Chapter Three: A Praised Deity

The entire hall was silent as they all stared st Aphrodite gazing down with a deep frown on her face, reminding herself of the picture she wanted to erase. Her soulmate had died a very  long time ago but she could still remember as she was very excited to be with someone she knew was rightfully hers. And she was his, both connected with their souls.

The death of her soulmate, back then had spread like wildfire and every god and goddess feared the idea of having their own. Despite Aphrodite's protection, even exceeding every other immortal being, he was still killed in the end. Brutally killed and left in the tub for Aphrodite to see.

Even though she had found the demon that had failed to return to the dark realm because it's transporter was dead, she did not find peace after killing it. She still felt the pain and suffering from within her body, causing her to shake by the thought alone.

"I never asked for another." Aphrodite sighed out shakily. "I would have gone to retrieve his soul from Hades and the god of death, but I did not want to put him through the entire setting once more. Besides, I was afraid to face him in the afterlife as I was ashamed that I did not protect him enough, since I forced him to be born, I can't force him to come back and be scared for the rest of his life." She sighed out, reaching up to wipe her years away as she internally insulted herself for failing. "You see, Aubrey, even though I protected him as much as I could, he died. That is why we are warning you."

"Your god, Hades could relate to the scenario as well." Zeus pointed out, grabbing everyone's attention. "He won't say it, neither will I, however, Aphrodite, Hades and others have seen a fate so twisted it became a trauma and fear. Unless you will be willing to handle it when it comes, we won't stop you."

"Simply because it had happened before, doesn't mean it will to me." Aubrey stubbornly pointed out as he stared up at Zeus who raised his brows, completely impressed with Aubrey's iron gut and strong spirit. "Mistakes happen, doesn't mean they will continue to happen. The oracle can't give out soulmates to immortals knowing they will eventually find their way in the realm of dead, or the after life. They are her children, so she wouldn't want harm to come to them. So she knows there is a way to protect them on way or the other but she can't tell you that, you just need to figure it out yourselves." Aubrey explained, getting shocked glances from the beings much larger than he was.

"In the mortal realm, we needed to study and become the best in order to get money and live without dying. Here you don't need to eat all the time, you can starve but you can't die from starvation. You can live anywhere and still be a god. Even though your high beings from mortals, there's still that one being higher than you and that's the only being who commands every single thing, while you're restricted to what you do. You can't control every single thing, even if it belongs to you. So you just need to find a way to prevent death if you can't control it. Giving up and being afraid won't solve anything. It will simply put it in store just to take it out later when it's been forgotten." Aubrey sighed before turning towards the oracle as the crowd remained shocked by his speech.

"Wow." Zeus grinned out widely as he stared at Aubrey. "That's a very good deity you have there Hades." He nodded as he glanced at Hades who simply nodded in agreement.

"When I found Aubrey, he didn't want anything to do with me despite explaining what I was and how much he could get. A castle, wealth and become god-like." Hades began as he placed his wine glass on a tray that s goblin was walking around with, collecting empty winds glasses. "Even when I offered him money, he simply told me to get lost and that he doesn't like 'getting the easy way out' when it comes to having things. Either that I offer him a job or give him a task worth the money I offered, or else he wouldn't accept it." Hades sighed out as he ran a hand through his hair in irritation. "Despite telling him that he passed the test and that I was awarding him immortality, he still told me to get lost. I gave him a task to earn his immortality but he said living forever was pointless and that being mortal was better because he knew that after all his accomplishments, the next thing he would look forward to was dying."

"Really?" Xun chocked out on his wine as he shot a shocked glance to Aubrey who was staring at Hades with a somewhat displeased look on his face. Even though he was now immortal and wealthy, he would go back to being human if Hades would ask him.

"Aubrey has an obsession with trying to figure out what his soul purpose of living is. Without it, he would fall into a state of panic until he finds something he would look forward to." Hades explained more, ignoring Xun who still couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Despite giving him a realm to look after, the important to guard himself and his realm, he still felt being immortal was a long time and that what he's currently doing will mean nothing once he grows into it. So I suggest that's the reason he wants a soulmate, to find another purpose."

"Wow.... He's really unique, I can tell you that." Diana nodded as she glanced down at Aubrey who sighed out and glanced toward the ground. "Clearly he won't listen to our warnings and back out, if he finds a way to protect his soulmate, it will help the rest of us." She smiled out as she stepped back from Aubrey and nodded to him to go ahead.

Aphrodite blinked out in complete amazement as her lips parted with raised brows and wide eyes, shocked with Aubrey's determination.

"Your soulmate is lucky to have you, Aubrey." Aphrodite smiled out as she sighed out admirably. "I hope you live a long life together with plentiful love."

".... Thanks." Aubrey nodded slightly before the Oracle nodded at the crowd at the foot of the stairs.

"Aubrey, please ascend the stairs." The oracle announced as she walked towards the sphere at the end of the platform, levitating off the ground, exactly the same as a while pearl, only much larger.