"Good… Now, go bring your boss here. If he doesn't come within a few days, I'll just have to seek him out, so either way, he's getting his ȧss kicked… okay?"
"Y-yes!" They all salute before running away.
Now, let's explore this place some more.
I made my way back to the girls after informing them of what I had done, and we then all explored the place and attractions.
First, we walked throughout the city, which was honestly pretty boring as it looked exactly like the rest of the world, but once we made our way out of the city, our excitement was relit.
"Woah," I muttered as we gazed over the suburban town.
Everything was made from sandstone, and the people looked as if they came from a few thousand years ago.
"You want to know why these people are so different from the urban people?" Clio asks the group, and we all shrug.
It's probably due to the rejection of culture.
"The rejection of culture,"
I knew it.
Some places across the world rejected the modernity of the quickly expanding planet, and you could even call them cults because they worship gods.
Religion isn't really a thing anymore as science has overpowered everything, pretty much proving why we were created.
But, I was also part of this "cult" as I wanted something to grasp onto that could potentially pull my mother and me out of our desperate situation.
I went to the run-down church every Sunday, even though there was no pastor, choir, or even other attendees… but this changed over time after realizing nothing was happening.
My faith in this "god" began to dwindle, and eventually, I had to only rely on myself.
"*sigh*... Let's walk around a bit… Though it brings back bad memories," Celestine mutters, and Clio just rolls her eyes.
Somethings up.
"You know what I realized… Despite us being sisters for so long, we all have our own mysteries that we haven't told each other," I say as we walk through the suburban town.
"Yep, but I don't plan on saying much," Charna says as she dashes ahead.
We all followed behind her as we passed through the town quite quickly, but what I ended up realizing was that the farther we were from the city, the more run-down everything became.
You could even call these slums.
"HUFF… HUFF… HUFF… How are they not dying from the heat?" Electra muttered as she wiped the sweat from her forehead.
The sweat continuously pored from her scalp, and it kept flowing into her eyes, so she had to wipe her forehead repeatedly.
"You really hate the heat, don't you?" Ethel smirks.
"Yeah… So what? And you hate the cold, so we have our own preferences," Electra refutes.
"Okay, anyway, you girls want to explore the pyramids?" Mia asks as the pyramids weren't that far off in the distance.
"No, not yet. Let's explore the slums a bit," Celestine says, and Clio nods her head in agreement.
Hmmmmm…
"Is the relic in the pyramids?" I ask, and Clio stops in her tracks as she turns around.
"It should be in there… But, it's not the right time,"
"What do you mean?"
"There are conditions that need to be met, and they are conditions that we can't control, so let's explore this place a bit more," Clio says.
"Wait, elaborate more," I say, but Clio ignores me.
I clicked my tongue before following her back into the slums.
We received a significant amount of stares, and I also realized that the humans here have much darker skin than the ones in the city.
"Oh, some of them are quite pretty," Ethel says as she was practically drooling over one who was just carrying a basket full of meat down the dirt street.
I mean, she wasn't wrong.
All of a sudden, Celestine took a knee as her breathing rapidly increased as if she was having a panic attack.
"U-Uh. C-Clio… We n-need t-to leave," Celestine mutters as her pupils had dilated and her eyes dart around in fear.
"Don't worry… We're almost there," Clio tries to calm her down as I help Celestine to her feet.
Soon, we arrived at a sandstone house with open windows and no doors.
It was towards the edge of the slums and right next to the extensive desert that led to the pyramids in the distance.
"Hello? Granny?" Clio whispers as she cautiously enters the building.
There was nothing inside.
No furniture. No appliances. No people.
There wasn't even an upstairs as it was only one open room… but suddenly, a woman appeared.
"Oh, my sweet grandchild, you're back," An old lady with dark chocolate-colored skin, wearing tons of gold jewelry, says.
She was about half my height, but that was due to her bent back, which was probably due to old age.
"Please sit down," Clio gestures to a sandstone chair that had just appeared.
All of a sudden, the entire room was filled with the most basic furniture and appliances… and by appliances, I mean a singular stone tap that continuously dripped water.
"Ah, and Celestine, you actually came," The old lady says as she sits down on the stone chair.
"Y-yes… Have you been well?" Celestine asks as she lifts her arm from around my shoulder.
"Very well,"
She doesn't look very well though.
"W-when was the last time you ate?" Clio asks as she sees her almost skeletal body underneath her loose tan robes.
"Don't worry. I had a feast a few days ago, but I need to repent as gluttony filled my mind. God will always be with you two, but you still have to make sure to pray to him every night," The old lady says with a warm smile.
Clio and Celestine looked down towards the ground, biting down onto their lips in frustration… as they've long deviated from the path of god.
I doubt being a monster will let you connect keep your connection with god…
"Wait… what if god is a monster? Like that woman, I saw in the dungeon?" I muttered to myself, and the old lady suddenly shot me a glare.
"Do not taint the almighty fathers' name with such a word," She says, and I quickly apologize.
"I'm sorry. I should've kept the thought to myself,"
"Good… Now, what are you here for? I'm sure you didn't just come all the way here to check up on me," The old lady says with a warm smile.
"We're going to retrieve it,"
"Ah… Well, I wish you good luck on your journey. You will always have my blessing, no matter what you do," The old lady says, once again with a warm smile that made Clio and Celestine hang their heads in sorrow.
"Shit," Celestine mutters as a trail of blood draws from her lip.