Are people born evil? How is a god, who is always right, born an evil god?
Gods are not born- of course- they're created. Created with labels of what they are supposed to be. It's not something they choose. Choice is not something gods are given.
"That's just what you are," Father had said when he asked, "gods are embodiments of the jobs they were created for. They exist to serve their purpose and the wishes of their humans."
He was right, in a way. Father always spoke some form of the truth. And in its purest form, that concept made sense to Yaboku. Even when he had hardly seen five winters, that broad idea of serving a never-ending, eternal purpose felt right. There was just one problem.
"But what if that purpose doesn't sit right?" From his spot on the floor, tracing over the characters his father had put in front of him, Yaboku gazed up with big blue eyes filled with confliction. The man who called himself 'Father' looked from over the carved wood in his hand. It was hard to tell what passed through his father's dark eyes, even now, but whatever he thought wasn't worth risking the facade of family. Still, keeping Yaboku on the right track was more important than pretending. After all, children were rather smart. But even when they know something, they need a trusted adult to spell it out for them.
"That's impossible isn't it? When you kill, doesn't it feel right?" Father leaned over to rub Yaboku's head, "Everything a god does is right, never forget that. So long as you continue your godly existence, by serving your purpose, everything will be fine." The man smiled when Yaboku giggled and tried to reach for Father's hand only for him to pull away.
"And if you ever doubt yourself, just remember how happy you make me when you grant my wishes." Father said. He didn't see Yaboku beam up at him, as the man picked his mask back up and got to work. Yaboku did the same, returning to the same task that had him question his life with renewed vigour. After all, making Father happy was top priority for the young god and it made him happy no matter what.
This was long before the child would understand that his feelings on his actions, meant absolutely nothing at all. So long as the task was carried out- the wish fulfilled- he was allowed to continue existing. No, it would be a long time before Yaboku came to the inescapable realization that gods are not people. People had the ability to grow, change, sin, and choose. A god's fate was an immortal slavory to the purpose given to them. A god was not their own person.
"Still," Father mused out loud, "you are far from where I need you to be."
Air beat against Yaboku's lips as he frantically looked around. Frightened humans were dashing behind buildings, out of sight. He had to hurry, the sun was setting soon and he was running out of time. Yaboku grunted as he jumped over the fallen bodies, taking off after the first human he saw. He had been lackluster in his killing recently so Father decided to give him a test of sorts. Since he was nearing his seventh summer, Yaboku was to prove himself as a god and a young man. Father dropped him off at a rather large village this morning, with the wish to rid the humans who lived there. Something deep and instinctual told Yaboku that if this wish went unanswered, there would be hell to pay.
Not that he imagined hell was any different from what he was causing. Yaboku cut down the young man he was chasing and the woman he tried to protect before looking around for another target. In his hands, Nora mentioned there was a group of warriors gathering a couple streets over. He used the roof, jumping from building to end up on another large street. Men on horses hollered declarations to kill the demon that tormented their town and waved around weapons of their own. Some humans on the side, hiding behind crates and walls, cheered on their town's champions. Yaboku would have scoffed if he wasn't so exhausted, the sky was turning pink and there were still way too many humans. Hiki sliced through them like bamboo, horses and all, then they focused their attention on the crowd.
Yaboku followed a man into his house. A woman and two children sat huddled at her sides, Yaboku made a swipe at the man only to be blocked by a fire poker. This human was much larger and clearly had strength to withstand a child god. He pushed Yaboku back and whacked Hiki out of the way. He shouted profanities, cursed Yaboku as the demon he was, then threw a punch that hit Yaboku square in the cheek. Unlucky for this human, Yaboku was used to taking hits from a father and caught himself from falling. The man was easy to impale, his wife and children just as much so. Their blood stained the floor and Hiki's blade.
Whipping the blade to the side, Yabobku tried to clean the blood off as much as he could before leaping out the window. He stumbled and crashed into a large torch, knocking it over. The bonfire crashed and was practically snuffed out in the dirt. An idea caught in his head and his blue eyes looked around, they were close to the town's wall. Quickly huffing his plan to Hiiro, Yaboku ran towards the gate, massive wooden logs tied together with thick rope, reaching high above the buildings. Two more torches stood on either side of the entrance, it's door opened to allow escape. So far only a handful of people were able to get out, but they weren't far. Stretching Hiki's power as far as he could, Yaboku made a large slice through the air and wiped out the people just at the edge of the town. He was running as fast as his legs could carry him but it wasn't fast enough.
Turning to the right, Yaboku stopped at the edge of the torch. With a grunt, Yaboku shoved the massive light source over. It's fire fell slowly, the oiled covered firewood crashing against the wall and lighting the wall. While the gate took light, slower than Yaboku would have liked, the good attacked the people who were still trying to run away. To make things easier, Yaboku cut the ropes holding up the door, ensuring others could not escape.
The pink sky was now turning a deep purple and Yaboku still had a handful of people to get rid of. Soon Father would come to ensure all the humans were killed. They were hiding, scattered among the bodies and buildings, shaking in fear from the being even blessed arrows couldn't kill. He would have to snuff them out, Yaboku decided as he slashed at the rest of the torches. Their brilliant blaze spread across the rooftops he leaped from, sending the dead people's homes crashing to the ground. Yaboku heard a scream from one building over and prayed the fire would get them. Unfortunately, Nora insisted he would have to go in and ensure their deaths. Yaboku sucked in a breath and followed the sound of humans begging for their lives. Air was harder to take in and it caused his vision to blur. The god's memories after that were a blur of shrieks of pain, orange light, and crimson blood.
"Excellent work Yaboku!" Father had proclaimed when Yaboku came stumbling up the hill, "You truly killed all the humans in this town! Your power is exactly where I'd hoped it would be yet you exceed my expectations! Using the fire to lure them out! I must say I'm impressed!" As he spoke Father lifted Yaboku from under his arms and patted his head. The force of the gesture sent Yaboku back to his knees, hacking up air from his smoke filled lungs. It hurt, Yaboku's eyes burned whether they were open or closed and every blink brought more tears. Yaboku tried to lick at the tears greedily only to taste nothing but his charred tongue. After taking back Hiki, Father offered some water that Yaboku drank greedily. It stung and he gagged, Father berating him for wasting water. Eventually Father stood, ordering his son to get up so they could clean the soot that covered him from head to toe.
As they walked away, Yaboku hugging his arms in vain against the sudden chill that invaded his body, he turned to look. By now the entire village was ablaze, it's walls buckling to the ground as thick black smoke blended into the night sky. Yaboku followed the thick clouds up away from the tiny sun that spread across the ground, up to the starry night sky. The heavens were quiet, not a single ripple in their mighty kingdom. Yaboku didn't think about them too much, knowing there was no point. In times of crisis, he too had called out for help and he too received none. They were up there- that much he was sure- but the others of his kind were as out of reach to him as the stars they lived among. For a split second, Yaboku wondered idly why none of them were coming down. Lots of the humans had prayed for help, to save them from him, but all those collective prayers went unanswered. For a split second he wondered why that was. Surly they had time and this was the sort of thing those types of gods were for. Like that blonde goddess he had seen long ago, could blow away the roaring fire with a sweep of her lance or a flap of her hawk's wings.
But Yaboku only wondered for a split second and after that moment thoughts like that were gone, locked away with the rest of his similar ponderings. Now, as he stared out at the burning bodies, all that was left in his head was his Father's pride. It was a good thing none of those gods showed up. After all, Yaboku was able to prove his worth once again and it was beyond what Father had wanted. He would grow to be a powerful god, one that would make wishes like this a walk in the park. The chill in his shoulders settled in his chest and Yaboku let his black and red stained arms drop to his sides. He felt the larger man walk up next to him, both of them staring down the grass hill at the massacre before them.
"Do you regret it?" He asked the god.
Yaboku turned his head to look at the man to his right. The wind blew through his hair and the grass tickled his feet. The god's face remained blank as always as he took in the question. It touched on something deep within him, something locked away, but it was too old for Yaboku to recognize it. Centuries had done a number on him, on his spirit. Any thought he had other than his existence was just that, a thought. Nothing to be said out loud; even though there was so much to say and not enough words to say it. Any fire lit within him would fizzle out just as quickly. It was better this way, safer, he was fulfilling his purpose to continue existing and that's all there was. The god blinked his blue eyes once at the taller man who was still looking down the hill, willing the words to simmer down and for a simple truth to come out.
"No," Yaboku stated, "what brought that on?"
"Nothing in particular," Rabo smirked. Yaboku frowned at his bloodsoaked companion. He got that question from time to time. From Nora in particular. Perhaps it was something on his face but it wasn't a good question for a god like him to receive. Rabo simply smiled and looked back down the hill. This time it was a rice field right next to a village, painted red all the same. Yaboku had found the rice field to be useful with Hiki, his bodies floating in the water, before joining Rabo in town. They decided to go attack one more smaller village before treating themselves to a drink. Yaboku was never one to celebrate his work- a job was just a job- but turning those things down was probably why he got these questions in the first place. A young woman, maybe twelve years, bobbed face down in the water. A human was not strong enough to complete their job and continue their life-without-a-purpose.
"You are truly powerful," Rabo spoke to the carnage, "and you work fast." The complement tightened something in Yaboku's chest, the same cold pinching his insides. Despite this he smiled back at Rabo, the action as hollow as he was. None that mattered because his purpose was fulfilled, he was exactly what he needed to be.
"Of course," Yaboku replied, "I'm a God of Calamity."
