--------------------------------
The Heart of a GodBy Nia Ashin
--------------------------------
What does it mean to live and let live?
What does life mean?
Is it really enough for love to conquer everything to put a stop on death?
I… a Valkyrie… A Chooser of the Slain…
What did my life mean all these years?
To choose among human souls, those near of death, for the worthy characteristics of a warrior that would fight for the race not altogether theirs. The Aesir… a race of the Gods.
Humans believed in destiny… What is destiny? Was it destiny that brought man war? Was it destiny that made man believe they love another? Was it destiny that brought man life?
One cannot know…
But still they believed…
Fate can indeed be a cruel mistress…
And then death… Death comes to those souls who call out for salvation. Death comes to those who want peace. But not everyone deserves peace…
Darkness… It is what covers man from everything he wants to see… It is their own thirst for justice, righteousness, and lofty ideals that brought them no retribution. Man is a constant slave to their own wants, their emotions.
But what is emotion?
Most said it is a feeling that one has…
What is it? Anguish? Happiness? Anger? Sorrow? Calm? Indifference?
What are these emotions that weaken most men? What are these emotions that trigger almost everything that happens in Midgard?
Emotions… That's what makes men weak…
As a God… Do I have the same emotion that is invoked in men?
I didn't smile when I was happy… I didn't cry when I was sad… What I never realized that it was like I was giving up on living entirely…
What do I feel when I take the souls of men? What do I feel every time I meet someone who is willingly giving up their own soul in exchange for the soul of their loved one?
The young lady is in danger…
Asaka?
…………
Please! Can't you save her?
It is already too late. No one can defy his or her destiny.
You speak of destiny? As if such thing can possibly ease my mind? I loved her…
There is still a way…
I'll do anything! Tell me!
The ritual of Soul Transfer… It means if you truly desire it, you may take her place… But you would have to die in her stead.
I was a slave to circumstance… There is nothing I could say…
Human, then it is you I shall be seeing soon…
The anguish of someone who loves… The anguish of someone who is left behind…
Indifference… it is what I feel.
I care less about human emotions than those who defile the name of the Gods.
Why is it that I am privileged to feel the anguish of men and not be able to feel them for myself?
In this world, you cannot get something for nothing. If it is life you seek, it is life you have to pay.
I seek for life… Yet I take lives… and revive them to something new and better.
It was always saving other's souls…
…………
What have I become? A slayer? A light bringer? Or… death?
The world is governed by chance and chaos. It is but the courage instilled in the hearts of many that they have the will to survive.
Did I see the souls I've taken as who they were back then?
Is that my true self I see now?
In the screams of despair, I feel courage… bravery… love… and mercy.
In the deep recesses of one's soul I have to listen…
To understand humans I have to listen to their hearts…
But me…
Do I even have a heart?
--------------------------------
Author's Notes:The dialogue in italicsseems familiar eh? It should be. I've taken the dialogue from the game itself. It's from the part where Belenus asks Valkyrie to save Asaka. But instead of helping Asaka recover, she just used the Soul Transfer to exchange Belenus and Asaka's souls, in turn, Belenus dies. Hehehe… Some love, eh?