The feeling of flying in the air.
The cold wind slapping my cheeks.
The warm sun rays trying to please me.

I felt a mixture of delight and fear but I tried my best to stay on the griffin. Aimon wouldn't even notice if I fell. He was like a rock Laziem had planted, just stood there in front of me with his back to me.

   "We're about to go through the boundary," Aimon announced, his focus still fixed ahead.

   "Okay!" I yelled against the wind.

The griffin flew higher and higher towards the sky. Only then did I notice the flickering purple-golden light. It was like a large bubble that glowed in the two colors, exchanging them simultaneously to create a unique phenomenon.

   It had to be the boundary between heaven and...hell.

As we went closer, my chest started feeling constricted and then relaxed. It went on like that until we went through the portal.
  For a few seconds, I felt as if every bone in my body was being ripped out, my skin peeled off and then put together. The pain made me cry. It made me want to stab my chest and end my life, if that was possible.

    All of a sudden, all that torment vanished. There was no pain in my body. Not even a trace of it.

The air had changed. There was a purple fog blinding our vision, making it nearly impossible to see ahead. I looked up at the rock of a being standing, he still held his majestic posture, as if telling me how pathetic I was. I was a goddess, I should have had more tolerance than what I had just displayed in the portal.

   I wondered if Laziem or Hades would have just stood there without comforting me as Aimon! Laziem maybe, but Hades might have at least held my hand.

     "The air is full of miasma," Aimon's sudden explanation caught me off guard but I pretended to follow along.

"What does it do? Is it poisonous?"

   The rock glanced back from the corner of his eye. At least that was a reaction, even though he held a demeaning spec in that glance. "Yes. But not to you."

  Oh right, because I was from the Yin, and hell was created by my big sister. Ha! That sounded cheeky. Hesphone was a great figure in the history of the gods. Even though she did go against the laws of existence, she might have been a great ruler to have created such a world where other beings could live. If she was that bad, she could have destroyed both heaven and hell.

     I took a calming breath and caged my thoughts from running wild. Who was I to judge the primordial gods? I was still a baby compared to their long lives.

As we continued flying in whichever direction Aimon was directing the griffin, a wave of energy fluctuated from a distance. I felt it deep in my chest like a hand was reaching out to my soul.
It left me breathless my breathing came out ragged and so painful.

   What was that?

"Aimon?"

"Yes?" He offered me his attention out of maybe respect.

  "Can we go-" I pointed to my left, "-that way?"

The male placed a finger on his forehead and shut his eyes. A purple light started swirling around his head till it was all absorbed in his forehead.
   His eyes split open, a disapproving expression masking his face. "That is the sacred land of the underworld. Outsiders are forbidden from entering it."

   My heart fell. "But why?"

"That is where the sacred Yin tree grows."

Yin tree?
That sounded, precious. Of course, outsiders wouldn't be allowed to go to such an important place.

   "Oh!" I sulked, settling to ignore the odd sensation in my chest. I'd have a chance to explore the underworld someday. After all, I was more at peace here than in the heavens.

Aimon once more turned away and concentrated on flying the beast. The wind danced around with his hair beautifully but attacked me viciously as if it didn't like me.

    After seven minutes of enduring the wind, the noises of people shouting floated to us. I peeped to the right where the noises were coming from but failed to see them. It sounded like a battle was going on.
Yells.
Energy blasts.
Groans.
Cries.

Everything floated to us.

   "What is going on over there?" I yelled my question.

  Aimon turned around, his flat expression scorning me. Maybe he was wondering why a stupid person like me became a deity in the first place. I had no clue about anything.

   "This is the underworld. Savages are always fighting everywhere at any time."

Savages?
That title sounded so insulting and demeaning. It made my heart frown.

   "I want to go there!" I yelled an order. This time, I wanted to witness the cruelty of life. Sheltering myself would do me no good. I was a deity now, I would soon take on responsibilities in the underworld as Laziem had told me.

   "We cannot."

My eyes hardened.
My chest expanded.

  "I said. I. Want. To go. THERE!" I repeated angrily.

He had no right to stop me. Laziem had ordered him to protect me, not restrict me.

   Aimon held my scowl for a few seconds before he shut his eyes as if sighing out his own frustrations.
"Very well."

The griffin took a new path and headed in the direction the battle was taking place.
  
   As we got closer, spasms of anger started penetrating my muscles. I had the urge to jump off of the beast and slap every one of them.
  "Closer!" I ordered, my eyes peeling through the miasma, searching for the two rival groups.
When my vision didn't get any better, I summoned my energy orbs and dispersed them ahead of me. 
I had learned that I could manipulate these orbs to do whatever I wanted.

        Aimon didn't stop me, he watched in silence as the purple orbs disintegrated into purple energy that blasted itself forward in a powerful wave. It cleared the miasma within a heartbeat.
The wave traveled for quite a distance, more than I had anticipated. It exposed the battleground, as well as the forests around that had been shrouded by the fog.

    The groups fighting were distracted for a moment, their eyes lifted to us shocked and the noises vanished.

   "What do you intend to do?" Aimon asked, breaking his silence. 

       "To stop them," I answered confidently.

I felt horrible just watching the humanlike beings shed blood. But why?

  "Fly lower."

Aimon obeyed and led the griffin closer to the ground till we were only a few meters in the air.
   "Who are you? Why do you interfere?" One of the beings asked. His eyes were an attractive shade of maroon and had a pair of horns protruding from his forehead that pointed to the sky accusingly.

Most of the beings had horns but the rest of their bodies looked exactly like humans.

    "Who I am is not important."

He snorted and raised his large sword at us. "Then go about your business. Leave us to-"

   "Why are you fighting?" I asked curiously.

His eyes flew to the opponent he had been fighting and the two exchanged an awkward gaze.

  "We...we..."

"We're enemies," his opponent shouted boldly.

   I chuckled. Why did it sound funny and stupid?
Back on earth, a lot of countries didn't like each other, but they didn't go to war just because of their dislikes.

   "Is that all?"

"You! How dare you mock us?" The opponent hissed and thrust his spear at me."

  I gasped, taken by surprise by the sudden attack. But Aimon's response was quick.
  He materialized in front of me and slapped the weapon aside like it was a mere toothpick.

   "See, they're savages."

"You dare insult us?"

"Take them down!"

"Kill them!"

Endless shouts from the two groups filled the air. They seemed to now act as one, marking us as the enemies.
    They all turned to us, their sharp and bloody weapons aimed in our direction.

I frowned pulling myself to a standing position.
   "Kill us?" I huffed sarcastically, flames of anger starting to burn within my chest.

   "Is killing all you know?"

"It's no use reasoning with these savages. We should get going," Aimon reminded as he floated from in front of me and onto the griffin's back.

Is this the world I was supposed to take care of?

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