" I thought I would find you here , magnificent work you have done here graham truly excellent" Stephen walked into the room and found Graham starring at the steam artifact
"Huh? Yes yes thank you , I wouldn't have done anything like it not even in a hundred years but thanks to you I will be able to bring light to Concilia again " graham got up and bowed deeply
Stephen patted his back and chuckled "thank you graham , for your patience and determination . You sacrificed a lot for your world but at last you have finally seen the fruits of you labour but you have to come up with a way to keep fueling the artifact with aether . I'll inject it with 2 decades worth of aether and from there you on your own" graham got up and took off his monocle placing it into his chest pocket nodiidng shortly
"So if I may ask , why have you come here?" Graham now had a slight understanding of Stephen and he knew he was not the type of person to not have a motive
"Well actually I was hoping we could take a stroll around Heta " graham had raised an eyebrow by the end of Stephen's sentence
"Oh okay , no problem " Stephen half smiled and they left for a stroll
It was currently night time in this beautiful place , the whole place was well illuminated with streetlights everywhere coupled with the breathtaking skyscrapers and elegant buildings that had victorian architectural design and some gothic elements here and there but, on a wider scale, Heta's historical charm added to its steampunk allure. Its well-preserved medieval streets, labyrinthine alleys, and hidden courtyards created an atmosphere of mystery and intrigue.
" Beautiful isn't it? The sky I mean , it's beautiful"Stephen pointed at the emerald night sky
Graham nodded slowly taking in the amazing scenery
" Do you believe in destiny graham? And what does it mean to you ?" Stephen asked
Stephen's question caught him by surprise but he answered nonetheless
" Truthfully speaking yes I do , I see destiny as a self created automatic kinetic energy and force that came into existence at the beginning of all things . This force I believe is the originator of all cosmic events and activities , bestowing everyone with a certain task in order for things to move in a certain order" graham gave his honest answer that made Stephen stop in his tracks to look at him
- his description of destiny is almost correct ._ Stephen thought to himself
" Interesting take you have there , so in your words everything we do and every path we take has already been planned out for us ? Meaning we do not have control over our own destinies?" Stephen asked
With a nod graham began explaining" look at Concilia everything we have done was orchestrated by you guys , you governed the world without the world knowing . My point is we thought we were doing what we wanted but everything we did was planned by you ,every major point in history had your handprints all over it " Stephen listened at Graham's words intently
" Mmmmh I see .... So it would also be fair to say some people's destinies are greater than others?" Stephen asked
" Yes " graham answered without hesitation
"So it is safe for me to say my destiny is greater than every other being then"
Graham looked at him with humor in his eyes ", is that so? Then could you please share with me what is your destiny ?"
Stephen was quiet for a moment ".....to liberate all , to end the 'THEIR' reign ...that is my destiny" Stephen chuckled at his own response
"I see" was all graham could say , looking at the emerald night sky graham thought of a question
" What is this place?"
"Huh? Oh Heta is built on top of the world tree , the tree that connects all the realms in this universe , Concilia is one of 6 realms in this universe and its the only one that is still habitable . There 6 realms are Concilia , Nehmia home of the devil's ,Sedna home of the baas'ons , Fiho home of the traji , Men'doo home of the dlozi and Par home of the sun eaters the same creatures 'They' used to destroy your sun . See all of these realms are dead except for yours , now you are asking yourself how did they die right? Well all of those races were killed by your gods "graham wasn't too surprised but he was amazed by theirr cruelty
"Why?" Was all he could ask
"Because of fear , their feared these species potential so much that they directly slaughtered all of them and keeping a few to themselves as servants . "
"But were they not mortals before ascending to godhood? Why would they close the door for others ?" Graham asked trying to wrap his little mortal mind around this issue
" No , the old gods were already gods by the time they came into being therefore they could not improve and their lives spanned a million years ..so when they learned that the mortals they were placed in charge of had the potentials to become gods themselves and even surpass them they were consumed by fear and jealousy , deciding o eliminate the mortals leaving only the human race which showed the least potential out of all the species in this universe but the beings that created them were not so happy with them and they killed the old gods sparring only a few that were supposed to guide the human race and usher in a new generation of gods but the powers of the old gods were lost with them . The old gods were what you mortals would call miracle invokers , their abilities were strange and even though they were not suited for battle their abilities were very powerful and peculiar." Graham's brain could not even process what Stephen was saying , so he simply did what any normal human would have done in that situation
"Huh?"
"Nevermind me , I asked you to take a stroll with me because there's something I want to tell you as a ..friend " Stephen's expression was weird as he said the word friend
"Friend?" Graham raised a brow
"Yes that . I'm giving you free will to do whatever you want with your power and knowledge once you return to the mortal lands , right now I'm still busy but after a few years I will come and see you my friend ...oh and one last thing be wary of Cedric ."
" What do you mean ? Aren't you guys working together?" Graham was baffled
"To each his own ....when you mention gods do not mention me ,you may mention Cedric the watcher but never mention me , actually it would be better if you say you met him only "
Graham nodded not daring to think much about Stephen's request
"I will come and raise moraine amongst your people , I want her to grow around people so she can sympathize with them and have emotions but first she has to have completely merged with the undying heart before I can return to the mortal lands . So I'll see you in plus minus 17 years "
Graham kept quiet and they continued strolling talking about miscellaneous stuff and sharing their view on different things, even sharing a laughter here and there until graham asked a question jokingly
" For a man as good looking as yourself you seem to not care about women at all , why is that?"
"As you can see this place is so empty , there only time i see a woman is when I travel to the mortal lands and mortal women are not my type of women hehe" Stephen answered with a chuckle
" What ?!! You have not seen the right ones I'm telling you , when you return I will introduce you to some of the most beautiful women in all the 6 realms" graham jokingly spoke , making them both to laugh so hard
"How will we know that if the other 5 realms do not have any woman to show?" Stephen asked , graham shrugged
"Making us the winner by default " Stephen shook his head with a smile
"But look at me I have grown ten years older and you two still look the same way you did ten years ago I'm afraid I might be dead in 17 years" he laughed
" We appear young because of the godhood we harbour in our souls , your lifespan has increased to three to four centuries because of your pro efficiency in aetheric arts . Meaning that you won't die anytime soon , unless you are killed your appearance will slowly age compared to the average human" Stephen explained to him
" Oh I see , let's meet again after 17 years then " graham extended out his hand ,Stephen shook it with a smile
" Of course"
Unbeknownst to them far away on top of a building Cedric was looking at them with a blank expression before turning around and leaving
An ethereal body was floating near the sun with it's head down but something caught it's attention and it looked at the space infront of it a door opened up and spat out another ethereal body
"Damnit I was not even done"Timothy grumbled
" Ah you are back , did that help ?" Graham in his ethereal form approached Timothy
"No , Im now left with so many questions than before like why the hell did you let him marry your daughter ? And why is moraine younger than your daughter when she is technically older? " Timothy asked the only question he could not get out his mind
"The answer to your first question is that by the time you... I mean he returned , my daughter was already 21 years old and she immediately fell in love with him , there was nothing I could do plus Im really fond of him and there was no other man I would rather let my daughter be with other than a man of his caliber. And now to answer your second question , when he removed her soul from her body and placed the undying heart inside she basically died so she did not age not until her soul was returned to her body . There there I answered all of your questions but I have a feeling you are not asking me the most important question" graham looked at him with soft eyes
"I-i don't understand how me and him are the same , I am not him and he is not me we-we are nothing alike!" Timothy's voice boomed thought out space making the aether around him flare up
" Yes you are right , Stephen was a man shrouded in mystery and you are just a child trying to make sense of everything that is going on around you so yeah I understand why you feel like you are not the same person but I assure you and him share the same soul. What I do not understand is why didn't my memories trigger yours? " Graham asked a rhetorical question at the end , but he quickly shrugged it off and smiled
" Oh well that is perfectly fine , do me a favour would you and tell June I love her and that I wasn't killed by anyone but instead I chose to become the one to guide the aether into the steam artifact . See over there? That is my body constantly gathering aether and supplying it to the engine , sadly my body can only keep this up for three more centuries before I die and I hoped you would have come up with a solution for that by the time of my death.....oh and beware of cirdec "
Timothy looked straight into the sun and he released aether into his eyes activating the aetheric vision , inside the sun was a man in a lotus position with aether entering his body and then get sucked into the engine below him
" I -i understand" graham smiled and he moved Infront of Timothy and tapped his forehead
Before Timothy could ask what was happening he was pulled back by a huge suction force then" boooom"
He was back in Stephen's body , aetheric waves spread out blasting everything away turning the whole room upside down . Timothy gently landed on the bed and he looked around the room in surprise
" Hey "he awkwardly scratched the back of his head with an awkward smile on his face
The three people who were hiding behind the room's door gave him a "really" look before moraine ran to him and gave him a very big hug
" You *sniffs* scared me , never do that again" moraine spoke between sobs
" Are you okay?" June asked in a calm and composed voice , Timothy looked at her with a complicated look before nodding
"You made a mess" Catalina spoke and she left the room
Moraine was glued to him and there was nothing he could now considering the fact that he now understood moraine's origins
-so everybody actually thinks you and Stephen are blood related?- Timothy immediately brushed the question out if his mind and he patted moraine's head
"I won't do it ever again " moraine hugged him tighter after his response before letting go
June approached and stopped Infront of him withh a small smile on her face " uhm can I get a -" her eyes opened wide as Timothy quickly pulled her into his embrace before she could even finish speaking
" You look a lot like him in his younger days" Timothy whispered catching June by surprise
"Huh ?"
" I met him, I met your father and he-" ....
....
Outside of Zebha
" Where are we headed my Lord ?" Komoni asked , everyone was now awake except for Timothy who was placed in the center of the group
" The Kingdom of Hentesa , which is just across the 9th sea..Bermun "
" Oh I -" komoni was interrupted by Timothy standing up in fright
"Timothy , Timothy it's fine hey hey you are fine just breath" Finn stood up and approached him with his hands up
" Finn?" Timothy asked as his head was clearing , Finn nodded and he placed his hands on his shoulder " sit down , come on "
Timothy obediently sat down but he had a single question he wanted answered
"Why am I not in my room ?"everyone looked at him with sad expressions on their faces
" Zebha was taken wasn't it?" Timothy asked
Finn nodded " four of your predecessors were killed while faro and Harmonia are missing . We are currently headed to Hentesa " Finn told Timothy who had a blank expression on his face
" Are we abandoning the kingdom ? The people? What of the royal family ...your family? I mean the two princess are not the only family you have your majesty" Timothy asked his voice calm
" We are not abandoning anyone , every citizen has been moved to a safe place do not worry about them or my family . What's most important is us only we can retake Zebha from Elvis's grip" Timothy did not speak anything afterwards
Almost everyone in their group noticed the way Timothy and Finn conversed , it was as if they were equals but how could that be when Finn is their king and Timothy is his servant sworn to protect him . Everyone except for Lus had their eyes on Timothy who now seemed as if he was lost in thought
" What's troubling you? " The words slipped out of Ver's mouth , Timothy raised his head to look at her then he looked away without responding making Ver feel very embarrassed with herself
" You may all meditate , we will need our strength when we fly above the bermun sea" everyone immediately sat in their meditating pose and started meditaing...
...
Spirit glades
In the heart of the spirit glades ,many thick vines wrapped together emerged from the ground and they unraveled revealing two man one was battered and bruised bleeding from head to toe while the other looked completely fine except for his robes that had suffered some damage and a crack on his demon mask . A thick vine wrapped itself around the battered man and the other vines retracted into the ground leaving the two man surrounded by nothing but grass and a dense fog
"Great master , I have brought you the emerald demon of Zebha just like you asked" zenoki knelt on one and spoke with his head facing the ground
A chilling aura permeated the whole area making it hard to breath even for zenoki , the fog started gathering Infront of them and in a short time the fog had disappeared but Infront of them stood a woman with pale white skin and jet black hair that danced in the wind , her body was covered by a feint blanket of fog and her face was discernible only her hollow eye sockets could be clearly seen .
"Excellent job my deacon "