Chapter - 10

Sun had set down, dark clouds surrounded the cliff of mountain….Cold , icy winds blew inside the cave… Within few seconds fine snow came down the sky on the mountain… Lanterns were shining brightly inside the cave, The Goddess of purity stood there majestically between flames of candles… The temple looked even more royal and beautiful in night… The paintings and carvings on stone walls shimmered with pretty colors… Cave was filled with the fragrant scent coming through the white jasmine flowers kept at astrea's feet…. Amidst this mystical atmosphere….the two of us sat together leaning on the wall… Fire burning in front of us kept us warm and dry… We were avoiding any possible eye contact, cause the pheromone accident earlier made us really awkward as I had jumped on him beating the hell out of him…. But now while my eyes were closed a sudden realization hit me hardly. Not talking with him wasn't going to help me in any way… On top of that I felt sorry for beating him so badly��� I turned towards his side, he was staring at the paintings on the wall.

"Umm…Hongseok…actually I wanted to apologize for being harsh to you earlier…" I hesitated while talking. He looked at me and don't know why he looked straight in my eyes…

"Harsh?? You've almost choked me to death Miss Arin!! For that tiny perfume bottle? I would've brought you ten new perfumes as a gift… But I never expected you to be THIS strong!! Look!! Look here!! Your nail scratches!!" He showed his bruises on hands and came closer to sit with me.

"That perfume was really something very precious….it's okay you won't understand, and I'm extremely sorry for those bruises….once we go down the mountain I will pay for your medicines…." I closed my eyes and leaned on the wall again as I had no hope left after pheromone drowned in stream…

Astrea…why did you bring me here? And what I've done?….nothing…absolutely nothing… Maybe it's my fate to live with this diamond core forever….

I left a deep sigh and opened my eyes, and saw hongseok walking towards the door of the temple.

"Seok-ah !! Don't go towards the door!! It's dark there!!" I got up and walked behind him. He was looking at the paintings on the wall which extended till the wooden door. I kept calling him but he continued walking ignoring my calls… I felt a bit weird… he was giving off a strange vibe.. I ran towards him and tapped on his shoulders. He got startled, and turned around…

"What are you doing here? Didn't you hear my calls?"

"Ahh…actually I am observing these paintings since the time we've reached here, Arin-ah…If you look at them closely, don't you think there's a story hidden in the sequence they are painted? It's so mesmerizing…." He said while touching the paintings.

I took a look at those paintings….And kept following them until door…. I couldn't believe my eyes…the person painted in those painting was me? Arisa? Clothes…facial expressions…incidents which I had seen in my past life… everything was similar….but who painted them? I looked around the temple…and remembered the moment I fainted near the stream… the reason why I fainted was because….This was the same temple I had seen in my past life…. Goddess Astrea's only temple in this world… Arisa's dearest place… Which means…Today's Namiseon Island was the Ari land in past? I sat down in front of Astrea's idol…Linking all the dots in my mind…

"Arin-ah… Come here… Look this painting is so romantic.. Hahaha…. "

I went near the wall… It was me and Adrestia…sitting in each other's embrace… The day which led to Arisa's death… And as expected the wall beside this painting was blank… That was end of Arisa's life….

I looked at hongseok who was seriously admiring the paintings. I brought my face near Arisa's face In painting.

"Seok-ah…Don't you think we look somewhat similar? Hmm?"

"What nonsense? How can you even see the face in that picture? They just seem like two girls hugging tightly…. Ancient Namiseon was quiet forward…" He smirked

"Why? What's wrong with that? Even I can have feelings for a girl….what's so forward in that?"

His eyes widened after listening to me which made me burst out laughing.

"Arin…Didn't you already tell me…"

"What? I don't remember anything?" It was so much fun teasing him.

"Arin!! Why are you being like this? Didn't we already….That was a kind of confession okay!! I thought… You…"

"Me what? Like you? No wait….love you? But I have never said you any of these…." I smiled and walked forward looking at the paintings….

Hongseok walked behind and pulled me towards him. Pinned me on the wall… Came closer with one of his hands tightly gripping my waist and other on my neck… I had never expected him to turn so aggressive…The look in his eyes was strange… He was straight looking inside my soul… Chills went down my spine… I couldn't see in his eyes…he was so much intimidating in that moment…

He whispered in my ears, "Arin… If you have no feelings for me…if you've never ever felt attracted towards me….if you've never once loved me till this moment…. Push me down in next 5 seconds…."

What?? When did my gentle hongseok turn into this hot character? My mind was storming with thoughts…but the moment I looked up in his eyes… My mind went blank… I loosened my body his hands…I surrendered myself to him… Even he felt the sudden change in my gestures…

"it's been more than five seconds Arin… Should I take it as…"He spoke softly near my ears.

A wave of thunder took over me and I pulled him closer…pressed my lips over his…. He gripped on my waist more tightly…even though he touched my waist….that touch was sensed by my soul…again…felt like I have known him , his touch for a long , long time… Time seemed to have paused, just for us….Us to get together…We were engrossed within each other… My eyes kept blinking at him…but he had no plans to stop now…The thin line between us was crossed….We were diving deep into each other's soul… He lifted me up and went behind the idol… Firewood kept burning the passion between us…He placed me down on dried grass… Climbed upon me, and stared in my eyes…He was waiting for me to allow him to take over me…

I closed my eyes and broke all my boundaries I had secured for 25 years of my life…Finally my Yin energy was complete with his Yang energy… We had no idea what happened around us…Snow was falling out of cave…cold breeze filled the cave…Still it had no effect on us….we were just swimming in the ocean of love….

And finally…that moment arrived…when I was about to lose my diamond core…I opened my eyes to look at hongseok, grabbed his arms tightly… A purple light surrounded us…Hongseok was not at all aware of these things… I sensed a very strong spiritual presence above me…. I looked up at the roof of the temple… Astrea stood up there in her Goddess form surrounded by purple enlightenment …. She lifted her hand which had a silver bowl…

Again I turned my eyes towards hongseok….held him tightly…closed my eyes….and….let out a small scream…. Suddenly my body felt lighter and lighter like a feather….something was drawn out of my body…. A shimmery diamond illumination passed out of my soul… I started feeling weak…I was losing out my energy…the hands I had tightly held Hongseok's arms with, loosened up and fell down…. I lost my senses and passed out on the ground….

"Arin-ah!!!Arin!!...." Hongseok's voice diminished slowly…and all I could hear was…

"Arisa, you have successfully broken off your diamond soul" I opened my eyes and found myself standing in front of sea…between two cliffs…I turned towards the right cliff… Goddess Adrestia stood up there in her golden robe, with silver bowl in her hands, a smile on her lips…. Then I turned around the left cliff…and saw Goddess Adrestia standing up there with dark resentful energy emitting out of her…her eyes dark red…with Violet robe twirling around her body….Anger and temptation pouring through face.. Both of them stared at each other…I felt like I was standing into the face-off between two almighty goddesses… And then saw in front of me, My past self…Arisa…stood inside the ocean and then walked towards me… At last, Arin and Arisa…. Astrea and Adrestia… were facing each other…

I hoped this to be the final destination with all these other worldly lives and soon turn back to my normal life…..