Stars of Freedom

Chapter 62: Souls From The Past

The sun began to set as the group began walking back. Volk was teaching Alepou about firearms, she seemed intrigued. Elias, Nichi and Nahe stuck together as they talked about their families, the three seemed to be almost homesick and tired.

Kenos had his arm around Yuzui, the two talked about the future. Okami talked to Kitsune, he was curious about what had happened after their deaths. Nahe and Kochev began to talk, both of them wondering what information each one had.

Kochev: What exactly did you read about me, kid?

Nahe: Well, you're obviously the god of time. You were a habitant of the old world who received his powers from The Stranger. You've been alive for at least two millennia and have survived the countless wars and scourges that had almost taken down all the gods. Furthermore, you were also good friends with Sun Goddess Amaterasu and Moon Goddess Artemis, as you used to rule from the skies.

Kochev: Wow, so far so good. Going back to Amaterasu and an earlier question, though... Who here got the sun to get so bright back then?

Volk turned over to Kochev the second he heard him.

Volk: You...saw that as well?

Kochev: Ah, so you're the one that can see the future. Tell me, did anyone's hair get a bit lighter than before.

Volk: That...is exactly what happened to Oka, the sun got way brighter than before and his hair turned a brighter brown. His flames also got stronger than before.

Okami: Wow, sounds cool. What exactly does that have to do with Amaterasu though?

Nahe: Have you been listening in at all?

Kitsune: He never does.

Okami: Hey! I was talking directly to you. Why would I eavesdrop on another convo?

Kenos: They're like right next to us, even we heard everything.

Okami: Well, my bad that I was focused on MY conversation.

Kochev: Whatever, the point is that we might be dealing with a reincarnation here.

Kitsune: Pfft, you really think this goofball was Sun Goddess Amaterasu?

Okami: She's right, the only reason I even have a power relating to heat-

Kochev: Sol energy.

Okami: What?

Kenos: Sol energy, a heat related power type.

Okami: Whatever, Sol energy. The only reason I have that is because Accalia gave it to me.

Kitsune: Yet you seemed to have used it exceptionally well trying to kill Lykos a few days ago.

Okami: I just used everything I had, I wasn't even thinking.

Volk: Are you ever thinking, my guy?

Okami: Why am I the punching bag?!

Kochev: Someone's gotta be the comic relief around here.

Elias: So...the dead gods have reincarnated into mortal bodies?

Kochev: Basically, their souls could be trapped in there with no memory of who they were.

Okami: I still don't buy it, man.

Kochev: Tell me, have you gotten a feeling that people's actions or people themselves seem familiar even though you've never heard, talked or even seen any of those things.

He looked around at the group.

Okami: I... Yeah, kind of. When I first met Ale all those years ago, her mannerisms seemed awfully familiar. It could just be that I had a friend similar to her a long time ago, but we were kids, so it couldn't have been.

They all stopped right in front of the house. One by one, they all walked in and went into the living room once more.

Kochev: So, tell me, what exactly seemed familiar about her mannerisms.

Alepou peered over at him.

Okami: Well, you obviously know that she's carefree at this point. Yet... she was also very polite and curious. Back when she had asked about her powers, the time that she made Ly sit in a corner, it stuck out to me the most that I felt like I had known her before.

Alepou: You mean when I forced Ly to sit in a corner because he tried to get with me in his sleep?

Kenos: What?

Okami: Yeah.

Kochev: A goddess who harshly punishes people who try getting with her. Someone who is carefree and skilled at ranged fighting.

Nahe: Oh, I see.

Alepou: What am I not getting?

Volk: What are WE not getting, comrade?

Kochev: Another person we mentioned earlier.

Nahe: They're not gonna guess it, dude. Artemis, Goddess of the Moon/Hunt.

Alepou: Pfft, no way.

Kochev: Yes, but coupled with the fact that I also feel like I've seen you before... I feel like that sells it.

Okami: So does that mean you felt something familiar with me?

Kochev: Fuck yeah, my guy. The thing is, you both even look kinda similar to them. Artemis with her brown hair and the white in her pupils. That one eyelash on both eyes that any other god would recognize. Amaterasu with your all around red color, the three dots on your ear and the brown hair that got lighter as she used her power. Listen, we'll get back to that at a later time, there's really nothing we can do to even unlock those memories right now.

Nahe: Unless...we had that star emblem.

Kitsune: Which we don't have.

Kenos: And those guys are looking for.

Volk: Which we are gonna find, right?

Everyone looked at him.

Okami: We are under prepared for this fight dude, if it wasn't for a literal GOD saving us... we'd have bitten the dust.

Volk: I don't care. They made me lose someone important.

Kochev: Uh oh.

Volk: I, for one, am not gonna rest until all those people are accompanying the population of my mother's realm.

Elias: What...exactly happened? We saw your Telum break, but you stayed.

Kochev: I-

Volk: You want to know what I lost, kid?

He took out something out of his back pocket, it landed at Elias' feet.

Volk: Have fun, I'm gonna go take a piss.

There stood a journal, a gateway to his grief. It looked almost pristine, he had taken good care of it.