Chapter 162: Guiding Hand, Binding Light

Oyue woke up from her slumber, a feat even she thought was never possible. As her powers waned even further, she was only a breath away from being completely erased out of her existence. After almost an infinite lifetime of using her waning abilities, it was only natural that one day, her powers will fade away from the aether.

Regardless of her fading lifeforce, she instantly awoke after sensing a familiar energy calling out to her. It felt warm and powerful that every part of her body tingled as the faint energy finally got to her.

She opened her eyes and found herself afloat at a never-ending stream of blue gentle light, a light she considered as her own. She looked like a mortal inside a womb, peacefully floating and forever asleep until the time comes for them to be conceived.

Oyue looked around and saw nothing but the vastness of the azure light spreading across space. She waited for the energy to come, but unfortunately, it seemed like there was none coming to her. Whatever energy that woke her up earlier could be likened to that of a dream. A longing that she to have since a long time ago—the longing of freedom.

She was about to close her eyes again and sleep once more to conserve her remaining energy in case, she might find someone worthy of her to help in the future. But at this time, she found it best to put herself back into a deep slumber and wait for that time—that one final time.

"Heellllp…" A voice suddenly broke through the serene stillness of her azure plains.

Oyue looked around and saw nothing but the blue color all around her. She tried to close her eyes once again, but the voice persistently called out for help. Curious, she looked around once more, tracing back the mysterious voice calling out to her.

She saw a silhouette of a woman floating directionless far beyond her reach. The woman remained motionless as her body drifted further beyond Oyue's line of sight. She stared at her, trying to identify whose voice it belonged.

Her memory wasn't as sharp as it once was. With her power slowly fading out from her, the memories she had kept through all the years slowly slipped from her mind one by one. Most recently, she cannot seem to recall what she did prior to when she fell asleep.

Even her flashbacks were nothing more than blurry faces of people she supposedly met, and a grotesquely horned man who seemed to have known her. She thought she knew him too, but his name faded along with all the others as she began to fade away.

The woman seemed desperate to get out from where she was. Even if her body refused to follow her command, the desperation in her voice seemed to echo on Oyue's mind. The woman's desperation turned into a prayer of hope, and it called out her name.

"Oyue…Oh merciful lady Oyue…" The woman's voice quivered in fear. "It is I, your servant. I beg of you to hear me. I have brought you your tear. The same tear that he ripped away from you for his own gain!" The woman repeated, like she was going mad from her despair.

Without any second thought, Oyue swam towards her, but it wasn't as easy as she thought it would be.  The pressure from the beautiful azure waters pushed her back. It seemed like the swirling torrent wasn't letting anyone nor anything get in or out. She swam harder to break the wall of torrent physically limiting her to get to the poor adrift woman.

But as the goddess that she was, Oyue never gave up to that limitation nor be afraid of losing her remaining strength. To the ever benevolent and caring goddess, the mortal's life was more important to her than anyone else.

Using the last bit of strength she had, she pushed her way through the torrent breaking the water wall in between them. Oyue could see her hand slowly fading away, melding to the color of the now serene waters above. Indeed, she was already fading out of existence, but she refused to fade. She needed to save the woman, and so she did.

She swam a little more to the surface until she finally grabbed the woman's hand. The woman jolted as Oyue's hand squeezed gently on her arm. The woman looked back with tears in her eyes and reached out a beautiful gem to her.

Them gem pulsed and suddenly it overwhelmed the area with a bright warm light. A light Oyue thought she would never find again. The gem floated away from the woman's hand and went directly inside her chest.

Suddenly, an overwhelming warmth came over her. It felt like as if a part of her returned. It felt like a piece of her had finally came to complete her. The warmth ran from her chest then throughout her body until she felt her powers returned.

She wasn't fading anymore. Her powers grew anew, and it grew exponentially high as the energy sent shivers deep down her very essence. She finally realized where she was and understood what was going on. Her constant sleeping state was not caused by her powers fading away, someone took a few of it from her and made it their own.

As her memory slowly returned, she could finally see the blurry faces she saw on her flashbacks. She saw Adaloun using her power, but it wasn't that usage that took a toll on her, it was someone else.

Then, Zaduriel's grotesque face came to surface. The self-proclaimed god was the last face she saw before she started to fade and then she remembered how the horned Yldar tricked her before to gain control of her powers.

It looked like after a few millenias, Zaduriel had still some grip over her but how? Her thoughts started to wander for the answer. Just then she recalled about the floating woman whom she forgotten for a quick while.

The woman's limp body drifted even farther than where she was, but with Oyue's powers returning the goddess wasted no time to control the torrent and commanded it to bring her savior to her. The goddess took the woman in her arms and noticed the pointed ears she possessed, as well as an obvious scar at the base of her chin.

Oyue's memories quickly identified the mystery woman. She knew who she truly is. She's been watching over them for quite sometime now, until that incident with the Yldar happened. She caressed her face as her lifeless limbs floated freely. She hugged her tight and called out her name.

"Orphella, priestess of the Indescens who swore their fates to me," Oyue paused. "I call you back into this reality and command you to open your eyes!"

Suddenly, Orphella opened her eyes and was beholden by the goddess presence in front of her. With her tears melding with waters, she opened her mouth.

"M-my…L-lady…you've finally awoken." She smiled tiredly at her. Judging from worn out face, crusty blood on her hair and some fresh scratches and bruises from her neck down, it seemed she had been through a lot.

Oyue felt the crushing pain from her chest seeing her priestess in such a bad state, but she remained collected through it all and gave her a warm smile. "I am finally awake Orphella," she said. "Come with me and let me heal you first, then we'll talk."

"My goddess your benevolence knows no bounds," She said. "But I have no pleasure of time to spare today about healing myself. Dear goddess, I need your help…we need your help…please."

Oyue understood the elf's desperation, she calmed her down by caressing her face with her gentle hand. "What is it that you need help of?" She asked her priestess.