New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live



When Alex fell back asleep, he turned up in a familiar room with a white cloudy ceiling and raised dais, with its permanent resident resting on a comfortable sofa, a teacup in his hand.

When Solomon saw Alex appear at the foot of the dais, he looked at him in surprise.

"Finally, you come back. I was wondering when the effect would take."

Alex looked at him, confused.

"Effect? What effect?"

Solomon smiled in response, beckoning him up to have a seat across from him.

As Alex ascended the few steps of the dais, Amon materialized an additional cup, setting it in front of the chair on the table, and poured tea in it.

"I poured a lot of mana inside the ring, hoping I could pull you here and have a chat. But it has been days. I wondered why it wasn't working and was about to ask the demons to talk directly to you."

Alex looked at him with squinted eyes. If Solomon had tried summoning him here, shouldn't he have felt the pull inside New Eden?

Why was he back here as himself, and not his avatar?

"Why did you want to call me here?" Alex asked, curious about the reason.

Solomon looked at him incredulously.

"For an explanation, of course!" he exclaimed.

"Huh?" Alex said, baffled.

"Boy, do you not remember prying yourself out of the ring with a divine essence latched to you?!"

Solomon was getting worried. If Alex didn't remember, then there was a possibility whatever he released held nefarious intentions.

"I can't explain…" Alex said.

Not that he didn't want to, but he didn't know what had happened, either. He knew a goddess had hitchhiked on his soul to get out, but Nemus had said little to him, either, about the why or how.

As he was about to tell him what he knew, a feminine voice interrupted him.

"But I can."

Amon went into instant offensive mode, pulling out his sword, and lunging at the women that had just appeared in this supposedly impenetrable domain. But with a snap of her fingers, the demon marquis turned into a wisp, before flying into Solomon's chest.

The demon's sword didn't follow him, as it clattered to the ground at the woman's feet. Solomon looked at her, stunned, recognizing her, but not understanding how she forced a demon away with a simple snap of her fingers.

Yes, gods were extremely powerful, but demons at a certain rank could rival the weakest of them. And Amon was no slouch in terms of power.

He might only be a marquis, but he could rival some demon princes.

Solomon rose to his feet, wary of the woman, ready to pull out the full might of the demons under his control.

"Sit down, Solomon, Great Sage of Souls. I mean no harm." Nemus said.

She walked forward a few steps, waving her hand as another sofa materialized, and sat down, reaching down for the teapot on the table.

Solomon looked at her, even more stupefied.

"How do you know that nickname? Very few called me this, and they are all long dead…"

Nemus looked at him with a smile as she poured herself some tea. When she brought the cup to her lips, taking a sip, she let out a content moan, her eyes closing in delight.

"You can tell the demon later that his tea is delightful. Divine, one might say. But let us get on to the explanation you wished."

Alex looked at the goddess, his eyes squinting.

"Can I ask you something before you answer his question?"

"I passed through you," Nemus said, smiling at him.

"Huh? How did you—"

"Know what you were going to ask? Child, did I not tell you we are one? Our bodies may be separate, but our souls intertwine. I can read you like an open book. And it is also how I can reach you, wherever you are, even in a closed domain like Solomon's."

Alex looked at her, dazed. Didn't this mean he could call on her for help, wherever he was, or whichever side of the veil he was on?

But Nemus' smile cut his thoughts.

"You won't be able to call on me. Not yet. I could only come here because Solomon warded his domain, shielding it from Gaius' prying eyes. A wise move, considering he wields the power of the one god, or goddess, I should say, that Gaius abhors."

Solomon snickered in response.

"That snake of a deity calls himself God, thinking himself above the others. But my mistress was ever more powerful than he was. Which is why he sealed her away ten millennia ago. I only became this powerful thanks to stumbling on works that described her powers."

Nemus smiled, her eyes flashing with a certain melancholy.

"But little people know of Psyche's existence, and I wouldn't expect a newly born goddess to know. Who are you, truthfully?" Solomon asked, his eyes locking onto her.

Nemus looked at him with a warm smile before taking another sip of tea.

But before she could even answer, Alex was the one that connected the dots.

"You told me they had locked you up for many millennia… Do you mean you are the goddess Solomon mentioned? Is your real name Psyche?"

Nemus responded to him with a wide grin, while Solomon choked on the tea he was drinking. His eyes darted from Alex, who had just said the most outrageous thing, to the goddess sitting next to him, who wasn't vehemently denying the words.

He knew gods were always vain about their identities. Calling one god by another's name was one good way to get cursed by the divine entity.

Seeing her smile at the kid's words, Solomon's mind reeled.

Waving his hands in the air, Solomon suddenly bolstered the defences on his domain, making it as impenetrable as he could. Saying her name aloud was already a risky business, but if Alex's words were true, having her here was dangerous.

Solomon had long since ostracized Gaius, and that was why he had hidden his domain from the god. If he had unwittingly freed her from her prison by tampering with Alex's soul, then he would assuredly become the target of the prick's wrath.

Nemus watched him draw magic glyphs with his hands and internally chuckled.

'Who knew the renowned great sage was such a cautious old man.'