The stew was made and the witch and her son were having it while sitting by the fireplace in their house.
The interior was cozy and the ambience was just right, but their topic of conversation was unsettling and outright nerve-racking.
"…in about a week, the gods will find mommy." Anastasia dropped a bombshell, making Lorentz freeze in his spot.
Before he could recover, she stated more about herself to him, not letting him have a moment to collect himself and react.
"Your mom's the Witch of Eternity, one who has bad blood with most of the gods. For ten years, I refrained from speaking because the gods could locate me through it. I've engaged in countless battles with them, escaped many times too, and…"
The atmosphere was heavy but the gist of the matter was that the gods hated Lorentz's mother and were on a universe-wide witch hunt.
From his mother, he came to realize that she wasn't afraid of the gods, just annoyed and tired from the constant battles.
She was much superior and could resist them if she wanted, but could not suppress them all if they came together.
It was just like a man going up against a chicken with an axe.
It could easily slaughter it, but if many chickens were to attack together, he would be quite annoyed and somewhat suppressed.
"…no one can kill your mother, and that is a fact they all know."
As Anastasia had stated, she wasn't called the Witch of Eternity for nothing.
She was truly an eternal being and could not be killed no matter what the methods used were.
She symbolized the concepts Eternity, Immortality, and Infinity. If she ceased to exist, the universe would collapse, and the gods would cease to exist too.
However, her staying alive was also threatening their existence, and it wasn't without reason that they were on a witch hunt.
This made Lorentz question, "What exactly did you do, mom?"
Anastasia smiled and shook her head. "What else? I did what I felt was right…"
The one who symbolized infinity made a finite possibility… infinite.
If a mortal wanted to ascend to godhood, the only way was through worshipping a god and gathering followers.
There were already a pre-established set of gods who had a say on who could become a god next. The mortals never had a choice, no matter what they did.
Anastasia merely paved way for the mortals to ascend to godhood without the need of such gods.
"…and you did that by?" Lorentz asked.
Before answering, Anastasia made Lorentz show his forearm.
"What do you think this is?" She hinted with a small smile.
"A sigil from the Tower of Transcendence?" Lorentz answered, uncertain.
"Yes." Anastasia replied.
"What about it?" Lorentz still didn't get what his mother was trying to convey.
Finding that her child was unable to come to a proper conclusion, Anastasia smiled and tapped on his sigil.
"This. I gave everyone this and now the gods are after me." Anastasia said and sighed.
"Huh?" Lorentz looked at her with a confused expression, his brain unable to process the underlying meaning behind his mother's words.
"How can you give everyone something that's only obtainable in the Tower?"
"Wait, now that I think about it, how were you able to give it to me too?" Lorentz suddenly realized a crucial thing.
"Are sigils transferable?" He asked.
Anastasia's lips curved up. She propped her elbows on the table and rested her chin on her palm, smugly looking at Lorentz.
"What makes you think I can't do what my creation can?"
"What?" Lorentz, no matter how smart he was, couldn't comprehend such level of words due to being an average mortal.
Anastasia leaned forwards and flicked her boy's forehead, trying to knock some sense into that dense head.
"Owf!"
It stinged!
Lorentz couldn't fathom how a simple forehead flick would sting so much. How strong was his mother even?
Anastasia, at this point, gave up trying to be mysterious and said, "Well, if you're unable to figure it out still, I'll say it straight."
Anastasia got up and turned Lorentz's chair, making him stare in a particular direction.
She then snapped her fingers and the world around them instantly turned dark, surprising Lorentz once again.
She did some hand gestures after they entered this dark dimension and in front of Lorentz, the view of an incomprehensible monolith appeared right in front of him.
It was endless and pierced through the skies, the top invisible to the naked eyes. The lower section seemed to have been made from mystical dark stones that reeked of an ancient tale, and such grandeur only belonged to one thing that Lorentz knew of—the Tower!
"Can you see it?" Anastasia asked the obvious.
"Mommy made that a few centuries ago." She boasted proudly, baffling and shocking her poor son.
Everything Lorentz knew seemed to be crashing down as nothing felt real anymore.
All his life, he had assumed his mother to be a common witch running from the common folks who were waiting to burn her.
From a young age, he tried to get as physically fit as possible to protect his mother, but who would've thought…
Who would've thought that this lady wasn't running from common peasants, but gods!
Actual. Freaking. Gods!!!
Add to that, she was the one responsible for the creation of the Tower of Transcendence!
If this wasn't bonkers, he couldn't tell what was!
Lorentz's head was spinning and he was barely holding himself together to keep from passing out.
Anastasia could feel his emotions and hugged him from behind, patting and ruffling his hair.
Lorentz gently held her arm wrapping around him.
"Mom… so all these years, you didn't talk to me because the gods would be able to locate us and we would need to run?" Lorentz's tone was mellow.
"Yes." Anastasia replied and placed her chin on top of his head, staring at the Tower with an unfocused gaze.
"Aren't gods supposed to be just, forgiving, kind, and loving? Don't they forgive all mistakes?"
"Mhm… that's what is written in every holy book, but reality is somewhat different. When cornered, even a rat would bite, so you know…"
Anastasia was challenging the existence of all gods through her creation. It shouldn't be a surprise that they would be angry about it.
Lorentz, however, was thinking something else.
'Do good, and good will come to you. This phrase means nothing in the grand scheme of things. Everyone, even the gods, are selfish beings who don't care about others but themselves.'
If doing good was the way, then his mother wouldn't have to run.
If doing good was the way, then his mother wouldn't have to force herself to not speak to him for more than a decade.
If doing good was the way, his mother wouldn't have any reasons to leave him.
Doing good was never the way, never will be.
The world was a cold place, Lorentz now fully realized it.
'If I can realize this… then mom… who is an eternal being… should've known it too, right? Then why…' Lorentz could not understand this, no matter how much he racked his brains.
Anastasia, being so close to her son, could feel that his emotions were getting unstable.
Before she could ask what was wrong, Lorentz broke the long silence himself and asked:
"Mom… did you create the Tower because you wanted to do something good for everyone?"