Chapter Seven: Unwanted Memories

The Harvest King had been asleep for a very long time. There was no real measure of time in the energy world. What could be a day in the physical world could be conceived as a hundred years on the energy plane. This was the reason the Harvest King had left. Time was supposed to help him forget, so cover his wounds to where he couldn't even see them. But they remained. Before he left the pain had always been with him. Sometimes it came in small ripples. Other times it was like the clashing of great wave against a defiant cliff face. But no matter how he endured, it remained. Tearing his being apart, driving him mad. He'd never felt such pain, never before in his immortal life. He loved these humans, so like him but not like him.

He remembered the first time humans had come. What strange creatures they were. He himself was really nothing but energy in the physical world. But the presence of the humans had stirred him. He saw how hopeless they were, how much they needed guidance. This caused him to become a god. From then on he had always been there, silent, but watching. He loved these silly creatures. And in time they had grown, evolved. Some could even see him. Children came, such wonderfully innocent creatures. Once a human had come to pray to him and left his child at the mountain base. The Harvest King had gone down to visit the little human. And how funny it was! With its yapping and jumping, so full of energy. In time the Harvest King felt the peoples need for me. From this need the Harvest Goddess was born. This saddened the King that he couldn't cherish his humans alone, but he was overjoyed to have a sister. She was a frail thing, kind and gentle and always wanting to do well. She had some power over nature, enough to direct the energies of the land. But it was he who gave the life. It flowed from him into every creature, small and large.

To his dismay, the people began to change. They ignored the Goddess and him, not wanting to hear their warnings. Slowly the land began to die, his beloved sister was fading. He would not let it happen. If the Goddess died, the people would leave, he would be alone again. The King had taken part of his being from himself, a piece of his immortal soul, and gave the Goddess her tree. It bound her life to it, and its energy healed the land, along with the five bells he'd given the sprites. What odd little creatures, always dancing around his sister. The Harvest King had been exhausted, but he felt great joy that the humans would stay, that he could still watch over them. It was not so. The King felt his being slowly fade from their hearts. No one came to him for prayers, no children played at the base of his mountain; they couldn't even see him anymore. Desperate the Harvest King had left his duties to appear before the people. He focused nearly all his power so they would see him, someone, and anyone. An old man walked across his path. It was the child from so long ago he had visited. The old man had stopped for a moment, and seemed to peer at him.

Sweet relief and overwhelming joy filled his heart. Even if it was just one, one human, it was enough. The old man turned and yelled over his shoulder. A child ran up to him and held his arm to support him. The old man with the child walked towards him. The King had reached out his hand, wanting to greet the one who still needed him. The old man and child walked past, not seeing. They vanished down a path toward the Goddess Spring. The Harvest King, at that moment, shattered. His silent scream had echoed through the earth, the sky, the air. All the life forms of the earth cowered at his immense pain. The Goddess appeared before him, not long after. He was standing on his mountain, looking down on the earth below. "Brother, why are you in such pain?" He turned on her, his power crushing his sisters into a small existence. "The humans need you, my dear sister." He said. She had cowered before his power, his overwhelming hate. "Hear me now, Harvest Goddess. Your humans will repeat their mistakes. This land will die, and so will they. And even you won't be able to help them. Long after I am gone they will need me once more. You will weaken, and eventually fade. I will not help them, or you." With her last remaining bit of strength the Goddess clung to him, sorrow radiating from her. "Brother, I felt your pain. Do not let this rage consume you and blind your heart. Let me help you." The Harvest King dispersed his energy, preparing for his transition into the energy plane. "You cannot help, nothing can. I am no longer wanted here, no longer am I needed. My purpose is lost." The Goddess pleaded once more. "I need you." The King turned to her, his being nearly gone from the world oh the humans. "But you see my dear, sweet sister, I do not need you."

No! The Harvest King buried the memories deep within himself. His slumber was almost shattered. The human's interference was stirring his being, drudging up the pain he so desperately wanted to forget. His hate grew. His blackness was weakening, he could feel the Goddesses energy, and she could feel his. He felt the gentle touch of her probing aura. It tried to enter his darkness, to shed light on his mind. Brother. Her soft voice said, echoing through him. With a roar he slashed at her energy, cutting it. He swallowed himself into the pits of his non-existence. He felt the Goddesses pain as his thoughts faded, his dreams began to disappear. So dark was it. He didn't know what he was, who he was. He was just there, not existing, never to be woken. Before he was completely engulfed, he felt at peace. No more hurt.

The Goddess felt her energy cut, nearly snapping her fading power. He'd almost killed her. She didn't care. It has been so long, she thought. The Goddess, after millennia of silence, of worry and confusion, she had found her brother. Even if it was only for a moment, she'd felt his warm being. But his hate had grown, so much so the Goddess feared his summoning. He just might kill the humans instead of help them. And Hikari, what was she to do for her poor mortal friend, who couldn't hope to stand a chance against a God?