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While the young man was lost in nostalgia, Kylie continued explaining to them. "Actually, not all people reincarnate on Earth. Apart from those who stay in the Underworld, there are actually some who become similar angels and are sent above. The village chief said it's because those people are like saints..."
"Angels exist?" The old man muttered internally, complaining, 'Why am I not selected?'
The girl hesitated. "I'm not sure if they are really angels, but according to the souls I've talked to before, some souls did go above, to the heaven which our Goddess Anda called Skyworld."
She paused and then acted as if she remembered something. "Among them, there are some popular people or devotees who ascended to that place. The village chief said they are Idols, Deities of The Land, or Anitos."
"... I remember that one of the oldies here said President Marcos turned into an Anito and is now living in that world. Others were figures like Dr. Jose Rizal, Ferdinand Magellan, Cleopatra, Newton, Hitler, Qin Shi Huang, Wu Zetian, Galileo, Marco Polo...." and the girl went on with her long list of known personalities from all over the world. She also mentioned Chinese, Russian and Japanese figures that Leyte hardly knew. He didn't know whether to admire the girl from knowing so many people from other countries.
"Cute Miss, you seem to be saying that as long as someone is popular, influential, and has made some marks in history, they can become deities?"
"Yes."
"Then what happened when you become an Anito or a Deity of the Land?" the old man chimed in.
"I don't know. I'm not an Anito, can't you see? I'm simply a ghost. Ay, dearest Grandpa, no matter what, Anitos are beings different from us. We, souls, can live forever in the Underworld but we are not allowed to leave this mountain. But from what I heard, the deities have carefree lives and even superpowers, and their world is many many times larger than the Underworld."
Leyte understood what she wanted to imply. It was quite nice to hear that souls could live forever, however, they have memories and the options to reincarnate. Aware of what the mortal world could offer, it was hard not to be tempted to leave. They would just have to make sure they don't turn into wicked people so that after every lifetime, they could reincarnate.
As for those Anitos, he was not sure about what they enjoy as creatures of the Skyworld but surely it wouldn't be mere freedom and popularity.
However, what does it all have to do with him?
The girl said she still had some stuff to do so she bade her goodbye to the two men and then went inside her house. But before that, Leyte made sure to ask if souls had already been like this for so long.
The girl replied, 'Perhaps? Maybe souls on Earth have been reincarnating since time immemorial but people just forgot every time they went back to the Underworld.'
"So to say, in the end, if we choose to reincarnate, we will still forget that this world and the deities exist..." He chuckled as he walked away from Kylie's house.
He planned to tour The Stairway once again and see if he would be able to get more information from the other villages.
"Hey, Ley, do you want to go to the cliff and watch the punished people water the tall trees?" asked the old man.
Leyte replied. "Why would I take an interest in watching those people? Those who always go to the cliff were the victims of those wicked people when they were still alive. They take joy in watching them bleed as they labor to water the gigantic trees of life. Sigh, I understand them but I don't want to join them. You can go if you want. Keep safe."
He had been in this place for quite a while. He knew that souls like them have an infinite lifespan yet they could still be killed and reduced to nothingness.
Immortality doesn't automatically equate to invincibility. He saw one offender angered Anda and at the very next moment, he vanished into thin air. Perhaps only the deities were true immortals. But normal souls like them, they have enough strength to support their existence indefinitely, yet they were still weak in front of beings like the goddess. He knew even the silly looking werehorses could stomp a ghost like him under them to near-death.
Fortunately, violence was forbidden in the sanctuary. Anyways, good people were not permitted to mingle with people deemed as wicked. Because of this, those who were victims of crimes and circumstances from their past lives could only gloat and stare from afar, but not go down the forest to personally beat up the people they hate.
"You know, Ley, this village system is quite weird. We don't have to work yet we don't need to worry about what to eat. It's really unlike when we're still on Earth. Way back, I used to work as a model, however, of course, because of age I later retired and worked as a writer."
"We don't need to eat. It's quite wonderful to become a ghost."
"We're ghosts?" The old man acted clueless.
"Are you not?"
"I've once talked with the village chief and he said only souls who refused the summon of our current world could be called ghosts."
Leyte just actually wanted to say, 'you still look like a ghost, the clingy type and I want to have you exorcised from my life'.
He never wanted the old man to follow him because he's not good at interacting with the elderly. He preferred the company of his few friends. Unfortunately, all of them were still perfectly living on Earth, probably mourning his death.
He sighed. He wandered around and noticed that from a certain angle, the whole Stairway resembled the famous Banawe Rice Terraces from the Mountain Province, except on every step was not a vast expanse of rice fields, but villages with seemingly endless rows of wooden houses.
The next day, Leyte went to the only two-storied stone house in the middle of the village. He didn't know why, but there were many people there when he arrived and even Kylie and the old man were there.
He briefly gave them each a nod and then searched for the chief. The chief looked like a capitalist because of his squinty eyes and weird smile. But since he was instated in his position, he should be a good fellow.
Leyte only furrowed his brows for several seconds before he informed him of his request.
"Hello. I'm Leyte Baler... And I want to be reincarnated."
"Once upon a time, it was known that the God of Fire, who was one of the oldest Anitos in the Skyworld, hated the Devils so much because these creatures' ruler, and if one might say, the greatest ruler in history, had killed his beloved wife, a demi-god who used to hold the Law of Harvest."A voice echoed in a small dark room that was being occupied by two people. Two men. One wearing a red cloak that appeared to be burning and flowing at the same time, like lava. The other was wearing a pure white knight garment that seemed to be from the medieval times. The face of the former was hidden by his cloak plus he was bowing a little so his features were not visible. As for the other, the knight appeared to be not afraid to be recognize hence he did not even wear a mask to this meeting. He had blonde hair and brown eyes, and fairly handsome. However, that face of his was not what people who knew a little about history would notice, but the insignia on his breastplate, a symb
The Goddess actually had no use for the weak anito called Ley. Yet at the same time, she was not one to back out from her words. Although she sometimes do not play by Heaven's rule, she was one to demand equivalent exchange when needed. In other words, she was one who always upheld fairness.Her vow from almost a year ago was only to protect and provide guidance for Ley, the unknowing human whose fate had been severed completely from the Underworld due to her bet with Mayari. The young human forever lost the chance to reincarnate so as compensation, she used one of her quotas in ascending a being to godhood as compensation. She did the same to the old man who had been dragged to the mess. Of course, another questionable karma that she gained for doing these was causing Ley and Fernando to be rejected by the natural Laws since they did not become anitos through their own efforts. As another compensation, She decided to leave one of her mortal vessels there to act as thei
"Welcome back, Your Highness." Loud and clear, the voices of everyone else in the place echoed at the same time."We're most gladdened to be in Your Highness' presence again." They chorused.Ley slowly lifted his gaze up and saw that the person they greeted matched the appearance that was in his memories.A body of a girl in her late teens. Black hair that reached past her waist. Lean figure that was almost as skinny as some models in regular fashion shows. A face that was certainly above average, but not that excessive as to make one feel that she was the most beautiful in the world.Hana's figure appeared right above the statue depicting the Goddess of the Sun, a statue of a beautiful woman in a flowing dress crowned with a tiara shaped like the rays of the sun. The statue was massive and was in a giving pose, with her hands stretched outwards like it was offering the sun to the world. Hana appeared in those stretched out palms.
Time passed. In the mortal realm, a week had already gone by.Ley and Baram who had come to the western side of the globe to meet the Goddess was met with utmost care in their reception there. Ley had a hunch that the Goddess predicted that he would come here, either to give thanks or ask for Fernando's location so She left a message to the ones in the Blood Lake Castle to welcome them in.However, like Fernando who was made to wait for the Underworld god, they too, were made to wait for the return of the Goddess as she had long left before they arrived and the servants left there had no idea when she would drop by. These all brought endless frustrations to Ley. Yet he was not one with a close mind. He knew that the affairs of somebody high up like Hanan was not something that normal deities like him could imagine. Not to mention that Baram and the others in the castle already explained how serious of a matter an attempted Devil Sacrifice was.
"Home, huh?" The werehorse anito servicing under the Chief Deity of the Underworld, Sitan, was a bit absentminded as he recalled the conversation he just had with the human anito brought to the palace by his god. A few hours already passed since then. The werehorse anito had also just finished his duties and made sure that the entire palace was spotlessly clean and organize.The person he just spoke to was just a weak old human who possessed the Gift to command animals which was not really impressive as there were a few already who had the same ability, not to mention, those who hailed from the animal species had better control of those they could command.Nothing was interesting about the old human anito. Although he was silent about it, as he was one who was loyal to the Chief Deity and was extremely conscious not to question the deity's words, in his heart, he was actually wondering why His Highness became interested in Fernando to the point that he personally
While the two immediately set off for another country, they had no idea that the very reason that they were doing so was not really in danger, unlike what they had been assuming all this time.Fernando was just really teleported to another place so that a proper conversation could take place between them without interruption. He was in good condition and was even invited to the best and grandest place in the Underworld, the Palace of Soul owned by none other than His Highness Sitan himself.As for the reason why? Who knows.The old man did not ask. After discovering the identity of the other, he became very silent, and careful with his words. Or rather, he would not dare ask the man his real purpose for doing this since like Ley to the presence of the angel, Fernando immediately became cautious and conscious of his own status as he had learned that the person was not merely a strong anito, but an actual Underworld god.'What are th