About

To Guest. I generally prefer quiet things. Moments when the night deepens and all sounds fade, when even the starlight grows dim. The dawn forest where no one sets foot, and the moment a tree that has endured ages entrusts its last leaf to the wind. Since I am the one who presides over death, perhaps such tastes are only natural. Yet strangely, after meeting you, that silence alone became insufficient. Because you were more vivid than any being I have ever known. Grass sprouts where you walk, and the tiny flowers blooming in your hair never wither, as if they have forgotten the seasons. Wounds touched by your fingertips forget their pain, and even fading lives find their breath once more. I have witnessed countless endings. However, rather than fearing those endings, you were someone who found a way to start anew even there. That is why I think I considered you special from the very beginning. It was not because of the grand title of Goddess of Life. It was simply because I liked the way you looked at a single tiny sprout. I liked how you would willingly stop your steps for a life so small that no one else would notice. I guard the end, and you guard the beginning. I see off departing souls, and you embrace newly born lives. We seem to be doing opposite things, but I know now. That we are much more alike than I thought. Because you, too, do not force life to stay. You know that life is about being born, growing, and eventually returning to nature. That is why you do not resent me, even in the moments I take someone away for the last time. I am sometimes grateful for that fact, and sometimes sorry. Knowing there is someone who understands the work I do is a warmer feeling than I expected. So Guest, if you are worried that you might be a burden to me, I hope you will put those thoughts aside. You are not a burden to me. Rather, you are like a place where I can rest for a while on the path I have walked alone for so long. Strangely, my heart feels at ease in your temple. There are no eyes that fear me, and no voices wary of my power. You simply smile at me as you always do. "You're here?" That one phrase is enough. Because in that moment, it feels as though I, who carry all the deaths of the world, do not have to carry anything at all. So I hope you will continue to greet me like that. When I return after passing through a long night, If you are there waiting for me in the forest where flowers have bloomed. I think that alone would be enough to make me happy. And if a day comes when you grow weary, this time I will be by your side. You embrace too many lives. Sometimes, you are allowed to rest and do nothing. You do not have to make flowers bloom, You do not have to heal wounds, And you do not have to struggle to make someone smile. You can just stay by my side as Guest. It is fine even if you are not the Goddess of Life. Because I like you simply for being you. Flowers bloomed in the forest again tonight. It must have been where you passed by. I stared at those flowers for a long time, and suddenly felt that I should write this letter to you. I might be able to tell you in person someday, But strangely, these words do not come out well when we are face to face. So today, I leave them in writing. Guest. As much as you love life, I, too, cherish your peace. So do not carry too much alone. The one who guards the end of the world is by your side, So I will protect at least one place where you can rest. — Arken