The God of Gravity part 3: Apocalypse

A King Does Not Falter

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*

Like Earth's apocalyptic state, Venus suffers from an artificial winter. Nuclear Winter for Earth, Volcanic Winter for Venus. Snow and ashes here and there, one could get sick of white. The once revived planet has fallen into a planet no one would want to live in. Light is scarce, for the ash clouds steal the sunlight. The temperature is below freezing. If a man goes out to test it, nobody had to worry to carve a statue to remember him. For he will be his own statue made out of ice.

Any source of light is a sign of human life. Treading on the thick snow, Rai and Selena have their eyes on that light in the distance. To get there, they would have to battle against the violent weather. A blizzard is happening, blowing everything until they collapse. With it, carries ashes, snow, and even debris. It is not much of a struggle for these two Olympians. Rai does not have to use his power to stop it. Also, he plans to conserve the remaining power he has if something happens. Both of them wear thick clothes. Although mighty, there is a limit on what the body of a person with Olympian Strength can withstand. Their masks are also made for this harsh weather. One would need a more sturdy mask that will not tear like paper in the middle of this blizzard.

Selena is following behind Rai. They keep walking while leaning to the right to keep their balance. Since the wind is blowing from that direction. Without expecting, the wind takes a sudden turn. Selena trips forward but Rai catches her shoulder. He predicted this would happen because the wind whispers to him.

“Hang on!” he yells under his mask, barely audible for her. “We're close!”

She stands up on her feet and continues striding. As they get near, the structure where the light comes from becomes more obvious. It is merely something that looks like a large capsule with bullet-proof windows, with only its upper part protruding from the ground. They have to walk around it to find the entrance. Once they are in front of it, the ground shakes as the metal door slides open sideways. Beeps, sirens, and clanking of metal overlay the violent wind. The ashes and snow enter before they could, probably seeking refuge from the chaos they made.

The Olympians enter and the door slides shut. The wind stops bringing in the ashes and snow to cause chaos. As if at that moment, they hear millions of bells ringing in their ears. Through the windows, the blizzard is raging on. Just when their ears got used to the silence, a loud vacuum blows the ashes until most of them got sucked into a filter. The place is now clearer than before. It looks like nothing but a small metal dome. Then in the middle and on the floor, a hatch opens itself outward. 

Rai gestures for Selena to climb down first. She did and uses the metal ladder leading to the bottom. He follows after her until they are inside another chamber. This time, it is smaller with a metal door in front of them. They take off their suits and masks. What is left with them are their jeans and shirt. She breathes very hard after removing her mask.

“Thank goodness, that was over,” she says.

“Thank goodness, indeed,” he nods as he approaches the door.

It opens and a human woman welcomes them with a smile. She has glasses, ponytail hair, and wearing a lab gown. “Welcome back, Your Majesty and Lady Selena!” She bows. 

“Thank you,” nods Rai.

Passing by, Selena wonders why he can smile after everything that has happened. He is the King—she thinks. People will lose morale if he shows a defeated face. So far, it worked. Because of him, they have gathered a lot of survivors around the planet, bringing them into this place with a common goal. The woman follows behind Rai as Selena follows behind her.

“How did the search go, Your Majesty?” asks the woman.

“We found no one,” he says. “I think Lady Selena and I have searched almost every part of the planet. With our senses, we found all the survivors we but I'm not sure because there are those who are hiding somewhere. Some demigods or deities have abilities to hide their presence from the enemies as well as from us. We can't convince them that we're not the enemy if we can't find them in the first place. That's why I might consider staying here longer to find them.”

“I'm afraid you can't, Your Majesty,” argues Selena. “Olympus needs you.” In her mind, she thinks about his daughters more than him.

“That might be true but I believe we have strong deities in this generation. They are stronger than me.”

“But-” She stops right there, stopped by her hesitation.

“Also, if Earth needs urgent help, Lady Xue, Lord Kazem, Lord Enzo, Lady Danae, and the rest of the Olympian Forces are on their way there. So let's not worry.”

He turns to show the ladies his assuring smile. They nod so he turns his face ahead of him, still putting on his smile. There is no trace of worry left on his face. In front of a door, he stops and nods at them.

“If you'll excuse me, my ladies,” he says. “I'm going to rest for a while. I'll be out soon to check the progress of the rocket.”

“So far, we've had a good progress,” says the woman. “I can't wait to show it to you, Your Majesty.”

“I'll be looking forward to it, Miss Jalsa.” He nods to her then looks at Selena. “Lady Selena.” He nods at her too.

“See you soon, Your Majesty,” she says, nodding back.

He closes the door. The ladies continue walking. Only the clacks of their shoes against the concrete floor are making sounds. For them to talk about—there is not much.

Although it might be too late to stop the silence, Jalsa speaks. “His Majesty is a very strong god, isn't he, my lady? Inside and outside.”

It is true, Selena agrees because she thinks so herself. Trying to sound not interested in talking about him, Selena says, “That goes without saying.”

“If I could describe my ideal husband, it would much like him.” Jalsa does not know that she steps into a sensitive topic but continues to talk about it. Selena just raises her eyebrows slightly. “A kind of man that makes me feel everything is alright even though everything appears to be in chaos—that's the man for me. How about you, my lady?”

“Like Enzo,” Selena says in her thoughts. “He does make me feel safe whenever I'm near him. And sometimes giving you the silent treatment, makes you want to tease him until he gives up being stoic.” Realizing that she is beginning to think about the past, she shakes her head to make the thought go away.

She scoffs and says, “I don't need a man.”

“As expected of you, Lady Selena. I also once wished that I was born a goddess as strong and beautiful as you.” Stopping right next to a door, she turns around to smile at Selena.

“You don't want to be a goddess like me,” says Selena. “If you want to be that kind of goddess, look at Lady Danae.” Opening the door of her room, she walks in. “She's by far the kind of goddess everyone loves.” Then closes the door as Jalsa bows as a farewell.

Looking at her room, she feels alone more than ever. The pressure in the air is squeezing her chest or so she thought. She goes to the mirror, looking at her face. With Danae's face in her mind, she wonders, “how can I be more like her—the kind of woman he loves.”

She hits her palm at the side of her head. “What am I thinking? I'm over it. I have to stop thinking about it.”

Meanwhile, Rai is sitting on his bed with his elbows resting on his knees, and his hands clasping. The thoughts in his head put a weight that makes him bow down to dive deep into his thoughts. He pulls out a picture of his whole family from his pocket. It is encased with glass so it will not get crumpled or fold. He is touching their faces, gliding his thumb on the picture. 

“Be safe, my girls,” he says, kissing each of his daughters. “My love,” he says to his wife. “please watch over them until I get there.” Looking hard at her face, he is waiting as he thinks she will nod and make him feel a little better. But there is no answer. Even so, he smiles and thanks her. “Thank you, my love.” He kisses them all again.

Sighing, he looks around his small, empty room. Then remembers what he has to do now. He changes his clothes and goes out of his room. The people who are passing by, recognize him and as usual, he shows them his bright smile. The feeling of safeness and peacefulness floods them. “The King is with us so we are very safe”—they feel and they are right to think so. For a month, there has not been a single bad thing that has happened. 

He follows the passages until it leads him into a door. A demigod guarding at the door opens it for him after a greeting. He enters this room of control panels. Dozens of people are facing where the glass pane is. Through it, is a rocket in the making and monitored by them. It is inside a huge silo, enough for its massive size. 

A second later, one of them notices his arrival and gestures to others to let them know he is here. Jalsa is among them.

“All hail King Rai!” they declare, bowing as properly as they can to show him their respect.

“Oh, don't mind me,” he says, smiling. “please continue.”

They bow once more and turn to what they are doing. Jalsa goes to him and says, “We have completed the tests needed to prove that the fuel tanks are as reliable as they need to be, Your Majesty.”

“Oh, that's great!” he exclaims as he tries to look at the tip of the huge rocket—which he could not see from here.

“But we are still not sure about everything, Your Majesty.” The smile on her face slowly goes away. “Lacking basic supports to run more tests might make this rocket incapable of flight.”

“She's right, Your Majesty,” says a man. “This is an old design from the past and the directions in how to build it are full of tests—most of them, we skipped. Also, we lack enough experts.”

“It's fine, everyone,” he says looking around and seeing their worried faces, thinking about they might disappoint him. “I believe we can do it. You're geniuses, after all. If it doesn't work out, we will try again and again until we get it right. Just work at your own pace, no need to rush. Because we have a lot of time. So never worry and do your best.” 

That speech of his makes them feel more determined to get it right in one try. Their worries about disappointing him have disappeared.

*

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We're on our way out on the surface again. It's strange that I find that place to be more bearable than staying inside this safe bunker full of everything we need. Halfway to the airlock, we pass by Yue, the Goddess of Fairies.

“Good morning, Yue!” I greet her.

“Good morning, Leo and Darius!” she replies. “Out again?”

“Yeah,” I nod while rubbing the back of my neck.

“Well, good luck!” Her smile is so sincere and warm, along with her elven eyes… makes me feel I'm in luck indeed.

“Thank you, Yue.”

So we continue on our way but Darius talks to her so I wait ahead, leaning against the wall. He's giving that pack of seeds to her. I still can't make out what it is. What's he up to? I look away when he suddenly glares at me. I guess it's something secret, alright. He says his thank you and goodbye before catching up to me.

“What's that about, man?” I ask.

“It's none of your business.” He nods as a gesture for us to continue going to the airlock.

As soon as we got out, we head east to search for more survivors in the Human Districts. We never found Macky in our time searching in the Athena District. Maybe she's dead and I didn't recognize her body among the millions of dead bodies we came across. It's hard to imagine but I need to accept that possibility. How I wanted to hold her hand again but that might not be possible now.

Nevermind… if fate allows it, I will find her and tell her how much I love her.

Just as we are near the crumbled wall that separates the Human and Demigod Districts, I already sense someone. I slow down running and whisper, “Darius, I sense someone.” 

I hear him tightening his grip on his dagger behind me. “How many?” he asks as we hide behind a large piece of concrete. 

“One.” My left gauntlet is a bit uncomfortable so I adjust it. “Are you ready?”

“You don't need to ask that.”