Chapter 610: Faded Dreams And The Hidden Darkness
They didn’t know who the territory belonged to, but it was glaringly obvious that there was something sinister happening inside of it.
"So you don’t know whose territory is whose?" Laz asked, just to confirm.
"No. It’s for safety purposes. Even if you’re inside your own, the stars overhead align in the same way to make them all seem like they are in the same spot. But obviously that’s not right. Unless both owners were to see each other on the edges of their domains, they would never know who their neighbor is," Aphrodite explained.
While both the girls were white as ghosts, Laz moved closer and poked at the edge of the barrier. While not hurt, the amount of force poking back was equal to his own, as though he was pushing into rubber where it would deform slightly, but become stiffer as one dove in further.
Looking closer at the bodies, Laz noticed that they all seemed somewhat grey, like the color had been drained from them. While Laz didn’t know what that was about, it seemed like Artemis and Aphrodite had an idea.
"They had their godhood drained from them. I was there when the bodies were discovered in the basement palace in the southern region. They looked just like that...."
"Do either of you recognize any of them?" Laz asked.
"No."
"Nor do I," Artemis responded.
"Forgive me for asking this question... but since they are all drained gods... wouldn’t they be your brother’s and sisters? And yet?"
"It seems somewhat weird, does it not? But the truth is that my father has produced many offspring over the years and the only ones recognized by the ’family’ would be those he had with mother. So for many of those abandoned youths, they cultivate hard to try to grow strong enough to earn the recognition of father. It’s said that once you obtain your god seed, you will be given a task to complete by the Emperor, Zeus. If you are able to complete it, he will let you join the main family. No one knows what the task is... but to date, no one has ever completed the task. As for those poor souls in there... I can only assume they were step brothers and sisters who died while trying to finish the task..." Aphrodite explained, to the surprise of both Artemis and Laz.
"What?" Aphrodite said, looking at her sister.
"How do you know so much?" Artemis asked, looking incredulous.
"I can tell you, but please don’t laugh. Alright?"
"Of course."
"In my journey to try to understand more about love, I wished to learn about the love of family as well and in doing so, decided to try to find out more from our half brothers and sisters. There is a registry that they have to keep tabs on the many offspring father sires throughout the realm and while it’s true we aren’t suppose to be able to read it... it wasn’t hard for me to convince the one inf charge of the book to let me take a look at it. After looking up a few names, I went around to seek them up and talk to them in private, hoping that maybe I could discover a connection with them. I tried seeking out the eldest on the list who were still living and chat with them first. But I could never locate them when I tried. It wasn’t until I got a lot further down on the list to those who were still in the Void Lord realm that I was able to talk to them and they all said that they had been offered the same thing, a chance at father’s recognition, even if it meant death. And they had been warned that they might die. It was never hidden from them," Aphrodite explained.
"And still they seek to cultivate their god seed and go on this ’mission’ thing?" Laz asked, wondering why they would all, each and every one of them, risk their lives for something that none of them had been able to achieve? He wasn’t about the blame them in the slightest as he would have if he had been in their place. But there was no way in hell each person who had been made this offer would go for it no matter what. There had to be some outliers somewhere, or at least people who decided they didn’t care if they father recognized them, even if he was the Emperor? After all... that was a lot of bodies.
"It’s not so simple..." Aphrodite began to explain as even Artemis was interested.
"Once father takes a liking to you... you are his no matter what. Once a woman gives birth to a child alone or who isn’t the child of the husband, what do you think happens to her? How do you think she is treated? It is a crime to kill a woman the Emperor ’blessed’ and any resulting child, but that’s it. Do you think the men in this situation accept it so readily? Even the women have tried to kill themselves as to not sully their own names or that of the family, but if that happens after the pregnancy is discovered, then the family is held accountable for the woman’s death. So they must keep her alive no matter what. And once they child is born, it has to be cared for until it’s an adult. As for the mother... well... she’s free to kill herself at that point and no one would care," Aphrodite explained as Artemis and Laz showed looks of both profound sadness and rage at the same time, something Aphrodite had already known the feeling of after hearing the news.
"How does he manage to get away with such things? Even if he is the Emperor? And what about your Mother? Doesn’t she... have a heart in all this?"
"Of course she does and she tires. She tries her best to save every women they find in this predicament... but it’s not something that anyone announces. So how can she know every time it happens? The families keep it secret, her husband keeps it secret and why would the women run to the wife of their rapist, just to accuse him? That would just be madness in their eyes. So it’s almost impossible for her to find out about it. What’s more... something else I discovered is that father... isn’t very fertile... so there are any number of women he had been with who never ended up getting with child. But father is a very sadistic man and enjoys exposing the women’s infidelity to their husbands, even if the result wasn’t a child," Aphrodite defended her mother’s position, despite her distrust of her mother.
"I thought you didn’t trust your mother, but believed in your father?" Laz asked, remembering the conversation they had before she had tried to show Laz her "love."
"I did... because as far as I knew, this was just how he was in showing his love. And if those men had actually loved their wives, they would have forgiven them. After all, an Emperor’s love for his people is boundless, right?" Aphrodite said with a self mocking smile before moving closer to Laz and kissing him on the lips.
"It’s only thanks to you that now I understand... everything. Without you... I would still be a naive fool..."
Aphrodite stepped back and composed herself before speaking again.
"As for why the children wish for their father’s approval? That should be obvious considering how their family treats the bastard offspring and their mothers while they are growing up. In that situation, manufactured to cause the children a drive to grow and succeed... how many would turn away the chance to turn their lives around?"
"So not only does father just do whatever he pleases... but he also sets up a system where the ones he sires desire his acceptance on top of everything else?" Artemis said, stupefied.
"Exactly."
"But to what end? To complete this sacred mission or something? He is the strongest god in this realm so why would he need seedlings to do anything for him? Couldn’t he just do it himself?" Artemis asked. She had always respected her father’s strength above everything else. So it just didn’t make sense that there was something he couldn’t do.
Something clicked for Laz after hearing Artemis’ words. Something about the word seedlings seemed to spark a thought in his head that started a fire before becoming an inferno.
"He’s not though. He is strong... but Hera is just as strong as he is in many ways. If it came down to it, she wouldn’t be able to kill him, but he also wouldn’t be able to kill her. And there is no way for either of them to grow within this pocket realm either. There just isn’t enough energy for such a thing. So then..."
"I guess... that is true. I have heard father mention it before although it’s usually when he’s angry at her for calling him out for his infidelity," Artemis thought out loud.
"So... then what? Why are you suddenly looking so shocked?" Aphrodite questioned Laz, picking up that there were words he didn’t want to say as it seemed like he had suddenly understood something.
"So then have a few affairs, make it public, make her angry. Make laws to protect the children, allowing them to grow and keeping her anger in check. Hide most of them but keep enough public so that her rage is directed at him for what she does know and therefore make her think she knows it all. All the while... the true depth and size of his efforts remain hidden in plain view. A cheap yet effective trick," Laz explained... thinking back to some history lessons he had in school.
"Ok... but why? For some stupid mission?" Artemis said, still not understanding.
"They never mentioned what that mission was he wanted from them. The only ones who ever knew... never came back to tell anyone else."
"That’s because the mission... it to die. All of this... this entire realm... is like his garden. He tills the soil, plants the seeds, let’s others take over the plants growth until..."
"Until?" Aphrodite and Artemis both said, horror clouding their voices. They didn’t want to be the ones to say it... but it had to be said.
"Until it’s time for the Emperor to harvest his crops. All so that he can consume them and grow stronger."
