"Come on, I am just looking out for you guys. You know what the people of your planet did." Karthikeya said with a smile.
"Of course, I know. But the people who did that are not alive."
"But they had an agreement with the gods and they broke it, now their descendants are facing the consequences. I wouldn't have actually cared for them if not for the fact that this planet is your home. I forcefully included it in the mission that I was supposed to give Sam.
Just because of saving you, I had to go high and low to find out planets similar to yours.
I had to bargain a lot with other gods just to create this scenario."
Priestess stayed silent for a moment and said.
"Thank you so much. But you don't have to do that. Someone has to pay for the things the people of this planet committed. It better be their descendants than a single young man like Sam who came all by himself."
"Oh, he is not just any young man. You don't have to worry about him. He is very capable of handling himself."
"It is whether or not he is capable Karthikeya. It is whether or not he should do it. The ancestors of this planet did horrible things to give their descendants a chance. And it was written in annals of history that this planet will meet these disasters sooner or later.
Maybe if the gods got their anger out now, the prophecy would be finished. The future generations will have a chance to prosper.
What the if these gods hold a larger grudge than before?"
"No, it is not up to you to decide that."
"It is up to you then?"
"I am a god after all. I get to do some things and I am sure with Sam's interventions gods wouldn't bother with the planet like yours. He might just receive all the hatred that they originally held for your planet."
"That is all the more reason to not let him carry this.
Have you seen his eyes? Such young child, he has already carried and suffered enough. Why should he bear the consequences for the sins of these people? And all for what? So that you could make sure my home will not wrecked?
As a god how can you be so selfish?"
Karthikeya didn't say anything for a second.
"Why do I not get to be selfish? You are one of the very few who admired me with a pure heart. You are one of the few who had shown purest of faith, by questioning me, by challenging me, by being my friend. Not just as some blind follower, if I cannot do this much, what is the point of my existence?
If it means that I could protect the home of such faith, I wouldn't hesitate to destroy a world of saints nor would I hesitate to protect a land of devils."
Priestess closed her eyes and didn't know what to say to that.
After a few seconds she replied.
"But that child, his soul… I could see it through his eyes. The torment, the pain, the anguish, the loneliness. Does he need to bear more than he already has?"
"I understand. This might be the harshest decision I have made in my life.
But the only reason I chose him is that he is the only person that stood out in my eyes after you. The very first time I met him, I played my game of chess with him and right in the middle of that game, I realized that one day, I will meet him.
I will see eye to eye with him.
I will share a glass of wine with him.
I will play a game of chess with him.
And I will host him as my guest and I wouldn't be able to hold myself back from drawing my spear to test myself against him. On an equal foot. On a fair battlefield.
He ignited all these feelings in me in one meeting. So, when I made that decision I made it with absolute trust that he would be able to overcome it and I would be able to apologize to him face to face and he has a big enough heart to understand why I did what I did and accept me as his friend."
"It is rare to see you praise someone this much. You might want to do that with your brother some time. He would be delighted." Priestess replied with a smile.
"You are talking to my Big brother again? Why are you guys getting along? I thought both of us are friends."
"Its because your brother is easier to get along with and he knows more than just battle strategies and war cries. He is well read, well spoken and over all a better person to broaden my horizons.
All you are is a muscle head with a spear for a brain."
The serious discussion suddenly turned into a banter that continued for the whole night.
The next morning, a meeting was held within the temple. It was like a business conference.
Before Sam could join the meeting, Priestess decided to talk to them and explained the purpose of Sam, she also reminded people of the curse they had, the cause of the disasters and also why it is important for Sam to be here.
She also presented Sam's conditions before calling Sam to the meeting.
"I already explained everything. All you have to say is what is required from these people and they will make the arrangements."
"I don't exactly know what the next disaster is and where it is going to happen. So, I wouldn't know what I would need.
But for starters, I would like access to your best formation masters. I don't care they are criminals rotting in your dungeons or they are some hidden hermits. As long as you can give me access to your best formation masters, artisans and inscription experts, it would be great help to me.
And of course, please keep your youngsters and heirs away from me.
I am not interested in making friends and your kids already made a very bad first impression. That wouldn't easily change. So, please keep them away as much as possible.
Because if they so much as look the wrong away at me, I might lose it."
Priestess smiled as she looked at Sam.
"I am sorry Sam. I don't think we can fulfill the last condition."
Sam frowned and asked.
"Why?"
"I know you would be able to work better without them, but they should be along with you to learn a valuable lesson." Then the priestess went to say the story about the curse the planet had and why the disaster happened. She even gave some info about how Karthikeya is kind of using Sam.
The story is actually pretty simple.
The overall level of the planet is actually low. There was a point where there are not even Astral Plane cultivators. This planet is much like Desolate with no potential whatsoever.
So, the Olympian gods who were the chosen religious symbols ignored this.
But accidentally someone managed to slip out of this planet and realized how weak they. They came back and used some dirty measures to raise their potential. They are the pioneers and founders of the current clans.
Learning this the Olympian gods are not happy with those dirty deeds, because it damaged a lot of their faith power. The clans were given a way out and they have to meet certain conditions to make sure their survival wouldn't be taken away.
But the clans didn't meet those requirements and now they are trying to destroy the planet with these ten disasters based on the agreement they originally had.
Priestess wanted to show the younger generations what the consequences of their ancestors' actions were. So she is against Sam not allowing them.
"Please do me this favor so that I can educate the future generations well."
Sam sighed.
He can understand her perspective and it is hard to reject someone who gave such a good first impression. He really liked her.
"Alright, but I have a few things that I need to make sure that everyone here understands before they could work with me."
"Okay, please proceed."
"First and foremost. Never ever, touch my beasts. They are my friends and for them I would happily kill every living creature on this planet with a huge smile on my face.
Second, your young masters are very much into Miss Sandhya and first interacted with me because of her. I don't care if they are hitting on her or not, but I care if that pursuit hinders my goals. So, if they slack off, they would be sent back home.
Third, my words and my words alone hold absolute authority when I am defending against a disaster. I don't want anyone's input unless I ask for it. That doesn't mean I am not open to feedback, I am, but you have to prove yourself to me before trying to make my change my thought process.
Finally, there is a story from my homeland I would like to tell you before we proceed forward….
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