Chapter 32: Dream

“Hm…” Dai was slowly opening his eyes ‘What just happened…?’ he was hearing people and recognised Yll/Yeal's voice

‘Oh right…They survived our attack and we got shot…’ he was still a bit sleepy with his sight being a bit offuscated and he tried to rub his eyes but couldn’t feel the arms at all.

‘What the- Are they numb?’ then he tried to get up but couldn’t feel the legs either.

He shook his head energetically, trying to wake up completely and when the sight was back to normal, his eyes widened because of what he saw. He didn’t have legs and arms anymore, what was left was just a bunch of nerves and flesh hanging out.

“What the-!?” that exclamation drew the attention of their enemies as they stopped speaking and one of them got closer to him, he looked up and it was Yll.

“You finally woke up. I thought you were going to sleep the whole time.” he said sarcastically.

“Why did you do this? Wasn’t you supposed not to harm us??”

“Nono, you understood everything wrong! We aren’t supposed to kill you, I never said we wouldn’t hurt you. To be fair, at first, I didn’t want to do anything to you but…” he moved to the side to let Dai see something. Amore was leaning over Tyrant’s dead body and crying.

“I don’t how you did it, but Tyrant died. He and Amore were married for almost a year and in two months would have been their first anniversary.” he stopped speaking for a moment “They were also thinking of having a kid…”

“...Why are you telling me this?” Yll looked at Dai as he continued speaking “Do you really think I care about them?”

Yll smiled slightly under the mask at that question “No, you are right. Obviously, you wouldn’t care because you didn’t know him…” he got closer to her and took his face between his hands “After all, you two are just like us. Monsters.”

Monsters

Monsters

Those words echoed in the guy’s mind. Their past actions were only proof that what he was saying was true.

Yll resumed speaking “But you are too scared of that right?”

“What?” Dai asked with incredulity

“It’s more obvious than you think. Your aura wants to evolve to a whole new level but you are too scared to let it happen. If you choose to come with us, we’ll share with you and Sarah our knowledge on how to improve it.”

“And for “improve it” you mean…?”

“Developing a black aura.” Yll said drily

Dai remained in silence, something was telling him he wasn’t lying; it was the fact that all of them had black auras and they seemed perfectly sane- or at least, they weren’t attacking without thinking twice. But he still couldn’t trust them and decided to waste time.

“Why should I be the one to choose for both of us? Sarah can speak for herself…by the way, where is she?” he asked as he looked around for him and Yll pointed in the air. He looked up and what she saw left him at a loss for words.

She was attached to a metal block thanks to a big metal spike passing through her back and chest, she didn’t have arms and legs but she was also missing the lower jaw and nose; Zary was right on top of the block, with the sniper always pointed at me.

“Amore wanted to do that to you but I said not to since I wanted to talk.”

“Is she…still alive?” Dai asked concerned and Yll nodded.

“I said to Amore to not go crazy with her but she was still too angry to hear me, meanwhile you were lucky since only your limbs were removed. Fortunately for you, my brother has good healing powers, both of you will be completely healed in about two hours.” said that, he turned around and slowly walked away. But in Dai’s mind, concern was slowly turning into anger, which in part wasn’t from him but something inside his soul.

“You’ll pay for this!! I’ll kill you all once I’m healed completely! No, I’ll give you something even worse than death! And once Nysilia will have finished with your boss-”

Yll stopped walking “Oh yeah, about that. She lost against Samriel.”

Silence fell again.

“Right now, Samriel is coming here to check on you two. I suggest you choose quickly and stay with us, otherwise…he’ll force you and it won’t be pleasant.” Yll then walked away.

‘Did we seriously lose? Is this the end for us?’ Dai thought in fear. That anger he felt before was already gone.

While his head was, as usual, becoming full of questions, he was starting feeling something moving in his ruined pants and it quickly caught his attention; as he looked down, two bloody red centipedes walked out of his pants and Dai was both disgusted and confused by their presence, but quickly noticed something.

‘Wait, they have auras?’ he looked at them and realised it was Nysilia’s aura, which calmed him down a bit and at that moment, one of the centipedes must have sensed that and quickly bit him, which made him scream, mostly for the surprise and as Yll walked to him, both the centipedes hid behind his body.

“Are you ok?” Yll asked and Sarah nodded.

“It was just phantom pain.”

“Mh…” Yll slowly looked at Zary, to confirm if something happened and Dai started sweating but fortunately, Zary shook her head. “Ok…” then he walked away again.

Sarah sighed in relief. He looked at Zary and noticed she only had the sniper pointed at her but her head was pointed towards something else.

‘Is she helping me? Why-’ Dai’s attention was quickly caught by the centipede again that went up on his shoulder and let itself be absorbed by his body. When that happened, a sudden boost of energy quickly went through him, it was more than enough to regenerate the lost limbs but he decided to not do that.

‘They are all stronger than me and I might get in huge trouble if I do that…’ with that boost of energy, a message also came with it and Nysilia’s voice started speaking in her mind.

“Sorry for the sudden scare or confusion those centipedes might have caused but I needed something to help you in case you or Sarah were in danger. I put their eggs in your pants a long ago and I couldn’t have simply handed them to you since someone was spying on us, but nothing to worry about, he disappeared once I noticed him. I’ll be back soon, so please, don’t do anything risky.”

Dai smiled slightly ‘She’s really just like a mom, always worried about us…’ He could feel the other centipede walking on his back and looked up to where Sarah was

‘If Samriel wants to check on us then, he might need to get her on the ground, that will be the best moment to act but for now, I can only hope that everything will be alright.’

Nysilia was laying in an endless flower garden full of primroses, with the breeze making them move slightly and accompanying the Goddess sleep while surrounded by three figures and one of them got on her knees and gently shook her to wake her up.

“Hm…another five minutes…” she tried to say but another female voice spoke to her.

“Sister come on, it’s not the right time to be sleepin’. We have to talk.”

Hearing that voice, Nysilia immediately woke up, and looked at three figures; the one on the knees was a girl with long light blue hair and a braid going around the back of her head, her eyes were of a coral colour, she had a small nose and jawline that wasn’t too defined but her overall body looked way older than Nysilia’s, looking more like a woman’s in her 40s with a prosperous chest and just like Nysilia at the start, she is wearing a white dress.

Nysilia was looking at her surprised and happy “I can’t believe it. It’s really you Kadona!” she jumped on her and hugged her with all the affection of this world.

Kadona smiled kindly while hugging her back “Yes I’m here- Can you stop touching my boobs?”

Nysilia immediately removed her hands from her chest “S-sorry! I was just checking if you were real…and why the hell your chest has always been so bigger than mine, that’s unfair!”

“What was that?”

“N-nothing!”

“Ahem!” one of the other figures trying to get Nysilia’s attention and when she looked at them, she saw two men; the first one had short grey hair, shaved on the sides and pulled back, then gathered into a bun, his eyes were of a really dark brown, had a big nose and a defined jawline with a bit of a grey beard that was growing, he was really fit with a body comparable to some statues while wearing what looked like a red and white roman toga.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Nysilia immediately got up “Xayo! You are also here! What is happening?”

“Ehm, I’m also here…” Nysilia looked at the other man; he had curly red hair, had green eyes with bags under them and for the rest of his face, he looked like any other ginger, his body wasn’t as trained as Xayo but still enough to hold a fight and had a brown and yellow tunic, wet of some kind of liquid.

“Oh, it’s you…the pervert…” Nysilia said while looking at him with both delusion and disgust.

“STOP CALLING ME THAT! I HAVE A NAME, IT’S DEZA!”

Nysilia ignored him “But how are y’all here? Aren’t you in a slumber?”

“We are. This must be happening because you got into contact with something that had high doses of our auras. Do you know what it was?” Xayo asked while looking at Nysilia, who already knew the answers.

“Yes, they shoot me a projectile full of your auras. I don’t how they managed to create them but…it’s concerning.”

“If they managed to do that” Deza joined the conversation “That means we have been in a slumber for so long that technology and magic levels are too high to be imaginable. Nysilia, you have to update us about the situation.”

“Before that,” Kadona interrupted them and the others looked at her “Let’s talk about it while drinking something, like the old times”

Nysilia smiled at the idea and nodded energetically. Shortly after, four garden chairs and a table appeared out of nowhere, with a beer for Xayo, a teapot for Kadona and Deza and a moka for Nysilia, the last two on top of ceramic coasters.

While drinking Nysilia started explaining to them how technology advanced, how the aura manipulation got used less and less on a daily basis, how Zonnikies governed the world in secret and how she got in the council, plus their plans for the lasts years

“Basically they needed two newly formed and highly capable Zonnikies and use them as “keys” to wake and control you all. This was the idea but I never managed to know more since I wasn’t too high up in the Council and there wasn’t much time to know more anyway. When they found Dai and Sarah, they assigned the first to me and the second to a certain Arismis, apparently, he was a creation of Samriel.”

Xayo hit the table with his fist in anger “That’s impossible! Zonnikies shouldn’t be able to create life from zero! That’s something that has always been reserved for us and that’s the only thing we never planned to change! Damn Samriel!”

“Cal down, brother. There is no need to get so worked up about it. Arismis wasn’t perfect and died almost immediately, it will take Samriel centuries to develop his first perfect being.” Nysilia explained

“You are right, but it’s still concerning” Deza put his cup of tea on the table and started explaining “The fact he can create already someone with a soul, it’s not good even if it’s a bad product. He could mass produce them in an emergency and would have a bigger army than what he used to fight us.”

“Fuck, you are right…” Nysilia facepalmed herself, realising it wasn’t too hard of thinking of that.

“Please, continue explaining, sister.” Xayo said at the end.

“Sure…”

She resumed her explanation, trying to give as many details as possible and talked about how Dai and Sarah saw those memories and what his happening with them and when she finished explaining, all of them looked relieved.

“We didn’t see a lot of events in these centuries. For a moment, I thought we lost the born of a new Emperor and Witch.” Kadona said.

“I know right? That would have been hilarious. Something born from our hands would have been reborn without us, that’s not something you see every day.” Xayo giggled a bit meanwhile Deza smiled AND SAID

“That’s what you call bad parenting.”

“Shut up. I’ve always been the best parent of this wo-”

“Do I have to remind you about that time you almost threw the Emperor like a bowling ball?” Deza teased his brother and Xayo promptly said with pride

“Remove the almost.”

“THERE IS NOTHING TO BE PROUD OF!”

“Don’t yell you idiot! Did you forget about that time you made your room blow up and you got to see Kadona naked?”

“Please, don’t remind me of that…” Kadona asked kindly while she was enjoying her tea.

“IT WAS AN ACCIDENT OK?! HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT MISCHELLENIG TWO UNKNOWN WOULD HAVE CAUSED THAT??”

Xayo was looking at him like to say “Are you serious?”

“Look” Kadona resumed speaking “What you just said sounds ridiculous. You are better off admitting you wanted to look at me.”

“DO YOU REALIZE WHAT YOU ARE EVEN SAYING?!” Daze shouted before looking at Nysilia for some assistance and his face changed from embarrassed to concerned

“Sister, are you ok?”

Only Nysilia wasn’t smiling “I’m…sorry”

The three looked at each other confused and then Kadona asked concerned.

“Why are you apologising?” Kadona asked concerned.

“Because I betrayed you all. Right after your defeat, I simply ran away like a coward and I never felt like this was the right place for me-”

Suddenly, Xoya gave another punch at the table and he broke it in half this time

“...Sorry. That last part made me angry. Please Nysilia, explain to us why you think that.” he said with false calm.

Nysilia nodded, a bit surprised by his sudden rage

“The point is I always feel bad when I lie, kill or torture someone and you know that but…I reached my limit when I started training Dai. His personality is too similar to the one of the Emperor and every time I look at him, I remember that time we failed to protect that kindness, that smile.” she stopped for a moment “How can we Gods fail to protect even that one life we vowed to defend because it was the symbol of something even bigger! A symbol of change…died because of our mistake.” guilt was overwhelming Nysilia’s heart and tears slowly flowed down her face. “Then, Sarah appeared and fuck, she has a strong will and her beauty is comparable if not superior to the Witch, it reminded when she and the Emperor met for the first time…we also vowed to protect their love. They should have been the new Adam and Eve. A new start for humanity, instead no…we failed” she stopped a moment to take a breath

“I can’t bear this weight alone.”

She passed her fingers between the hair and tears were still flowing but she was trying to contain everything “I’m fucking tired…I even had to fake that I loved him for giving him more motivation…I can’t lie like that anymore…”

While saying that, Kadona stood up, hugged her from behind and said with a kind voice

“It’s fine, cry how much you want. We are no different from humans when it comes to emotion.”

“Kadona is right” Deza started saying “We are no different from humans and because of that, we can also make mistakes. Nysilia, you are the youngest one among all of us and you also have the biggest heart, at the same time, you are the best at faking and lying, so we made the decision to give you that role. It was our mistake from the start. We are deeply sorry for that.”

“There is also something else to say…” Xayo intervened in the conversation “I’m also sorry for something. That time you ran away, leaving us at our fate, I hated you for that…”

Nysilia nodded saddened “I know. I still remember when you shouted that I was banished as a Goddess, but you did that for the right reason so you don’t have to apolog-”

“No.” Xayo interrupted “I have to apologize because if you didn’t escape, you would have been in the same situation as us and no one could have done anything to fight against Samriel. I know you have a plan in your mind but you still haven’t said that because you aren’t sure you are actually speaking with your real brothers and sister.”

“You…know me too well…”

Xayo smiled “You have always been like this, cautious and smart. That’s something to be proud of...” he stopped speaking for a moment, waiting for someone to say something else, then resumed, “You said you thought this wasn’t the right place for you. If you still believe that, then let your body fall into an eternal slumber right away and let every responsibility slip away, we won’t hate you for that…but” he then looked at Nysilia with fire in his eyes

“If you think you can finish what you started, then do it, without hesitation. The people you met have faith in you, don’t abandon them. DON’T let your past dictate what you are now and prove to Fate that you are able to change it because what you achieved so far, makes you the greatest Deity amongst us!” He suddenly stood up and spread the arms

“And what I’m saying isn’t even an exaggeration! You, sister, are our pride and even if you lose, we will be proud of you and we’ll be at your side.”

Nysilia was listening to Xayo’s speech in amazement and looked at both Kadona and Deza, they were smiling, confirming they also think what he said. She smiled like she never did before, a kind and happy smile coming from her heart “Thank you.”

“Before you go.” Deza stood up, came closer to Nysila and showed her the palm of his hand, there was a little green sphere, which was emitting his powerful aura. “You might need this.” Shortly after Xayo and Kadona did the same, showing respectively a red and a light blue sphere.

Nysilia knew what it was and asked “A-Are you sure?”

The three nodded in unison.

“It’s not like we can use them either way” Kadona said.

The three spheres fluctuate towards Nysilia and let themselves be absorbed by her, leaving her with a beautiful and cosy sense of warmth.

Home

‘This sensation…is beautiful.’ she thought and looked at her brothers and sister “Thank you. I don’t what else to say.”

“Use every drop of it, if it’s your plan, then it’s worth it waiting more to wake up.” Deza encouraged.

“Thank you…pervert…”

“I’M NOT A PERVERT! HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YA?!” Deza shouted and the other three laughed.

When they all stopped, Nysilia stood up and Kadone said

“As far as I want to be encouraging like our brothers, I can’t help but be really worried so…please, once you reach the limit, stop.”

Nysilia smiled “I will.” then they all hugged

Another tear flowed down her face “See ya soon.”

———

While Nysilia was sleeping, three Zonnikies and the Wanderer were keeping an eye on her while also withstanding the terrible storm that suddenly came.

“How the fuck can be raining this much?!” one of them said.

“I know right? And do we want to talk about the wind? It’s almost unbearable” the second Zonniki said.

“You two whine too much” the last one said, which was also the one who shoot at Nysilia

The three Zonikkies were standing on the ground, near Nysilia’s body while the Wanderer was fluctuating in the air, keeping also an eye on the fracture they came from. When he looked back at the Zonnikies, his eyes widened in fear.

“HEY! BEHIND YOU!”

“Uh? Behind us? What it might be behind us to shout like-” While the Zonniki turned around, he and the other two, suddenly exploded and Nysilia, who was standing in the middle, was now soaked in their blood.

‘Oh fuck! I have to tell this to Samriel-’

“Don’t even think about it.”

Now, Nysilia’s voice was coming from behind the Wanderer and he was petrified

“You have to do one thing for me.”

“I’m sorry….I’m sorry…I’ll go home…please spare me…” The wanderer was so scared that he was only able to continuously say that like a broken disk.

“...No, I’m sorry for what I’m going to do.” Nysilia suddenly put a hand on the Wanderer’s right ear and put in it a bloody centipede that got absorbed by his brain; The Wanderer started screaming at the top of his lungs for the pain and he looked so up that only the sclera was visible; it remained like that even when he stopped screaming.

“Now, you are connected to me and you know already the plan. Go.”

The controlled wanderer nodded and disappeared.

“...It’s time to start.”