480 Holy Son (1/2)
The rumbling came from above. In the darkness, the steel 'purgatory' shook. Dust fell in clumps.
”Time is running short. Follow me.” Gaius walked forward. ”There are many more things to show you.”
But Charles remained in his spot. ”Sir, I've seen enough.”
Gaius looked back in confusion.
”Thank you for letting me see so many secrets and know so many things but I didn't come here for them.” Charles clenched his fist and said quietly, ”I came here for my mother.”
Gaius was silent.
”I only want to know what her name was, where she came from… If you want me to beg you, I will. If you want me to kneel, I will. I just wish you will tell me about my mother.” Charles lowered his head and pleaded to the man before him. He had no smile or any frivolous expressions. He used all the lowliness in his life to beg the man.
”Sir, that's all I want.”
Gaius smoked and breathed it out quietly. After a long while, he sighed. ”Charles, didn't you already see it? Isn't this hell that you're looking at created by your mother?”
Charles froze. He stared at Gaius and started shaking involuntarily in fear from the words. In the silence, Gaius walked up. He touched Charles's shoulder with pity.
”You should've guessed it already. Have you started lying to yourself again?”
Charles shook his head and squeezed out, ”This…is impossible.”
”How is it impossible, Charles?” Gaius looked at him with pity. ”Did you think that your mother lived in a fairy tale? Stop kidding yourself. Since the beginning, she was the developer of the purgatory. All the plans had to go through her. She personally participated in more than half. Your mother created all of this, including you…”
”Stop!” Charles interrupted him and glared. ”My mother…she…” He did not know what to say or how to refute Gaius. He wanted to say, my mother isn't like that. She's so gentle and pretty when she smiles and was so happy even before death. She's great. Please don't compare her to scum like you. But he could not say it. He knew that, perhaps, what Gaius said…was true.
”I'm sorry, Charles. I want to make your mother seem kind and benevolent, gentle as the moon, but she isn't. She is the madwoman that the nations and Sacred City chose for this purgatory.” Gaius walked forward, forcing Charles back until he was against the wall. The old man's voice was quiet yet so, so cruel.
”You haven't even seen one-third of everything she's done, Charles. There's still the eighth plan, the ninth, the tenth, and the most inhumane eleventh plan…
”Did you know how horrible the virus your mother created to research the bacterial theory and let loose in the faraway cities was? She personally created the laboratory for rabies mutation, turning many commoners into cannibalistic demons…But that is not all. There are many more records buried underground. Much more that hasn't been uncovered yet.
”Ever since she entered this organization, all her past records were wiped. The Sacred City vouched for her purity and soul. No matter how dirty the deeds were, as long as she contributed to the city, they would fulfil all her desires.”
”Enough…” Charles gritted his teeth, wishing Gaius would shut up but he continued.
”Were you anticipating that she loved you? Impossible, Charles. Your mother, Lilith, is a devil born from power. She did everything to climb upward. 'Family' was a negative word for her. To her, only the ignorant would use bloodlines to find refuge.
”Love was nothing to her. She only needed to wave a hand and countless people would be fighting to crawl into her bed. Even the archbishops were obsessed with her fiery hair and beautiful looks.
”Even if she was disabled and could not speak, just her eyes were enough to intoxicate someone. Even in the end, she used the Sacred City's trust in her to take one more step and created you…”
Boom! His words stopped suddenly. Some kind of power was unleashed as Charles screamed. It was like thousands of hands scratching at everything in sight. Under the piercing noise, the power shot out and lifted Gaius, slamming him against the wall. It wanted to break every inch of his body. Sticky blood trickled from his nose.
The old pipe fell down and was pulverized by the pressure. Sparks flew, falling among the shattered pieces of the lantern, igniting the oil. Thus, firelight appeared in the purgatory again.
”I don't believe it…I don't believe it!” Charles panted heavily under the horrible noise. He glared at Gaius with his reddening eyes. He roared with all his might, ”You've lied to me enough from the beginning!”
Boom! Horrible strength shattered the steel ground and walls. It spread out like an earthquake created deep underground. Everything cracked under the faint ripples. Charles did not know what was wrong with him. He just…turned into a beast for some reason, turned into…a creature he did not understand…
Furious, he roared. The terrible strength could shatter Gaius in a moment but pressed against the wall, he smiled mockingly.
”Don't believe me?” Gaius smiled and jutted his chin forward. He rasped out, ”Then look back, Charles. Look at her creation.”
Charles froze in silence. After a long while, he turned bit by bit as if in fear of the nightmare. Behind him, the giant infant that slept in the foul liquid behind the cracked glass had been shattered. His bones cracked and his decayed flesh fell into the disgusting water like mud. The half-decayed head broke from the neck and sank into the pool like a ripe fruit. All that remained were two white eyes, staring at Charles.
In the dim firelight, Charles saw his own pale face in the reflections on the broken glass. His face had combined with the creature into one.
”Not me…” Charles shook his head and gurgled, ”It's not me!” He screamed and waved his hand furiously, trying to prove to someone. He roared, ”This isn't me!”The terrible power seemed to vanish along with the strength supporting him. He collapsed and curled up in the corner, crying silently.
”Charles, I was going to reveal the truth at the end.” Gaius looked down at him and sighed. ”I thought these things would prepare you mentally but it seems that I was too impatient.”
Curled up in the corner, Charles buried his face as if scared of the firelight behind him.
”Mr. Constantine…I…” He grabbed at his hair in pain. Broken hairs fell down and burned like fire. He could feel that something terrifying was living inside him. It flowed in his blood, hid in his breaths, felt joy when he cried, and wanted to become one with him.
It was an inhuman strength. It seemed to be a gift from the abyss of death, making him fear himself. Almost crazed, he roared in hysteria, ”What…am I?!”
Gaius looked at him, his eyes softening.
Smoke rose up in plumes from his pipe. It seemed that everything buried in the past would now be uncovered. The secrets hidden in the shadows were brought to the light, showing their ugliness.
”Twenty years ago, the failure of the fifteenth plan brought an unprecedented disaster,” he said. ”The Black Death spanned more than half of the West. In its path, all villages were wiped out and the corpses decayed into white bone. Those bones still remain in the ruins today.
”You've never seen something like that before. Someone could go to the river to drink water, fall sick, and topple in. The river became foul from all the corpses. Black-clothed musicians wore the masks of crows and carried torches to burn all the affected areas into dust. Both the dead and living would burn.
”In a mere half month, three million died before the vaccine was created. Under the strong requests and oppositions from the nations, the purgatory was forced to stop. The Sacred City ended most research and locked the information.
”At that time, Ye Lanzhou finally realized he had been deceived. He realized what his supposedly innocent research had turned into. Therefore, he decided to cut ties with the Sacred City…”
Gaius paused and shook his head with a sigh. ”Got off topic again… At that time, your mother was also forced into desperation. The Sacred City stripped her of her rights and experiments, taking over all her research. Then she disappeared.
”When the Sacred City realized that she had taken the new blood in the Holy Cauldron, it was too late. They signed an erasure agreement with me to take the holy blood back and erase all trace of her existence, including herself.” Gaius chuckled.