Chapter 6
2408 Words
"So basically you are telling me that all that the Sibyl told you are a bunch of nonsensical words that weren't even explained clearly?"
Morris and I nodded as we reclined comfortably on our expensive and gold plated velvet chair on one of the top VIP boxes in the Grand Auction House of the Republic of Anoixi as Kairos is standing on the balcony and looking down at the other bidders chatting the night away below us.
"Hah! I knew it. Another waste of precious time confirmed. We could've just went on instead to your next engagement so you could have more productive stay here at Anoixi."
I sighed in my mind as Morris thought it might have been better that we wasted time back at Dodona rather than shoved on the next task.
"Maybe we could ask him to bring us to the mountain he mentioned before that the Sibyl also showed us, Morris."
"Of course. But that can wait since we are only on our second day here. We still have to finish all the engagements and events Mr Atomo wanted us to attend., Vivet."
"I know, and I also know why he wanted us to represent him. Ugh, personally, if it were me, I wouldn't even be here. Now I know why Ms Irene doesn't want to deal with this nonsense herself."
"I hear you. The number of superficial greetings and fake smiles we have to use earlier is already taking a toll on me far sooner than what I would have expected."
"Well, let's be thankful that we manage to secure this top box all for ourselves. Thank the gods for privacy."
Our companion and guard looked at the two of us and smiled a little, "Your exhausted faces remind me of His Excellency's all too well. He also has to endure the socializing aspects of his work that can be overbearing."
"You don't say, bro. You don't say," Morris agreed as he drank his soda from an expensive glass, "I asked for a can of soda, and I got one in a glass more expensive than my net worth."
I chuckled and looked at my buko juice, the Anoixian word for coconut, in the very same exorbitant container, "If it's Ms Irene, she will drink straight from the fruit itself."
"I met your foster mother once before at a gala, and she is quite nice to me but the exact opposite when it comes to His Excellency," Kairos said as he looked down and continued talking, "Very gorgeous, sexy and alluring but have the mouth that can make a man grovel in self-pity and forever rob his confidence as quick as she takes their breath away with her beauty."
"That about sums up our employer quite nicely, eh, Vivet?"
"I wouldn't even be able to put it as concise and simple like that myself if someone asks me to describe her, Morris."
The son of the god of time chuckled a little as he continued to watch the other participants of the auction below, "You know, I am also curious as to what past our foster parents share. As you well know, His Excellency is very sensitive and angry when it comes to the subject regarding the proprietress of the Iris Delivery Service. Whenever I ask the person who might know something about it, they all fearfully refuse to speak about it."
"Now that makes me more curious than ever, Kairos," Morris said as he heaved a content sigh after burping loudly, "Maybe they are an item before or something? I mean, you can't hate someone that much if you don't hold them most dear once, right?"
I looked at my cousin and grinned at him, "For the son of the god of death, you know a lot about love, Morris."
"Mortals always fear death, but often, love is crueler than my father. He offers immediate release from pain, while love will torture you for a long-long time. My father is merciful, the one between the two."
"Ladies and Gentlemen, the auction shall begin shortly. Please be advised that we have twenty items available for bidding tonight. All proceeds will go to the Republican Children's Fund that helps the orphans in our nation and around the world. The items are all Golden Age artifacts taken from the National Preservation Commission's vaults and donated to this auction for a better cause, including the selection of items owned by the last monarch of our continent. I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge the work of our honorable President Atomo Axiopisto, who approved of this endeavor. He is represented tonight by his only child at one of our top boxes. Please, a round of applause for our overworking leader, everyone!"
Kairos walked at the edge of the balcony and raised his right hand in acknowledgment and looked around as the audience erupted in rapturous applause.
The auctioneer coughed loudly, and the crowd settled down.
"Only two kinds of monetary payments will be accepted. Cash and debit. Strictly no return, and once the hammer has fallen, the sale is final, and no appeals will be welcomed. This auction will be televised throughout the continent for advertisement and transparency purposes. Everyone is expected to conduct themselves accordingly. Thank you."
Everyone clapped their hands as the auctioneer left the stage, and the bidders began to brag about their financial capabilities.
"Wait, did he say only cash and debit will be accepted?" I asked in panic as my cousin quickly extracted a black card from his pocket.
"There's only Ms Irene's name here and my name as her joint account holder."
Kairos asked for the card, and my cousin gave it to him for inspection, "Oh, a Palladium Black Card. No worries, this one is both credit and debit. President Atomo has one as well."
"Oh, that's a relief," I heaved a relieved sigh and returned to reclining lazily, "So, what's the plan? Should we clean the house, Morris?"
"I don't think that will be a great idea, Vivet," my cousin warned as he drinks from his glass once more, "We are here to show off, not to anger everyone by hoarding."
I nodded in agreement and took a deep breath. I wonder what kinds of items from our time they will auction?
Will some or at least one of it will enlighten me about my tragic past?
"Ladies and Gentlemen, the auction will now begin!" the auctioneer announced the moment he stepped back to the stage before snapping his fingers as the first item slowly ascended from under the stage encased in a glass box, "The first one is a maroon scarf of the highest quality that cannot be reproduced by current means. The first of the fourteen items owned by the previous monarch of the lost age was called the Almorican Scarf! We will start the bidding at One Hundred Thousand Drachmas!"
Morris read my mind, and he stands up next to Kairos, and both of them are now looking down at the stage and admiring the item for bidding.
"Two Hundred Thousand!"
"We have a current bid of Two Hundred!"
"Three Hundred!"
"Four Hundred!"
I feel so offended when I heard the amount of money they are offering and quickly connected to my relative's mind.
"Eight Million, Morris."
"Eight Million Drachmas for Iris Delivery Service!" his voice echoed throughout the auction house as he speaks on a small inconspicuous receiver located at the balcony of our luxury box.
The stage fell silent when my cousin announced my offer.
"Who is he?"
"Didn't you know? He is one of the foster children of Iris Iridis, owner of the Iris Delivery Service!"
"Also, the demiurge of the god of death himself."
"Eight Million Drachmas for the Almorican Scarf! Going once!"
No one responded with a counteroffer.
"Going twice!"
No one...
"Sold! Auction for the Iris Delivery Service!" the auctioneer let his hammer fall to signal the deal's closing.
We heard a round of applause as Morris flashed the black card in his right hand before making it vanish all of a sudden, and in a blink of an eye, it is already at sitting next to the transparent box encasing the scarf.
"Mode of payment confirmed. Should I keep the card here for future bids, sir?"
My cousin nodded as a valet took the scarf and proceeded to bring it on where we are lounging.
"Something is emanating from that thing, Vivet. Can I touch it?"
I nodded at Kairos, who carefully opened the glass case and gently put his hand on it.
"I feel a sense of freedom in this very scarf. There was a time when this one was worn to symbolize inhibition..."
Morris suddenly thought of our classmate, who was finally free from the shackles of his painful past.
"I have a perfect friend to give that one to then," I replied quietly that made the son of Khronos raise an eyebrow.
"Mistress Irene will not keep it?"
It is Morris who answered our companion's question, "He doesn't care if we throw or give away the items we will bid for tonight as long as it will be known to the whole Gearth that it is her company who bid the highest."
"But really, that's a nice ability you got there, Kairos. To be able to sense what has been imbued in an item like that."
He nodded as he returned the scarf to its case, "Normal people and deities cannot see or feel what has been preserved by time throughout thousands of millennia."
"And here I though time destroys all."
Kairos looked at my cousin and shook his head, "A common misconception. Time can't erase what has been done and felt, for example."
"Let's go to our next item owned by the last monarch! A special diamond-encrusted looking glass called Rayser Mirror! We will start the bidding at Eight Million Drachmas! Do I hear Eight Million?"
"Eight Million!"
"We have a current bid of Eight Million, and I repeat Eight Million!"
"Nine!"
"That is Nine! Nine Million for the Rayser Mirror!"
"Ten and a half!"
"I heard ten and a half!"
"Twelve!"
"Fourteen and a half!"
"Seventeen, Morris."
My cousin looked down upon them all and started my bid, "Seventeen Million Drachmas for Iris Delivery Service!"
"Seventeen Million Drachmas for Iris Delivery Service! Do I hear anything higher?"
No one answered his question.
"Seventeen Million Drachmas for Rayser Mirror going once! Seventeen Million Drachmas going twice!"
Still, no one uttered a single word.
"Seventeen Million Drachmas for Rayser Mirror for Iris Delivery Service, sold!"
The valet carried the item into our box, and I let Kairos do his thing on it.
"Duality and identity, Vivet."
"Perfect for the gorgeous girl in our class, cousin," Morris said meaningfully, and I nodded in agreement.
"Indeed. Whenever she looks at her reflection, I always feel that she is somehow trying to look at what is beyond it."
The auctioneer order silence as he presented the next item, "Vasquer Glasses worn by the last monarch! Price starts at Seventeen Million Drachmas! Seventeen Million Drachmas for the platinum made Vasquer Glasses!"
"Twenty Million!"
"I hear Twenty Million! Twenty Million for Vasquer Glasses!"
"Twenty One!"
"Going Twenty One!"
"Twenty Three!"
"Twenty Six, Morris."
"Twenty-Six Million Drachmas for Iris Delivery Service!
They all looked up once more to my cousin, wearing his emotionless poker face as he relayed my bid.
"Twenty-Six Million Drachmas for Vasquer Glasses! Do I hear any higher offers?"
Nobody answered him.
"Twenty-Six Million Drachmas for Vasquer Glasses! Going once! Going twice! Sold!"
Kairos chuckled a little as he lifted the platinum glasses from its cushion, "You were not kidding when you said that you are here to impress."
"We are just doing what we are told, bro," Morris replied simply as he looked at Khronos's son expectantly, "Now, what do you think about that one? Pricy for a pair of glasses, don't you think?"
Our companion nodded and smiled a little, "Pricy yes, but it is also full of emotions in it. This one represents a humble intellect."
"A perfect fit for our stupid classmate, that's for sure," I replied simply as my cousin returned to the balcony's edge to look at the next item.
"Up next, the Brygantysian Comb made of oak wood! Twenty-Six Million Drachmas for the Brygantisian Comb!"
"Thirty Million Drachmas!"
My cousin chuckled softly when he heard the starting bid. They are finally starting to realize that we are serious about this auction.
If they don't step up their game, our foster mother's finances might sweep them away.
"Thirty-One!"
"I hear Thirty One! Thirty-One Million Drachmas for Brygantysian Comb!"
"Give them Thrity Five, Morris."
"Thirty-Five Million Drachmas for Iris Delivery Service!"
I heard a collective sigh when the son of the god of death announced our bid, and I already know we won.
Again.
"Thirty-Five Million Drachmas for the Brygantysian Comb going once, going twice! Sold to the Iris Delivery Service!"
Kairos then took the glass box containing the comb from the valet and opened it excitedly before putting it in his hands, "Interesting. I was expecting vanity, but I feel presentability and dignity in this one. Odd."
"For our classmate who always has a problem with her hair and a close friend of ours, that will be a perfect gift, right, Morris?"
"You don't have to tell me twice, Vivet. Now, let's see what we will get next? Oh, this one looks pricy!"
The auctioneer raised a small box containing a cat brooch made of pure gold, "I present you all the Feng Brooch of the last monarch! Since this is a rather precious item, we will start the bidding price at Forty Million Drachmas!"
"Forty-One!"
"I hear Forty One!"
"Forty-Two Million Drachmas!"
"There is Forty-Two! Forty-Two for the Feng Brooch!"
"Forty Four, Morris."
My cousin cleared his throat and smiled a little, "Forty-Four Million Drachmas for Iris Delivery Service!"
"Forty-Four Million from our high bidder! Any more offers?"
As expected, no one dared to speak anymore as the auctioneer nodded and tapped at the black card of Morris sitting next to the auction hammer.
"Forty-Four Million Drachmas for the Feng Brooch going once, going twice! Sold to the Iris Delivery Service! It seemed that we have a persistent bidder tonight! I highly suggest that you all put on your best effort if anyone else wants to bring home something from our rare selection!"
Morris just raised a single eyebrow in response as if he is daring anyone to stop him from winning while the president's son touched the brooch with his right hand.
"As it forms suggest, this one channels the inner ferality of the one who wears it."
"Good for our ferocious friend then," I responded simply as I looked at my cousin, who nodded in agreement, "You think we should rest after two more bids?"
"Let's Vivet. I am sure there are more precious things for auction later, and I don't want to antagonize the poor people below."
I nodded in agreement as I ordered another round of buko juice and sapin-sapin from the roving waiter.
Yep.
This is going to be a rather long night.
- Writer
