She lets out a heavy sigh. Maybe some things are not possible anymore. She should be glad that she's still alive. If her Adira hadn't wished to see her again adamantly, the goddess of wishes wouldn't be forced to find the remnants of her soul. Her Adira would have lived alone for eternity.
Whoosh~
Ari feels goosebumps on her arms and back as if something is staring at her back. Creeped out by the intense stare, she slowly turns her head around.
There's no one.
"What is this?" Ari rubs her arms and mumbles to herself, "I am sure that I felt something."
"Hehehehehe!"
She hears a spooky low laugh. Ari turns her head toward the voice. In the corner of her eyes, she sees a shadow passing by her. "What the hell!"
"Dark God's bride." The woman's voice is low and husky, promising nothing good. "Time has come for you to pay the debt."
"Who are you?" Ari turns around, trying to capture the shadow that keep moving behind her. "Can't you stay still?"
"Are you sure that you want to see me?" Staring right behind Ari, the woman with long black hair whispers to her name, "Ari."
"How did you get in?" Ari stays still when she feels the woman's cold fingers on her shoulders.
"I am the only debt collector. I can go anywhere who owes something to someone." The woman sighs, "Have you not recognized me?"
"Debt collector? Are you from the bank?" Ari tenses her shoulders. She did owe some money when she was on planet earth. Can those debts collectors cross universes to find the person? Even after she died, she can't find peace. What the hell?
The woman smiles slowly. "Those debts have been paid. They sold everything that you had."
"Oh… I see." Ari releases her breath. "I don't think that I owe anyone."
"This debt…" The woman chuckles. "You inherited it when you transmigrated into the harbinger's body."
"Kresi's sins?" Ari looks over her head. The woman is gone again. Why is this debt collector never at one place? When she looks ahead, she sees a woman in front of her. The pale-skinned woman is dressed in a simple white sundress. Her long coal-black hair is straight and loose.
The woman's cherry red lips curl up into a dark smile. "I am Karma. I came to make you pay for Kresi's last sins."
***
The olive-skinned young man with wavy dark green hair stands in front of the large window, clasping his hands behind his back. His pale yellow-green eyes narrow when he hears the sound of the footsteps behind him. He clenches his jaw, not wanting to turn around and greet the dark god.
"Cina." Adira studies his back. Not beating around the bush, he asks him, "What happened?"
"My child was killed by your harbinger," Cina utters the word with a tone laced with hate.
"I don't think so." Adira frowns at him. "She was still alive when I was awakened."
"Only in name." Cina turns around and looks at him darkly. "Your harbinger cursed her. She was killed by the same curse."
Ari was reincarnated into previous harbinger's body. Among all the gods, only Mirinae and he know it. Original Kresi's soul has already crossed this world and reached a place where the living can't go. Adira raises his brow. "Why are you asking me about something that my harbinger did? I was sleeping at that time, just like you were. Who knows the reason behind the feud between my harbinger and your daughter? Both of them are dead."
"Do you have nothing to say to me?" Cina clenches his fist. "How long do we have to pay for your mistake? If you hadn't taken that mortal as your wife and foolishly given her your true core, we wouldn't have suffered. I couldn't see my only child after I woke up. Her entire existence is gone. She was eradicated by your harbinger, Kresira Mirin."
Honestly, Adira doesn't know about about the original Kresira Mirin. When he opened his eyes, it was Ari. If it hadn't been Ari, he might have destroyed the world or got controlled by Amara's corruption of Dark Ehr. He would have done exactly what the prophecy foretold. If the last harbinger wasn't Ari, he wouldn't be the person he's today.
Original Kresi was involved with the Cursed children who wanted revenge on the world. Ari foresaw it in Deia's visions. In those visions, all the routes either ended in the world's ends or his destruction. That's the reason why she chose to sacrifice herself.
However, Belan was still alive when he woke up. He is sure that Ari didn't kill her. Then, what could have happened after the universal key was taken away from the heart of Belan?
"I can't change the past." Adira tells Cina, "But I am sure that my last harbinger didn't kill Belan. It must have been someone else."
"You still deny it." Cina grimaces at him. "She might not have used her hands, but I am sure that Kresira Mirin is the reason why she died."
"What do you want me to do?" Adira asks him coldly. "There must be a reason why the harbinger decided to kill her. She was still a child back then. Why would a child kill your daughter if that child wasn't thrown to a corner? Did you see the state of the children of darkness in the world that you and others created? They were hunted at sight by Noras' knights. Some of them are still suffering from the nightmares of that world."
"This wouldn't have happened if you weren't a fool." Cina spits the words at him, "It was your Amara who corrupted the dark ehr. All the dark ehr wielders got cursed because of that corruption. My daughter gave a home to your children. She protected them from the outside world."
Adira pinches his lips together. He can't deny it. None of it would have happened if he hadn't given his true core to Amara, his first wife. However, he doesn't regret it. If he hadn't done it, he would have never met Ari who taught him how to love again.
"Just because she sacrificed herself, her sins can't be forgotten." Cina sneers at him. He has heard the rumours that the harbinger's soul has been saved and she's reborn. "I can find her since she indebted to me. Is it fine with you if I make your harbinger pay?"
"She's no longer my harbinger," Adira replies to him quietly. Cina must be looking for original Kresira. Since Ari didn't commit those crimes, she wouldn't be indebted to Cina. "But let me make this clear to you. The one who killed your daughter and the one who sacrificed herself for the world isn't the same."
"What are you saying?" Cina frowns in confusion.
"Someone replaced that person's soul." Adira explains to him, "The one who killed your daughter died before the night of the union. Someone else took over the body and that person released me. She was also the one who was chosen as the last Renasir. I don't want you to make a mistake. Find the one who owes you and asks her why she did it before you take any action. Don't goa after the one who saved all of us."
Cina laughs sardonically. "Look at you acting so righteous. Soul debts can't be erased even after death. Even if that child is not your harbinger anymore, she was still a child of darkness. After I find her, I will bring her to you. Would you be able to act this righteous toward her?"
Why did Kresira Mirin kill Belan Spirit? He should have looked into it after coming back to this world. The child was his harbinger once. All the cursed children and the harbingers had suffered greatly. The world might have become better for his children, but there are still some debts. Adira answers him with a solemn voice, "If she is indebted to you and Belan, I would do it."
***
"What sins?" Ari furrows her brows. "I have done everything that she was supposed to do. I released the dark god. I returned his heart to him. The cursed children aren't cursed anymore. I freaking died once."
Karma giggles. The dark god's bride is so stupid.
"Why are you laughing?" Ari crosses her arms. "How did I even inherit her sins?
"You accepted her sins quite willingly." Karma cocks her head and squints her eyes mischievously. "You took over her body. You gained her powers, her people, and even her name. Naturally, you also inherited her sins. If you had given up everything, you wouldn't have received her sins either. Because of you, Kresira Mirin was able to go to a good place."
She did say once that Kresi's sins were also her sins since she took over her body. If she had known that a real Karma goddess would come and ask her to pay the sins, she might not have said it. "Alright, what were her last sins? "