Chapter 17: Chapter 15.1: The Goddess. (Part I)

Echoes of Fire and Shadows

Chapter 15.1: The Goddess (Part I)

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Auntie and I were walking through the empty streets of Norvek while being bathed in the moonlight. 

It is still pretty early in the morning, so there's still time before the sun rises.

"We are almost there. The place is just around the corner." Auntie pointed at the end of the narrow street. Her face was being illuminated by the fireball I created which was currently floating above us.

"Can I get an explanation about why you dragged me out of bed earlier than usual?" I asked while trying to fight my drowsiness…

"You'll understand when we get there." My Aunt avoided my question…

"Can you at least give me a hint…?" I said with a deadpan expression.

"Just be patient for a bit! We are almost there anyway!" She was avoiding giving me information.

I wanna go back to bed…

I was barely able to keep up with her quick pace…

“There it is,” Auntie said with a bit of relief as she slowed down her pace to match my own.

After a few minutes, we finally seemed to have arrived at our destination…

At the end of the street we had just reached, there was a hill with some cobblestone stairs that reached the top of the hill. There were a few buildings that appeared to be made out of stone on top of the hill as well as a few enormous boulders which covered most of the hill.

As soon as I laid my eyes upon the stone buildings, a strange feeling took over me… There was some kind of holy atmosphere coming from the stone buildings...  No… Not only the buildings, but I could also feel the same thing from the large boulders on the hill...

“Auntie, are those...-” I was about to ask her something, but I was interrupted...

“Temples? That’s right.” She nodded while patting my shoulder. “You said you wanted to visit them, didn’t you?” She asked with a somewhat playful tone.

Ah… It seems like she heard my conversation with the twins…

“Yeah, I wanted to visit, but did we really need to come here this early?” I asked...

"It was absolutely necessary to come this early! We won't be bothered by anyone because of it." She spoke with her usual teasing tone as she patted my back. "C'mon! We can't keep her waiting!" She started to lightly push me in order to make me continue…

"Her?" I looked at her with a confused expression.

"You're asking too many questions! All the questions you might have will be answered when we reach the temple!" She ignored my question and continued to push me.

Jeez… It wouldn't kill her to give me a few hints…

Despite my confusion about the whole ordeal, we were able to reach the top of the hill without a hitch after going up the long flight of stairs...

Immediately after we reached the top, the holy atmosphere of the place started to feel overwhelming to me…

"..." I couldn't help it but I ended up frowning with discomfort…

I had gone to church many times in my previous life, yet… I had never felt anything like this…

The top of this hill felt like a safe place… Uncorrupted by mortal hands… A place of purity… A place that must not be tainted...

"Julius, just so you know, violence is strictly forbidden in holy places like this one. So, unless you want to face eternal damnation in the realm of the Goddess of Death, never ever have a fight near a church." My Auntie warned me.

"I see… I'll be careful." I nodded in understanding.

Yeah, angering the gods is not something that is on my list of things to do, so I would like to avoid that...

"Good to hear!" My Aunt said with a happy expression "Let's go before she starts getting impatient!" She immediately started walking towards one of the buildings.

I quickly followed after her with my fireball illuminating the path ahead of us.

(I wonder who she's talking about…) I thought while watching the back of my Auntie.

It didn't take long for us to reach our actual destination… An old temple that was several meters away from the stairs and the other temples.

Compared to other ones we have seen on the way here, this temple seemed to be the least taken care of.

There were cracks all over the walls and moss covering the stained glass of the windows, making the mosaics and patterns on them completely unrecognizable.

There was a gigantic wooden door right in front of us. Some parts of the door were covered in moss too…

The temple seemed to be just as big as Auntie's two-storied house.

"Reaching this place took longer than what I remember… Oh well, let's not waste any time, and let's just get inside." Auntie said with an easygoing tone as she approached the massive wooden doors of the temple.

"You said this was a temple, right…? Are you sure this place won't crumble as soon as we go inside?" I asked with a lot of concern.

"Relax! This building is completely safe! Just don't hit the walls with any kind of magic and we'll be fine!" My Auntie then started pushing the moss-covered wooden door, which immediately started creaking.

"That doesn't make it safe, you know…" I retorted.

My Auntie happily ignored me and pushed the doors until they were finally fully open. 

An enormous cloud of dust came flying towards us as soon as the door of the temple was opened…

(Dear gods… When was the last time someone was here…?) I thought while I covered my mouth and nose from the incoming dust cloud...

"It wouldn't have been so bad if she did some cleaning beforehand…" My Auntie said as she covered her nose thanks to the dust. "Let's head inside then..." She spoke with a less-than-thrilled expression.

"Forget about the temple crumbling upon us, the dust will surely kill us first…" I scratched the back of my head while preparing myself to go into the crumbling temple.

"Well, at least we'll go to heaven if that happens." Auntie replied with an expression of amusement as she started walking inside the temple.

Before following her, I sent my fireball ahead of us in order to illuminate the insides of the old temple…

"Wow…" I was left breathless as soon as I entered the temple and witnessed the impressive decorations of the building...

Four columns of white marble were all symmetrically placed on both sides of a large red carpet that went from the entrance towards the grand altar at the other end of the temple. On the wall behind the altar, there was a huge statue of a beautiful woman with long hair who was wearing a toga and several golden accessories which decorated her outfit. She was holding an open book in her hands.

There were dozens of bookshelves on every wall as well as a few tables with their respective chairs.

The place seemed more like a library rather than a temple…

It was even cleaner than what I had originally expected… There wasn't a single visible speck of dust anywhere!

(What a drastic change…) I thought while comparing the outside and the inside of the temple in my mind.

"We are here! You can show yourself already!" My Auntie suddenly started shouting with excitement...

As soon as she did that, the wooden door behind us was quickly closed by someone…

I quickly turned around only to see that there was no one there…

Oi… Don't tell me that this place is also haunted as well!

Just as I was starting to feel spooked by the old temple, a voice spoke to us...

"It was about time you showed up." A distorted yet melodic-sounding voice resounded on the temple.

I turned around again, in order to see if I could find the owner of that voice, but I ended up finding something completely different…

The white marble pillars, the large red carpet, the grand altar, the bookshelves, the tables, and chairs were all gone… Even the roof and the walls of the temple had disappeared as well...

Everything was replaced with a beach with an infinite ocean which was being illuminated by the moonlight of the twin moons that I have grown so accustomed to… The beach evoked a sense of nostalgia in me…

This was the beach I saw in my dream two days ago…

"So this is the place you chose… I should have expected as much." The melodic voice spoke from behind us.

For some reason, I felt like those words were directed at me...

"You sure love dramatic entrances eh." My Auntie spoke with an easy-going tone while she turned around to face the owner of the voice.

So this is the person she was talking about before… I see…

I immediately turned around as well in order to see the appearance of the mysterious person that we came to meet.

"..." I was at a loss for words… I was completely flabbergasted thanks to what I was seeing…

In front of me, there were grasslands as far as the eye could see and a single and incredibly large oak tree right in front of us where the grasslands started. A stunning black-haired woman was standing below the large oak tree. 

The woman was way taller than my Dad, standing at 2,30 meters tall. Her pitch-black hair was so long that it actually reached the floor. She was wearing a simple purple colored dress. Her facial features could only be described with the words: beautiful, elegant, and delicate… She was looking at me intently with a pair of breathtaking crimson eyes… I felt like she was staring into my very soul…

Just like she was staring very intently at me, I couldn't take my eyes off her...

The woman immediately started walking towards us… She only stopped until she was right in front of me. As soon as she stopped, she crouched in order to face me...

"Getting back the memories from your previous life resulted in your talents finally blooming huh… I should have expected as much." She spoke with interest. Her melodic voice was no longer distorted.

"...!" I could only look at her with shock...

As soon as I heard her voice, I was able to recognize her… She was the one who spoke at the end of my dream the other night…

The one who was impatient to see me…

"So you still remember that part…" She spoke with a bit of embarrassment in her voice.

Huh? Did she just read my mind...?

Wait… Crux's mother also did something like that during my dream… 

"Your memory is as good as ever, despite your current state… I don't know if I should laugh considering how ironic this situation is..." The woman suddenly facepalmed.

Just who is this person…?

"Aren't you gonna introduce yourself? Don't you see that you're confusing him?" My Auntie said with annoyance.

"I cannot introduce myself to someone I have known for a long time and even brought into this world, Tiria." The woman retorted while looking at my Auntie.

"Huh?" My Auntie looked at the woman with a confused expression.

Brought me into this world…? Is she Crux's mother…? No… Aside from the black hair, they don't look alike at all…

Then… What does she mean by her bringing me into this world…?

My mind was in a state of chaos thanks to the mysterious woman…

"Calm down." The woman caressed my cheek while she spoke those words.

As soon as she did that, the turmoil in my mind quickly subsided… 

I could only look at her with amazement and confusion…

Just what kind of magic did she use on me?

"I guess reintroducing myself will be necessary since this situation is the result of my own actions..." The woman closed her eyes and started pondering deeply about something.

I was still looking at her very intently while she was deep into thought.  She suddenly opened her eyes, seemingly having decided something.

"Oi! What do you mean you already know him!? And that this situation is because of you!? Why didn’t you tell me any of this beforehand!?" My Auntie suddenly looked at the woman with an angry expression.

"So noisy... I'll put you on a time out for the time being, Tiria." The woman seemed annoyed because of my aunt.

As soon as she said that, Auntie disappeared from view... I could no longer feel her mana or her presence nearby… It was like she had never been here with us in the first place...

"What did you do to her…?" I asked while feeling wary of the woman.

"There's no need to be on guard with me." She seemed a bit sad that I was wary of her. "As for Tiria's wellbeing… She's fine. I simply sent her back outside of the temple. I’m afraid that I don't have the time to interrupt our talk to answer the multiple questions she had in mind." The woman explained.

She immediately sat on the sand and started looking towards the infinite ocean behind me.

"We have a long talk ahead of us, so why don't you sit down with me, Crux?" She started beckoning me to get closer to her.

I was still hesitant and wary of the woman…

"Sheesh... Even though we used to do this all the time when you were little… Sigh… I'm starting to regret the decision I made…" She looked genuinely depressed that I was still wary of her.

As soon as those words came out of her mouth, I was assaulted by that same feeling of nostalgia that I felt when I started practicing swordsmanship and magic…

While the woman of divine beauty in front of me was looking quite depressed, my mind could only think of a single question to ask...

"Do we really know each other?" I asked the woman what was currently bothering me the most.

"I thought that you would never ask… Although it does hurt a bit to have you ask me that, then again, this situation is completely my fault…" The woman seemed genuinely relieved that I had spoken to her. "Anyhow, since this is actually our third time introducing ourselves, I am not going to beat around the bush any longer. I am the [Goddess of Knowledge and Emotions], Lia. It has been a while, Crux. Or would you prefer being called Julius?" She looked straight into my eyes as she introduced herself.

Huh… So, this is Lia… The actual [Goddess of Knowledge]… The person that Melius told me I should look for…

That person is currently right in front of me…

There was no doubt in my mind that she was actually who she said she was...

But...

I couldn't help but stare at the deity with a blank expression for… I couldn't believe that my search which I hadn't even started yet had ended so quickly.

This event was extremely anticlimactic for me...

"Your search actually did not end today, you know? We first met way before your birth, so your search actually ended before you were in your mother's womb." She explained with a somewhat smug look on her face after reading my mind...

"So... When you said that you brought me into this world, you actually meant that you helped my mother during my birth?" I asked her, trying to clarify one of the things she had said previously.

"That's not exactly what I meant by that." She shook her head. "I'll explain everything properly, but why don't you sit down? You're not wary of me anymore, right?" She smiled warmly at me.

Her heavenly smile was enough to make me freeze in place…

"..." I felt extremely embarrassed thanks to her smile, but I couldn't take my eyes off her...

"Although you lost your memories as Crux, you still get all flustered in the same manner when I smile at you…" She tried to make it seem as if this was really troublesome for her, but her facial expression made it clear that she was actually enjoying this. "But that's not good! Don't just stay mesmerized there… Come here and sit down with me!" Lia suddenly clapped with an excited look on her face.

As soon as she clapped, I felt a strange otherworldly sensation engulfing my body… It felt like my whole body was vibrating and shaking nonstop...

In the blink of an eye, everything around me started vibrating as well...

Eventually, when the vibrations finally stopped, I noticed a familiar sensation in my hands… It was sand...

"Ehh?" I looked around only to find Lia sitting by my side.

It took me a few moments to realize what had happened to me… I had been teleported by the Goddess.

"Much better, isn't it?" Lia smiled at me. "Now then, there's no need to be shy with each other! We have a lot to talk about and so little time!" She kept as she wrapped one of her arms around me and brought me closer to her…

Hmmm… It seems like Crux and Lia were extremely close before I took over this body…

"Why are you talking about yourself as if you were another person?" Lia asked while tilting her head. She seemed slightly amused.

Wait…

"Ehh? Crux and I are not different people...?" I asked Lia with a dumbfounded expression.

"Of course not, silly!" Lia grinned from ear to ear. Her amusement had reached its peak.

Oh, that’s… Shocking...

So this body actually belonged to me from the beginning…

(Thank goodness…) I immediately let out a sigh of relief.

I felt extremely relieved that I hadn’t actually stolen this body… If it actually turned out that I had stolen this body, I don’t think I could bear to live with the guilt of doing such a thing...

“I completely understand why you felt like you had shamelessly stolen this body from its rightful owner. I mean, you appeared in the middle of the forest without any prior memories besides your meeting with Melius. And after the deal you two made, it is only logical to assume that you had been reincarnated right then and there.” Lia looked at me with a compassionate expression while patting my shoulder.

Wait a minute… How does she know that I met Melius…?

Could it be that she can also dwell into my memories as well as read my thoughts…?

“Bingo!” Lia suddenly yelled with a bright smile on her face. “You’ve always been a very sharp person! But in my defense, I have only read your memories once and that was years ago! You told me by yourself about your reunion with Melius and your purpose in this world several years ago.” Lia showed me a teasing smile.

I see… I told her about it… That makes sense, but…

At that moment, the dream I had where I had seen everything through Crux’s eyes immediately came to my mind… Well, it was my own eyes actually...

“Lia… You said something before about me losing my memories as Crux… Can you tell me how it happened?” I asked with determination.

I lost my memories of the start of my second life… That dream I had was nothing but a small glimpse of my life before coming to this forest… I definitely need to know more about Crux… I need to know why and how it happened.

“That’s pretty simple. I blocked your memories again.” She patted my head as she answered my question.

Huh…? She blocked my memories…? Not only once, but twice as well...?

I couldn’t help but start feeling wary of Lia once again.

“Ugh… It really hurts me when you look at me like that, you know...?” Lia seemed a bit depressed again.

“Did you really block my memories? Why would you do that, Lia…?” I kept looking at her with suspicion.

“I was really not looking forward to this part of our conversation… Sigh...” Lia let out a deep and heavy sigh before she opened her mouth to talk again. “Let’s begin talking about our first meeting… That will be the quickest way for you to understand why I had to block your memories.” Lia sighed before closing her eyes. She seemed troubled at first.

After a few seconds, she opened her eyes and looked at the horizon with determination. A few seconds after that she suddenly snapped her fingers… Everything around us immediately changed…

The grasslands that reached as far as the eye could see, the large oak behind us, the beach, the infinite ocean, and the beautiful night sky were all replaced by the clouds and the familiar blue sky…

I looked around us only to find that there was nothing besides the endless blue sky and clouds...

“Woah!” I unconsciously ended up clinging to Lia when my mind had realized we were above the clouds.

Of course, the sudden change of scenery and the fact that I was about to fall to my death made me forget about my wariness towards Lia...

“Don’t worry, you won’t fall as long as you’re holding on tightly to me. Even if you do fall, you won’t be harmed since this is my Divine Realm after all.” Lia patted my head while trying to calm me down.

It took me a few seconds to understand her words… It wasn’t until I noticed that we weren’t actually falling and that she had an easy-going look on her face that I was able to stop clinging to her...

“So, we are not falling to our deaths…” I said with embarrassment.

“Nope. This is just a memory that is being projected in my Divine Realm. Well, even if we actually were in the sky, I can fly so that wouldn’t be a problem for us.” She looked at me with amusement and kept patting my head.

Ugh… She will probably not let me live this one down…

“Anyway, please look over there.” She started pointing at something in front of us.

As soon as I did that, I was surprised to see a second Lia…

This Lia was floating just a few dozen meters in front of us while holding a blue-ish fireball with both of her hands.

I couldn't feel any mana coming from that strange fireball.

“Here it is… Our first meeting. How nostalgic…” She suddenly hugged me tightly as she said that.

I could only look at Lia with confusion… It was clear that there wasn't anyone else here besides us and her clone...

"A soul traveling in the material world? That's unusual…" The second Lia suddenly spoke with curiosity. 

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I could clearly hear what she had said despite being several meters away…

"Right… I almost forgot that this is the first time you've seen a soul when it is outside the body… Well, that cute little flame is your soul, Julius." The original Lia explained with a gentle expression on her face.

"So, that flame is me… Hmmm... I never thought that my soul would look like that..." I was both curious and flabbergasted at the same time thanks to being able to see my own soul...

"You should be waiting for your next reincarnation in Skell's realm, little one. My name is Lia. What's your name? Wait… Huh...?" The second Lia suddenly looked at my soul with a look of complete bewilderment after introducing herself.

The second Lia quickly pulled the blue flame closer to her…

"I see… So that's how it is…" The second Lia had a troubled expression as she was looking at my soul...

"That was the only time I dwelled into your memories, Julius… I was really shocked to hear about Melius from a random soul, so I ended up going through each and every single one of your memories..." Lia said awkwardly.

Each and every single one…?

Oh no…

"Even those where I was…-?" I looked at her with horror as I thought of everything she could have seen.

"Every single one of them." She smiled warmly at me.

Oh no… Oh, gods no...

I looked below us, trying to see how far the ground was in order to guess how long it would take for me to reach it.

I cannot live knowing that another person knows about my darkest secrets!

"Don't be dramatic! I've seen worse! The things you did were cute in comparison!" Lia suddenly started patting my back and trying to reassure me after reading my mind.

The shame I was feeling was only amplified due to that…

My thoughts about my shameful past were fortunately interrupted by the second Lia.

"This is troublesome… What do I do with you now after knowing all this…?" The second Lia looked at the blue flame in her hands with a blank expression.

The second Lia then closed her eyes while holding my soul close to her heart...

"..." After a few moments, the second Lia opened her eyes. She stood there looking at my soul with a blank expression… "Melius, you fucking idiot…" She suddenly insulted him with an angry look on her face.

"..." I couldn't help but look at the original Lia with a raised eyebrow.

"Don't look at me like that! I was angry for your sake! You almost ended up being reincarnated as a rat!" Lia didn't seem to regret insulting Melius... "He really is a fucking idiot! If he managed to gather enough power to reincarnate you, he could have at least set some basic parameters! But he always has to rush things and ends up messing everything up!" She started rambling about Melius...

"A rat…? Really…?" I immediately thought about how it would be being reincarnated as a rat.

…

Yeah, I don't think it would have been a fun experience…

I'm glad that Lia didn't allow that to happen...

"That's right! If it wasn't for me, you would be roaming in the kitchens of the mansion of a noble family until your inevitable demise!" Lia looked really pissed off.

As expected, being reincarnated as a rat would have been terrible...

"That won't do… I cannot let someone like you suffer that kind of fate…" The second Lia started petting the blue flame as if it was some sort of cute animal. "Now that I think about it… Pyxis is currently pregnant, isn't she?" The second Lia suddenly looked to her right. Her gaze was focused on the horizon...

She stayed like that for a while. She then lowered her head for some reason and started muttering something…

"Pyxis…?" I tilted my head while looking at the second Lia with confusion. That name made me feel really nostalgic...

"That's the name of your mother." Lia patted my head.

As soon as she said that, I ended up thinking about my dream again. It didn't take too much effort to remember the face of my mother since that dream had left a big impact on me…

"Pyxis… Pyxis… Pixys…" I started muttering her name, in order to make sure that I would never forget it again.

While I was doing that, the second Lia had stopped muttering and her gaze was focused once again on the blue flame in her hands.

"Stillborn huh…" I could feel the deep sadness coming from her voice…

After hearing that, I immediately looked at the original Lia with confusion. She simply showed me a compassionate look.

"If it wasn't for your soul coming into this world, your parents would not have any children." She kept smiling at me.

Oh… 

I don't really know how I should feel about that...

"I know what I have to do, but… I can't let you have access to your memories… I can't let Agmos and his allies know that we are planning to bring Melius back… We simply cannot take that risk, forgive me little one." She started patting the blue flame again. A blinding white light was suddenly emitted from both of her hands.

As quickly as it appeared, the white light subsided, leaving the second Lia looking at my soul with a guilty expression.

"I'm sorry… I promise I will allow you to access your memories again when the time is right… I will look after you until then…" The second Lia immediately hugged the blue flame.

The second Lia then suddenly flew away while holding my soul close to her chest…

"I can't believe it has been seven years since then..." Lia wrapped her arm around my neck and pulled me in for a hug… "From that point on it is pretty much history! I took you back home and put you into your mother's belly and eight months later, you were born as a healthy baby boy!" Lia said happily.

I see… So the reason why she blocked my memories was to prevent Agmos from knowing about my mission… Lia really had a good motive for doing so…

No… I think it wouldn't be wrong to say that it might have been the only logical thing to do considering that I'm the next in line to become a [Demon King]...

I don't know how powerful Agmos actually is, but if Lia went to such an extent, then I should be more careful from now on…

"Thank you for taking care of me." I smiled at her.

"You don't have to thank me! I made you a promise that day and I always intended to keep it!" She smiled back. "Although, sealing your memories came with a serious repercussion that I couldn't predict…" Her warm and caring smile immediately turned awkward.

"What was that repercussion?" I asked.

Lia suddenly started twiddling with her thumbs and looking quite ashamed.

"You see… After you turned three, your grandparents from your paternal and maternal side started putting some pressure on your parents for you to be trained in order to become a suitable [Demon King] in the future. Your parents were young and it was difficult for them to ignore the pressure coming from all sides, so they became your tutors and they started to teach you the ways of the sword and the ancient magical techniques passed down to your mother's family." Lia explained awkwardly.

Thanks to her explanation, I remembered Crux's, or rather, the feelings that I had in that dream…

"I was talentless…" I smiled bitterly.

"Yeah… And unlike your mother, you were born as a Human instead of a Demon... Neither you nor your parents gave up despite that… Even though the pressure from both sides of your family kept getting more and more unbearable, you three didn't give up. I just wish I had been able to prevent you from having to endure all of that fruitless training… A lot of things came up that I had to deal with during that time, so I couldn't be there for you…  I'm sorry… I'm really sorry..." Lia apologized profusely. She looked extremely sad.

Hmm… While I do remember all the negative emotions I felt during that dream, I really don't think it was her fault...

"You don't need to apologize, Lia. There's no way I can accept an apology for something I don't even remember." I tried to reassure her.

Lia simply looked at me and her expression got even sadder…

"You wouldn't say the same thing if I hadn't blocked your memories again…" She said with guilt in her voice.

I guess that must be the reason why I don't remember my life as Crux...

"Why was the reason for blocking my memories again?" I asked Lia.

"Almost three weeks ago was the day of your seventh birthday… Everything was normal or so we thought… Your father took you early in the morning to train your skill with the sword and after that, you would have had to go with your mother in order to study magic before your classes with your other tutors." Lia looked to the horizon. "That day, during the time between your training with your father and the classes with your mother, you were kidnapped by a group of rebels." Lia explained with a very serious tone.

Oh… So I was kidnapped… That's unsettling…

"Fortunately, your mother caught them in the act and promptly executed most of them. You were safe and sound, but as you can imagine, you were extremely terrified." Lia looked at me with pity.

Ah… Well, that's only natural… It would be strange if I hadn't been scared or traumatized after that kind of horrible event.

"Unfortunately, your mother also discovered a very intricate plot to remove her from power using you as leverage, and on top of that, monsters started rampaging all across the realm... All that and the constant threat of an attack from an army of angels made your parents and I very worried about your well-being." Lia explained with a lot of frustration. "That's when I suggested sending you away from home temporarily until we could deal with the monsters and the upcoming rebellion. As you can imagine, your parents were not happy at all about it, but they reluctantly agreed since they didn't know who they could trust…" Lia then smiled bitterly.

Ah… So things became a mess and they decided to send me away to keep me safe…

"Since you were still extremely affected by the trauma of being kidnapped, I thought that it might be better to unlock your memories from Earth and block your memories as Crux before sending you to the safest place I found..." Lia looked at me with sadness.

'Falgren isn't precisely the safest place around…' That's what I wanted to say to her as I remembered how I almost became food for goblins.

"There was no better place for you in the world at the moment... One of the strongest humans was there to become your protector and it was someone who sympathizes with what we want to achieve." She smiled bitterly after reading my mind.

Fred…

Thanks to what she did, I met some really incredible people... My adoptive parents, my older sisters, Auntie, Mia, and her family…

I'm genuinely grateful that I met them.

But… I can't help but feel sad that I can't even remember my biological family or that I couldn't remember Lia…

"I understand why you did it and I'm grateful for it, but I would like to have my memories as Crux back." I asked her with determination.

Even if I went through several traumatic events, I simply cannot stand not remembering my family… I can't stand not being able to remember the first seven years of my life…

Now that I know that I was Crux from the beginning, without those memories, a crucial part of me is missing...

"About that… I really can't do that right now…" She said with an apologetic look on her face.

"Why not? Would it be dangerous for me to have them?" I said with an inquisitive tone.

"Well, yeah… As the son and heir of the [Demon Queen], you witnessed a few things that would make things dangerous for yourself and for us if they fell into the wrong hands." Lia explained with a bitter smile.

"I see…" I was a bit disappointed and frustrated as well, but I understood what Lia's intentions were.

So far, I have only met two gods since I died and I was reincarnated. Both of those deities were able to read my mind and one of them could dwell in my memories.

So, it is safe to assume that Agmos and the other gods might have the same abilities…

Which of course, explains why Lia doesn't seem too keen on giving me back my memories as Crux.

It would be too dangerous to do so knowing that a god could simply walk in and take a peek at memories as if they were an open book...

…

Sigh… Although I totally understand and agree with her motives, I can't help but feel disappointed about not being able to get those memories back...

"And also… I don't think I could stand seeing you looking so terrified again…" Lia seemed genuinely worried about me.

"Lia…" Her worried look on her face genuinely made my heart ache… 

I couldn't explain why, but seeing her looking so worried about me made me feel as if there was a knot in my throat…

I was at a loss for words… Lia didn't say anything either, so we were silently staring at each other awkwardly...

While I was desperately trying to come up with something to get rid of the heavy atmosphere around us, Lia suddenly started looking towards the horizon.

"Ah… Well… I guess we COULD do that..." Lia suddenly started talking to herself. Her worried expression suddenly changed to one of acceptance.

She then looked at me and smiled awkwardly for a moment.

"It seems like I was worrying over nothing… Sorry!" She apologized while playfully sticking her tongue out. "I was given permission to unlock some of your memories." She smiled from ear to ear.

Permission? Permission by who?

I ended up looking at her with confusion...

"Ah right… Blocking your memories is proving to be more annoying than I initially thought…" Lia suddenly frowned and complained. "Right now, you're looking at one half of the [Goddess of Knowledge and Emotions].” Lia explained while showing me her index finger.

One half? Ah...

"Does that mean there's another you?" I asked Lia while thinking of the clone of her I had seen before.

"That's correct! Can you guess which area I'm in charge of?" She asked with a playful smile.

"Emotions, most definitely." I said with a deadpan expression while thinking about how she has acted ever since she appeared before Auntie and me.

At first, she was a little unexpressive... Then, after Auntie left she started showing me a wild barrage of emotions one after the other…

"Jeez… You should have taken your time answering the question! You could have used 50/50 or even called a friend!" Lia started pouting because I answered too quickly…

It was unexpectedly pleasant seeing her pouting like that.

"So when will I meet the other half of you?" I asked Lia with genuine curiosity.

"You already did! She was the one you met before we sent Tiria away from our Divine Realm." Lia still seemed to be annoyed at me.

Ah… Now that I think about it… At first Lia's voice, while it was charming and melodic, felt somewhat cold and even a bit emotionless…

"Yep! That's totally her! She's always so serious and so stoic! It sometimes drives me crazy! Things with her are always about work, work, and more work! I want to enjoy myself from time to time, you know!?" Lia suddenly started complaining about… Herself? Kind of...

I couldn't help but smile bitterly at the sight…

While I was thinking of that, something came to my mind regarding the two halves of Lia.

"What about the one who was in my dream? Which one of you was the one there?" I asked with a lot of interest about Lia's strange abilities.

"It was both of us! We merged back into one for the purpose of paying you a short visit!" Lia smiled warmly at me.

Both huh… I didn't expect that… I could have sworn that it was the Lia in front of me…

"Whoops! The other me is getting annoyed since we have gotten a bit off-topic…" Lia said awkwardly while looking to the horizon... "Anyway, we decided to unlock some of your memories. Those memories will have to be handpicked by us since some of them are dangerous for you to have. They will also be unlocked one by one in order to not overwhelm your mind. So it might take some time for you to get most of your memories back." Lia explained while ruffling my hair.

"I see…” I nodded in understanding.

It might not be all of my memories, but at least I will know how my second life started. I am satisfied with just that for now.

“Well, here’s the first memory that we thought you should get back!” Lia suddenly shouted with excitement. 

Lia then placed her right hand on my forehead and a blinding white light temporarily took away my ability to see…

As the light subsided and I was recovering my ability to see, images of a familiar woman and an unknown man quickly took over my mind…

The woman was my biological mother, the person I saw in my dream…

The man looked extremely similar to the harsh man whose appearance was blurry in my dream. In other words, he was my biological father…

But his appearance was no longer blurry… In fact, he looked way different than what I had imagined after having that dream…

He looked really young and had a gentle aura around him. He was smiling from ear to ear and crying at the same time while looking at my mother… He had short pitch-black hair and brown eyes and seemed to be around 1.75 meters tall.

It was really shocking to see the man who sounded so harsh in my dream shedding tears of happiness…

My mother was also smiling back at my father. She looked just like she did in my dream, with the difference that she seemed really fatigued and that she was covered in sweat…

I was looking at the two of them from below… I was extending both of my small hands towards my mother… I was being held by her...

She simply smiled at me before taking me closer towards her heart.

(Crux… That will be your name, my child.) My mother spoke to me with a loving expression while she was holding me tightly. The sound of her heartbeat was extremely comforting…

It was so comforting that my eyelids started feeling really heavy all of a sudden…

“Ah! Wait! Our talk is not over, you can’t just fall asleep like that!” Lia suddenly panicked. She was shaking me vigorously…

I looked at her wide-eyed after being brought back to reality thanks to her intervention...

“Sigh… That was close…” She immediately let out a sigh of relief. “So? How did it feel to remember what happened a few minutes after you were born?” She showed me a teasing smile.

“It was actually a bit strange… And a bit short, to be honest…” I told Lia what I felt. “What happened afterward?” I asked.

“That memory is really short because you actually fell asleep as soon as your mother started rocking you in her arms!” Lia had an innocent smile on her face. “I really loved seeing your peaceful sleeping expression!” She leaned her head against my shoulder.

“You were there as well? I didn’t see you...” I asked Lia.

“Both me and my other half were there. The two of us were sitting in a corner, hoping that we had not messed up your reincarnation.” Lia smiled awkwardly. “Thankfully, you were born as a healthy boy and there were no problems with your soul adapting to your new body!” She decided to caress my cheek...

“I see…” I closed my eyes and thought about the overjoyed faces of my biological parents. “Thank you very much, Lia. I will treasure this memory forever.” I thanked her from the bottom of my heart.

“I know you will.” She said with a gentle tone. “But, I think it is time we have a more serious talk. It is time for me to explain Melius’ circumstances and my own as well. Then we will discuss what you want to do.” She looked at me with an incredibly serious expression.

Right… I had forgotten about my mission… I definitely need to know everything about why Melius was sealed. Perhaps there might be clues about how to release him and where his prison is currently located…

Well, even if there are no clues, having the actual Goddess of Knowledge on my side will massively help.

Just as I was thinking about that, another Lia suddenly appeared out of thin air... She was standing right in front of us...

“I will handle this conversation.” Her tone was emotionless and cold, yet her voice was really pleasant for me to hear.

She looked exactly the same as the Lia that was sitting by my side...

She didn’t seem to be a clone like the one from before… So this one had to be the other half of Lia… The half that rules over Knowledge.

“Hey, that's not fair! You promised that I would be the one handling this visit!” The emotional Lia immediately protested.

“No. You took too long giving him back his memories and now we are short on time. Go back and help Pyxis.” The emotionless Lia said coldly to her other half.

“Oh! C’mon! It was our heartwarming reunion with him! Why do you need to ruin it by putting a time limit on it!” The emotional Lia looked at her other half with anger...

“We have only been separated for less than three weeks and you watch him every day, so don’t make it seem like we have been separated for years...” The other Lia said with annoyance.

“That has nothing to do with this!” The emotional Lia quickly shook her head and started hugging me tightly…

“You’re always so unreasonable… Stop arguing for something so idiotic and go back home.”  The emotionless Lia facepalmed.

“Oh no! Whether you like it or not, we are now going to argue about this!” The emotional Lia seemed really fired up.

“Sigh… Why did I even think that fusing with you was a good idea…?” The other Lia lamented.

“Oi! What do you mean by that!? That was very hurtful!” The emotional Lia looked extremely pissed off…

“Exactly what I said, idiot.” The emotionless Lia said with a deadpan expression.

“Ah! You called me an idiot again! That’s three times today! Are you looking for a fight! I’m gonna kick your ass, brat!” Lia suddenly stood up and faced her other half with murderous intent...

Are these two really the same person…? They don’t seem to get along at all…

“Ummm… Do you want me to leave and come back later?” I asked them.

“You stay there!” The two of them spoke to me in unison… There was some real physical pressure on their voice.

“Okay…” I stayed where I was sitting, wondering how it had come up to this…

Unfortunately, their argument continued for a while… I could only sit there and watch Lia arguing with herself...

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Chapter 15.1: The Goddess (Part I)

END

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