Ch31: Athanasia P2

Chapter 31: Athanasia P2

~31.2~

*****

"News of that island's destruction reached the capital quickly. No island was safe, and the surface was a hellscape. Athanasios believed that it was the end of the world, but he did not quietly accept that fate. He denied it with such fervor that he prayed. I did not hear his prayer, but the system responded to his wishes. In my name, he begged to sacrifice himself to grant him enough power to stop the last asteroid, the one that would have destroyed the capital of Atlantis."

"The system granted him that wish."

The scene flashed to the island housing the capital. The king was floating in the air, staring down the asteroid that was headed straight for them.

"It was the first and last time he prayed so selflessly. He had just lost his grandchildren and wanted so much to save his daughters from death. And he did. His very life was converted to mana, and he attacked the asteroid with a force unheard of in that era. It wasn't enough to destroy the asteroid, but he broke it apart and each half passed harmlessly on either side of Atlantis Island. The surface was not spared from the destruction, but the people on that island survived."

"That day, only Atalante, Astarte, and Astraia survived. Athanasia, Alexandros, Artemios, and their grandmother, Empress Andromeda, died on the island that was supposed to be safe. Athanasios sacrificed himself to spare Atlantis Island. His parents, Asterius and Athenais, and his grandfather, Aeternitas, were asked by the system to add their lives to grant Athanasios enough power to save the island. They agreed and died."

The scene changed back to the meeting room. Having finished the story, Kye looked over at Atalante, who was still crying, with Alethea comforting her. "Crown Princess Atalante became the empress that day, but she lost all of her family, except her sisters."

Orion stood and spoke in response, "I will agree to this, but I need to speak first."

Kye nodded.

"Much has changed since the invasion and our subsequent banishment from the greater Elysium," Orion said with an almost uncharacteristic calmness. "If you seriously intend to force everyone to return to Elysium, then we must discuss that at length. It must not be done in a way that compromises the people." He glared at Dimos. "I speak only for myself in this matter, but I no longer seek the core of Elysium, and haven't for a long time. After leading Orthrys for so long without you being there to help... I've come to understand." He bowed his head so far that his forehead touched the table. "Despite my manner of speech in this meeting thus far, I believe we need you. We cannot continue to exist without the King of the World. I will agree to allow as many resurrections as you want for the sake of Atlantis. If we are to welcome Atlantis as the sixth satellite, then I would like to learn more about them. After all, we are all children of Elysium. My King, rather than simply remove the satellites, I ask that we at minimum have a longer discussion."

"Hear," said Adaal as he stood up. "You may take Orion's words as my own. My King, I also will agree to these resurrections, and ask that we talk through the rest at length."

Noah stood up and agreed. "Orion speaks for me as well. I have already agreed, but I also ask that we continue having meetings like this. Please don't write off the satellites just yet. I implore you, My King."

Iris smiled and stood. "Well said. My King, I ask the same."

Last, Nephele stood and curtsied. "It seems there is no need for me to bring it up myself. You have my agreement, My King, and the same request. Hearing that girl's tale..." Nephele smiled. "She's quite a noble soul. Her ambition is great and her desire is for the world as a whole. Resurrect them. But do more. Give her your blessing, King Elysia! And do right by her. Make her dreams reality. We can solve the problems you are facing with this Phantom, and we can certainly solve the turmoil in the Court of Elysium. Rather than getting rid of the satellites, do the opposite. Improve it all. That girl, I believe, can help you with that. So more than simply resurrecting her and the princes for the sake of Atalante, do it for the sake of all Elysium!"

Alethea helped Atalante back to her seat, and the meeting took a short break to allow her to process what just happened. She looked up at Kye, struggling to hold back her tears. "Why are you going so far for a child you've never met?"

Kye smiled at her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Not once have I ever heard a prayer from a different time, aside the one from your daughter. I want to save them."

Atalante buried her face in Kye's chest and embraced her tightly.

"You've had to endure so much, Lanti. I will ease your burdens and grant you what you've asked for every night. I cannot freely use my power as King of the World, even now, but now that I have the other leaders' consent, I can bypass many restrictions. The only question remaining is how we do it."

Atalante raised up and looked at Kye, confused. "How?"

"It's no simple task to resurrect anyone. Eve can do so without batting an eye, but there is only so much I can ask of her. I have spoken to her about this before, but she refused to do this for me."

"Some things must be done yourself," Allison said. "That is what we taught you."

Kye nodded. "Yes. I have consent to do this, but the very act of doing it will not be simple. I must either spend a great amount of mana to retrieve their souls from the stars and resurrect them myself, or spend a great amount of mana to time travel."

Atalante began to look angry, but with tears still in her eyes. "I told you not to give me hope!"

"There is no question whether or not I can do it. I just need to consider the costs before choosing a path."

"Which are...?"

"I would prefer to use as little mana as possible to do this. Either course will require far more mana than I can save up in under one hundred years, but one will require thousands of years of buildup." Kye sighed. "The easier method is to simply revive them, but that has two costs. It means that they will have experienced their deaths and have been brought back to life, and that method costs the most amount of mana. Time travel is the difficult method, but it is also the cheapest method. It will be incredibly difficult to pinpoint the exact location in spacetime that we need. I would pluck them out of history the moment they would have otherwise died."

Atalante's eyes widened, as did Astarte's and Astraia's, something Kye noticed right away.

"What?"

*****

Revision: 2024-10-1