Chapter 41: Chapter 32: The Goddess Admits the Truth.

Echoes of Fire and Shadows

Chapter 32: The Goddess Admits the Truth.

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I was standing on a familiar beach, looking at the setting sun on the horizon. The smell of salt invaded my nostrils while the sounds of waves crashing against the shores reached my ears… I was back in Lia's Divine Realm.

After falling asleep on the couch, my mind had wandered to this place once again.

Everything was quieter than usual. Normally, by the time I'm aware of where I am, I'm already being hugged by Lia or sitting on her lap.

I didn't waste any time and started to look around for the person who brought me here. Luckily for me, I didn't need to look for Lia for long because she was standing behind me.

I immediately looked at her in the eyes and sighed… I wanted to vent about all the weird things that had happened to me a while ago.

"I can't believe that actually Auntie asked me to marry her and I accepted! Actually, I can't believe that I didn't realize I have a crush on her! How will I face her now!?" I said in a panic without noticing the facial expression she had on her face. "And just who the hell was the owner of that voice anyway? I'm 93% convinced that she's a goddess just like you! Do you think she's an ally of Agmos? I don't think she is, but…" I was ranting at Lia thanks to all the unexpected things that had happened today.

"You're right. She's also a goddess, but you don't need to worry about her for the time being, she's not allied with Agmos and she's quite harmless." Lia patted my head while speaking with a comforting tone.

"Is that so?" I was about to ask more about this mysterious goddess, but I then noticed Lia's serious expression. "Lia… Is something the matter?" I looked at her with worry…

As much as I wanted Lia's help to comprehend the situation with Auntie and that mysterious goddess, I couldn't ignore the serious look on Lia's face. I was convinced that she was about to tell me something very important…

"I'm sorry." She simply apologized and crouched to face me, immediately wrapping her arms around my neck and pulling me in for a hug. "The truth is that I have been lying to you for a while now, and for that I'm sorry." She apologized again while holding me tightly.

Huh? She's been lying to me…?

"What do you mean by that? Can you elaborate a bit more?" I looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Julius… I didn't want to lie to you… I shouldn't have lied to you… But… I was afraid… I was scared of hurting you yet again… I thought that it would be better to wait for this situation to be resolved and then tell you, but the situation is far from being resolved and I realized that I was just being a coward… It is true that I didn't want you to get hurt, but the truth is that I didn't want you to hate me for not telling you sooner… I was really scared that you would hate me… I'm still scared of that…" Lia suddenly started talking really fast, all the while looking like she was extremely ashamed and not making eye contact with me.

"Lia, slow down! I don't know what happened, but you should know by now that I would never hate you! You have been taking care of me ever since I came into this world!" I immediately tried to calm her down.

It is needless to say that Lia is a very important person to me. Not only because I recovered my memories of my life as Crux and my birth in this world, but also because in the last three years, our bond has become stronger than when I lived with her and my bio parents in Gliosis.

I mean, It is only natural that she's special to me… After all, she's the person who knows me and understands me the most, the one who comforts me whenever I feel homesick about both Earth and Gliosis, and the one I can talk about anything without any worries.

I mean, yes it kinda sucks a lot that she lied to me about something seemingly important, but I'm certain that she did it for a good reason.

"Julius…" She looked at me with a pained expression filled with guilt. She had just read my thoughts.

"Lia, don't look at me like you've accidentally broken my favorite mug!" I patted her back in order to cheer her up. "I might look like this, but I'm technically a grown-up, I can surely endure whatever you were hiding from me!" I smiled warmly at her.

"..." She was silently looking at me with teary eyes. My words had the opposite effect and only made her feel more guilty…

"Is this really that important that you're about to cry?" My smile immediately vanished as soon as I noticed her tears.

Lia silently nodded twice…

"Erm… Well, don't worry! You know what, I forgive you in advance for lying!" I smiled awkwardly. "No matter what was the thing you were lying about, I promise that I'll forgive you, okay? So please don't look so sad." I kept smiling and patting her back.

I was doing my best to comfort her. No matter what she told me, I was determined to react calmly and forgive her for whatever it was that she lied about.

However, no matter how determined I was, I was still completely unprepared to hear what she was about to say.

"Julius… After your death, your parents and your best friend, Chris, had to be locked up in a psychiatric ward due to Agmos' influence on them…" Lia suddenly said something that shook me to my core.

"What…?" I couldn't believe what she was saying. I took a step back and just stared at Lia's face with complete and utter shock.

She just stared back at me. She didn't look like she was about to cry like before, but she seemed determined and serious.

My mind was struggling to process what she had just said to me… I felt a throbbing pain in my head, my mouth felt really dry and I felt like there was something stuck in my throat…

"We also brainwashed your sisters and your girlfriend, Claire, into thinking that you're still alive on Earth. I have been keeping this from you for the last three years…" She wasn't holding anything back… 

Lia seemed prepared to come clean and face any punishment, but…

"Huh…? What do you mean…?" Even though I had heard everything she said clearly, I didn't understand her… It was like my brain couldn't process what she had just said.

In an instant, I started suffering the worst headache of my life… I felt like there was a gigantic needle nailed to the back of my head… It hurt so much that I thought that I was about to start bleeding…

"Even while I'm using my powers, you're still reacting like this… I'm such a failure…" Lia bit her lip with frustration.

Those words immediately made me feel great heartache as I went through a myriad of negative emotions… Shock, confusion, anger, sorrow, anxiety… 

It was only then that I realized the severity of what she had just said. It was only then that my brain had actually understood and processed the meaning of her words…

I wanted to scream as loudly as I could, I wanted to hit everything in sight with as much strength as I could muster, I wanted to blow up and destroy everything with my magic… My inner voice was telling me to viciously insult Lia for keeping such a thing from me… That same voice was telling me to hate her for daring to hide what my family was going through after my death…

But I did none of those things… I just stood there, motionless and silent. I was unable to stop staring at Lia…

My entire body was paralyzed… No matter how hard I tried to say anything back to her or move, I couldn't.

Even worse, no matter how many times my own inner voice told me to hate her, insult her, spit on her, or be mean, I couldn't bring myself to think of anything mean of Lia… No matter how badly she had hurt me by hiding something like this from me, I really couldn't think of anything hateful to say to her…

…

…

…

For a while, Lia didn't say anything back… We just silently stared at each other while I was still going through all of those strong and overwhelming emotions…

After what felt like an eternity, Lia kneeled down and bowed until her forehead hit the ground…

"I'm sorry… I know that even if I apologize to you a thousand times, it won't be enough to forgive me, but I'll apologize as many times as I have to…" She kept pressing her head against the hot sand… "I know I should have told you right away about what was happening to them… I know I shouldn't have kept this to myself for the last three years, but I knew that it would cause you pain beyond words… I didn't want to see you hurting again like when you were living in Gliosis… I'm sorry…" Lia apologized yet again. She hadn't moved in the slightest… 

No… 

She was trembling… It was very subtle, but I could see that her whole body was trembling… Lia was actually afraid that I would start hating her.

After noticing that, I couldn't help but feel an enormous amount of disgust towards myself… My headache then got even worse… It was now like hundreds of tiny needles were piercing my skull…

I was sure that I was extremely angry at Lia for hiding something like this from me, but I was angrier at myself for even considering hating Lia…

I even started to feel nauseous… For a moment, I thought that I was about to pour my guts out…

Yes, Lia had lied to me about the fates of my family and friends for three years… Many would consider that this was an unforgivable act and I cannot deny that it is, but… I already made a promise to her that I would forgive her no matter what.

After a great struggle with my petrified body and overwhelming emotions, I was finally able to open my mouth to say the words she needed to hear…

"Lia, just as promised, I will forgive you…" I said while gritting my teeth.

Even while I'm on the verge of exploding in a fit of rage, logically, I can understand why Lia would lie to me about this…

Hearing that your family and friends were forced into a psychiatric facility after your death is not something anyone would want to hear… It is just as bad to hear that your sisters and your lover still think that you're alive, heartbreaking even…

There's simply no easy way to tell that to someone…

But still, understanding why she did what she did doesn't quell my anger in the slightest.

"However, you won't get away with what you did with just a slap on the wrist. I have some conditions if you want to get my forgiveness and regain my trust." I said while looking down at Lia, who was still bowing and pressing her head against the sand.

"I know…" She replied meekly.

As soon as I heard those words, I started taking deep breaths and focusing on emptying my mind so I could push my fury back inside for the moment…

It seemed to be working, although I still felt nauseous and my head was still hurting like hell…

"For starters, raise your head. An esteemed goddess like yourself shouldn't be prostrating to a mortal." I crouched and started patting her back.

No matter how angry I am at her or how bad the thing she did was, I can't stand seeing her on the ground like that.

"Julius, that's…-" Lia hesitated for a moment.

"Just listen to me, will you?" I grabbed her by the arm and forced her to get up. "Not looking at someone in the eyes while you apologize is also a sign of cowardice and selfishness." I scolded her.

"I’m sorry…" She apologized and made proper eye contact. I could see the guilt and shame she was feeling in her crimson eyes.

"Alright, my conditions for you to regain my trust and forgive you are plain and simple. I want you to follow them to the letter." I crossed my arms and looked at her with a serious expression.

"I will do anything." She looked at me with determination.

"First of all… I want one hundred percent transparency. From now on, No lies, no half-truths, no secrets, neither from you nor from me." I declared my first condition. "After all, without that, how could we ever rebuild my trust in you? How will I know from now on that you’re being sincere?" I asked her.

Lia silently nodded in agreement.

"The second condition is that I want to know the exact details of what is happening to my family on Earth." I imposed my second condition making emphasis that I wanted to know everything.

"I understand… I was planning to explain everything from the very beginning..." Lia closed her eyes and nodded again.

"Very well. Now as for the third condition, I want constant updates from my family on Earth. It doesn't matter if you think that something about that is going to hurt me or make me upset, I want to hear it." I couldn't help but pinch the temple of my nose thanks to my massive headache. I was also doing it because I started to get increasingly angrier with myself.

Sigh… I guess I can now add guilt too to the hot mess of emotions I am feeling right now…

I can't deny that I considered several times asking Lia to tell me how all the people I know on Earth were doing, but I convinced myself not to do it.

I’m dead, after all. 

I cannot go back to that world or to them, so what good would it bring to ask? That is what I was thinking, but I guess that I was wrong…

I thought it would be selfish of me to ask about their lives after I was gone… I died, I don't belong in their lives anymore. I thought that hearing about them would just hurt me and would make me desire to go back even more and neglect my new life…

I guess I was also being a coward and I was partially at fault too… I could have asked Lia earlier and we wouldn't be like this…

"Julius… You are not a coward and you are not at fault in any way! I am the coward and the one who's at fault!" Lia gave me a panicked look after she placed both of her hands on my shoulder.

"Let's not turn this into a pity party, okay Lia?" I held her right hand and smiled weakly to calm her down.

A part of me still wanted to remain angry at her and lash out, but I knew I wouldn't be able to do that… Not to Lia, at least.

I know that it is only a matter of time for my anger to subside, so I'm going to forgive her, but I'm not going to forget about this until she has fully regained my trust.

"As for my last conditions… There's one that you don't need to worry about just yet, and the rest are… Well… I just want to know who was that other goddess that spoke in my mind and I want to meet her as soon as possible. She deserves a piece of my mind for the situation she put me in!" I was majorly pissed off at that goddess. 

Since I don’t know that other goddess personally, lashing out at her is allowed. She will receive the full brunt of the rage of a thousand suns!

As for that other condition… I think I'm gonna save it for later since it isn't useful to me at the moment.

What's I'm gonna make her do, you ask? Simple! I'm gonna make Lia wear some really embarrassing costume as revenge! At least that's the plan for now.

And before you point it out, I'm not breaking my own rule since I'm not trying to keep this a secret. If Lia wants to know about this condition, she can read my mind if she wants to find out about it. I mean, she probably already knows what I want her to do.

"Her name is Catris… I can take you to her right now if that’s what you want, but she's a bit unwell at the moment. If it makes you feel any better, I have already punished her for her senseless meddling, which was also kinda my fault… I'm sorry…" Lia apologized again. This time, however, with a slightly sadistic and satisfied look on her face.

(Sigh… So that voice belonged to the Goddess of Love… No wonder that kind of situation with Auntie happened in the first place…) I thought with a blank look on my face.

There was absolutely no reaction from me when Lia told me about the identity of the other goddess…

This day has been truly a rollercoaster of emotions… I'm truly surprised that I haven't had a mental breakdown yet or anything like that due to my current emotional turmoil…

"I guess I'll have a talk with her later then…" I let out a heavy sigh not caring about the slightly concerning look on Lia’s face.

My headache was not getting better and I was feeling mentally drained… I felt like I hadn't slept in weeks…

"So… Does that mean that you forgive me…? You really don't hate me?" Lia asked in a surprisingly shy manner.

"As I said before, you should know I'd never hate you. Am I angry at you over this? Yes, I am! I am actually enraged!" I replied honestly. "But, as long as you are fully honest from now on and you fulfill my other conditions, you can consider yourself forgiven." I smiled innocently at her.

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Lia's shy expression was replaced with one of immense relief. She was starting to tear up as well.

"I'm glad… Really… I'm glad that you didn't start to hate me over this…" I could see that her relief was genuine. She was trying to clear her tears but was failing miserably.

"Why do you care so much if I hate you or not? I'm just another mortal. My only purpose here is to help you release Melius and that's about it." I asked sarcastically as I wanted to test Lia for a bit.

"What do you mean by that!? You're the most important person to me! Of course, I would care if you hate me! Don't say something as dumb as that ever again!" She shouted while still clearing her tears.

I was a little taken aback that she had reacted so strongly…

"What exactly do you mean that I'm the most important person to you? What about Melius? I thought he would be more important to you than me." I was a little confused…

"Melius is like an older brother to me, and I obviously care about him, but you're definitely the person I care the most about!" She said to me with tears in her eyes.

"I see… Sigh…" I ended up letting out another heavy sigh. "Can you lean down, please?" I said to Lia.

She did what she was told without a single complaint. As soon as she did, I wrapped my arms around her neck and hugged her as tightly as I could. I was annoyed by the difference in size between us, but I didn't let that show on my face.

"You too are one of the most important people in my life, so please never do anything like this again, okay?" I whispered in her ear. "I will never hate you, but I will be seriously pissed off if you do this again. I might use the other condition I didn't mention to punish you severely." I said with a half-serious half-joking tone.

"Julius… Thank you." She whispered softly after hugging me back. "I promise that I'll never do it again…" She then mumbled while tightening her hug.

At some point, my feet were no longer touching the ground. I was trapped in Lia's sweet embrace. I didn't have the energy to stop her, so I just tried to relax and enjoyed her warmth…

Sigh… I really want this day to end already… I don't think I have the mental capacity to deal with any more unexpected events…

Of course, I still want Lia to explain exactly what happened on Earth, so I guess I will have to pull through even though I feel like shit right now…

"Wow… I cannot believe what my eyes are seeing… That Monster is actually crying!" An imposing male voice spoke to us from behind.

"Pretty surprising, right?" A cool male voice spoke.

"Indeed. I never thought I would witness this kind of unbelievable event." Yet another male voice that seemed to hold ancient wisdom spoke to the others.

"M-M-My lords, I-I-I know this might come off as impudent coming from me, but I think we should have waited a few minutes before coming in here!" A nervous female voice reached my ears.

"Oh, for fuck's sake…" Lia suddenly spoke with a very cold and unfriendly tone. She was not happy at all…

Since Lia was holding me really tightly, I couldn't move to see the owners of those voices. Apparently, she could see them clearly…

"Umm… Lia…? Are there actually more people here? I'm not hearing things because of my mental exhaustion, right?" I was genuinely confused.

I thought it wasn't possible for other people to come here…

"Unfortunately, you're not hearing things… They're some people that have come here just to see you, but they came here EARLIER than the agreed time…" Lia was absolutely not thrilled about this situation.

Fucking dammit! Another unexpected event… Seriously, what the hell is happening today!? The world is throwing a lot of bullshit at me all at once!

"Oh, c'mon! Don't be so uptight, Lia!" The owner of the imposing voice said to Lia.

"Oh? I'm being uptight? I wonder why that is… I know! How about that time you tried to get into my pants, Zeus?" Lia said a name I didn't think I would hear in a very hostile manner.

Waaaaaait…. Zeus!? As in the real Zeus!? The King of the Olympians and God of the Sky and Thunder!? Why is a god of Earth in this place!? Are the others also gods from there too!?

I couldn't believe I was in the presence of one of the most important gods in the Ancient Greek pantheon…

(Wait a minute… He tried to sleep with Lia!? So the tales about him being promiscuous must be true then… Oh…! Don't tell me that he tried to force Lia to…?) I thought and then panicked as I was hit by a sudden realization.

I thought that I'd be left feeling numb for a while due to my current emotional turmoil, but I was in deep shock now…

"Hehe... You do know how to hold a grudge, don't you?" Zeus let out a dry laugh.

"Should I break your arms, legs, and all of your fingers again, rapist? I don't have the time to do it slowly, so I'll do it all at once." Lia's voice was as cold as ice and extremely hostile. 

Oh shit, he did try! Wait… Lia did what to him!?

"For your information, I am reformed! Things aren't like they used to be thousands of years ago! A little divorce and a bit of online dating have done wonders for me!" Zeus said proudly.

Huh…? I was extremely taken aback by Lia's unexpected hostile behavior and how Zeus didn't seem bothered by it…

"Now, now… As the youngsters would say, please stop before you get your butt handed back to you, Zeus." The man who seemed to hold ancient wisdom intervened.

"I agree with Lord Odin, Father. I don't think it is wise to make Lia angry, especially considering what happened to Catris after my last visit just a while ago..."

Odin… The Norse God with a hundred names, most commonly known as Hávi, the Hanged One, or the Allfather. 

The King of Asgard and all of the Aesir. The one who wanders to deepen his already vast knowledge and the one who is destined to perish during Ragnarök.

Such a deity is currently near me…

"Hermes has a good head on his shoulders, unlike you Zeus. It would be good if you didn't think with your dick so much and you actually used your head." Odin said to Zeus with amusement.

So Hermes must be the other man with the cool voice…  Only the woman's identity is left to be revealed now…

"What? Do you expect me to pluck one of my eyes like you did back in the day? I'd rather not do that… The ladies like my eyes where they are." Zeus said nonchalantly.

"Sigh, you'll never change huh…" Odin let out a heavy sigh.

"Ahem! I believe I invited you here for a reason, didn't I? If you have the time to chat, then let's get this started. Since Julius already has a good idea of who you are, self-introductions are unnecessary." Lia suddenly faked a cough to get the attention of all of these important deities.

"Lia, are you really in such a rush for us to leave? You don't need to be like that! Things have changed since the war, we are allies now, we are fighting for the same goal." Odin said in a friendly tone to Lia.

"Oh, don't start with that bullshit, Odin. I'm only saying this because I respect you, but out of all the gods of Earth, you're one of the most untrustworthy ones. It would be foolish to consider everything you say as truthful, schemer." Lia replied.

"Hahahaha! And this is why I enjoy your company, fellow deity of wisdom!" Odin laughed gleefully. "It is good that you're cautious about me, but there's truly no need for that this time. We brought Hermes and the young Reginleif so you'd feel more comfortable during our time here." Odin laughed and spoke in the same friendly tone as before.

Reginleif… That name is familiar… It feels soothing, somehow…

"Ummm… I-I-It is nice to m-m-meet you, Lady Lia…" The woman, who I assume is called Reginleif, stuttered badly.

"I don't know why you would think that this little Valkyrie would make things more comfortable for us, but whatever." Lia said to Odin. 

A genuine Valkyrie! The winged maidens that carry the souls of the honorable warriors that died in battle to the halls of Valhalla! I can't believe it!

"Reginleif, was it? It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Lia, the Goddess of Knowledge and Emotions of the world known as Unitya." Lia introduced herself to the nervous valkyrie. 

Unitya…? Is that what my current world is called?

"Y-Y-Y-Yes! I-I-I-I am pleased to become your acquaintance! I have heard many terribl-… I mean wonderful stories about you!" Reginleif seemed even more nervous than before.

"I guess those wonderful stories must have come from those two 'Kings of the Gods'... Don't worry, I'm not planning to do anything terrible to an innocent person like yourself." Lia sounded a bit more composed than before. "In any case, I wanted to get over this as quickly as we could since neither Julius nor myself are in a good emotional state right now… But I guess I'll have to endure this meeting as a punishment for what I did since Julius was too nice to even give me an actual punishment…" Lia sounded mentally drained, just like I was a few moments ago.

I was about to protest about what she had just said but she just hugged me tightly and squeezed me quite a bit before putting me back on the ground… As soon as my feet reached the sand, Lia quickly made me turn around to face our godly visitors. 

As expected, four people were standing in front of me. Three men and a woman with a pair of pure white wings.

Lia kept her arms wrapped around me as if she was scared that I would suddenly disappear.

"How come you're treating Reginleif so well, but I get all of your anger and annoyance directed at me whenever I come to visit?"

Hermes was the one who spoke. Unlike anything I had ever read about him, he looked like a young handsome olive-skinned man. He reminded me of those guys you’d most commonly see in those famous perfume ads on TV. He had long light brown hair that went past his shoulders and a pair of mysterious yellow-colored eyes. He was wearing an open light blue Hawaiian shirt that revealed his well-defined abs, a pair of shorts, sandals, and a hat. Both the sandals and the hat were decorated with what seemed to be miniature white wings. 

Hermes was looking at Lia with a playful smirk.

“You’re the son of your dear father, that’s why. Consider it as a preventive measure before you try to get into my pants just like your father did… You think I’m unaware of your flirtatious escapades back on Earth?” Lia gave him an unenergetic yet threatening response.

“Ugh… How did you find out about that…?” Hermes seemed spooked by what Lia had just said.

“Hah! She got you there, son! You're exactly like me whether you like it or not!”

The next one who spoke was Zeus, the man with an imposing voice. His appearance was… A bit underwhelming compared to all the imagery I had seen about him. Instead of the usual old man with long white hair and a bushy beard, there was a young man with short and well-kept white hair and a trimmed beard of the same color, his eyes were also yellow-colored like Hermes's.  He was wearing a very expensive-looking seemingly brand new suit, a blue tie, black shoes, a luxurious watch, the whole shebang… His whole outfit was something that you would never imagine on the mythical King of the Gods of ancient Greece, yet he still had that imposing and majestic aura around him that made me recognize him as a kingly figure.

"Excuse me Father, but last time I checked, I don't go around disguised as an animal to screw some women." Hermes seemed slightly annoyed at his father.

"And last time I checked, that helped with the conception of most of your siblings and yours too, did it not?" Zeus just shrugged.

"Could you two leave this argument for later when you go back to Olympus? We have things to take care of right now."

After Zeus, Odin spoke. He scolded the divine father-son duo. Unlike Zeus, Odin looked way less imposing. For a deity with more than a hundred names, he looks surprisingly normal, but he does look like how he has been portrayed in the myths. An old man with a long grey beard, short unkempt hair covered by a gray hood, he was wearing a common looking leather eye patch to cover for his missing right eye, his left eye was painted in this strange unnatural blue and there are seemingly hundreds of strange symbols in his iris. He was wearing a plain and old-looking gray robe and a pair of wooden sandals. He was holding a very long spear in his hand that he was using to support himself… It was the mythical spear, Gungnir.

Two ravens were resting on his shoulders, one completely white and the other pitch black, both were looking at me intently. Those ravens were Hugin and Munin.

"I apologize for the late introduction, young one. I believe it must be quite a shock to find out that some mythical beings like us are real." Odin said while looking at me with interest with his unnatural blue eye.

His gaze immediately made me feel wary of him… I couldn't help but silently stare back at the mythical Allfather…

"In any case, I am Odin. I am the King of Asgard and the Aesir, master of the arcane and…-" He was introducing himself but he was interrupted.

"Odin, I already told you that there's no need for introductions… Julius already knows pretty much all he needs to know about the three of you. The only one who would need to introduce herself is the valkyrie." Lia interrupted Odin and tried to use her body to block Odin's gaze…

"Sheesh… You're as uncompromising as always… That's why you have never married, you know?" Odin let out a sigh before turning his neck to look at Reginleif. He then beckoned her to introduce herself.

As soon as Odin said that, the air around me started feeling way colder than before… Lia was not amused by Odin's comment…

"M-M-M-My name is Reginleif! I am a newly appointed valkyrie and this is my first mission! Please take care of me during my stay here!" The nervous valkyrie started bowing repeatedly while looking at me and Lia. She was blissfully unaware of the cold atmosphere around us.

Reginleif looked like a very young woman. She was fairly pale, her eyes were blue-colored, and her hair was platinum blonde and very very long. It was not as long as Lia's but it did reach her thighs. There were two beautiful pure white wings attached to her back, making her look like a genuine angel. She was wearing full silver plate armor minus the helmet, instead, there was a silver tiara adorning her head. There was also a spear hanging on her back.

For some reason, her face looked extremely familiar to me… It was really unsettling because I couldn't tell where I had seen her before.

(Wait, did she just say that she is staying here?) I asked myself that question.

"Julius, as promised I will be one hundred percent transparent with you and explain the situation on Earth to you." Lia spoke to me with a very serious tone. "For the last three years, both Odin and Zeus have been trying to meet you for the sake of offering you a deal." 

So she's also been hiding the fact that the gods of Earth were wanting to see me…

I'm getting a little bit more pissed off than before…

"Look Julius, I know I screwed up, but I didn’t tell you about this reunion about you because Zeus and Odin said that they wanted to see you, but then they wouldn't agree on a time that would work for all of us and they kept postponing and postponing until now…" Lia quickly hugged me from behind very tightly as if asking for forgiveness again after reading my mind.

I quickly looked at the three gods of Earth and they all nodded, to confirm Lia's story.

"Hehehe! Sorry about that! Hermes and I were on a cruise through the Pacific and I just couldn't turn down all the ladies that wanted to spend time with daddy Zeus!" Zeus said proudly after laughing.

“...” Odin looked at Zeus with an expression of disbelief.

"Father, please never call yourself that again…" Hermes said to his father while hiding his face thanks to the embarrassment.

"Alright, I believe you Lia." I caressed Lia's hand before looking at the deities from Earth. "Then? What is this deal that you want to offer? I spoke for the first time to our visitors.

"Straight to the point then." Odin seemed pleased. "Tell me Julius, would you like to go back to Earth?" He smiled.

"Are you serious…?" I was absolutely flabbergasted at what he had just suggested.

"I am." Odin nodded. "Or perhaps, would you like to bring your loved ones to this world?"

Odin's smile grew wider as he proposed to me something I was never expecting to hear…

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Chapter 32: The Goddess Admits the Truth.

END

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