Chapter 298: Denial (1/2)
A lone girl sat curled up under a tree, coughing. She was weakly unable to move or feel much of anything. Staring out into the distance, her head hung low with a miserable look as a figure approached her. Kneeling down, the girl didn't have the energy to look as the figure spoke. ”What's your name?”
”J… Jehovah.” She meekly spoke, coughing on the last breath shivering.
”Jehovah.” The figure smiled, kneeling down slowly lifting her head making eye contact. ”My name is Stella. Where are your parents?”
Jehovah's hand slowly rose, shaking pointing to the blazing village. Stella turned, confirming her suspicions. ”Bad men attacked. They took my mum…. Papa didn't come back.”
”That's how it is. You poor child denied of everything you had. Denied of a future, one you rightfully deserved.” Stella muttered, turning away. ”You can rest easy little Jehovah. The bad men are gone. I took care of them.”
”Oh…. Those poor things.” She whispered, throwing off Stella. ”How sad.”
”Excuse me? They killed your family. Burned down your village. Why are you feeling sorry for them?”
”They were like us. Struggling for food. If they were a bit luckier, they might have gotten by. If they had food more than enough, they wouldn't have to attack our village. None of them had to die. That's so sad.”
”Yes. I suppose that's one way of looking at it. Tell me, how did you manage to get here with your, well condition? That must have been a tough dilemma.”
”Papa told me he would come to find me at this tree. I had to get here no matter what. After all, Papa might not find me if I'm anywhere else.”
Stella noticed the broken wheelchair down the hill lodged into the river. She gets staring, holding her hand out as a tiny purple bud emerged. ”You poor thing so caught up in your denial you cannot see the truth. That doesn't matter anymore though, I can deny the life your about to lose. You will live out your life just as planned Jehovah, as my Denial.”
Jehovah took the bud, staring at it with a healthy smile. ”So pretty.”
The bud ignited into a flurry of lights blinding the area as Stella watched with conflicted scorn. ”Is this the right thing to do? Dooming this girl to the life ahead…. Or should I have left her to die? None of that matters anymore, I suppose. Welcome to the family Denial. Come on, let's go home.”
A dark cloak appeared around Jehovah, covering her body as she floated into the air, stunned. Looking down, she gave a troubled look wiping her eyes. ”Yes, big sis Stella.” Taken by the hand, Jehovah was lead away from the destruction as she looked back, whispering. ”Just wait a little longer Papa, I'll be back soon.”
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”What are we going to do about Henry? Surely you don't trust him to play nice and let us simply take the Stage of Grief.” Riley whispered to the others as Henry stood idly by, not bothered by the ordeal.
”He said he had no interest in the Stages of Grief. We all agreed Emil would be the one to harness the power.” Zinnia replied, not seeing the issue.
”You're so naïve, girl,” Jinx grumbled. ”This is Eyes Over Reality we're talking about; this isn't exactly something out of his pay grade to try and pull.”
”Then do we have some kind of plan to prevent this? We can't fight Denial while also worried what shit Henry is going to pull out of a virtual hat.” Emil grumbled, keeping an eye on Henry.
Florence looking just as worried, nodded. ”I'll keep an eye on him. I help anyway in a fight like this, but I know Henry. If he tries to pull any illusion on us, I'll sense it. I'll do my best to make sure he doesn't try any funny business.”
”You're best…. Great.” Riley sighed. ”I feel so much better.”
”We can't get distracted by such trivial matters.” Zinnia ordered. ”If it comes down to it, any of us can take the Stage. It doesn't matter who. Once we take it from her, we can decide who keeps it after. Once we take her down, we'll make sure Henry has no chance of tricking us. Riley, you'll take him down once the victory is in the bag.”
”Gladly.”
”Good. Now we all know the plan. First, we take down Denial, then we push the invaders back and find the others. We can do this.”
****