Chapter 32: Story of the Divine War

Chapter 32: Story of the Divine War

The heroes walk up to the front door of Zeth’s house. Zeth smiles as he knocks. A woman, who has shoulder-length black hair, answers the door. She appears to be middle-aged, and 6 feet, 2 inches tall. She wears casual clothes, nothing too fancy.

Zeth’s Mother – Miranda.

It only takes her a quick moment to process who she is looking at before her neutral expression turns into an overwhelmingly excited smile.

“Zeth! It’s you! You’re okay!” she shouts as she hugs Zeth tightly, not wanting to let go.

“I’m sorry, Mom,” Zeth says into Miranda’s shoulder as he hugs her back. “I was captured by the Hawk Clan, and after a year, I was able to escape.”

“Damn Hawks,” Miranda says as her excitement changes to anger, ending her tight hug. “We had been searching for you, but after a month, the police gave up and called off the search. But I never gave up hope. I knew that one day, somehow, you would return here.”

“I was very fortunate to escape… but I lost Paul in the process,” Zeth mutters as sadness overtakes him. “He… didn’t make it.”

Miranda grips her hands on Zeth’s shoulders, looking him in the eyes as she shouts, “Oh, Zeth! I’m so sorry! Paul was such a great friend to you! We’ll have to let his family know today!”

“I’ll miss him forever!” Zeth sobs before regaining his composure. “While I will always remember him, I also find myself fortunate to have met these four.”

“May I ask who these people accompanying you are?” Miranda asks as she lets go of Zeth’s shoulder to focus on the other four heroes.

“These are my new friends that I met after escaping the prison. They are Emily, Kurt, Sasha, and Joe. They all helped me get back here.”

In unison, the other four heroes say, “Nice to meet you.”

Miranda warmly smiles at them. “My name is Miranda. Thank you for helping Zeth get back.”

“No problem,” Kurt replies with a smile.

Zeth’s expression turns from a smile to serious. He looks Miranda in the eyes with urgency. “Mom, we have questions we need to ask you.”

Miranda stares back into his eyes for a few moments. Her face turns serious as well, as if she can tell exactly what Zeth means. “I see. Come inside and sit down, then ask away.”

Inside the house, they step into the family room, which has dark gray carpet, black leather sofas, family photos on the wall, and a wide-screen TV at the end of it. Taking a seat, they are joined by Zeth’s father, a man with short brown hair that is thinning. He stands at 6 feet tall and also wears casual clothes.

Zeth’s Father – Jack.

Jack looks at Zeth in amazement.

“I can’t believe you made it back… It’s… It’s good to see you again, son!” he says with somber joy, tears flowing from his eyes.

Zeth smiles. “Thanks, Dad.”

The smile is short. His expression quickly turns back to serious as something on his mind is bothering him.

“Is something the matter, Zeth?” Miranda asks with worry. “You don’t look good.”

“Okay, let me start,” Zeth says. “On our way here, we were attacked by demons and learned of the Dark Goddess and the Light Goddess, and the war they waged during the Great Chaos. Do you know what happened in the Great Chaos?”

Miranda takes a deep breath. “I do,” she confirms in a serious tone, her expression changing to match it.

“141 years ago, the Dark Goddess, Dakame, and her demon army ascended from Hell and began an attempt to destroy the world and reshape it as she saw fit. Then the Light Goddess, Harmona, and her angel army descended from Heaven to stop her. What resulted was a 24-year-long Divine War. In those 24 years, many lives were lost, and some people even defected to Dakame’s side. After 24 years of despair and sadness, and with the war not appearing to end any time soon, Harmona had had enough. She did something very risky. In the final battle of the war, which was in a major city near the center of the country, now called Reign City, she had deployed her risky move. In what would result in her death if it failed, she released her divine soul while fighting Dakame. She slammed her divine soul down on the entire city, causing the deaths of many demons. And since Dakame did not expect Harmona would do this, she, too, was nearly destroyed by the attack, forcing her and any remaining demons to retreat back to Hell. Unfortunately for Harmona, doing so greatly purged her power. It could take hundreds of years for her to fully regain her strength and powers. If Dakame were to return before Harmona fully recovers, we would all be doomed.”

All five heroes stare in complete shock.

Zeth shivers in fear and says, “The demons…. we encountered, and so did a woman… said that the Dark Goddess will return again…”

“What do we do?” Sasha asks, nerves rising.

“If that is true then I don’t know what we can do,” Miranda states. “Harmona is not ready to take on Dakame again.”

“We met an altar guardian,” Zeth mumbles before speaking more definitively. “She told us to meet the Light Goddess.”

“Then do it,” Miranda says without hesitation. “If the Light Goddess wants you to meet with her, then that is what you do.”

Zeth avoids eye contact for a moment as he utters, “I also found out that I have magic. Why didn’t you tell me about this?”

Miranda glances down at the floor for a moment before looking directly at Zeth. “Zeth…. I’m afraid of how you will react to this, but it’s time to tell you the truth… Jack and I… We are not your biological parents.”

Zeth opens his eyes wide in surprise and finally focuses his eyes directly at Miranda.

“What?”

“That’s right. We adopted you,” Miranda confirms. “We don’t know who your biological parents are.”

Zeth’s eyes remain wide open as he tries to comprehend this new information.

Miranda continues. “Let me explain how we adopted you. One day, almost a full 18 years ago, it was dark and rainy. A strange woman approached us. She was wearing a cloak that covered everything but her face. She gave us a baby and begged us to please take care of it. She then ran away. We still have no idea who she is.”

Tears start flowing down Zeth’s face. He has flashbacks of discovering his magic, the woman from his nightmare, Crimson and his desire to consume, and the Third Guardian telling him to question his parents.

“This is just so much to take,” Zeth moans, rapidly breathing as he tries to process it all. “It’s like everything about my life before being abducted by the Hawk Clan was just a façade. Who am I? What am I? What is the meaning of everything that I have learned ever since the night we encountered the demons!?”

Our heroes have learned of the past, and now Zeth has learned a little about his own past! He must come to terms that Miranda and Jack are not his biological parents! The road ahead grows more uncertain as he questions his own identity!

Chapter 32 END

To be Continued in Chapter 33: The Poachers

NOVELIZATION NOTE: One final reminder that the rest of this arc is being rewritten for the novelization of the story.