Chapter 592: Ancient Betrayal
Did it feel good?
Laz would have undoubtable responded with something along the lines of "hell Yes."
Was he also feeling a sense of doom and unimaginable danger.
Again the response would have been something along the lines of "absolutely."
But while he was fully going through all of the immense feelings in his head, the mature woman drew back her head and with a slight blush, turned away while composing herself.
’The hell is wrong with me? He’s a child. Wait... Ah ha. Of course. The fatal charm of the Asura. I was never alone with one in the past so of course I had never felt it before. But for one so young to possess it.... It truly lives up to the reputation. I wonder if the other rumors are also true as well.... No! Now is not the time... I mean. I’m married with children. I need to focus on the things that are important right now and that’s information.’ Hera’s head was a mess of thoughts as she slowly turned around again, only to find Laz still frozen in place.
"My um, apologies. It seems I lost myself for a moment there," She said as Laz’s transformation faded.
"Indeed. Well... what might this lowly slave do for the Empress of this great nation?" Laz said, trying his best to sound respectful but barely able to keep his sarcasm in check, especially considering the circumstances and danger that he was in.
"I see you don’t refer to it as "our" great nation? That’s not a slip up you should make if you wish to survive," Hera warned, a sudden chill in her voice.
"I assume you already have an idea as to what I am and based on your recent "actions," I can infer that you mean me no harm so even if I do slip up, I doubt it will affect us in any way," Laz responded back, certain in his read on the matter.
"You’re a smart one, I will give you that. And your disguise is sublime as even my useless husband didn’t see through you. Of course his limp dick self wouldn’t be able to accept you even if you showed your true form in front of him since he would have to own up to his own weakness and failure and that isn’t something he would do." Hera scoffed.
"Well. I certainly hate to burst your royal bubble, but while I have the blood of an Asura within me, I am also part human so while it might seem like a disguise, it’s not. It’s simply two sides to the same coin," Laz corrected her. He didn’t want to mislead her and end up in a worse situation later after she found out.
"Human? As in... monkey human? Truly?"
"I’m somehow offended by that, but I guess you’re not wrong."
"That’s.... wait.... for that to be possible... you... you’re not from here, are you? And before I get any more cheek from you, obviously I’m not just talking about the Empire but this entire pocket dimension," She asked as she came to a realization.
"That would be correct. I come from outside, a world close by I would have to assume."
"Heh. A world close by? Well, if you know that much, then you must be from outside. No one here even knows that this is a pocket dimension, thinking that the three continents in this small plane of existence are the entire universe. Perhaps only our family knows, but even the ones who were born back then are too young to remember the outside. If it wasn’t for a few treasures we had obtained over the years along with finding this plane that, despite being small, actually held an entire set of laws along with ample energy, none of them would have been able to break into godhood and would have died a long time ago..." Hera said, her face a mask of gloom that was far more real than her angry self from a moment ago.
"I can assume that some didn’t get that lucky?" Laz asked, as gently as he could.
"They didn’t. I’ve had to bury more than one child over the past thousands of years. But they lived good lives, full human lives. Most of them were able to become Void Emperors, but even that only extends your life span to around two hundred years. And the last twenty of those appear no different than a person in the nineties. After a few times of this, it just hurt too badly to do it again. Perhaps that’s what caused this rift... between my husband and I," Hera said, her voice trailing off.
"No parent should have to bury their child..." Laz said, quoting a famous movie line from when he was younger.
"They should not... However that isn’t something that should be discussed further. What I wish to know now is how you got in and is there a way out?" The gloom was gone, replaced by something that could only be considered excitement.
"You... You’re trapped here?" Laz asked, coming to a realization.
"Yes. After we entered, the gate was destroyed, or I mean to say that the gate vanished. Even at that time there were many enemies everywhere and we had been traveling for months without rest while under pursuit. The Alliance was crumbling and the various races were in a full blown retreat. Everyone was scrambling to find somewhere safe when word came in that the Infernals and their brethren were not very astute on the laws of space so if one were to find a pocket dimension, they would be able to escape pursuit. I was so glad when we stumbled on to this one that my husband, children and I just rushed in without a second thought and before we knew it, the gate was gone. We spent hundreds of years looking for it, but never with any results. Having no idea what had happened outside, we just decided to leave it alone and live our lives here. It was the least we could do for the Asuran soldier who gave his life to hold back the Infernals chasing us, wishing us to survive and wait for the Alliance to counter attack. Like so many young men, he believed the Alliance was invincible and sacrificed himself in an attempt to protect us. I never once got to thank him for that."
"So that’s what that kiss was from before, hmm? A thank you to a long dead benefactor? That makes sense. However there is one hole in your story," Laz pointed out, suddenly unafraid of this woman.
"And what is that? You believe this Empress would lie to you?"
"While I am not a full bloodied Asura, there are some memories and things that seem to pop in from time to time. One such memory tells me that the armor I was wearing wasn’t that of a lonely soldier, but the armor of a fully vested Asuran General. And because of that, I can’t think that this story you are telling is quite accurate. Yes?"
Laz didn’t say anything else, just looking at her face to see what kinds of changes he could see.
Hera kept a blank face at first, but eventually sighed.
"I’ve told that story so many times that perhaps even I’ve started to believe it. The story of a young hero sacrificing himself to allow the young family to escape? Tragedy of war and all that? Sounds good and even though we are running, it makes it sound like we are doing our best to survive for his sake? Ha ha ha ha ha," Hera started laughing, at first rather sarcastically to herself, but soon it became more like a sobbing cry.
"To think a young man such as yourself could recognize so clearly what we have been hiding for thousands of years. But I guess all things come to light in the end, do they not?" Hera sat on the bed that Laz had been occupying and took a drink directly from the jug of water on the table, drinking so deeply one would think it were wine even as it spilled down the front of her. When done, she threw the jug to the side of the room where it hit the wall and broke into pieces.
"I haven’t had a sip of alcohol in so long that I couldn’t even tell you what it tastes like. I made it my penance for my past mistake, that of silence. When I drink... when I used to drink, I would ramble on for ever, talking and laughing and singing.... so this was the only thing I could do. One of the last few things in my life I could give up to make amends. But there is no amends for such things. There was a squad of Asura guarding our group as we made our way from our old home planet, watching as it burned in the hellfire of the Infernals. Even while the Alliance was in full retreat, the Asura wouldn’t leave those who requested help alone, even if only one soldier could respond, they would. And while running, the Infernals came upon us. Without a word, the men of the group turned to fight the, letting us run. My husband and the General were the only ones who went with us as they were to lead the group to safety, being the two strongest individuals left. Even after getting away, we could hear their dying cries in the distance as we sighed at our luck. But even that ran out quickly. Beset by even more Infernals, the General turned to my husband who both nodded and pulled out their weapons. Turning back, they told us to run and run we did, me with the babies in my arms and other kids in tow while other mothers and young children did the same. Handing my children over to my trusted maid, I pulled my own weapon and returned, prepared to give my life to help my husband let my children escape. But when I got to where they were fighting, I saw my husband summon his lightning and impale the General with it. Almost like sparking a fuse, the General’s body began to combust even as my coward of a husband ran. Before I knew it, a massive explosion, the result of my husband igniting the cultivation of the general, rang out, destroying everything in it’s wake as I ran as well. When were were finally safe from the blast, the only thing that remain in that empty void was the armor of the general, still as new and clean as the day it was made. We lived... but only through the cost of betrayal!" Hera said finishing her story, her eyes awash in tears.
