Trying to Save my Favorite Character from His Tragic Fate

The cries echo in the chamber, ringing in Maya's ears as she extends her hands over the pit. 

She knows she has promised Udarr never to lift the seal, but she cannot just let these souls remain if they still have a home to go back to. Imagining herself unable to go home is agonizing.

This is no longer natural for her. These souls should have returned to where they belong.

'I didn't know… I had no idea that I was holding people from their home…'

Despite knowing that she is not strong enough to lift the entire seal, she manages to lift a corner. The souls on the pit, seeing the opening, start to race towards it, cramming on the little space as if it is a competition. 

The free souls come to experience the freedom that they yearn so much for - the single thought that occupies their minds when in captivity. However, once out, their minds plague with other thoughts.

Their souls start to darken that they blend into the darkness of the night. They look at the small figure who has so kindly liberated them, but at the same time, one that could have done that much earlier. 

'REVENGE.'

Every thought in their minds concludes into that one word. Indignation sets into their hearts. 

'We have been wronged! That person must pay!'

The souls start to combine into one, forgetting the very fact that the person they are targeting is the one who has freed them. 

Maya concentrated on breaking the seal, is oblivious of what is going behind her. 

One by one, the souls combine with each other to accumulate enough energy to strike one massive blow to the relic who left them rotting in that pit. They rush in, ready to inflict pain equal to the amount they have suffered. They will then curse everyone that comes into their paths so that the god who trapped them feels sorry for what he has done to them. 

They are unstoppable. Their vengeance has to bear fruit, or their souls will never rest!

A shadow casts over Maya, so she turns around to watch a lump of souls rushing towards her. The hostility that those souls emit prickles her skin like needles. She steps back in terror, but soon, the bottom of her foot feels the edge of the cliff before the pit of vengeful souls.

'Why are these souls like that? Don't they have a home to go back to?'

Maya shakes in confusion and closes her eyes once she sees the souls shoot towards her like a spear with their lumped bodies.

"Foolish souls with a foolish relic."

A woman appears in front of Maya, blocks the souls with a single lift of her hand. The impact of her shield against the lump of souls creates a blast that lifts Maya off the ground. Her body leans backward, and she falls into the pit.

As she falls unrestrained towards the pit, she looks at the woman who turns to see her falling. Her silver eyes pierce into Maya like an arrow. Despite having the power, the woman does not move from her spot to save Maya. 

Maya does not scream when she is falling. Instead, she has become entranced by the silver eyes that look into her, helping her forget that she is falling to her death. The surroundings become mute of sound, and they only stare at each other like the passage of time has stopped.

Then, Maya feels something violently slam to her body, shaking her vision that breaks her eye contact with that mysterious woman. She wakes up from her enchantment and looks at Kyrie carrying her with one arm. His other hand grabs tightly on the hilt of his sword, stabbed into the pit wall. 

"Hold on tight."

Kyrie casts a wind spell to the bottom of his feet. As soon as he takes out his sword, the air below his feet propels him into the air. They both land clumsily.

Although Maya is scared, she has forgotten about it. She looks at Ian scolding Kyrie for just launching inside the pit.

However, they get interrupted when that mysterious woman's voice echoes in the chamber, shaking their soul.

"Phanes... Erebus…"

Erebus bows at Karta, greeting her. 

Kyrie looks at the woman with an ethereal appearance. She is dressed in a long black flowy dress with a silk cardigan. Her eyes can charm anyone who looks into them, and her skin so transparent that her blue veins can be traced to the heart.

Not even sparing a look towards the mortals, she focuses her gaze onto Phanes. Anyone can see how Phanes started to look smaller and smaller from Karta's stare. 

Karta sighs and looks at Erebus, "I am disappointed."

Those words immediately cause Erebus to frown. If their choices have influenced fate, Karta makes sure that the blame is getting transferred to him. However, he softens his eyebrows soon after because he does not mind this time. He has gathered important information thanks to the mortals that came from the future.

Seeing Erebus's change back to his calmed state, Karta lets out a smirk. That god has always been so unpredictable, but still, the king of gods keeps Erebus by his side like a biological son.

"Go deal with the seals that are currently freeing those souls before they get too corrupt to reincarnate," orders Karta without sparing him another glance.

"Yes," Erebus responds obediently, which is making Phanes sweat even harder.

If Karta is so cold at Erebus, who is close to the king of gods, she is done for.

"Sister…" Phanes looks at Karta with big puppy eyes, but as soon as she sees Karta's ugly expression, she retracts her cute act.

Karta spreads a smile and laughs. She walks in a circle towards Phanes's back, then her fingers brush Phanes's cheeks, making Phanes shake even harder.

"You!" Karta presses her knuckles into Phanes's temples, making Phanes scream in pain.

"I am sorry… I am sorry! I am sorry, elder sister! I am soooo sorry!"

"You really like to make my life impossible, don't you, Phanes? Do you know that each time you come to the mortal world, I have to go behind you and fix all your mess?"

"But that is your job! Ahhhh! I am sorry!" Karta makes sure that it hurts. Maybe that could help this mischievous sister of hers to remember her face every time she wants to involve herself with mortals. It's not that Phanes is doing wrong, but she is still not completely aware of how much influence gods have on fate's outcomes. 

Soon, Karta senses the intense stare on her. Like a reflex, she turns to glimpse at where Kyrie and Ian stood. She loosens the strength she puts on Phanes's temples. Her eyes narrow as soon as she looks at Ian, and immediately stops everything she is doing. Her frustrated casual expression towards Phanes immediately turns to stone. 

Her shocked expression gets registered by Phanes. Phanes immediately traces her elder sister's sight that directs at Ian. 

"Why are you so shocked?" asks Phanes, whispering. She is incredibly curious about what Karta saw since she is the goddess that deals with Fate's mysterious mechanisms, so she knows that Karta can see other people's fate strings.

Karta adjusts back her expression immediately, but she still cannot hide her eyes, which shows how shocked she feels.

'How can a human have his fate strings all severed? I do not believe that it is possible. Even if someone tries to sever them, the fate strings can reattach by themselves so that there are no inconsistencies in how everything gets interconnected,' thinks Karta while looking at Ian's fate strings that got tampered with by someone.

"Elder sister… I think you are shocked because they are not from this time?" says Phanes.

Karta's lips part, but she immediately closes them, restraining her wish to spill everything. Erebus appears in front of them and bows again.

"The seal is closed temporarily. I will go back to ask the king to send Successor…"

"No need," Karta cuts Erebus mid-sentence, "She is arriving in any second."

A dimensional portal opens up, and soon a goddess dressed in white comes out. Despite her humble dressing, her green eyes and gold wavy hair immediately draw Kyrie's eyes. Although the goddess that came out of the dimensional portal has a different aura than the goddess he knows, they are split images. He finds himself unable to take his eyes off as if the goddess in front has blatantly betrayed him. So, there he is, unable to do anything but stare in shock.

[VITA.]

Phanes sees Vita walking out of the dimensional portal, "Second elder sister!"

Vita receives her with open arms and pats Phanes's head, "You troublemaker! What have you done to make our elder sister come personally?" 

Vita nods at Karta as greetings, and Karta nods back. Unlike how casual Karta is with Phanes, she does not express that with Vita. However, Vita is happy that Karta asked for her help.

Kyrie's gaze meets with Erebus. Their eye contact communicates the same shock they experienced when Kyrie opened up that Vita was who blessed him. They both thought that Phanes or her descendants were the ones who blessed Kyrie, but it turns out that Vita is not Phanes's descendant but her elder sister.

"Why are you still inside the portal?" Vita looks over to the dimensional portal.

A young girl pops her head out of the portal and smiles apologetically, "Sorry, young misses. I didn't know when to interrupt."

"Yue!" Phanes cheerfully calls. 

"Young miss…" Yue bows while walking out of the portal.