Where The Dead Ones Go Book 2 -Republic-

Chapter 12

"...and that is the reason why the Republic of Anoixi have the last monarch collections together with other relics and artifacts from the lost age. The last provincial leader here is the only one who believed in the empress and was entrusted in return with the Imperial Family's priceless heirlooms."

Morris nodded slowly, "Yeah, I get it. Back then, nobody believed the empress. She was so young also, around our age, maybe? Come to think of it, why can't I remember her face? She was supposed to be the symbol of the Empire of Pax, but I am coming in blank, odd."

"Really? Maybe the House Axiopisto's treasured picture may provide some enlightenment to you, young Lord?"

With the permission of our host, the butler stood up and opened a safe hidden behind a vase at the corner of the living room and got back to us carrying several old clippings from newspapers and files that are so yellow and ancient-looking, I am afraid they will crumble as my cousin touched them in disbelief.

"It can't be..."

"It is what you see, young Lord," Jeeves said sadly as I got goosebumps when I saw the clippings that supposedly show the face of the last monarch, but it is empty, "I have compared it with what the House Mycenae has, and it is the same. It is as if her face, no, her very existence has been erased in the annals of history."

Kairos touched the files and closed his eyes before shedding a single tear when he opened them, "I know who did it."

We all looked at him as he looked down on his hands sadly.

"Who is it, Kairos?" Mr Atomo asked his foster son, but a grim realization came upon him when he looked again at the clipping, "Wait, the one who can remove any trace of existence as if someone didn't exist at all. There's only one immortal who can do that."

His foster son nodded and wiped away the tears from his eyes, "Yes. There's only one, Your Excellency. It is my father."

"Of course. Not even death can remove traces of a person as long as someone remembers that particular mortal," Morris followed quietly as he looked once again at the faceless empress, "To even do it when they are still living. Khronos, no, time is probably older than death and hope. He is not merely one of the balances of the world as we know it. He is the one who keeps the cycle of existence, mortals or immortals alike."

Kairos nodded and tried to smile a little, "He did it with a heavy heart. He was forced to do it. He has to or all shall be completely lost and..."

"...and what?" I asked quietly as the spawn of time looked at me fondly.

"He did it out of love, Vivet. The empress, her picture, showed me a glimpse, she managed to catch my father's normally aloof attention. She was out of options, and so she requested him to do something. What it is, I do not know. What I do know is that time is selfish. Time doesn't want to share what it deemed its property."

Kairos then looked at the butler and the president, who nodded as if they allowed him to say something.

"I am not sure if Khronos is even my parent at all..."

My cousin looked scandalized when he heard that and shook his head in disbelief, "That's impossible. I am personally in the receiving end of your powers, and it is time all right, Kairos."

"You already know that unlike you two, I am not invoking the name of the god of time whenever I use his powers. I can wield them as if it is my own, but it is limited. Far weaker than what it should be," he explained as he opened his right hand and conjured a face fo a silver clock stuck in the midnight, "If I can take a wild guess, maybe I am his creation or contraption. For what reason, I don't know why. But I have a feeling in my heart that the sun god's other immortal ally can only be Khronos."

I nodded slowly as I remembered Apollo's optimism in the past when we met him, that he is betting that if he cannot save the past, he can definitely have a chance to save the future, "Time is a powerful ally. It doesn't matter if not other immortals came to his aid. With the god of time, he can wait for the perfect moment to retaliate and prepare for what is to come."

"And so we have yet again, managed to find a missing piece of an ancient puzzle as to whom is the other deity who believed in Apollo," the old butler said calmly as he collected the clippings that he showed us and returned them carefully to the safe, "However, several questions remained. Where did the empress disappear to? Why did the time god erased his face, existence, in the annals of history? What happened to the lost Imperial Armed Forces? Indeed, the mystery deepens."

The president sighed and shrugged his shoulders, "For every question answered, even more questions appeared to take their place. The other world leaders are digging into their ancient records and artifacts as per the immortal's orders. They believe that the key to finally defeating the returning catastrophe and saving all that we hold dear lies on finding the lost empress."

"Why can't they just ask Apollo? He is the one who has been collaborating with the last monarch and the god of time. I am sure he knows a whole lot about them."

We all looked at the Morris, who asked a valid question as we awaited the answer of our host who just shook his head and sighs, "He indeed made the prophecy, but he didn't know what Khronos did specifically as long as he fulfills his vow of bringing hope into the future. Trust the god of prophecy to be as cryptic as his Sibyls."

"But my dear children, the adults deal with this as much as they can. After all, it is our duty as your elders to do so. For now, keep on going with your daily lives," Jeeves said as he wraps up our conversation, "Well, I do hope you liked my story. If you wanted to know more, I highly suggest you talk with the Emirate ruling dynasty."

I looked up curiously, "Vaski and Rebie's parents?"

"Indeed. Deira and her Grand Marshal are descended from the ancient rulers of the Province of Scythia. I am sure that they can tell you more about the lost age from the emirati point of view," Mr Atomo said as he stood up and stretched his arms and body, "But as my butler said, you just leave everything to us for now. Go to sleep. You have to wake up early tomorrow. I will be sending you to Lord Zephyrus. He demands to meet you three. Well, just Morris and Vivet, but I told him that if he doesn't see my foster son, then he won't get to meet the god of death and goddess of hope's children."

My cousin and I looked at Kairos, who suddenly looked irritated, "What?!"

"You annoyed the god of western winds?" Morris asked carefully that made the butler laughed a little.

"Indeed he did, young Lord. Let's just say that even the wind gods' laziest became anything but when Young Master Kairos here got his sights of him once. He disliked him ever since..."

I chuckled as Kairos just scratched the back of his head as his foster faster advised him to apologize tomorrow to the patron wind god of Anoixi.

The two boys head towards their room as I head to mine. When I closed the door, I walked past the Rayser Mirror that we procured from the auction, and in a split second, I thought I saw somebody else when I should have seen myself instead.

I looked back, and this time, I see my own face. I shook my head and decided to sleep. Maybe I'm so tired I am beginning to see things...

-0-

"I wouldn't beat around the bush, Vivet, this is my only mortal son, Zeron Arden. I am offering his hand for marriage."

I just looked at the teenage patron western wind god of the republic and his muscular and manly demigod son. He resembles him in all angles except for the eyes.

"He is still wearing a football uniform at our school. I bet he is just summoned here out of the blue by his father, Vivet."

"The poor guy, Morris. I think we saw him and his girlfriend having a date at the school garden before we left, right?"

"Oh, right! I do remember that. They are nice enough to let us use the bench because we are so tired from the practical test of Ms Peregrine."

We looked again at the expressionless wind demigod. Though his face is not showing any emotions, his eyes tell a different story.

He is already panicking and clearly doesn't want to be here at all but cannot say no to the direct orders of his father and incur his wrath.

"Let me tell you, he is an absolute stud and way better than Boreas' boyish spawn," Zephyrus said proudly as he clapped the back of Zeron, "Captain of the football team of your school and perfect for someone as serene as you. What do you say, shall I prepare the cliffside villa for your honeymoon?"

I honestly don't know how to react at another wedding proposal by a wind god, but my cousin is urging me to speak, or Zeron will lose consciousness very soon since he is really holding his breath for my answer that will quite literally change his fate and may end his relationship with a beautiful and kind girl that he really loves.

I bowed first lowly and smiled at the western wind god, "Thank you very much for the offer, Lord Zephyrus, and I really agree with you. He is really quite a catch. Why every girl and boys of my year scream, including me, whenever he leads his team to victory in every football match. You are absolutely right, he is an absolute stud and..."

"Yes? And? Go on, Vivet..."

"...and a loving boyfriend to a nice girl whom I look up to when it comes to grace and confidence," I finished that made the wind god blink at me in confusion, "As the firstborn daughter of the goddess of hope, I can't possibly in good conscience knowingly rob the two of the future they are hoping for. I humbly and respectfully decline your offer, Lord Zephyrus."

But it seemed that the god is not going down without a fight because he said something that even his own son looked at him with utmost disgust, "Listen, Iris, your patroness, is my wife, I am sure she and Irene will approve of this union themselves."

I am insulted that he has to go this far to pull me into something I don't want, but I decided to just shut my mouth than anger him, which his son did somewhat surprisingly.

"That's low, even for you, father..."

"You are saying something, Zeron?" Zephyrus asked in a dangerously quiet voice as the winds around us began to blow angrily.

"I am saying that to bring in Lady Iris and her foster mother into the conversation just to force her is something no self-respecting mortal nor immortal should ever do, especially since she already refused your offer with utmost grace and respect that seems you don't deserve after what you just said to her, father."

The winds howl as Morris clung to my arm and clouds darken as the western winds wind up what seemed to be a violent summer windstorm, "Why you little..."

I was already preparing to summon my mother's shield when all of a sudden, the winds died down, and the angry west wind god earlier is now laughing shyly at us all.

"Yeah, I might've gone too far," he embarrassedly admitted as he looked at my direction and bow apologetically, "That was unbecoming of me as a god, my apologies, Vivet, for any disrespect I might have incurred."

I smiled and nodded graciously, "None will be remembered, my Lord."

"Tell you what, I vow upon the river of Styx that I will provide you with any wish your heart desires right now, and I will grant it as long as it is within my sphere of influence. I wouldn't want Iris and Irene to learn that I didn't offer you anything substantial as a sign of apology, especially since they really look out for you. So go, think, and I am at your service."

Zeron quietly looked at his father interestingly as I thought of the best one to wish right now.

"Oh, I like what you are thinking, Vivet."

"I was really particularly tired that day and was resigned to just sitting at the pavement if not for those two. Might as well get even, eh, Morris?"

"Hear, hear!"

I smiled at the wind god and nodded, "Then I wish for you to grant absolute freedom to your children to choose how they lead their life, be it in their chosen paths or in terms of love because I know personally how hard it is to be pushed around when it comes to serious things like marriage just because overly enthusiastic parents want the best for their children."

Zephyrus seemed to be taken aback by my wish, and I thought he was about to blast me away for committing hubris against him. Still, he just laughed, and the weather became nice and warm again.

"To be told off by a spawn of hope, how low have I been?" he asked himself as he bowed at me again, "Then I will abide by the terms of your wishes and will, from now on, will not mess around my children's lives just because I can."

Morris stepped forward and piped in, "I also thought that you are in the service of Eros, the god of love. I think it's rather odd that you are not letting love take its own course when you are working for it technically speaking.

"Is your cousin really the son of Thanatos, Vivet?" the western wind god asked in a loud whisper that made Morris grin, "For a spawn of death, he is way too knowledgeable it seems with the way of the heart. But then again, Eros always says that he and Thanatos can be interchangeable."

He then looked back at his speechless son and nodded at him, "Want me to sent you back at the viceroyalty, Zeron?"

"Uhm, no need, father. I will take the train, thank you."

"Suit yourself. I will go and report to my employer now after I tell the news to your sisters. Really, what a catch you are, Vivet. A pity you have to fall for the foster son of Atomo. Speaking of that annoying spawn of time, where is he? He is supposed to be here."

I heaved a sigh of relief as my cousin answered the wind god, "He is aware of your annoyance with him and wanted us to send his apology for any inconvenience he may have caused you before."

"Him, apologizing? That's new. Must be the wings, but, meh. At least he made me more efficient in the long run now that I think about it. Tell him we are even, spawn of death. I'm outta here."

And with that, our audience with Zephyrus, the patron western wind god of the Republic of Anoixi, ended relatively peacefully.