Walking through the almost glowing greenery, there was no doubt how the dungeon had found its name.
Although the Aldon forests were impressive, they didn't hold a candle to the mind-numbing appearance of the Enchanted Forest. With every single leaf holding onto its vibrant green full of life, I felt the need to stop for a moment.
'How ridiculous...'
For the longest time I had kept moving on, but seeing a bunch of trees somehow made me hesitate? It was nothing less than sacrilegious at this point. Still, neither of my bodies could resist the temptation of allowing myself to just stand there.
"Hey... Do we really have to go through all of this? Why don't we just... walk away? Maybe we can still fix things..."
Suddenly, sub-me started speaking, almost as if he had somehow disconnected from our mutual core. Turning around to myself, I was surprised to see that sub-me was no longer wearing the mask, letting me see the frail face of myself full of weakness.
"Haa... Really? Now even I myself am going against my own decisions? Okay, let's say we walk away, let's say we just run away and hide. What will we gain from that?"
Sub-me started squirming a bit, my heavenly blue eyes wavering, "I don't know... Maybe Sarah will accept Ezral's deal. Wouldn't that mean we could spend our life with her? Maybe we could even try and talk to the king again... Don't we think he would understand if we just explained things?"
"And how exactly do we believe that will go? Do you think the king could pardon us even if he wanted to? How would that look in the eyes of his people? And how could he explain his decision? 'Oops, I seemed to have made a mistake?' Are we really that stupid?'
"But wouldn't it be worth a shot? If it fails, can't we just go back to the original plan?"
With my mask still hiding my face, I felt a small headache emerging. Although what I was saying was quite tempting, it was ridiculous. In the end, I felt like I couldn't take it anymore.
"So, this is how you want to do things? Just stop the charade. I don't know what kind of being you are but I'm guessing you are some kind of god? Are you even allowed to manipulate dungeons like this?"
In a matter of a second, the world around me blurred, taking me from the lush forests to what looked like an old Greek temple. With huge marble pillars sequencing the room and a huge altar with the statue of a woman in front, it seemed like I had reached my destination.
Surrounded by walls decorated with sculpted images of mythical wars and legendary heroes, it didn't quite feel like I was suited to be here. Even more so when thinking about the fact that my mission was to make sure that such a legendary hero wouldn't be able to win the war.
Now, sub-me had also disappeared, ending with me being along with the statue in front of me. With its large size, it was hard not to notice how beautiful a being had been carved out of precious marble. Then, while glowing a holy gold, the statue came to life, the woman surging with divine energy.
"Theia, I assume? Although I don't mind a pleasant meeting with the most renowned god of the continent I am not sure Loki would feel the same."
As I was making sure I kept up appearances, something incredibly odd happened. Instead of the beautiful god explaining the situation, she just took a couple of steps forward and got to her knees. Because of my surprise, I couldn't even react when she suddenly brought me into her arms, holding me tightly.
'What the...?!'
Before I could collect myself enough to tell her to let go of me, a voice that could clean the hearts of even the worst of devils rang out, "You have suffered a lot, my child. I don't know what that deceiving god told you, but it's still not too late. You can still go back."
Somehow, I couldn't stop the motherly voice from somehow infiltrating my inner self, successfully penetrating the walls I had built around me. Still, as much as her words were comforting, they created equal amounts of spite inside of me.
"Let go of me..."
Understanding the situation, Theia calmly released me from her arms, stood up, and took a step back. Looking up at the giant woman, I could somewhat understand why she was regarded as the mother of all on Tella. Her whole form screamed that she was made to care for and nurture others.
But I wasn't someone who she should care for. However, this didn't stop her from continuing to speak to me.
"I'm sorry... I got ahead of myself. But I have seen so much of your life here on Tella... At least from before Loki made you his apostle... Cough! Anyway, what I want to tell you is that there are other ways! You can still break free from him and live your own life! Although it was a bit impudent to disguise myself as your clone, what I said still stands!"
Seeing the overly excited god talk with such confidence, there was only one thought in my mind. 'What the fuck is she on about?'
Not minding my inner thoughts, Theia just kept on spouting shit. "I understand that your life at the academy wasn't easy, but please believe me when I say that I can grant you another chance. As the ruling god of this world, I have the power to do so. In fact, I can do a lot of things for you!"
At this point, I felt like I had to speak up, as it otherwise seemed like she would continue to speak forever. "And your solution is that I should go to the king and explain things to him? Is that what you can do for me as the ruling god?"
"That..."
Although some might question my decision-making skills, I kept on speaking without letting the most powerful god on the planet interject, "And let's say it works, do you think I would be able to live a normal life then? Would the entire continent just forget about what I did, that I wouldn't risk forfeiting my life every day because of assassins or getting poisoned?"
Finally, it appeared that I had made her think a bit about what she was really saying, just how insane it would be to think that, even if I got pardoned, people's view of me would just suddenly change. Gripping her white dress, I took it as a sign for me to continue speaking.
"Please don't misunderstand my situation, Theia. If I could, I would gladly go back to how it was, but as far as I know, there is no way to turn back time. So if you don't have anything else to talk about, or can turn back time, I think you should let me go back to what I was doing."
There were a lot of reasons why it might have been a good idea to continue speaking to one of the gods of this world but the fact stood that her voice was still eerily alluring. Simply put, I didn't want to risk faltering from her sweet sentiments.
Turning her head to the floor, she gripped the white cloth on her body, her hands shaking a bit. After taking a second to think about the situation, she faced me again, having somehow found more confidence.
"What if I told you that there is another way for you to go back? Though indeed, I cannot turn back time, there is yet another way."
Feeling my brows rising under my mask, I felt like she was going to give me yet another stupid answer. However, I still had to ask, "Enlighten me. Oh, and not in a religious way."
Unperturbed by my silly joke, the current mother of all explained, "I still have enough power from Gaia to recreate your essence once more! Although all your progress will be lost, and it still won't be enough to disconnect you from Loki, it can give you another chance at attending Ainu. Another chance at gaining happiness."
"You... What? So I would just do it again? But wouldn't everyone recognize me anyway? Gaia told us that it was impossible to change one's appearance as it was bound to the soul?"
"Yes, normally that would be the case. But your soul isn't normal anymore. How do I explain... Yes! Think of it like mist! No matter how we change your appearance your soul won't care, because your mist can take on all kinds of forms!"
It was too much information to take in at once. Or rather, the significance of this simple information was too much.
A moment of weakness overtook me, thinking about what could have been.
"So, I can go back...? Is that true?"
"That is so, child of Gaia. It's not too late."