Goodbye

Seth spoke slowly, detailing the centuries that had passed since Katy went into her coma. Halfway through his story, Tiana opened her eyes, and Seth teleported her to the surface.

Katy kept mostly silent throughout the story, finding solace in Seth’s presence and listening intently. By the end, Katy’s face was wet with tears, and her arms were clinging to Seth in a vice-like grip.

As she processed Seth’s words about their child, she eventually lifted her head from his chest and wiped away the dried tearstains on her cheeks before finally nodding and asking, “Can I see her?”

Seth pursed his lips and lifted his hand, and with a flick of his wrist, the orb of chaos materialized from his space storage, hovering in midair. Tears ran freely down Katy’s cheeks, and she placed her trembling hand over the orb but hesitated to make contact.

“Can I touch her?” Katy asked, her voice laced with anxiety.

“Yes, of course,” Seth said, observing as Katy lifted the chaos orb and cradled it in her arms.

Even though she still didn’t understand her child’s true nature even after Seth’s story, Katy’s eyes were filled with love, and a soft smile hung on the corner of her lips.

Seth marveled at the sight of Katy’s eyes filled with love and gentleness, her hands gently cradling the small orb, which reminded him of his mother.

‘A mother’s love knows no bounds.’

“Seth, I don’t want her to be born like that. Can’t she be a normal human instead?” Katy lifted her eyes to meet Seth’s, her puppy eyes filled with a mixture of hope and uncertainty as she asked.

‘Lust?’

‘… It should be possible to create a soul and a body for her and seal the orb inside, but that -‘

‘Would mean it’s not the same child she had given birth to.’ Seth continued her sentence, to which Lust released a sound of confirmation. ‘Indeed. Sealing the orb would mean the same as sealing your child….’

Seth took a deep breath before shaking his head and relayed Lust’s explanation to Katy. Pursing her lips, Katy didn’t say a thing and just nodded, bringing the orb close to her chest and keeping it there.

<Seth… there should be a way. >

‘Hm?’

<Remember the Sovereign’s story of how Venus came into being? It’s possible that leaving the settings empty and activating the orb would allow it to develop consciousness as Venus did. That process will probably take a long time, but it’s a large chance it will eventually work… >

Feeling his chest tightening as he watched Katy’s expression, Seth relayed the system’s words, if not for any other reason than to give her hope.

When Seth spoke, Katy’s head jerked up, her eyes brightening with a spark of hope. “Are you sure?”

“The system is much smarter than I am, so if it said so, it should be the truth. We can only try it and see, if that’s what you want, of course.”

“Can we? If it makes more trouble for you then - “

“We’ll do it,” said Seth, cutting Katy off. “Give her to me, and I’ll do it now.”

Katy glanced at Seth gratefully before handing him the chaos orb.

‘System, do it,’ said Seth, to which the system immediately complied. After not even five minutes, a new notification appeared in Seth’s vision.

<The orb is now in its active state. All its parameters and data have been removed. Seth, I have one more suggestion. Perhaps you and Katy could replicate the sovereign’s example of educating Venus from the beginning through verbal communication. This could speed up the process and help her become what Katy wants her to be, a human child, at least in form. >

‘Speak to her?’

<Like one would do with a child. The orb should then accept it as its truth and develop as one. It’s not guaranteed, but it might work better than simply waiting.>

Seth nodded and handed the orb back to Katy, explaining what the system had told her. As her eyes began to light up, Katy nodded and suggested, “Perhaps we should bestow a name upon her?”

Seeing that Katy had recovered some of her enthusiasm, Seth couldn’t bring himself to say no to her, and the two brainstormed for hours, trying to settle on a name.

The process would have taken a lot less, but after Seth agreed to Katy’s first name proposal, he was faced with a harsh remark that he didn’t care, giving him no choice but to become fully invested and even add some suggestions of his own.

In the end, they agreed on a name chosen by the system out of everyone: Theodora, or Theo in short, which meant loved by god. Strangely, neither Seth nor Katy had the final word in choosing the name, but the chaos orb itself.

The moment the name of Theodora left Seth’s lips, at the system’s suggestion, he could feel a warmth being transmitted from the orb into both his and Katy’s hands. That was everything Katy needed to conclude she must love it and decide on that name.

Seth thought the system must have done something, but seeing that Katy was satisfied and the ordeal was over, he agreed as well.

After spending a few more hours together in the underground room, a time in which Katy mostly spoke to the orb and Seth just watched them with a smile, Seth left the orb in Katy’s care since he could never speak to it with a straight face as she did.

After deciding on the custody of the child, the two returned to the palace flying in the sky above Endora, where they informed Seth’s other wives about everything and even held a small celebration.

After the grand festivities, the imperial palace shut its doors for the next century, a time period Seth wanted to focus solely on his wives and not be concerned with anything else.

Following the proclamation, the God Emperor, Ice Empress, and the rest of the Imperial Harem were not seen or heard from again in the simulation by either ascended or humans.

The oldest members of Asteria were put in control of different regions of the Empire, while Blair and Thorb had to work together to make every major decision. The rest of Asteria spread throughout the universe, bringing different planets under Endora’s banner and crowning themselves as leaders of those worlds.

Despite its spread all over the simulation, all the ascended under Blair and Thorb’s leadership never even entertained the thought of turning against Endora and the God Emperor. Either out of fear or respect, even with the passing of time, Endora’s ascended remained loyal throughout the entire process of conquering the simulation.

Legends and stories of Seth and the Imperial Harem were still heard throughout the simulation, even with neither of the two showing their faces for over a century. The newly conquered world had never even laid their eyes on their Emperor or his harem, but there was not a single soul that didn’t know the titles of God Emperor, Ice Empress, Queen of Miracles, Goddess of Light, and so on.

The exaggerated stories that were told about them created a mysterious and awe-inspiring image, and they became worshipped as gods all throughout the simulation. Endora’s territory even became a place of pilgrimage for the people wishing to take a peek at the palace where their gods lived.

The people did not know that their God Emperor and his harem were constantly intertwined within the Imperial Palace. If no seals were set on the palace to keep sound and energy from going past, the moans and cries would have already ruined the sanctity of their pilgrimage.

As time passed, Seth's harem expanded, and Alice, Olivia, the palace maids, and many more added to the numbers, eventually totaling more than one hundred women.

Slowly, the century Seth had declared the palace will keep its doors closed was ending and even more people migrated to Endora, hoping to witness the moment Seth and his harem will appear into the world once more.

Contrary to everyone’s expectations, the palace did not open its doors, and, one day, it vanished without a trace. A feeling of distress swept through the empire, as people wondered what had become of the symbol of their gods.

While Asteria’s ascended were wracking their brains to find an answer for the palace’s disappearance and searching the entire simulation with their energies, in a small courtyard at the edge of the Endora Kingdom, two women were calmly sitting around a small table and watching the now clear skies.

“It’s starting…” muttered Elise, bringing a red glass to her lips and taking a short sip.

Standing on the opposite side of the table, Iris nodded and heaved a long sigh. “Are you really going to stay behind? The world will end, you know…”

Elise smiled and stood up. “I am… Tell Seth I’m sorry I won’t be joining him anymore.”

“Why can’t you tell me yourself?” a voice rang into the two women’s ears as Seth manifested nearby.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come, Elise?” Seth spoke, and a tinge of regret seemed to linger in his gaze.

Elise pressed her lips together and nodded, observing Seth come closer with a conflicted look. “I appreciate the offer, but I would rather stay the same until the end. Who knows, maybe I’ll survive.”

Seth nodded and turned toward Iris. “Are you ready?”

Iris walked up to Elise and spent a minute hugging her, whispering something in her ear before turning toward Seth, “I am now.”

After absorbing Iris inside his divinity, Seth turned toward Elise and said with a sigh, “I guess this means goodbye.”

Elise pursed her lips again and lowered her head, asking, “Can I ask for something? Before you leave?”

Seth smiled and came closer, lifting Elise’s chin and kissing her lips while staring into her widening eyes. Elise clasped Seth’s shirt and then closed her eyes, reveling in the kiss.

As Seth closed his eyes, the soft sensation pressing against his lips faded away, and so did Elise, previously standing just before him. After opening his eyes, Seth just caught a brief glimpse of a trace of blood sinking into the earth and heard a whisper in his ear. “Please don’t forget about me.”

“I won’t,” whispered Seth back. “But I wish I could at least understand why you’re so stubborn about this….”

After a long sigh, Seth created a wormhole leading straight out of the simulation and walked through, leaving his Empire and world behind.

Seth stepped out of a tear in space into a dark room filled with hundreds of thousands of silver spheres floating a few inches above their pedestals.

There was only one other person present in the strange and gigantic room—a man, who was seated on a throne that was much higher than the orbs, with his head tilted and eyes shut.

Seth cast a single glance at the sleeping Sovereign before he warped space and disappeared.

“System, show me,” whispered Seth after arriving in the outside space.

Seth's words caused the surrounding environment to dissolve, and in its place appeared clusters and connections of data that were linked to each other. Lifting his hands, Seth could see the same data clusters forming his body and more links extending from him, connecting outwards into the world.

“The Virtual Space…” muttered Seth, mustering his destruction energy and severing the data links extending outwards from his body.

After disconnecting his existence from the Virtual World, Seth’s body was overcome by a sudden weakness. He closed his eyes and allowed his body to drift into nonexistence as his mind sunk inside his storage space, where his family waited for him.

“Goodbye...”