“So only one of you retained by magic? It is better than I expected. Seems like my gamble paid off after all.”
The goddess of victory sounded pleased as she observed the twins in front of her.
She had not touched the kids yet but Aurora knew it was only a matter of time before the elder goddess made a move.
“It’s a pity that only one of you will survive and inherit my powers once I die. I wonder which one of you it is going to be.”
The goddess’s words caused a wave of discomfort to build up inside Aurora. Just what did the goddess mean by those words?
Emilia looked like she was about to faint. The poor girl was white in the face but Jospeh looked determined.
“Ah, you did realize what I am talking about. You are a smart boy, aren’t you? A pity you did not inherit my powers as well. You would have been a certain candidate as the next god.”
The goddess commented and Aurora finally felt it click what she was saying.
Since the goddess had given birth to twins, her powers had been divided between the pair. Unlike the birth of a natural goddess where all the power was given to a single person, this time it was divided.
So once the current goddess of Victory dies, her power would have a hard time deciding which vessel to choose next.
And if Aurora was correct in her assumption, the tower would try to kill one of the twins to gather up in a single vessel.
“Is there a way to save them both? They are kids and should not be subjected to this treatment.”
Aurora felt pity for the kids who were stuck in this kind of fucked up world.
Had she known this would happen, she would have never taken Joseph with her. Then she would not have such a burden on her mind.
Aurora never promised to be a saint but seeing someone she knew die was not something she was comfortable with her either.
She would have preferred not to have known the dead person at all to ease her conscious.
“I’m afraid the play has progressed far too much to stop it now. But you still have time to figure out a solution if you want to. My responsibility is already over.”
The goddess of victory did not seem like she cared much about this topic or her children.
Once she was done observing the kids, she turned away and did not pay attention to them again.
Ths kids still looked interested in knowing more about her and Aurora felt uncomfortable to be standing in such a gathering.
“Ask your questions now. I will answer them since I am in a good mood.”
The goddess seemed to be in an agreeable mood so she offered to answer the question.
“Why did you abandon us? I thought you were dead or something.”
Emilia seemed to finally gather some courage and ask the question that was weighing on everyone’s mind. Aurora was curious whether the goddess would answer this question or not.
“Your birth was never my choice. I was just fulfilling my duty as dictated to me. Why do I need to care about you once I was finished?”
Contrary to what Aurora expected, the goddess’s answer was cold and detached. But the goddess continued her verbal assault anyway.
“The tower forced me to have a replacement before I die but I did not want to do that. In the end, I was forced to fulfill my job. It was a game which I could not escape so I decided to stop playing.”
Surprisingly enough, Aurora found the goddess of Victory to be a little childish. But not childish in a good way.
Her thoughts, and her pattern of behaviors, all pointed toward a child who refused to grow up and take responsibility for her actions.
“And you decided to abandon children to their fate when they couldn’t even walk? Did you not feel any attachment to them at all?”
Aurora had decided not to speak anything. She had wanted to stay out of this mess.
But she could no longer stay out of the verbal abuse she was hearing about. No child deserved to hear that they were not needed.
“That’s right. I do not feel any sort of emotions for them except fulfillment. Now you can leave if this was all you came here for.”
Aurora felt angry at the outcome of her talk but she also felt like something was missing from this whole exchange.
The lack of aura and emotions she was feeling from the goddess was concerning. It made Aurora suspicious about the exchange she was having.
“Emilia, Joseph, can you go and wait in the next hallway while I have a serious talk with your mother?”
The kids nodded without looking up and left the hallway.
Aurora could still feel them typing to listen in on the conversation that was taking place between aura and their mother but Aurora decided not to shield them.
In her opinion, they were old enough to hear the truth.
“Did you mean what you said? About your feelings?”
Aurora spoke with purpose so that her words could not be misunderstood.
“My feelings do not matter. The abyss has a will of its own and I do not want to be a puppet in its schemes. As for my feelings for my children? Who could remain unaffected after carrying around a life inside them for nine months?”
“I care about them as much as I can care about anything. But my will to break free of the abyss’s chains is much more solid. So I made my choice.”
That made sense to Aurora. Even for her, if things came between her desire to collect Clove’s soul and her desire for vengeance, Aurora was sure she would be able to choose Clove above the other.
Some feelings were just too deep-rooted to allow others to replace them.
And in the end, even goddesses were creatures with desires and emotions.
“So you do love the children in your way, huh.”
“I guess so. But I do hope this was not all you wanted to ask from me.”
This was the moment of truth. This was where Aurora’s plan would make or break.
“No, of course not. I had another request to ask of you. Do you know about the academy I am about to set up in Rocx valley I am thinking about locating Viera in your territory? I hope you do not mind.”
“I do not mind. I am in no condition to be making such decisions anyway. I will not live long to see the outcome anyway.”
Aurora wanted to pity the goddess in front of her but she could not bring herself to feel the emotions she wanted to.
The goddess might be under the influence of her own emotions, but the decisions she had made were not something Aurora could respect.
“I will take care of your kids. I will make sure they both live to their fullest potential.”
Aurora knew she might be making an empty promise to the goddess but she was doing this for herself.
“Do what you want to. You have my support in everything you do since you are helping the outcast people I took under my wing.”
That was at least one problem solved. But still, this talk brought forth a new question in Aurora’s mind.
“By the way, why did you not leave your kids with the outcasts? Surely it would have been an option for you.”
“What makes you think I did not want to? But the tower would not have left the outcasts alone if I did that. I am a bird bound in the abyss’s cage.”
Aurora decided she could not take any more of this atmosphere.
The goddess of victory was too far-gone in her thoughts and emotions to be making much sense. Aurora was not good at dealing with these kinds of people.
“Then, I shall take my leave now. Hopefully, we won’t meet again.”
The goddess of victory did not stop Aurora from leaving. Aurora did not look behind herself either.
“Did you both hear everything? I’m sorry that this was not the ideal meeting you expected to have with your mother.”
Aurora regretted bringing the kids here the most. This was unnecessary emotional baggage she had saddled the kids with.
“No. I am glad we came here today.”
“The meeting might not have been the ideal one we expected but at least we know for certain that our mother loves us in her way. And this is enough for us.”
“Thank you for giving us this opportunity.”
For the first time, Aurora felt she had underestimated someone. She had expected the kids to feel sorrow or even criticize Aurora for her decision.
But they chose to thank her instead.
Now she needed to find a way to make sure both kids lived their lives to the fullest.
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