Shocking!
Gaea and Oshtur from the Vishanti, actually share such a relationship.
No wonder she said earlier that the Sorcerer Supreme lineage wasn't considered outsiders.
Lucas looked at the Ancient One and saw his lips, hidden beneath his beard, twitching uncontrollably. Clearly, this news was quite explosive for him as well.
Lucas couldn't help but ask curiously, "Gaea, how did you and Oshtur conceive Neith?"
Gaea smiled brightly.
Knowing Neith was alive, her mood was quite good.
Even the worry about the foreign energy within Atum, which had worried her these past few days, had lessened considerably.
Gaea explained, "The conception of life among Elder Gods is different from humans, it only requires life energy. It can be conceived individually or collectively by multiple beings."
"Agamotto, the first Sorcerer Supreme, was born from the tears of Oshtur. The first generation of Elder Gods was also born from the Creator's life energy and Earth's primordial energy."
"As for Neith and her sister, they were born from the fusion of my life energy and Oshtur's life energy."
Lucas pondered this thoughtfully.
He knew all this, but he hadn't connected the dots before. Now, looking at it together, it wasn't hard to understand.
After explaining, Gaea couldn't help but ask about Neith's current situation, "How is Neith doing now? Is she well?"
Lucas said, "Aside from sleeping most of the time, her condition is quite good."
"I see, that's good then."
Gaea let out a long sigh, then her brows furrowed again.
She had thought of a crucial question.
The Shadow Gods, the manipulators behind Ragnarok according to 616 Thor, were fallen Elder Gods who had been expelled.
Wouldn't her kin then be on opposing sides with her descendants?
Gaea looked at Lucas, falling into a long silence.
Lucas knew that at this moment, two little figures were fighting in her heart.
To be precise, the little figure named 'Descendant' was fiercely beating the little figure named 'Kin'. But ultimately, it was Gaea who was hurt.
"Sorcerer Lucas, can you take me to see Neith?" Gaea pleaded.
The sorrow on her face would likely not disappear anytime soon.
"Of course." Lucas nodded.
Then Lucas looked at the Ancient One, his gaze inquiring if the Ancient One wanted to go along.
Ancient One nodded with interest.
He was quite curious about the sister of Agamotto, the first Sorcerer Supreme, and the Creator of the Web of Life and Destiny.
"Then, Gaea and Sorcerer, prepare yourselves. We'll be quick." Lucas instructed.
As his voice sounded, a dazzling and pure silver light emerged from beneath their feet, enveloping the three of them.
Moments later, the three transformed into a streak of light and shot towards the sky. They traversed endless time and space and numerous Universes at a speed beyond comprehension.
Shadow Dimension.
In a world perpetually shrouded in black and white, a glimmer of silver light suddenly appeared, adding a touch of color to this monotonous world.
Soon, the silver light faded, and this touch of color slowly receded as well.
Inside a hall enveloped in shadow, six tall chairs were arranged in a circle.
Currently, four of the six chairs had people sitting in them, their heads bowed in slumber.
Two chairs were empty.
One of these two chairs belonged to Lucas, and the other to Neith. Of course, they both belonged to Neith now.
"Has he returned? Or has he completely fallen?"
Neith looked up at the silver streak of color flashing across the sky, an irrepressible sadness in her eyes.
She didn't remember who the Elder God named Lucas was. She only knew that from Lucas, she felt a long-lost sense of familiarity and closeness.
Perhaps Lucas was once her brother, father, offspring, or partner. She didn't want to forget him again, nor did she want to forget any more memories.
Neith slowly withdrew her gaze from the sky, squatted down, and buried her head. Her instincts told her that doing so would make her feel a little better when she was sad.
"Neith."
A call sounded.
Neith found this voice familiar and comforting.
More familiar and comforting than Lucas.
But she had also forgotten who the owner of this voice was.
She looked up.
A small figure, not even as tall as her knees, was walking towards her with open arms.
"Who are you? Why do you know my name? What is your relationship with me?"
Neith's three consecutive questions left Gaea stunned.
Gaea paused, then a green light swept over her, and her form changed. She transformed from a normal-sized person into a figure roughly the same size as Neith. Her clothes also changed to green leaf attire, full of primitive charm.
"It's me, Gaea, your mother."
"My mother?"
Neith was visibly stunned, then she looked at Lucas, who had also become a giant beside Gaea, with a look of inquiry and expectation in her eyes.
Lucas nodded in response to Neith. "Gaea is indeed your mother."
At such close proximity, Neith's life aura was indeed similar to Gaea's life aura.
Gaea had no reason to lie.
Neith's emotions became agitated upon hearing Lucas's confirmation.
She opened her arms and threw herself into Gaea's embrace. Her movements were awkward yet natural.
Gaea held Neith, gently stroking the armor on her body.
Gaea's eyes were gradually filled with guilt. She remembered that this daughter of hers was like her, good at creation but not good at fighting. Yet Neith was now forced to this plight by that cruel God-Eater War.
Neith didn't think that much, her memory didn't support her thinking that much. She snuggled in Gaea's arms like a child, adjusted her position, and looked sideways at Lucas.
She suddenly asked, "So, are you my father?"
Lucas: ?_?
"Sorcerer Lucas is not your father. Neith, you don't have a father, only two mothers, me and Oshtur." Gaea explained, a hint of loss flashing in her eyes.
Neith nodded.
She easily accepted Gaea's explanation.
Then she asked again, "Then who is Lucas to me? My brother or my offspring? I also feel a sense of closeness from him."
Gaea patiently explained, "He is not your brother either."
Gaea was very certain she didn't have this son.
However...
Gaea looked at Lucas suspiciously.
Could Lucas be Neith's descendant?
Lucas noticed Gaea and Neith's strange gazes, and he helplessly explained, "Neith, I am not your offspring either."
Neith's eyes lit up.
Eliminate all impossibilities, and whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.
"Then you must be my partner."
Lucas: "..."
Gaea: "..."
male Ancient One: ^.^
Before Lucas could react, Neith apologized on her own, "I'm sorry, Lucas. I've lost my memories of you, and I don't like you anymore."
Lucas was silent.
He regretted lying the first time he met these five people. One lie required countless lies to cover it, and he was tired.
He opened his mouth and let out a long sigh. "Here's the thing."
Lucas briefly recounted how he had deceived Neith the first time he came to the Shadow Dimension, telling her that he was also one of the sleeping Shadow Gods.
Then he apologized to Neith, "Neith, I'm sorry for deceiving you. I am neither one of you, nor your partner or offspring. The reason you feel familiar with me might be because of this."
Lucas extended his hand, palm up, and a silver spider totem appeared in his palm.
The moment the silver spider totem appeared, Neith understood everything, understanding why she felt a sense of familiarity and closeness from Lucas.
"I see..."
Neith sighed with relief and also felt a little disappointed.
Her tone was complex, sounding like both a complaint and a playful whine. "You liar."
Lucas lowered his head somewhat shamefully.
He would never lie to fools again.
After explaining all this, Lucas and the Ancient One moved aside, giving Gaea and Neith space and time to catch up.
"You like to play around. This time, playing around got you into trouble, didn't it?"
After the two walked away, the Ancient One gloated.
Lucas glanced at the Ancient One, said nothing, and only sighed.
He should have known not to bring him along. He did nothing but watch the show and make sarcastic remarks.
"Don't worry, Gaea will most likely be on your side this time."
The Ancient One found it boring when Lucas didn't respond.
He subtly stirred his mental power, blocked out the surrounding sounds, and began to conspire loudly.
"I just noticed that Gaea was very disappointed to see Neith in her current state. She clearly cannot accept this side effect."
"As long as you can propose a better solution, she will definitely stand with you. Even if you don't have a solution, it doesn't matter."
"Gaea favors her descendants. She has helped younger and weaker descendants resist their parents on more than one occasion."
"Mm." Lucas nodded faintly.
Ancient One's analysis was very accurate but that wasn't important. What was important was that he was depressed right now.
As things had developed, the mastermind behind Ragnarok had already surfaced. It was most likely the Creator, the founder of the Elder Gods.
However, Lucas couldn't quite figure out some things.
One was the true origin of this Creator.
Using the World Tree, which covered half of the Marvel world, to orchestrate Ragnarok to remove the foreign energy from the fallen Elder Gods.
Such a grand scheme was not something an ordinary God could accomplish.
Another was why the primordial energy of the Elder Gods was both a sweet poison and a deadly one.
It could help Elder Gods quickly grow stronger. Yet once contaminated, it was extremely difficult to remove and could easily lead to corruption and demonization.
The poison aspect was understandable. Species consuming their own kind could easily trigger various diseases.
But why was it also a sweet poison?
Did the Creator not notice this when creating the Elder Gods?
"Sorcerer Lucas."
Gaea's voice awakened the deep-in-thought Lucas.
Lucas looked up and saw Gaea's face filled with unconcealed worry.
"Will Atum also encounter problems like Neith? Or will it be even more severe?"
Lucas composed himself, and he promised with a firm tone, "Gaea, rest assured, I am confident that Atum's side effects will be much smaller than Neith's. In fact, if a backup of Atum's memories is made beforehand, the impact will be even less."
Hearing Lucas's assurance, Gaea remained skeptical.
Not long ago, Lucas had said that Neith's problem wasn't serious. Aside from sleeping most of the time, her condition was quite good.
But when she came to see for herself, was this what he called 'not serious'?
She had even forgotten her own mother!
And her mind seemed to have returned to her teenage years.