Deviant: No Longer Human

Athene fell mute, her lips pressed tightly together in a hard line.

The silence stretched between them, heavy and laden with unspoken words until Aurora shattered it with her probing question. "You, too, want to see what lies beyond that wall, don\'t you?"

Athene\'s brow furrowed deeply. "I have no desire to see anything beyond it; only death lies past that wall."

"But people have come back," Aurora countered calmly, her voice steady and sure.

"One in a million doesn\'t count," Athene retorted calmly, her eyes narrowing skeptically.

"It does," Aurora insisted softly, yet with an underlying firmness.

Athene\'s expression darkened, her hands balling into fists at her sides.

She was torn, not wanting to sever ties with her last living connection. "Why are you so hell-bent on this? Aren\'t we supposed to protect these realms? This could destroy everything." She countered back, firmly.

"It might also bring new life... to them and to us," Aurora suggested, her voice laced with a hopeful undertone.

Athene frowned, her gaze shifting to Aurora\'s midsection, which showed no signs of active pregnancy. "You\'ve already given birth..?"

Matching Athene\'s suspicious gaze with a small smile, Aurora touched her abdomen gently. "I have. She\'s beautiful. You should meet her sometime."

Athene was rendered speechless, her mind reeling from this new discovery.

Initially, she had dismissed Aurora\'s announcement of pregnancy as mere jest, but the reality of it now sparked a complex mixture of shock and faint... revulsion within her.

Ignoring Athene\'s visibly judgmental stare, Aurora continued with a calm and measured tone, revealing the depths of her unconventional choice. "I hastened the process using the temporal anomalies in Tartarus. Fortunately, despite their strange creations, the Sandmasters left us something truly beneficial."

Aurora\'s eyes grew distant as she spoke, reflecting a profound seriousness. "However, it\'s crucial for her to avoid the outside world at this formative stage."

"The external environment is riddled with distractions that cloud one\'s understanding of the universe\'s fundamental laws, obscuring the raw truths of our existence."

"She needs to be nurtured in a place where life is not filtered through the deceptive lens of modern human society—where she can learn the unforgiving law of the jungle, perceive the essence of being, unadulterated by falsehoods."

"She must grow up insulated from these distortions until she is mature enough to navigate and see beyond them."

Athene\'s expression tightened, her eyes narrowing slightly in a mix of skepticism and concern.

Though she had no right to influence Aurora\'s parenting decisions, the unsettling fact that Aurora had indeed brought a new life into such a reality was deeply discomforting to her.

Aurora\'s expression softened into a slightly melancholic gaze as she addressed Athene again, her voice laced with a somber tone. "You bash me, but in fact, you know it too—the things we\'ve uncovered during our rule, the relics have said it all..."

"From where we come from..."

"From what we are..."

"From what our purpose is..."

"They provide all the answers, and yet, we have failed to fulfill that destiny. Aether has vanished, and without its power, we are condemned to remain here, bound to this realm until the end of time."

"This could be our final opportunity."

"This civilization, as technologically advanced as it might seem on the surface, cannot possibly sustain itself or break the cyclical bounds with such finite resources."

"We acted as cowards during our initial reign, but now, it is time to face what we began. If it takes a graveyard to herald a new dawn, so be it..."

Athene\'s brow furrowed deeply at Aurora\'s bold words. "And what about the consequences? What if something worse comes from the other side? The beasts below are merely a fraction of what might exist!"

"That\'s why you are here," Aurora replied, her tone resolute. "Just let it open enough to complete it\'s work."

Athene stood silently, her gaze fixed on the diminishing figure of Aurora as she walked away, her footsteps soft against the snowy ground. A frown creased Athene\'s brow as she called out, "Are you leaving? Won\'t you stay to watch?"

Aurora\'s reply floated back in a hushed tone, barely audible above the whisper of the wind, "Not everyone in a war is a soldier..."

Athene\'s frustration bubbled up, her voice rising sharply in the cold air, "And what about your man? Will you just let him march to his death?"

Aurora paused, her back still turned, and she raised one hand in a nonchalant wave without glancing back. "You remember the rumors from our time? If those tales about Aegis hold any truth, he might just become what we desperately need!"

"Why are you so hasty?" Athene couldn\'t help but say, her temper rarely flared except in the face of this carefree spirit.

In Athene\'s eyes, Aurora was too careless and reckless.

Aurora\'s figure halted briefly as she turned her head slightly, her profile catching the faint light. "It\'s not about haste. But consider this—if he grows naturally, soon enough, he\'ll be just like us, and neither of us wants that."

"We\'ve achieved nothing noteworthy with our lives so far."

"If that place is the crucible that forges monsters called as Deviants, let him transform into one—that\'s his desire."

"I have no right to stop him..."

"If I were to stop him, he\'d see me as selfish, prioritizing my ambitions over his. His pursuit is strength, and even if it leads to his downfall, it\'s his choice. All you can do is acknowledge it, and not obstruct his path."

"Even if it leads to his destruction, he\'ll embrace it with a smile..."

"!"

Aurora\'s words struck Athene like an icy gust, sending a chill through her, her feet suddenly feeling as if they were encased in the frozen ground beneath her.

This provoked a slight, knowing smile from Aurora. "I think you are quite selfish, Athene, not me."

"!"

Aurora\'s pointed remarks, carefully crafted to sting, had their intended effect.

Athene\'s eyes widened in anger as she watched Aurora\'s silhouette dissolve into the swirling snow, just before...

Boom!

The entire mountain range shuddered violently; the largest peak of Borr fissured, a tangible manifestation of Athene\'s barely contained rage.