Freya POV

(POV Change – Freya)

--- Freya's Life Musings ---

Tenkai. Heaven. Paradise.

The residence of the gods was known by many names. Revered and longed for from the people. All of them saw it as the ultimate destination they would one day reach. Their inevitable path and the lovely garden they will enjoy.

But to us, the gods, it presented a drastically different view of it. To us, Tenkai was the place that housed and nurtured our greatest enemy…

Boredom.

To the ones who were perfect existences, Tenkai was immensely boring. We have lived for millions of years and have done everything we could possibly think of, but in the end, boredom always found its way back into our hearts, monotony always weighed heavily on our minds.

It was the curse of divinity. After all, if you are perfect, then what else is there to strive for anymore?

For some, it was even worse than the others.

Among the gods, 'The God of Beauty' is a very special position.

The power our 'Charm' held was immense. It was capable of even affecting and enslaving other gods to our will.

Such power was naturally feared by the rest of the gods. Against others, they could put up a fight, but against a Goddess of Beauty's Charm, they were as helpless as mortals.

And yet, despite all the dangers, they were also greatly captivated by us. Having possession of a Goddess of Beauty was regarded as illustrious and wonderful.

As such, they sought to imprison us. Put subtle chains around our necks to do their bidding, while remaining as docile pretty dolls.

Towards this end, they assigned Virgin goddesses to be our companions, a fancy and sugarcoated way of appointing them as our jailors.

Generally, a Goddess of Beauty's Charm is ineffective against a Virgin Goddess, so it serves as a good safety mechanism.

Other goddesses did not mind much. Aphrodite was too dumb to notice the chains around her neck, Ishtar was too absorbed in their treatment of her as a queen, and Hathor was too uncaring regardless.

I was different. An anomaly.

My Charm was so powerful that not even the Virgin Goddesses were safe from it. Only the three Great Virgin Goddesses were capable of resisting me. Because of this, I was even more restricted and chained than the others. I was simply too dangerous for them to be allowed free reign.

It was hardly horrible treatment if I'm being fair. They followed and granted almost my every whim and wish. On the surface, it appeared as though I lived in a paradise where I could do as I pleased. In reality, it was an endless prison in which I was trapped. The grand temple in Tenkai that was given to me, along with the numerous gods and spirits that guarded it, were all "shackles" binding me.

And yet, one of the two things I truly desired more than anything else was denied to me. Freedom would always be out of my grasp. I was a captive in the Birdcage crafted by the gods…

The spiteful god who orchestrated this prison knew my interests and preferences all too well. He used my own pure feelings and attachments as "chains" to bind me, while he lived a carefree life in a place unaffected by my charm. Should I ever step out of line, he would not hesitate to hurl a divine spear to eliminate me. That's exactly what that detestable old god had in mind.

Despite the countless grievances that stirred within, I accepted my fate as the Goddess of Beauty and Love. I was adored by all gods and granted honors beyond any other deity. To claim misfortune would be laughable. Most importantly, I had long reconciled with my circumstances, seeing and understanding the nature of my existence.

I governed over love. All the gods were desperate to obtain my love by any means and should I ever seek their love, they would jump at the opportunity without a moment of hesitation, their wills eroded.

Is this what love was? This twisted and unnatural phenomenon?

They adored me, yet they did not know me. Their eyes saw only my beauty, their hearts captivated by an idealized image, not the essence of who I am. How could such love be real when it never touched the core of my being? It was as if I stood on a pedestal, admired from afar, but forever isolated.

I began to see love as hollow and empty.

Perhaps none could truly comprehend me. Perhaps none could grasp the emptiness that gnawed at my essence. The paradox of these beings fervently craving my love while readily surrendering their own at my mere request was a twisted jest.

But the love directed at me was one-sided, shallow, a mere infatuation with the surface. They loved the idea of me and no matter how recklessly I feigned indifference, no matter how I donned the guise of a heartless enchantress, it remained unchanged.

I started to hate it. Every moment spent there felt like torture.

When was the last time I smiled? A true smile, not the feigned one of the Queen.

I did not remember.

So, I ran. Ran as far as I could, away from my pursuers, away from the temple, away from everything. And after running to the ends of the world, I succumbed to despair. It would not be long before I was found and returned to that Birdcage.

I sank to my knees, but I did not weep.

Yet tears cascaded unbidden from my eyes.

That was when she showed up.

She spoke passionately of my issues. Of freedom. Of love. And in the end, asked me a question.

"Therefore, Freya," she urged gently, "why not seek out your eternal companion, your Odr?"

For the first time, I felt hope bubbling in my heart. Could such a being exist? Someone who would finally free me from the Birdcage? Someone who would finally teach me the meaning of Love? One untainted by insincerity, coercion, and corruption?

It was foolish. Improbable. Unrealistic. But… the hope lit in me would not go out. So, I set out in my search, time and time again, I slipped out of the Grand Temple, evading the pursuers and jailers. None of the gods were my Odr, that much I knew. So, I set my sights on the mortal world, Genkai.

That was when I started collecting souls. Exceptional mortals with outstanding souls caught my eye. Perhaps one of them was the Odr I so desperately searched for. I lost count of how many epochs this went on for. I collected every type of soul imaginable, to the point there was no type of soul I hadn't seen before.

My propensity towards interesting souls often led me to clash with other gods. Among them, Hecate was my most encountered foe.

Believers and Champions of Hecate, were always exceptional individuals, with wonderful souls thrumming with might. Was it a wonder I desired to take them for myself?

Of course, she would hardly ever give up the souls in her domain to me like that. Other gods may have been easier to navigate around, but she was a goddess that presided over souls just like me. As such, we established a sort of rivalry between us. Never truly hostile, but often butting heads. It was entertaining and kept the boredom at bay for a time.

But, despite all this, I still had not found my Odr. Despair started creeping back up.

Perhaps, I could not find my Odr in death? Perhaps, only in life could we meet?

With such thoughts, I descended to the lower world, along with the other gods, and continued my endless search there.

--- Freya - Present Time - First Sight ---

"I wonder where is my destined partner?"

It was just another dull day.

How much time had passed?

My last outing was just as unsuccessful as all the others before. Arry turned out to not be my Odr. Shame, her soul was incredible, but I saw that it would diminish were I to separate her from her kingdom.

And it was so hard to be able to venture out in the first place. Whether it be the guild's prohibitions, or my own children trying to lock me in the same birdcage the gods chained me in.

I cherish them, I truly do, but it can get so suffocating in here, with them treating me as a fragile glass doll.

Looking over the gardens, I can see them training as always. At the moment it was the Gulliver brothers sparring against one another.

I can feel myself smile a bit at seeing how far they have come from being mere slaves. I remember freeing them from that dwarf. He demanded I sleep with him for 4 days, in exchange for 4 brothers. Fool, as if I would let lowly filth like that ever touch me. It was a simple matter of brainwashing him with Charm and making him believe that he actually slept with me, and he was all too happy to relinquish the Gulliver brothers. Right up until the four turned around and beat him to death…

Loki and the other gods can believe me to be a wanton whore all they want, but unlike Ishtar I have standards. All the sexual favors they believe to have been given out by me in exchange for something was nothing but a simple application of Charm. After all, why would I ever debase myself to be the same prostitute as Ishtar? No, only the truly exceptional could ever hope to have me.

Turning my sight away from the training grounds, I cast it upon Orario's streets. It was something I regularly did. Quite unlikely, that I would ever find my Odr so randomly, but it's not like I had anything better to do.

Scouring the streets, my eyes fell upon a striking, blue-haired elf. He was young and handsome, and he immediately drew my attention. His deep blue soul shined with powerful brilliance and let off a glow that distinctly reminded me of the previous champions of Hecate. People whose souls have been supercharged with magic.

Did she get another champion? But her arcanum is restricted and she never started a familia to have given out a Falna. What about his companions?

The human girl also had an exquisite red soul, not as powerful as the elf's but it had its own appeal. Hoh, it's rare to see such interesting individuals at once. Then what about the last one?

The last one was a white-haired elf, his eyes were truly exotic and his looks were definitely in her strike zone. However, his soul seemed underwhelming. A dull and solid light green, that stood unmoving as if it was a wall.

Is he emotionally stunted? Wait, did his back just go rigid when my eyes landed on him? Did he sense my gaze? No, that's impossible.

That was when it happened…

Trying to see deeper into his soul, I suddenly felt my awareness getting sucked into something. Confused, I panicked for a bit, not understanding what was happening, until my gaze was fully sucked in and then what unfolded before my eyes stunned me into a stupor.

I saw a galaxy unfold in front of me. An endless, and ethereal landscape filled with waters and skies that looked as if they had the entire cosmos infused into them. And at the center of it all stood a grand tree on an island that seemed as if it stretched out into infinity.

The sight completely froze me. It took me all but a second to comprehend that I was not teleported to someplace I had not even seen in Tenkai, no, I was inside The Soul of the boy I just saw.

I thought I had seen every soul this world had to offer. I thought nothing else was left to see. And yet the boy's soul completely shattered that belief.

It was unlike anything I had ever seen before. The Majesty and beauty of this place surpassed everything I had ever seen before. Not even the gods had souls so… vast.

I don't remember how long I stood there. Shocked into a daze, taking and comprehending the wondrous and otherworldly sight I was seeing. Until my sight was suddenly cut off. I was ejected from that entrancing world, that I could spend millennia simply admiring, and was returned to the outside world.

Frantically I searched everywhere I could to find that soul again, but to my growing despair, it was nowhere to be seen anymore.

What was that? What in the world was that?! I need to find it! I have to find it! I must! I must! I MUST! I MUST! I MUST! I MUST!