Chapter 36: Chapter Thirty-Six: Risk
The crew decided to move to Pilloa, taking Siran to a new room to be treated in at the castle. "Remember the plan" Vivi says as Zia comes back from checking up on Siran once again; "We train people here so they can handle the front for us in Omnia".
"Then, when we're sure we can afford it, split into groups" Alex finishes.
Silas holds the top of Zia's hand gently as he says softly "Mom... I can fight too".
Zia's eyes shoot wide open with fear and anger at the same time. "Don't you dare do anything reckless and stupid!" she shouts.
"But, mom, we have more than enough-" Silas argues.
"More than enough what!?" Zia interrupts. "Enough endo? Enough imagination? You think those are enough!?".
"Zia..." Rose says gently.
"My whole family- no... my whole clan" Zia says "all had enough talent. They all had more than enough endo. They had imagination. But in the end, they all died!".
"Zia, he's still just a kid!" Vivi shouts.
"He's my kid" Zia shouts back, tears rolling down her eyes. "He's my son, and he's all I have left... power and talent alone isn't enough... bad things can still happen, and I don't know what I'd do if it happened to my son...".
Silas grips Zia's hand tighter and takes a deep breath, when suddenly Dana and Carl show up too. "Then train us" Dana says sternly.
Zia felt a little shocked when she heard Dana's voice. "Dana, you too?" Silas asks.
"If talent alone isn't enough" Dana continues, "then what we need is will and skill. We can prove that we already have that will, if you'll help us learn the skills. Would that be enough to survive in this world?".
Rose, Vivi and Zia all looked at the three kids in shock. "She's right" Carl says. "I mean, if that's not enough to keep us alive, then do you think running would be? We can only run so far, and for so long. At some point, we're going to have to fight".
"I hate to be the one to say it" Holly says, "but I agree with the kids. I'm not trying to be the one here telling the moms how to think, but... we do need all the hands we can get. Plus, and hear me out, they're your kids. Don't you think we can trust them more than all of the resistance army we have here in Omnia combined? Furthermore, it's not like we're sending them to the front lines of battle just because they know how. We can keep them safe, but equipped with the skills to defend themselves just in case worse comes to worst. Right?"
"Mom, it's going to be okay" Silas says as he squeezes Zia's hand. "I'm sure of it".
Zia nods her head as tears fall from her eyes. "Mhm" she says as she squeezes her son's hand.
"Dana" Finn says, "you're 17 now. You're the oldest amongst the three of you, so I want you to be responsible and set a good example. Don't you guys get any ideas about going on missions".
"Seriously?" Dana scoffs.
"Dana, this is serious" Finn says. "You don't know what it is to have to fight. It's not fun and games".
"Fine" Dana agrees. Finn stares at his daughter until she eventually says "Yes, sir" with her head hanging low.
"Dana is only older by like... one year" Carl mumbles to himself.
"And she's way more prone to digging into trouble than both of us" Silas adds.
"Shut it, you two" Dana growls.
"Do you really have to go?" Inari asks with her eyes on the ground, head hanging low and too scared to look up at Ishmael.
"I'll be back" Ishmael assures. "I need to... take care of something really important".
"You promise you'll be back?" Inari asks as she slowly looks up into Ishmael's eyes.
Ishmael smiles, then says "I promise". Ishmael travels for weeks all the way back to his home where he was created. In these deep woods that would one day be known as Foloi Oak Forest. Ishmael uses clairvoyance magic as he travels, finding shards of Gaia as he returns home. "Tch" Ishmael says to himself. "Not enough shards here to bring her back to her normal self". Though, look as he might, Ishmael couldn't find anymore of the shards of Gaia. There was only one place he could go to find a lead for the missing pieces of his mother. Mount Olympus.
As he approached the foot of Mount Olympus, there were three old ladies waiting for him. "Your return to Olympus was foreseen" one of the three, named Clotho says.
"Moirai..." Ishmael says in irritation.
"If you continue down this path" the next one named Lahkesis says, "you will die".
"Your fate is stranger than others" Atropos adds. "Your thread splits into many other fates. Unfortunately, they all end short".
"I already know" Ishmael says as he keeps walking.
The Moirai follow behind Ishmael, trying to keep up. "What do you mean you know?" Atropos asks.
"I mean" Ishmael replies, "I came here for a reason, didn't I?". The Moirai were silent. "I wouldn't have left her and come back to a place I hate so much if it wasn't important. Do me a favor and keep your fate stuff to yourself". The Moirai freeze and look at each other in amazement as Ishmael keeps marching up this mountain.
Halfway up the mountain, someone suddenly runs up to Ishmael at incredible speeds. Hermes runs directly at Ishmael from the top of Mount Olympus. "What are you doing here!?" Hermes asks in a panic. "You're not going to start killing the gods of Olympus, are you?"
"Relax, I'm not here for that" Ishmael says. "But you are the perfect person to ask. Hermes, you get around often".
"That I do!" Hermes says with pride.
"Good" Ishmael says. "Where are the shards?"
"I beg your pardon?" Hermes asks.
"Don't play dumb with me, Olympian god!" Ishmael barks as he grabs Hermes by the neck and squeezes tightly. "Where... are... the... shards?"
"Don't know... what you're... talking about" Hermes says as he tries to breathe desperately.
"Gaia's shard. Where is my mother?" Ishmael asks as he grows angrier. "If there's any group of people who'd have it out for Gaia, it's the Olympians. I know Zeus had to have had something to do with the shards going missing. I have some but I'm missing quite a lot. Now where are they?"
"I really... don't... know!" Hermes says as he begins to lose all the energy in his body.
"You wouldn't lie to me, would you?" Ishmael asks as a darkness begins to surround him. Ishmael was pulling endo in from around him and drawing the energy into his hand where it formed a ball that was spinning violently.
"Please don't!" Hermes begs. "I don't... want to... experience oblivion".
Ishmael drops Hermes on the ground. Hermes begins to gasp for air and cough violently. The ball I'm Ishmael's hand vanishes as he says "If you gods didn't take the shards, then who did?".
"I don't know!" Hermes says as he's kneeling on the ground still fighting for air. "Why don't you try asking your freakish brother and stay way the hell away from me!?".
"What was that?" Ishmael asks.
"You God Slayers are a nuisance" Hermes adds. "You're freaks and you should've never existed".
"Would you like me to kill you here where you stand?" Ishmael asks as a reactive endo spear forms in his right hand.
"No! Please!" Hermes begs. "I had nothing to do with Gaia being ripped apart! I had nothing to do with the shards going missing! There's no point in killing me! Please, I don't want to be sent to oblivion!"
"You keep brining up oblivion" Ishmael says as he lowers his spear and makes the endo vanish. "Do you fear death?"
"Of course I do" Hermes says. "Humans are lucky. When they die, their souls are returned to YHWH and they live on in paradise. But us, we have nothing".
"What do you mean by nothing?" Ishmael asks.
"We don't have real souls!" Hermes adds. "We're not even loved by the Great Creator! We're not his creations! If we don't have a soul, what do you think happens when we die?"
"Oblivion..." Ishmael says as he thinks.
"That's right!" Hermes says. "Oblivion. Nothingness. Nothing happens. We just go away forever"
"Well then" Ishmael says as he picks Hermes off the ground. "This makes it a little easier. You see, unless you and the rest of the Olympians want to experience oblivion, you'll tell me if you learn anything about those shards. Am I clear?"
"C-c-crystal!" Hermes replies.
"Good" Ishmael says as he pats Hermes on the back. "Now why don't you guys go do something helpful instead of starting yet another war and actually help me make a change?"
"M-m-m-make a change?" Hermes asks.
"It's nothing sinister, don't worry" Ishmael adds.
"W-what is your aim?" Hermes asks.
Ishmael locks his purple eyes onto Hermes's eyes and says sternly "Mind your own business".
Several days of searching pass when Ishmael was greeted by Chronos. Chronos took on the size of a human as to not draw too much attention to himself, which came to Ishmael as a surprise since he's usually in his Titan form. "I caught whisper that you're looking for the shards of Gaia" Chronos says.
"What are you doing here?" Ishnael asks.
"How cold" Chronos says. "You could act a little nicer to your uncle. Ishmael doesn't reply, but rather simply glares at Chronos. "Alright, I get it. You're not fond of me. However, I'm here to help". Chronos opens his hands and shows many shards of Gaia and gives them to Ishmael.
"Why are you helping me?" Ishmael asks skeptically.
"Do I need a reason to help my nephew restore my broken sister back to normal? Chronos asks. However, Ishmael still didn't respond. "You don't trust me?" He asks.
"Is that a rhetorical question?" Ishmael replies.
"Fine, you don't have to trust me then" Chronos says. "But may I ask why you're doing this?"
"I need to ask for a big favor from mom" Ishmael says.
"A big favor?" Chronos asks.
"I want her to take away my immortality" Ishmael says.
Chronos stares blankly at Ishmael and then just whispers in awe "Why?"
"I was created to destroy" Ishmael says. "With that in mind, mother seems to have forgotten an important factor that I want. Something I can't have with my current body lacking the correct internal organs".
"And that is?" Chronos asks.
"I want to have a family of my own" Ishmael firmly replies.
Without being phased, chronos continues to stare blankly for a long moment. "That's funny" he finally says. "You're funny. Seriously though, what do you need the shards for?"
Ishmael begins walking away with the shards in his possession. "I already told you" he says. "There's a girl I met, and she's very interesting. Something about her makes me want to put all of this bad past of mine behind me and move forward".
"You found a girl?" Chronos asks.
"Well, a goddess" Ishmael clarifies.
"A goddess!?" Chronos yells in surprise. "You!? A goddess!? That's the opposite of what you were created for".
"I don't care" Ishmael responds.
"And did you tell her to wait for you so you can have children!?" Chronos asks.
"I haven't told her... much of anything at all" Ishmael replies. "I haven't even told her how I feel. I can't being myself to do that until I get this fixed".
"So, for a goddess..." Chronos asks. "A creature you're meant to slay... you're giving up your immortality and risking oblivion... for a small chance to have a family?"
"Yes" Ishmael replies firmly.
"Then you're hopeless" Chronos says. "Do what you wish". Chronos then walks in the opposite direction and soon vanishes.
"I'm almost done" Ishmael says. "Just a little more and I can come back to you, Inari. Just wait a little longer for me".
Now, in the present time, Japan has begun hardening their defenses within their country. China has begun mobilizing forces as rumors began to spread that the recent searches based on the last known locations of The Six Guns had all failed to find any of the crew members as well as failed to find any leads. The rumors spreading from country to country were talking about how Japan might be responsible for aiding the criminals in hiding, as China states that Japan hasn't passed any intel of their findings or process in the joint task of hunting The Six Guns. As these rumors spread, people also remembered that The Six Guns also fought alongside Japan's forces in Omnia during the end of the war. By the day, it seemed more and more likely that Japan was hiding The Six Guns. Or, at least, that's how their propaganda made the masses think. Meanwhile, the crew lay in wait in Pilloa, Omnia. Training a resistance army to fight, as well as three teenagers, Silas, Dana and Carl. Preparing to fight the American forces in Omnia, and return Omnia to its rightful state. Seeira became full of all sorts of hunter groups, looking to claim the bounty on The Six Guns' heads. The Endo-Stream problem only grew worse and worse, as the skies remained blackened. All the while, Siran was still stuck in his coma. To the crew, it felt like everything in the world was waiting on this man to wake up to solve it. However, they knew that they couldn't afford to wait much longer.
"We need to split up soon" Haru says. "According to the intel Suzuki passed down to me, there's been a lot of talk about overthrowing Japan, and China is openly leading the spearhead against them".
"Don't forget Britain is going out of control lately too" Holly points out. "There's been sightings of military personnel attacking people blindly lately. However, the British Secret Service is denying all accounts and accusations".
"Egypt has begun to support Israel in their recent issues regarding wars sparking in the Middle-East" Rose adds.
"Right" Holly agrees. "Sudan, Syria and Iraq have begun to move against them and Egypt owes Israel for supporting the evacuation during the crisis with the Ly'Lum. And now because of the black skies, it's sparked religious conflicts".
"Germany has built up a military again" Robin adds.
"America is still attacking Omnia" Vivi adds.
"There are things happening all over the world" Haru agrees. "And I think it's safe to say that if we don't stretch our arms a little and do something, the world will fall apart with this whole black skies incident".
"I agree" Holly says. "But then again... times like these are critical. We have to worry about timing. We have to wait for the world to be able to be in a hard enough bind where we won't be shot by any and every person that sees us, and be desperate enough to accept our help. As well as, we still need to train the resistance more and the kids. With more and more civilians joining the resistance, we need to prepare them for a fight now more than ever".
"Then it comes down to timing" Zia says. "There will be a point soon enough, a sign if you will, that will signal our time to help. Until then, worry about Pilloa for now. Haru and Holly, I need you two on intel gathering. We're going to need to lay low, and we're going to need to keep our ears to the ground, so to speak".
"Soon enough, things are going to get complicated" Blake says.
"Things are already complicated" Zia replies. "Don't relax. We're not going to have time to breathe when it all goes down".
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