Chapter 204: Gaia's Recount ; History of Halkeginia ; Brimir's Suffering

"Gaia?" I question after a few seconds of pure silence.

"I don't know much," she responds, "The events related to the human had already transpired by the time I merged with this planet."

"Hold on. Merged with this planet? Where were you before?"

"The Rift," she responds.

"What were you doing there?"

"Observing humans."

"Why?"

"Because you asked me to," she responds, a little confused.

"For what reason did I ask you that?"

"I don't know," she downheartedly replies.

Observing humans, huh? It seems like I was quite fond of humans for some reason… Not in a good way, though, as from what I've seen in the visions, I didn't treat them very 'well'.

"So, you said that you merged with this planet, right? I assume that you had to separate from another planet before that," I say to which she just nods her head as confirmation.

"What became of that planet?" I curiously inquire. If I'm not mistaken, the planet she was previously merged with was Earth.

"Nothing," she replies, startling me a little, "The planet will function as it's supposed to without me."

"Then, what purpose do you serve?" I ask while trying my best to not make it sound rude.

"Observe and report everything to you."

Yeah, I unquestionably was truly 'fond' of humans.

Still, there is something that has been bothering me quite a bit…

"Gaia, why are you so honest with me?" I question while squinting my eyes. According to what I know about her, she genuinely cares about the lives of the 'children' inhabiting a planet. As such, it would make sense for her to dislike me.

The smile on her lips grows as she says, "Because I trust you."

"Trust me? I'm sure you have already noticed, but I'm not exactly who I used to be."

"I know," she responds while nodding her head.

Seeing that she has nothing more to say, I begin to think about how odd her belief is. Shaking such thoughts off, I look Gaia in the eyes before saying, "I'm sure that you know something about Brimir, even if the events had long occurred when you arrived."

Fortunately, she nods her head and says, "I did hear the children speak of it."

And so, Gaia tells me everything she had heard before she was 'limited'.

A long time ago, Brimir was chosen by the human populace to lead them to a land where they can prosper. The reason he was chosen was that he was the most talented man known to mankind at the time.

Not only was he capable of proficiently making use of all magic elements, but he had mighty familiars that were known for their potency and intelligence as well.

Under Brimir's guidance, the humans established the current kingdoms before traveling south and contacting the elves.

However, that didn't last long, as one day, the elves' attitude toward humans changed.

The reason for that wasn't known to the humans at the time, but it later turned out to be because of the order of a certain god. The elves were known to worship four entities. Of the four entities, only three of them were seen, while one of them was just mentioned.

Of the three seen, the humans worshiped only one of them - Light Goddess Sera.

On an 'accursed' day, the Light Goddess disappeared. Then, one of the two gods, Verethragna, bestowed his wisdom upon the elves regarding the vileness of the humans. He revealed the darkest of truths regarding humans.

This action led to an inevitable war between elves and humans. In this war, none of the gods made an appearance. It was at this period that Brimir truly displayed his prowess and ruthlessness. He refused to explain the vile human acts that were revealed by the Verethragna while continuing to fight with all his might.

Soon after that, one of Brimir's familiars, an elf, turned against him, which turned the tide of the war. For various reasons, Brimir was unable to bring himself to hurt his familiar, which lead to the downfall of the human side in the war.

A while after that, the humans were pushed out of the land the elves occupied originally as well as their own. This land later came to be known as Nephthys.

In the end, Brimir resorted to splitting the populace up. One half traveled to the north, with his familiar being among them, while the rest decided to face the elves in hopes of regaining their lost land.

Alas, before they could go through with the plan, Verethragna reappeared, right at where the humans were settled.

To their despair, he built four statues with the snap of his finger. The statues were that of the four gods, including the one that had yet to be seen.

The next thing that the rest of the world knew, the land disappeared along with Verethragna.

With the war ending in such an abrupt manner, the elves and humans began to heal from the war and prosper in their own way.

As years passed, countless legends were formed. The elves were recognized by two of the five kingdoms as evil races, while the rest saw them as neutral ones. This led to the elves hiding while recognizing Brimir, the founder of Halkeginia, as the devil.

Gaia finishes her recounting by saying, "No one knows what became of the humans that disappeared along with the land."

"But, you know, right?" I ask.

"Yes," she simply responds, "After all, I was sealed there."

Letting out a short sigh, I consider everything that Gaia just told me.

No wonder I am so hated. I'm sure there is even more to the story than what Gaia said. Something that made Brimir hate me to the core.

Hah~ At the end what was I trying to accomplish? Seeing that I didn't interfere directly until the very end, I must have had an objective of sorts.

Whatever. For now, I should find out why Gaia was sealed and by whom.

"Gaia, you were sealed, right? Who was it that sealed you?"

"You," she instantly responds, greatly startling me.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

Huh? I was the one who sealed her? Why would I do that?

Heck, isn't that another reason for her to not trust me right now? Unless there is something else going on…

"You did it to save me," she explains, "The crystal that you used is one that can only be destroyed by Code: Exousia."

"Were you in imminent danger at the time?" I ask, somewhat understanding what she's getting at.

"Yes," she replies, "You sent me to where the humans were and sealed me."

"There, I eventually found out about the curse that you had placed on the place itself as well as its inhabitants. The human, Brimir, suffered the most. He wallowed in agony every day as the other humans gradually turned into monsters.

"I prevented him from going insane, as I knew you wouldn't want that. However, the human still suffered. He destroyed your statue and began hunting down the humans who had become monsters.

"Eventually he began to look for a way to finish his life. Naturally, each time he was close to accomplishing this, I prevented it from happening-"

"Because you knew I wouldn't want that, right?" I interrupt her, to which she slowly nods her head.

"You did well, Gaia," I say, unsure of what part of what she said I'm praising her about.

So, that was Brimir's story… It could be said that everything occurred because he crossed into the elven territory. Had he stayed within the land he was in, none of this would've happened.

Yeah, who am I kidding? I'm sure that the 'me' from back then would've still done something…

Ah, it's pointless to think about this right now. I should check on Saturnus before going to sleep.

Thinking of which…

"Gaia, can you not sleep at all?" I inquire.

"I am able to replicate the act," she responds.

"Good," I say while grinning, "How about sleeping by my side tonight?"