Chapter 331: The True Lie (1/2)
”What do you want, Adam?” Zinnia whispered weakly, slowly raising her head to see the man before her.
Bargaining squatted down with a firm grin. ”Your execution happens tonight; the whole Garden will be there to witness the death of Zinnia Trost first hand. They're putting on quite a show for you. The method is quite interesting as well. They plan on using the last few worms of the Garden to eat away at you.”
”Worm of the Garden?”
”The Gardeners and chosen few Stages reborn from death. Through the logic of the One, they continue living to feed on the weak and unworthy. That is what our logic is even in death; we are one with the Garden. I've never seen the execution happen before, so it should be fascinating to watch. The worm starts off eating away at your memories until there is nothing left, then it consumes your mind and willpower. Once it's all over, the only thing left of you is an empty husk left to rot away forgotten. When that happens, I'll take your Stage and claim it as my own. So, tell me, Zinnia, do you still believe Alton will come and save you?”
Zinnia gave it a long thought before shaking her head. ”No.”
”So, you finally understand how this works. You've only been here three days, and that's enough to break you. I see even heroes have limits; ooh, it must be what a month up there? Your so-called friends have given up on you. But I suppose that's a given. They are only human.”
”Why are you here? You wouldn't come here just to rub in my defeat, Adam….”
”You're right. I suppose, if you're going to die tonight, it's only fair, I tell you everything.” He stated, standing up leaning against the trunk of the Titan. ”I'm going to tell you the truth about Alton and myself. Are you listening?”
”I don't want to hear it….”
”Don't be like that. This is important.” Bargaining poked at staring up at the Titan. ”Did you know this was the first-ever Titan conceived? Created by the first Gardeners a million years ago, it still stands the dawn of time as the only Titan standing. Nothing can penetrate this creation. But Fairy-Tale doesn't think like that. They see themselves as the pinnacle race that cannot be bested in power. Unlike the Stages of Grief, we aren't chosen. The ten Judgements are born; you could say we're profits destined to act out the will of our people and rule overall. My sister and I were born as the eighth and ninth Judgements nearly 8000 years ago. The birth of a Judgement is seen as a beautiful thing and something to celebrate but two. That's nothing more than a miracle. The first few years was simple, easier. We would help humanity, and the Garden build and grow. However, things soon changed when a new Gardener came to power. He was far more ambitious and bolder than any other we saw previously. The Judgements weren't pleased by this so much. In fact, One acted out of desperation, forcing us into a bloody war with the Garden out of fear of them overtaking us. The war ended up splitting this planet in half, creating the continents you see today. At the end of it, Fairy-Tale won, and the Garden was banished into the dark and empty dimension we see today.”
”Why didn't anyone do something about it?”
”People tried…. A few Judgements acted out of line; three and seven tried to overthrow One to stop the fighting. That only ended in their destruction. A new three and seven were born not long after, and no one was left to oppose him. Eve and I trusted One and knew no difference, so we acted out his rule. But after the Garden was sealed to this dying world, it seemed to all be over. And for thousands of years, it was. That was until One saw the Garden as a threat once more. He had learned of this race's logic of the one and saw competition again and wanted the power for himself. So again, the Ten Judgements were thrust into a world of chaos, looking to end the Garden for good. So nearly 1000 years ago, we both were sent here. To infiltrate the Garden and learn of this logic and harness it for ourselves. It wasn't long before the Gardener at the same Stella discovered us. We expected execution for what we were doing; instead, we were shown sympathy and compassion. So much so Stella granted me the Stage you see today. She was truly unlike anything we had ever met before Stella changed our view on the Garden. So, we turned our backs on Fairy-Tale and worked our ways up to help the Garden set itself free and return to earth.”
Bargaining turned around, staring out of the Titan overlooking the wasteland, slowly rotting away with each passing second. ”But as you can see, things didn't exactly go to plan. Some weren't happy with Stella's pacifist peaceful ways. Taking in us was the tipping point and Anger, a human, was the final nail in the coffin. The two Depressions turned on Stella killing her and consuming her powers taking on the logic of the one and becoming the Gardeners you see today. Eve and I weren't very shocked seeing it coming from a mile off, but the events affected the others badly. Acceptance and Denial took a while to come round to their ways, while Anger never quite got over it. But, of course, we weren't left off unpunished. Still seen as a traitor and spies, The Gardeners used my own weakness against me and forced the final Stage of Grief into Eve….”
”Salvation. How?” Zinnia whispered. ”I thought you had to collect all the Stages to even have the chance of harness that Stage.”
”That still holds true. The Stages of Grief are manifestations of our old Gods passed down to those seen as worthy by the Gardeners. They pick and choose who has what with little repercussions. Because of that, Salvation is easily given to anybody when they seek fit. However, without the other Stages, Salvation is nothing more than a plague that eats away at your soul and mind until there is nothing left. Thankfully since Eve was a Judgement. she could hold out longer than most. Even so, without it being removed, the only way that could happen was to have the Gardeners do it or gather the Stages yourself.”
”Salvation's Calling…. What is it?”