Revenge of the Serpent

Chapter 61

The dark sky was the only thing visible no matter how far he tried to look ahead, it was as if he'd been stranded in space, stuck floating in a state of weightlessness.

Along with his body, his thoughts seemed to have wandered off somewhere as well, he couldn't think of anything other than admire how beautiful the stars around him shone, he simply hovered, motionless, not thinking of anything in particular while at the same time very aware of his surroundings.

'...Wait.'

Theodore's eyes widened as he suddenly straightened himself, he looked around frantically as he realized that he was in an unfamiliar space. "Is this the divine world?"

[Theodore.]

The feminine voice that called his name startled him, he turned all over to see who'd spoken, but to his surprise, no one was there.

The voice continued, and it was then that Theodore realized who it belonged to. [You don't have a domain in the divine world yet, so you've been taken somewhere random...]

"Apophis? Where exactly is this random place?"

[...Hm, I would guess that it's some sort of dumpster since it's so empty...But I think I know where this is. Stay there.]

Without a word of warning, the space around him began to warp out of proportion, it spun around and shifted until the scenery changed into something that Theodore could recognize.

It was Apophis' maze-like garden.

The owner of the space was standing in front of him with her arms akimbo, still wearing the same dress as when he'd met her for the first time.

She smiled at him softly as she greeted. "Welcome home honey~"

"I..." Theodore shook his head, he had a more important matter to focus on. "Thank you, anyway, you know why I'm here so take me—"

"Ah, be patient, child," Apophis cut him off, she gently took his hand before guiding him into the maze. "You should take your time and let your body get used to the divine powers first, you almost lost yourself on your way here, didn't you?"

Theodore didn't reply immediately. "...Okay."

"That's right, you can leave immediately after you're fully prepared," Soon, the two of them came to a stop in front of a wooden house, it wasn't small nor was it big enough to be called a mansion, it had a simple design like the ones often seen in a forest. "Do you want some cookies? I can bake you some~"

Theodore thought about denying it, but seeing the anticipated look on Apophis' face, he couldn't bring himself to say no and gave her a nod.

"Oh, Theo!" Lawrence's voice sounded from the house's front yard, the old man was sitting in a rocking chair with a book in his hand, next to him was a small table, where a cup of steaming coffee and a piece of strawberry cake were on.

"Hi dad," Theodore spoke sheepishly, he was half-expecting his father to be there, but it was still weird to see a dead person acting as if he was still alive, it gave him a bittersweet feeling.

"You two can catch up, I'll go get the cookies real quick~" Apophis told them before disappearing into the house, not even bothering to close the door behind her.

Theodore slowly took a seat next to the table where his dad was sitting, his chair then suddenly turned from a regular wooden chair to a comfortable sofa, making it stand out among the other nature-themed furniture around the place.

Lawrence laughed when he saw his son's dumbfounded expression. "Ariel—I mean Apophis is amazing isn't she? The seat will change to match your personal preference, she said."