Bunker
1986 Words
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In a meeting chamber inside the bunker in which the remaining people of Olympus sought refuge, dozens of deities debate around a single long table.
“I refuse to be dependent on those two brats!” yells a god, rising from his seat. Others agree and some refuse. “We are gods! And we can do more than than a demigod and a human!”
“Tch!” scoffs Mila in her mind. “insolent fool!” She is in the corner, folding her arms, and frowning as she watches over them.
Aiko is being the representative of House Hayashi so unlike Mila, she has a place to speak around the table. All of the elders of each Houses got caught up in the explosion and died because they are on Olympus at that time. This ushered in new leaders of the Houses and so it is prone to impatient and inexperienced decisions.
“But we need their abilities to survive!” argues another god. Mila nods in satisfaction in silence. “Without them, we wouldn't have the first batch of humans in this bunker to give us prayers. Because of that, we were able to make food underground!”
Murmurs fill the chamber. Every time someone speaks out, it happens.
“Have you no pride in being a god?!” questions another. “We would've done it as well as… no, we can do better than them! It's just that they did it first!”
“Aye,” most of them agree.
Mila had enough and speaks for herself: “You proud fool, tell us how would you deal with the division of prayers? Every time-”
“How dare you speak, you child?” cuts the one who spoke earlier. “Keep qui-”
“I'm speaking,” she growls and glares at them.
She lets out black smoke from her back. She is Death as they see her and she is. This reminds them of her temper, power, and intellect so they let her speak her thoughts even though she is not among the leaders.
Before speaking again, she clears her throat. “As I was saying, every time a squad of gods comes out to do a mission, the prayers must be focused on them until they return. This is unfavorable for our Fauna and Flora deities that are growing food underground. They cannot use their powers to the fullest. Thus, slowing our food production. This is problematic as you see, given the number of people we have gathered here has increased. Unless Leonide and Darius are the ones who go out. They don't need prayers and can fight against one of the strongest deities like Eleanna and my sister. Darius can nullify and weaken the powers of the gods. Leonide can use their relics against them. Not only that, he can cast an area of Strong Force—much like how Cloaking works to protect humans from radiation and detection as they march towards here. As far as we know, nobody in this stinky bunker has trained for that kind of ability. They are the best combination of force we have at our disposal. It is reasonable that we shall use them to our advantage.”
They take time taking in what she said. A few seconds later, all of them realize she is right. Some hate admitting their loss.
“Considering how bad they behaved,” spoke a god. “it's predictable that they'll soon betray us all! We can't have that!” He swallows after she narrows her eyes at him.
“I know who you are, Lord Reinald,” she speaks, almost sounding like she is ready to cut his throat. “I saw how you act as if you are trying to save the heir of your House right after the explosions. I'm sure your butt likes to sit there now that your older brother is dead and you assume the heirloom. You dared to talk about betrayals because you know how to do it properly.” She continues to glare at his eyes until he looks to the side and down to the table.
They begin to murmur, “What does she mean?”
“Is it true?”
Mila sarcastically clicks her tongue and says, “Oh, sorry… what am I even saying? Lord Reinald has proven himself as a good gentleman through the years so he wouldn't do such a thing to his brother. I regret my unreasonable accusation. Will you forgive me, Lord Reinald?” He nods once without looking at her. She smiles. “Thank you, Lord Reinald. It won't happen again.”
“Scary,” they murmur.
“And sorry for my interruption,” she apologizes with a bow. “Please proceed.”
They just look at each other and have not much to say.
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I'm here in the cafeteria with Darius. He's at my right and next to him is Guiria—who for the moment, doesn't like the food. He's doing a bad job in convincing her that she has to eat this. I mean, I admit this mud-like food is not looking like the fancy ones they used to eat but for us it's fine. As long as it's food, we are grateful we have it. Anyways, it is understandable why Darius can't make her do what he says. He lived most of his life without anyone close to him. In this case, a sibling. I told him force won't make her do what he says but he wouldn't listen. Guiria is left in his care whenever the remaining members of her House are doing something. She is also been this irritated because she lost her mother.
“Eat!” he yells at her and slams his palm on the table.
My food almost gets spilled as well as the food of other people in the same long table as ours. He's got their attention. “Oh, for goodness sake, Darius,” I say. “don't hit the table.” My words didn't go through him.
“No!” Guiria yells back. She's gritting her pointed teeth at him like a beast. “I want fish!”
“I told you there's no fish!” he yells louder.
“Then go and get me some fish!”
I look around and everybody doesn't seem to care about their quarrel. “I told you over and over, I can't find any fish! And we are far from the sea!”
“Then I'm outa here!” She stands up from her seat. “I'll find fish for myself, you loser!”
I'm eating my food and I notice he suddenly goes quiet. “What did you say?!” he roars. I hear raspberry from her before the sound of her feet running away. “Get back here! We're not finished!”
He gets out of his seat and tries to catch her. I let them be because she will eventually eat it in the end just like these past weeks.
It's been another week in this prison-like bunker. I want to go out so badly to find my family and Macky. Outside, every second is dangerous because of the radiation and toxicity. I feel they are running out of time. If I'm allowed, I would've made it into the human districts to help more people but the Houses told us not to venture too far or we might get killed by the masked men. We have shifts to minimize our exposure to the elements.
Darius and I are separated from other squads. Usually, squads are made up of four people. Either made up of gods or demigods. But for some reason, it's only me and Darius. Oh, yes I just remembered. Darius has Cessation. Although deities can still use their powers using relics, it still weakens their power. It's a bad idea pairing him with them. And since my power does not run on prayers, he can't nullify or weaken me. That's maybe also why our shift is more often than them. They don't have to worry about losing a human and a demigod in the field. It's not that I hate it but actually, it gives me a chance to find my family and friends.
I wonder if what will we do once this bunker gets discovered. This might be the safest place here on Earth because of the powerful deities guarding and hiding this place. Thankfully, no other deities have the ability like me. I see through the concealment of any kind. The reason is that Strong Force the demigods and gods use to conceal themselves is part of my power. Well, except for Darius. His SF is different.
Oh, I'm finished eating. There's no food left on my plate. Damn, it's unsatisfying. I wish I could have some more but we have a limit for servings. This is already a second I just finished as a reward for our work. I need to rescue more humans so that our hardworking plant and animal gods can produce more food for us. Well, time to go to bed. Tomorrow is our shift after all. We won't be able to rest.
I stand up and pick up my plate and cup. Walking on my way to the dish area, I pass by Shui and his friends. They are unusually happy about everything here that I don't know why. I can hear them talking about how pathetic I am for not having a taste of good food. Their food is well-made unlike what we have. Nah, just let those idiots be, they-
Argh! I trip foot on something hard. Falling forward, I got a glimpse of what it was. It is glass protruding from the floor. Exploding a force in front of my body, I make myself stand upright. I grab this i***t's hair and slam his face on his luxurious food. It splatters across the table and on the faces of his friends.
I can't believe what these guys are doing! Laughing and eating delicious food and boast about it! They should just shut up and eat quietly as gratitude for the privilege they are given in a middle of a crisis!
I wasted their food. No doubt they will ask again and the rations will go unstable then when I finally find my family there will be no more food for them so they will starve but I will work tomorrow…. yes…. I will find more humans to pray for the gods so they can resupply but I don't know if they are still alive….. I must find them now or they will die but I don't believe they will die that easily but I don't even know if they're still alive…. no, no, no…. NO! What am I thinking?! They're alive, they're alive, THEY'RE ALIVE!!! I will spend more time with them if I see them again! I'll even stop dreaming about becoming the King of Olympus if it requires. So please, all of you… even Sander and Philip…. we will play with Tiny again! He's still alive somewhere I know it! We will ride him on the grassy plains of Hades District and walk on the road under the hot sun with hot air blowing from underneath… Maybe they feel that I abandoned them because of my silly dream, maybe they hate me, maybe my choice was wrong. If I chose to spend more time with them they wouldn't hate me. No, it's too late for me to repent!!! I hear them!! I'm sorry Mom, Dad, Hera, Macky, Sander, Philip….
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“Say sorry!” Leo screams in Shui's ear. His friends are ready to attack him from the other side of the table. “JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!!” Leo clenches his fist. “Fist of Seven:”
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- Writer
