章節 42: What Does the Future Hold?

"Remember, Kira, I am but a prayer away~! You and me, working together~! All to get back at that bastard... doesn't that sound wonderful..? Bah, you probably aren't as worried about it as I am, are you? No, I would think not..."

Nodding to herself, Lokla stood up and let out a sigh, the Goddess scratching her cheek as she added "You're more interested in surviving in this world, aren't you? Creating a place for yourself, with people you want to be around. Perhaps a family somewhere down the line? Yes, that's typically what you mortals are interested in..."

Lokla turned away and muttered something to herself, only to glance back and say "At the very least, you brought me down from Mala, which it more than enough. I can work on my own, though I would prefer if my oh so gracious player would do a few things for me, but... well, I can't think of anything I need done at the moment... not now... after all, this world has changed. I... I know what has happened since the wars between the Terra Empress and Seraphim Lumina, but at the same time, those memories are... artificial. They feel fake, like they belong to someone else... it's grating."

Her jaw clenched as she growled softly, only to take a deep breath and return to a smile as she added "Anyways, I shall be going now, Kira. Have fun with... whatever this is. Perhaps we shall meet again, when you are ready for the grand painting of the world to be shown to you. Perhaps you shall finally despise the strings that are attached to your body and seek for me to cut them for you... or perhaps we shall never see one another again, Kira. Either way, I hope you make good use of that mark of mine~! Flirt, seduce, lie and lead on whomever you please; weave together fantastical stories that never happened to impress someone, I don't care."

Chuckling, the Goddess winked at me before turning around and taking a step forwards, her body fading swiftly as she left me in this cave, the sweet taste of her lips still gracing my own as she muttered "But, I know you'll find me again... by hook or crook, right? You'll make your way back to me for the power... though who knows what strings I'll have attached by then, hm~?"

With that, Lokla left the cave behind, and time began to flow freely once again, the others returning to their actions from before her appearance, noise and scents splashing against me once more as I looked around and tried to see if any of them noticed that there had been a Goddess here just a moment before.

But... obviously, they had no clue; none of them seemed to feel anything different, leaving me to slump against the wall and let out a sigh, catching Alessia's attention as the Dogkin asked "Kira? What's up? Weren't you praying?"

"I was; I finished, and I... can't help but wonder if it was heard."

Humming, Alessia leaned against the wall beside me and stared at the ceiling, muttering "I don't think it matters, does it? On one hand, they might be listening to our insignificant ramblings, our hope and devotion, but... on the other, is praying not an act meant to better oneself? To display your faith and shore up your belief in yourself? Prayer is not just meant for the one it is directed at; it is meant for you as well. So if they have heard it, that is just an added bonus, is it not?"

"I... I guess..."

A comfortable silence descended between us once more as we sat there, and I was left with my thoughts as I reviewed what just happened, trying to wrap my head around it and understand what I was supposed to do going forwards.

The Gods were real - that I had always known - but they were more than just real; they were back on Eden, something that was not what I truly expected.

Their influence, their blessings or curses, that was what I expected, but for them to be down on this world, walking and fighting alongside us... just what was the direction that this game was supposed to have taken?

Surely the developers had actually created a game first and prison second; they had spent so much time on the first for this to just be an empty cage meant to view the descent of mortals into madness, so what was the goal here?

Giving the Gods the ability to walk on the earth once more, to be amongst the mortals that prayed to them... were they allowed to influence this world however they pleased, or were they still restricted by a plot line, by code?

They were parts of the game that had been created, and yet Lokla said that they were now free from those bonds, free to have their own will and do whatever they wanted; would they still act within the 'parameters' that they had been created with, or was that something I should believe to be false?

If that was false, then... was there even a point to try and get stronger..?

I mean, these are GODS we are talking about; easily in the thousands if we put a level on them, infinitely stronger than mortals and with no cap on potential or any of the weaknesses that we have, so would they even care about keeping us around as anything but pets?

Yet again I was faced with a reality changing event, and I had no idea how to handle it; I was living... with fickle, dangerous Gods that could potentially do whatever they wanted whenever they waned, so... what was the point, right?

That was the route that seemed easiest to take, but... no, I didn't want to believe that, nor did I want to take it; I wanted to live, to do what I wanted to do... I wasn't going to just give up, not until I had exhausted as many options as I could.

They were free from the supervision of their creator now, so perhaps I could escape from this world; perhaps there was a backdoor, some sort of exit left behind by the creators?

That's long term; short term, I need to keep growing, to keep getting stronger and be able to fend for myself.

There had to be something that they were supposed to do in the game, something that they were responsible for, something that they were programmed to complete; a goal of some kind.

What was the plot of this game, and what did I need to prepare myself for?

That was the question, but a part of that answer I could begin working on right now, even as that question remained elusive was to get stronger.

I needed to reach a certain level again before even thinking about starting the 'Main Story' of Twin Moons of Eden, and I needed to get myself ready for whatever hells awaited me in the future...

I was NOT going to let myself become some kind of animal to be experimented on; I was going to do as much as I could to break free from this hell and return home.

I AM going to return home... I just am...