Six months without Damien.
To Tiamat, it was normal. Damien had a habit of disappearing for long stretches of time here and there when he ended up in situations beyond his control.
Darius was less used to this as he'd spent less time with his brother, however, he'd heard the stories and knew Damien would come back fine.
As for the Gehenna Tribe, it was a bit different.
For the most part, they didn't know how to view him anymore.
They didn't hate him.
Emotional instincts pushed them to antagonize him, since he revived so many people but the ones who died fighting to protect the tribe were left dead.
However, their rational minds allowed them to push back that instinct.
Damien killed a God for their sakes. If he had the ability to bring their people back to life, he would've done it.
As such, the dilemma in their mind became less about whether they should view Damien positively or negatively and more about how they should treat him from now on.
They all saw what he did.
They all witnessed his actions that were practically those of an almighty being.
Did they have to treat him like a God now? Did they have to view him with reverence?
It felt strange since they'd been interacting with him in such a friendly manner until now, but at the same time, it only felt right when the gap between them was taken into account.
Still, as Damien didn't return, this question slowly left everyone's minds.
The traumatic experiences they'd gone through were still fresh in their minds, but they still had to move on.
That was life.
So when Damien finally did come back and that question was brought back to their attention, they were once again stumped.
Damien really did return as if nothing happened.
The thousand years he spent in agony were his alone to bear. They were, at the end of the day, a valid punishment for his actions.
He didn't need pity or respect because he got punished for correcting his mistakes. Therefore, whether it was Tiamat or Thalia, Damien had no plans of telling anyone what happened.
As he entered the tribe's territory six months after everything went down, he found an atmosphere that was still solemn.
The number of people in the village had gone down considerably. They were still somewhat plentiful, and their daily lives were relatively normal, but nobody could ignore the loss of those people.
There was now a massive stone monument at the center of the village dedicated to those who protected them.
And, unlike the generations before her, the deceased Saintess had a statue of her own, a show of respect by the people she once ruled.
The new Saintess, Thalia, was different than most of those who came before her.
She spent most of her time learning how to lead the tribe from the elders, but she also acted as the tribe's main hunter, bringing in enough resources to help the tribe survive through these harsh times x
Of course, Darius and Tiamat helped, but only minimally.
Thalia hunted because it helped her keep her mind in order. Yes, she was helping the tribe, but she mainly went out because she could only find peace in the jungle.
She had a spot just like Damien.
And that's where he went to find her.
While he didn't have the ability to respond, Tiamat had been sending him updates about the situation over the past half a year, so he was already informed about Thalia's attitude towards his proposition.
He had no plans of forcing her. If she really didn't want to take on the position he was offering her, he'd find someone else to take it.
But before he made that decision, he wanted to talk to her and see what was going on in her mind.
He walked up quietly. Unlike his spot, where it was best to go at night, Thalia's spot was better in the daytime.
It was a peaceful place where one could be free from the dangers of the jungle and purely enjoy the calm.
It was a clearing at the edge of a lake, clear and glassy. The red sun above painted it in quite a strange color, but it had its own ambiance that definitely felt relaxing.
When Thalia was here, she could have time alone with her thoughts.
That was pretty much the opposite of what she wanted right now, but that was exactly why she went.
No matter what was happening, she had to get her mind in order.
So she sat at the edge of the lake and stared at her reflection, wondering about many things.
She didn't expect to see someone else's face appear in that reflection with hers, but on this day, it did.
"I thought you wouldn't invade my private space," she said quietly.
"You did it first," Damien responded as he sat down.
Thalia looked over at him, her eyes the same as they'd been since that day.
"Did you come for the same reason as your friends?"
"I'm the one who told them to ask you about that stuff, so what do you think?"
Thalia sighed.
"I…"
She knew what she wanted to do. Logically, there were many pros and cons to Damien's offer that she needed to consider, but she'd gone over most of them on her own.
"I don't think the tribe will survive if we're put in the open like that."
That was the conclusion she came to.
She wanted to bring the tribe up to that point, sure. She wanted them to become more powerful so they could eventually grow out of their current status and become something greater.
However, it was too big of a leap to immediately take.
"Damien, we are weak," she said straightforwardly.
She didn't allow him to speak, but he didn't mind. It seemed she already knew what he was going to ask and say.
"I am glad we have befriended you. I am glad we have been given this opportunity. But we are too weak to take it. We always have been. Especially now, when our tribe can barely survive in our homeland, how do you expect us to survive out there, in a place where people like you exist?"
Damien almost wanted to say something witty, maybe something about how nobody like him existed outside either, but he refrained.
Thalia was right, after all.
He understood her hesitation.
Genuinely, the offer he made to her wasn't one she could ever dare to take. It was far too much of a risk.
Maybe another Damien didn't exist outside the jungle, but several Gods did.
And more than the fact that they existed…
"They are your enemies, are they not?"
Thalia looked straight into his eyes.
And Damien had no choice but to tell the truth.
"They are."
She nodded as if she'd been expecting it.
"I am happy to be your ally. However, if your enemies become my enemies, how will my people survive?"
They wouldn't.
She'd seen it personally the instant she returned from Gehenna.
When someone of that level got involved, there was no future for the tribe but extinction.
Damien watched her as she spoke.
Her hollow eyes, her demeanor that was completely different from the lively self she'd shown him until now…
Yes, in a sense, she'd matured into a ruler.
But that didn't mean she had to lose herself in her role.
And on top of that…
"You're only looking at things on the surface."
Damien swept his hand through the lake's surface, disturbing their reflections.
The offer he made was never as simple as just letting Thalia become the ruler of this territory.
Even he knew that their current strength was pathetic.
But there was one thing Thalia failed to consider.
Damien also wanted the Gehenna Tribe to thrive.
And with the resources he had in his hands…
As long as he could keep them close, he really could help them become something amazing.
