Where The Dead Ones Go Book 4 -Union-

Chapter 10

"To taste Asher's cooking once again is a blessing in and of itself..."

We looked at our friend, who just finished his fourth serving of the excellent dinner our resident chef cooked mostly for him.

"Come to think of it, the last proper meal I had was made by him," Syden mused sadly as he patted the back of our canine friend who collected his plates for cleaning, "This is really not a dream."

I shook my head and motioned him over, which he quickly responded to.

He is now wearing one of the spare boxer shorts of Zenith, a little too small for him, but until I can finish his entire get-up, that will have to do for now.

"This might be a little bit on the larger side, but it's better than you walking around almost naked, Syden," I said quietly as I help him put on the clothes I weaved for him as fast as I can, "I am not my siblings when it comes to the finer capabilities of my mother so please, forgive me."

Zenith sighed as Asher shook his head to me, "Oh come on, Gala. Look at these clothes you made for us. Depicting the things we reminded you the most! Asher cooking with Estelle. Me in a regular scuffle with your husband, chatting with my sister, or feeding gummy worms to my brother."

"Thank you for this, Gala," Syden said quietly as tears fell from his eyes towards the shirt I weaved for him, "The happiest moments of my life in the school is when I am eating with you all at the side of the boy I love with everything I am."

I nodded and smiled at the shirt I gave, depicting a typical dinner scene of all the Auxiliary Class with Syden sitting beside Taurei, talking animatedly to him as the peacock laughs his heart out.

"I am going to start a weaving business with my siblings once this is all over so you three can work as my walking, breathing, and talking advertisements. I got that from Ms. Irene."

Syden heaved a sigh as he sat in front of me before I take my scissors out to give him a haircut after covering his body with the tattered cloak I barely use, "Do you really think we can meet again?"

"Me? Honestly, speaking? I think not," I answered matter-of-factly that made the three boys look at me in surprise, "Logically speaking, once life was lost, it can never be found once more. Not in the same state we remembered them. We may meet them again, but we have to sacrifice this life we are clinging hard to."

Zenith closed his eyes and reclined on the tree thoughtfully, "If life is a payment that is required for me to meet them all again, then it is a payment I will gladly pay."

Asher barked sadly as Syden bit his lips, "Why bother continuing? Is it easier to just sit by and wait for the end? None matters once all has been said and done, right? We will never see them again."

"Well, I, for one, don't want to face Eonia saying I just lay over and die when she fought to the very end," I answered simply that made the boy I am giving a haircut gasp in disbelief, "What? Eonia may look kind, sweet, and dainty to the rest of the class, but the reality is she really hates not trying at all. So much that she is willing to sacrifice anything just to make sure that all options are exhausted before not doing anything. Mother pointed out that amongst the countless children of the god of forge through the eons, Eonia alone inherited her father's hate for not trying."

Zenith nodded, "Yeah, I know some of her siblings, especially Lovely, and when they see that something is already beyond making or repairing, they will just move on to their next project. Well, not our Class President."

"I remember seeing her staring at Morris' fone for several nights straight outside our dorm, and when I ask her to just move on as it is already busted for thousands of years, he just looks at me with a killing intent, and I made myself scarce quickly after that."

I nodded at Syden and smiled, "Indeed. That's the look I don't want to receive when we meet again. She made me realize countless times that if you put your everything into a particular task, no matter how impossible it may be, something good will come out of it if you never give up on it."

"Yeah, I hear you. But still..."

The son of Zeus opened his eyes and looked at me and Asher meaningfully, "I know, it is pointless, suicidal, and a waste of time. But it is the only thing we can do right now. We are not forcing you to come with us. Look, I can drop you off at the Auralian and Pagosian settlement in Laurassia by tomorrow."

But he shook his head after I removed the clothe from him and marvel at my crude but practical haircut that showed off his excellent looks that made Taurei fall in love with him, "I'll join you all. However weak I am right now, I will use what I can to assist you in this endeavor. I don't want Taurei to learn that I let his beloved brother go on without me at least trying to protect him. Getting screeched by a gigantic albino peacock once in my life or afterlife is enough, thank you."

Asher howled in joy when he heard about that particular scenario when Syden lost control, but Taurei brought him back.

"Weak, you said? Let me just remind you that you reduced Gala and me into mindless and useless pieces of flesh drowning in our drool earlier," Zenith said irritably that made Syden scratch the back of his head shyly, "Now, if you are down with us heading for our deaths, then the next place we have to reach is Pangea where Narcine is."

The son of Koalemos nostalgically raised his hand as if we are in our classroom, "Oh, hey, I have an idea. Since we are going to fight to our very last, why not go to Mindanao first?"

"Mindanao? That is the southernmost island of the Luzviminda archipelago, right?" I asked quietly as he nodded, "Well, we are going southwards anyway, might as well make a stopover there."

Zenith looked at Syden's handsome face looking pensively at the campfire while standing there quietly in front of me, "But why Mindanao, though?"

"Novus Zephyranth," he answered simply that made Zenith raise an eyebrow, "No offense to Gala here who is the closest friend of Vivet, but if there is anyone left in this fractured world of ours who knows secrets she never told us before the Second Fall, it is the inhabitants of Novus Zephyranths."

I nodded as I took a labored breath as if the feather in my heart is excited for us to go there, "I have this conversation with Vivet days before the last battle. She said that the citizens of that "reservation" have been there technically since the First Fall."

"Are they even humans anymore if they can last that long?" Zenith asked us quietly, which made me, Asher, and Syden think deep, "I mean, yeah, there's Morris whom we shafted to a cave for several millennia. Vivet, who made a pact with the god of time, and Ms Peregrine, who is the demiurge of the goddess of youth, effective never gets old. But they? What are they, Syden?"

The son of Koalemos took a deep breath sighed as she massaged his head slowly before comfortably lying beside Asher next to the campfire, "I learned from Mr Atomo back then that it is not the people that are special there but the very space itself. Khronos placed it between time and space, where it remained the same for many, many years, unchanging and static. Not a single second has moved ever since the First Fall."

"If there is a place that may hold the secrets to defeat Typhon, then it's that place," I said with finality as Asher nodded in agreement, "We may find our adviser there as well. Vivet begged her to relocate there so we can fight to our very best."

Zenith and Syden sighed in relief as I also prepare to sleep myself, "Actually, there is one thing I have meant to ask, Gala," the High Priest said in dangerously profound words that I know doesn't bode well for me, "Who is Kairos, really?"

I just laughed at his question as Syden shook his head in disbelief, "You even want me to answer that, Zenith?"

"So he is a god. I knew it."

"Yes, he is. But not when we meet him," I corrected him quietly as I remembered the long but clear explanation of Morris about his cousin-in-law, "You see, to deny Typhon of his victory during the First Fall, Khronos, the god of time did a three-pronged strategy. One is to send Vivet, and to some extent, Morris, to the future. Second, He split himself into three separate entities. For simplicity's sake, Proto, the god of the past, the one we met when we were thrown back in time. Meta, the god of the future, resides inside the spawns of hope and death, and finally, Kairos, the god of the present. His mortal physical body and bore no memories nor personality of his own."

Zenith looked at me wide-eyed as Syden supplied the third part of the god of time's strategy.

"And the third and final part of his three-pronged strategy is to rip the very fabric of time, space, and reality itself to deny Typhon of any victory in any era," he said indeed as Asher inclined his head in confusion, "I mean, I know this because before disintegrating, my father imparted me that truth. Also, he told me that there are only three deities capable of controlling or manipulating reality itself."

The High Priest nodded and began counting in his right hand, "Khronos, the God of Time, through his temporal powers and control over space and reality. Elpis, the Goddess of Hope, through her limitless power of willing things to actuality, and third and lastly, Koalemos, the God of Stupidity, through his sheer capabilities of breaking the walls of reason itself."

"I doubt the only reason why an Olympian like Apollo himself decides to stick around Koalemos even though he is at the lowest of the low in the immortal food chain," I said pointedly to Syden, who grinned dangerously at us, "Stupidity and truth are not that different when all things have been said and done. Knowledge must be gained, learned, and painstakingly remembered, while stupidity is universal and forever. That is why mother is always asking for Koalemos' advice frequently."

Zenith chuckled as he shook his head, "I remembered I heard father once said that the goddess of wisdom is seeking the expertise of the god of stupidity, and that's what made her dangerous. To collaborate with the very being that challenges your very existence as a deity is something else entirely."

"Well, keep your enemies close as they always say, right?" Syden asked Asher that replied with a sleepy bark, "Welp, Koalemos never wanted to antagonize Lady Athena or anyone else. He just wants to exist peacefully and out of the way of everyone else. Lord Apollo was his apprentice as well back then and Lord Helios before him in the arts of stupidity and foolishness. That is why he is respected and trusted by the truth god and vowed to treat any of his children as if they are his."

I chuckled as I close my eyes and willed myself to sleep, "Well, Vivet once told me that your father does resemble Apollo in some ways."

"And the god of truth is actually honored when I told him that, Gala," Zenith said before yawning.

"If only father could hear us now..."

-0-

"You are entering restricted airspace! Unknown aircraft, state your affiliation within two minutes, or we will be forced to open fire! I repeat, this is the Imperial Air Force Armada, Novus Zephyranth Division..."

Twenty four red bogey aircraft blips appeared directly in front of our airplane.

Syden and I are now with Zenith in the cockpit of the airplane we are using as our mode of transportation to safely and leisurely cross vast distances in relative ease.

King Zeus told his son that when we reach a certain altitude, the monsters won't be able to survive the purest air above, effectively giving us a safe passageway wherever we want to go.

Well, except the Novus Zephyranth Airspace as we know just learned.

"Man, look at those interceptor fighter jets! Check out those missiles on its wings and the emblem of Vivet's empire! Slick!" Syden exclaimed despite himself as a dozen of the twenty-four aircraft zoomed past us for ocular inspection before breaking away and returning to their defensive formation against us.

"As much as I want to agree with you, this is not the time to marvel them!" I reminded him calmly as I looked at Zenith worriedly, "Zeus' children are forbidden to use their names nor heritage to force their way into restricted airspace unannounced as per ancient pacts. Syden, you tell them who you are."

The son of Koalemos looked obviously shocked when I ordered him to do that, "What?! Why me? I am just a nobody Anoixian and son of a mid-rank cabinet member of a nation already destroyed. Why do you think they will allow me to enter just because of that? Fine, fine! I'll do it, give me comms, Short Fuse!"

He balked at my steely look before taking a deep breath and began speaking at the radio.

"I am Syden Villiers, son of Syna Villiers, Minister for Dodonan Affairs, Member of the Republic of Anoixi cabinet. I request unfettered access to your airport, over!"

We waited in bated breath for their positive reply, but it never came.

What did was a dozen missiles heading straight for us.

"I told you so..."

"Gods, no need to tell me, Syden!" I snapped back as Zenith switch to manual control to try and evade the attack, "They are using homing missiles, right?"

The son of Zeus nodded as he groaned before doing a complete barrel roll that turned the entire airplane three hundred degrees, surprising me and Syden, who is just standing behind him as we grab something or anything so as not to get thrown around.

We heard Ashers and his dogs barked in annoyance after we successfully evaded half of the incoming missiles.

"A little warning will be nice!" Syden angrily said to Zenith, who punched the radar angrily because it is showing the other half of the attack now reinforced by two dozen more, "No time for warnings, Syden! This plane is not a military one! It's commercial transport! There is only so much I can do with it if we are not to explode into a giant ball of fire in the skies!"