Unfamiliar sounds.

  Unfamiliar sounds whispering in Van's ears as he stared at the horizon of nothing but silver and gold; floating, flying—— seemingly afraid to hit the ground and mingle with the rust and copper down below.

  Now that he was taking his time to ingest the scenery in front of him, the beauty that he saw earlier completely faded away; just as the rest of the places he has been, there will always be two sides—— one side, sometimes hidden.

  As for the planet Osiris, the dirt was hidden in plain sight; obvious, but inevitable. Even in the terrace of the most important building of this world, down below is the garbage—— his previous world.

  If Van was born here, he would no doubt be on the ground, surviving… thriving.

  "All of these are new to you."

  "……"

  Van's solemn stares were disrupted as the sound of Queen Vivati entered his ears.

  "Do we even need to talk, Queen Vivati?" Van then moved away from the railing of the terrace as he looked at Vivati, "You know almost everything about me, there is no need to discuss anything about my past.

  "We're not discussing your past," Queen Vivati breathed out as she too looked at the horizon which contained her people, "I wish merely to stay with you in the present, King Evans."

  "There were better ways to do that than forcibly having my child without my consent, Vivati."

  "What I did, I did for the future of my people."

  "You mean you did it for you?" Van let out a small scoff, "I learned a bit of your custom; a Queen must always have an heir stronger than the previous generation. If not, then she will be replaced by kin."

  "……"

  "And seriously, pulling my pants down in your… imaginary world is for your people?"

  "That one, I did for myself," Queen Vivati breathed out, "My race can never resist the genes of the strong. It… is in the very nature of our existence, our biology. If it was not me, then some other Eisis would have crawled their way towards you. It is just the way our system works."

  "What are you, a dog?"

  "If you are insinuating that we have retained our beast-like instincts to carry on the strongest genes from our earlier ancestors, then the answer is yes," Vivati explained, "And with my scent on you, you do not have to worry being ambushed by a random Eisis—— you can explore this planet if you wish to."

  "Wait… so you came from dogs?"

  "What? No," Queen Vivati could not help but blink a couple of times as she looked at Van, "Survival, King Evans. Our world was harsh and only those that could endure our environment get to live on."

  "Really? There seems to be no lack of survivors in this place," Van then said as he looked at the land below; the population looked like ants, scampering their way to pick up the scraps coming from the floating buildings above them.

  "With the rise of our technology, also came the dramatic decrease of our mortality rate. The humans came to us more than 2,000 years ago, and their technology instantly changed the way we lived," Queen Vivati sighed,

  "Do you feel sorry for the people below?"

  "I was one of them."

  "Not quite, King Evans. Your pain and suffering are true, the worse of the worst, even… but pretending you were ever one of them would be a lie… because of what you are," the tone of Queen Vivati's voice became a whisper as she too, looked at the tattered city below; her hair, moving on its own as it slightly flowed to the back,

  "You are and have always been meant for greatness. You are meant to stand above all creation," Vivati's eyes began to close as a short but deep breath slowly escaped her mouth, "But these people…
……they were meant to die 2,000 years ago. Without the interference of the humans, they wouldn't even exist."

  "But they are still your people."

  "They are."

  "Then——"

  "That is why we have not gotten rid of them yet."

  "……What?"

  "My species used to cull the weak, King Evans," Vivati said as she then started to approach Van, "Separate the strong genes from those who will sully the future generations. Even now, there are still some parts of the planet where that custom is legal. I wasn't just referring to the World Eaters when I said the child I am carrying now will save this world, King Evans."

  "……"

  "If and when the time comes that the World Eaters arrive and we are able to defeat them… my planet will still be the same as it is and was," Queen Vivati explained, "But with this child, the fate of my species could change. Not instantly, of course—— it will be a process of thousands of years, but with your genes traveling across centuries… there will come a time where the weakest of us could survive storms."

  "……Why not just change it now?"

  "You can't change the nature of people, King Evans… you can only guide and hope the next one will be better. I will no longer be there to see my planet change… but you will." Queen Vivati then slowly reached her hand towards Van's face, stopping just a few inches from making contact with it.

  "A King works for the people, and the people work in turn for the King. But you are a god, King Evans—— one day all of these will be beneath you."

  And slowly, tears started to fall from Queen Vivati's eyes, trailing on her blue, slightly green face, "And we can only hope to follow you, stumbling at every attempt to do so. A million years from now, you would laugh at the memory of trying to help us ants from being devoured by a predator."

  "That… will not happen."

  "It will," Queen Vivati let out a small chuckle as her tears continued to fall, "I have experienced your life, I have cried with you in your suffering and I cherished the laughter. I know you because I have become you."

  "……"

  "Our species may have many faults and flaws, King Evans. But the connection we have with our mate, no matter how one-sided, is the purest of all the species you can find in any corner of the universe," Queen Vivati then closed her eyes as she tried to rest her head on Van's shoulder, but stopped a few inches from doing so,

  "For you, I am a stranger, even a ravager. But for me, you are the love that I will cherish even after death, but can never have."

  "……"

  "No one will love you greater than I, King Evans…… Mentally, spiritually, physically, emotionally—— my love for you will transcend anything and everything because that is the nature of my species……" Queen Vivati then opened her eyes as she looked Van straight in the eyes,

  "……We are parasites of love, King Evans. No one will love you greater than I have and will," Queen Vivati repeated her words, "And I am truly broken that you will never realize nor acknowledge that."

  "I——"

  "You won't, and I know that for a fact. That is the curse of knowing everything about the person you love—— knowing that they will never truly learn to love you back."

  "I… don't know what to say, Queen Vivati."

  Van was about to wipe the tears trailing on Vivati's face, but the Queen leaned away before he could do so.

  "And you don't need to, King Evans," Queen Vivati then let out a small chuckle as she wiped the tears on her face on her own, "Being a speck of sand in your memories that will inevitably become a vast desert is enough for me. As I said…
……I wish to merely stay with you in your present. But for now, please have a good rest… you have had a very long day."

  And with that, Queen Vivati went back inside the pyramid, glancing at Van, but never again approaching for the night. The only thing that Van could do was stare at her back as she disappeared inside.

  "……Fuck," Van then breathed out as he pinched the bridge of his nose. He had a slew of terrible words to say to Queen Vivati about what she did to him earlier, but after what she said, he no longer feels like saying any of them.

  Could it be… she said all of that because she knew it would silence him and prevent him from doing anything? After all, she knows him better than anyone. Did she… lie?

  "Fuck… Fuck!" Van then screamed at the night, kicking the floor so as to release his frustration.

  "T… that was a bit intense, wasn't it?"

  "……Captain Ameera?" Van then quickly stopped and stood straight as he realized that he was not alone on the terrace, "You… since when were you here?"

  "……I stepped outside with you when you left the room, King Evans."

  "……What?"

  "I've been here the whole time?" Ameera said as she slightly squinted her eyes.

  "Wait… so you heard everything?"

  "I did," Captain Ameera then sniffed as she wiped her eyes with the cloth she was holding, "It truly was intense—— to see the love of the Eisis in real life."

  "……What?"

  "There are many romance movies and dramas about them… but to actually see the devotion they have in person is… it just makes me want to cry."

  "Are you saying… she was telling the truth?"

  "Hm? You mean you didn't believe her?" Ameera blinked her eyes a couple of times, "It's true, King Evans. There's even a saying that 'No one could love more than an Eisis' because for a fact, they……

  are truly the parasites of love."

  ***

  "How long until we open the Gate, Irin?"

  "That's the 10th million times you asked that."

  "And I am going to ask it until it's not open. How long until we open the Gate, Irin?"

  "Well, good riddance…
……Because it will open very soon."