The chirping of crickets and the bright bio illumination of the fireflies at night always indicated the emergence of summer. At least for the city of Nautilus, our city was always bestowed warm humid days even in winter.
Late at night when big sis went out for her usual drinks I decided to leave the house for a leisurely walk. The stars glittered in the sky but the moon was new and unseen amongst the seas of brilliance.
The contract I had gotten from Allegrano said I needed to overthrow the current government and remove the hierarchy between the underground people and the people of Nautilus. He wanted complete equality for everyone, a perfect city where everyone was reunited.
In exchange for this, I would get back everyone safely.
For what I cared, these people meant nothing to me. They had no connection to me, I would live hundreds of more years and see them pass and die. I wanted them to die long ago, all of them.
Every human in the city, every human on earth. I wanted life to cease to exist for a completely reasonable reason. To end all suffering and pain in the world. As the Aeon of Dexterity and having all knowledge in the universe, I believe that the best end for everyone would be complete silence, a pure pitch-black void where you can't think, can't feel.
A dystopian world where everyone had it perfect would be a pain in the ass as well. Though no suffering exists the mere fact that you exist is enough to make humans suffer. Even if you are unable to register emotions, you will eventually die and when you die, do you lose anything? No emotions, no memories, and no colours are poured into your casket as you are being buried. So what's the point of living if there are no emotions, and no memories in your life? And what's the point of living if there is nothing but suffering following those emotions?
The ultimate answer would be unable to think, unable to act, unable to exist, that's the pinnacle of perfection. Something that doesn't exist is perfection.
Oh… how my heart bursts with exhilaration hearing those words. As a piece of thin glass spinning endlessly is the human soul. One finger could shatter it so easily, one stomp. I had been waiting so long for such a being with that ability.
The Aeon of Joy is well aware of the nature of the Aeon of Dexterity, and the amount of detestation it has for the human race. It finds amusement in seeing the suffering of humans, therefore it loathes the Aeon of Dexterity for its ideology.
The Aeon of Joy wanted to see the Aeon of Dexterity help to build what it so much hated. It wanted to see Devina interact with the humans more. It wanted to see the pained expression on her face. The image of her mind breaking apart and revolting against the fact of helping humans.
It simply wanted the Aeon of Dexterity to experience as much suffering as possible.
The plans of overthrowing the current government were easy. Though it had a democratic voting system with a bunch of constitutional laws protecting everything, it was easy to revoke. Simply cause instability for the people. When instability arises, people will start to resent the current government making it more costly for them and if you somehow crash the economy it becomes even better. The people will starve and protest, leading to an easier way to gain public support. Controlling all of this behind the scenes was easy enough, but because I didn't want to directly help the people I decided to let someone I knew take that role.
Omi, the child of cursed speech. His captivating speeches would completely hypnotise the people and gain their support. Eventually, after some time, the next election came up and our political party got the most seats in the parliament. Now that we had a majority I decided to hire specialized soldiers to eliminate all the other political parties secretly.
Late at night after our campaigns Omi sat down next to me and asked why I wanted him to do all of this. I told him that he shouldn't ask me questions he knows I cannot answer.
I had been taking care of his family, his sick mother had undergone life-saving surgeries from me. Omi knew that he had debts that needed to be paid. But all this time helping me out he became curious about what type of person I was.
"Devina?"
I turned my head towards him and then heard the words.
"I want to know more about you!"
He clutched his chest and held his head low. My mouth opened but no words escaped my mouth.
"I have been working for you for months now, I just really want to get to know you better."
"As you already know, I'm just a random stranger who saved your mom. I'm no one special to you."
"You saved my mom! You are special to me in that way already."
"Had it been any other doctor would you have asked to get to know all the doctors involved with helping your mom?"
He went quiet and gave up arguing with me.
I was standing on the balcony looking down upon the city Nautilus. It was so quiet and peaceful and the late night sky was so incredibly beautiful. The hotel we stayed at was a presidential suite which had a handful of useful stuff like a mini refrigerator.
"Hey Omi, can you get me a cold soda?"
No one responded.
I went back into the room and saw that no one was there anymore. He must have gone back to his room.
It had been a long run and he probably needed some rest anyway. I suddenly hear the bathroom door swing open and Omi standing there in front of me.
"Hey about tomorrow, you can take the day off, I will take care of all the paperwork."
He hastily approached me without showing his eyes. His hands wrapped themselves around my wrists and pinned me down onto the bed. That's when I saw his eyes, they were like an overflowing cup, that could spill at any moment.
"I have come to love you, Devina. I'm sorry."
"I can't love anyone, Omi."
His eyes fluttered with sadness as took those words.
"Submit yourself to me this night."
The cursed speech order went directly into my brain. Even though I had made sure to wear my earplugs that blocked out cursed speech, I decided to turn them off and let the words reach my brain.
My mind felt so unbelievably empty. Even if I had been blessed with infinite knowledge, I felt empty.
I hate humans. I really do. But why am I so dependent on their emotions? Even before I had gotten my Aeon, I hated the fact I was living. The fact that everything that I did was connected to a consequence. The fact that I would always be controlled by someone else. I remember the hands of the people I once loved struck me. The words of the people I thought I could trust betrayed me.
Had I been more perfect?
How could I have been more perfect if I never enjoyed living in the first place?
Had I been more likeable?
How could I be liked when I never loved myself?
Had I been more expressive?
How could I tell someone my feelings when I myself didn't know what I was thinking?
I needed not the human emotions flowing through me. They were another burden that would wear me down. That's something I learned from living for hundreds of years. Human emotions are a curse to live with, having it for eternity eventually drives one insane.
However, upon meeting Vivshi I knew that I could be a little selfish again. It wouldn't be so bad to drown in those emotions again. Because I knew there was an expiration date on my life now. I let back the thoughts I had been holding on for years.
As hands explored my body, genuine tears ran down my face. My suffering, pain, and anguish flooded my mind but I felt truly alive. I wouldn't go against the wishes of Dexterity nor would I go against the will of Freedom. Because I Devina Tetolis know the identity of Freedom and it is I and I am it.