When Sappia regained consciousness, it was eerily quiet. The goddess quietly stood up before looking around her. What surrounded her broke her heart. She stood in the middle of dead bodies. Her rags were stained with blood she did not shed. It was the blood of the divinities who took care of the mortals. It was the blood of her family.
She felt empty and numb as if nothing but a gaping hole was in her chest. “This didn’t have to happen…” She mumbled in a shaky voice. She began to remember the memories she held dearly with the divinities that now lay unmoving in puddles of red. However, the more she remembered, the more her heart broke. Unable to take it anymore, the goddess fell onto her knees and cried.
She cried for the friends that she had lost. She cried for the war she was unable to prevent. She cried for the mortals, for no one would take care of them. And as the goddess cried, the hearts of the mortals were filled with sadness and grief.
Unable to handle the overwhelming feeling, the mortals cried as well. Their cries reached the ears of Sappia. Hearing the mortals suffer, the goddess felt pity for them. The goddess remembered the last time she had sacrificed for the welfare of the mortals. “It has been a long time since I have helped my people.” She whispered quietly with a weak smile.
She took a deep breath and gently took her heart from her chest. It was crushed into thousands of pieces. Although broken, it was still filled with love, innocence, and life. Staring at it, she knew what she had to do.
The goddess began to walk over the corpses of the divinities, scattering the pieces of her heart all over the battlefield. All she could hear was the splashing noise her feet would make whenever she’d step over pools of blood. To block it out, she began to hum the tune of a song that was dear to her.
As she was running out of pieces to scatter, she was reminded of the consequence her sacrifice would bring. Without her heart, she knew she would soon die like the other gods. However, she also knew that she would not be able to lead without her family. Nobody would be there to help her.
Sappia brought her head up as she closed her eyes. She took a deep breath, and with her final strength, she forced the clouds to open, allowing the bloodied fragments to fall unto the sea. It was like rain but red. The sea gently caught all of Sappia’s heart and gently began to carry it away in waves.
Losing all of her strength, the goddess fell onto a puddle of blood. However, she was not fazed by it. Sappia took her last few breaths as she watched the sea lead the pieces of her heart to the land of the mortals, where it would bring new life.
With her heart, she gave life. With the blood of the gods, she gave power. Those lives must now carry the duty the power holds.