Where The Dead Ones Go Book 4 -Union-

Chapter 12

The moment Vivet, or rather, Viera, was born. It was already not a happy reign to be in.

His father's dynasty is still reeling from the Cretonian-Pagosian Insurrection and instead of enacting laws that will safeguard the emperor and his heir, the Imperial Council opted to reduce more of his powers as a "deterrent".

After all, no one would want a position as powerless as the emperor.

Reduced to a mere glorified figurehead, his influence extends only within the Imperial Palace's Walls and nothing more.

But the ever-hopeful young emperor decides to just focus on his enigmatic daughter.

The press release was that she was born from a random Cretonian village woman that died after birth.

Though the details surrounding her birth is suspicious. The d.n.a testing and her father's expressive black eyes are more than enough to solidify her claims to the Imperial Throne.

A throne which she never wanted.

Rendered a lame duck, her father still persevered. The title of the emperor is nothing to him anymore.

What matters is the safety and wellbeing of her daughter once she ascends it.

So he handpicked select students from the cream of the crop of the Hellenic Citadel's graduating roster and used them to augment the already burgeoning Imperial Armada Forces.

This didn't sit well with most of the members of the Imperial Council.

Only Councillor Andrade approves of this move since it gave what sliver of power and authority that was taken from the Imperial Family bit by bit throughout the generations.

And so, the Imperial Crown Princess began to grow up.

Steadily earning the respect of her father's soldiers and even the entire Pax as well with her seemingly approachable facade and mysterious aura.

The girl was tutored with only the best his father can provide.

But above all else, she was taught to take care of her people even if she doesn't have the means to do so.

That was the last words the Emperor imparted and with a heavy heart, entrusted her very own daughter to the son of the one who tried to oust him from the throne.

Though considered to be one of the more eccentric Vieta that sat on top of the Imperial food chain, the loss of Viera's father marks the profound start of the final step towards the decline of the dynasty that started the Golden Age of mankind.

With a young Empress on the throne, political manoeuvrings, even secessionists ideas float around the heads of elected officials who wanted to abuse the powers they have taken from the emperor for themselves to wield.

The only thing that is stopping them from doing so is the large standing army the previous emperor had built for his daughter in anticipation of their moves.

When words failed to reach the ears of those he needed the help the most, he turned to weapons to solidify the rule of his heir.

And that's what happened. Corrupt officials cannot risk a civil war.

Even if the Imperial Council managed to mobilize the four provinces and the capital city's Imperial Guard, they are still no match to the Imperial Forces Armada.

The only weapon that the entire Vietan Dynasty has vowed never to let go no matter the circumstances as the last resort for any plans of coup d etat and serious rebellion against the rule of the reigning Emperor or Empress.

And then, Apollo's vision was made public.

At first, Viera thought it is one of the jokes made by the god of truth.

Her own family has been on the receiving ends of her relatively harmless pranks since the inception of the empire so she takes whatever he says with a grain of salt.

Even though no one believed the god of truth, not even his Olympian family members, Viera decided to place her trust towards the sun god's shoulders.

She vowed to do whatever she can to save lives and convince others of the incoming catastrophe that will bring the empire and everything stands for to its knees.

For the first time in many generations, a reigning Imperial Monarch appeared in the Imperial Council's Assembly hall to ask for their help.

All but one laughed away her calls for assistance.

All but the very man called Councilor Anniy Andrade, representative of the bountiful Eastern Province of Anoixi.

The man, and his province as a whole, have been staunch imperialist since the very beginning of the Golden Age.

Though he cannot act openly against the rest of the council members, he did so discretely and under the table.

His province is known for its very slow and sometimes impossible bureaucracy and he used that to Her Majesty's favour.

He can redirect huge amounts of excess funds of Anoixi to support the creation of Novus Zepyranth which on paper, is nothing but one of the hundreds of gambling city installation of the easter province.

However, it is nothing but.

Novus Zepyranth is a city that will be the last bastion of humanity's technologies and innovations. All kinds of blueprints from washing machines to a battleship's armaments will be stored there for the generations to come.

All the assets, properties and Imperial Crown Jewels of the Vietan Dynasty will be kept that as well.

Though without the help of a primordial deity to safeguard the city, it may just as well be one of the places Typhon would've destroyed in its wake.

So Khronos, the god of time, space and reality enveloped the city in a space-time barrier effectively removing it from the reality we are in and everyone inside it.

Those who volunteered to be within the city borders are those loyal to the empress, family members of those serving in the Imperial Armada Forces and after the First Fall, some survivors who managed to find their way in what they now called a "reservation".

Inside, it is not the just the people or the things that are stuck in time.

The very skies, water, grasses, trees, animals and everything caught inside the time barrier never aged a day the moment the dome has been closed.

Death, illness or age has lost its meaning in Novus Zepyranth.

Trapped between time and space themselves, the city has managed to exist thousands of years into the future but as if not a single day has passed within its invisible walls.

Those who are bound by the time god may not leave the place. Their very existence tied to the place we are now.

And so the event that the previous emperor has feared for the most has finally come to past.

With the support of four of the five Imperial Council members, the councillors mobilized the Imperial Guard supposedly only to be used against monster incursions inside Pax's territories to seize power from the Imperial Vietan Dynasty under the pretence that Viera the First is not fit to rule.

The irony is that the Empress Dynasty has not been ruling or leading for several generations now.

Though Viera has an ace upon her sleeves.

Sensing her distress, fear, perseverance and hope, the primordial God of Time, Space and Reality himself offered his power, body and very existence to the service of the Empress.

And so they entered into a pact.

Khronos will give Viera the key to the future and change it if she will surrender herself to him as his own.

With the prophesied day of the First Fall coming soon and the Imperial Guard nearing her Imperial Palace walls.

She doesn't have any choice left.

So with her life and those loyal to her as payment, they turned into something akin to souls and was granted passage through time that only the god of time, and seldomly, the goddess of rage traverse.

The civil war was averted but on that very moment, the empire lost its symbol of unity.

Truly, only when something is gone permanently, you will understand it's true meaning and importance.

When news broke out that the empress was gone after begging her citizens to flee for their very lives, the fabric of order and peace the Imperial Throne has vanished.

The once united empire descended into chaos and the corrupt Imperial Council members finally realized how great their mistake was but not enough time was given to them to rue it for the gods and goddesses finally realized that the god of truth is right all along.

A titanic creature born from the earth goddess herself was already barreling down the shores of Anoixi on its path towards the Imperial Capital Region of Aurapolis and the seat of not just the Imperial Monarch but also the Olympian power.

The position that the Vietan Dynasty has filled for many millennia has finally become clear to mortals finally as their world literally crumbles around them.

Under one flag, one nation, one empire and Imperial Monarch.

That's the real reason for the stability the largest nation there ever was in Gearth's timeless history that has seen the countless rise and falls of nations throughout its storied past.

With the Empress gone, every bit of stability and order has vanished completely.

Those at Novus Zepyranth are already warned of this long before it happened and was thus, safe from the resulting chaos due to the absence of a central leader.

Safe even from Typhon himself who did his prophesied actions and destroy the once prosperous and seemingly eternal empire of mankind in a single day and night of upheaval that has seen millions upon millions of unbelievers to the words of the Empress dead and a scant few who survived by following their beloved leaders.

Novus Zepyranth tried to restore the Empire of Plurinational Alliance Xenocracy mere months after the First Fall but the survivors themselves refuses to help themselves.

Even the deities lost the will to aim for something better than what they already have in fear of losing it all in a blink of an eye.

So Councilor Andrade and his followers retreated to their reservation and struck a deal with the newly born Republic of Anoixi to let their existence be tolerated and protected in exchange for sharing some of the blueprints they have saved from the First Fall.

And so they waited.

Waited and waited until the time that the Time Lord finally returns to them, albeit in a different form to mark the nearing completion of the ancient pact.

Kairos came, appearing in the exact position Khronos has promised many eons ago.

No memory, not even the most basic sensibility of a mere mortal, they took care of him for a month before delivering him to his promised guardian, Atomo Axiopisto of the ancient House Axiopisto.

One of the most prominent business dynasty of the republic.

Also, the only noble family of the eastern province to heed the call of the Empress and the head of the house that time answered by providing most of his family's lands and resources in the creation of Novus Zepyranth.

By the request of Iris, the goddess of rainbows, the demiurge of hope and who once was the Empress of Pax be taken care of by her child to at least allow her to repay some of her massive debts to the goddess of hope.

Mortis Eoris, the demiurge of death was one of the failsafe of the God of Time, Space and Reality.

By virtue of a very ancient pact between death and time itself even before the dawn of the first Titans, Thanatos is honour-bound to answer to any calls of favour from Khronos in exchange for him giving away the gift to decide the time of deaths of mortals.

That, and the soul of the Empress can only handle half of the very being of the future persona of the god of time so the divide that happened was foreseen and welcome development.

Fast forward to the future where Viera, now calling herself Vivet, was flung, is now immediately placed under the care of Irene, daughter of Iris with Morris following shortly afterwards.

The god of time's present persona also under the guidance of House Axiopisto's heir.

All, so far, has been going according to the grand plan.

The moment Typhon's shadow reappeared at the Almorica Desert of the Scythian Emirate, the seed of awakening by that horrible monster in the mind of the sleeping Empress has been sprouting slowly but surely.

When Her Majesty returned to the Novus Zepyranth, all her memories of the past has finally been restored.

She had a chance to turn away from the painful memories, along with the responsibilities that came along with it, but as her father before her, powerless she may be, she didn't allow it to hinder her ability to help others.

And as their ancient pact decreed, Her Majesty and the Time Lord finally become one and thus moving a step closer towards the fruition of their thousands of year plan.

The ultimate and absolute destruction of Typhon from the face of Gearth and beyond.

They will not kick this problem down the street again like what they did back then.

And so the gods and goddesses from all levels of immortal hierarchies united and formed alliances and treaties in order to face a common foe head-on.

Khronos, now empowered by his promised prize, his wife, moved closer to reuniting his scattered pieces once more.

But Vivet has other plans.

Plans that will surely and absolutely not fail.

If they showed their cards too early, Typhon will manoeuvre to avoid the trap laid for him.

She asked her classmates, us if we are willing to sacrifice even our lives for the cause for she herself has long let go of any materialistic and physical yearnings in this fleeting life of hers.

So we followed her lead, but we underestimated the catastrophe incarnate.

He suddenly appeared out of nothingness and cleverly divided the Auxiliary Class and destroyed us bit by bit.

Then the world ended.

Again.

The Second Fall.

The Tieran continent fractured, the skies and ocean turned red and life as we know it was changed for the better.

We have lost.

Or so Typhon thought.

And even us, the survivors were led to believe.

-0-

"So you are saying that this is all part of Vivet and Kairos' plan?!"

We looked at Zenith who, like us, are scandalized by the revelation we heard from the elderly council member.

"Yes, Lord Zenith. It is," confirmed Councilor Andrade that made Syden Spat in disbelief, "I don't know if you still remember her saying something in line with these words, "For one to appreciate the light, they must experience first darkness."

I closed my eyes when I just remembered those words by Vivet.

"True darkness," I muttered quietly as we let the councillor continue his tale that is nearing its end.

An end that I don't think I want to know what it is.