Chapter 151: Chapter 151

Eren looked down at the petrified face of his fair lady with confusion written all over his, she was tense, scared, and alert, making him wonder what made her that way suddenly when not a minute ago she was lying leisurely on his bed, naked and satisfied, her grip on both of his arms was tight and painful as her wide eyes looked at him, words stuck on her throat as she couldn’t say anything else.

Tilting his head, Eren stared at the closed door for a second before looking back at his fair lady, his eyes questioning her for what she meant, his shadows didn’t detect any threats nor did he get any reports for any intrusion, there was nothing to be worried about besides the possible news his advisor was carrying, only that didn’t seem to be what alarmed her, but before he could question her or even reassure her that she was safe by his side with nothing to worry about, the door of his bedroom was opened to reveal the old demon carrying a silver tray with a small letter on it.

“What the fuck!” with a threatening growl, Eren pushed Sara behind him, his shadows quickly covering her nakedness as he glared at his advisor, father figure or not, he did not appreciate the intrusion, a male intrusion at that with his fair lady bare and sated, the smell of her arousal still lingering in the air, but instead of staying behind him, Sara quickly jumped in front of him, placing herself between the two men, her back to Eren, facing the old demon, her posture threatening the later and protective to the last.

Was she trying to defend him?

From what?

“Worry not, young Goddess!” Eren’s eyes shot towards his advisor who walked calmly into the room and closed the door behind him as if he wasn’t the least bothered by the lord’s vicious glares and the lady’s warning stance, instead, he stood a few steps away from them, the tray still in his hand.

“It is an invitation for both of you to attend the human king and the ice queen’s wedding, my Lord”.

“Great news indeed, but it doesn’t justify your intrusion!” Eren answered once he managed to get this mind off the pleasant surprise, his best friends were finally getting married, and maybe he could be next.

“apologies, Young Lord, but I owe the lady here an explanation, I owe you both an explanation.” Joseph's kind and composed eyes traveled from Eren to Sara before settling back on the shadows' lord, a heaviness settling in his chest as he realized he was about to ruin the happiness they both needed and deserved.

“What are you talking about…”

“He is one of them Eren! He is a God! How come you are not recognizing his aura?” Eren looked at Sara as if she grew a second head, seeing the certainty in her eyes, his eyes moved back to his advisor, the man he knew his entire life, the one who not only saved him but supported him and the demons of his empire all the way… he was no God! How could he be?

“Sara, I think you are confused!” seeing the shocked and offended look on her eyes mixed with the fear and caution, the shadows’ lord quickly tried to explain to her “I kne…”

“The young Goddess is right, Young Lord, my true identity is what she is claiming it to be!” hearing that, Eren’s eyes widened in disbelief, his mind numb for a second as he couldn’t comprehend what was coming of his advisor’s mouth, seeing his disturbing state, Sara took the opportunity to lunch at the old looking man with her full speed, not caring about her naked state, the bells of danger ringing inside her head didn’t allow her to care about anything but eliminating the threat standing calmly in front of them, but as she charged her fist with her energy and aimed it to him, the God’s solid body turned into thin air as if she was punching a mirage.

“Sara!” Jumping back to stand protectively in front of Eren, Sara swallowed back her frustration and glared menacingly at the calm God, wondering how did he do what he just did, her fist went right through him but didn’t touch him, how could she defeat an enemy she couldn’t touch?

“Please, young Goddess, I bare you both no ill will!” Joseph spoke with the kindness and composure of a father, reminding Sara of her own father as she sensed the sincerity of his words, but that wasn’t the case with the shadows’ lord whose eyes held hurt and betrayal as his hands moved on their own to pull Sara back to him, protecting her but also holding on her strength to survive the stab in the back he just received.

“I believe I need to tell you the whole story from the beginning!” Joseph said as he shook his head, he always knew that the truth would come around eventually, only that he didn’t anticipate that it would come that soon and would be that difficult to announce, especially if it meant losing the love and respect of the young man he considered his son.

“My real name is not Joseph, it is Zaman.” The God said as his eyes flickered to meet the red ones of the young lord, and his heart clenched when he saw the look of betrayal in them, it was the one thing he didn’t wish to see, and it was almost as painful as seeing the bloodied corpse of the women he loved lying lifeless in the cold shack.

“Historia, Kalan, Ebdi, and Zaman!” Eren whispered under his breath, reciting the names of the four first-generation Gods, the ones he learned about from Ayartma back in the forbidden sea.

He was truly one of them! A storm of emotions raged in Eren’s chest and he pulled Sara closer to him, ready to defend her with his life, but even her proximity didn’t help erase the feeling of painful betrayal that spread in his every cell.

“What do you want from us?” Sara asked menacingly, pushing back her fears as she glared at the God, it wasn’t the time to be afraid, she told herself, Eren was wounded, she knew it, and it was up to her to stand up for him, to defend him and then mend his broken heart and the look of betrayal he carried in his beautiful red eyes.

How unfair! She told herself, pressing her body more to his, just when she got her family back, Eren learned the bitter truth about the man who was his only family.

“From you two? Only your safety and your wellbeing, young Goddess, I say it again, I mean you no harm!” Zaman answered calmly, a small part of his heart that wasn’t aching was proud of her and the ferocity in her eyes, unlike her mother who always seemed collected as if she had all the answers in the world, the little hybrid was fierce, angry, and fiery, ready to pounce at his throat to protect the man she loved, consequences be damned!

“Then why are you here?”

“I have always been here; it is my duty after all.” Seeing the confusion in their eyes, the old God proceeded with his words, “I know what you both think about us, the first generation Gods, and how we took the power to ourselves, but that is not what truly happened!

You see, thousands of years ago, when this world was a part of a bigger one, a bigger entity where the first life bloomed thanks to the creation energy, the dark forces were growing as well, it was a silent battle between dark and white that our primal ancestors didn’t know about, not until the once one world was shredded into so many, and darkness seeped through the cracks, separating us all, making us weak and under it mercy.”

“The once one shall be one once more!” Sara whispered the words, not sure if she remembered them correctly, they were her mother’s words, the ones she heard in the shack.

“Indeed, Young Goddess, but back then, the separated words were too weak to survive the darkness, and that is how we, the Gods, came to exist, the four of us, we were at first called the children of light, for light has chosen us to carry it.”

“Chosen you?” Sara asked, dumbfounded, before looking back at Eren to see the same confusion written all over his face, didn’t the Gods take the energy to themselves?

“No, we didn’t! not at first at least!” snapping their eyes back at the old man, Sara and Eren both looked at him with narrowed gazed as they were sure none of them spoke out the question they were both asking themselves.

“I know it is hard to believe, especially with the way things turned out eventually, but this is the truth, I don’t know why were we chosen among others, maybe because we possessed the insight and the asceticism to keep this part of the entity, the world that we have today, safe and whole for as long as we could, at first, we thought we had to maintain the creation energy for a while only until the breaking is complete and the dark energy is neutralized, but then, we realized that the dangers that face our world were not just death, but life as well.”

“You mean the livings…” Sara answered softly, her eyes glued to his as she watched them bleeding out their scarlet color to be replaced by a light silvery blue, the wrinkles he carried in every corner of his face were stretched to leave behind a firm skin filled with youth, the short grey locks extended with their dull greyness turning into lush silverness, and right in front of their eyes, the old demon turned into a young and handsome God who looked barely older than the shadows’ lord himself, surrounded by a halo of wisdom and sanctity.

“You have seen it with your own eyes, same as we did, young Goddess, how it is settled even inside the purest of hearts, the grain of evil that is, and how fast it grows once it is fed with power, swallowing everything good on the way.”

“What the fuck are you mumbling about now?” Eren questioned, hating the fact that the God, the one who was his only family not minutes ago, was getting into his fair lady’s head with some things he wasn’t understanding, he felt left out and it bothered him to no ends, to know that his fair lady might be manipulated right in front of his eyes while he could do nothing about it.

“I have seen it, Eren, humans and demons, both of them, they are corrupted, that is why I unleashed the storm upon them all, because I knew that they won’t choose peace unless it is their only choice!” speaking softly, Sara met Eren’s worried eyes, afraid that he would think ill of her for acting like the Gods he hated, they didn’t speak of the storm and the things she did, the lives she took, but ignoring it didn’t mean that it was going to go away.

“I have told you before, I will always be your ally, I will always give you love and understanding, I will take your side, you have nothing to worry about, to me you will always be you, the woman I love, and the Goddess I believe in and worship.” Hearing his words, Sara couldn’t help but smile gratefully at him, her eyes shining with all the emotions she didn’t speak of yet, the love and appreciation she had for him, reaching out for his face, she caressed his cheek as she mouthed a silent ‘Thank you’.

Looking back at the God, Eren noticed the sad smile he carried, as if he was lost in another moment, trapped in a memory maybe, maybe the memory of his beloved, the one he only spoke about once, and yet something told Eren that his sadness wasn’t just for the past, but for the future.

“What about the second-Generation Gods? Surely you knew that they carried the same grain, and yet you shared the power with them!” Eren asked accusingly, unlike Sara, he wasn’t willing to let himself affected by the poetic and heroic claims of the God, no matter who he was or claimed to be.

“First, you must know that we the Gods existed long before our divinity was exposed and then fought, thousands of years had passed with the four of us just trying to stabilize the creation energy and preserve a world where life could bloom, we understood what life needed and that was death, balance, so we tried to maintain the balance but it exhausted us, in the end, we needed help to carry the energy before it destroyed us.”

“Not so selfless and heroic now!”

“Eren!” Sara glared at her demon with meaningful eyes, not flinching at his wronged expression, just like him she was going to take his side against the whole world if it came to that, but right then, she needed to listen, she needed to know and see another side of the story in order to better understand herself and her existence, as well as her mother’s last words.

“I understand you, young lord, but you have gone through the process of carrying the energy yourself, and you have seen what it could do to a person, and that was but a small portion of it, unlike us the first Gods who carried more than half the energy, it was hard to stabilize, hard to contain, and hard to keep, at the same time, there was no one else in the world to carry it like we did, no one strong enough, and we couldn’t let it spill for that meant that our world won’t have any mean to fend for itself against the dark energy and rejoin the worlds, and that is why we chose a few of the purest individuals that lived back then and shared a small portion of the energy with them, we used them and it was wrong, but what other choice did we have back then? When the world was at its weakest.”

“And us? The demons?”

“What happened to your kind young lord was a necessary injustice, a cruelty that needed to be committed for the greater good!”

“You fucking…!” Feeling the soft touch on his bare chest, Eren looked down to meet the pure eyes of Sara, begging him to contain his anger for her sake, for her to have her answers, it wasn’t something he couldn’t do for her, but it was hard, it was his whole people’s tragedy that she was asking him to ignore, years and years of death and pain.

He needed her then, and yet, she was in need to, and to him, she always came first.

“I understand your anger, young Lord, and I am not here to defend our actions nor the cruel way we had to handle things, even though I was hoping for you to see, as you have already seen, that cruelty is sometimes necessary, no matter how much we crave peace and good.”

“Then why are you here? In the shadows’ edge? And why was the other one, Kalan, in the frozen edge?” Sara asked, and right when she voiced her question, Eren spoke.

“And what about the fourth?” Ebdi, his name was, if two Gods were in the two edges and one was dead, was the fourth in the edge of the flames?

“After the cruelty that was committed against the demons, we saw that it was our duty to assure their survival in the deadlands, and while Historia stayed behind to look after the world and the vessels, me, Ebdi, and Kalan, moved to the edges, our main task was to ensure that the demon nations learned how to control the dark energy, it was better to…”

“So, you not only pushed us to the deadlands and cursed us to stay there, but also used us like saprophyte moss, ones that neutralized the excess of the dark energy and used it to survive!”

“That dark energy was allowed in by us, Young Lord, and it was us who taught the first demons how to use the dark energy.”

“So, we are back to the first conclusion, you made us the monsters we are!”

“You are not a monster!” Sara interrupted defensively, hating the way Eren was referring to himself, and while she stared at him with pained eyes, both men looked at her, one with angry yet loving eyes and the other with kind and respectful ones.

“You are right, young lady, the demons were never monsters, they were simply predators, a higher ring in the food chain.”

“You are not helping!” Sara snorted with a sharp glare directed at the God while her hold tightened around her man, he was not a monster nor a predator, he was a loving man and a great leader, not some rogue beast roaming the woods for his next meal.

“That is not all though, you didn't just move to the edges to teach the demons how to survive.” frowning, Eren looked down at his fair lady, confused by her answer, did she know something he didn’t? “I have seen it, the fluctuance of the veil in the frozen edge, the barrier is growing weaker, and behind it, a chaotic darkness was raging.” the subtle smile on the God’s face told Sara that she was right, which only made her more alarmed and scared of what was coming, and with the buried fear that resurfaced, the words of the other God, the despicable one resonated in her ears.

“Correct, for all these years we have tried to shield the world and strengthen the barriers, but it hasn’t been enough lately.”

“Why?”

“That is something to worry about later, young Goddess, for now, your brother is still waiting for the confirmation.” Sara wanted to say something but with the way the God changed back to his old appearance, indicating that he was done talking for the time being.

“My fair lady!” looking up to meet the concerned yet reserved gaze of Eren, Sara swallowed her words and objections, his eyes were filled with so many heavy emotions, ones enough to destroy anyone’s sanity and she didn’t know how to reassure him, how to make him feel better. “I will be right back, please…”

“I will be here, I will wait for you…” at her soft whisper and pleading eyes, Eren couldn’t help but lower his head for his lips to meet hers in a needing kiss, telling her what he couldn’t put in words, and that he needed her to stay, needed her to be by his side for it was all too painful for him.

As the young couple lost themselves in their kiss, Zaman left the room quietly, his own heart filled with emotions, one crowning them all, pity.

The world was truly unfair.

Going straight to the dark room in the tower, Zaman pulled out a bottle of alcoholic blood and poured it in two glasses, one for himself, he never liked the taste of the thick liquid but with time, he learned to adapt to the lifestyle of a demon, the dark empire was where he found a purpose for his existence after her death, a purpose in the form of a little deranged kid.

“Start talking!” the angry roar echoed in the room as the shadows’ lord marched inside the room, surrounded by his thick shadows, he was ready for battle, Zaman thought sadly, nevertheless, he talked.

“She looks like her mother!”

“You mean your dead lover?” Eren waited for an answer with his hands crossed over his chest, his eyes blaming and accusing, making the old man who offered him a glass sigh tiredly before retracing his hand.

“It broke my heart when she chose him, a mere human, I never understood why, I have always been there for her, by her side, I knew her better than anyone and we had survived so much together, but eventually, her heart went with him, and that broke my heart!”

“What about the first war, and the last one?” Eren marched toward the glassy walls, no matter how much he tried, he couldn’t attack the man, even when he knew what he was, he was still the only father he knew, and deep down, where the scared little boy was hiding, he hoped that there was some honesty in the big lie, that there was something true about the man and the affection he had shown him.

“It is as you knew it, Young Lord, back then, we were still struggling to balance the energy and keep the vessels tamed, we couldn’t afford to go on war, and we didn’t have to, for Historia’s lover took it upon himself to fight it for us, your ancestors, and even though their claims were justifiable, were selfish, they wanted what was not for them nor for this world, equality, forgetting that it is not how the world works, and neglecting the fact that it was bigger than all of us, that back then, it wasn’t about equality and dignity, it was about survival!”

“And the second-generation Gods?”

“They were pure at first, and to keep them tamed we came up with the whole Gods' doctrine, to provide them with that illusion of superiority, but eventually they were corrupted, you have seen it with your eyes!”

“Why haven’t you stopped us? When we attacked the center?”

“Because you deserved to live, Young Lord, You and your people, none of us were able to return to the center with the darkness thickening on the edges, and Historia was dead, so it was up to you to release the energy contained in the vessels for your survival.”

“You said you were the reason for her death.” Not knowing what else to say, Eren asked about Historia, he knew it was an inappropriate thing to ask, but at the same time, he felt lost and torn, the man whom he knew then was the enemy still sounded like the one who took care of him and supported him throughout his whole life.

“I had him drained of life, the first time, hoping that she would eventually forget about him, but his love remained in her heart, and when a life circle was completed, he was born again, and she was waiting for him, I knew that she was more than willing to keep him alive, so I put someone else in his path.”

“The queen!” Eren concluded, while his mind wondered about the life circle Zaman spoke of.

“She was a fine woman, Katherina, and because of my selfishness she suffered, I placed her in a love triangle against a Goddess, thinking that once Historia sees her man with another woman, with his children by her side she would let him go, but she didn’t, and because of that she suffered and eventually died.”

“I don’t understand!”

“We cannot have children of our own, Young Lord, the energy would leave our bodies and that would kill us, it is the price we chose to pay, and after having her heartbroken by the man she loved, all Historia wanted was a child, her love blinded her, making her think it would tie them forever, for the next life!”

“You mean that…” Eren’s face turned extremely pale as he remembered what he did with Sara, and the fact that he came inside of her, and while his heart broke at the realization that they couldn’t have children, his mind screamed in fear that she might already be with one, which would lead to er death.

“I am sorry, Young Lord!” Zaman shook his head, his eyes filled with pity, “The lady is not with a child for now, but keep in mind the risks that come with it!”

“This is unfair!”

“You were the child I never had, Young Lord.” Looking up, Eren was met with the fatherly look in Zaman’s eyes, making him want to cry and scream at the same time, “It doesn’t have to be your own flesh and blood to be your own…”

Unable to bear the presence of the God any longer, Eren left the room, he knew that there was more bad news coming, he knew that the God didn’t say everything but his mind and heart were already saturated with all the shocking revelations he learned that day, it was more than he could take, and therefore, just like a child, he left to where he could find peace and safety.

His fair lady.