Where The Dead Ones Go Book 3 -Emirate-

Chapter 8

"You have done well, Councilor Andrade..."

The elder was speechless when my cousin and I landed in front of him and Kairos who are waiting in the same place by the river where I left them.

"I know that it may seem like mere moments have only passed for you, but for my cousin and me, it has been eons upon eons when the time marched on ever forward."

"Our Imperial Majesty, you have finally returned to us all!" he exclaimed, and the guards with the Zephyranthians rejoiced when they heard what their leader has announced joyfully, "After all these eons, at long last. You are with us once more. Not for a second, we have lost hope of meeting you again."

I looked down at my hands and smiled sadly, "Hope, huh? With my memories back, that word somehow holds a lot more weight and emotions in it than it ever was for me."

"When we saw you at the Hellenic Citadel entrance examinations, we knew at that very moment that it is really you. During the cup, the moment you summoned the Imperial Armada to lead your comrades in victory, we knew that it will only be a matter of time before you let us bask in your serene grace, Your Majesty."

I looked behind me and saw hundreds upon hundreds of people stuck in a moment, and they are looking at me expectantly as if they wish against all odds that I will deign to do something for them.

At first, I don't know what they are hoping from me, and then from the deepest of my soul, I heard the silent yearnings of the loyal people who made the ultimate sacrifice with me a long time ago.

So I raised my arms and summoned all of the ones I carried inside me using the very light of hope, and from above, countless human figures of my beloved subjects appeared and slowly descended towards their waiting loved ones.

Using every bit of my power I can bring to bear, I willed them to have a corporeal, physical form, and the moment they landed on the ground, they regained what we have lost all these millennia.

"Elpis: Ethereal Revival!"

What we saw was heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. My companions have finally reunited with their loved ones, families, friends, and even their children.

"I have been waiting all these long eons to finally see you again face to face, Empress Viera..."

I shed a tear when my loyal retainer kneeled in front of me as he began to cry in earnest silently.

"I apologize it took this long, Barius..."

He stood up and shook his head as he looked at Kairos and Morris standing beside me, "It doesn't matter at all, my liege. What matters is that you are here with us alive and well with your memories returned. What surprises us the most is that you are finally betrothed to time."

"I am not time itself, but I am from it," Kairos answered quickly before smiling innocently at the puzzled retainer.

"My lord? Is there something the matter? Have you..."

I cleared my throat meaningfully that made Barius stopped talking abruptly, "In case you are forgetting, his will return a little bit later than I would, right?"

"Of course, my liege. Forgive my moment of stupor," he apologized before turning to my cousin and bowing his head respectfully, "I thank you on behalf of the Imperial Armada Forces for being there for our empress when we could not. Our gratitude is endless, Lord Morris."

My cousin just grabbed my arm and nodded, "Hey, that's what is family is for, right?"

Barius grinned at him and nodded as he looked at his men and women happily reunited with their loved ones, "Indeed, my lord. We are her family. It is only natural for us to be by her side."

"This is truly a miracle," the elderly councillor gasped as a girl in her thirties walk towards him and gave him a tight hug, "How long have I wished to see you again, Melinda?"

One of my loyal handmaidens cried in his shoulders, joyfully, "I know, father. Thanks to Empress Viera, may her reign be eternal, I am here in front of you."

"Vivet..."

I looked at Kairos who is staring at me intently, "What is it? Don't like the real me?"

"As long as you're mine, none of it matters..."

He said in such a reverent and powerful way, an ethereal clock made of light appeared behind his head, and to mine and Morris' surprise, a black light appeared from our bodies and travelled towards Kairos and engulfed him completely.

The elder, together with everyone around us knelt respectfully as silver wings erupted from his back and when the light has dissipated, we all knew that we are no longer looking at the boy named Kairos.

"Took you long enough, Viera..."

I chuckled and inclined my head at him as I let my cousin watch in disbelief when I shared to him all of my memories about the silver-haired boy standing in front of us in all his primordial glory bearing the same face as my husband.

"Forgive me, Meta, or should I call you Khronos, the eternal god of time?"

He shook his head as he playfully punched the arm of the son of the god of death, "Names doesn't matter in the long run, my love. So, Morris, my boy, and champion, we finally meet face to face."

"Champion?"

"I technically live inside of you for eons, I guess it only fits that I take you as my own harbinger, eh?" he asked as he grinned at him kindly, "I have guided you as much as I did with your beloved cousin. A little gratitude will do, you know?"

Morris suddenly howled in tears as the god of time gave him a hug, "So you're saying that you and Kairos are one and the same?"

"Well, one and the same is a stretch, but you can say that we are technically born from the same being. Time is not a singular entity. It is divided into three spheres of powers and personas. Kairos represents the present, I represent the future called Meta."

I smiled at the two as they looked at each other, trustingly, "And Proto is the one we met back in the past, my cousin. The one who is now currently staying at the Cretonian Union."

"The grumpiest if I might add," Meta followed as he grinned at the elder, "I am more than pleased of what you have worked on thus far. I know I am not mistaken when I decided to use a third of my powers to save you all."

The kind councillor nodded as if he and his people are finally vindicated, "We exist to serve, your benevolence. As instructed, we have taken in all those who believed Her Majesty's warnings, and they are all accounted for here from the rest of the provinces. Well, minus the demiurge of the goddess of youth. As you well know, she has a different and exemplary role to fill."

Meta nodded as he looked at everyone here with us, "The pact between the god of time and the empress of the empire has finally been fulfilled. I already collected my payment and will now uphold my end of the bargain. However, there is only so much that we can do alone. We need all your help. We cannot allow all of our sacrifices to be all for naught. The promised ending is upon us, and we will be there together witnessing the brand new dawn of a Golden Age!"

They all answered his call and raised their fists into the air in agreement.

-0-

"So Kairos is sleeping now?"

"Well, sleeping is a rather inaccurate term. I prefer stasis. When time divided itself into three distinct entities, the past and future retained most of the power, albeit losing the capability to interact with the world physically."

I continued what he is trying to say as the three of us eat together under the tree in the riverbank our lunch, "And Kairos, or rather, the present, is the one who retained the physical body of time but considerably weaker power compared to the other two personas."

"Yes, my love. That's why when your memory has finally returned, so is mine. I also remembered how to take over his physical body, albeit temporarily to interact with you more than I can when appearing in your dreams."

Morris nodded as he studied the boy between us seriously, "Okay so my cousin married three boys in one signature? Man, that's something else!"

"We are all one and the same when all things have been said and done. I had asked for her hand as payment for my services when I was whole and her marrying a part of me is the same as marrying us all," he answered clearly as he looked at me lovingly, "Although my present self is blissfully unaware of all of this. He is thinking of meeting his "father" or "creator" at our wedding day."

I blinked and sighed when I heard that, "Should we tell him not to expect his "creator" to be there."

"No need. Proto will attend, that's for sure and will act like his father," he sighed and closed his eyes, "Let me just warn you two in advance, our past persona is not as amiable and cordial as Kairos and I are. The past is, well, the past. Static, inflexible, and tactless. It is what it is, no matter how you feel about it. He will come off as rude, blunt and unbearable, but as we are one and the same, I can assure you that his love and dedication for Vivet is true and not up for discussion."

"Just a different interpretation, huh? Well, I will surely keep that in mind, Meta," the son of Thanatos answered as he grinned at me, "So, Your Imperial Majesty, will you tell the rest of our classmates about this revelation?"

I shook my head and sighed, "No need, Morris. It is neither here nor there. With or without my memories, nothing changes. I am who I am, and our mission remains the same."

"To save this age from the catastrophe..."

We looked at Morris who suddenly seemed crestfallen.

"Can we really do something to stop something that even the gods themselves failed to do so ages ago?"

Meta and I looked at each other quietly before remembering precisely what happened as to why we are easily defeated last time.

"The deities who failed before are as divided as the mortals back then, Morris," the god said thoughtfully at my cousin, "The Olympians and their few allies barely pushed the calamity back. At the same time, there is a brewing civil war in the empire that is only averted because Vivet decided to place her bet in the future, on me, rather than see her own people kill each other long before the real enemy even showed up in her borders."

I nodded and tried to smile at Morris, "This time, it will be different. Deities are pooling their strengths together, and though fractured, mortals are even more united than they were during The Fall. I say our chance is better this time around."

"So we're not sure, huh?"

Meta laughed out loud and shook his head, "Even I, a personification of future don't know what future holds. Mortals thought of me as someone who is static, inflexible, and sure. But that is a better description of the past. The future depends on the outcome of what you did in the past and present," he then threw a stone at the river which made a small ripple before disappearing completely, "A small, insignificant mortal can make a ripple against the flow of time into the future, but that's all there is to it. But if those small, insignificant mortals band together and work hand-in-hand, you can dam the tides of change into something you can control and manipulate."

"What we are trying to do now is to create a dam together with the immortals to quell the coming wave of catastrophe. To say that we will surely succeed is self-defeating. What we can expect for sure is that we have a better chance if we all do this together, no matter how cheesy that one sounds," I followed that finally made the son of Thanatos smile a little.

"Well, if you put it that way, I guess there's no point in worrying too much about it," he said as he grinned at our direction, "A pity that my cousin will be married to Kairos and not to you, eh?"

Meta laughed a little and nodded, "Yes, a pity it is, my champion. But I think it's for the best. The past is unchangeable, and the future is uncertain. At least the present is what it is, no question asked. She is better off with him than Proto or me."

"Will he ask any questions if he wakes up, Meta?" I asked worryingly, "I honestly don't know if I can keep up the charade if he asks too many inquiries."

"No worries, my love. I will let him remember our time here as if it was his but remove any memories that might raise suspicions. I envy him in that regard. Truly, the present is the best personification of time itself. All is fair game, and the sky is the limit when it comes to expectations. Not bogged down by the sad past or uncertain realities of the future. Seize the moment, is it not, Vivet?"

I nodded and smiled a little at him and Morris, "Indeed. Make most of what you have today. You can never change the past and have no chance of knowing the future. What is real right now is this very moment."