Where The Dead Ones Go Book 2 -Republic-

Chapter 10

When I stare again bemused at the newspaper's front page, Jeeves gave me while I am eating the delicious Anoixian breakfast tapsilog, "Neither confirm nor deny? If there is something Ms Irene dislikes with passion, it is beating around the bush."

"She loves it, Vivet."

I looked up and laughed a little at our host's annoyed face, who is also browsing the same broadsheet on my hands while eating his own breakfast composed of a coffee blend called barako and pandesal, a native Anoixian bread.

"Now, now, Master Atomo. Let Mistress Irene have some fun, would you?" Jeeves asked politely as he puts some kesong puti or white cheese at his master's pandesal, "She has been walking tirelessly for so many years and slowly but surely climbing the corporate ladder dragging her company to the top where it rightfully belongs now. I do believe that she earned what attention and respect she and Iris Delivery Service are getting now. Want to try pandesal, young Lady?"

I nodded and let him put three bread pieces the president is eating as I continued reading while eating the soft and chewy bread with delectable cheese inside.

"Multitrillionaire? How can she even amass that kind of wealth is just a few years?" I asked quietly that the butler and Mr Atomo looked at each other meaningfully before smiling a little in my direction.

"I may angrily call out the way she is handling the press with her self-centeredness, but I personally can't deny the fact myself that she is really worth that much, Vivet," the president said honestly at me as his loyal butler followed.

"Indeed. As far as my aging knowledge is concerned, she is already a multibillionaire during her years at the Hellenic Citadel."

"Has Ms Irene been working already around our age?"

We looked at the two boys walking towards the table groggily as Kairos is yawning and stretching while Morris is trying to c***k his necks and aching back.

The butler quickly pulled seats for the two and gave them the same meal I am eating straight from the sizzling plates.

"Good morning, Kairos and Morris," Mr Atomo greeted the two who just nodded and started to eat, "I thought I heard crashing sounds from your room. Are you two fighting by any chance?"

My cousin angrily looked up as I can't help myself from laughing out loud as our minds began to flood with hilarious memories that are making him irritated understandably right now.

"Fighting?! I was forced to sleep on the floor because he keeps on accidentally summoning his wings and throwing me across the room! He said he was dreaming that he was losing it. For Olympus' sake, calm the heck down! I've finally felt again how hard it really is to sleep on the floor after all this time, Kairos!"

"I'm sorry, all right? I promise you can sleep on my bed alone at night. I will just make myself comfortable on the floor. Don't worry," the son of Khronos regretfully told my cousin, who just threw him an annoyed look before stuffing his mouth with food as he continued to mumble in our heads, "Good morning, Vivet. I hope you got a good night's sleep after what happened last night."

I didn't answer and just look at him in awe, "Forget about me, how can you even act like nothing happened when you just awakened last night?"

"What do you mean?"

"What she means is how come you are already up and about when we have to spend more than a week bedridden after awakening ourselves," Morris answered incredulously as memories of our life-threatening stay at the hospital, "Did we already told you all that we barely survived our awakenings? Our internal organs are failing and deteriorating after we collapsed during the end of the entrance examinations."

He thankfully left out that the reason we survived is that someone is helping us recover beyond ordinary means.

Kairos looked at his body and touched it absentmindedly, "Really? I don't feel any different. I am actually feeling better now that the wounds at my back are finally healed, and I just have the best sleep ever."

"No one will be any wiser even if we detonate a bomb here?! My gosh! Now what?!"

We looked around, and we saw Seola smacking Tina with a rolled newspaper angrily.

"It is on the front page of the national newspaper, girl!" the maid screamed at the ears of her best friend who just smiled lopsidedly.

"What? We are in the remotest part of the republic! That and I didn't even know that the Young Master will detonate a bomb "that" big!"

"Okay, that's enough bickering, you two," Jeeves step in front of them and grabbed the newspaper from Seola's hand before she can use it to hit her friend again, "Whatever are you talking about this loud early in the morning? Oh, dear."

He then gave me the newspaper quietly, and I read it for myself out loud.

"REPUBLIC OF ANOIXI: Home to the God of Time's Demiurge!

Head Guard of the Presidential Security Detail Awakened?

As the business world was still reeling from the sudden appearance of a multitrillionaire last night, our own nation was rocked, literally, by a massive shockwave from the remotest region of the republic that came from a colossal explosion of awe-inspiring power never before seen in recent history that can be seen by the viceroyalty, emirate, union, and the magistracy that leveled an entire uninhabited region in a thirty five-kilometer wide blast zone.

"IT IS NOT AN ATTACK OF ANY SORTS. IT IS MY FOSTER SON FINALLY AWAKENING AS A FIRSTBORN CHILD OF KHRONOS."

Our president assured us that no attack nor invasion happened. He sent a missive late last night to the media outlets and instructed his cabinet to disseminate it accordingly.

Anoixians, however, is more celebratory than angry. Most that we have asked is not even surprised about finding out that Kairos Paron is the son of the god of time.

"Every self-respecting Anoixian would know something is amiss in our government the moment it started becoming efficient and finishing their job on time and in advance for what now? Oh, for more than a decade in the future!" says an old housewife from downtown Zephyrant.

The store owner at the upper village just outside the capital city has something similar to say, "That boy is always with his father the whole time he is working and reminding him of his schedule while pestering him to do more. Now that you tell me that he is the son of Khronos, then I wouldn't even bat an eyelash at you. It's too obvious already!"

"I always thought there is something strange going on at the Maylakandyan Palace the whole time I was there submitting my business permits for approval. They just finished it less than a minute when it usually takes almost six months to even get my papers sorted, and I have been operating my business for five decades, so I know something is bizarre! Now that I think about it, I think I saw President Axiopisto's son hovering behind the government clerk the whole time," said by the owner of the oldest buko juice stand in the republic when asked for his opinion regarding the revelation that our country is home to the ever-elusive and respected primordial god of time that barely if ever shows himself to mortals if at all.

Congratulatory messages have been flooding in from the other four nations of Tiera when they learned that our country's leader is a proud foster father of a demiurge of time.

"WHEN I FINALLY GOT BACK TO WORK, I WAS SERIOUSLY THINKING THAT MY AIDE WAS JOKING WHEN I WAS TOLD THAT THE REPUBLIC'S GOVERNMENT IS ALREADY DOING WORK FOR THE NEXT DECADE."

Zenaira Mycenae, First Magistrate of the Magistracy of Pagos, was the first one to send her message of congratulations to her republican counterpart with an impressed tone stating that she and her court will respectfully step back and let the Anoixians government have the title of the "Most Hardworking Government" this time.

The Scythian Emirate's Emira Deira also sent her goodwill early this morning. The republic's staunch leader ally hoped that our president is still getting asleep when she heard from her son, the Sheikh. The latter is accidentally in immersion with his classmates at our nation. He is indeed being worked to the bone.

Prime Minister Fino Dalmasia of the Cretonian Union also sends his country's sincerest salutations to our nation. He hopes that the republic will now be a bastion of productivity that all countries can look up to.

Finally, the Vicereine of the Viceroyalty of Auralia gracefully thanked the republic for accepting her students and hoped that they can learn from the foster son of our president.

"MY ANOIXIAN FOSTER SON WILL BE AN ASSET TO OUR NATION."

In the final part of his missive, President Axiopisto assured his citizens that his foster son, Kairos Paron, will be an asset and will make our nation a better place to use his powers firstborn of time.

But as we asked around the four corners of the Republic of Anoixi, we can safely say that we do respectfully beg to differ, Your Excellency.

Your child is already an asset to our country. By forcing our chronically lazy and bogged down the bureaucracy to finish its job in advance for more than a decade, and counting, he already made our nation a better place.

Keep going, Kairos.

I looked at the picture of the gigantic crater that Kairos made last night. I raised my eyebrow approvingly despite myself.

"Well, just don't make this kind of explosion again with me, barely saving myself from it, and I can definitely agree with your countrymen. Keep going, Kairos, indeed."

Jeeves looked at his Master in an impressed way, "To think that you managed to send missives and directives to your cabinet to handle the aftermath of what happened last night on your own without your child urging you to do it is a feat that deserves utmost praise, Master Atomo."

"Let's just say that Kairos is rubbing in his efficiency on me just a little," the president said as he let Tina refill her cup of coffee, "None will be any wiser, eh, Tina?"

The maid managed to chuckle a little and looked at Kairos, quietly eating and keeping quiet because he seems too embarrassed to say a single word himself.

"Next time, a little warning, Young Master, all right?"

Seola screamed a little and playfully pulled the hair of her best friend, "What next time? There won't any be next time, right, Young Master Kairos?"

"Thank you..."

We all looked at the son of Khronos, who is blushing profusely now.

"I just realized that I never thanked you all for taking care of me all this time..."

Our host looked at his son glowingly as he held back his tears while his butler patted his back in congratulations.

"Why aren't you just adorable right now, Kairos," Mr Atomo said as his maids are shedding a tear of happiness, "If only you could stay like that from now on instead of being an unbearable tyrant, then I wouldn't ask for more."

His son laughed a little and shook his head, "No can do, Your Excellency. You wouldn't be able to finish any job if I did."

"Welp, there goes my chance of returning to my laidback days."

"Ah, Master Atomo, I do prefer if you stayed the hardworking kind the way your child wants you to be," the butler said as he urged us to eat quickly, "We will have your three classmates later and a member of a royal family. Hurry up and prepare yourself."

We followed his suggestion and decided to finish our breakfast because, to be honest, I was now more afraid of our visitors than Kairos last night.

"Guilty, Vivet?"

"Not helping, Morris."

He chuckled and began eating as fast as he can while trying to think of a way to avoid my classmate's personal questions that I know I have no chance of avoiding.

-0-

"Thankfully, Ms Lunalla urged the three of us to sleep by six in the evening last night," Asher said happily as he ate the scrumptious buchi in one swallow, "We have to wake up at two in the morning the moment the Department of Information announced an all hands on deck orders."

Vaski nodded as he thanked Tina for giving him a mango juice, "I never panicked in my entire life until now. The amount of information that we have to process and censor is just too much, I almost fainted in exhaustion."

"Speaking of fainting, I am surprised you didn't exhaust yourself to death, Vivet," Estelle said coldly. Before I can ask what she is talking about, she dropped several pictures at the coffee table showing aerial footage of me summoning an ephemeral palace and the others that shows Morris parrying Kairos' swords with his scythe as my barrier crumbles around us, "You managed to defend not just yourself, but also your cousin and the whole presidential household against that kind of explosion is something else. As you may already know, everything within thirty-five kilometers of the blast zone is obliterated except for you all and the car."

I closed my eyes as even Morris, and I thanked my mother for the help she gave us last night.

"Barely even standing after all that happened, Estelle. Believe me. Just like the palace I summoned, I am barely even propping myself up."

Lytta's son just looked at Kairos from head to foot and suddenly gave him a thumbs up, "Nice one, bro. Morris is right. You really got the moves!"

"The what?" the boy sitting beside me asked in confusion as Asher elbowed Poseidon's son, who is grinning stupidly.

"Moves, Kairos! The "moves." Now that is one sure way to get your point across," Vaski exclaimed as he leaned forward, "Maybe you can teach me before we leave the republic?"

Kairos blushed profusely when he finally realized what the boys are talking about as my cousin nodded repeatedly.

"I don't know about you two, but I am just so lucky to hang out with him during our immersion. I am taking down notes, wanna copy, Vaski?"

Estelle just rolled her eyes and suddenly screamed so loud that it got the maids' attention who walked behind her.

"We know that scream, young Lady," Seola asked as Tina leaned forward and nodded at Aphrodite's daughter, who is still giggling and laughing uncontrollably, "Show us the goods, sister!"

To our surprise, Estelle produced two pictures from her pocket. She showed it to the maids, who screamed in unison and jumped excitedly.

"Feast your eyes on the "goods," filthy normies!" she ordered proudly that made Tina and Seola bow in respect, "I have the best souvenir already. Look!"

To my horror, I saw the close-up pictures of Kairos kissing me and our time moment in front of the full moon above the skies.

"How did you even get those angles..."

Estelle raised an eyebrow and looked down on me, "I may be the family's black sheep, but I am still a daughter of Aphrodite. I have the means you can only dream of to get my grimy hands on these."

I just looked at her in awe as Kairos bowed at her humbly.

"Can I have a copy, my Lady?"

Estelle finally fainted after giving the son of Khronos the pictures and passing out in her boyfriend's arms with a content look on her face.