of relief as she saw his right arm healed. She glanced upward to see his face before her eyes opened wide in disbelief. She saw tears were building upon the boy's eyes as he smiled against her. She was agape before she chuckled. Never did she thought that the boy would be so emotional seeing her.

"You're amusing, what is your name little one?"

Her eyes were blinking in curiosity and excitement before Lyounus shook his head.

"Hmm? Are you sure you don't want to tell your name to a goddess?"

The woman smiled as she told that sarcastic tone before she continued, "I'm quite powerful you know! Maybe not as powerful as destroying a mountain but I can heal most wounds and poisons! Now imagine if you're sick on the bed with no physician to cure you or mend you, I most probably can heal you less than a day!"

She was mentioning her prowess with pride and long nose. She knew what boys like in deities, power. Power to rule the world, the power to destroy mountains, the power to teleport, all the cool stuff that a boy wanted, she didn't have it. She was trying to explain that power was not only made to look cool and destroy something. It could also heal and prosper something.

"In short, I'm the goddess that has expertise in healing!"

Lyounus looked at her act with a smile from the start until now. His expression undoubtedly made the woman lost for words. She started to think that there was something wrong with this boy. She wondered if the black sword was causing him to be that way.

"Gryiasi."

The woman raised her eyebrows as the boy called her name without any honorific as a mortal should. Moreover, the tune that was coming out from his mouth was not that of a boy like him should mutter. It was longing as if something missing for so long and he had finally found it.

"That's not your real name."

Lyounus words sent her pupils shrinking. Her body felt a jolt of lightning before she tried to hide her surprise. However, it was naught to hide before him.

"Heh? What are you-"

Suddenly the woman froze as the boy embraced him. From an outsider's perspective, it was like seeing a swan being eaten by a toad. The attire they wore was completely opposite of each other. One was garmented by divinity while the other was garmented by soil and dirt.

Lyounus hugged her tight as tears rolled nonstop. He couldn't stop grinning over her shoulder as he tightened his embrace. He knew the woman could erase him out of existence if she willed it so, however.

"You better stop this child, or I will get angry you know."

"I don't care, get angry if you wish! I, I, I'M GLAD THAT I CAN SEE YOU AGAIN!!"

His shout reverberated the place they were in as the woman opened her eyes wide in disbelief. She could hear the hoarse of his breathing and his racing heartbeat. She glanced over at the boy with thousands of questions inside her mind.