“I spoke first,” she said. “I immediately realized my mistake, but it was too late to change it. Nevertheless, Izanagi loved me and wanted to continue. Later, we had two children, a son named Hiruko, and a daughter named Awashima. They… they…” Tears streamed forth and she buried her head in her husband’s shoulder.
Izanagi continued the story. “Our children were born deformed. This was due to our failure to perform the ritual properly. Ashamed, we abandoned them. We thought they died long ago, but obviously that is not the case.”
Bethos sighed. “If you think your children are dead, I guess that would make it difficult to reconcile. I take it you’ll be going to Kornia?”
They nodded resolutely. “We must make this right,” Izanagi said.
“Our children have fallen in with Zero Grade. We have to save them and apologize for our actions. Back then, we were young and did not understand our duty. Now we can make no excuses.”
“I understand,” Bethos said. “But won’t you at least take some extra bodies with you? Your kids might not be in the mood to make nice.”
Izanagi shook his head. “We must do this alone. If we fail, you can send all the reinforcements you want.”
“Fine. That gets Kornia out of the way for now. Who will we send to the other Ultimus Points?” Bethos said.
Freya raised her hand. “Send me. I’ll take a group of volunteers.”
“Done,” Bethos said.
Brandon chimed in next. “I’ll go to Chrichton, and I’m pretty sure Jaysin Marx will want to come with me.”
“Do it.”
“I will head to the Tru Republic,” Mac said. “It is, after all, very reminiscent of my homeland of Ireland.”
Bethos nodded. “We have some students here from Tru. Take them with you.”
“Acknowledged.”
Next to volunteer was Baldr. “Stiftung is the only place left. I shall go forth, along with Son Goku, Ho-tei and anyone else brave enough to come, and there shall be glorious battle.”
“Less glory, more minimizing casualties,” Bethos said.
“Very well. It shall be done,” he said cheerfully before bowing and taking his exit.
Bethos laughed. “Glad we have Captain Optimism on our side. Now that that’s all settled, begin battle preparations.”
* * *
Hiruko and Awashima set across from one another at a candle-lit table enjoying their dinner. They had decided to partake in the Faust Kingdom’s excellent wine because this was a special occasion. And it wasn’t as if their hosts would deny them anything they desired.
Hiruko swirled the wine in his glass. “Do you think they’ll show up?” He wore a black school uniform, the kind that used to be popular in Japan, and his dark hair was neatly kept.
“They must. Surely they miss us,” Awashima said. Her particular outfit used to be known as gothic-lolita, and it, too, was popular in Tokyo’s more stylish districts. It consisted of a sleek, fitted black corset with matching knee-length skirt, petticoats and a headdress covering her long midnight hair. She also wore red lipstick and dark eyeliner, while her fingernails had black polish.
“But they abandoned us.”
Undaunted, his sister replied, “I’m sure they feel bad about that.” She laughed.
“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “They’ve doubtless seen the message and will be coming to deal with their greatest mistake.”
“
As if we could be called a mistake,” she said bitterly.
“They have to save face in front of the Academy. If they don’t come to deal with us, they’ll never be able to look their fellow gods in the eyes ever again. It’s a matter of pride.”
She downed her glass and sat it down. “If you’re so sure, why did you ask?”
“Just making conversation.”
“You know what would have been nice?” she asked. “Making conversation as a family.”
“The two of us are a family.”
“I mean a real family. More than two people.”
“Well,” he said, “we’ll be able to do that once they arrive. We have so much to talk about, after all.”
“We certainly do. I just hope I don’t end up butchering our dear parents before we have a chance to catch up.”
He shrugged. “Accidents happen.”
* * *
The Faust Kingdom took up the entire North Pole. It was a massive country of perpetual blizzards and subzero temperatures. Only a few resorts were tourist-friendly with quality skiing; the rest of the nation consisted of some of the most inhospitable regions on Narska. In fact, half the continent consisted of terrifying mountain regions. The Faustians, though, were a hardy people, and built their cities to endure the frigid conditions.
The Faust Kingdom actually began sailing the seas decades before the Tru people, though they were on opposite sides of the world and so wouldn’t encounter one another for many years. The First Faustian Dynasty began years before under King Regnal who had united the various warring tribes through brute force and bloody conflict. He believed the sword was the best diplomat, and had no qualms about proving it. And while later Dynasties opted for more peaceful solutions to problems, they still revered their founder. At the time of Ev’s entry into Divine Protector Academy, the Faust Kingdom was in its Tenth Dynasty.
Izanagi and his wife arrived at the gates of Kornia, located several hundred miles north of the southern coastline. The city had been built at the base of an extensive mountain region, and the parts not facing the mountain were surrounded by a fifty-foot wall of ice built centuries ago to protect Kornia from invaders.
The spouses found the gates abandoned. Normally one had to stop at the toll booths here and pay a fee to get into the city. They feared for the citizens, and wondered what their children had done to them.
Beyond the entrance was a long street lined with tall buildings made of ice. They knew from experience the buildings’ interiors would be lined with metal or concrete to protect occupants from electrocutions from all the wires they had running through.
After passing through this street, they came to a gargantuan courtyard, and here they discovered what had happened to the thousands of residents. The Kornians hadn’t been killed as Izanagi and Izanami had thought, but were bowed to the new arrivals. They looked half-dead from frostbite, yet were clearly still alive.
One of them, a fortyish man wearing a thick beige parka, stood up to address them. “We welcome you, Lost Gods. I am Sven, mayor of Kornia. The others foresaw your arrival and bade us wait for you.”
“How long have you been out here?” Izanagi said.
“Several hours. There were times when our faith started to fade, but we remained in place to await you.”
“Is this all that’s left of the resistance?” Izanami said as she looked them over.
Sven looked confused. “Resistance? What would we be resisting?”
Izanagi replied, “You know, the invad—” He stopped short as he suddenly realized how ridiculous he and his wife sounded. While the rest of the world had put up a fight against Zero Grade, the Faustians worshipped the Lost Gods. Why would they resist them? “Never mind. Thank you for waiting for us. Can you take us to our fellow gods?”
“Yes. Of course.” He turned to walk away, but suddenly fell down. The cold had been too much for him.
Izanagi turned to his wife. “Izanami.”
“Right.” She generated a warm wind and had it blow through the courtyard, warming everyone up.
“Thank you,” Sven said. “I am not worthy.”
Izanagi nodded. “It’s all right. Perhaps you could just tell us where the other gods are.”
Sven pointed to a gargantuan building a mile or so passed the courtyard and up a hundred-foot flight of stairs carved out of the mountain. “There. The governor’s hall. We were more than happy to give it to them.”
“Thank you,” Izanami said. “Now, please, get inside where it’s warm. But first…” She raised her hands an
d generated a field of brilliant green energy which covered all the Faustians. Within moments, their frostbite and hypothermia was healed.
“I neglected to mention my wife is the greatest healer out of all the gods.”
They all examined their once-again-healthy bodies, astonished. “Oh, thank you! I am not worthy!”
Izanagi didn’t like giving commands to mortals, but in this case, he insisted on them getting inside where it was warm. After that, the couple continued on to the governor’s hall.
The hall itself was actually a medieval castle, built centuries earlier when Kornia was just a military outpost. It consisted of a series of large stone buildings with adjoining ramparts. The Faust flag used to be buffeted in the wind above the hall, a symbol of Faustian strength and resolve. However, now it had been replaced by Zero Grade’s emblem. We’ll have to do something about that, Izanagi thought. But first, their errant children needed tending to. The couple raced up the stairs and into the hall, where a teenage servant girl bowed to them.
“Welcome, Holy Lords. I am Greta. My other masters have bidden me take you to them.”
“At once,” Izanagi said.
“Right this way.”
She led them down a flight of stairs into the basement. Izanagi thought this a strange place for a meeting between long-lost family members, but then again, gods were strange people.
Yet when they got down there, they found a huge cavernous area. The basement had been carved out, and now there was a bright, shimmering abyss below a balcony which clearly had not been part of the original space. A few dozen people sat staring at the churning mass like a surreal version of operating theaters in hospitals. The abyss roiled like an underwater volcano.
A male voice called out, “Welcome, dear parents. You’re just in time for our reunion.” Two figures floated up though the hole in the basement while the audience bowed their heads in reverence.
“Our children,” Izanami breathed from the base of the stairs. Those two words overflowed with emotion only a mother could know.
“You speak as someone who actually cares,” Awashima said, bile rising from her voice.
“We have committed terrible wrongs. We ask your forgiveness,” Izanagi said.
“Forgiveness?” Hiruko laughed bitterly. “I must inform you that it’s too late for that.”
Izanami stretched out her hand. “Please. We were young and terrified. When you two were born, we believed you to be a curse. We cast you aside, unable to deal with it. But we were wrong to do that. Take my hand, and we can finally be a family.”
Hiruko floated over and reached out to do just that. But at the last second, he pulled away. “Ha! You two are truly pathetic to think we’ll just forgive you like that. If you want us to be a family again, sacrifices must be made.”
“What kind of sacrifices?” Izanagi asked, deathly afraid of what the answer would be.
With a lecturing index finger, Awashima answered, “Oh, don’t worry. You two needn’t do anything. In fact, the only way this will work is if you don’t do anything. You see, we have assembled an audience today and positioned them over this very special mass of Big Bang energy. Surely you recognize the Ultimus Point below?” The spouses nodded. “Yes, well, this deposit of primordial power has the potential to turn select people into gods. Normally, it takes years of distant exposure, and only those with the correct DNA get to become gods. But when you jump right into it, surprising things can happen. We’re going to command our worshippers to do just that, and you mustn’t interfere.”
“No!” Izanagi yelled.
“Don’t do it! You will die,” his wife yelled to the audience.
But Hiruko said, “You’re wasting your time. These Faustians are fiercely loyal to us, and for the chance to become gods—and please us in the process—they’ll do anything.”
Izanagi balled a fist. “We won’t let you do this.”
Awashima gave a condescending smile. She was enjoying this too much. “Oh? I was under the impression you wanted us to be a family. Allow this to happen, and we swear we’ll leave Zero Grade and come over to your side. It will be everything you’ve ever wanted.”
“After all,” her brother added, “what are the lives of mortals compared to the happiness of gods?”
“Mortal lives matter just as much as gods’,” Izanami insisted.
“Your choices are simple. Either allow this to happen, or fight us and risk many more innocent lives. This close to the Ultimus Point, who knows what will happen?”
Izanagi’s hand went limp. Like it or not, he was giving his assent. He stared into his wife’s pleading eyes; they were just as conflicted and wracked with guilt as his.
“We cannot let this happen,” she said.
He just shook his head, unsure of what to do. No matter what they did, someone was going to die here.
Chapter VIII
“I take it you’ve agreed to our terms,” Hiruko said. “Very well.” He pointed to a man sitting closest to him. “Jump.”
“For our Holy Lords,” he said. Without any hesitation, he leapt over the railing and into the Ultimus Point. Izanagi expected him to fall quietly, but a piercing scream filled the chasm. It was twisted with pure agony, a macabre sign something had gone horribly wrong.
“I guess the energy doesn’t like him,” Awashima said with a shrug.
Izanagi couldn’t take it anymore. “Enough of this!” he roared.
“Are you saying you’d rather fight us to the death?” Hiruko said. It didn’t seem to matter one way or another to him.
“I will not let you sacrifice anyone else, even if I have to stop you by force.”
“You bore me, Otou-san,” Hiruko said. He pointed to the next person. “Jump.”
Just as quickly, the woman got up from her seat and jumped the railing. But she reappeared a split-second later in front of the stairs thanks to Izanagi’s god-speed.
“Why?” she asked him.
“You must not share the fate of the man before you,” he said simply. He then turned his attention to the remaining audience members. “Listen to me! We are not perfect. We make mistakes, and what you are witnessing today are some of our largest mistakes. Go home and find other gods to worship.”
But Awashima raised a palm to the worshippers. An orange ball of fire engulfed them, and they were incinerated instantly. “How disappointing. I was hoping we’d bolster our numbers with new recruits. Oh, well. At least we got to punish our thoughtless parents.”
“No!” Izanami screamed. She fell to her knees in emotional agony for the lives that were so needlessly snuffed out.
“I am sorry,” her husband said. “It appears we cannot be a family after all.”
Hiruko said, “Don’t fret about it too much. Even if you hadn’t interfered, we still wouldn’t have joined you. Our hatred simply runs too deep.”
“So be it,” Izanagi said. In an instant, he closed the distance between them and smashed his fist into his son’s face. But something wasn’t right; there was too much give, and no sound of crunching skull.
Hiruko’s head flew backwards and immediately snapped back into place like some sort of balloon. “Have you forgotten, father? I was born without bones. That is the curse you abandoned us for.”
Izanagi stepped back—though he was still in mid-air. “Truthfully, I was so focused on reuniting with you, I had forgotten. But if punches will not work on you…” He conjured a tanto, a Japanese short sword, and began swinging it at his son who was truly lost to them.
Without any bones to impede him, though, Hiruko was able to contort his body and dodge his father’s strikes.
* * *
Seeing her husband fight, Izanami summoned her strength to do what had to be done. She summoned a long pole-arm called a naginata which consisted of a long wooden shaft with a curved blade at the end. She twirled it about before lunging at her daughter.
“Mother’s getting serious!” Awashima exulted.
Izanami struck first,
slicing Awashima’s collarbone and shredding her frilly outfit. To her surprise, though, her daughter laughed. “Our parents have forgotten much in their old age. I’ll remind you I absorbed my brother’s bones inside your womb, giving me a bone structure twice that of any god. Your weapon can’t hurt me.”
Until We Break Page 8
