Chapter 398 - Crossroads Part 1

"You met the Goddess personally?" Ariana asked. 'Yes. I had spoken to other spirits during my stay in the mortal realm and found out that there was a place that connects all the worlds, a crossroads of sorts. A place that allows more then one holy creature to mingle and learn from others so that they can in turn help their own mortals.' Rahul explained.

"So there is a mortal realm, then the Holy Lands where you guy live then a Holy Club, school, seminar thing?" Ariana asked in confusion. 'Yes.' Rahul replied. "Why?" Ariana asked. 'Why what?' Rahul asked in turn. "Why are there so many places?" Ariana asked. 'Why does the mortal realm have so many places?' Rahul asked. "I guess... I guess it's because we are never content with what we have... That we always trying to find our own place and look for ways to improve ourselves." Ariana replied.

'It's exactly the same for any living thing. We have our birth place and learn from our parents. As we grow, we become curious about everything outside of our little bubble. We find play things, friends, enemies and in some cases love when we venture out. We spend time with the mortals who are so different from us and see what it's like to just feel time pass by.'

'In the Holy Lands time is slower then everywhere else. If Tora stayed in the Holy Lands it would have taken him 10, 000 years to cultivate his power before turning into an a.d.u.l.t. Longer since he lost his parents. So going down to the mortal realm means we shorten our lives by ten fold. If we believe we found a reason to improve the lives of the people we meet then when we become a.d.u.l.ts we can go to the place that connects all worlds.'

'So yes, it's like a giant seminar or conference where all the minds meet and we talk about our world's development. We talk about insignificant happenings like mortal lives and their... cough, cough, hook ups down to the more complicated things like medical break throughs or technology advancements.' Rahul explained.

"Does time also move slowly there?" Ariana asked. 'No.' Rahul answered. 'Time there moves faster. Holy creatures can not be gone for too long from the worlds or else demons can venture in and destroy things.' 

"So how fast does it move then, wait! Ack! That doesn't matter right now. I want to know the rest of your story and why you are helping the Goddess." Ariana said as she stared down the red, chubby cat. Rahul's eye went wide and then he burst into laughter. 'You know in lots of ways you remind me of him.' Rahul said with a bright smile. "Him?" Ariana asked as she tilted her head to the right.

'Bao Chao.' Rahul answered. "Your great nephew?" Ariana asked doubtfully. "You said he was brave, wiser then any a.d.u.l.t around him and worthy of your protection." Ariana continued. 'Yes and when it was just the two of us he let his guard down and acted his age. He was such a sweet and lovable child.' Rahul purred. "But I act like an a.d.u.l.t because I am an a.d.u.l.t. I kept my soul and was reborn in this world." Ariana pouted.

'Just take the compliment. You are a lovable child that is why I feel bad for using you for the Goddess's plan.' Rahul said as he dropped his gaze. "What is her plan?" Ariana asked. 'You have known from there very beginning. She wants you to be the one who chooses the fate of this world.' Rahul answered. "Why though?" Ariana asked as she narrowed her gaze. 'Personal reasons.' Rahul answered. Ariana dropped Rahul from the shock. "P-p-personal?!" Ariana shouted.

Rahul meowed from the fall but landed on Ariana's lap without difficultly. 'When I met the Goddess at the crossroads she had actually been there for 3 months.' Rahul replied. "Okay. So what? How is this related to her personal reasons?" Ariana asked with a small shrug. 'You don't understand. Time in that realm moves fast. When we have conferences they only last four hours. That is more then enough time for us to learn especially when you look at the time that goes by in the mortal realm.' Rahul said as his tone started to become more fierce.

"Rahul how much time goes by in four hours?" Ariana asked in a dark tone. 'Two months.' Rahul answered immediately. Ariana's grew wide as she started to do math in her head. "So one day is a... a whole year!" Ariana shouted. 'And she was there for a solid three months.' Rahul reiterated. "9-9-90 YEARS!" Ariana screamed as her hair stood on end.

'That's right. 90 years.' Rahul said with a firm head nod. "Why?!" Ariana asked breathlessly, her heart was pounding and she had broken out into a cold sweat. 'She was bored.' Rahul replied. "Bored!" Ariana shouted. 'Yes, bored and impatient. Her world was progressing slower then others. She wanted to do more things but her world was so young and development was harder. More then anything she wanted to be like the others and have amazing stories.'

'However everything she heard wasn't working. Her world had few people and they were busy having wars between each other then doing any further development. So when she met me, a new face she jumped at the chance to speak with me.' Rahul said as his snout scrunched up. "What do you mean things weren't working?" Ariana asked cautiously.

'Just that. Nothing was working for her. She tried meddling with her peoples lives and at one point actually feel in love with a human that later on became the King of darkness.' Rahul explained. "S-s-so she got bored after literally trying everything that others had done." Ariana asked. 'Yes, she had children, brought magic into existence, her husband even tried helping relieve some of her boredom by bringing out the natural darkness of humans but nothing was making her happy. That is until she heard my story.' Rahul said.

"So what happened afterwards." Ariana asked as dread spread across her face. 'She rushed off and I didn't see her again after six hundred years passed.' Rahul replied. "You went back?" Ariana asked. Rahul shook his head no. 'She sent me a letter to meet her.' Rahul explained.