Children of a Lesser God
Chapter 708: No Time
"What do you mean," Athena asked, looking at the again sleeping Laz.
"His mind is dealing with the overload by erasing things. Maybe he didn’t mean to do it, but shoving thirty years worth of memories in there all at once is causing his brain to selectively erase things," Pooja said as she checked his pulse and circulated some of her energy through him out of reflex before almost pulling away, stopping and just doing what she was going to do anyway.
"What’s all that about?" Persephone asked as her and her sisters looked on and Hera laughed.
"Have you ever had a demon try to feed you some of their energy? It’s a rather painful experience that doesn’t end well. Out of concern, she just did it without thinking, remembered she shouldn’t then remembered it was Laz and he could handle it so she just did it anyway. It was just kind of funny to watch..." Hera explained while Pooja’s purplish skin turned a bit brighter of a red.
"Shut up. I’m focusing here," she said, doing just that.
"And?"
"And the problem is that his brain doesn’t know it freed up enough space and is trying to fucking purge the whole thing..." Pooja explained.
"Like a blank slate?" Hera asked.
"Like amnesia. Like really bad short term and long term nothingness but how to live."
"That’s not the worse thing right? People are able to live normal lives and eventually get back their memory, right?" Erato questioned, concern on her face.
"Yes. Some to most of it, maybe. But the problem is we have no way of telling what that would do to his current fighting ability. And considering what we are facing right now? That’s not something we can have happen. But it’s scary though... I can almost see the synapses firing off in there, even if I can’t do anything and it’s almost like they are following some strange pattern," Pooja admitted.
"What the hell does that mean?" Clio asked, confused like everyone else.
"It’s like his body has done this before. Like it knows what it’s doing and is... going through the steps? I don’t know. I’m not exactly a doctor... and what I do know has to deal with demon and human health and what not, not... well... Asura,"
"But you were a doctor, back in the day. Your studies were used all over the omniverse as a basis for medical breakthroughs in almost every field. Of course it was helpful that you could get whatever funding you wanted just by asking and showing some... or a lot of cleavage. And it was humanoid based research. Maybe not Asura... but they aren’t that far from humanoid. And Laz is ever closer since he’s mostly human."
"No. That’s where you’re wrong. He was mostly human. I can see the remains of what was changed over the years, or I can see what’s change from what isn’t. And the difference is a lot, like a whole lot. But even that doesn’t exactly explain the brain. This thing has been a conflict of interest in the medical field for far longer than I’ve been around and right now it’s doing it’s own thing, self protection, if you will. I don’t think there is anything we can do to help it or stop it. If we try... well... he runs the risk of overheating and may never wake up again."
There was a tiny twitch in Laz’s head at this, one that Hera noticed briefly, but since it didn’t happen again, she stopped looking down at him and turned her attention back to Pooja, as they argued about anything that might help as a call went out. The beasts were assembling again, the first time in days, and there were many more god beasts among them than the last time.
Rushing to the top of the wall, Athena, Erato and Clio looked out along with Two and Seven, only to hear the three women gasp. The god beasts that had previously been at the southern wall were now joining the line here, obviously having rushed here after surviving the destruction of the southern wall.
"Good. GOOD. NOW THAT THEY ARE HERE, THEY CAN BE OFFERED UP TO OUR DEAD SISTERS IN TRIBUTE!" Athena yelled, her voice echoing over the pathways. Her time with her sisters in their world had allowed her mental strength to grow astoundingly strong. Even with one eye missing, Clio with her missing arm and Erato with a limp that would slow her down for the rest of her life, the women were giving off an aura that made even these god beasts feel fear.
"Foolish humans have already been beaten by us, thinks they can intimidate us... We will devour them, just like the others," came the loud response back.
It would have been more convincing if the beast wasn’t shaking when they said it.
Meanwhile, Laz was trapped in a dream, one in which he knew was a dream, but he didn’t have anyway to leave.
All around him, Asura of every color and lineage were lined up into columns and were staring at a screen some many dozens of feet away, Up and down the line, there were thousands of Asura, all standing in columns, looking up at screens spread equal distance away as a a man stood talking while graphic scenes of violence played behind him.
"As you all can see. Something woke the sleeping Infernals and we don’t know what that is. From what the records we can gather from all over the alliance, the awakening of these beasts leads to a great fire burning the worlds and scorching the land, retreating only once the omniverse has been cleansed in a bath of fire and brimstone. They bring massive destruction across every world, every realm until there is nothing left. The more powerful the beast, the more intelligent it is. So while the normal warriors you encounter won’t be able to communicate with you, if you ever run into an Infernal and it can communicate with full sentences, run for your life and don’t look back until your at least at the realm of a god. If that’s the case, then you may look back long enough to see if you’re bring pursued. If your are, make sure to let everyone in your squad know they may kiss their asses goodbye as soon as they have to stop."
There were many chuckles at this statement among those gathered, but whether that was because they believed the briefing or not remained to be seen.
The man on the screen went on.
"We have gained a massive amount of support from our allies all throughout the omniverse. They are sending their warriors rendezvous points all along the battle line. Unfortunately, there have already been massive losses, but those who had perished have bought us the time we need to organize so don’t feel burdened by their loss, but thank them for fighting bravely in the face of overwhelming numbers and wish them well on their way to Valhalla. As for those of us who are alive, it is our task to lead those who will fight for us, to show them what it means to be a part of our great alliance. Those standing here will be the hammer and the shield, to both strike down our enemies and protect our allies. Hundreds of our bases all over the cosmos are giving a similar speech to their solders, preparing to send them out into war. So just know that wherever you go and wherever you end up, you are not alone. You fight for others, with others, all to save the whole of civilization. Be proud, for your names will echo in eternity. Behind me is the obelisk of heroes for our base here, number 1734. On it are all of the names of brave Asurans that have died in service to our Empire and the Alliance. If the time comes, your name, date of death and deed shall be recorded here as well, so that the future will remember what you did. Think back to the day your first laid a hand on the pillar. It drew out ten random names that you read and their own details. How did you feel when you were able to witness their last moments? What did that inspire in you? Have you ever forgotten even one of those ten names or their actions? Of course not. And one day, in the future, perhaps some young recruit will receive your name and hear of your heroic last moments. And from that point on until the day of their deaths, they shall carry your story with them as well. So go into battle knowing that someone will hear your story and live your final moments and ask yourself, "How do I want to be remembered?" You all have your assignments, so go. Fight. Survive. FOR THE EMPIRE! FOR THE ALLIANCE! FOR THE FUTURE!"
"FOR THE EMPIRE."
"FOR THE ALLIANCE!"
"FOR THE FUTURE!"