"Calamity… you mean the World Eaters?"
"…Yes."
As soon as the words came out of Van's mouth, everyone in the throne room all held their breaths. Although none of them truly know the gravity of what these so-called World Eaters could do, they know that their name wasn't just for show.
Angela had already told the rest that the World Eaters were literally just that– they consume all of the planets they lay their eyes upon, developing it first before relishing at its destruction– as for what reason, it would seem that even Angela had no idea.
The room was filled with silent whispers, but with the marbled floors and walls, as well as the mixture of timber and natural trees that Vanya had placed inside the throne room, it made every minute sound relevant– almost as if it was amplifying their distress.
"Wait, who is this 'he' you keep referring to?" Athena then asked, completely breaking the silence and the fettered breaths that whispered through the throne room.
Arachnaea, however, instead of answering, only turned to look at Van.
"She said it's my third… parent."
"…What?"
Gerald was the first to react, his eyes looking at everyone to see if they also heard the same thing, "Did you just say you have another father? Like their sperm mixed into one while double penetra–"
"Gerald!"
"S… sorry," Gerald could not help but shut his mouth as Vanya almost hit her on the head. But alas, his curiosity was truly something he could not stop as he continued to run his mouth, "But for real? What the fuck?"
"It's best we don't believe anything that comes out of this vixen's mouth, King Evans," Athena then let out a short but very deep breath as she looked Arachnaea straight in the eyes, "A third parent, have you heard about any of this, Angela?"
"No, I don't think so," Angela quickly answered before once again getting lost in her own mind, "It could be true, we've seen weirder things happening– like Mr. Lauder being friends with Mr. Evans and not only that, they might soon become father and son-by-law."
"…That's quite true, isn't it?" Sarah then added as she placed her hand on her chin, "I still remember this brat crying over losing to me in a battle."
"You… fought with Gerald, Sarah?"
"A hundred lifetimes ago."
"What, I don't remember something like that happening?" Gerald's awkward chuckles reverberated throughout the air, made even more awkward as he tried his best to change the topic, "But for you to have 3 parents? You're becoming more and more like a freak."
"Like I said," Athena then quickly interjected as she cleared her throat, "It would be best not to believe anything that comes out of this spider's mouth. Having 3 parents is just ludicrous."
"Oh my, oh my. Said by the woman that was given birth from his father's head fully grown."
"…What?" Gerald once again reacted, looking at the others to see if they all heard the same thing. But after a few seconds, his eyes settled on Vanya, "…How were you born?"
"I… I don't think that's important right now," Vanya quickly waved her hand and turned her gaze towards the half-human, half-spider entity in front of her. If Gerald knew that Artemis gave birth to a seed, and he and his brother hatched out from that seed like some kind of tree… he would definitely lose his mind.
"Athena, let go of your grudges for now and let's focus on what Arachnaea has to say."
Finally, after listening to everyone's thoughts for a few more seconds, Van once again let out a long and deep sigh; garnering everyone's attention.
"But–"
"What if this man that Arachnaea had been meeting is this god you keep theorizing about?" Van did not let Athena speak as he stood up from his throne, "What's the possibility of that?"
"It's… high."
Although there were still signs of hesitation in Athena's voice, it could not hide the curiosity that was seeping out from it as well, "If the spider speaks the truth, then it just proves the existence of another god hiding somewhere in this universe. And for it to have been hiding this long without any of us feeling its presence… it's old. Old enough that his presence had already mixed with the universe."
"Why… hasn't he shown himself to us yet?"
"…That's probably not important right now," Athena then let out a short but deep sigh, "We need to discuss how to move and expedite the process of closing the Portals, so we need to solidify the Leaf project."
"…Leaf project?"
"Yes, it's what we are calling the floating Branches idea now."
"I… see," Van then said as he nodded his head approvingly, "One at a time, I suppose. For the meantime, give Arachnaea something to do."
"Oh my, already putting me to work, master?" Arachnaea's giggles almost send chills down everyone's spines, "But I believe it would be best for me to act as your guard, seeing as I am literally bound by an invisible thread to you, master."
"No," Van, however, quickly shook his head, "This is the first time you've been free for tens of thousands of years. Sadly, you have to live it now with the rest of us."
"But that's…"
"Although I think it'll be hard with the way you look," Van then squinted his eyes as he looked at Arachnaea from head to tarsus, "But if Gerald could live with the others, I believe so can you."
"Am I missing something here?" Gerald then quickly said as he let out a small gasp, "I am the most normal one here."
"…Master Van." Arachnaea truly was at a loss for words. She doesn't know how long she had been trapped in that cave; her days just seemed to be fleeting. The mysterious god was kind enough to decorate the cave, turning its walls into an illusion that made it seem like they were the skies.
She could have left years and years ago, of course; she had that choice– but she knew that she would die a few hours of doing so. She was the main source of energy of the Fragmented World she was in, and in turn, she too was getting something in return.
It was the fate of the so-called Boss monsters like her. If the Portal closes, so will her life. But with the feather binding her to Van as some sort of slave, the mysterious god made it possible for her to go out without perishing.
She thought that she would truly live the life of a slave– as gods tend to think of their lessers as nothing but their toys; history had told and foretold it. She thought that Van would be no different– but here she was, being casually offered her freedom.
"Am I… am I truly free to do what I want?" Arachnaea's trembling words whispered through everyone's ears.
"No," Van, on the other hand, had his eyebrows furrowed, "Since you'll be living with us, you need to earn your keep; we can't have you eating without working for it."
Hearing the oblivious tone in Van's voice, the others could only look at each other and let out sighs of their own.
"I don't really know what you could do, so I'll just let Latanya handle you," Van then said as he slowly made his way to the door, "She handles some miscellaneous stuff, so you will have a lot of choices."
Miscellaneous stuff?– everyone thought. Latanya was practically the one running the kingdom right now. Even before he disappeared for almost a year, Van had done nothing but check up on them, and then leave after saying they were doing a good job and that they should keep it up.
"Alright, everyone dismiss."– and with that, Van was one again the first to leave the throne room.
"…I guess let's get back to work?" Vanya said, her sighs representing what everyone was feeling right now, "We've already collected enough volunteers to test the Leaf project, so we should be done in no time soon, aunt Athena."
"Alright, let's go," Athena quickly replied as she walked away, "My arms are starting to get caught in webs."
And with that, the group left one by one, leaving only Latanya and Arachnaea in the throne room.
"…"
"You and King Evans's lover seem to have a bad history with each other," Latanya breathed out, making sure that her breasts remained pumped as she stood beside Arachnaea.
"…Lover? That Athena?" Arachnaea almost stuttered with her words, but after a few seconds, she calmed herself down, "But yes, we do have history."
"Ho?" Latanya raised an eyebrow; her intrigued hums whispering in the air,
"That, I have to hear."
***
"We felt the presence of a loose planet disappear, Eremiel."
Inside a dim, but colorful interior– a woman with several glowing tattoos on arms approached; each of her steps, as if waking up the floor that seemed to have a life of its own.
"And how is this news worth my time, Irin?"
A man then responded with her words, his eyes, seemingly marked with glowing red rings as they gazed through the colossal window in front of him; with a view of nothing but darkness and spontaneous glitters.
"Planets die all the time, even for us– some things are out of our control," the man called Eremiel then said as he momentarily glanced at Irin; and as their eyes met, the glow in both their eyes dimmed almost instantly.
"Yes, Eremiel. But this one died almost instantly."
"Rare, but still occuring."
"And before it died, our monitors detected a colossal spike in energy levels."
"That tends to happen when planets die, Irin."
"Can you just let me finish my report? I am not a child, please stop treating me as one," Irin then let out a small but deep breath before flicking her silver hair to the side, "As I was saying…
…the energy levels were colossal."
"And?"
"The energy is almost as high as yours, Eremiel."
"Almost?"
"Yes. We initially thought that it could be another Olympian. But all of them are either dead…
….or already with us on the ship."
