When we’re children
we’re told stories of a time where men fought monsters for fun, the gods were
abusive with their power, and unbelievable creatures lived where we do now. To
a child, these stories are just tales our parents tell us at night. But all
tales have a beginning, a truth from which they all stem from. There are many
tales, but let’s start with a romantic tale. One such tale is that of the
Goddess who fell in love with a mortal.
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In a time where Gods
ruled the land, there was a Goddess called Mira. Mira was known as the Goddess
of Beauty. There were no other women, mortal or Goddess alike who could match
her beauty. It was said that many Gods fought for her attention at one time and
even led to a great battle between the God of War and Death, but that is a tale
for another time. Mira was said to have been more than her beauty, she was also
clever, and known to be a sadist. But how could a goddess of beauty be a sadist
you may wonder. Well it is quite simple really. Although Mira had unrivaled
beauty and most Gods fighting for her attention, she felt unsatisfied. For all
of her cleverness, Mira could not find a solution to her problem. She would
give attention to the Gods who approached her, but would quickly feel empty
again and leave them.
Although Mira was known
as the Goddess of Beauty, she had not received any prayers from mortals and had
any shrines built in her name. So maybe it was an accident or was it fate when
she heard her name being called upon by a mortal. Like a child that finds a toy
for the first time, Mira rushed to the mortal realm to find out more about this
mortal. However she did not appear in the mortal realm as she had expected, instead
she was inside of a dream. Before her was a fat and ugly mortal, who dressed as
if he was a King. When she appeared before him, he smiled and fell to his knees
and praised her. Then asked for her to bless him and make his wife as beautiful
as herself. He said he would do anything for it to happen. Mira, being clever
decided to accept his wish, however he must complete a single task, kill a
dragon alone. The task would be impossible to complete, but the mortal said he
would do anything. Mira watched as the mortal king left his kingdom and tried
to slay a dragon. Of course he was no match and died horribly. But this is the
point in Mira’s story that changed her nature. Watching that mortal king try
and fail to accomplish his goal, filled Mira with a feeling of excitement. From
then on, Mira would approach men in their dreams and corrupt them with desire
and lust for her. Married men, kings, young boys, one by one fell for her and
died trying to accomplish a task given by her.
All of them men she
visited, none of them became more than just a quick injection of excitement for
her. All except for one. A young boy, only 13, was approached in his dream.
Mira had done this many times, but when she approached the boy, he seem unfazed
by her beauty. She asked him what is it he wanted and if she was beautiful, but
the young boy never answered her. The dream would end, and Mira felt something
she could not describe. This was the first time she was denied. She would
approach him again and again, but every time he would not answer. She begun to
alter his dreams and place him in scenarios that would make him grow attached
to her. This would include keeping him in a dream for long periods of time
where they lived together as a family, even going as far as making herself younger
to act as a sister. But not once did he answer her. Years went by and every
night she would appear and he would not answer. It was not until he turned 17
that he asked her a question, will you be mine. Surprised but feeling excited,
Mira answered his question. She agreed to be his but only if he were to
accomplished a task. She tasked him with killing a dragon. He agreed and went
to accomplish this. It took him one year, but he had done it. When she appeared
again, she was felt something more than excitement. This young man was the
first to accomplish one of her task. He told her that he would do another task
if she was not satisfied, and so he did. For several years he would accomplish
task after task. Mira felt something, which she thought was a new kind of
excitement, but the way she begun to look at the mortal showed what that
excitement was.
She finally told him
that she could not be hers because she was a Goddess and he was a mortal, but
if he were to accomplish one last task, she would become a mortal and become
his. She tasked him with conquering the world. The now 30 year old man accepted
this task, but asked that she would not watch him during this time and would
instead return to the God realm and wait for his call. She agreed quite quickly,
but did not notice. Once she was in the God realm, she waited, and waited, and
waited some more. Many years had passed since she returned and Mira was growing
unsettled. She begun to think of all of the men she could be corrupting if she
was not waiting for this one mortal. But why was she remaining in the God
realm, why was she agreeing to not watch the mortal. It was not until many more
years later that Mira had heard her name being called. However it was not the
voice of the man she remembered. She returned to the mortal realm, but was in
physical form this time inside of a structure. She was standing face to face
with a statue in her image. A voice behind her was that of a priest, to young
to be the man she knew. The priest bowed before her and then told her of the
man she was waiting for. That man had journeyed out into the world and after
gathering people who would listen to him, he formed a religion. A religion
based upon the Goddess of Beauty. This was a religion of a Goddess who uses the
desires and lust of men to challenge them to do impossible things. But if they accomplished what she would ask
them to do, they would achieve greatness and become legends.
The priest tells Mira that
there are shrines and buildings all over the world dedicated to her. She asked
where is the man she waited for, but the priest tells her that today marks the
third year after his death. Mira felt saddened. She finally realized what that
feeling so long ago was. She was afraid of losing him. She had fallen in love
with a mortal, and didn’t know what she had until it was gone. Staying true to
her word, Mira had become a mortal and was said to have killed herself to find
her lost love in the afterlife. As the years rolled on, the religion grew and
their story, went from fact, to legend, to myth. It was whispered that on death
Mira was reunited with her love, however how can one truly know the truth with
such things.
