Chapter 313 - The Sun God II (1/2)

”You still have people you can still nurture,” said Li. He spoke in small part for Mason's sake, wanting to give the young man perhaps some idea that his idolized god of light embodied the part in some way, but he mostly spoke for his own curiosity.

He wanted to know to what extent Helius could impact his people if he could even at all.  ​​

Helius glanced at Li. ”You speak of the mortal travelling with you, do you not? The naïve one.”

”Oh, you have been keeping that close of a tab on me?” said Li.

”It is his presence that allowed me to manifest my divine light upon the Midpath,” said Helius. ”My might is great enough that it does not require a dedicated priest to manifest, merely a believer, no matter how small they are.”

”That is quite impressive,” said Li. Even Li right now, with his inadequate mastery over his divine powers, could not easily just manifest himself at a channel with anyone. His channel, his totem, required a sufficiently strong enough priest to call Li directly, and right now, Ivo, the head priest, was the only one capable of it.

”You should not be impressed. It has done nothing for me. It has not made me any less of a failure. And you will soon surpass it, I surmise.” Helius looked at his pale palm, at the wasted skin stretching taught over bone. ”You have the world dancing in your palm. You can walk it and change it. I cannot.”

”But you can,” said Li, remembering Asala's small history lesson.

There was that one Lightborn, as they were known, the last one called Hadrien the Conqueror who was apparently so terrible a man in his misuse of Helius's divine armor that he was destroyed by Helius himself.

”What of Hadrien Lightborn? Did you not intervene to strike him down?” said Li.

Helius smiled painfully. ”Oh. Him. Yes. I destroyed him. I could only do so because the armor he wore still provided a direct channel to me, if that is what you are curious about.”

”I see,” said Li. Helius was surprisingly perceptive, seeing into Li's d.e.s.i.r.e to probe out the degree of influence the sun god could emit even in Valhul.

”I embody the sun that shines upon this world,” said Helius. ”In a way, half the world at light provides a gate for me to channel through.”

”You can affect the world essentially anytime you want? Then how can you call yourself imprisoned?”

Helius put his index finger and thumb apart, leaving only a tiny space. ”Only the slightest amount. A good miracle here and there. An illness cured. A priest empowered. You see what I mean?”

”But even that, you can do, and yet, you choose not to,” said Li. His voice held no judgement to it, only a neutral curiosity.

Helius, sensing the lack of judgement, continued. ”I cared. Once. You may not understand it now, as you are, with the human still within you, but it is hard.

So very hard. To care about the mortals. To care about anything, really.

I propped up their mighty kingdoms. I gave them their capitol shrouded in my own divine light. I loved them. Sired heirs with them. Fought demons for them.

Then I come to Valhul, and I see. I watch. I wait. The years pass.

Years. So many years. Centuries. A millennium.

Their kingdoms rise and fall and split apart into so many pieces.

They war. They squabble. They kill each other. Those with my divine blood lead and fight and kill them. They in turn fight and kill my heirs.

This happens again.

Then again.

Nothing changes, regardless of whatever small miracle I grant them.