Chapter 174 - 174: Brothers
"My brother…
...Lord Hermes."
Van could not help but blink numerous times as Hercules suddenly kneeled in front of him. But with him bending his knees, Hercules was still taller than him.
Brother? What brother? If he was his brother then he should at least be as tall as him-- was the first thing that entered Van"s mind.
"...What?" He muttered, "I think you are misunderstanding something, Mister Hercules. I am not this Hermes you speak of. I have seen him in my dreams and we do not look alike… at all."
Van then let out a long and deep sigh. Besides, the Hermes he had seen in his dreams was… a giant.
"According to one of my Skills, I am only gifted with the powers of the Messenger of the G.o.ds," Van said without any hesitation. Hercules seemed to know more about his System than him, so there was no point in hiding what he could do.
"Yes," Hercules nodded, "That alone is proof that you are Lord Hermes…
...Do not worry, Messenger. It will all return to you soon."
"..."
"Do not mention this to Lord Ares once you meet him, but I think you are the strongest one of us all."
"Ares?"
"Hm. After all, you are the only one able to travel between different dimensions. Copying the magic that only the Seraphs have, only you are capable of such a feat."
"..."
The Seraphs again… according to his last dream, the Seraph and Hermes traveled to their world… maybe even causing the Portal Calamity in the first place. That is if they truly were memories and not just dreams.
"...This war you speak of, Mister Hercules… Why did it happen?"
Hearing Van"s question, Hercules could not help but shake his head, "The Seraphs came out of nowhere. Demanding Lady Hera and father to give up our claim to this universe…
...And perhaps we should have just given it." Hercules then let out a long and deep sigh, his eyes trembling as he looked at the horizon of darkness in front of them. "...And now, there is nothing left to rule. The mortals in which father was so fond of are all but gone."
"..."
"I am afraid that is all I know… or perhaps like you, I have chosen to forget."
"...But you said you wanted me to send you back to your world… But is this not your world… your home?"
"It is, but how can one even call this home?" Hercules let out a small scoff as he turned his head around as if looking at the entirety of the Pit even as he kneeled. "This is not the home I speak of. I am talking about the only place that was untainted by our silly war. It is in this universe, but at the same time, it is not."
"...Olympus?" Van muttered.
As soon as Van"s words reached Hercules" ears, he once again let out a scoff, "That is the first thing the Seraphs destroyed."
"...What?"
"In truth, this plan was birthed by you and Lady Athena," Hercules then looked Van straight in the eyes, "A hastened plan… but it was the best the two of you came up with considering you drifted between our universe and theirs. It was truly amazing, the two of you exchanging messages in such a short span of time."
"...A plan?"
"Hm," Hercules nodded, "To send all of us to the only place not fragmented; to a place where we could finally rest and once again rise up from the ashes of our own doing; to once again regain our strength and seek revenge to those who laid waste to our beautiful world…
...To a place where the Souls of the mortal reside."
"You…" Van finally realized what Hercules was asking of him.
"This is your job as a Messenger… to send all of us to the Afterlife."
Hercules then stood up, his eyes not leaving Van"s a single bit.
"Kill me, Lord Hermes… Fulfill your duty."
"W… what?" Van could not help but slightly back away as he looked at Hercules" towering figure. Countless thoughts were residing within his mind right now. He still did not know whether what Hercules was telling him was the truth… no, there was a high chance it was true since he knew information that only Van knew.
But still… even with the revelation circling in his mind, there was now only one thing that surfaced from it…
"...How?" He breathed. How will he be able to kill someone like Hercules… and just how much EXP will he get from his Soul?
Hearing Van"s mutters, Hercules only shrugged his shoulders, "It is up to you. If you are worried about the pain, then you do not have to worry; no physical pain could be greater than the pain I have already endured."
"..."
"...I mean how?" Van let out a sigh, "I might have met one of you before."
"An Olympian? I thought I was the first you have met?"
"I have met someone named… Arachnaea."
"Did you send her back!? I reckoned she wouldn"t have wanted that." Hercules let out an amused expression as soon as Arachnaea"s name was mentioned.
"No… She gave me a feather."
"...A feather?" Hercules then furrowed his eyebrows, "No, it matters not. She is a bit weird."
"...A bit?"
"So you did not send her back? I suppose that would be her wish, she disliked being with us, after all."
"No," Van shook his head, "It was not that she asked me to… it was more like I could not even leave a scratch on her. And you, Mister Hercules…
...are no doubt stronger than her."
"...That is troublesome," Hercules let out a sigh as he scanned Van from head to toe, "Why did you have to become this puny."
"..." Van asked that to himself every day.
"..."
After a few seconds of silence, Hercules suddenly stretched his arms and opened them wide, "I remember you killing that fat mortal."
"...You saw that?" Van furrowed his eyebrows, wondering why Hercules stretched his arms.
"Of course, I have been watching you," Hercules nodded a couple of times, "Do to me what you have done to him."
"...Are you sure?"
"Yes. I am tired of this isolation, Messenger," Hercules let out a deep breath as he closed his eyes, "Please… send me back home."
Hercules then once again kneeled, his arms stretched still-- perhaps a sign of surrender.
Van hesitated a little bit. What if Hercules squished him as soon as he climbed on his shoulders? No… he would have already done it if he wanted to.
And so, with a sigh, Van swiftly jumped up and stood on Hercules" shoulders. "...Are you sure about this, Mister Hercules?" Although there was still a lot of hesitation in his voice, Van still could not help but feel a slight excitement.
"Yes," Hercules nodded, "I hope you meet with Lady Athena next, she has all the information you need to know…
...We shall meet again in the Afterlife, brother."
...Brother. Hearing Hercules" words, Van"s hesitation finally won over his excitement. So the G.o.ds of Olympus… were his family?
"...If we truly were brothers, Mister Hercules," Van asked as he placed his hands on Hercules" head, "Then…
...you"ve met our parents?"
"Of course," Hercules nodded, causing Van to slightly lose his balance, "I have met Lord Zeus, our father, numerous times."
"Lord… Zeus…"
"As for your mother, I am afraid I was not blessed with the pleasure of meeting her."
"What… do you mean?"
"She was already gone when I was welcomed in Olympus."
"We have different mothers?"
"!!!"
As soon as Van"s question reached Hercules" ears, he could not help but suddenly burst out in laughter. Van held for his dear life as Hercules" entire body shook, causing even the ground itself to tremble.
"You... will find that... polygamy runs in our family, brother," Hercules stuttered for the first time, trying to catch his breath from the laughter that still wanted to burst out from him, "Ha… wait "til Lord Apollo hears of this."
"...What?"
"Even you, Lord Hermes, have many wives and daughters. It was rumored once that even... Lady Artemis was almost charmed by you." Mentioning the name Artemis, there was a certain sadness in Hercules" voice.
"Who?" Van could only mutter questions as Hercules kept mentioning these weird names of people he did not know.
"In fact, you are Lady Aphrodite"s favorite. It was just a shame that your offspring died."
"..." Hearing Hercules" story about… this Hermes, Van could not help but imagine if he truly was him. What if he had a life before all of this? What if he had a life where…
"...Did Hermes… live well?" Van stuttered.
"Well?"
"Was he rich?"
"Of course," Hercules quickly nodded, "Olympus stood on top of the treasures that you collected, my brother."
"A… a mountain!?"
"Hm. But alas, the war has all but scattered everything to dust. One of your treasures is here, in fact. I saw it somewhere a thousand years ago."
"Was he… was I happy?"
"...Of course," Hercules could not help but close his eyes as he sighed, letting out a small smile at the same time, "Out of all them… you were the only one who doesn"t forget to smile."
"..."
"You were also the first to welcome me and the others," Hercules muttered, "We owe much to you, brother. So I apologize for asking you this…
...But please, I am ready to go home."
Hearing Hercules" pleading words, Van let out a breath. Holding Hercules" head tightly, as if embracing him for the last time.
"Goodbye, brother," Hercules whispered, "Let us meet again."
Sparks of golden lightning emerged from Van"s eyes, traveling through his arms. There was also hesitation crawling through his arms… but still…
...This was his duty.
And so, with that thought, Van started moving his arms.
"!!!"
"GAH!"
"B… brother!?"
Van"s shattered bones poked out from his arms.