The sun was high over the horizon by the time that Sungjoo came to. His head was pounding and he felt like he had been kicked in the chest by a team of horses, and as he sat up he let out a groan of pain. "Well that hurt," he grouched, hoping that Siakera could hear him.

The goddess was a fickle traveling companion, never coming to show herself to him in physical form and yet a constant presence inside of his mind. Though half of the time, he was pretty sure that she ignored his questions. It was her fault that he was sitting on a mountain trail nursing such a headache, though as the events from the previous night came back to him, he thought he might need to take some blame, too. 

In the past two weeks since the fight at the White Temple, Sungjoo had learned much from his new patron goddess. In that time, though, he had also learned that much of what he thought he knew was lies. The pantheon was not half as all-knowing as Sungjoo had always believed and with each moment spent conversing with her, he was beginning to see how like humans they actually were.

"Thinking of my sisters and I as human is a mistake." Siakera's voice seeming to ring inside of his mind, and he automatically winced away from the sound. Not that he could get away from it since it was inside his head. "We are divine and powerful, and immortal beyond your understanding. You need to understand that if you are to stop Kergisa."

"Yet you are hardly understanding of human limitations," he griped back. It was because of her desire to train him that he was suffering so much that morning. If it was even morning still. The previous night had been spent with him sitting cross-legged at his small campfire, trying his best to cast his conciousness into the realm of the deity without her help.

Obviously it had been unsuccessful, if the pounding headache and his sore muscles were any indication. Siakera wasn't put off by his complaints, though. 

"You still think of yourself as human," she chided, though her voice did come softer this time. "That is why you failed last night. You must believe in yourself, in your power to do this. I gave you the power to walk our halls, now you just have to believe."

Maybe that was the hard part. Sungjoo had spent most of his twenty-two years hating Siakera and all she stood for, spent them devotely not believing in anything. It was only after being captured by the high priest of the White Temple - the very man that Kergisa had sent him to kill - that he learned the truth behind his dark goddess and switched his allegiance to that of Siakera. And yet, trying to believe in her and in himself after everything that had passed between them was not such an easy task.

Her could feel her displeasure settle over his mind as she read that particular thought from him. He was still not comfortable with her in his mind, still wasn't sure that he could trust her, and unfortunately she knew all of that due to her presence. "You still question my motives," she said dryly, halfway an accusation and halfway amusement.

"Can you blame me? You have sent me on a wild goose chase on faith alone. And we both know that faith is not my strong suit."

"It is not on faith alone," she countered quickly. "You know that what you do is important. Find the crystal and destroy it to prevent Kergisa from gaining more power than she already has. And once that is done, we will face her and take her captive souls away. Then, Sungjoo, your task will be done. I will deal with her, myself and Therisa and Lysrai."

"And I will be free to what, live?" he shot back, frustration and exhaustion making hie words terse. He regretted it almost immediately though, one hand coming up to pinch at the skin between his brows as if that would ease his headache. "No, don't answer. You're right, it is the only course available to me." Which was the truth. One of the souls held captive by his former goddess was that of his younger brother, Seungyeon. And for that reason and that r