Chapter Six: The Truth
Hikari loved the Goddess. She was a kind and caring being who only wished for good. But she wasn't telling Hikari what she knew. The Harvest Goddess didn't trust her. "I do trust you Hikari. I can't tell you though; it's not the right time." Hikari did her best not to yell at the Goddess. "You don't trust me Goddess. You're afraid to tell me because you think I will be overwhelmed. You think I'll run and leave you." Hikari took the Harvest Goddess's hand in her own. "After what happened, I need to know." The Goddess sighed sadly in defeat. "Alright Hikari." She said. "Thank you Goddess. I swear I won't leave you, even if you tell me the end of the world is coming." The Goddess gestured for Hikari to sit, which she did.
"Long ago," the Goddess began. "This land had many people, not as many as today. They lived off the land, and at first took care of it. Then they began to lose control. The humans abused the land for a long time. Then I was born. I was very weak because of the lands state. So the Harvest King, my brother, gave me this tree." The Goddess turned to face her sick tree, the source of her life. "It gave me enough strength to live, and slowly the Harvest King and I healed the land. But the humans didn't change, again they destroyed it."
Hikari squirmed in her seat, feeling guilty for being a human. "But we still loved them. I still love them." She said, easing Hikari's mind. "He gave another part of himself to me. He created five bells that harnessed the five elements to my sprites. Alan is fire, Collin is land, Ben is water, Daren is wind, and Edge is heart." Hikari looked at the sprites who were gathered around her, they all had sad looks on their faces. "Heart?" "The love the people and creatures have to the land, the lands spirit." The Goddess explained. "The Harvest King is very powerful, so his strength was only briefly diminished. But it was still a part of his being, not something to be handed over lightly."
With a shaking breath the Harvest Goddess continued. "So again we healed the land. And finally you humans evolved, or realized what you had been doing. The people cleaned up the island, took greater care in their actions, and their efforts paid off. They built a shrine around my spring." Hikari looked back at the ruins. "As I said, it was a very long time ago. The humans forgot the Harvest King." "What do you mean?" Hikari asked. "A deity can sense when humans no longer think they need them, or they forget. It's painful. I would not know the feeling myself, but the anguish he felt rang through the lands spirit. The people thought he was only a fairy tale, and saw only me. So the Harvest King left. He told me his absence would affect the land one day, and that the land would wither. What he foretold has become true. But he didn't predict you. His contempt for humans blinded him to the good that some of them had within."
"So that is why he will kill me, because I'm waking him from a nap to help save his sister's life?" The Goddess took Hikari's hands and pulled her up. "You don't understand Hikari. He is immortal, so the pain he felt will never fade, never diminish. It is always there to torment him" A brief idea flashed through Hikari's mind. "Can't it be healed?" The Goddess looked at her, puzzled. As if she what she said made no sense of all. "I wouldn't know. I don't think it is impossible, but it takes one heart to heal another. And the Harvest King would never let that happen."
Hikari fisted her hand in her hair. This Harvest King was impossible. "So I'm up against a super all powerful deity who wants to kill me. Great." The Harvest Goddess clutched her hand. "You're not going to leave are you?" Hikari gently pulled away. "No, I swore didn't I? So where is Edge?" Collin crossed his little arms. "He's probably off crying somewhere again." "Collin," the Harvest Goddess scolded. She then closed her eyes for a moment, concentrating. "He's somewhere sacred, in the tallest point of Harmonica Town." She opened her eyes. "I'm sorry, that is all I know." The Goddess said. "I know where he is." Hikari replied. "Thank you for telling me Harvest Goddess. I know it pained you to relive the memories." The Goddess's eyes seemed to film over for a moment, and then they cleared. She stood straight and strong, as was befitting of a deity. "Go Hikari, and do what you must."
The Harvest King decided then and there. He would go even deeper, he would be so immersed in his darkness he would not sense the physical world. Nor would he sense the other energies of this plane. Only he forever cut off from that painful existence.
(Sorry this chapter isn't very long, but I thought it was important to the drama of the plot, and kind of an insight of what it might, kind of be the reason why the harvest king wasn't there. This is how it happened in my imaginary dreamland anyway.)