The Rise to Godhood
Chapter 26: Gaia’s Dilemma.

Kailow was looking at Gaia, who slept next to him. She had been moody in the last few weeks as they lost track of the Zeto Crystal. The crystal was missing deep below the mountains that collapsed when the Zetans landed in the Arishome Valley. Kailow found it ironic that Arish had named the valley after himself as his actions destroyed it. However, the name of the valley was the least of his concerns.

Kailow pitied Gaia as she was losing hope to save her species. Yet he didn’t blame his fellow citizens for not prioritising her needs. They were settling on a new planet, and their needs were more important than the prospect of helping an alien to look for a magical artifact. Besides, wouldn’t it be better if humanity were to go extinct? If they stalled for two more years, no other sentient species would remain on earth. In that scenario, the Zetan colonisation of the planet and the appropriation of the Zeto Crystal would be a victimless affair.

‘Come on, Kailow. You are better than this,’ Kailow thought and slapped himself. It was cruel and selfish to consider letting another race go extinct to make room for his species. “I am sorry, Gaia.” He mumbled, but she didn’t reply as she was in a deep sleep.

Did she know about his inner thoughts? Kailow was in awe of Gaia’s empath abilities. Although other Zetans had similar abilities, he could counteract them. Although he wasn’t as powerful as others, they could not use him like a puppet.

However, Gaia was different. Her powers stemmed from True Maker and were far beyond anyone on the planet. Yet, she had an inner conflict that terrified him. He didn’t know if he admired Gaia’s persona or connection to True Maker. He was a mere mortal; was he worthy of loving the embodiment of a deity?

“You are great, Gaia. I just wish there weren’t two souls within your body,” Kailow mumbled, tucked Gaia in, and walked to a lookout to watch the stars. The night sky was beautiful on Zetani Nova, and it was so different from the sky he had grown up with on Zetani. In the distance, he spotted Zetani Maximus, the blue giant star that his home planet orbited. As he thought about his home planet, which was 500 lightyears away, he felt bittersweet and wished that he could turn back time and re-live his youth.

***

Gaia saw a beautiful humanoid who admired her reflection in a Zeto Crystal. Watching the attractive female made Gaia feel overwhelmed by jealousy. At first, she did not know what caused her anger. Why did the sight of a beautiful woman and a Zeto Crystal anger her? Seeing a Zeto Crystal was a good sign. If she could pinpoint the location of the crystal, she could convince Zelinko and Arish to visit the planet. Once they were there, they could Zeto-charge enough sapphires to run a conservatory for her fellow humans on Earth until the Mount Toba ice age got milder.

“Princess Imogen. Your father is summoning you to the throne room.”

Hearing the dialogue in her vision, Gaia knew who the woman was. She was an elven princess of Elvonia. True Maker had stated that Kailow would marry an elven princess; thus, Imogen must be Kailow’s future wife. Seeing her future rival in a dream, Gaia uttered a high-pitched scream and woke up.

***

“Are you okay, Gaia?”

Gaia looked at Kailow, and she felt angry. How could he dump her for that royal skank? Why would this happen?

She bit her lip and replied, “Yes, I am fine. It was only a nightmare.”

“Are you sure? You have seemed so distant lately.” Kailow replied.

“You would also act distant if the survival of your species was hanging in the balance while everyone is abandoning you!” Gaia exclaimed and rushed off.

Gaia sought solace. She hated this place for what it had become. What had been a paradise was now a blown-out valley where construction work was going on around the clock. Why couldn’t the Zetans fulfil their promise? She had helped them, so why did they refuse to grant her the same favour?

“Tell Zelinko and Arish about the Zeto Crystal on Elvonia. They will help you charge enough sapphires to create a conservatory on earth.” True Maker said.

“I don’t want to lose Kailow. You told me that Kailow will marry an elven princess.” Gaia protested. “You have already lost Kailow. The seed of doubt in his mind is growing stronger every day, and there is nothing you can do to reverse the course.” True Maker replied.

“Nonsense. I am beautiful, and I have been great to Kailow. So why wouldn’t he love me.” Gaia objected.

“Because it isn’t your destiny to be loved. Look into his mind if you don’t believe me.” True Maker replied.

“I don’t care about destiny. I have free will, and Kailow will love me.” Gaia exclaimed.

“That is your ego talking. Farewell, for now, Gaia.” True Maker replied and ended the connection.

As the True Maker disappeared, Kailow approached Gaia and spoke, “Your eyes were flashing. Were you talking to her?”

“Yes,” Gaia replied.

“What did she say?” Kailow asked.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Gaia said.

“I understand,” Kailow said and gave Gaia a sympathetic look.

Gaia hesitated for a second, but she couldn’t resist the urge to reveal her genuine emotions. If she didn’t trust Kailow, then who else could she trust?

“She said that I wasn’t destined to be loved.” Gaia sobbed.

“So, so. Your mother is only telling you what you need to hear. That is all she ever does.” Kailow replied and hugged Gaia.

Gaia enjoyed the hug, and she would have loved it if Kailow’s words were sincere. Yet they weren’t, and she knew she had accelerated the inevitable. Yet she wouldn’t give up on her love. Although the supreme deity conspired against her relationship, she would do anything to save it.

***

The following day, Gaia entered the newly erected town hall for the Podixania colony, named after Podixa Sairan. While it was bemusing that Arish had named the valley after himself and the settlement after his wife, Gaia had a more important matter to attend to. She needed to convince Arish and Zelinko to fulfil their parts of the bargain. They had promised her that they would Zeto-charge sapphires and help her save her species. They had blamed the delays on the disappearance of the Zeto Crystal, but with an available Zeto Crystal on Elvonia, they had no excuse for not going.

Gaia got seated in a meeting room, and the two leaders approached her with a carafe of wine. “Behold the first vintage of Zetani Nova, cultivated in the regions of Arishome valley,” Zelinko said and poured three glasses of exquisite red wine.

“How is this possible? You arrived three months ago, and you flattened the valley.” Gaia asked in bewilderment.

“We sent scouts surveying the landscape. As a result, we found vast amounts of wild grapes to the south, which were perfect for our first vintage.” Zelinko replied and smiled.

Hearing this infuriated Gaia. The Zetans had claimed to be too busy to excavate the mountains to look for the Zeto Crystal, yet they had wasted a lot of time and effort replaceing a way of making alcohol. How was that a sensible priority?

Gaia hid her anger, tasted the wine, and spoke, “Elvonia, which is on the way to earth, has a Zeto Crystal in a temple close to their Royal Palace. I would appreciate it if we went there, charged our sapphires, and headed to Earth to save my species.”

Arish and Zelinko looked at each other. Neither of the Zetans was keen to leave while the other stayed on Zetani Nova. Despite cooperating while establishing Podixania, they didn’t trust each other.

“Unfortunately, we cannot take a spaceship to Elvonia. We haven’t established a safe way to land through the dimensions, and we would hate to cause collateral damage to the elves.” Arish said.

“I know, and we don’t need a spaceship,” Gaia said.

“How are we to build a large dome on earth if we don’t have enough materials?” Arish asked.

“We don’t need a large dome anymore. Because of your stalling, there won’t be many humans left. So, we need to replace the few humans remaining and bring them to a smaller facility where we provide food and shelter.” Gaia ranted.

“Gaia is correct. We should help her save her species.” Zelinko said.

“Bah, that’s easy for you to say. You’ll need my expertise to build the facility on earth, and I have a planet to run. I plan to link up all the former Zetan penal colonies in Disyerto-2 and turn Zetani Nova into something marvellous.” Arish stated.

“If you let me help Gaia, I promise to stay on earth. That will be the end of our rivalry.” Zelinko stated.

Arish reflected on Zelinko’s promise. It could be a great way to get rid of his rival without dishonouring himself by resorting to violence.

“We have an agreement. If you make a public proclamation that you will not return to Zetani Nova, I will help you.” Arish said.

“We have a deal,” Zelinko said, skolled his wine, shook Arish’s hand, and left the meeting room.

Gaia took a deep sigh of relief. Finally, the first part of her plan came to fruition. Now she needed to convince Kailow to follow her to earth while staying away from Elvonia. If she could pull that off, she could fulfil her purpose while staying in a relationship with the man she loved.