Chapter 157: Two Steps from Hell (1/2)
”We are what will come. We are what will always occur. You may fight it, run from it, delay it. But like death, we are inevitable. You feel denial. Anger swells. You wish to bargain. You fall into the abyss of depression. And finally, you accept us with open arms. We are this world's salvation, and we are here. Come find us, we will be waiting.”
It was just like Zinnia imagined it. The titan was the spitting image of her dream she had been haunted by for the past two months. She stared up at the colossal tree the bark pure black and the leaves a dead purple. Just standing in its presence was enough to drive anyone over the edge. Zinnia felt this the unnerving torment just staring at it. The growing unnatural whispers of nothing and the feeling of pure temptation. It had been drawing her closer and closer. Taunting, no, begging her to step inside. Zinnia stopped feeling a hand on her shoulder. She turned, finding herself almost under the tree entirely. ”Don't let it get in your head, Zinnia,” Emil whispered.
Zinnia stepped back pushing the feeling of despair all the way down out of sight. ”The visions I've had. It's been of this. This titan, this place. Everything has been leading to this very moment.”
”Is that what he's been telling you?” Scarlett said in a foreboding tone staring up at the tree. ”We shouldn't be here. None of this is natural. The tree should be destroyed.”
”No! No.” Zinnia blurred out, releasing what she just said even shocked her. ”I mean. Shouldn't we at least find out for ourselves just what's inside?”
”You're crazy to want that.” Goro scoffed. ”I'll tell you what's in there. Nothing but pain.”
Zinnia turned to her destination, shaking her head. ”We are always two steps behind the Garden. It has taken us by surprise each and every time. How do we hope to overcome our enemy if we don't know a thing about it? The Garden would want us here if it went out of its way to bring us all here surely that must be for a reason?!”
”Yeah. I know the reason. To kill us all!” Gale laughed off. ”Listen to yourself, Zinnia. The Garden used and manipulated countless people. Percy died because of it. Monty and Jinx lost their mind to this threat, and it almost took you too. No matter what it says, it only seeks our destruction.”
”Then let me go. Alone, I need to know. I need to know what it wants. Why it is doing all of this, why he wants me to…” Zinnia whispered sparking with purple light. ”Don't stop me.”
”I will not allow you to.” Everyone glanced up, seeing the CEO Morto jumping down, standing in front of the hollow opening in the titan. ”Stand back. Now!”
”You survived the crash?” Emil questioned surprised.
”That I did. No one will dare step foot inside the titan unless specially ordered by myself. Do you understand?”
Zinnia bit her lip in anger, shaking her head. ”No. I need to know the truth. The truth about the Children of the Garden, about Bargaining. About me.”
Zinnia stepped forward only to stop falling to her knees, losing the will to move. She began wheezing for air choking. ”Submit Trost.” Zinnia gave up gasping for air as Morto stared at the tree. ”400 years ago, tools of the Garden like this appeared all around the globe. They lay waste to all other nations. But in their desperate last stand, the four legendary heroes stood against the five stages of grief and managed to seal them away once and for all. Your parents did that Trost. Don't undo their work.”
”What do you mean?”
Morto turned around, walking through the snow still in her heels somehow. ”Well, for the good news in all of this. The Garden hasn't returned.”
”Excuse me?” Scarlett questioned.
”It's dead. The titan that is probably remained here from the war 400 years ago. A grim reminder of the damage caused. How we never discovered this matter is beyond me.”
”That would explain the Moss. They were decaying echoes. Echoes of the Garden.”
Morto holds her hand towards the titan eyes closed. ”And now in its last dying breath, it calls to us. Beckoning us to come closer to learn of its secrets and accept its gift. A mere trick obviously. One to draw us into the trap of breaking the seal. We being here is no accident.”
”Then we leave no? If the Garden isn't back, then we have no need to remain here. Simply destroy the titan and go home.” Goro demands.
”It's not that simple.” Morto insists.
”Why not?” Blossom whispers holding her head. ”If we destroy it… The whispers will stop.”
”Whispers? I don't hear any whispers.” Emil says.
”Of course, you wouldn't,” Morto adds. ”The whispers are only heard by those who have been made puppets of the Garden. That goes for Blossom and Zinnia respectively.”
Zinnia stared at Morto coldly. ”If destroying the titan isn't the plan. What are we doing here?”
”Well, that's when things get more complicated. We do not know the whereabouts or situation of the others. It appears we have a traitor in the ranks. Alice Hawthorne is potently still out there. Until we know more information, we will continue with the task. That being discovering what the Garden is keeping from us.”
”But didn't you just say we were not allowed to go in there?”
”That I did Montague. However, we didn't come completely unprepared for this moment. Corina are you ready?”
A small spider bot came crawling through the snow as Corina appeared as the virtual hologram streamer she was known as. ”The finishing touches are completed Morto Mam. Ready to venture into the titan.”
”So, this was what the mission was really about. It wasn't to stop the Garden from invading, it was to explore the husk and learn its secrets.” Scarlett snapped. ”You tricked us.”
”Now, now miss Syndicate do not be so hasty. I can ensure you we were never certain about the plan. We had our hunch about the truth but still wanted to be sure. Besides, it worked out in our favour. If we had just gone alone, the Child of the Garden would have surely killed us all.”