Where The Dead Ones Go Book 2 -Republic-

Chapter 2

"What?" 

He looked at the boy he is just trying to kill earlier with utmost jealousy, "The elder told me that I am no mere mortal nor I am an immortal in my form. Not a demigod or demiurge yet born from the god of time. I don't have the sensibilities of a normal human yet I do have powers beyond mortals."

"Yes, you stopped time without even invoking your father's name. How did you do that?" Morris asked in confusion as the poor boy just shook his head repeatedly as if in distress.

"I don't know! I don't know! I bleed like a normal mortal, yet I command powers beyond one. I don't know how to act or feel anymore, so I pushed myself to be someone I'm not to mask my fears and insecurities. Better be hated than pitied..."

My heart cried out for him as I reached out for his face and slowly lifted it, "That makes the three of us. My cousin and I are demiurges yet born from ages past. My own memories are as good as yours, yet I still have to act as if everything is fine. I shoved Morris in a cave with my classmates. He has to stay there in stasis for eons upon eons. Yet, he still tries his best to live his life as normally as he can even after being awakened in a completely unknown world."

"I..."

"That's why the past is important to us. It's the only reason for us to say that we came from somewhere, not just in a cave or out of thin air in my situation," I said happily as I stood up and urged the two to do the same, "We will be seeing a lot of each other in the next several days. Let's make this as memorable and interesting for us. After all, you will be our very own tour guide, right, Morris?"

My cousin heaved a sigh and put his arm on the shoulders of Kairos who thankfully smiled up at him expectantly, "No better tour guide than the spawn of the god of time. Let's get along from now on, shall we, Kairos?"

"We will be sharing the same bed so might as well, Morris," Mr Atomo's child answered as the two shake hands and he looked at me thankfully, "I am expecting to learn much from my fellow lost ones. But for now, let's go back to the present. I can't halt the time much longer."

We nodded at him as my cousin let his scythe melt into the shadows while Kairos' swords vanished into thin air before I removed the chains ensnaring them.

He blinked and sure enough, time flow normally again as our host walked towards us while scratching the back of his head, "One second and you are already at each other's throats now you are very friendly with each other? I will never understand the youth these days."

I laughed a little that attracted the president's attention which seemed to be a bad idea since I forgot to wipe the blood from my mouth.

"Vivet! Are you all right?!"

I nodded and pouted a little, "I am fine, but I can't say the same to my stomach, Mr Atomo. Make sure that my dinner for tomorrow is acceptable, or I might just tell this to my foster mother."

He apologized repeatedly and reiterated his promise of decent food. At the same time, Morris just walked arm in arm with the son of Khronos towards the latter's room.

"I think the two of us might just get along splendidly, Vivet."

"Time and death? Of course, you two will, Morris. But my gods, he is really a looker."

"Admit it, you have it bad, cousin."

"Shut up!"

-0-

"We are here on behalf of His Excellency, Atomo Axiopisto, President of the Republic of Anoixi," I said graciously as I and my cousin curtsy the newlywed couple that gasped in surprise as we started to introduce myself, "I am Vivet Vivier, the demiurge of Elpis, the goddess of hope and this is my beloved cousin, Morris Mortheo, the demiurge of Thanatos, the god of death, wishing you two a married life full of hope until your deaths."

My cousin smiled lopsidedly at the beautiful couple and inclined his head apologetically, "I know it may not be a great idea to have a spawn of death in someone's wedding, but here I am. I do thank you personally for welcoming me despite my lineage."

"Nonsense! To be blessed with the children of Elpis and Thanatos at our wedding day is probably the best gift of them all!" the bride responded quickly as his husband shake the hand of my cousin, "Truly, till death do us part. We are honoured beyond words."

We bowed a little and looked at our classmates, the son of Zeus and daughter of Hera making rounds and greeting the guests on behalf of the husband and wife.

Morris and I arrived at the reception area several minutes after the wedding ceremony has concluded at the temple of the Heavenly King and Queen not far from the city centre.

From what we heard from the security detail of Mr Atomo sent before we arrived at the reception area located in a magnificent five-star hotel near the sea, our two classmates did exceptionally well officiating the wedding and everything went smoothly.

"If only His Excellency informed us earlier that we will be attending a joyous wedding celebration like this, then we would've brought our gifts. How embarrassing it is for us to come here empty-handed. Our deepest apologies for this pitiful transgression."

The groom shook his head as he glanced at his teary-eyed wife and nodded knowingly, "No need for gifts. You two are more than enough. Please, enjoy what we can offer and know that we will never forget this day."

We bowed in front of the happy couple before excusing ourself and let our guard escort us to the table reserved just for the three of us near the entrance of the grand reception hall where hundreds of high ranking guests are enjoying themselves.

There are almost a dozen different kinds of dishes waiting for us already arranged beautifully on top of the table as we sat down and began to eat.

"You don't want to help yourself, Kairos?" Morris asked as our companion just sat beside me and watched us help ourselves.

"I'd rather not, thank you," he answered rather coldly, but we both know that it is his profession persona speaking. I think I understand why he refuses to eat at all, "His Excellency forbade me to eat at all on any table outside our home. I am sure you don't need me to explain why."

I nodded as I ate a decadent roasted pig called lechon, "Oh, right. But really, these foods are a way to go to wash away the unpleasant memories and taste of that meal we ate last night."

"No worries about that, Vivet. His Excellency already called in backups to make sure that you will not have any reasons to call your foster mother any more than what you already have."

Morris took a large bite out of his grilled chicken called inasal and chewed it gratefully before speaking again, "Backups? Whatever do you mean?"

"You'll know when we get home later," the son of the god of time answered dismissively as he produced a small notebook from the pocket of his black suit and fixed his shades before reading it to us, "I highly suggest that you two finish your lunch as fast as you can. It is already twelve forty-five, and you have a ribbon-cutting ceremony to attend to at the uptown district by two."

"Why the hurry? We still have at least an hour to prepare," my cousin replied as he continued eating his ginataang alimasag with Anoixian fried rice called sinangag, "Besides, we are at a wedding reception! This is the first time we ever attended an event like this. Might as well immerse ourselves with the celebration, right, Vivet?"

I nodded in agreement as I continued eating the addicting lechon skin, "Indeed, Kairos. Can we just at least go ten minutes after we ate our fill?"

"But..."

"Care to introduce the two of us to your new friend, Morris, Vivet?"

The three of us looked up and saw our classmates who are doing their immersion at the temple of their parents.

It is Avesa who spoke as she smiled down at us with one of her brother who grinned at Morris, "Enjoying yourself, I see."

"Very much, Zenith," my cousin replied contently as he nodded at Kairos and pointed the two standing in front of our table, "These two are Olympian royalties. Avesa Bovinae from the Viceroyalty of Auralia, daughter of Hera, goddess of marriage and Heavenly Queen. Incumbent High Priestess of Heran Temple. The golden boy next to her is one of her siblings, Zenith Mycenae from the Magistracy of Pagos, son of Zeus, the god of lightning and Heavenly King. High Priest-in training and successor of Avesa here. You two, this is Kairos Finis, foster son of His Excellency, President Atomo Axiopisto as well as his guard and also get a load of this, he is the demiurge of Khronos, god of time."

Zenith and Avesa's eyes widened in surprise, but before they can utter a single word, someone behind us spoke all of a sudden.

"So that's why our government became so efficient and hardworking all of a sudden," the familiar voice of a jolly boy piped in as he slowly came into view when he took a large helping of lechon skin on my plate, "Our understandably lazy president managed to get his hands on the spawn of time for himself."

Kairos looked at him curiously as our newcomer classmate waved his oily hands at him rather idiotically, "And who is he, Morris?"

"Oh, him? He is Syden Villiers, son of Koalemos, the god of stupidity and an Anoixian like yourself, Kairos," my cousin answered as he took a bite out of his chicken once more, "Don't anger him unless you want to see mass hysteria erupting all of a sudden around you."

The son of the god of time nodded thoughtfully as he gingerly accepted the oily hand of Syden, "No need to remind me. His father is one of the resident patron immortals of this nation and a well respected and feared one at that. But forget about his father, he reminds me of someone from my father's cabinet, but I can't seem to remember who. Villiers, Villiers, I have heard that last name before."

"You must be talking about my mother, Syna Villiers."

Kairos nodded quickly, "Yes! That's it. Ms Syna Villiers, Secretary for Dodonan Affairs. The most intelligent mortal in the republic and under the tutelage of the goddess of wisdom herself. But I never knew she has a son and from Koalemos himself."

"I know. She gets odd questions about what the heck she is thinking of falling for the traps of my father out of all gods. Hence, she just decided not to talk much about it," he said happily as we all winced when he wipes his greasy hands on his pants without a care in the world, "Anyways, enough about my weird birth circumstances. I am just here to check in on Zenith and Avesa here. Nice to know that everything went rather smoothly. But hey! I am talking about the son of Zeus and Hera here. I don't expect anything less."

We all laughed with him as the son of Koalemos grinned at Kairos and me before preparing to leave but not before whispering loudly at the ear of my cousin, "Looks like someone got an Anoixian fling here, huh, Morris?"

"We shall see if it's just a fling, Syden. We shall see," he replied as the son of Koalemos ran away laughing hastily before my hands can reach him while Zenith and Avesa just shook their heads while smiling at our guard who is oblivious at what are talking about around him as he rechecks his watch.

"If you two are finished eating then might I suggest that you prepare for our departure? The earlier we leave, the better. The next event you have to partake in is located at the very heart of Zephyrant so that the traffic will be expectedly heavy," he said thoughtfully as he stood up and nodded at our classmates, "If you will excuse us, Your Eminences, but time is something that doesn't wait for anyone. Send our regards to the lovely couple. Thank you."

We just waved goodbye to the laughing brother and sister as our companion pulled us up from our seats and shoved us towards the exit as we walked from the grand hotel lobby straight to the parking lot where a fleet of black government cars are waiting for us.

-0-

Kairos is right.

The traffic is rather gruesome.

Thankfully, we left more than an hour before the event, so we just arrived at the venue in the nick of time no less.

"There should be at least a hundred thousand people here alone," Morris exclaimed as he looked out of the car window and true enough, a sea of human can be seen just outside of our vehicle, "Mr Atomo didn't tell us what the heck is built here."

The son of Khronos helped me put on my white shoes as I fix my pearl sundress and try to comb my messy hair to no avail.

"No need to do much, Vivet. You are beautiful already as is," he said that made me stop what I am doing and look at him speechless.

Morris was even speechless himself in our minds as I saw our driver grinned from the rear mirror happily.

Before I can even answer, he already stepped out of the car and motioned me to prepare myself.

I gulped and prayed to my mother as I heard the muffled screams and shouts of the masses outside.

Kairos gave me his sign and opened the door abruptly as I stepped out and almost got blinded from the flashes of cameras around me as our companion and Morris positioned themselves on my flanks.

"PRAISE BE TO THE DEMIURGE OF HOPE!"

"GLORY TO THE NAME OF ELPIS!"

"WE BELIEVE IN YOU!"

"BLESSINGS BE UPON HOPE'S SCION!"

"MAY YOUR LIGHT SHINE UPON US ALL!"

"LONG LIVE THE DAUGHTER OF HOPE!"

"WE ARE HONORED TO HAVE YOU HERE!"

"WELCOME TO THE LAND OF ETERNAL CALM!"

"BE OUR GUIDING LIGHT, ELPIS!"

"MAY OUR CHILDREN BE BLESSED BY YOUR ETERNAL RADIANCE!"

I can see their joyous celebration at my arrival and hear their welcoming words as I walked down the white carpet with Kairos and Morris who are like me, seemingly can't believe the reception I am receiving right now.

When we reach what seemed to be halfway, I finally saw a large and grand edifice right in front of us and the reason why there are a lot of people here.

Mall of Anoixi

Of all the buildings I've seen in Zephyrant, this is hands down the largest and majestic of them all. It is made of concrete and wood, like a fusion of viceroyalty and republic architecture.

If I am going to guess just how big this shopping behemoth is, it is about five hundred thousand square meters at least and can easily accommodate hundreds of thousands of people at the same time.

"You should wave, Vivet."

"But, Morris..."

"Acknowledge them as they have graciously and warmly acknowledged your presence."

I took a deep breath when I heard my cousin's voice in our thoughts as he showed me in his mind's eye, the expectant faces of Anoixians waving at me happily.

The moment I stopped walking and waved my hand at the people, they all screamed happily and waved their own hands back at me. I saw several parents with their children in their arms or shoulders trying to get a better look at me as the presidential security detail made sure that they won't get past the perimeter they set up.

A young boy around five years old managed to squeezed his way past the guards and ran at high speed towards me with a flower crown made of sampaguitas in his small hand but before he can even reach me, he tripped and fell over.

I quickly ran towards him and helped him get up and clean his white shirt. Thankfully, he is not injured, and to my surprise, he just smiled at me innocently as he tries to hide the crown he is carrying that got disfigured when he fell on it.