"Were you born a human?" I asked, curious about how these beings came to be in the first place.
"Yes," She said "As a matter of fact we were all born human in different places at different times."
The scenery around me changed as I found myself sitting on a sofa in a white room and ahead of me was a projection of a little girl with black hair eating scraps.
"That's me 30,000 years ago," She said with a sad look on her face. I tried not to think about her age as she could read my mind.
The little girl looked around just 8 years old, a fat guy came near her and shouted "Still eating? How much do you eat glutton?" He then lashed at her back with a whip, The little girl knowing if she even let a whimper out of her mouth he would increase the punishment as he always does.
"Go to your chamber, Mr.Soren is waiting for you" He yelled loudly.
She stopped eating and went towards one of the rooms inside the building, she was still hungry but she had to go because in this entire facility, wardens like him were in total control. If any child tries to disobey or even show reluctance, they will not get any food.
She went inside one of the rooms, there were many adults, wearing uniforms like doctors, and there was one guy, Mr.Soren apparently the leader, commanding others. She went inside one of the equipment which looked like a sleeping chamber and closed her eyes. The chamber was closed and some strange green liquid filled the chamber.
there were tens of those chambers inside the room and there were hundreds of rooms inside the facility.
The projection shifted once more, showing a devastated landscape, with buildings reduced to rubble and the sky darkened by smoke. Strange, monstrous lifeforms roamed the land, their presence a clear threat to all life on the planet.
"Our world was on the brink of annihilation," Althaea continued, her tone heavy with the weight of the past. "These creatures, these invaders, appeared out of nowhere, slaughtering everything in their path. Humanity was desperate, clinging to survival by any means necessary."
I watched as soldiers fought valiantly against the monstrous invaders, their weapons seeming insignificant against the overwhelming force they faced. The desperation in their eyes was palpable.
"The scientists, in their desperation, began experimenting with the remains of these creatures, extracting their essence in hopes of unlocking a way to fight back," she explained. The image shifted to show a laboratory filled with vials of strange, glowing liquids. "They believed that by harnessing the power of these monsters, they could make humans strong enough to turn the tide of the war."
Her voice grew colder as the scene changed back to the little girl, now being injected with one of those glowing liquids. "But their experiments were failures, at least at first. The liquids were too volatile, too dangerous. Countless lives were lost as they tried to perfect their methods. When they realized that adults couldn't survive the process, they turned to children, believing their young bodies would be more adaptable."
I felt a chill run down my spine as I watched the little girl endure the injections, her body wracked with pain. The monstrous liquid coursed through her veins, threatening to tear her apart from the inside.
"They experimented on anyone they could find—children, the elderly, the sick. No one was spared from their desperation," Althaea said, her voice tinged with both anger and sorrow. "They thought they were creating saviors, but all they were doing was breeding more suffering."
"How did you survive that?" I asked, captivated by the harrowing tale.
"The failure of the experiment led our world to the brink of extinction," she replied, her voice heavy with the weight of her memories. The scenery shifted once again, and I found myself amidst the chaos of a world in ruin. Monstrous creatures roamed freely, devouring humans and tearing down cities with reckless abandon. The air was thick with the scent of blood, the cries of terrified children, and the wails of mourning mothers echoing through the devastation.
I saw the little girl with black hair running desperately from one of the creatures. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she sprinted with all the strength her tiny legs could muster, driven by pure fear. The creature behind her seemed to relish the chase, toying with her as she ran.
But then, she stumbled, tripping over a rock and crashing to the ground. She turned over, her eyes wide with terror as the monstrous beast loomed over her, its mouth opening wide, ready to consume her. She closed her eyes, bracing for the end. 'At least this will be the last time I suffer,' she thought, her small body trembling.
But the pain never came. After what felt like an eternity, she cautiously opened her eyes, expecting the worst. Instead of the terrifying creature, she saw a handsome man with black hair standing before her, a gentle smile on his face.
"Don't worry," he said softly, his voice soothing. "Those creatures won't cause any more suffering."
As he took a step towards her, the world around them began to change. With his first step, the ruined buildings were restored, standing tall and intact as if the destruction had never occurred. With his second step, the lifeless bodies scattered across the land were revived, the dead returning to life as though they had never been lost.
He stopped just two feet away from her, his presence commanding yet kind. "I can help you achieve the power to control your own fate," he said, his words carrying a weight of promise. "Do you want it?"
"Yes," she whispered, her voice filled with a mixture of hope and desperation.
He smiled warmly. "Good. Now let's go. And in case you're wondering, my name is Rhaegar."
"He's the lunatic who wants to take your powers?" I asked the goddess beside me, my voice laced with disbelief.
"Yes," she replied, a deep sadness clouding her eyes. "But he wasn't always like that. He was a good person, once. I don't know what changed him, but back then, he was like a father to us. Rhaegar was the first of us, born before any of the gods. It was he who taught us about the concepts that define our existence."
Her voice grew softer, tinged with sorrow. "Without him, we wouldn't be what we are today."