Endless Journey: Infinite Realms

Chapter 148 To Forgive is To Forget?

After hearing what Lauren and Alex said, her father started to look queasy as he seemed to force himself to talk.

"The night after I had those flashes of memories, someone suddenly appeared inside my house." Her father said as he looked down, wringing his fingers in nervousness. "At first I was not sure who this person was, but when I looked closely I realized that my visitor was Plague!"

"Plague of the Pantheon?"

"Of course, who else could it be!" Her father replied angrily. "She-she-she was there inside my room, staring at me like I was a trash that she was supposed to throw away!"

"So, what did Plague do to you?" Lauren heard Alex asking as she saw him leaning forward. "Did she try to kill you?"

"No." Her father replied as he shook his head. "She said that she was there to wipe my memory for the second time."

"Wipe your... memory?" Even Lauren was intrigued by what her father was saying now. "Is that all that she wanted to do?"

"No! That is not the only thing that Plague wanted to do!" Her father suddenly shouted as he looked at Lauren in trepidation.

Fear and guilt were present in her father’s face as he continued talking.

"Plague... she also said that she will kill my daughters along with the wiping of my memory! I do not know why she wanted to do that, but she is serious at that time! She is serious about killing my children!"

Her father then started trembling, as if what he said took a lot out of him.

"What?" Lauren could not help but shout as he heard what her father said.

Plague, one of the Pantheon members, actually wanted to kill her and her sister? How the hell does that make sense?

Why would one of her favorite heroes want to kill her, and even her sister? And she wants to wipe her father’s memories? Why the hell would Plague do that?

"Khora... my father is lying, right?" Lauren asked Alina desperately, as she wanted Alina to say that her father was lying right now.

"I’m sorry Signum, but your father is telling the truth." Alina replied softly as she gave Lauren an anxious look. "I’m sorry that you have to hear it that way."

"..."

Before Lauren could think about what had just happened, she heard her father and Alex resuming their conversation.

"So, what happened after Plague told you that?" Lauren heard Alex asking to her father with a calm expression on his face. It was as if Alex was not that perturbed by what he just heard.

"Well... I do not know how I can fight off Plague, so I tried to plead to her." Her father said as he shook his head sadly. "I am not sure if it will work, so I just wished it will."

"So, did it work?" Lauren heard Alex asking quickly. "Were you able to stop her from wiping away your memories? And killing your children?"

"Well, Plague said no at first." Her father replied as he let out a deep breath. "But before she can actually do what she was supposed to do, someone suddenly called her on the phone. After receiving that phone call, Plague’s mind changed. She... she did not attempt to wipe my memory and kill my children anymore!"

"..."

"However, Plague told me that she has one condition that I must follow if I want to keep my memories and keep my children alive. And that condition is that... I should completely separate myself my family for 5 years. No connection, no assistance, no anything. I must go live in a faraway place for 5 years. Only when that 5 year time was used up that I can go back to my family. If I violate that condition, Plague will swoop in to kill my children and wipe my memories!"

"...He’s telling the truth." Alina’s words were the only words that Lauren could hear as she found herself short of breath.

She could not believe it.

Everything that she and her sister went through were actually the result of someone meddling in their life! And that someone was actually a hero? That is the one thing that made it worse.

"...Why?" Lauren managed to find her voice back as she croaked this question out of her throat. She looked at her father, who was avoiding her gaze for some reason "Why are they doing that to you?"

"I... also do not know." Her father replied softly as he looked down on the floor. "I have no idea why this was happening to me. I... I am just a victim here."

"Victim? How about us, huh?" Lauren shouted as she felt tears trickling down her face. "Even if you were forced to leave us, you could have done a better way of leaving us! You could have left some money for us before you left! Hell, maybe you should have written a letter or something telling us that you will be gone for long! But you did not do that! You just straight up disappeared, without making us know why!

Lauren knew that it was wrong for her to blame her father for something that he was forced to do. But how could she just say ’Father, I forgive you’ after everything that she and her sister went through?

"I was panicking at that time..."

"Panicking? Ok, I can understand that." Lauren replied as she clumsily wiped her tears away.

"So... you forgive me now?" Her father asked as he gave Lauren a pleading look. "You know that I am not at fault here. I am also a victim! That means that you should not be angry with me!"

"Woah, hold up there, old man." Lauren heard Alex saying as he wrapped her father with one of his tentacles. "Even if you did what you had to do, asking blatantly for her forgiveness that way is not a cool move. Signum is also a victim here. Even if you were a victim, you could not just tell her that it was not your fault! You are just making everything that she went through trivial!"

"But I saved her and Lara’s life!"

"To that, I applaud you, old man." Alex replied as he gave Lauren a consoling look. "But even if you left her to save her life, there is still no way that Signum could just forgive you right now. Just... give her some time to mull over everything that she heard. Don’t force anything from her now."

"..."

Ok, Lauren was now sure that she had reached her limit.

"Excuse me, I have to go see my sister." This was it for Lauren. She had no more mood talking to her father.

Not in a situation like this.

"Take care Signum." Lauren heard Alex saying as she climbed the stairs. "We will tell you the rest of this conversation later. For now, you go have fun with your sister."

Lauren did not say anything back to Alex, as she found herself emotionally drained to even talk.

*************************

Minutes later.

Once Lauren had left due to personal issues, Alex and the others continued listening to Andrew Collins.

According to Andrew, he was dumped on a city along the Notrhern part of their continent. There, he was forced to stay for 5 long years.

That place was not that bad, as Andrew even have some access of the internet.

According to Andrew, he had some high-class Computer Engineering skills which he used to monitor anything important related to the Pantheon. He continued doing this until the day that Alex turned supervillain.

It was at that day that Andrew saw the confrontation between Alex and the Pantheon members. It was there that Andrew heard about Alex wanting to obtain the Legacy of Tartaros.

Andrew then said that once he saw that confrontation, he made the decision to approach Alex to talk about the Legacy.

It was quite fortunate for Andrew that his 5-year exile ended yesterday.

Once he was free from his exile, Andrew used his skills to look for her daughters, and for the hideout of Alex.

What happened after that was self-explanatory already.

Andrew ended his talk after that point, as he started giving Alex a complacent expression on his face.

"...He is not lying." Alex did not like what Alina just said, as it cemented Andrew’s status as an important person.

"...That is a very interesting tale." Alex slowly said as his tentacles slithered around him. "So, you decided to approach us because you think that we can keep you safe, and because you also want to know what the Legacy really is?"

"Yes, yes!" Andrew replied quickly as he nodded his head like a hamster. "I may only have some flashes of memories here, but maybe if we all work together, we can uncover the truth!"

Alex may hate to admit it, but he knew that what Andrew said was right.

If Andrew was really connected to the Legacy, there is a high chance that his memories will tell them what the Legacy really is!

There is no way that he and Professor Frances will let a chance like this go away!

"Okay, since you seem ready for this, then we can-" Before Alex was able to finish what he was about to say, he suddenly felt a powerful presence appearing in front of the mansion.

"!!!"

This time around, everyone in the room, except for Andrew, were all standing up, with their weapons ready.

"..."

Alex grimaced as he felt the power of their new guest, as he realized that his day will not actually go that smoothly.

"And here I thought this could be a recreation day..."