27 Enlightenment, Part 1

Word count 13,786

Rebecca Chambers looked around her, feeling both nervous and excited, among many other emotions currently warring for dominance within her.

From the look on her fellow S.T.A.R.S. members, they were all more or less feeling the same, which was pretty understandable.

Jill and Chris were talking quietly, faces grim, while Barry merely stood there, arms crossed, frowning deeply and now doubt thinking hard about the reason of their presence here today.

It has been two days since their return to Raccoon City, after… everything that happened in the Arklay Mountains.

The disastrous mission, both at the mansion and at the Umbrella Training Facility, which had cost so many lives… and had unquestionably changed all of their lives forever.

To her surprise, she hadn't had any nightmares since her return, but even so…

Every time she closed her eyes, she could still see them, the snarling faces of the dead, looking at her with endless hunger… could almost hear their moans, as they slowly but surely made their ways towards her, seeking only to kill her and feast on her flesh, much like it had happened to so many already…

And it wasn't just that. Every time she saw someone looking sick, someone coughing, or something like that, she would tense up, fingers instinctively reaching for a weapon in order to defend herself the moment their snarling faces, glazed eyes full of hunger would inevitably turn towards her…

And then she would blink, and reality would return, revealing that no, there were no infected around her, that she was safe, that the nightmare was over.

And every time, relief would war with fear in her heart, as once again, the consequences of what she went through would show themselves anew.

She may have left the Arklay Mountains behind… but the horrors she had fought there were not so easily forgotten.

And the fact that Raccoon City was so utterly controlled by Umbrella didn't help.

She could hardly trust anyone in this city anymore. Just how many of the police were under Umbrella's pocket? What of the doctors at the local hospital?

The mayor, the chief of police, the city council… they were no doubt all corrupt, all under Umbrella's thumb.

What horrors, she wondered, were even now happening in this city?

She didn't know.

But she fully intended to find out. She wouldn't, couldn't walk away from it all.

And she was here, in an out-of-the-way part of Raccoon City, alongside the survivors of S.T.A.R.S. to finally get the answers they all desired, no, needed after the terrifying experience they all went through.

Well, except for Brad. Their pilot had decided to lay low and not make waves for the time being. She supposed that was to be expected.

Brad had not gone through what all of them had, after all. He only saw the very end, the fight against the Tyrant and the explosion of the mansion.

And he had never been known for his courage, either, a large part of why he had decided to go for being a pilot in the first place.

It still left her slightly bitter, but only slightly.

The rest of S.T.A.R.S. were by her side, and right now that was what mattered most.

They all wanted answers… and today was the day they would get them.

Aeon had given them this time and place to gather, if they wanted to know the truth behind everything they went through.

He had warned them, told them that if they wanted to walk away they still could, that they just had to leave Raccoon City, maybe the country, lay low and live their lives in peace there…

But she couldn't. And neither could the others, if their presence here was any indication.

She looked down at her watch, Aeon should arrive at any moment now-

Her eyes widened, same as the others, as a portal straight out of fantasy appeared before them, and out of it walked Aeon, glancing quickly around before nodding once.

"So you've come… except for your pilot." he declared, voice carefully neutral, not casting judgement one way or the other.

"You promised us answers. We're here to get them." replied Chris firmly.

"As for Brad…" Jill hesitated, before sighing. "He has made his choice. He'll probably help us if we ask… but he won't risk losing his job."

Aeon looked at them all.

"And what of you? Are you all absolutely certain that you want those answers? What will be revealed if you choose to follow me through that portal will be enough to have a great many people wanting you dead. And make no mistake, that includes many elements in the U.S. government."

Rebecca felt herself turned grim, as Aeon all but outright stated that they were going to learn state secrets… the kind that could easily get them killed.

And after hearing Billy's story, she was in no illusion that yes, the U..S government could, and would, kill innocent people in order to keep their secrets.

The remaining S.T.A.R.S. members glanced at one another, before looking back at Aeon.

"We don't care. Umbrella will want us dead already. At this point, all of us already have a target on our backs. No point backing out now." firmly replied Jill, to the agreement of all surviving S.T.A.R.S. currently present.

Finally, Aeon smiled slightly, his neutral mask gone to reveal his approval at their decisions.

"Very well then. If that is your choice, I can only respect it. In that case, follow me… and let us get started. We have many things to talk about today."

And then he turned around, going through the portal, and after yet another glance between themselves, they all walked towards it, with Rebecca, being the closest to it, passing through it first.

She could see what looked like a conference room on the other side, a long table with a projector in the middle of a table that occupied most of the room, and as she went through the portal, she blinked at the sight of not one, but three people waiting on the other side, all sitting at one end of the table, opposite to where the projector was facing.

The one in the middle was a blonde woman in a business suit, with bright blue eyes that shone with perceptiveness. To her left was Aeon, and to her right was another woman wearing casual clothes under a lab coat, with white/silver hair and gentle green eyes that lit up with interest at the sight of Rebecca and Jill.

Oh, and all three people were unquestionably the three most photogenic people she had ever seen in her entire life.

There had always been something slightly unnatural at how perfect Aeon looked, but with all three of these people side by side, the room almost glowed by their very presence, a weight more instinctual than anything else that caught the attention of anyone as surely as the sun in the sky.

It wasn't the crushing presence of a Tyrant, or even the cold charisma that Albert Wesker possessed, but there still was a pressure, unseen but certainly not unfelt, that she could feel the moment her eyes settled on these three.

Slowly, she stopped by one of the empty chairs surrounding the table, while the rest of S.T.A.R.S. did the same, and Rebecca did not miss the fact that there were exactly as many empty chairs as there were S.T.A.R.S. members present.

Finally, the portal closed as the last of them went through and sat by their chosen seat, and the blonde woman nodded.

"Alright, now that you are all here, let us begin with the introductions."

She stood up, before putting her right hand over her heart.

"My name is Lucy Miller, and I am the CEO of Insight Corporation. At my left is Aeon, who I am sure you are all familiar with-" they nodded "-and at my right is Oedon Muradasilova, the head researcher of the company."

"And more importantly, my wife." Declared Aeon with a bright smile.

Their eyes immediately focused on the white haired woman, who waved at them with a warm smile, a ring clearly visible on her hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all!" she beamed.

Rebecca gave a long look at Oedon, Aeon's wife, and couldn't help but feel that they definitely went well together.

And not only because Oedon was seemingly as tall and good-looking as him, but simply because there was a… warmth in her green eyes, a genuine goodness that could almost be felt simply by standing close to her.

Though Aeon's words to her after they had separated from Billy made her gulp in slight nervousness (or was it eagerness?), imagining what kind of things both Oedon and Aeon might want to do to her…

… Wait, did Oedon just wink at her?

Rebecca shifted slightly in her seat, trying not to focus on the way those warm green eyes had turned oh-so mischievous when they had looked at her for a second…

"Indeed." agreed Lucy, before looking at them all.

"Just for formality's sake, could you all introduce yourselves?" she asked, and Rebecca stood up, doing as requested, her team doing the same after her.

When that was done, Lucy looked at Aeon, who smiled.

"Right, we have a lot of things to talk about, but I think we should start at the beginning: the events that you all went through. Rebecca, why don't you start, and then we can go from there, then?"

Rebecca looked around, and seeing no disagreement, began speaking.

"As you all know, a week ago, S.T.A.R.S. received a request for help from the Raccoon City Police Department. Mysterious deaths had been reported in and around the town, deaths that the local authorities were at a loss to explain. Bravo Team was scrambled, but as soon as we entered the Raccoon City forest, the engine failed."

She sighed, but leaned forward with a slight scowl.

"We all survived the crash, but were almost immediately attacked by horribly mutated beasts. Meanwhile, I had found a train belonging to Umbrella, which as it turned out were full of employees whose goal was to reopen an old training facility nearby. However, they had all been killed, and soon enough turned into Zombies. I met Aeon then, when he killed some of them who were about to attack me, as I was too much in shock to react in time."

She smiled at Aeon, grateful for all the help he had given her, before continuing, making sure to not mention Billy at all.

"We then made our way through the train, with Aeon briefing me along the way about what was really going on around there, several documents belonging to the now dead Umbrella employees we found along the way serving as evidence of his words. Unfortunately, we were eventually attacked by what we now know to be the Queen Leech, an experiment created by one Dr. James Marcus ten years ago…"

She continued her story, telling everyone present about the training facility, about Dr. Marcus and his crimes, his eventually assassination by Umbrella under the command of Lord Spencer, the way his research (including the t-Virus) had been claimed by Umbrella, and much more besides, up to their fight against the Queen Leech in the hangar where they finally were able to kill the legacy of Dr. Marcus once and for all.

After all that, Aeon and her had gone to the Spencer mansion, where she ended up resting for over a dozen hours, at which point she had been found by Richard.

Sadly, things hadn't gone well after that, as they had to fight their way through countless infected in order to try and find a safe way out, an attempt that ended when Richard got bitten by the giant snake and poisoned.

Rebecca, now finally done with her part, let out a sigh, and then relaxed in her seat.

"And that's what happened up until Chris found me and Richard." she finished.

There were quite a number of impressed looks sent her way, and it wasn't hard to see why, considering that she had survived twice as much compared to what every other S.T.A.R.S. member had encountered in the Arklay Mountains.

Of course, she had both Aeon and Billy by her side, without whom she would have never been able to survive as long as she did.

And she hadn't been able to protect Richard, in the end, so she hardly felt as triumphant as she might have otherwise.

Yes, she had survived… but it hadn't been without cost.

She glanced at Aeon, who waved his hand slightly.

Blinking, she looked down, noticing a small bit of paper now on her lap.

Taking it, she looked at what was written there.

Billy made it to the safehouse. He's currently in a safe place.

Her eyes widened, her grip on the paper tightening and she had to hold back the wide, relieved smile on her face at the news.

She blinked again when the paper suddenly disintegrated, but she chalked it up to Aeon's powers.

Instead, she quickly glanced at him again, Rebecca's green eyes shining with joy at the news, and his own dark ones barely hiding some of the smugness he felt.

Then she looked away, satisfied that their friend was safe, and refocused on the discussion that had begun while she was preoccupied.

"- so yes, we shall tell you more about the history of Umbrella later on in this meeting." finished Lucy, and she saw Jill and Chris looking eager at that, no doubt wanting all the information that they could get their hands on in order to try and take down Umbrella.

A sentiment she most definitely shared.

"Alright. Then I guess it's our turn now…" said Jill, sighing slightly before her features hardened.

"With radio contact with Bravo Team lost, we were sent in after you, and it didn't go any better for us. Barry, Wesker, Chris and I made it safely to the mansion, though Chris got separated from the rest of us in the chaos, as infected dogs attacked us up until we reached the mansion. We had no way of knowing if Bravo Team was inside, but unfortunately it didn't take us long to find out…"

Jill grimaced. "I had been exploring the house for only a few minutes when I came across Kenneth… or what was left of him."

She sighed. "Not long after that, I made contact with Aeon, who provided me with various documents proving that Umbrella was behind these monsters, and that our own captain was in league with them. At that point, it became very clear we were sent into a death trap, and that the only priority left was survival, and that meant escape. Thus, Aeon and I investigated the mansion, seeking to reunite with any survivors that could be found, and also to find any further documents proving Umbrella's evils we could gather along the way."

"As for me," began Chris, "It didn't take me long to find Forest's body, eaten by infected crows. I… was forced to put him down when he rose up as a zombie." he declared, looking pained.

Jill was about to say something, but Chris shook his head and kept going, a grim look in his eyes.

"I eventually found Rebecca and Richard, saving the latter's life from the poison of that giant snake… Though in the end, it was a temporary reprieve, considering what happened…"

He explained his various discoveries, and more importantly what ended up happening to Richard and his own role in the man's death.

Jill and Barry grimaced, but both tried to comfort Chris nonetheless.

Though Rebecca could see that, while appreciated, that death was going to weigh on him for a long time…

Nonetheless, the story continued, as everyone explained their own experiences in the mansion, up until Rebecca and Chris came across Capt. Enrico… and what happened to him.

It was nothing new to any of them, but it certainly served to further prove Wesker's betrayal.

Chris continued then, the grim look in his eyes not going away.

"With the evidence found by all of us scattered throughout the mansion, coupled with what little information Barry was able to provide, I've pieced together what took place. As we now know, Wesker was pretty much behind the whole debacle. He was a plant in the S.T.A.R.S. program who reported directly to Umbrella. The Umbrella organization is a shadowy group dedicated to creating biogenetic supersoldiers. They set up a top-secret laboratory in Raccoon City, a suitably quiet place for their research. They stumbled upon a method of mutating genetic material by exposing it to an artificially synthesized virus known as the t-Virus. Humans or animals exposed to the virus go through a process of degeneration leading to brain death, while retaining control of their motor processes. They become 'Zombies'. Furthermore, the virus also boosts the strength, resilience, and aggressiveness of its host greatly."

Chris let out a long sigh.

"It creates the perfect soldier… mindless… fearless… deadly… and easily disposable. Or you drop this little virus into an unsuspecting human population and let them kill and eat each other. It would completely re-define the meaning of chemical warfare."

He scowled.

"Apparently, Umbrella wanted to test the effects of the t-Virus on human subjects, and decided to sacrifice their own researchers. I found a letter in the mansion written by John Fay, an umbrella researcher who had been exposed in this way. And with the Queen Leech seeking revenge, it deliberately exposed the whole facility to the virus, and broke out of containment any test subjects they kept to add to the chaos. Once these infected escaped the facilities, they started terrorizing the town, driven by endless bloodlust and hunger…"

He sighed, closing his eyes.

"... necessitating the intervention of a S.T.A.R.S. containment team, hand-picked of course, by their man, Wesker. I'd guess that Umbrella wanted to test the effectiveness of their virus super soldiers, and the Tyrant, against a team of trained professionals. We were nothing but guinea pigs for their twisted research. This also explains why the more inexperienced Bravo Team was sent in first. They were essentially a warm-up for the main event."

He glanced at Aeon, smiling slightly for the first time in this briefing.

"Fortunately, you were here to inform Jill and the others of Wesker's betrayal, though sadly I met with you too late to stop him on my own. In the end, as most of you remember, we gathered together and confronted Wesker in the room focused on the Tyrant's research, where his precious Tyrant turned out to be as out of control as the rest of Umbrella's monsters, and it skewered the weasel before he could even think of getting away. At least he got what he deserved."

He paused, a fierce look of triumph and satisfaction flashing in his eyes for a moment, before continuing.

"After that, we took down the Tyrant, in no small part thanks to Aeon, activated the self-destruct system of the mansion, held the remaining monsters at bay while Jill sent a signal flare to Brad, and after having to fight and kill the Tyrant once and for all when it reappeared on the roof, we took off in Brad's helicopter, letting us see from safely away as the self-destruct system took out the entire mansion and every monster still inside with it."

He paused, and Aeon waved his hand, a pitcher of water and several glasses appearing in front of everyone.

Chris blinked, shrugged, and then drank a glass of water.

Finally, he sighed, and nodded.

"And that more or less brings us up to date."

He turned towards Barry.

"Your turn, now. You're the one who knew some of this from the start, after all." he accused.

Barry winced, but nodded.

"Alright. Yes, I knew that Wesker was working for Umbrella. He never told me the t-Virus was being developed for military use. I was under the impression that advanced disease research was being conducted. I intended to turn Wesker in when I discovered more of what was going on, not long before the mission, but he threatened my family. Wesker covered his tracks pretty well, but there are indications in his notes that there was another experimental project going on, the G-Virus."

He grimaced.

"My information on the G-Virus is extremely limited. All I can say for sure is that, if it is perfected, it'll make the t-Virus look tame in comparison. Unlike the t-Virus, this strain seems to be transmitted from an infected host to other beings directly. An effective strike against the first waves of hosts could wipe the virus out, but it won't be easy."

He turned grim.

"The person in charge of the new project is William Birkin. If this is true, we're in trouble. He's fanatically dedicated to his work, and he will sacrifice anything to achieve his goals."

Chris nodded at him.

"I wish we could be more specific, but as you can all see, the destruction of the mansion and training facility in no way ended Umbrella's threat."

He took out a file from a backpack, holding it for all to see.

"I've received orders from H.Q. Our superiors look like they are trying to sweep this under the rug. We should all watch our backs."

He looked at Barry and Rebecca.

"Barry and Rebecca, you've been reassigned. S.T.A.R.S. H.Q. is expecting to see you within 48 hours."

He turned towards Jill.

"And Jill, they are coming down hard on us. We are supposed to see the S.T.A.R.S. shrink and await further orders."

Jill leaned forward, eyes wide with shock.

"Wha…! But we've got to stop Umbrella! Have our teammates died for nothing?!"

Rebecca scowled, not exactly happy with the news either…

She glanced at Aeon. She'll have to ask him what he thought she should do after this, because she wasn't going to just quietly accept this order.

Chris smiled. "Don't sweat it, Jill. This is an opportunity for us to investigate those rumors about the Umbrella H.Q. in Europe."

He hummed in thought.

"As for Raccoon City, I heard that someone will be assigned to take over our caseloads. The most likely to be chosen is a rookie officer by the name of Leon Kennedy. By the time the administration gets it confirmed, he should start his new job in around two months from now."

He smiled.

"I heard he's supposed to be really good, but nobody can last long against a town full of zombies. Let's hope for his sake that everything will remain quiet."

Finally, he drank another glass of water, before nodding at Aeon.

"Well, that's everything on our side. Now, you promised us answers, and I feel that it's about time we stop talking about what we already know, and discuss what we don't."

Aeon pursed his lips, before nodding.

"Very well. In that case, let us start with something I feel you all should know immediately: Albert Wesker survived the mansion."

"WHAT?!"

The entire team screamed as one, all of them completely shocked, though none took it as badly as Chris, who had immediately stood up and shouted at the top of his lungs.

"That's impossible!" she replied. "I'm a medic, I know the kinds of injuries Wesker took should have been fatal! There is no way he survived being skewered like that, much less found a way out of the mansion in time with his wounds!"

Aeon nodded.

"In ordinary circumstances, you would be right. Sadly, Albert Wesker is far from ordinary."

They stared at him for a moment, before Jill's eyes narrowed.

"Wait… I remember. When we confronted him, you called him 'Mister W'. That had caught my attention, because Wesker actually seemed surprised and concerned for the first time during our talk. What was that all about?" she questioned.

Rebecca threw Jill a surprised look. She hadn't caught that herself, and if the looks on the rest of S.T.A.R.S. members' faces were anything to go by, they hadn't either.

Aeon smiled.

"Good of you to catch that. Yes, there is indeed an important story behind that, which helps explain Wesker's miraculous survival."

He paused, before looking into each of their eyes.

"Let me ask you all a question: What is the ultimate goal of Umbrella?"

That caught them off-guard, and they all looked at one another, frowning deeply.

After all, Umbrella was evil, that they all knew… but what was their goal for all of their cruelty?

"I don't know. Make money?" wondered Chris.

Aeon shook his head. "No. Umbrella's ultimate goal, their one purpose, has always been one thing only: to recreate ALL of Humanity, using the viruses they developed to do so, in order to create a new World Order, that the leaders of Umbrella would rule over as gods."

They stared at him in shock.

"You mean-"

"I mean, ladies and gentlemen, that Umbrella's ultimate goal is nothing else but the genocide of the entire human race as we know it, in order to let a new, Umbrella-created species become the dominant lifeform on Earth. Yes."

Rebecca swallowed hard, feeling like she had just been shot in the guts from how hard the words spoken impacted her.

At her side, Chris fell limply in his chair, face chalk white at the revelation, and the rest was no better.

"That's… no, that's…" stammered Jill, looking rightfully horrified.

For the first time in a while, Lucy spoke.

"I'm afraid it's true. As a matter of fact, the entire Umbrella Corporation was originally created specifically to allow the three founders, Spencer, Ashford, and Marcus to have the money required to work towards the creation of their new world order as they dreamed of it… Though admittedly, Lord Spencer himself is the biggest supporter of that goal, as both the man who created the Umbrella Corporation, and the one whose megalomania effectively controlled Umbrella entirely ever since the death of the other two founders."

For a long moment, the members of S.T.A.R.S. simply stayed silent, for the first time properly understanding the sheer evil of what they were up against.

They had thought that it was a matter of money, of creating weapons to sell to various groups across the world, but this was…

"God…" whispered Barry, looking like he had aged decades in an instant.

Rebecca grimaced, thinking of his wife and two daughters, and what Umbrella's end goal implied for the future of his family…

Yeah, no wonder he looked ready to throw up.

Though to be fair, they all looked ready to do so.

In Rebecca's mind, she imagined a world filled with the monsters that she had seen in the last week…

She shivered, barely holding back the bile rising in her throat.

"What… what does this have to do with Wesker?" whispered Jill, hands clenched before her to stop them from shaking.

"Project W, or the Wesker Plan, was a eugenics project pioneered by Oswell E. Spencer himself which intended to develop an advanced race of human beings. The project was named after the first director of the project, Dr. Wesker and all successful child candidates were renamed with this surname." began Lucy.

She paused, before grimacing.

"The origins of the project arose in the 1960's. Dr. Spencer believed the world to be corrupted by human decadence and he longed for a utopian world of gifted intellectuals. With the Progenitor Virus that we shall elaborate upon later on, Dr. Spencer was able to realize this dream among those in his eugenics circle with a virus that could create highly intelligent superhumans. The project had a number of hurdles that it had to overcome. Firstly, the Progenitor Virus, when tested, was discovered to present a high risk of death and required extensive research to achieve a strain capable of achieving what the Ndipaya myths of old have spoken of. To give some context, in those stories, the few survivors of the virus would get superhuman-like abilities such as longevity, genius intellect, and enhanced strength. Spencer was really obsessed with these West African myths and talked about the virus's potential to eugenics frequently. Secondly, the Spencer Foundation had nowhere near the resources required to fulfill this project, leading to the founding of Umbrella Pharmaceuticals as a means of raising funds and developing bio-weaponry as a means of testing the virus for Project W. Thirdly, the utopian vision could not be achieved if the candidates did not share Dr. Spencer's ideals. 'Project W' solved this problem by selecting children as the candidates who could be educated to hold on to those ideals."

She pursed her lips, looking disgusted.

"During the first phase of the experiment, hundreds of children across the world were adopted, legitimately or not, based on a criteria of their parents' contributions to mankind. All given the surname Wesker, they were given the best education that money could buy while being closely monitored by the Project W team. When they grew up, they were allowed to go out into the world under monitoring to take jobs up in a variety of professions. A number of these candidates were drawn to Umbrella and gained employment, including Dr. Albert Wesker and Alex Wesker. Alex developed a close relationship with Spencer himself and was allowed to know about the project, though Albert was not.

By 1998, which is this year, Project W isolated the cream of the crop, determining some 13 of the Wesker children to be the best candidates for the next phase which was infecting the candidates with the virus. The infection was done in various ways, either through manipulation of the candidates' friends, or by taking advantage of seemingly normal medical check-ups. This phase saw the deaths of 11 of the final candidates, with only Albert and Alex surviving."

They stared at her with shock. This was…

"In the end, we believe that Albert Wesker's full potential was forcibly unlocked when he was killed by the Tyrant, resulting in the virus bringing him back, not only keeping his mind intact, but also giving him some of the superhuman-like traits of the survivors of the virus, just like in the Ndipaya myths."

For a long moment, they remained silent, before Chris put his head in his hands. "Fuck."

Lucy nodded. "Indeed."

"In our defense, he was as dead as one can be. And at no point before that had he shown any side-effect from the experiments done to him by Umbrella." pointed out Aeon.

Chris grunted. "Still should have put a bullet in the bastard's head. Let him try and survive that."

"Where is he now?" questioned Jill.

"He joined up with a rival company of Umbrella known only as 'The Organization'." replied Lucy.

They all frowned. "Rival company?" questioned Jill. "As in…?"

Lucy answered grimly. "I'm afraid that Umbrella isn't the only one interested in bio-organic weaponry. Far from it, in fact. However…"

She glanced at Aeon, who gave her a smile, before looking at Oedon, who did the same.

Lucy then turned towards them, expression serious and focused.

"However, I believe we can focus on the matter of how in danger the world truly is later. For now, I believe that it is time to answer your questions about another subject."

"And that is?" wondered Rebecca.

"The truth of who and what I am." replied Aeon firmly.

Their eyes widened, and they leaned forwards.

They all had had many questions about him, and while they couldn't have asked them before, when they were fighting for survival, it was another thing entirely here and now.

Aeon himself hadn't even tried to hide the fact that he had more secrets that he had yet to reveal, and while Rebecca certainly appreciated his honesty, she certainly would like answers even better.

And yes, part of her curiosity certainly had to do with her attraction for him, she wasn't blind to that fact.

What had made Aeon the man he was today? Someone capable of looking at the worst horrors in the eyes without flinching? Someone who went through both the train, the training facility, and the Mansion with hardly a blink, while they all trembled in fear?

What, Rebecca wondered, had made him so strong?

And could she become like him, such that she would never need to fear the monsters of this world ever again?

Could she become as capable of protecting others as he was?

She didn't want to be weak. Refused to be, after that disastrous mission.

An image of Richard's pained face, after the giant snake had bitten him, as he lay dying on the ground while she despaired over her inability to save him, flashed through her mind, and her green eyes hardened.

She didn't know if she could ever become as strong as Aeon… but she would certainly try.

"Now, I think I should start my story by asking you a question: tell me, do you remember what I called the Old Blood?"

She frowned, thinking deeply…

"The Blood of the Gods? Found in old ruins that the people of Yharnam had decided to call the Tombs of the Gods?" she replied, tilting her head in thought.

Aeon smiled. "Exactly. Well, here's the punchline: they were being literal."

They stared. Today had already been full of revelations, but this was…

Jill coughed in her fist, looking at Aeon with wide eyes.

"Can you repeat that, please?

"You heard me. The Tombs of the Gods… they actually did find gods there. But… I think I'll let Oedon explain this one."

With that, he turned to look at his wife, who smiled at him, before looking thoughtful.

"It's a long story… but essentially, it all began long ago, with a civilization called the Pthumerians. That civilization ended up discovering higher-dimensional beings known as the Great Ones, or the Old Ones, and these beings were… usually benevolent. Great Ones are sympathetic beings in nature, you see. But they do not see the world like you do. I believe that you all have a term for it. They are eldritch."

Rebecca swallowed, stunned by the revelation, but answered numbly. "Eldritch gods? Like in Lovecraft's works?"

Oedon smiled brightly. "Yes, much like those. Have you read his books?"

She shrugged slightly. "I've heard of him, though I am not an expert."

"I'd recommend them, then. He got quite a few things wrong, but not everything. In any case, The Pthumerians and the Great Ones began to work together, and for a time the Pthumerian civilization was flourishing… and then it all went wrong."

Oedon closed her eyes, a flash of sadness, even grief twisting her features for a second.

Then she reopened her eyes, feeling Aeon's right hand on her left one, and she smiled at him, before looking back at them.

"The Formless God of Blood, who the Pthumerians honored more than any other thanks to the fact that any god's blood gave them greater strength, healing, among many other abilities, sought to have a child with the queen of their civilization. The Pthumerians were honored to have a Child of one of their gods as the heir to the throne, especially since she had no king as of yet, and thanks to the Old Blood running in their veins, it was easy for the Great One to use his power, using the Blood as a conduit, in order to use mystical means of artificially impregnating the Queen… I'm sure the concept of such a thing is hardly uncommon, since that is essentially what happened in the Bible?"

They nodded, their minds still struggling to handle the fact that apparently, gods were real. Eldritch gods, at that.

It wasn't a complete shock, they knew magic existed after seeing Aeon use some, and they had had a few days to think of the implications, but still…

Oedon sighed.

"You must understand, children for Great Ones are… they are, without a doubt, the most important things in existence for a Great One. You see, Great Ones cannot have children between themselves. They literally just can't, it's not possible."

Rebecca's eyes widened, along the others.

"But then-"

"But then, the Great Ones sought an alternative. They had immortality, their very nature as higher-dimensional beings ensured it… but in exchange, they could not have godly children of their own, so they sought out surrogates, children born from the union of a mortal and a god, hoping that, by having a mortal mother, they would find a loophole into their curse of a childless life."

"And it all went wrong." finished Barry quietly, and as a father himself he probably understood the wish to have a family better than anyone here.

Oedon smiled sadly.

"It did. The Queen died during Childbirth, taking the child with her. But a child of a Great One is not so easy to kill, and it clung to life, remaining cursed to be forever trapped as neither truly alive nor dead, crying out for its parents and for the life that could have been… but now will never be."

Oedon closed her eyes, a great sigh leaving her.

"The god could do nothing, for its influence upon the world was limited by its very nature as a formless god, capable of interacting only through the medium that is the Old Blood. And the child… Mergo, would resist any attempts to grant it mercy, for even in its current state it was still a child of a god, and not so easily overpowered. Worse, the cries of the undead baby Great One brought about psychic waves of madness, and combined with the horrific death of the queen… in the end, the god could do nothing but watch in horror as the Pthumerian civilization collapsed, the sound of a crying baby as the only death cry of a once great civilization."

Rebecca flinched, the sheer horror of it all, the sheer tragedy… and there was something else too, an horrifying possibility that grew more and more likely at every word spoken, and by the look of shock, sadness and growing pity on Jill's face as she looked at Oedon, she wasn't the only one who thought the same.

"In the end, only great ruins and catacombs remained of the Pthumerians, and the Great Ones were forgotten by all. For a long time, the corpse of their civilization was left alone, with only some remaining gods being left behind in the ruins, and some remaining mad Pthumerians who, unbothered by age, became silent guardians of the once thriving lands of their people. And of course… there was still the Child, whose psychic screams could now only be heard by other Great Ones… Including the God of Blood, who could only forever despair over the tragedy of it all."

For a long moment, there was only silence, as they all contemplated the tragic story they had just heard.

By now, all of the S.T.A.R.S. members had the same suspicion about Oedon, though there were still many details that didn't fit, like the fact that the god was male, or considered "formless"...

The woman in question shook her head, before smiling slightly.

"But as a certain someone once said, corpses aren't always left alone-" Aeon started choking all of a sudden, though he waved off their concerned looks "- and eventually, new people build a city on top of the old ruins, and named it Yharnam, in honor of the old legends of an ancient Queen. Those people eventually discovered the tombs below, and with it the Old Blood. The rest, you have heard it already: the School of Byrgenwerth, the Healing Church, the Hunters… What Aeon has yet to mention, is everything concerning the Hunter's Dream."

"The Hunter's Dream?" repeated Jill curiously.

"The Hunter's Dream was a separate dimension, created from the image of a real place in Yharnam, where Gehrman, the First Hunter, as a man who entered in communion with a Great One known as the Moon Presence, was to remain in it, bound forever within as a way to act as a caretaker of any new Hunter of the Dream. Those special Hunters were people who signed a contract, and through that contract had their souls bound to that divine realm for a time, and as long as that contract remained, they were essentially immortal, such that if they were to fall in combat, they would awaken in the Dream without any wounds, and be free to return to the Waking World to fight once more. There were two people who remained constantly bound to the Dream, instead of coming and going as the missions of the contracts required: Gehrman himself, and a Doll created in the image of a female student of Gehrman, who had previously killed herself over her guilt for participating in horrific activities who eventually became too much for her to bear. It was Gehrman's hope that the Moon Presence would bring back the student, Lady Maria, through that Doll… but Maria's soul had ended up in a nightmarish realm, and was out of its reach. Thus, it called upon someone else instead, to possess the Doll and act as helper to the Hunters of the Dream: the grieving God of Blood, who cared little about the gender of the body it would inhabit, much more interested in three things: one, to experience new things from a 'mortal' perspective; two, to try and see if the Hunters of the Dream might be the solution to finally grant Mergo peace at last; and three, as the new goddess heard of the mortals desire to turn a human into a Great One, it too wondered with renewed hope if, at long last, it might have finally found a solution to the inability to have a child of her own: simply help in ascending a mortal, and by so doing prove that yes, it was possible for their kind to make more of themselves."

Rebecca rubbed her forehead, closing her eyes as she tried to fully comprehend the sheer deluge of information they were being given.

This was an insane story, of gods and men, of tragedy and hope, but it was the way it was spoken, the sheer… matter of fact way it was all spoken about, that truly made her wonder.

Even more importantly, the revelation that the formless god had found a female body to inhabit suddenly increased the odds of her theory being right, and she couldn't help but look with both suspicion and wonder at the three people before her.

There were… so many questions constantly emerging in her head over all that she was hearing, but again the sight of Aeon's powers remained firmly in her mind, and more and more she was beginning to suspect what mind-blowing revelation would end this already surreal story.

Aeon's powers… his and his companions' unnatural beauty… the sheer presence they exuded without even trying…

Yes, Rebecca Chambers was far from stupid, and the pieces of the puzzle were all here before her.

The only real question that remained… was what kind of picture, exactly, would be seen once all the pieces were put together?

"So wait… does that mean that you were a Hunter of the Dream, Aeon?" questioned Jill.

He and Oedon exchanged looks, before Aeon leaned forward.

"Alright, so I'll take it from here. Yes, that is correct. When I arrived in Yharnam, I signed the contract stating that I would become a Hunter, and by doing so was given both the Old Blood… and a connection to the Hunter's Dream, with a mission to accomplish. Though I didn't truly find that out until after I got my guts chewed out by a bloodthirsty beast."

Rebecca coughed, eyes going wide, and the others were not much better.

"What?" she whispered, looking wide eyed at Aeon just casually saying something like that.

The man shrugged, opened his mouth, and froze, a look of consideration taking over.

He turned to Oedon. "You know, I should be able to use illusions to show them…"

She tilted her head, looking curious.

"That is a possibility… but do you truly want to show them the full extent of the Hunt, Good Hunter?"

Lucy looked curious at them both, but Aeon merely nodded.

"Not all of it, but yes."

He turned towards them, and then clapped his hands.

To their shock, the white conference room disappeared, replaced by a broken down building with messy medical beds and equipment looking straight out of the 19th century.

"Aeon, what is this?" questioned Jill, looking around with wide eyes.

"An illusion of the place I woke up in after the blood transfusion." he replied calmly.

"And why does everything look so…"

"Old?" finished Aeon, looking at Rebecca. "Because that was in the 19th century."

They blinked.

"Can you repeat that?" asked Barry. "I thought you said-"

"You heard me correctly."

They all looked at him, and suddenly she couldn't help but think about yet another question worth asking:

"Aeon… just how old are you, really?"

He smiled at her, a hint of amusement in his eyes.

"Old." was all that he replied.

Rebecca swallowed.

She didn't miss the importance of that word in their current discussion. For him to specifically use it… considering everything else...

She really doubted it was a coincidence.

"In any case, are you ready to see what made me who I am? Ready to see what monsters I truly fought, what kind of monsters I consider as worthy foes?"

The S.T.A.R.S. members glanced at one another, and despite their desire to learn more…

They all had equally concerned, if not fearful, looks on their faces.

But eventually, Jill was the first who showed courage, taking a deep breath, and then she nodded.

"Yes, we are."

Aeon promptly waved.

A moment later, they saw the first beast of Yharnam, a werewolf-like creature who was messily eating a corpse in front of a door leading to stairs going upwards, and their eyes widened as they saw someone looking like Aeon staring at it from the opposite side of the room for a long moment.

"Why are you…" Jill began, before trailing off.

"So short? Well, let just say that it was before… many things happened, that resulted in the me that now stands before you. Honestly, seeing old me is really nostalgic… Though I much prefer current me." replied Aeon, looking thoughtful while staring at his old self.

Rebecca shook her head. Honestly, so many things were crazy this day, that Aeon casually creating an illusion so… vivid as the one they were in barely surprised her.

She could see every drop of blood falling from the mouth of the beast… could see every bloodstain on all the medical beds in the room… could actually smell the blood coming from the corpse, and the horrible scent of the beast… she could hear the wet noises of the beast feasting on the body in front of it…

And of course, she could see every detail of the beast itself. Its misshapen limbs, its rough looking patches of fur, the deep wounds all over its body…

She suddenly froze when she saw those wounds visibly closing even as she looked.

It was slow going… but even so, the very fact it's healing was potent enough to be visible to the naked eye was terrifying.

To say nothing of the size of the beast, who looked more than capable of killing several Lickers on its own, even in its current state…

She looked away, not wanting to look at it any longer.

Instead, she looked at past-Aeon, who was wearing some casual clothes fit for the 19th century, and three things immediately hit her when she properly took this version of him.

First, the sheer presence he possessed nowadays was nowhere to be seen, and the lack of it surprised her so much that it caused her to miss the two extremely important facts that followed for several more seconds.

Once she did however, her heart jumped to her throat.

Because he was unarmed.

And he was looking grim-faced at the beast standing in front of the door leading to the stairs.

"Aeon… please tell me-"

"I can't do that. I'm sorry."

She looked at him wide-eyed.

"Aeon, there is a monstrous beast bigger than any licker I saw in the Arklay Mountains standing in front of that door! You have no weapons at all! Why would you even-"

"There is no other door, or windows, out of the building." he replied calmly. "In the end, it was either act now… or let the beast find me later. No way out, no weapons… There was only one thing left to do. To decide."

"And what was it?" Jill questioned, voice trembling slightly as she looked at him, desperately hoping the answer wasn't what she feared it would be.

Aeon smiled grimly. "Die fighting, or die running. And there was only one answer to that."

Before their shocked eyes, past-Aeon ran towards the beast, face grim and determined, punching it on the side of the head with all of his strength.

The beast flinched… and then it turned, and their eyes went wide in shock as it moved at shocking speed, disemboweling Aeon instantly.

But it didn't stop at that. It kept on slashing and biting his body, the sheer strength, speed and fury of it all shocking them, for even the monsters of Umbrella couldn't match the sheer bloodthirstiness of this abomination.

Before their stunned eyes, Aeon's broken body fell to the ground with a wet thud, the beast not even slowing down as it kept slashing at him, and his blood soon covered several meters of ground surrounding him, such was the brutality of the beast's attacks that even organs began flying everywhere.

And then the beast stopped, its great jaws closing in on Aeon's guts, and Rebecca felt a chill down her spine as she stared into the beast's eyes.

When fighting the monsters from Umbrella, they always had glassy eyes, and no matter their hunger and rage, there was nothing alive in their eyes.

But this beast… its eyes were filled with unholy, monstrous life, and as it feasted on Aeon's body she could see the dark glee in its red, blood-like eyes.

The sheer satisfaction of killing, of maiming, of mutilating all that stood before it… the sheer sadism and cruelty in those eyes would forever haunt her.

And yet, all of this couldn't hold a candle to the look on Aeon's face.

She had expected agony, or fear, or any such emotions…

But instead, it was a passage from a poem that came to her mind.

Rage, rage against the dying of the light… do not go gentle into that good night.

And as she stared into past-Aeon's eyes, saw the sheer, burning rage in them, the way his features twisted with utter fury as he stared right back into those gleeful red eyes…

She knew that she could never be as strong as him, never could spit in Death's cruel eyes like he looked ready to do, even as he breathed his last.

And then Aeon, the one by her side, clapped his hands and she jumped in shock, the horrifying scene in front of them freezing into place like some kind of macabre art piece.

"And that, ladies and gentlemen, was my first death! All in all, it wasn't really the worst one by far, certainly not the most painful, though it definitely left an impression on me."

It was at that point that she and Jill finally lost it, and began vomiting all over the floor.

Jill Valentine took a few deep breaths, Rebecca doing the same not far from her.

She had seen a lot in her life, especially in the last few days, but the sight of Aeon, someone so strong and seemingly invulnerable, being so brutally butchered like this right in front of her…

It had been too much, especially considering the weight of the previous revelations of the day.

She and the rest of S.T.A.R.S. had come together to get the answers they all so very badly needed after their last disastrous mission, and they had expected a great many things…

But obviously, their imagination had not been great enough to ever foresee the sheer horror of all that they had learned.

Wesker's survival was bad enough, but learning the true end goal of Umbrella had been horrifying like nothing else.

To think that the true purpose of Umbrella was to recreate the world and fill it with Umbrella-approved abominations…

She shuddered just thinking of it.

And then there was the truth of Aeon's past. The city of Yharnam, the fact that he apparently had been alive even all the way back in the 19th century… to say nothing of the news that gods very much existed.

Well, "higher-dimensional beings", but they were essentially the same thing by the sound of it.

The way that Oedon spoke of it all, too… She liked to think of herself as a pretty observant person, a required skill as a cop, and there were a great deal of hints that the God of Blood she was speaking of was actually talking about herself.

She still wasn't absolutely certain, and her mind boggled at the idea, but after the last few days she was willing to believe that the world was obviously a much stranger place that most people thought it to be.

If zombies, monsters, and magic existed, then why not gods as well?

All of which still didn't prepare her to witness exactly what had made Aeon the man he was… But now, she was starting to understand, and a great part of her was horrified at the truth.

He was so utterly fearless for one very good reason, he simply didn't fear death.

How could he, when it was obvious he had died brutally, painfully and repeatedly when he had been younger?

She doubted she could ever forget the look of grim determination in Aeon's eyes when he had known that death was coming… and she wondered about the sheer courage that is required to do as he did, to go boldly facing his death without fear.

Even as he had died, even as she had watched in stunned horror as that monstrous beast had feasted with cruel joy upon his entrails, he still had shown no fear, only burning rage for his killer.

It was said that the measure of a man could easily be determined by simply putting someone in a life or death struggle and seeing their reactions.

Would they show bravery and remain calm? Would they panic? Perhaps even try and use others as human shields to protect themselves?

Well, now she knew what Aeon was like when he had reached the lowest point of his life: he had raged against death to the bitter end… and beyond, obviously.

Jill took a handkerchief handed to her by Aeon, wiping her mouth and breathing deeply, while he waved his hand, the vomit disappearing instantly, the same happening with Rebecca's.

Looking around, she noticed that Chris and Barry were both pale and shaking slightly, staring in silent shock at the frozen, grizzly scene before them, while Rebecca was now slowly recovering herself, taking several deep breaths while she kept her eyes closed, probably desperately trying to block out the memory of Aeon's bloody death.

The only ones calm here were Aeon, Oedon, and Lucy, though the last one was looking rather disturbed herself.

"That was…" Jill whispered, still slightly shocked.

Aeon chuckled quietly.

"Yup. You wanted to know… Well. As the saying goes, be careful what you wish for."

"Aeon…" Rebecca swallowed, and then slowly came closer to him, taking one of his arms and holding it like a lifeline, staring at him with wide, trembling green eyes, as if fearing he would disappear if she looked away.

He smiled sadly at her, before looking at them all.

"This happened less than a hour after I first arrived in Yharnam. Needless to say, it was a very… memorable welcome."

Barry scoffed, shaking his head. "That's one way to put it… Fuck…"

He passed a hand in his hairs, glancing once more at the frozen image at his side before looking away with a grimace.

"And it wasn't the only death, was it?" Questioned Chris softly.

Aeon shook his head. "It wasn't. If you're all ready, I can show you more, though I won't show you everything about my time in Yharnam… I doubt that you want to, anyway." he declared wryly.

The S.T.A.R.S. members looked at one another, before nodding grimly.

"Are you sure, Aeon? We want answers, but this is…" Jill trailed off, looking sick.

She had always been a very compassionate person, and seeing more scenes like this one, of bloody, painful deaths from the man who saved her own life several times over felt incredibly wrong.

The fact that Aeon himself hardly seemed to care about all of this also had disturbing implications that she really didn't want to think about right now. Or ever.

Too bad that reality appeared to once again care little about her wishes.

"I'm sure it'll better explain what I went through… and what made me who I am."

He smiled. "Still, the next immediate part is a lot better. Ready?"

They nodded, still shaken but willing to continue if he was fine with that.

Aeon thus clapped his hands… and then they suddenly found themselves somewhere else entirely.

They found myself standing amongst old graves and short iron fences, a building resting at the end of a short path. A large tree towered over it, its branches reaching overhead like a curtain. The land itself was an impossible island, surrounded by incredibly tall pillars seemingly reaching for the moon above, one unnaturally close and bright and whose light shined over all. Said pillars poked out of a thick curtain of fog, which appeared to be rapidly ever-shifting despite the utter and complete lack of wind. Not a single gust of it could be felt, leaving the bushes that lined the graves as still as the bodies buried beneath, while beautiful white flowers glowed merrily under the moonlight.

Everywhere they looked, everything seemed... otherworldly, almost ethereal in nature, and despite what had just happened, Jill felt herself relax slightly, the sheer peace of this place soothing her.

"What is this?" she wondered.

"The Hunter's Dream, home of the Hunters of Gehrman's Workshop." calmly replied Oedon, pointing at the building.

They kept looking and walking around, Jill and Rebecca's eyes being drawn to the softly glowing white flowers especially, enjoying the sight of the bright, shining spots of strangely soothing lights in an otherwise stressful day.

"They are beautiful." whispered Rebecca, and Jill nodded in agreement.

"Yes, they are." declared Oedon, smiling softly. "Did you know that Aeon carries one that I gave him the day we met even now? Using his magic to keep it healthy and shining bright?"

Their eyes widened, looking at her in surprise.

"Really?"

Oedon laughed softly, green eyes gentle as she glanced at Aeon, who was currently speaking to Chris and Barry and waving towards the Workshop.

"Oh yes. Despite everything, he is something of a romantic at heart… the fact that, during the night of the Hunt, he always raised the flower I gave him towards the sky, as if he's praying, before he would go engage a dangerous foe spoke much for it."

Rebecca smiled, glancing at Aeon too.

"I didn't see that coming… but then, I only saw him during a mission so far. I suppose that he would naturally be different when outside a danger-filled area…"

"Can you give us some stories about what he's like out of battle?" Jill asked, greatly curious to know more about Aeon, and quite eager to put the brutal memory of his death out of her mind.

Oedon looked at both of them, before grinning brightly.

"But of course! Let's see, how about…"

I stopped, glancing around as I felt a chill down my spine.

My eyes settled on the three giggling women at the other side of the Hunter's Dream, and I blanched slightly.

Lucy, who was with me, Barry and Chris, talking about some of the weapons of the Hunters, took one look at the group and immediately grinned widely.

"If you would excuse me, gentlemen, I believe I am needed over there…"

And with that, my traitorous lover joined the other women, the giggling growing in strength not long after.

Chris put one hand on my right shoulder, looking both sympathetic and amused, much like Barry actually.

"Aeon… I know that you are a master of the battlefield, capable of fighting even the strongest of foe without fear… what happened with the Tyrant proved that… But I don't think even you can win this fight. There are some battlefields that just can't be won, some fights where victory is impossible, my friend."

"As someone with a wife and two teenage daughters, I can confirm." declared Barry, lips twitching in amusement.

I gave the two men a flat look. "Aren't you supposed to stand by me? Bro code and all?"

Chris shook his head sadly. "I'm sorry, Aeon, but even the hell of the Mansion is still better than that battlefield. You've got to be realistic, my friend. There is no victory to be found there, only endless embarrassment and shattered pride."

As I began arguing with the two men, I glanced at Oedon, her green eyes catching my own black ones for a second.

A slight smirk appeared on our faces, before disappearing, and we returned to our respective discussions.

We weren't there to break them, after all, merely show them the truth.

And after seeing my first death, it was obvious they needed a distraction, the girls especially.

So it was simple enough to use the Hunter's Dream as a good place to take a break from our briefing, and then socialize with them.

Oedon and Lucy could get to know Rebecca and Jill better, bonding over funny or simply interesting stories about me, while I could talk weapons and joke around with Chris and Barry.

A bit manipulative, but there was nothing malicious about it, quite the opposite.

In any case, for the time being, I needed to focus on the current argument.

That is to say, between a Beretta and a Magnum, which of the two handguns was better?

Barry, sane and logical man that he was, naturally agreed with me that Magnums were much better, but Chris, for some incomprehensible reason, kept insisting that the Beretta was better!

This heresy would not stand, Chris Redfield, mark my words!

Jill and the other women finally regrouped with the guys, even if Aeon looked rather disgruntled.

"Problem?" she asked.

"Chris is a heretic." Deadpanned Aeon, and Lucy snorted.

"Okay, this I gotta hear. What happened?"

Chris, who was looking amused at Aeon, answered with a grin.

"Aeon and Barry have been trying to convince me that Magnums were better than Berettas, and my refusal of their point of view led to-" he waved at the pouting Aeon. "-this."

Lucy rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "Don't worry about him. I'm sure he'll survive."

Aeon huffed, crossing his arms before grumbling.

"Heretics everywhere…"

"In any case, I believe that we should continue your story, dear Aeon?" calmly interjected Oedon, and Aeon turned serious immediately, proving he had mostly been putting up a show for the sake of levity after the heavy discussions that had taken place.

And the following revelations showed that there were more heavy discussions to come, as Aeon showed them the streets of Yharnam, filled with roving bands of maddened militia who nonetheless moved shockingly fast and were just as strong.

Something which became a recurring theme, as more beasts and terrifying places were shown, each with their own horror stories.

The tragic tale of Violetta's family, the burnt out district of Old Yharnam, the dangers of the Chalice Dungeons, the horrors of the Cathedral Wards, the monstrous form of Vicar Amelia, and so, so much more, all the way to the literal nightmare realm in which Hunters falling to beasthood were condemned too…

Aeon had deliberately hidden the worst of each new place they had travelled to, a fact he clearly warned them of, but even so, every S.T.A.R.S. member was left stunned silent in utter horror at the sight of an entire city falling to madness and worse.

So, so much worse…

While Aeon never actually showed them any Great Ones, the reason behind why was certainly of interest in itself.

"Wait." slowly began Rebecca, frowning in thought. "So, this 'Insight' thing… it lets humans see and understand Eldritch stuff better? Is that right?"

Aeon hummed, before explaining.

"Essentially, Insight acts like if you had an internet connection. The more Insight you have, the more data you receive. It also acts as a decryption key, allowing you to actually understand that data, which would usually be incomprehensible to you. However, the danger with Insight is that it effectively 'overwrites' parts of your mind, your software if you will, in order to let you understand that data. Thus, it brings with it a risk of madness, since you are effectively rewriting your human mind with inhumane logic."

Aeon paused.

"As you can imagine, it also isn't a good idea to gain too much Insight at once, since it essentially makes a mess of your mind. It can be done, but being careful reduces the risk of mental breakdown and thus insanity, by a lot. Though a strong will helps, too. The stronger the will of an individual, the less the risks brought by greater Insight."

"Okay… and why would anyone want Insight, if it can cause insanity?" Rebecca questioned, rather confused by why people would risk going insane for… any reason, really.

"A few reasons. First, obviously, are religious reasons. Remember, the Great Ones were worshipped by the people of Yharnam. So the more Insight one had, the closer to their gods they became."

There were a few grimaces at that. Fanatically religious people, across the world and in history, did many horrible things even without any actual proof that their gods would approve of what they did. It wasn't far-fetched to imagine that people would risk insanity if doing so could tangibly bring them closer to their gods.

"Secondly, the leaders of the Healing Church cared little about the lives lost, only the results. And since their goals were nothing short of creating gods of their own, they certainly wouldn't care if hundreds, or even thousands, died, not as long as some progress towards their ultimate objective could be achieved."

Jill scowled. "They sound like Umbrella, the more you speak about them."

Aeon gave her a grim look. "Why do you think I chose to fight them? Because the Healing Church was almost exactly like Umbrella. They even used the same method to get power and influence: healing the sick."

"It really is no wonder you hate them so much..." said Chris, frowning deeply over all that he was being told of Aeon's past.

"It's like you are fighting an old nightmare that returned long after you thought it was gone."

Aeon laughed darkly at that. "What can I say, me and nightmares have a long history together… and one that isn't going to go away anytime soon."

He fell silent at that, eyes lost in thoughts and old memories, before shaking his head.

"The third reason is equally important, Insight acts as a counter to beasthood. The more Insight you possess, and thus the closer to the gods you become, the more resistant you are to your inner beast. As you can imagine, the risks of madness aren't so prohibitive when you compare either going mad, or you turning into a bloodthirsty beast."

"So it was essentially the lesser of two evils… talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place." grumbled Chris.

Aeon nodded grimly.

"Indeed, but enough about this. Let's keep going, we are getting close to the final parts of my story."

And on those words, they kept going, as Aeon showed them Cainhurst, the Nightmare of Mensis, and all the way to his final destination:

Back to the Hunter's Dream.

By then, all S.T.A.R.S. members had seen the rise of Aeon's power, and while not all fights had been shown, what they did see had left them stunned silent.

But this was absolutely nothing compared to the final fight Aeon decided to show them.

The one against his own mentor, Gehrman, The First Hunter himself.

The seemingly frail old man looked like the furthest thing from it as he stood up from his wheelchair, a great scythe they recognized as the one Aeon used against Lisa Trevor in the man's hand.

In shocked silence, they saw a fight worthy of legend go down before their eyes, as student fought teacher, each seeking to save the other from an eternal purgatory in the Hunter's Dream.

The two Hunters were moving so fast none of their eyes could keep up, only the shockwaves of their blows showing that there was a fight at all.

But it went even further, as Aeon unleashed magical power on a level that, even through the illusion, could only make their jaws drop, as they finally witnessed the full might of a man who had apparently slain gods.

The fact that his opponent not only shrugged off every attack, but actually was able to fight back well enough to keep a stalemate between both sides was a shocking demonstration of skills and power from a man who had otherwise feigned weakness.

But eventually, the fight ended as quickly as it began, leaving the teacher to die in front of his student with a smile, freed from his purgatory at last.

Only a few parting words were heard from both, which carried a weight that struck a chord to all members of S.T.A.R.S.

"The night, and the dream, were long..."

"... but all nights end eventually, Gehrman- and with it, all the nightmares they contained. Who knows, you may even think it all a mere bad dream…"

And on those last words that seemed oh so very appropriate to the S.T.A.R.S. members' own situation, the present Aeon clapped his hands, bringing them all back to the comforting white wall of the conference room where it all began.

For a long time, no one said anything, the S.T.A.R.S. members merely quietly sitting once more around the table, their three hosts doing the same.

Finally, Aeon broke the silence, voice soft but carrying easily across the room.

"After that, I fought and killed the Moon Presence when, as I expected, it sought to enslave me as the next caretaker of the Hunter's Dream, whether I liked it or not. And when I did-"

"You became a god. Am I wrong?" questioned Jill, staring intently at him.

They all looked at her, and she smiled slightly.

"What else could it be? The subject of a mortal becoming a god came up almost from the beginning. It was hinted all throughout the story. And it explains a great deal about you, Aeon."

She looked at Oedon, then at Lucy.

"Oedon, you are obviously that once formless god, now in a female human body. I'm not sure where Lucy comes from… but I feel the same presence from her as the two of you. So as mind blowing as it is… and trust me I am currently mentally grappling with the revelation… you are all gods."

She chuckled. "'When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.' A quote from Sherlock Holmes… a rather fitting one right now."

The three gods looked quite amused at her words, exchanging grins, but soon enough they turned back towards her.

"Yes. You are pretty much correct, though to be specific, we are the mortal incarnations of our godly selves. Our true selves would be… problematic if they manifested in this world."

The words from Aeon were calmly spoken, almost matter-of-fact, even as the truth left all four mortals in the room mentally reeling.

They had all suspected the answer, all knew what was coming… they were S.T.A.R.S., the best of the best of the police forces of Raccoon City for a reason, but even so… even after everything they had gone through…

It was still incredibly shocking to discover that they currently were in the same room as three actual gods.

Barry swallowed hard.

"So… any other revelations you'd like to share about yourselves while we're on it?"

The three gods glanced at one another.

"Well, none of us are from this dimension? We kind of decided we needed to travel after the events of Yharnam, so Oedon and I jumped dimensions a few times now. It's in one of those dimensions that we ended up recruiting Lucy to our side."

"Oh, just that?" sarcastically replied Jill.

Aeon tilted his head.

"Well, there are no local gods in this universe, so we are the only ones around? Sorry if you know anyone who is religious, but I'm afraid the only ones listening to prayers are us. Speaking of, I am also the one who created an afterlife for all of humanity. There was none when we showed up in this reality, so I decided to just do it myself. Went back in time, created the afterlife long before the first living thing came to be, and then just waited."

They stared at him.

"Aeon? I'm pretty sure they were being sarcastic when they asked for more revelations." pointed out Lucy.

He blinked. "Oh, sorry about that."

There was a long silence, before Chris sighed deeply, rubbing his forehead with his right hand.

"I need a fucking drink."

Aeon waved, and a glass of scotch appeared in front of him.

"It's on the house."

Chris blinked, took the glass, then saluted Aeon before knocking it back in one go.

Putting the glass back, he nodded.

"Right. I have one question, and I want a straight answer, Aeon."

"Ask. I promised you the truth, you'll get it."

"Could you have saved the members of S.T.A.R.S.?" he demanded, expression grim.

At that everyone turned to look at Aeon, who stared at Chris for a moment, before sighing.

"Yes. I could have." he answered bluntly, not trying to soften the blow any, and Jill…

She didn't know what to think. What to feel.

So many revelations had happened… so many secrets discovered…

This day was turning out to be an emotional roller-coaster ride like no other, not even the Arklay Mountains had been that bad.

Then, it had mostly been terror and horror, but right now…

Jill struggled with her feelings. Aeon saved her life. Several times. And yet, he apparently let the others die. Why-

"Why?" asked Chris, eyes narrowing slightly. "Why are we alive, and not the rest?"

Aeon looked into Chris' eyes, not flinching away, and for a long moment the two men stared each other down.

Then Aeon turned grim.

"Tell me, Chris Redfield." he began softly. "Do you know what godhood is like? Certainly, it's about power. But it's also about knowledge. Did you know that every year that passes over fifty million people die across the world? Fifty million, Chris Redfield. And you want to know what's important about that number? Because I'm there for them all."

Aeon's face darkened.

"The old. The young. The healthy, the sick. The cruel and the kind. Men, women, children. It doesn't matter. I will be there for each and every single one of them. Of you. Always have been. Always will be. Long before the Earth held life, I was. Long after it dies, I will remain. I have seen the death of more lives that you can imagine, Chris Redfield. Even now, as we speak, every second that passes I can feel someone die if I focus. Somewhere in this world, at every word I speak, someone, young, old, man, woman, cruel or kind, has just died. And you want to know something? I feel it. All of it. I can hear your prayers, you know. The prayers of everyone on Earth. Some are happy, filled with joy because something good happened in their lives. But can you imagine, for even a second, the numbers of prayers screaming, begging for someone, anyone, to help them? How many people in this world lack food and water, Chris Redfield? How many are dying of sickness? Because I know. Always. All the time. All I have to do is listen, and it's all there."

And there Aeon smiled, sadly but also coldly.

"And you want to know the worst part of all this, Chris? It is that all I would have to do to stop those prayers, all I would have to do to turn this world into a true utopia… is to let go."

He sighed then, a deep, exhausted sigh, and he seemingly aged decades in an instant, as if the weight of the world was suddenly weighing on him…

And Jill could only think numbly that it was because it very well might.

"All I would have to do, Chris, to stop all famines, all sickness, all wars, all pain and death and suffering in all the world… is to let go. Let go of my beliefs in the freedom of all things to choose their own future, to be the master of their own fates, for better or worse. To decide that enough is enough, that Humanity is obviously incapable of truly getting along, that the only way for there to be peace is if I stopped holding back and took complete control of the fate of the world."

He looked Chris in the eyes, his own dark eyes grim and as hard as diamond.

"Everyone would then become my puppets. None of you could do a damn thing to stop me. You wouldn't even notice. From one moment to the next, you would go from a human being, with hopes, dreams, likes and dislikes… to nothing but a mere puppet. You would feel what I want you to feel, think what I want you to think, do what I want you to do, and you wouldn't even know it. From the day of your birth, to the day you die, and even in the afterlife… you would forever think that you were in control. Except you never were."

He smiled then, but there was no humor to be found in it.

There were only two dark eyes, cold and empty as the void, staring into the helpless mortal in front of him.

"All I would have to do… is let go of my beliefs in the right of all things to be free. That's all. The cost of world peace. Of eternal paradise, where nothing ever goes wrong, and everyone gets along with one another. Forever… and ever."

Finally, Aeon sighed deeply, closing his eyes.

"But I won't. Because I am not that man. I am no tyrant, no matter how 'benevolent' the intentions. I am Aeon the Good Hunter, a name I received when I fought to free humanity from its sins and the judgment of gods. And so instead, I decided to compromise. I would not rule everyone, but I would not stay back and let evil prosper either. It is not who I am. So I created this mortal body, and while it does have great power, it is not perfect. So that I would be limited in my ability to help. Those closest to me would be kept safe from evil… but otherwise, the world would go on as it would have. Those who would have died will die. Those who would have lived will live. The balance between good and evil would be tilted towards good, but other than that, all living things will be free to live and die by the result of their own actions and decisions."

Aeon's eyes opened, the coldness from before now gone, replaced with a solemnity they had never seen on the usually cheerful man.

"Does that answer your question, Chris Redfield?"

For a long moment, no one moved, as everyone looked at Aeon with wide-eyed shock, except for Oedon and Lucy who stared sadly at the man who bore the weight of the world on his shoulders.

The man who knew every good and evil deed that has and will ever happen, every laugh and every tear ever shed, every triumph of Humanity and every horror it had and would create.

And who had made the choice that, for all the evils in the world, for all the cruelty in the heart of Man, there was enough good in it that humanity deserved to live free, deserved better than to become nothing more than puppets on strings, no matter how benevolent the intentions behind doing so might be.

And Chris Redfield, under the tired eyes of that man, could only nod without a word.

For really, what words could be said towards the god who had judged all of humanity… and found it worth protecting and cherishing, even with all of its flaws?

What words could be spoken, to the god who had willingly decided to shoulder the sins of humanity, to listen to all of their evils… and not condemn them for it, but instead walk amongst them, and try to help as much as he could without actually controlling them or their future?

Jill sure as hell didn't know.

And she doubted anyone in the world did.