"-and when I got there, Deloris shook her head no to me. I almost asked why! That would have been bad, nya~!!" Nya giggled.
I was curious about this Deloris, and I was about to try and waste a bit more time.
"Do you think I can ask her why?" I asked, and both Goddesses flinched.
"Didn't you tell her?"
"Yes, Galio was informed about what happens if anyone tries to speak to them," Tallia said, and Nya turned to me. She was giving me a look that said, see what I mean?
"I am just curious. Let me go there and just try. If I fail-"
"Which you will," Tallia said, and I grinned.
"I can just get one of you to come get me. Let me go see this person quickly so I can confirm some things," I said and then turned to the bed where Eliza and Chili were still. "Both of you get dressed and get to the backyard. I should be back in about ten to fifteen minutes, so let everyone know."
"Should we make bets, nya?!" Nya asked Tallia.
"We can't confirm if he does or not, so it would be a pointless bet," Tallia said and then gestured for a portal to open into a white room. "I will have to shut the door, or we will get knocked out with you when Deloris speaks. Don't say that I didn't warn you. There is a reason not even I or Elfinia will try to talk to her."
"Thanks. There is an excellent chance that you are right, and I will just pass out, but if I don't, I might get some answers. That is worth the risk, considering that is what I am going outside to do after this," I said.
"Galio! Wait! You have to see who can walk better!" Eliza complained, and I grinned.
"Get dressed, and the two of you can show me when I get back, you little voyeur," I teased Eliza, and she smiled at me as I walked through the portal into the solid white room.
The portal closed behind me, but there was only a pure white plain wall in front of me.
"Oh? Well, didn't expect to see you here so soon!" A man's voice said with surprise, and I turned around with the same emotion.
There was a glass booth with a tube beside it about as big as the golden egg I had seen. The person on the other side was... It was tough to say. The person was in a white suit but with somewhat shaggy white short hair. The part that confused me was the gender. The face was pretty but also handsome at the same time. There was nothing to make this person a man or woman.
They were just a person.
"You look just as surprised as me! But, then, you are one of my actual children, so this must be a bit strange for you, right? The Guides have you under lock and key and are making your life a bit of a pain, but this is your bed, my son," the person said.
"You are my parent? The deliver of eggs? You are the Deloris that everyone talks about, right?" I asked in confusion.
"Yes, and no. I am who they talk about, but my name is not Deloris. You can call me Kaed or Father works as well, but it doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. The point is that you are here now, on your last trial!"
"Wait! Stop puking shit up and explain what you mean! How am I, your child?! Who is my mother then?! It had better not be Nemoria!" I snapped, and Kaedon grinned at me.
"You sound irritable, Ophi! Do you need your ears scratched?" Kaedon teased me, and I glared at him.
"Not funny. What is that about? Why do I have two names?! And why was I a cat before this?" I asked, hoping to finally get some answers.
"That is because you are stupid, refused my advice, your brothers, and other people that cared about you! This is your punishment for breaking the divine law just to get what you wanted. Do you know why Numoria is after you, Ophiuchus?" Kaedon asked me as the glass and wall disappeared.
"Not really; other than that, I thwarted her plans numerous times," I said as The God of Light and all things that were found under it walked over to me. I was slowly getting bits and parts.
"You are one of the Thirteen Zodiacs, but you were also the sole defender of the Mortal Worlds. When you abandoned your post, Nemoria watched you. She let you have what you wanted, let you become entwined with it, and then ripped it from you. We all told you that there was another way, but you couldn't wait five hundred lifetimes. Look where that has brought you. After all this time, Ophiuchus, you are almost there. Fate has a funny way of getting what it wants out of you, and giving how it chooses, no matter your choices," Kaedon explained, and I put my forehead into one of my hands, and my other holding my elbow.
"So, I am not human, but why so much cloak and dagger? And why don't I know the full story?" I asked.
"Did you not hear me, boy? You are an idiot that always knows best, and you hardly ever listen to anything but the sound of your own voice! Think of this as you hit your head on the closed door too many times, trying to walk through it rather than just opening it. You did this to yourself," Kaedon said and then smacked me upside the head. "Quit being so fucking stupid, you hear me?"
Nothing like getting a good smack from your old man, but the slap rocked my world, just not in a painful way. The strike had just knocked loose some memories of my older brother, Leo.
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