Kira's Story - Chapter 1
Title: this is not simple
Series: Watching Gabriel - Kira's Story
Rating: PG
Warnings: None at this point
Summary: Sometimes, letting the goddesses run free around the earth isn't quite the best idea, especially when they start forgetting little things. Things like how many years have passed since they paid attention to the human world, or any children they might have forgotten about...
A/N: I'm going to get kicked out of church one of these days. Anyway, this is a sort of first draft thing, based in my original world. (I really need to start writing from the beginning one of these days...)
--- - ---
We don't think much about the gods here, in the Specials.
...Well, that's a generalization. I won't say there aren't some of us who aren't religious, but in a world where the goddesses have been known to make random appearances to mortals, or where angels regularly appear to the ruling body of Desora to advise them on matters, it doesn't seem too important. I've read books about worlds where there isn't any proof of a higher being existing, and people always seem to pray to whatever higher power they believe in, searching for guidance or help in their lives.
I always thought that was a bit of a cop-out. Not that it wouldn't be nice to occasionally have someone to blame other than myself when things go wrong, but this way, you know that humanity - not some omnipotent force that may or may not exist - is responsible for what it does to itself. Of course, someone will always find a way to pin the blame on someone else; it's human nature, after all. Still, it at least helps me keep my head in perspective, and lets me know that whenever I do something morally reprehensible, I have no one to blame but myself.
--- - ---
“Simple, routine assignment,” Nia was muttering next to her. “'Retrieve a rogue slave and bring her to headquarters for rebranding and relocation. Afterwards, go to the owner's place and confiscate all other slaves; this is the third occurrence and his license to own magical slaves has been revoked.' Simple, isn't it?” Kira winced. She could hear her partner's teeth grinding next to her as he grumbled. “This is not simple, Kira.”
“Who're you complaining to?” she grumbled right back at him, attention still on the spectacle before them even as she talked. “Do I look like I like this situation any more than you?”
The lowest square of the capital city was packed with spectators, all eagerly crowding around despite the city guard trying to hold them back in a circle. Within that clear circle, Kira stood with Kiniarel, facing the woman they had been sent to retrieve and thirteen people who had surrounded her.
Unconsciously biting her lip as she tried to figure out the situation, Kira reached out with her mind again. There was magic all in the crowd around them, as there should be, and the very faint power from Nia beside her. There was a blaze of power from what seemed to be the leader of the group; nothing she hadn't dealt with before but still more powerful than the average slave they had to bring in. And from the woman who should have been the only other source in the apparently human group, there was nothing.
“You have been healed of the demon in you,” the leader was saying. He was hidden within the group, a little shorter than the rest, but his voice carried well. “Go, my sister, and be absolved of your sins. The Goddess will forgive you.”
“What...” The woman's voice started soft, and Kira missed part of the sentence in the general murmur of the crowd. Then a near shriek rose above the crowd, and the people went silent as they heard, “What have you done to me!?”
As the echoes of her voice died away, Nia stepped forward, his weapon still ready by his side. Kira followed him, still biting her lip as they approached the group.
“Excuse me,” her partner was calling. The two nearest them - a woman wearing the robes of a priestess of Aleandre and a man in well-worn farming clothes - turned, watching them as cautiously as they were doing to the entire group. “We're going to have to ask you to move from around her,” Nia continued, his tone civil. “She's the responsibility of the government at this point.”
The man glanced at the woman beside him, and she murmured, “Specials. Agents of the government.”
“So you're the ones who capture all the slaves,” the man murmured. For a moment, his look was approving, but his next words came out short and harsh. “You should be happy to have witnessed one of Master Gabriel's miracles.”
“This woman is no longer your concern,” the priestess next to him added, voice loaded with contempt. “Go back to your figurehead king and tell him...”
“Varen, Halleli,” a voice from the group chided. Both turned to look as the group parted, allowing the leader to walk forward. He paused by the man first, saying, “Varen. Even though they attempt to do the goddess's work by subduing the demons in the population, the enslavement of the possessed is still wrong. Remember that.” Varen bowed his head, murmuring in agreement, and the man turned to the priestess. “And Halleli. It does you no good to serve Her with anger in your heart.”
As Halleli nodded, bowing her head as well, the leader stepped forward. As always, Kira took in his appearance quickly - he was shorter than average, wearing white clothes that only served to emphasize his entirely pale features. A calm smile was on his face as he looked at both of them, and she felt Nia bristling beside her.
“I seem to have interfered with your mission,” he said. “I would apologize, but this is the way it should be. This woman is free now.” He turned slightly, making their target clear in the middle of the group. She was sitting on the ground, sobbing silently into her knees. “She will become acclimated to the change in time, and appreciate it.”
Nia took another step forward, and Kira automatically put a hand out to stop him. The sight of the woman had set off his anger again, but the arm across his chest held him in place for the moment. “What have you done to her?” she asked in his place, trying to keep her own voice calm. A hint of anger managed to creep in anyway, and her grip was tight on her weapon.
The man continued smiling calmly. “I have heard the Specials can sense magic. You can tell, can't you?” They were all silent for a long moment. “I have cleansed the demons of magic from her. She is now as human as...” For a moment, he glanced between at the two of them, then at his group again. “...as human as Varen here.”
“Demons, huh?” Nia was smirking. “So to have that kind of power, you must be a demon yourself. Who are you?”
The priestess started to take a step forward, mouth open in outrage, only to be stopped by a raised hand. “Peace, sister. They will know in time.” Then the man looked them in the eye, and said, “I am Gabriel Hayami, the only son of the goddess Aleandre Hayami Miasumi.”
There was a dead silence, broken moments later as Nia laughed, long and hard.
--- - ---
“Excuse me... Goddess?” The sephirim Elinya bowed before Aleandre. As always, the goddess sat in splendor on her throne overlooking the mortal realm. For the last month or so, however, she had been engaged in a game with her sister, Selene, and barely paid attention to the goings-on of humanity. She barely received a nod in response, but plowed ahead with her question.
“I apologize for prying, but...did you...at any point...have a son?”
Both goddesses paused in their movements. Then Aleandre sighed, and asked, “Has Gabriel gotten himself in some trouble again?”
Selene started to laugh as Elinya scrambled for an answer. “Not...trouble, exactly. He's simply...going around taking away the magic of Miyana and Somenre all throughout the human kingdom.”
On the heels of her question, Selene asked, still laughing, “A human son? What possessed you to allow that to happen, sister?”
“As if you've never made a bad decision before,” Aleandre grumbled. “Yes, Elinya, I had a son with a mortal. I left him to grow up with his father and meant to meet him when he grew older. Why?”
Elinya did her best not to wince. “I apologize if I offend, Goddess, but... Gabriel is twenty-five. At the moment, he is claiming that after he saves the slaves of Desora from the demons inhabiting them, you will come down, punish those who committed the atrocities of using and enslaving these people, and take him to live with you. Already, he has caused a minor uproar in the human capital...”
“Twenty-five? I missed it by nine years, then...”
Selene's laugh grew louder than ever, and Elinya sighed deeply.
Series: Watching Gabriel - Kira's Story
Rating: PG
Warnings: None at this point
Summary: Sometimes, letting the goddesses run free around the earth isn't quite the best idea, especially when they start forgetting little things. Things like how many years have passed since they paid attention to the human world, or any children they might have forgotten about...
A/N: I'm going to get kicked out of church one of these days. Anyway, this is a sort of first draft thing, based in my original world. (I really need to start writing from the beginning one of these days...)
--- - ---
We don't think much about the gods here, in the Specials.
...Well, that's a generalization. I won't say there aren't some of us who aren't religious, but in a world where the goddesses have been known to make random appearances to mortals, or where angels regularly appear to the ruling body of Desora to advise them on matters, it doesn't seem too important. I've read books about worlds where there isn't any proof of a higher being existing, and people always seem to pray to whatever higher power they believe in, searching for guidance or help in their lives.
I always thought that was a bit of a cop-out. Not that it wouldn't be nice to occasionally have someone to blame other than myself when things go wrong, but this way, you know that humanity - not some omnipotent force that may or may not exist - is responsible for what it does to itself. Of course, someone will always find a way to pin the blame on someone else; it's human nature, after all. Still, it at least helps me keep my head in perspective, and lets me know that whenever I do something morally reprehensible, I have no one to blame but myself.
--- - ---
“Simple, routine assignment,” Nia was muttering next to her. “'Retrieve a rogue slave and bring her to headquarters for rebranding and relocation. Afterwards, go to the owner's place and confiscate all other slaves; this is the third occurrence and his license to own magical slaves has been revoked.' Simple, isn't it?” Kira winced. She could hear her partner's teeth grinding next to her as he grumbled. “This is not simple, Kira.”
“Who're you complaining to?” she grumbled right back at him, attention still on the spectacle before them even as she talked. “Do I look like I like this situation any more than you?”
The lowest square of the capital city was packed with spectators, all eagerly crowding around despite the city guard trying to hold them back in a circle. Within that clear circle, Kira stood with Kiniarel, facing the woman they had been sent to retrieve and thirteen people who had surrounded her.
Unconsciously biting her lip as she tried to figure out the situation, Kira reached out with her mind again. There was magic all in the crowd around them, as there should be, and the very faint power from Nia beside her. There was a blaze of power from what seemed to be the leader of the group; nothing she hadn't dealt with before but still more powerful than the average slave they had to bring in. And from the woman who should have been the only other source in the apparently human group, there was nothing.
“You have been healed of the demon in you,” the leader was saying. He was hidden within the group, a little shorter than the rest, but his voice carried well. “Go, my sister, and be absolved of your sins. The Goddess will forgive you.”
“What...” The woman's voice started soft, and Kira missed part of the sentence in the general murmur of the crowd. Then a near shriek rose above the crowd, and the people went silent as they heard, “What have you done to me!?”
As the echoes of her voice died away, Nia stepped forward, his weapon still ready by his side. Kira followed him, still biting her lip as they approached the group.
“Excuse me,” her partner was calling. The two nearest them - a woman wearing the robes of a priestess of Aleandre and a man in well-worn farming clothes - turned, watching them as cautiously as they were doing to the entire group. “We're going to have to ask you to move from around her,” Nia continued, his tone civil. “She's the responsibility of the government at this point.”
The man glanced at the woman beside him, and she murmured, “Specials. Agents of the government.”
“So you're the ones who capture all the slaves,” the man murmured. For a moment, his look was approving, but his next words came out short and harsh. “You should be happy to have witnessed one of Master Gabriel's miracles.”
“This woman is no longer your concern,” the priestess next to him added, voice loaded with contempt. “Go back to your figurehead king and tell him...”
“Varen, Halleli,” a voice from the group chided. Both turned to look as the group parted, allowing the leader to walk forward. He paused by the man first, saying, “Varen. Even though they attempt to do the goddess's work by subduing the demons in the population, the enslavement of the possessed is still wrong. Remember that.” Varen bowed his head, murmuring in agreement, and the man turned to the priestess. “And Halleli. It does you no good to serve Her with anger in your heart.”
As Halleli nodded, bowing her head as well, the leader stepped forward. As always, Kira took in his appearance quickly - he was shorter than average, wearing white clothes that only served to emphasize his entirely pale features. A calm smile was on his face as he looked at both of them, and she felt Nia bristling beside her.
“I seem to have interfered with your mission,” he said. “I would apologize, but this is the way it should be. This woman is free now.” He turned slightly, making their target clear in the middle of the group. She was sitting on the ground, sobbing silently into her knees. “She will become acclimated to the change in time, and appreciate it.”
Nia took another step forward, and Kira automatically put a hand out to stop him. The sight of the woman had set off his anger again, but the arm across his chest held him in place for the moment. “What have you done to her?” she asked in his place, trying to keep her own voice calm. A hint of anger managed to creep in anyway, and her grip was tight on her weapon.
The man continued smiling calmly. “I have heard the Specials can sense magic. You can tell, can't you?” They were all silent for a long moment. “I have cleansed the demons of magic from her. She is now as human as...” For a moment, he glanced between at the two of them, then at his group again. “...as human as Varen here.”
“Demons, huh?” Nia was smirking. “So to have that kind of power, you must be a demon yourself. Who are you?”
The priestess started to take a step forward, mouth open in outrage, only to be stopped by a raised hand. “Peace, sister. They will know in time.” Then the man looked them in the eye, and said, “I am Gabriel Hayami, the only son of the goddess Aleandre Hayami Miasumi.”
There was a dead silence, broken moments later as Nia laughed, long and hard.
--- - ---
“Excuse me... Goddess?” The sephirim Elinya bowed before Aleandre. As always, the goddess sat in splendor on her throne overlooking the mortal realm. For the last month or so, however, she had been engaged in a game with her sister, Selene, and barely paid attention to the goings-on of humanity. She barely received a nod in response, but plowed ahead with her question.
“I apologize for prying, but...did you...at any point...have a son?”
Both goddesses paused in their movements. Then Aleandre sighed, and asked, “Has Gabriel gotten himself in some trouble again?”
Selene started to laugh as Elinya scrambled for an answer. “Not...trouble, exactly. He's simply...going around taking away the magic of Miyana and Somenre all throughout the human kingdom.”
On the heels of her question, Selene asked, still laughing, “A human son? What possessed you to allow that to happen, sister?”
“As if you've never made a bad decision before,” Aleandre grumbled. “Yes, Elinya, I had a son with a mortal. I left him to grow up with his father and meant to meet him when he grew older. Why?”
Elinya did her best not to wince. “I apologize if I offend, Goddess, but... Gabriel is twenty-five. At the moment, he is claiming that after he saves the slaves of Desora from the demons inhabiting them, you will come down, punish those who committed the atrocities of using and enslaving these people, and take him to live with you. Already, he has caused a minor uproar in the human capital...”
“Twenty-five? I missed it by nine years, then...”
Selene's laugh grew louder than ever, and Elinya sighed deeply.