Chapter 673: The Prayers She Never Answered

Chapter 672: The Prayers She Never Answered

Selene looked at Orion quietly after his question.

For a moment, the room fell silent again.

Then the goddess finally spoke.

"I have behaved as though I love my people," she said calmly. "I do not understand what you are implying."

Orion stared at her for a few seconds before shaking his head slowly.

"And once again," he said quietly, "that is what you believe."

Selene’s gaze narrowed faintly.

"But believing something does not always make it true."

"You say you love your people," Orion continued. "But before the Enclave attacked my pack, we prayed to you."

His voice remained calm, but there was something buried underneath it now, something old and perhaps tired.

"My father prayed," he said. "My mother prayed. The elders prayed. Everyone I could think of prayed to you morning and night."

His jaw tightened slightly.

"And me?" he added softly. "I prayed too."

Selene stayed quiet.

Orion looked away briefly, his gaze drifting toward the candlelight before he continued speaking.

"I knelt in your shrine every chance I got," he said. "I begged for help."

A humourless smile touched his lips for only a second.

"But there was nothing."

The room seemed quieter after that.

"No answer," Orion continued. "No sign. Nothing."

Selene’s expression did not change, but Orion could feel Noctis growing restless again within him, the wolf listening silently to every word being spoken.

"My father begged the Enclave for mercy too," Orion said. "And that did nothing either."

His eyes darkened faintly.

"The only reason anything changed at all was because I snuck into Victoria’s pack."

"And there," he continued quietly, "I met Sophia."

The name alone softened something in his voice despite everything else.

"She helped me," he said. "She showed me exactly what we needed to survive."

His gaze returned to Selene fully again.

"She did more for my people in a few moments than you did during years of prayer."

The words settled heavily between them.

Selene did not interrupt him.

"Even after the attack," Orion continued speaking.

"After the Enclave destroyed everything, my people still prayed to you," he said. "I stopped eventually."

A faint bitterness slipped into his voice then.

"But they didn’t."

His hands folded tightly across his chest.

"They kept believing," he continued. "Even after being branded traitors. Even after the Enclave hunted them down."

His expression hardened slightly.

"The Silver Creek pack sheltered us and got attacked for it."

Selene’s gaze flickered faintly at that.

"When we finally came to Nirvana," Orion said, "things didn’t suddenly become better."

The memory itself felt exhausting.

"We suffered here too. The cold killed people. Beasts killed people. Some nights we barely had enough food to survive another day."

His voice lowered.

"We arrived here with nothing."

A pause followed before he continued more quietly.

"And still they prayed to you."

The words felt heavier this time.

"They begged you for help," Orion said. "Every fucking day."

His eyes remained fixed on hers.

"And not only them, but Sophia too. I know she prayed to you."

That finally made something shift faintly in Selene’s expression.

"When things became too much for her," Orion continued softly, "when she was trying not to lose herself completely...she prayed to you."

The room grew painfully quiet.

"Everyone prayed to you," he said. "And you never answered."

"So tell me something honestly," he asked quietly. "How can you stand here and claim to love your people after all that?"

Selene remained silent for several seconds.

Then she sighed softly.

"There is something you need to understand," she said quietly.

Orion said nothing.

"I do love my people," Selene continued. "But I cannot answer every prayer made to me."

Orion’s expression did not shift.

Selene looked toward the window briefly before continuing.

"One thing you must understand about gods," she said, "is that even when we wish to interfere, we cannot always do so freely."

Her voice remained calm, though there was a faint weariness within it now.

"Every action carries consequences," she said. "Every answer given to one person may create suffering for another."

Orion remained quiet, listening.

"I must look at the larger picture," Selene continued. "Not only the pain directly in front of me."

Her eyes returned to him again.

"Your people prayed for Victoria’s death," she said softly. "But would killing Victoria truly have removed the rot spreading through this world?"

Orion’s jaw tightened faintly.

Selene continued before he could interrupt.

"Perhaps if I had interfered differently," she said, "Dolion would still be alive."

The room seemed to grow colder at the mention of his name.

"And perhaps," she added, "the same cycle would have repeated itself regardless."

Orion remained still.

"Sophia also had a role to play," Selene continued quietly. "And after she interfered with fate once already, I could not interfere directly in certain ways without worsening the imbalance further."

Orion exhaled softly through his nose.

"And my people?" he asked.

Selene’s gaze held his steadily.

"You already know the answer to that," she said quietly.

The words settled heavily between them.

Orion’s expression darkened slightly.

Selene lowered her gaze briefly before continuing.

"I held resentment toward your people," she admitted.

"Because of Dolion," Orion said quietly.

Selene nodded once.

"Yes."

The room fell silent again.

Orion laughed softly under his breath, though the sound carried no amusement whatsoever.

"So while they prayed to you," he said, "you ignored them because you hated them."

Selene’s expression tightened faintly.

"It was not hatred alone," she said quietly.

"But it was part of it," Orion replied immediately.

The goddess did not deny that either.

Outside, the snow continued falling endlessly beneath the moonlight, quiet and distant compared to the heaviness sitting inside the room.

Then Selene spoke again.

"The only thing I can do now," she said softly, "is apologise for what happened."

Her voice had grown quieter than before.

"And hope," she continued, "that this time things will become better."

Orion stared at her for a long moment after that.

He simply stood there looking at the goddess who had watched generations pray to her without answering them.

A goddess who claimed she loved her people.

Yet had still chosen silence while they suffered.