We Are Eternal

Chapter 6: The Guilty

"Wh-What? You're my... grandmother...?" Ruby asked in shock. Nobody had said anything about having any living relatives outside her immediate family. But... silver eyes are so rare... "Why hasn't anyone told me about you?" She asked. The woman smiled once more, this time a more shallow smile as she looked towards the grass.

"Sometimes, family needs to be kept secret..." She said, her voice filled with wistful sarcasm, as if it wasn't her choice in the matter if she could see Ruby. After a pregnant pause, Ruby spoke up once more.

"Wh- What are you doing here?" She said, emphasizing the here as her mind tried to wrap her brain around the reality of the situation. At that question, the woman popped up.

"Yes! Of course!" She said before walking in a direction away from Ruby, gesturing her to follow. "Well, I need to help someone here." She said, as if that explained everything.

"Who?" Ruby asked, as she walked after.

"My brother."

"I have an uncle? Wait, no, a... grand... uncle?"

"Yes."

"But why would they be-"

"He goes to places he shouldn't to help people give into bad decisions."

"Why!?"

"If you asked him, he'd say amusement."

"That's mean."

"That it would, if you believed him."

"What do you mean?"

"He's well known for lying."

"... Why do you think he does it?" Ruby asked. The woman paused for a moment at that, the two walking in silence for just a moment.

"I think... I think he does it to help."
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Marchand kept walking. His body moved without his consent forward. Towards another god, sauntering like a beast with his eyes locked on his prey.

"Look at you." The prey said. "Slaughtering innocent people who have nothing to do with the problem."

"I don't want this." Marchand said, as his body kept moving, the sword scraping across the ground.

"Yes, you do. You're a murderer. You're just like Damos. You're just like your father!" The prey spat out. Marchand paused at that, frozen in his tracks.

And then he saw red.

A rush of adrenaline came to him as he lunged forward and slashed his sword down onto his prey. Again and again and again, he cut and slashed. When the red faded, he saw the slashed corpse of his brother, hardly recognizable. Marchand's eyes widened at this display of ferocity. His hands would be shaking if he had any control over them.

Oh, he had no control over these actions. It wasn't him. And even if he were, he was just, right?

Right?

Just in name...

Just in name...
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"What do you know about my mother?" Ruby asked as they walked.

"Hmm?" Said the woman as she turned back to Ruby, having been focused on finding her way towards her brother.

"What do you know about my mother, Miss...?" Ruby said, suddenly realizing she never asked for a name.

"Ah, yes! My name is Xìngzhì." She said with a smile as she turned to continue walking towards her brother. "She was wondrous. Whenever I would leave the room, I usually came back to find her talking to a animals. One particular squirrel was Sir Edmund The Third, and was next in line to the crown and would occasionally ask if she would like to be his queen."