The God of Gravity part 3: Apocalypse

Two Years

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*

His knuckles still have their strong grip although there is no more reason to keep it that way. Enzo has finished the last members of the Masked League. Although, the fight is not over yet inside his heart. He is still at war. For days he traveled the world, hunting them with Aiko's help. She is very exhausted, barely standing on her feet.

“Enzo,” she says, panting, walking in the snowy field. Blood and flesh stained its whiteness. He is standing there, showing her his back. “It's over, let's rest...” She grabs his arm and instead of teleporting, she pulls him to walk out of the field to get inside this miraculously standing cottage.

He did not say a word but looks down lifelessly, thinking about no matter how many men he has killed, it will not bring the love of his life back. His first tear falls on the snow. Aiko hears him sobbing behind her but she chooses to pretend she does not know. This just makes her eager to reach that cottage faster so they could settle for a while.

She opens it and the ash invades. As soon as he comes in, she closes it. It is very dark inside because the windows have been covered by snow and ash. She makes fire at the hearth and cleans herself with a wet rag. He stares at the fire, hoping Danae's soul will talk to him through it. His despair almost makes the fire go out, and this worries Aiko. Also, he has no plan in cleaning the blood all over his body—which is not his but of the men he killed.

“Enzo,” she speaks. “let me clean your arms.” He does not answer but she went on anyway.

She needs to wash the cloth a lot of times because of how thick the blood is on him. The bucket of water she got from melting the snow looks like blood because of it.

“Everything's gonna be okay, Enzo,” she says, trying to console him. “Just ask what you need to feel better, I'll help you.”

He is still dead inside. Like he lives in a different world than her. She could not reach him. The depth of sadness that separates him and her is too deep. She wonders how can she help but no idea comes to mind.

Dusk creeps in. The northern lights danced above them. The holes in the roof let the light pass. It dimly lights up the inside of the cottage. Enzo is still starting at the fire but Aiko has fallen asleep on the ground.

This is the first time that Aiko had any sleep for five days since they started their campaign. Her sleep is so deep that cold and hard ground is comfortable for her. While sleeping, she feels cold even in her dream. Then a sudden warmth wakes her up.

She feels warm on her lips. It was good and she could not stand but to press back. Then she gets startled as it feels too real. Gasping, she pushes against his chest as he is on top of her. His face is dimly lit by the fire. The ceiling behind him is dancing with different colored lights.

“Enzo, what are you... doing?” she asks. “Get... off me.” Her heart starts to beat faster. She is anxious and confused.

Instead of answering, he grabs both of her arms pushing against his chest, he spread them and he goes down to kiss her. She avoids by turning her face to the side but he kisses her neck and entices her face to come back.

“No,” she says, trembling, feeling him touching her everywhere.. “this is not right. Get off me!” She tries to teleport away but she could not. He used his Cessation. Her relic is also out of her reach. “Stop! Why are you doing this?” She could hurt him to escape but she has no courage to do so.

After kissing her, he whispers, “This will make me feel better.”

She widens her eyes but then argues, “This... is not what... I meant.”

“I know you want me.”

“N... no, I don't,” she stutters, looking to the side, letting him kiss her shoulder.

“You think I didn't notice?”

“I said... I... d... don't.”

“Why are you letting me kiss your body, then?”

She swallows and could not answer. Her time of hesitating in what to decide is what he exploited to seduce her by kissing her even more. Eventually, she says, “If it will... make you... feel... better.” She nods, slowly wrapping her arms around his shoulder, but looks to the side, feeling anxious and conscious. “Do... what you... want.” She lets him do what he wants to her.

*

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It's been a while since that day we found out Seok is a traitor. Two years, exactly. So, I'm fifteen now and my eyes are getting blurry. The grade of my eyes has changed so the glasses I'm wearing now are good as useless. Although, it makes things less blurry.

Lord Enzo and Lady Aiko disappeared and never came back. Nobody found any traces of their whereabouts. I wonder if Lady Danae's death was too much for him. He loved him so much after all, even though he never showed it upfront to anybody else. They were supposed to get married but then fate was against them. But he cleansed the world from the enemies so we have no right to judge him. He saved this planet.

The flora and fauna deities restored the Earth in just two years with the help of every surviving clan and new-formed clans. The radioactive fallout is cleaned up and the ash clouds too. The planet is warm again. Grasses start to grow, flowers start to bloom, and plants start to flourish.

The order of Olympus has been dissolved and basically, no one is the ruler of this planet anymore. Even if King Rai returns, his title means nothing for everyone. It's like peaceful anarchy. We went on our separate ways in different groups. Most of the leaders of the Houses sought to find new homes across the planet, away from others. The reason was so that they could start new beginnings. They want to find out who they are. Of course, some of them roamed alone—that includes me.

For two years, I lived in North Columba away from all of the people I know. I told Mila to give me at least two years to rest. After that, she can summon me back any time. She understood me and let me go. I trained as I usually do but stopped because I realized I don't need to anymore. I started a farm on my own. All I got are carrots and potatoes. They are tasty and healthy when boiled or steamed. Meat is a rarity but I eat a lot of fish. I dive into the sea to catch them. I found friends while I'm here. They taught me how to properly grow these crops. If they didn't teach me, I would be starving now.

I'm here harvesting the carrots with their help. They're simple humans—which why I like them. They're tribesmen from South Columba and they even met Sayuri years ago. Most of the members of their tribe died defending them. I begged them to not talk about these things to me because I'm trying to escape it and live a normal life like the human I am. I feel happy here, waiting for the crops to grow until we harvest them. Then we plant them again.

I can hear them laughing from across the field. It's as if nothing bad ever happened to the world. This is why I feel at ease here. Then a kid tries to sneak up on me. I can sense him though. I pretend not to notice to avoid spoiling the fun.

“Wah!!” he cries out behind me.

“Woah!” I react, sounding surprised. I turn to him and say, “I thought it was a large crocodile!”

He looks up, smiling at me then goes away, skipping on the field. It's good to see that children skip like that without worry. Added by the song of the birds—which I missed hearing, I can say it's a good life right now. Anyone can settle down. Then the bell sounded to call everyone to gather.

The gathering happens every time at the temple we built for the deities. Here, we pray according to the requests we receive from the clans. Right now, we're praying for King Rai. I wonder how he is. Does he know that one of his daughters died? He loves them so he could take it as hard as Lord Enzo. He will also be sadder because of Lord Enzo's disappearance. He's like a son to him, after all.

Our session is over so we return to the fields to continue our harvest. We finished early in the afternoon and I brought home my share of crops. My home is in the middle of the field so I can look after the crops if something happens. I gnaw some raw carrots as I sit on a chair outside the house. The wind is cool and fresh. I sigh in relief, feeling that I could live like this forever. But then... something itches me from inside, telling me that I don't deserve this life.

I stop gnawing the carrot and just sit back to feel the wind and hear the brushing of the leaves of the trees above me. It makes me feel at ease. Then there's this girl that always visits me. Her name is Halona. She's fourteen and I can tell that's her from the distance in the field. She's wearing a straw hat, traditional white clothes, and a brown long loose skirt.

I stand up from my rickety chair and greet her with a wave of my hand. She smiles warmer than the weather and more soothing than the wind. I kind of like her, because she brings me fishes every time she visits. I haven't had the time to dive into the sea these times. Her job is fishing so yeah, her surplus goes to me. I give her something in return too: a bunch of carrots and potatoes, as usual.

“Good afternoon, my lord,” she bows.

“Nah, stop that,” I say to her.

She rises smiling, “You pretend you don't like it, aren't you?”

And yeah, she's always teasing me. “I hate it, okay? You're the only one that's reminding me of the past I want to forget.” I grab the basket full of fishes from her. Damn, they smell good! I put it inside right away. They will be my dinner.

“Not that I care,” she says, casually intruding into my home like it's hers. She lies on my bamboo bed while I put fresh crops into a sack to give her. Then she whispers, “Hey.” I turn while squatting to look at her. She bites her lip and says, “It's a good day for it, isn't it. You want to do ‘it’?”

I narrow my eyes at her. “Go to hell,” I say, returning to what I'm doing.

She laughs at me saying, “Did a carrot grow under there?”

“Not funny,” is all I could say. “If other people think that tribeswomen are indecent, it will be your fault.”

“Nah, I'm just kidding. I'm a decent woman, you know.”

“Say that to a monkey.”

“That's why I'm talking to you now.” She laughs.

“Whatever...” I stand up and give the sack full of crops. “Now, go away.”

“Do you hate me or something?”

“Yes.” She knows I'm kidding.

“I'm the only one who trades fishes with you, you know.” She's finally out of my home.

“Yes, yes, now go before it goes dark.” She walks away and I tease her, “Walk with your eyes not with your mouth—remember that!”

“Ha... ha...,” she laughs in sarcasm.

Then right above the tree canopies, someone is flying on a black cloud, coming towards us. Halona stops and turns to me asking, “What's that?”

“An old acquaintance,” I answer.

So, you never have forgotten it, Mila.