Chapter 43: The Origin story!

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Beyond the stars known to Earth, in the farthest reaches of the universe, lay a planet named Kael or Kaelria—a world bathed in light and shadow, balanced by a blazing sun and a gentle moon.

This was home to the Kaelrians, a race with unparalleled physical and mental abilities. Born of cosmic energy, they were attuned to the forces that shaped their planet.

They revered their creators: Solara, the Sun God, and Lunara, the Moon Goddess, who were said to have descended from the heavens and walked among their people.

Kaelrian legend spoke of the union of these deities, whose bond created the Kaelrians. Each Kaelrian inherited a fraction of divine power, connected to the balance of day and night.

Their world thrived in harmony until Rhemon, a low-born Kaelrian, with the help of Ikehara, the shadow of the Sun God, disrupted the peace. Unlike his peers, Rhemon lacked strength, intelligence, and any special gifts. Bitter and ambitious, he resented his place among the lowly and envied the Sun God's title and power.

Consumed by jealousy, Rhemon secretly trained in forbidden arts, augmenting himself with dark knowledge and illicit technology.

His obsession led him to challenge Solaris, the reigning Sun God, in a battle that shook Kael. But Solaris's divine power was too great, and Rhemon, along with Ikehara, was soundly defeated and exiled with deep injuries.

Furious and humiliated, Rhemon sought revenge, not only against Solaris but also against the Moon Goddess.

In a final act of desperation, Rhemon broke into Lunara's celestial palace and kidnapped her daughter, the heir to the Moon Goddess.

During his escape across the stars, Rhemon's ship crash-landed on Earth. In the chaos, the young goddess-in-training and a few other Kaelrian children, who had been kidnapped alongside her, were scattered across the planet, unaware of their celestial origins.

The Moon Goddess's daughter was placed in an adoption center, raised as an ordinary orphan with no memory of her divine lineage.

However, subtle signs of her otherworldly nature began to manifest—her unnatural speed, her connection to the moon, and the way she seemed to attract others.

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As Tessa and Adrian journeyed through the dense forest, moonlight barely illuminating their path, they inched closer to the ancient Rhemonic temple—the remnants of a symbol for Rhemon's followers.

The wind whispered through the towering trees, carrying an eerie silence that made the forest feel timeless, as though it had witnessed countless secrets unfold.

Tessa and Adrian moved cautiously, passing through the thick undergrowth. The moonlight barely broke through the canopy as they neared their destination—the ancient Rhemonic temple, its stone walls decaying but still heavy with the weight of history.

"Do you think we'll find anything useful here?" Tessa asked, her voice tinged with uncertainty.

Adrian didn't answer immediately, his eyes focused on the worn symbols etched into the temple's stone. His silence was telling—this place held more than just ruins; it held the past, and possibly answers.

"There's something here," he finally said, his voice low. "Something people don't talk about anymore."

"Do you feel that?" Tessa asked, her voice barely more than a whisper.

Adrian didn't need to answer; he could sense it too. Something about this place stirred memories that weren't his own.

The ancient Rhemonic temple looked abandoned and crumbling, yet it held the weight of centuries. The stone walls were etched with symbols in a language only a few could still read, but Tessa felt a pull, as though the symbols were calling her name.

As she walked closer to the temple, her breath caught in her throat. The symbols on the walls—images of the moon, stars, and sun—began to shift in her mind. Something about them felt familiar, like a forgotten dream. Her heart raced as memories, vague and hazy, floated to the surface.

"I don't understand," she whispered, touching one of the symbols on the wall. "Why does it feel like… like I've been here before?"

Adrian stopped beside her, watching her carefully. "Maybe you have. Or maybe it's not this place, but what it represents. You're connected to this, Tessa, in ways neither of us fully understand yet."

She shook her head, frustration gnawing at her. "I was raised here—on Earth. I don't know anything about this."

But deep down, a small voice whispered that wasn't entirely true.

"You're saying I'm connected to these gods?" Tessa asked, incredulity coloring her tone. "That Rhemon… that this temple… all of it is tied to me?"

Adrian didn't answer immediately. Instead, he looked up at the night sky, where the moon hung large and luminous above them. "I don't know all the answers yet," he admitted, "but I do know this: whatever Rhemon did, whatever he took… it wasn't just about revenge. It was about something far greater."

Tessa felt the weight of his words, a chill running down her spine. She stared at the moon, its light bathing her in silver. For a moment, it seemed brighter—stronger—as if acknowledging her.

As they entered the temple, the air grew colder. Adrian's face was unreadable as he traced his hand over the ancient carvings, symbols that told the story of a god who had fallen from grace. "This place was built by Rhemon's followers," Adrian said softly, almost to himself. "They came here after his exile, believing he would return. That he would rise again."

Tessa ran her fingers across the symbols, the weight of history pressing down on her. She could feel it—the lives that had been lost, the battles that had been fought. And somewhere in the midst of it all, she felt a strange connection. It was as though the walls themselves were whispering to her, telling her a story she wasn't yet ready to hear.

"What did Rhemon really want?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Adrian turned to her, his eyes dark. "To take what wasn't his. He wanted the power of the gods, but he also wanted revenge. He kidnapped the Moon Goddess's most precious possession."

Tessa felt her heart skip a beat. The Moon Goddess. The stories she had heard were fragmented, but they all pointed to one thing—Rhemon had taken something from the moon, something of great value. And whatever it was, it had been lost on Earth.

She shook her head, trying to push away the unsettling thoughts. "But… what does that have to do with us? With me?"

Adrian didn't answer right away, instead gazing up at the sky where the moon hung low and full, its glow illuminating the temple in a haunting light. "I don't know yet," he admitted, his voice tinged with frustration. "But I do know that whatever happened back then, it's not over. The past has a way of catching up with us, whether we want it to or not."

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