Chapter 1096: Chapter 1096: The Silver Death
"Have all of you tried doing..."
"Yes, we did..."
"But, what if we do..."
Several weeks after Riley was finally able to find Renna, everyone was once again reunited without any more drama. Of course, that wasn't the case at all when Renna returned, as she was quickly bombarded by Liza with all sorts of flowery words that made everyone just keep their distance for a few days.
But after that, Renna seemed to be getting calmer by the day as the situation was explained more and more to her; her manic episodes of being violent to those who belonged to the Old World had subsided.
And right now, she, along with Diana and Hera, were trying to figure out how they would be able to convert her and Lucy. They have been discussing it for 3 days, and yet they do not seem to make that much progress at all - but it was better than no progress.
But most importantly, all of this seems to be helping Renna cope with everything — and Diana seems to like her a lot since Renna could practically learn everything as soon as she hears it-no. She even improves on some things that Diana taught her.
How she was able to be so smart with a variant of Katrina as her mother, well... no one really knows the answer to that.
"If Dad or his variants was here, they would have probably already cracked that shit."
Everyone was gathered inside a building on New Theran, doing their own things and just having a little semblance of an actual normal day - something that has become quite extremely rare. Some of them were just reading things on their phones, while the others were chatting quite loud and laughing about something.
It was normal, too normal. As for Riley, he was just sitting on a sofa at the side and observing everyone without doing anything else at all. Well, that is, until Hannah approached him with a snack in her hand.
"I have never truly asked what happened to Father's variants, Sister," Riley slid to the side to give Hannah some space while he grabbed the donut and bottle of milk she was giving him, "And I no longer see Nannah's father."
"...Didn't I tell you?" Hannah closed her eyes and sighed, "They're all dead. The gods made sure that all of his variants died out because they considered him the most dangerous element - more so than the themarians. I think they were afraid of them, or something. Bunch of pussies."
"That is understandable," Riley took a bite out of the donut before handing it to Hannah, Hannah did not really grab it and just took a bite of it while it was still in Riley's hand, "Bernard Ross is the most dangerous person in the multiverse. But what about the evaniels, Sister?"
"Well, those silver fucks fleed somewhere," Hannah shrugged, "They helped in fighting the gods at first along with the themarians, but somewhere along the way they just left and disappeared. I don't really even want to talk about them at all. Anyway...
...what's your plan now?"
"My plan?" Riley blinked a couple of times as he glanced at Hannah, "I do not really have a
||
"What are you even doing here!?"
And before Riley could finish his words, Renna's loud voice echoed throughout the entire lounge. Both he and Hannah turned to look at what the commotion was all about, only to see Lucy joining Diana and the others' discussion.
"What do you mean why am I here?" Lucy let out a small hum while covering half of his face, "I am here to provide you some assistance with my superior intellect. My dear grandma - tell me where you are lost and I will provide answers."
"Uhuh..." Diana just raised her eyebrows and stared at Lucy.
"Have you perhaps tried turning it on and off?" Lucy whispered, "It works most of the time."
"There is nothing to turn on and off, Lucifer," Renna tried pushing Lucy away but he wasn't budging at all.
"Maybe you, my dear sister..." Lucy then spun while moving to the side and just started gracefully waving his hand before brushing his finger beneath Renna's nose, "...But I turned on a lot of girls back in the Academy."
"You!"
"Ah! The beast, the beast has been unleashed!" Lucy quickly ran away as Renna started chasing him. He quickly hid behind Arthas, who was just quickly kicked in the head by Renna while trying to get through Lucy.
"Guys... stop fighting," Arthas did not seem to mind at all as he even tried to get in between the two. But alas, Lucy just started using his body as a shield before just running away; this time, hiding behind Karina.
Of course, Renna did not really try to approach Lucy and just glared at him while he was teasing her to just try something. Unfortunately for Lucy, Karina was not as gentle as Arthas and she pulled his ear and dragged him away - but of course, Lucy was able to expertly get away by rolling on the floor several times.
"Catch me, catch me if you can!"
"Stop being such a child, Lucifer!" Renna gritted her teeth as she continued to chase Lucy around the lounge - Lucy, however, continued to just roll before finally reaching Enel; carrying him in his arms.
"Let go of Enel, Lucifer," Renna clicked her tongue as she glared at Lucy.
"And why must I forsake myself of this lovely and slightly chubby shield?" Lucy started waving Enel in the air, and Enel just raised his fist and acted like he was flying.
"You..."
"...Any more children I need to know of?" Hannah could not help but just let out a soft chuckle as she continued to watch the scenery unfold in front of her.
"None that I know of, Sister," Riley shook his head, "And what about you, have you never had children that past 600 years?"
"No one was capable of procreating, Riley."
"And what about the past 16 years?" Riley tilted his head to the side.
"No. God, no..." Hannah's shoulders shivered as she stuck out her tongue, "Me, as a mother? I
don't think so. I'm not-and why are you looking at me like that?"
"In the trial, there was a version of us where we were married and had a child, Sister," Riley mentioned without any hesitation.
"Huh...?" Hannah just raised an eyebrow as she looked Riley in the eyes, "...And how did that turn out? Paige was really into some freaky shit... Fuck, I'm really gonna miss that woman." "It turned out like how it always turns out, Sister," Riley looked away, "I hurt you." "...Morbid," Hannah let out a very long and deep sigh while shaking her head, "Well, maybe there's also a version of us that didn't hurt each other, you know? Like... just happy. Maybe in another life?"
"Maybe in another life," Riley returned Hannah's gaze, "Have I ever really thanked you for being my sister, Sister?"
"...What for?" Hannah let out a small scoff; patting Riley's arm hard before standing up, "And aren't you gonna join them? They seem to be having fun. I'm gonna talk to Tomoe."
"I..." Riley turned to look at Renna and Lucy,
"...I think I will take a break for now, Sister."
"Oh..." A slight twitch curled onto Hannah's lips momentarily before just turning into a smile
as she once again looked Riley in the eyes,
"...Don't take too long, okay?"
"Hm..." Riley also stood up from the sofa and walked away. Glancing at everyone before he left the building and proceeded to visit his mother in the Fields of Immortality.
He did not really say anything and just stood in front of her crystal grave, looking at her face
for a couple of seconds before letting out a very long and deep sigh. And after a few more breaths, he just turned around...
...only to see several people there looking at him-no, gods.
Death and Elementia were there, and not just them. Miss Pepondosovich, Grea, and Marleen
were there with them.
"I knew I felt something," Grea was the first to speak, "And it would seem I am not the only one."
Both Grea and Marleen bowed their heads at Death and Elementia.
"What... are you doing here, Riri? Why'd you suddenly leave?" Miss Pepondosovich approached Riley; squinting her eyes as she looked at him from head to toe, "You're... planning to do something again, aren't you?"
"It is time for me to stop pretending, Miss Pepondosovich," Riley shook his head, "I am
leaving now."
"What...? Where are you going?" Miss Pepondosovich raised an eyebrow.
"As far away from here as possible," Riley then looked at Death and Elementia, "I am not as
fast as Van, so I will just take my time if that is alright with the two of you." "This world is yours as much as it is ours, Riley Ross," Death looked Riley in the eyes.
"I know," Riley nodded, "I am not leaving, just going far away. Mother and Rennalyn will figure something out on their own - I am not needed here."
"Well, guess we're going on an adventure, then..." Miss Pepondosovich shrugged as she stood
beside Riley, "...And don't even refuse - your children are going to be mad at me if I don't
take you back home."
"You do know that trouble will find you, Cloud?" Grea spoke up, "The Higher Gods still walk amongst us - you will meet them. Kravos, the Higher God you fought with before, he was
trying to search for you."
"I will deal with them along the way," Riley shrugged, "I have a feeling that my clones will
also soon come out of hiding...
...I will deal with them myself."
***
Somewhere in the multiverse, Kravos was currently looking at the vast empty universe he found himself in-no. His eyes were looking, but not him - he was already dead.
His chest, completely caved in as an arm filled with glowing tattoos dripped with his blood.
"All of you..." The arm belonged to Vania, the Queen of the Evaniels,
"...All of you will die."