New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

When Astaroth had helped form the body and soul of Nemus, outside of New Eden, in the pod’s display panel, his vitals had briefly split in two, unbeknownst to him, before returning to normal.

This information had been transmitted to EG’s headquarters, as all abnormal notifications from the pods were instantly filed in a report and sent to them. This was the second time his pod spiked this way, and the system flagged his pod to the administrators.

The administrative department received this ping, amongst many others, and started doing a remote-trouble-shooting, to find the issue. But before he could find anything, the report disappeared from his files and he lost access.

“What in the… Where is it gone?”

The guy looked everywhere in his withstanding files, but couldn’t find it.

“Ah, whatever. Next.”

Up in the top office of EG’s headquarters, Constantine was looking at the file she had just received. The system had pulled access to anyone other than her on it and pulled it out of the general system.

Constantine was looking at the data before her, a frown finding its way across her face.

‘This young man is going to be a thorn in my side, isn’t he? Just as much as this Khalor person.’

She thought about seeking an audience with Gaius right away to warn him, but decided against it.

‘He would certainly be mad for taking his time for possibly nothing. I’ll wait for the matter to proceed further…’

Putting this matter aside, she looked at another report, inside which received long-awaited information. She smiled deviously.

‘I finally found you, David Magnus.’

***

On top of the towering tree, in the land of the Ash Elves, Astaroth was staring at Nemus warily. He was still unsure how she had gotten all the information about his true identity.

Khalor had said the two worlds would be kept separate, at least for now. She shouldn’t be able to gather this info at all.

Unless she was from the other world and was brought into New Eden, just like them. 𝚍ｏ𝚟𝚕.ｏｒｇ

Nemus looked at him, working his mind with a worried look on his face, and kept up her warm smile. She could have simply told him the truth, but she liked seeing him panic-think like this.

Luna swivelled her head between Nemus and Astaroth, not quite understanding what was going on. To the newly formed little girl, both of them were like parents, and she felt unthreatened by the deity.

Pulling on Astaroth’s sleeve, Luna looked at him with a tilted head.

Astaroth locked his eyes on hers.

“What is it, Luna?”

His tone still oozed wariness and uncertainty.

“Why are worried, master? Is something wrong?”

The innocence of Luna was refreshing, but did not change the situation. But before Astaroth could reply to her, Nemus decided she had let the suspense float long enough.

“Your master is worried that I might be the enemy. But it is quite the opposite. I will be your greatest ally in this coming future, young man. But I need you to trust me. And for that, I am ready to tell you everything you want to know. Would that suffice?”

Astaroth looked at the woman once more, his eyes squinted.

“Everything?”

“Yes. Everything you want to know that I can reveal at this time.”

Luna kept spinning her head toward both adults, her eyes filled with curiosity.

“Fine. Start talking then. And start with your identity.”

Nemus’ smile stretched a little further, her eyes almost closing. She raised her left hand and with the snap of a finger, a dome appeared around the dais, cutting out all exterior sounds.

“I should not reveal this to you yet, but since you insist, I will at least make sure no… unwanted… ears hear us. The reason I know everything about you is that I am you. Or rather, you are me. We are one.”

Astaroth was tired of hearing her repeat that phrase, as if saying it again would suddenly make it the truth, or clearer to him. But before he could snap at her, she raised a hand toward him, anticipating his reaction.

“Let me finish before you get all snappy on me. Your soul. That is where our connection spans. Your soul and mine are identical, like twins.

“It is a rare phenomenon, given souls are usually what make people individuals. But in this case, it is what let me escape that dreaded prison, if only partially. And when my soul escaped that prison, instead of roaming free, to hide somewhere, it was sucked into someone’s body. Yours.”

Astaroth looked at her incredulously. Her tale made no sense.

He could tell Nemus was a deity by the aura she gave off alone. How could she say their soul was identical?

But she continued talking, cutting off his train of thought.

“Now I know what you are thinking. You wonder how we can be so different in power if your soul and mine are identical. I do not have the answer to that yet. But I will find it in time.

“For now, I cannot speak my old name, as it would bring down on us powers I wish not to provoke yet, since I can’t fight him at my current power level. Just know that I am on your side, and the side of survival, for both this world and yours.”

Astaroth still looked at the deity with a frown. The information she gave him barely met his wants for clarity.

But the fact alone she claimed to be on the side of survival meant she knew what was going on. And that made him curious.

“What do you know of the events that are to come?”

Nemus smiled.

‘His perceptiveness is sharp.’

“This isn’t the first time Gaius does this. Last time, only the world we are currently in was affected. He likes to create worlds and have them fight against each other, to see which side is strongest. His mind is twisted beyond recognition of whom he was at the beginning of all.”

“Wait. Hold on. Who the heck is Gaius?”

Giggling softly, Nemus took a sip of her tea.

“That’s right. Your world knows him through a different name. In this world, he is called Gaius, the god of creation. In yours, he has simply called himself God. Which is why he ordered all the other gods to stay away from your world. Of course, some still sneaked in, but he’s trying to find out what happens when a world grows, knowing only one god.”

Astaroth was confused with all this talk of gods and the creation of worlds. But his brain did register one tidbit of information.

“You said it isn’t the first time he does this. Is he the cause of the chaos to come?”

Nodding her head, Nemus’ face suddenly became grave.

“Gaius is the one who will bring death and destruction to your world and this one. He is the one that causes the deaths of billions of innocents.”

Astaroth traits hardened. He now had someone to point his anger at.