《Children of Eden》RETURN part 14
Advertisement
Hannah
“I lied earlier when I said that we were yet to make a decision on the prisoners, the truth is that we have. The Americans have agreed to leave, release the prisoners and close the mine. In exchange they’re going to stop masking us from satellite surveillance, stop guarding the forest against intruders and we’re going to give them back half of the money that they’ve paid us for the fragmentium.”
“They’ve been paying you?”
“We know how much the fragmentium is worth; the services that they’ve been providing us aren’t nearly enough compensation for it.”
“What do you even need the money for?”
“There are things we need that we can’t produce ourselves, medicines mostly, we buy them in the outside world and bring them back into the village.”
“How much money are you giving back to the Americans?”
“About $200 million.”
“That much?!”
“I told you, the fragmentium is worth a lot.”
“Is anything we were told growing up true?”
“You saw war and the effects of it with your own eyes; you’ll never see that here. Everything that we do is to ensure that what you experienced is never experienced by anyone here.”
“I knew that’s what you’d say.”
“What are you going to do when you’re freed? Are you going to come back like you’d planned or has everything that you’ve learned about our relationship with the Americans soured your opinion of us?”
“I haven’t decided yet.”
“We all want you back, you have no idea how worried Miranda’s parents have been about her.”
“Have you told them about us yet?”
“Not yet; I’ll tell them when this has all been brought to an end.”
“How long before we’re freed?”
“No more than a couple of weeks, the Americans need time to get all of their stuff out of here. You all need to take care of yourselves until then.”
Advertisement
“I want you to give some money to the prisoners here, as an act of penance.”
“The Americans are going to take care of that for us. I’ve known for a long time that what we were doing here was wrong but I’ve always assuaged my conscience by telling myself that we had to do it for the village. When I heard from Dr Lighton that you were locked up here I felt what all of their families must have been feeling all of these years. They’ll be taken care of; I’ve made sure of that.”
My mother’s decision to do this, which she’d made on her own, did a lot to redeem her in my eyes. She’d shown me a side of herself during this period that I’d never seen before, that I didn’t know she had. I knew the kind of risks that she was taking by doing things like allowing Cathy to see Prospera and pushing for a deal to get us freed. The steps that were being taken to get us out of prison were going to expose Prospera to the outside world in a way it hadn’t been for years; Cathy, an outsider, was going to have knowledge of Prospera; Philip would be returning to Prospera having met an outsider, all for something as simple as a mother wanting to help her child and the children that she’d watched grow up. I wanted to spend time with my mother and get to know this other, compassionate side of her better, but she was right, our time as prisoners and all of the revelations about Prospera’s dirty deals with the US military had done considerable damage to my opinion of the village and its governing authorities, of which my mother was a high ranking member.
“Is it okay, Philip meeting Cathy?” I asked her.
“You know Philip, he’s a puppy; if I tell him not to say anything he won’t say anything.”
Cathy and Philip came down from the mountain and my mother and I stopped talking. The time had come for us to go back. The ride back was silent; we had much to think about. Lt. Col Raymond was waiting for us at the base to escort us back to our cell. My mother hugged both me and Cathy before we were separated and said to Cathy in her most peremptory tone that she wasn’t to say a word of any of this to anybody, to which a mildly frightened Cathy responded that she understood.
Advertisement
Our responsibilities in the mine changed the very next day. The men were taken down to the mine to work and the women weren’t, not even Miranda and the others who worked in the kitchen were called upon, which Cathy and I knew was because above ground they were packing up. The food that we were brought to eat by the soldiers was from Prospera, we knew that in the cell and I suspected that Kevin had figured it out as well. Different sounds resonated from the mine than we were used to. There was no more pneumatic pounding and no more chipping; what we heard were explosions. They were few and relatively far between and every one of them startled me near to death; the thought that Kevin could be the victim of an accident worried me to no end. I waited all day to see him walk by our cell and breathed a huge sigh of relief when he did.
We spent our time in our cell thinking. After telling Lisa and Miranda while Cathy was sleeping about everything that my mother had told me about the terms of our release they had their own thoughts and questions to ruminate on. Our experiences as children of Prospera were the foundations of much of who we were and with every discovery of every lie those foundations eroded further, forcing us to rethink everything we thought we knew. That meant more for me than it did for Lisa and Miranda; I was the one who was being raised to have the responsibility of being a member of the Ethics Committee. I wondered if the sense of right and wrong that had compelled me to seek the release of the other prisoners would have been compromised enough had I stayed in the village for me to ignore their plight the way my mother and the others had been doing for years. Understanding that it was more likely than not I was glad I had left and had learned enough about the people of the outside world not to think of them as inferior beings whose freedom and lives were worth less than Prospera’s secrecy. By getting captured and imprisoned before making it to Prospera I had learned more about it than I would have had I made it back to the village, enough for me to decide that I wasn’t going to return to Prospera. I didn’t want to find myself in the position that my mother had been in for years of having to make decisions that changed the course of people’s entire lives. In the outside world there were no such decisions to be made. People were free to go wherever they wanted and do whatever they wanted. My mother and the other governing authorities had their reasons for doing what they did and on the surface at least Prospera appeared to function better than the outside world. The price that the peace and stability of the village came at, I learned during our time in the prison, was much steeper than I’d previously thought, and was, I decided, too steep. When I thought about Prospera and Huntingdale it was the latter that felt like home; the thought of Frank and Kristin welcoming us back filled me with warmth and it was that thought that occupied my mind whenever I wasn’t worrying about Kevin being down in the mine where explosions were going off.
Advertisement
Tempero King
Kade, a young man with a troubled past and abandonment issues, returns home after four years of service in the military with reservations about his future. However, Everything is upended when foreign races descend on earth, introducing humans to cultivation. Suddenly, the mythical abilities written about in stories are no longer works of fiction, but instead are the new reality. The foreign races-- Congregated into factions -- didn't come to Earth out of benevolence, however. They had a goal, which becomes apparent when Portals begin appearing across the globe. On the other side of these portals, sits a vast new world with resources galore. The faction's couldn't visit this new world themselves, so they requested that humans enter these portals to explore and conquer this new world in their sted as their champions, and in return, they offered these humans knowledge and resources for their cultivation. Just like that, a life changing opportunity presented itself to Kade and the rest of humanity. Is it truly as simple as it seems, or is there something dangerous under the surface? What makes this new world different from the countless others in the universe? If it sounds too good to be true, then it likely is. But those are questions for another day. For now, our protagonist will grasp this opportunity with both hands and claw his way to the top while facing the obstacles in his path as he goes! -Cover Art- The cover art is composed of two parts. 1: The hand was drawn by Robert Marzullo, a professional artist who has illustrated a few comic books and had some 3D animation on television. He is currently illustrating his own comic book 'Blackstone Eternal'. He has graciously allowed me the opportunity to use his artwork for the cover of my original webnovel. -Link to the art used: https://www.deviantart.com/robertmarzullo/art/Hand-Studies-By-RAM-605188489 -Robert Marzullo's Deviant Art page where you can find his other social media: https://www.deviantart.com/robertmarzullo/about 2: The magic circle used was created by ChocasaJulie on Deviant Art. She follows her passion for art despite those that would consider it a waste of time. She has even made some of her art Free Use in support of other artists. Her only ask is that she is credited, and that is more than fair!
8 185The Priest of Genes
Meet Seth, acolyte in the Church of Virtue. He’ll be a Priest like his father soon, he just knows it. Sure he didn’t inherit his mother’s preaching power, but he doesn’t mind being the secondary priest at whatever temple he is assigned to. Just as long as he has a library. Meet this genetics textbook. Hmm, that doesn’t belong here. It must have come from somewhere far away, I guess something happened to its owner. I’m sure a studious young man who likes healing could go far with this information, whether he wants to or not. This is my first time really writing anything, so I hope you like it! Please let me know if I make any mistakes; I have a new R&D tech job at a genomics company, so I probably don’t edit as much as some people. I’m shooting for two thousand-ish word chapters released on Sundays, since none of the webnovels I read ever seem to update that day. Underserved Market! Genre is fantasy, possibly progression fantasy. Maybe a tiny bit litRPG if you wait a while and squint really hard, but that’s the most I’m prepared to claim. Hedged my bets on the content warnings, nothing that bad. Cover art from A. W. Gelman
8 179I am a Guardian in another world!?
Lawrence Carstein, a marketing executive from Singapore is a long time player of the VR MMORPG, Ever Dawn. However, a fatal electric surge sends him into another world, a world where he retains his character from Ever Dawn, a Level 99 Guardian in a world full of war, political intrigue and nobility!
8 584Nights of Sambria: And the Wish of Light
“I discovered a secret. One I desperately wish could have stayed hidden. It was locked away, concealed in a fantastical world on the doorstep of 7 billion people who stayed utterly oblivious to it. If they will be spared the terror that is coming, I can’t begin to imagine. Know that a forgotten heritage of a dwindling people whispered, unknowingly sending a call to the ancient mysteries of the world. Something listened. And now events are set in motion that could force the earth on a course of terrible change. I am being hunted and have run out of time. There were no stories about it. No legends. Not even scribbles. Yet, the threat of it is real and that’s why I’m writing this warning with shaking hands. So pay attention those who read this, be careful of what lies waiting cloaked in the darkness. That which made their home the lost places of this world.” She folded the letter with a shuddering breath and stared back in the direction from where the noise reverberated through the halls. It was of stone doors shattering one by one. The chances of getting out safely were all but gone. The letter in her hand was all warning they would have. It dropped into one of the Wells and all that could be done now was hope it was found in time, if at all. -- This was my very first large story. ;) I started writing it years ago. Was fun, was difficult, but in the end, it is a story I hope that will inspire. The prologue is in first person perspective and the rest of the story in 3d. Just a little heads-up :P It is a fantasy epic with a contemporary twist for the start. The first arc of the novel is set inside our modern world, but as the mysterious events around Calin intensifies, the hidden secrets in the world start to become more fantastical. The story follows Calin, a young orphan in search of answers. But, the answers he seeks will change his life and that of his friends forever, for the secrets that caused his situation have far greater ramifications than the small village of Lamb's Crest could have known. Remember to leave ratings and reviews. I'm quite interested in hearing your thoughts on the story. ;) Enjoy reading, Omri Hope
8 186Random Jojo One Shots and Headcannons
Hello!!! Welcome to my book! I'm genuinely so happy you literally noticed this abomination from God! Just to let you know before reading, my headcannons are something I'm confident in, but my one shots I'm not so sure about, but I'll let you know I'm like 90% sure the writing quality isn't the quality of a 13 year old who doesn't know the difference between they're, their, and there. I also try my best to make sure (y/n) isn't cringe or stupid. I put a lot of effort into everything I write and I'm willing to edit what seems OOC or just bad in general to make it better since I slip up sometimes, so feedback and votes are extremely appreciated :)This is a (character) x reader by the way, reader is fem in the one shots while the headcannons are gender neutral.UPDATES ARE RANDOM BECAUSE MY LIFE IS A MESS
8 72The Other Swan (Twilight Fanfic)
Kassidy-Ann Swan, the twin sister to Bella Swan (Bellybear) and the daughter of Charlie and Renee Swan. they had sent her away when she was younger and now she's back, no one can prepare for the other swan.
8 72