The forest had fallen silent once more.
The sound of the flames had completely vanished, leaving behind only the scent of smoke drifting through the night air. The humans remained frozen in place, unable to take their eyes off the woman standing before them. She was too beautiful, too calm… too unreal to belong in that place.
Ariana observed the group quietly for a few moments. The absence of any reaction began to make her nervous.
Are they seriously not going to say anything…? she thought, feeling her heartbeat quicken slightly.
Then the blonde girl, still supporting the companion whose arm had been burned, finally gathered the courage to speak.
“W-Who are you…?”
Her voice trembled with hesitation.
Ariana turned toward her and offered a gentle smile.
“My name is Ariana.”
“Ariana…” one of the young men repeated softly.
The word lingered in the air for a few seconds.
A name.
It felt strange. Until now, none of them had thought about such a thing. They existed as a group, recognized one another, could tell each other apart… yet none of them had names. Still, hearing Ariana introduce herself like that made something click inside them.
The serious-looking man kept his eyes fixed on her, clearly suspicious.
“Where did you come from?”
Ariana lightly raised a hand and pointed toward the sky above the forest.
“I was watching all of you the whole time… from up there.”
Almost immediately, everyone looked upward.
The night sky remained the same—vast and silent, filled with countless stars. Even so, her answer strangely made sense. After all, Ariana truly had descended from the heavens before their eyes.
Yet confusion still remained on their faces.
Ariana noticed immediately.
Trying to explain what a goddess was, or how she had created an entire world, would be far too complicated right now. So she decided to speak in the simplest way possible.
“I’m the one who created all of this.”
Her voice remained calm as she glanced around.
“The trees… the land… the sky… the animals… and all of you as well.”
Silence immediately returned.
The humans stood motionless, slowly processing her words.
“I’ve been watching you since the beginning,” Ariana continued. “I wanted to see how you would survive and adapt to this world. But… the fire forced me to interfere.”
The group’s eyes slowly shifted around them.
The scorched ground.
The traces left behind by the flames.
And then Ariana.
The memory of the fire vanishing with a simple movement of her hand was still far too fresh to ignore.
The injured girl lightly held her burned arm before looking back at Ariana.
“You… made the fire disappear…”
“Yes,” Ariana answered without hesitation.
The dark-skinned man narrowed his eyes, still holding the partially burned branch he had used earlier.
“If you created everything… then that creature was created by you too?”
He was clearly talking about Kon.
Ariana took a few seconds before answering.
“Yes.”
“He was dangerous,” he said.
“And he will continue to be.”
Her immediate answer caused some of them to exchange uneasy glances.
Ariana noticed and continued:
“Not everything in Arcadia exists to be safe. Some creatures will hunt. Some will flee. Some will be hostile. This world is still growing.”
The serious-looking man continued staring at Ariana carefully, as if trying to decide whether he could trust her.
“So you saved us?”
The question made Ariana hesitate for a moment.
She truly had not intended to interfere this soon. She wanted to watch them learn on their own. But seeing them trapped by the flames had been enough to break that decision.
“In the end… yes.”
The wind slowly passed through the forest once again.
Ariana’s long green hair swayed gently alongside the white fabric of her dress, while the moonlight illuminated her figure in an almost ethereal way.
For a moment, no one spoke.
Then the blonde girl asked again, more quietly this time:
“Why did you create us…?”
The question caught Ariana off guard.
She opened her mouth to answer, only to fall silent for a few seconds.
The truth was that even she still didn’t have a complete answer for that.
At first, humans had simply been part of Arcadia’s growth. A new race. A new stage. But now, watching them learn, survive, feel fear, pain, and curiosity… it was already starting to feel different.
Ariana lowered her gaze slightly before replying.
“Because I didn’t want to be alone.”
The group stared at Ariana silently for a few moments, still trying to absorb everything they had just heard.
“Are we the only ones here?” the serious-looking man asked.
“Humans, yes,” Ariana answered calmly. “But Arcadia is filled with life. In the skies, on the land, in the seas… you were my most recent creation.”
“Then… are we your children?” asked the simpler-looking young man.
Ariana thought for a brief moment before answering.
“You could say that. Not only you, but every being created by me.”
She had never thought of it that way before. But after giving humans intelligence and reason, it was natural that they would reach such a conclusion. Without that, it probably would have taken them thousands of years to reach this level of understanding.
The blonde girl lightly hugged her arms before asking:
“Will you stay with us?”
Ariana simply shook her head.
“I can’t stay. I have an entire world to take care of.” She gave a faint smile before continuing. “But… if you wish for something strongly enough, or call for me, perhaps I’ll be able to hear you.”
The humans fell silent once more, looking at Ariana with a mixture of emotions difficult to define. Confusion, curiosity, admiration… and something deeper slowly beginning to form inside them.
The feeling of standing before their own creator.
Ariana looked at each of them one last time before saying goodbye.
“I need to go now. You’re no longer in danger.” Her voice remained calm. “But be careful. I won’t always be able to help you.”
Then her feet slowly left the ground.
Ariana’s body began to rise toward the sky, her long green hair swaying alongside the night wind. Within seconds, she disappeared above the trees.
Leaving the group standing silently in the clearing.