The Goddess of Death and Her Empress

Beginning of Arc Two

"She's upset." Lydia said and watched the window after the goddess came back to Haven, and sat upon her throne. Hannah nodded.

"The goddess looks uncertain." Hannah said, and felt her chest ache a bit.

"What's wrong?" Lydia asked.

"I don't know." Hannah said. "Since before she came back, I feel an ache within my chest. I can't explain why I feel it, nor how it feels." She said in a small voice.

"Lydia!" Kyrie called out, and Lydia turned towards the throne.

"Yes, goddess?" Lydia said, with utmost respect. When her goddess was in a mood, she didn't like to agitate her.

"Watch over Lena and make sure to tell me of any changes, behavior or speech, as soon as it happens. I need to go see Imera." Kyrie said firmly, and disappeared into a mist.

Lydia turned to the window, and watched as Lena cuddled in close to her servant, Nadya, as well as Nuri, and looked so happy that she couldn't find anything out of place.

Although Lena's sheer joy could be seen, it couldn't be understood enough to be reported. The joy was odd as she was only like that when the goddess was around, but to Lydia, she didn't see any difference in behavior.

* * *

"Mother." Kyrie said softly as she appeared in the throne room of Imera. She turned as she heard a step on stone.

"You worry about her." Gallae said, in her child form.

"Yes. A girlish voice, and a giggle. She's never giggled. Is she regressing?" Kyrie asked. Gallae shook her head.

"The memory seals are loosening." Gallae said, and sighed. "I had hoped she would stay sealed up for a bit longer, but her strength is too much to keep sealed away now. If I put too much strength on the seal, the power she now wields will rebound and harm her." Kyrie frowned.

"Memory seals? Why are her memories sealed?" Kyrie asked quietly.

"Because she wasn't ready to know who she is, and since that was the case, no one was ready." Gallae smiled a small smile. "Lena is special. Her memories are yours, and the memories of Haven. Once she starts to remember, you will all start to remember." Kyrie began to tremble.

"I know her, don't I?" Kyrie asked quietly.

"More than I can tell you right now. Just know that each time you think you've solved the issue of who she is, she will surprise you. Now go back to her side, and help guide her through these painful times you both share." Gallae waved her hand and forced Kyrie from the throne room, and left her with a message.

"Until all is revealed, and the reason for the existence of Haven is known, do not come back to ask your mother." Gallae said.

"Her memories have also been sealed, and I need to help her through this difficult time."

* * *

"Goddess!" Lena cried out and dashed over to her. She tilted her head as she stopped. "Did you shrink? How come I am up to your shoulder now when I was only above your waist just yesterday?" Kyrie swallowed a suddenly dry throat as Lena shrugged.

"Come on, goddess! We have to choose who will go to our dreams tonight! Rachel is always a lot of fun! She lets me bite her boobs, and hugs me right tight!" She sighed a bit. "It is exactly as I dream of how having a mother must feel."

"Um, yes, Rachel can visit tonight, Lena." Kyrie said. Lena tilted her head, and frowned slightly.

"Goddess, why did you call me Lena? Is there another girl in the temple called Lena?" She asked her eyes wide and earnest. "Wait, do you eat her jellies too? That is not fair, goddess! You said that only me and Mirri will be the ones to dance in your dreams!" Lena put her hands on her hips, and Kyrie's mouth fell open.

"Mirri?" She asked in a low voice. Lena nodded.

"Mirri! She's my sister! Or temple sister. I'm an orphan, but Mirri's mom is the temple priestess. Where is Shanna and Heni?" She asked. "Those guardians never leave me or Mirri alone for long, as they call us..." Kyrie covered her own mouth in shock.

"Our little twin oracles." Kyrie fell to her knees. "Jana?"

* * *

"Jana. My little Jana. Is it really you?" Kyrie said as tears rolled down her cheeks. Lena's face smiled, and she had a girlish giggle much like she had earlier.

"You keep forgetting me, goddess. Has it really been so long for you in Haven? It was only last night that we spent the entire night feasting on Rachel, wasn't it?" Her innocent earnest eyes told Kyrie all she needed to know.

This was her little Jana. An orphan adopted into the temple by Mirri's mother, the temple priestess, and the two girls overturned the entire way the temple did things.

Over the centuries, meat had been introduced by the generations of acolytes as they fell further away from the original temple's teachings.

The little oracles reminded everyone that only fish and eggs were to be eaten, unless it was the sacred flesh of the Offering. Jana was so upset about how the Offering appeared so painful, with no mercy given to the sacrifice, and hated the way they treated the sacrifices.

She insisted that the brutality of the Offering be changed into an intimate act where only those chosen by the Offering were allowed into the altar room. Cattle, and pigs were not to be raised as meat, nor bought from the local farms. The way the livestock lived was not clean, and should not be brought into a clean and pure temple.

Over the course of three years, Jana's pure intentions were pursued with single minded determination, and the worship of the goddess realigned into an acceptable form of worship again. Faithless ones become devout followers, and eager for their own day.

However, it was the last generation of acolytes to appear at the temple. Jana, at age eight, went to sleep one night, and disappeared from the dream world completely.

Kyrie became dark, and lost the love for life that she once had. The temple closed, and no new worshipers joined the temple. She could never find Jana's spirit to take her to Haven, though she roamed throughout the dream world for months, intent on finding her.

When she came out of that world of mist and memory, her memories of Jana were sealed up again, and Kyrie became known as a ruthless and merciless goddess of death again.

Kyrie broke out of her daze.

"Send for Mirri and Rachel!" Kyrie called out in excitement. "And Hannah! She was here when little Jana was here last." Lena giggled and danced around like a child, and completely without rhythm as she had no music to sway to.

"Hannah's here? I thought I sent her to Haven! Oh, you're going to let me see her again? Yay!" Lena giggled again. "I wonder if I can eat her jellies again. She was so delicious on the altar. I can't wait to see her again."

While Lena/Jana was happy to know that she would see Hannah again, all of Haven was in an uproar.

The child oracle, who once captured the heart of the goddess with her innocence and devotion, was not dead as they expected. Instead, the Empress was Jana reborn, and no one doubted it for even a second.

The vibration within their hearts told them that Jana was back, as the seals within their soul cores had loosened to the point that they all remembered the childish laughter that made them all smile.

Jana was back, and maybe this time, the goddess would have a chance to stay happy, and take little Jana to Haven before she disappeared once again.