Chapter 163: Guiding Hand, Blinding Light Pt.2

Orphella woke up gasping for air beside the beautiful pale-blue colored round stone where Oyue's ethereal body was sealed. She was successful in finally waking up the goddess, after finding out where she was hidden.

Everything was still buzzing in Orphella's head. All the vision she saw still rang on her head like they all happened simultaneously. She swore to herself to never do it again. Seeing everything from the past and present at once was nauseating and could definitely kill someone who wasn't attuned with her goddess' blessing.

She remembered everything. The moment she went inside the room and took a first glance at the secrets that unraveled before her. She discovered the tunnel was in fact part of a missing place where an old civilization used to thrive, the Labyrintheum.

According to what she saw, the labyrinth was created by the Yldars to ward off the monsters that Oyue sealed out from the surface. The Yldars built the intricately the tunnels from the remnants of Oyue's moon while also creating a chamber to protect the crystalized cocoon of which Oyue sealed herself after battling the overwhelming monsters she trapped along with her.

Orphella knew that over millenias ago, an Yldar betrayed his kin out of his madness and lust for power and founded a sect which he disguised as Oyue's. He called people from the surface to come and join worshipping the fallen goddess fashioning himself as her prophet. He was in fact feeding off the energy of those worshipping Oyue.

He tried to legitimize himself when he tasked people to join him in finding Oyue's cocoon. Of course, he knew where it was. But he wanted to play a game with the devotees while at the same time mock them for their fragile nature and naivete, believing in everything he said.

When the poor souls finally found Oyue, the mad Yldar then used the goddess' trust by waking her up and asking her to give him the authority to protect her and her people while she laid asleep. When the unsuspecting goddess gave him the authority and power he desperately wanted, he then trapped her for all eternity inside the crystal cocoon. She was still able to pass through her prison every once in a while, just for the horned Yldar to flaunt his supremacy over her.

It took a lot from Orphella to endure the overwhelming information the place was downloading into her mind. She passed out, then woke up just to vomit from the excruciating headache, then pass out once again after a new barrage of information gets bombarded into her. But she was able to manage all of it, because she had to.

She managed all of it because she knew she had to help her comrades get out of that hellhole somehow and learn once and for all the riddle that is the Labyrintheum. When she saw the answer to the riddle, she immediately followed the winding path of more dark tunnels and trapped corridors until she finally found what she was hoping to find—Oyue's cocoon.

She was hesitant to approach it at first believing that there might be some sort of traps set up around its perimeter. But after a few hesitations and testing, she risked approaching the cocoon where she knelt and put her forehead into the exposed glowing crystal. Orphella was afraid of what would happen next, but it terrified her more to die inside that mystical labyrinth being eaten by monsters and forgotten by the dwellers above.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She breathed into the cocoon and uttered her prayers by writing the runes that were taught to her by her predecessors. The crystal cocoon pulsed with every stroke of the runes she tried to write on its surface. It took her a few times to finally synched with the cocoon and when she did, she almost died doing it.

She went adrift in a beautiful but overwhelming sea of Oyue's thoughts. As she went looking for her deeper and deeper, the more she realized how fickle her plan was. There was no chance of Oyue appearing before her. She was left there slowly drowning in Oyue's thoughts and her despair.

She shouted and cried for help even if she knew that it was a fickle try. No one was there to save her except the goddess who she was looking for. Unfortunately for her, she wasn't able to find her.

But just as she drifted towards eternity, a gentle hand grabbed her and as she turned around, she noticed the comely appearance of the goddess she sought for so long. She wept in her arms before telling the benevolent goddess her reason for seeking her.

"Speak my dearest Orphella," The goddess said as she rested her in her arms. "What is it that you wished to speak about?"

Orphella spoke to her goddess the same way she did before she lost her tongue. She awkwardly moved her mouth as the sound of her voice came out naturally from her. It sounded unnatural yet at the same time calming to hear the voice she missed hearing.

She could've stayed there in the presence of her goddess speaking to her in a voice she never thought she had, but unfortunately, time wasn't going to wait for her as her friends are slowly dying from all the monsters and insanity inside the labyrinth.

After explaining to her what was going on, Oyue decided to see it with her very own eyes. The now, powerful goddess immediately snapped her fingers immediately scried the labyrinth within. That's when she saw the grisly sight of the piled bodies and the monsters feeding on them.

Oyue and her, also saw the conditions of her comrades and noted every location of where they were. Ghwynmyr along with Urfaal were currently unconscious and tied upside down on what seemed to resemble a nest at the bottom. She also saw the Orkamuus currently standing still, asleep being a few moments away from being eaten by some carnivorous plants.

Lastly, they saw Adaloun's conversation with a horned individual. The same person she saw betray the rest of his kin, Oyue and the followers that he personally sought out. The grotesquely looking Yldar was trying to convince Adaloun to join him, but her comrade was stubborn and even tried to offend the Yldar as much as he could. 

Both of them knew that it could spell trouble for Adaloun, even up to that point he still had the gall to offend a god-like figure like that one. Oyue looked at her with a worry-filled smile. She knew the goddess could do little of their current situation because of the seal placed in her crystal cocoon. But she had to try and ask for the smallest assistance she could give to them.

"He needs you." The goddess said. "Go save him! I will protect the others until all of you would meet again." She added.

Orphella nodded without any question. She believed that when a goddess asks, one must obey and thus she did. Oyue manipulated the water around her and created a portal exactly going to where Adaloun was. She immediately jumped out of the portal and saw how the Yldar was now crushing his friend like a pulp.

She tried to run towards him, while pulling out her knives. She knew pretty well how bad her plan was, but she had to risk it, or her comrade would face an inevitable crushing death. Just before she could jump out of the portal, Oyue held her hand.

"You cannot kill him without a weapon!" The goddess said as she passed her a beautiful silver bow. "Here, take this and use it well!" The goddess smiled at her and put her mind at ease.

Orphella bowed down to her goddess and jumped out the portal. After that she conveniently hid in the darkness as hoped Adaloun would continue to distract the so-called god enough for her to hit him. She lifted the bow but forgot that she already ran out of arrows to use.

"You don't need an arrow to use me," The bow suddenly a woman's voice spoke through her mind. My name is Papillon and all you need to do is pull the string then fire. I will take care of the projectiles!" It added.

And thus she did. She pulled the bow as hard as she could and waited for the perfect opening. Just as the so-called god was about to finish Adaloun, Orphella saw the opening and released her hand from the bowstring.