Chapter 555: An Unwelcome Truth

He didn’t like that Silas had made that statement, not even a little bit, knowing his reputation, or rather the Abyss’s reputation, was one of the worst things to say at this moment. But at the same time, it did prevent any future problems. So he understood it to some extent.

Sighing, he was about to get up to his feet, but Zvezda spoke up, questioning Silas. "Is this a joke or something? Silas." Her eyes were terrified; it was clear she was offended by the Blue Rose’s King comment.

Silas smile. "I’m not lying; the person sitting in front of you is the Forgotten’s Vessel in the flesh. He’s the first person who approached me to tell me about the news, before even Iris, so that is why he is here."

She frowned. "This is absurd, and you were aware of his existence, and you still haven’t killed him-"

"Zvezda," Mahendra called out, making her stop talking as she turned towards him; the King of the last realm seemed to be quite fed up with her attitude already. "Let the boy talk. It doesn’t matter who he is."

The Queen scoffed as she crossed her arms, giving him a death stare.

Aether took a deep breath; things had already gone horribly wrong. Getting to his feet, he heard Silas talk once more. "I’ll introduce everyone here so you know better." He pointed to Alar. "That is Alar Moirai." He winked at him as he continued. "Leader of the Abyss’s realm."

Alar quickly barged in. "Don’t ever associate my Kingdom with that cursed God. Caelurea is a beautiful place, with a magical nature. It has nothing to do with the Abyss."

Silas rolled his eyes as he continued. "Zvezda Nivara Volskaya, Queen of the eternal frostlands, land of fate."

She frowned slightly as he turned to her.

"King Rashind of the Desert of Freedom, Oasis."

...

And last but not least. King of the Stormlands, King Mahendra himself, the strongest person alive."

Mahendra smiled as his golden eyes stared at him, almost as if they could see through his hood, which he had a tiny theory that he could, but it was good, at least, that he had never seen him face to face when he was young.

"Hello, kid." He said, and Aether knelt slightly to show his respect.

"I’ve heard you made some important revelations; I wish to hear them, and more importantly, to see how it affects my people." The King of the Stormland continued. Letting Aether take the stage.

He really hoped the relic Silas gave him was going to work, since if it didn’t, it was going to be quite awkward.

"Of course. I plan on doing exactly that." He gazed upon them all. Seeing their different reactions... it was easy to see just how hated he was, and just because the Abyss was his God. How was he supposed to make them believe him? He had no idea.

"I come from a future, or rather, I’ve lived through a future, one where I witnessed the world fall and came back." He put his hands behind his back. "Now, I know everything I said sounds crazy, which is why I will try to explain."

He bit his lip, figuring his words out in his head. "I was part of the expedition the Blue Rose and Caelurea had planned into the Wonderland, which went horribly wrong, as that place was cursed; our access to the Codex was stripped, and we were trapped with thousands of civilizations and monsters that wanted us dead, from stories, but also the past.

In that expedition, everyone died, and the Wonderland was merged with the world, bringing everything inside it into our world, which, due to us being unprepared, also probably led to the fall of the world. I can’t confirm what happened in the real world; I wasn’t part of it, so you could say I’m exaggerating... but inside of the Wonderland, there are monsters of the level of Breaker, so it’s safe to say, even with my exaggeration, the world is in grave danger."

He stopped for a second to catch his breath, but also to let the Kings ask any questions if they had any. He didn’t think he was doing bad; he had explained his story quite well. And more importantly, he had told them just how serious this thing was.

Taking a deep breath, he was about to start again, but then he saw Alar raise a hand. "And when are you going to stop spitting bullshit? It’s obvious this is just one of your tricks. Coming back from the future or whatever, it’s absurd." The others also seemed to agree, as they started whispering to each other, except Mahendra.

...

He had expected this, but he didn’t think it would be this bad. It made him question just how fit these people were to lead their world, if their pride was so big that they couldn’t listen to his words at all.

Clenching his fists, he tried to remain calm. "I can provide evidence if that is what you wish?"

Alar chuckled. "You know what I wish? And It’s probably what a lot of us here want. The Abyss gone, dead."

...

He took a step forward, as a deep frown formed on his face. To think this was what his father had become... it was an absolute disgrace; it disgusted him; it made him even happier he had found out his mother’s name, before he had used it to not reveal himself to Xavier... but he wasn’t so sure anymore if Moirai was really the name he wanted to go by.

"Tell me, Alar Moirai, what went through your mind when you tasked your little boy Xavier with killing the Aperios family whenever he entered the Wonderland? Did you feel any guilt, or are you that wicked?"

His father’s face fell slightly, and the others saw it, as the room went silent... The King of Caelurea didn’t deny it, which meant that it had to be true, but for him to know that, he would have had to be there, in the Wonderland...

It had not been his wish to prove himself in this way... but he was happy he had done it now.

But it wasn’t like this changed anything.

"You dare speak to a King like this, you brat?" Zvezda said, as she turned towards Silas. "Do you see this? Is this the freedom you’ve given him?" And yet, the King of the Blue Rose couldn’t help but smile.

Aether turned towards Zvezda, staring into her eyes. "Are titles all you care about now?" He said, as he walked away from Alar and headed towards her, his fists clenched tight. "You’ve just got proven news that the world will fall, and your people will be in grave danger, and instead of taking it in and trying to find a way to protect your own, you care about me being rude to a King who tasked his adopted to kill his dead wife’s family?"

The Queen seemed utterly disrespected, her face almost going red, but as she was about to speak, she felt Mahendra’s gaze on her.

Aether stared at her a bit longer before turning towards everyone else. "Pardon my rudeness, if you really care that much about how I speak in such a tragic moment like this one. But I really give no fuck about manners when the world is at risk at the moment.

At the end of my time in the Wonderland, when I was the only person left inside the Wonderland, I had my luck finding a place that was able to rewind time; this is why I know things, and wish to tell you all this, so that the world can be prepared whenever the worst comes."

He was lying, but at the same time, it really didn’t matter how he had come back, and plus, it was just a hassle to explain himself, and it would make them even more aggravated towards him.

Mahendra chuckled. "And this meeting, you are planning on trying to unite all the nations for this war, am I right?"

Aether quickly nodded, which the King of the Storms could only respect. "I’ve got nothing against it, and since Silas let you hold this meeting, I’m guessing this makes two votes." He said, as he raised his hand, which Silas soon followed, and since he raised his hand, Alar followed; he didn’t want to get on the Abyss’s bad side; he knew it.

Even if he didn’t want to admit it, it was their God. And all the other nations had their Vessels alive, true; all of them were in the Blue Rose, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t go to war in their God’s respective lands.

Rashid had been slightly hesitant, since Oasis had revolved around freedom, but as much as he loved freedom, the lives of his people were far too important. So he also voted in favour.

Leaving only one left.

"I reject," Zvezda said. "I’m not going to be working or letting any of my people work with a monster from any nation. My land will fight alone. And I have no plan on associating myself ever-"

"How much of a bitch can you be?" Aether cut her off, completely leaving her out of words.

"You speak quite highly for being a Breaker. Do you think you’re the strongest person in the world, that there aren’t going to be monsters that can harm you? Well, I’ll let you know that I want you to be on your own, so you can die. To think you would really reject the idea of this alliance just because you consider the humans of other nations less than yours, and for what reason? Just because they aren’t part of your land?

What kind of false God do you think you are? Go fuck yourself."

The room was quiet; no one dared to say a word...

But not long after, Zvezda finally raised her hand.