Please enjoy the chappie~
Chapter E13: Sand in the Rain.
"Owww… What the hell?" (Anna)
Anna rose up with a groan and Nika jumped to inspect her tablet for possible damage.
Azura merely stood there in a daze as Seth promptly landed next to her.
"Noah is dead. The third temple should be safe now." (Seth)
"Congratulations. Was that last blast akin to the Archangel's death throe or something?" (Azura)
Seth cocked his head to the side.
"But I took it for your artillery support." (Seth)
"Wh-What? That thing seemed to come from everywhere. Ain't no artillery fire like I know of." (Anna)
However, it seemed like Anna's words only succeeded in puzzling Seth further.
"Then, was there anyone else in the sky besides Noah and myself?" (Seth)
Everyone shook their heads in silence.
"That is… very strange." (Azura)
"…" (Nika)
"…Something wrong, Nika?" (Anna)
"I feel like I'm forgetting something." (Nika)
"…Yeah, now that you mention it, I feel the same way, too." (Anna)
"Me too. But what could it be?" (Azura)
"I-It was something really important. I think…" (Anna)
An important— maybe even precious existence.
"In any case, this temple is liberated now. I would like to go back and have my vitals checked." (Seth)
"Understood." (Azura)
"Roger that. Let's head back as soon as I tag the entrance to the fourth temple." (Nika)
The three walked away.
Only Anna continued to linger at the spot.
Looking at the ground absentmindedly, she tried her best to remember.
"Something was here… Or rather. Someone was here."
Her memories dispersed like sand in the wind. She couldn't recall a name or a face no matter how hard she tried.
Was there one more person with them? Two? Three?
Was it a man? A woman? A saint? A witch? A magician? An esper? …A human?
Or something else entirely?
No information; her brain held no such record.
Blank. Blank. Blank.
Therefore, it stood to reason that she was simply overthinking it.
After all, temples were places where chorus ran rampant— an ode that preyed on mental insecurities.
But that being said, why was she feeling this way?
Anna wasn't insecure. In fact, she considered her strong mental fortitude as her charm point.
Not to mention that it was merely the third temple.
She'd be d*mned if she allowed mental contamination to take root in her brain at such early stages.
Therefore, Anna was baffled.
Even the Oracle was saying there was no one else present, yet her mind and heart screamed otherwise.
Almost like there was now a small hole in her existence.
A small one, almost akin to a needle prick, yet a hole nonetheless.
"Ahh, goddammit. What the heck's going on anymore?!"
Sadly, there was no one left to answer Anna's lament ;^;
In the end, he did not quite erase me.
He merely transferred me to an entirely separate plane of existence.
The Future.
Everyone lived in both the past and the present.
The moment one took a step forward was the moment his former place had turned to past and his future became his present.
Future was a goal, a dream, a hope… and it was despair.
But it was not a place for anyone to occupy.
And yet.
It seemed I was currently there precisely.
"Where is th…is…?"
I stood up and shook my head. Luckily it didn't seem I was injured.
I was in a place that couldn't be described properly.
On the surface, it looked like an empty canvas made out of small floating golden letters.
Littered with incomprehensible structures of alien geometry that refused all human cognition, it reminded me of some impossibly intricate circuit.
There was neither a distinct ground nor sky.
Even the empty space felt completely different.
An odd, matrix-like world.
Just looking at the place was overloading my mental capacities.
What on earth happened back there? And where was this place…?
"…ma!"
There was a human-shaped "shadow" in front of me.
It was a blur, a vague silhouette of someone I…
…I couldn't make out who it was no matter how hard I squinted my eyes.
"You are…" (Touma)
"…Touma! Touma! Touma! Touuumaaa!"
"Y-Yeah?" (Touma)
It was a female voice. She was calling out my name.
Calm down. I knew her. I just have to remember.
I reached out to the silhouette.
My sight betrayed me in this place, and I did not know if I could trust my hearing anymore. So, I decided to bet on my sense of touch to confirm my suspicions.
My fingers touched the blurry shadow with a girl's voice.
"Toumaaa…!"
The shadow returned my touch, clinging onto my extended arm with a teary voice.
The supple and bouncy texture of her skin at my fingertips; the sweet smell of citrus at my nostrils.
Ahh, this girl was still in my memories.
I couldn't remember her because I never really forgot.
"El…aine?!" (Touma)
And with that, the shadow took the features of a girl. With her face drenched in tears completely, she was a complete sobbing mess.
"Are you alright?" (Touma)
"Ugh. Yeah *sob*" (Elaine)
Elaine couldn't contain her tears.
She clung to my arm tightly. It was almost as if she was afraid that I'd disappear the moment she loosened her grip.
That she'd be left all alone again.
"T-Touma… Wh-Where… are we?" (Elaine)
"*sigh* I hope I knew." (Touma)
It was the truth. I really didn't know our location.
But I could still tell one thing: being here was not a good omen.
That specific feeling had my heart in a vice-like grip. Unease coiled around me like a heavy, wet blanket making goosebumps erupt all over my body.
All these were definitely not any good signs.
"This is a world only gods are allowed to enter. Pardon me; it is undergoing a major renovation, you see. Yet it's still beautiful, don't you think?"
"…!" (Elaine)
Elaine jumped to her feet and hid behind me. I took a deep breath and turned my face to see a man looming before us.
"…?!" (Touma)
I did not notice him approach, and despite him being present before my very eyes, I could not feel his presence at all.
It was like I was experiencing some serious cognitive dissonance. Like an optical illusion or a mirage.
His appearance was quite peculiar.
Clad in a green surgical-gown, with an androgynous appearance with delicate features, it was as if he was the "average" of all humanity irrespective of racial and gender differences.
Yet, at the same time, he didn't quite feel like a human.
The aura he possessed was undoubtedly that of someone who had transcended everyone and everything— imposing, majestic, and supreme.
If God ever took the shape of a man, then I would undoubtedly have imagined Him to look something like this.
A seemingly perfect being that allowed for no vagueness or taint.
"Hmm. Isn't this a surprise? A pleasant one, I assure you, but still a surprise nonetheless. Now, while I am sure that you have a lot of questions, the very first question you are going to ask may seem the most important, yet it is the most irrelevant."
His "all-seeing" gaze pierced me.
He already knew what I planned to ask him.
The question of his identity.
"…!" (Touma)
The next instant, overwhelming pressure ravaged me.
It was as if the very skies had fallen down on my shoulders.
"Agh… ugh…" (Touma)
My bones creaked, my muscles spasmed. Yet I continued to struggle to stand.
I cannot submit.
I would not submit.
I have to protect Elaine.
"Oho…"
He wasn't even doing anything. I knew that much already.
He was simply looking at me.
Just the weight of his gaze— his interest— was enough to send me down to my knees.
His strength was absolute.
Resisting was out of the question. I could only pray he didn't crush my vertebrae.
"You can call me the Architect of this place. Just now I have learned, contemplated, and perceived all about you. Yet I cannot seem to understand the reason of how or why you were the chosen. An existence like you should never have been able to step into this place."
"…Guah… Ah…!" (Touma)
I could trace the hint of iron on my breath.
This immense pressure would undoubtedly liquify all my internal organs and shatter my bones to the dust.
And there was not a thing I could do about it.
My consciousness was dimming. Asphyxiation was slowly starving my brain of its vital oxygen.
"S-Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop! YOU'RE KILLING HIM!" (Elaine)
Elaine rushed forward to shield me.
N-No. Get away from him! ELAINE!
"Oh. My apologies! Where are my manners? I never intended to cause you two inconvenience. It seems like I should further limit my powers while interacting with you."
"…Gwaaah! Haaah!" (Touma)
I felt the pressure disappear without a trace. It seemed like the man truly meant us no harm. I could even tell that he had made the atmosphere here as Earth-like as possible for our sake.
Seeing color return to my face, I could see a hint of relief flash across Elaine's face.
Yet I couldn't help but stagger forward.
"…TOUMA!" (Elaine)
The pressure had left me completely disoriented. As everything returned to normal, I simply lost my balance.
Elaine rushed to support me.
Anyway, as he said, I had a lot of questions for him.
"Wh…ere is this place?" (Touma)
I squeezed the words out. I had to ask.
"This is the final destination of your pilgrimage."
Pilgrimage?
"This is the seventh temple?" (Touma)
"Not exactly. This is Adam Kadmon— the World of Gods. Or I suppose it once was. Now I am not sure what it is supposed to be anymore. Maybe you can simply call it the Source at this point."
The World of Gods? The Source?
This place is?
But if that were to be true, does that mean the Seventh Temple was not our final destination?
But how? Why did they never tell us?
I could only think of two answers to this dilemma.
First: they didn't trust us with this information.
Second: not even they knew of this.
Somehow, I found myself biased towards the second choice.
I could not bring myself to believe that upright people like Kanzaki or Albert would wantonly send magicians to their deaths willingly.
And indeed… all this was based on the assumption that whatever this apparition of a man was saying was true.
"You seem unconvinced, Kamijou Touma. Indeed, while I understand that humans as a species are inherently and quintessentially skeptical to such epiphanies, I assure you that my words are no lie. This is indeed the end-point of your pilgrimage."
He appeared to be genuinely telling the truth. Key emphasis on appeared.
Because this was merely my gut feeling.
I mean for a being as overwhelming as him, there was no reason to resort to lies to lead me astray, right?
For him, killing me was a feat as easy as squashing an ant. Manipulating my memories was even easier.
Thus, even the very fact that he was going out of his way to provide me with such information verbally, lent an odd sort of credibility to his words.
"P-Pilgrimage?" (Touma)
"Yes. Pilgrimage. You don't launch crusades against temples, you undertake pilgrimages to them, no?"
"That's just ar…guing semantics. It changes not…hing of *cough* substance." (Touma)
Crusade or Pilgrimage— it doesn't matter. Why would anyone care as long as the end-result is the same?
"Argue what you will, Kamijou Touma, but it is undeniable that your life is the sum remainder of a failed SYSTEM. You're the eventuality of a past that failed Mankind. Logically speaking, your mind should have been long annihilated due to mental contamination here… Yet here you are, standing at the heart of Source World, unascended and unaware no less, yet fairly unscathed. Ergo, it is illogical and irrational, but it is still not completely out of calculations. It seems like you have truly inherited the Goddess' protection."
The man's features did not change, but I could sense a peculiar tinge of warmth in his tone.
I could not fully understand the meaning of the words he spoke. But I could tell that he was curious; endlessly intrigued by how my "impure" self had managed to intrude upon Adam-Kadmon, the so-called Source World.
"Your role should have been over. You should have exhausted all possible choices in that world. There should have been no meaning for you to continue existing. Yet here you are… Ufufu~ Is this what they call "plot-armor," I wonder? How pleasantly vexing!"
My heart screamed in denial, but my mind silently accepted his words as true.
His voice was like a symphony. It was like hearing the roar of some mythical ancient dragon.
I was facing trouble holding onto my thoughts.
Even though I kind of knew that he was holding back immensely for my sake, his voice was resonating deep within my soul.
It was then that I realized one crucial detail: it was this man that had launched the all-obliterating beam in the last fight.
…Yet he hadn't planned on transporting me here.
Being at the wrong (right?) place at the wrong (right?) time, I was just caught up in his plans.
Which meant…
…he was targeting Elaine.
I struggled, gasping for breath.
His impenetrable aura and voice seemed to suck the last remnants of my energy away.
Yet I could not afford to lose consciousness here.
Not anymore.
There were three problems I was facing.
Firstly: he had plans for Elaine.
I couldn't allow that. No matter the cost.
Secondly: he seemed to know everything about me.
And with all that information at his disposal, he asserted that there should be no purpose for me to exist at all in the new world.
In fact, the very reason for his "pleasant" surprise was that I was bothering to do so at all.
And lastly, my brain was telling me plain and clear— this man was invincible; there was not a way in hell I could ever defeat him.
Victory was impossible.
"So, this is how the script goes, huh. Ufufu~ I see. Such irony! Despite refusing to lord over the world, you would still continue to observe it from the sidelines. You would still aspire to become the Goddess's Champion. How very interesting! How very magnificent! Just as expected of her deranged mind!"
The man went on and on with his soliloquy, paying no attention to my inner problems. It was as if he merely enjoyed the sound of his own voice.
Goddess? Her?
No. That was not the issue.
I have to ask him about something else.
I have to ask him about Elaine…
"Y….ou… What do y…ou plan… to do with El…aine?!" (Touma)
The man's expression turned serious for an instant. A vestige of an emotion resembling anger momentarily flashed across his immaculate face
"That's merely a name Malleus Maleficarum soiled her with. Her true name is—"
The man whispered it into my ear.
I froze.
A grim revelation hit me like a tsunami.
I knew full well what that name meant.
Elaine Le Fay's reason for existence.
And her past.
I saw it all in a split second.
"Do you now realize who she truly is?"
"…!" (Touma)
I coughed up a pint of blood. This place was not welcoming me. Neither was the man's immense energy.
Physically I was alright, but spiritually, I could feel my sense of "self" erode away.
In effect, it was like standing a bit too close to a black hole (except it was a spiritual one in my case).
"P…Please, I beg of you. Please, don't kill… him…!" (Elaine)
My action caused Elaine to misunderstand the situation. He was not doing anything to me.
At least not actively.
I was simply self-destructing as an aftermath of being somewhere I shouldn't be.
Yet when she implored the man, sobs choking out her words—
"I understand."
—the man nodded in response.
I no longer knew what was happening anymore.
A hole suddenly appeared beneath my feet and I felt my balance slip.
"AHHHH!" (Touma)
He mouthed something before I blanked out.
I opened my eyes to a shocking sight.
I was in the Abyss.
"…What?" (Touma)
I was in the middle of plummeting downwards towards the ocean.
I tried to fly, but as soon as the notion entered my mind, thorns of harrowing pain dug deep into my brain.
Ah, goddammit.
What was going on?
How did I fly till now?
The headache was so vile I thought it'd split my body apart along with my brain.
"Ah…Gh…" (Touma)
My mind went blank.
I didn't forget how to fly; it was just my memories of that concept weren't there. Erased.
I did not fully understand the physics of the Abyss, but if that water behaved in any way similar to an ocean, I would no doubt die if I crash into it at such high speeds.
Suddenly, I realized that an odd sense of relief had intermingled with the fear currently occupying my heart.
Did I truly want to survive?
…I couldn't even answer such a simple question.
Wouldn't it be far more easier to end everything here?
I plummeted towards the ocean.
Since the concept of terminal velocity or air friction didn't exist here, the gravity (or its equivalent) accelerated my body to near-relativistic speeds.
As such, all I had to do was close my eyes, and cease struggling for death to come swiftly.
After all, not even a Ranked Saint could escape become a blob of gore at these absurd speeds.
Just as I wallowed in such self-destructive thoughts—
"Ufufu~"
—an unfamiliar face flashed before me for a split second as I closed my eyes.
Who was that?
Just as I was questioning who it was.
"Don't die! Please, please don't die!" (Elaine)
Elaine's cry suddenly rang in my mind.
Was I hearing things? No, her voice was much too clear, much too vibrant.
It felt as if my brain had forcefully been plugged into a telephone line.
This is telepathy?
B-But how? Elaine doesn't know how to do that yet?
But still I was certain that it was a cry Elaine let out upon seeing my mortal peril.
I had no notion of how it could have possibly reached me, but currently, I had more, more immediate problems to worry about.
Her desperate screams revived my interest in survival.
I still did not know anything about this world or myself. However, if what Elaine said before were to be believed, which I do, then regardless of what the situation was, there was bound to be some sort of reason for my existence in this vast multiverse.
Maybe it didn't "exist" because I haven't discovered it yet! Wasn't that how magic itself worked?
Power of observation and all.
Anyway, I had to survive first.
Filling my mind with that single thought, I ground my teeth as I endured the splitting headache.
I couldn't fly. In order to make me drop down the hole he created, that man probably pried the knowledge out of my mind.
"Exhaust your resources. Show me your reckless determination. Can you truly become a fierce Hero capable of toppling my flag of Evil?"
That was what the man whispered to me at last.
Did he fancy himself as some Demon King?
Not that he would be any wrong in making such a preposterous assumption.
Anyway, without memories, I wasn't really in a position to start learning a new concept right now.
I doubted any of my inherent powers could help in this situation, too.
Not even [Imitate: God of Strength: Kratos] could stop my body from disintegrating from a crash at near-relativistic speeds.
Not to mention that, despite its normal appearances, this was the Abyss.
It wasn't possible to return to my phase without specific internal and external coordinates.
So… what could I do?
My mind wandered to my pocket dimension where the Joyeuse had been stored.
Though I wasn't in a situation where it could prove of any use… Ah, wait. Right!
[Summon: Gluttony.]
Manifesting out of thin air, the mountain-sized beast let out a piercing growl.
In doing so, it produced a small recoil which arrested my momentum a little bit.
I promptly dismissed the beast.
[Summon: Gluttony]
I began resummoning and dismissing the beast repeatedly, using the recoil to slowly reduce my falling speeds.
[Summon: Gluttony]
It was my twentieth summon. The proud beast gave me a glare and roared at me.
It had probably grown indignant by the reckless way I was using it.
Either way, I barely had any more time left before I made contact with water
I might have greatly slowed down from relativistic speeds, but I was still traveling roughly a dozen times the escape velocity of Earth.
Still not a safe enough speed to crash!
But since I was out of options, I hugged the back of the beast.
[Imitate: God of Strength— Kratos.]
With the energy of an orbital kinetic missile, the beast crashed into the ocean like a colossal asteroid. I made myself as small as possible to reduce the resulting impact force.
I was overcome by a debilitating sensation, almost as if my body had been shattered to pieces.
But it arrested my momentum completely; I even bounced into the air a little.
Nonetheless, I thought my internal organs would come flying out of my mouth. I felt as if I had jumped out of an airplane without a parachute only to hit a concrete pavement.
The beast completely exploded into gore (which cushioned my fall even further).
Still, it saved me from a very gruesome death, so I was quite happy with this outcome.
I drifted along the primordial waters as I glanced up at the sky.
This was a very specific region of the Abyss.
Rahab's domain.
That man had really gone out of his way to throw me all the way here.
While the fall in itself was arduous, I am sure I wouldn't have survived the "oblivion" of the Abyss otherwise.
But why would he do that?
However, that was not the only issue plaguing my mind.
What was up with that golden mathematical world up there? What was that man's true identity? Was Elaine all right?
I was almost certain she was safe.
I doubted that the mysterious man would want to hurt her; if anything, he was more likely to treat her as if she was made of glass.
As such, she was in no danger physically.
But that didn't mean that she was safe.
Mentally or spiritually… the risk was very real.
He might very well take control of her mind or try to erase her memories.
He might try to make her more docile.
"Future, huh." (Touma)
That was what the name the man whispered in my ear implied.
Elaine Le Fay's true identity.
"Future?" (Elaine)
It didn't seem like the man in front of me meant me any harm.
Or at least, he didn't abruptly attack or toss me away, like he did with Touma.
He assured me that Touma was safe. That he didn't kill him, to my great relief.
His next words, however, hurt me more than any physical action could.
He looked straight at me and declared: "I created you."
And when I asked him what I was, he said: I was the embodiment of the "ideal" Future.
"You are the Future, in the flesh. A perfect and complete existence on your own, you no longer have any need for the Past. Your name is a product of Elizabeth Bathory's whimsical nature. Nonetheless, you are immaculate and authentic; a bonafide Goddess of the Future."
"Huh?" (Elaine)
"You're the culmination of both my hopes and dreams, my despair and malice. I created you the same day I entrusted you to Bathory. Therefore, it is alright to stop spending time in search of your past; you don't have one."
The strength of my legs gave out and I plopped down powerlessly like a puppet with its strings cut.
The shock was huge enough to paralyze my body, yet my mind was clear as a crystal.
I felt as if my heart had been cleaved into two halves in the blink of an eye by some master swordsman— that I was dead, but I had yet to realize it.
I mean… It was… What…?
But wait!
"Wait! Wh-Why could I remember how to cook, then…?" (Elaine)
And I was pretty good at it. I must have learned it from someone, right?
"Cook…? Ahh, I suppose that is because it was arranged for you to be that way."
A-Arranged me?
"I…"
"I still do not know how and where Elizabeth Bathory acquired such heaven-defying powers. Yet it is a good thing that she entrusted it upon you. I must admit that I am very pleased; you have truly blossomed into an irreplaceable existence."
The man placed his hand on my cheek.
It was very cold to the touch. The sensation reminded me of a marble statue, a vampire, or a corpse.
Rendered completely unable to move, I merely stared at his feminine face.
"I have been frustrated by failure too many times. But you. You, on the other hand, are perfect! Cradling the new world, you are the only existence capable of becoming its Mother. As Eve— you're the Goddess of the Future itself."
Eve.
That was my true name.
"But if knowledge of your truth still eludes your comprehension, I don't mind letting you witness it with your own two eyes."
As the words finally sunk in, my body tensed up from fear.
"N-No…! Stop! Stop! Stop! Please, stop…!"
I don't wanna see it! I don't wanna know it!
I am sure that that knowledge would warp my worldview forever!
I wanna stay ignorant of the truth!
I don't wanna know anything about my past self!
Please! Please!
The man pressed two of his fingers against my forehead. That simple action proved more than enough for me to remember everything.
My whole life.
A life that was hardly one year long.
I was inside some kind of liquid.
I had no sense of time. Floating in the tank full of oxygen-rich amniotic fluid, I had my mind filled with various essential data.
The word "lived" would be an exaggeration; I merely existed there.
Ahh.
The me inside the tank had not a single thought in her mind. She had yet to grow self-conscious.
Her heart was beating. Her five senses were fully functional.
But she wasn't technically alive yet.
The Testament worked ceaselessly to fill her with all sorts of vital information.
Every atom of her being was arranged meticulously to constitute the woman that I currently knew as myself.
That was why I could cook without the need for any practice.
There was a slight change in the scenery. A pale, white-haired girl appeared next to the tank.
Ahh, she was—
I knew that face.
But where?
"Hmm. I think she's ready. You should thank your good fortune today, Rei-chan."
Another man appeared next to her. An assistant researcher perhaps. His nametag had the name "Kihara Reiketsu" written on it.
"Should I drain the tank, Oba-ue?!"
The man named Reiketsu asked the pale girl for her permission. She merely nodded in response. It seemed like she was the one in-charge.
"Please be extra gentle with her."
"Of course, the subject will not be damaged in any… HUH!."
I didn't know what just happened.
The assistant just keeled over. Grasping his chest, foam frothing his mouth, his entire body began convulsing in violent spasms.
His heart was forced to stop beating by some external force; in short, he was dead.
"Didn't I tell you not to call #13 a subject?! Only I get to call her that. Well, then again, Rei-chan, I guess you've already had a change of heart… Ufufufu~"
Not paying her madness any mind, I chose to focus on something else.
It appeared there were twelve iterations before me.
"Why are you here…? What do you want? If you have no business here, I'd appreciate it if you left. Please, please, my head's about to burst! Get out of here! Out! Out…!" (Elizabeth)
"Ara~Ara~ Are you still not feeling well?"
"Yes. I feel so bad that I want to drive my thumbs into my eyes all the way to my brain and give it a good rattle." (Elizabeth)
"Ufufu~ I see… Glad to hear that you're doing well."
"Aaah.. Can you get out of here already? Please! I don't want to see those things anymore! No more! No more!" (Elizabeth)
In response, the white-haired girl wrapped her hands across Elizabeth's waist from behind.
"Then you can be free anytime you want. You just have to make a small choice, no?"
With a "yandere-ish" blush, she whispered into the deranged alchemist's ears from behind.
"C-Choice?!" (Elizabeth)
"Yes. A choice. And oh, I've brought some presents for you."
She separated from Elizabeth's body, and I appeared in her arms instead.
"She is a pure human. One that not God, but He made."
"Ahh! She's so beautiful! So delicate!" (Elizabeth)
"Yes. There is not a single trace of taint on this girl. She is chaste and pure; the most innocent of women."
"Oh… Oooohhh…. Oooooohhhhh. I can see it… I can see it…!" (Elizabeth)
"Lizzy" embraced me.
"Let's be together forever. Let's play together forever. I shall be your guardian, or no, even better: I shall be your family." (Elizabeth)
With tears of joy streaming down her cheeks, Lizzy gently caressed my cheeks.
"It's going to be all right. I'll make sure all will go well this time. I'll make a beautiful world just for you. A world sweet as a cake, a world that exists only to protect you." (Elizabeth)
Her words were breaking due to happiness.
But something was strange. Something just didn't add up.
The white-haired girl's face traced a gentle smile as she faced Elizabeth.
"This one is already the thirteenth. Try keeping your temper in check this time, all right?"
"I get it! I get it, Leah! No need to repeat the same thing to me over and over…!" (Elizabeth)
Ahh, so that was how it was.
Lizzy's mind had already succumbed to madness.
She had already killed twelve versions of myself.
"I-It's gonna be alright this time. It'll work out. We'll attain happiness. Happiness in my world, without God!" (Elizabeth)
Vilnius took on a different hue around Lizzy.
The temple was being overwritten by her mad mind; a sanctum was being erected.
Ahh, I could remember this part.
"I… see…" (Elaine)
I sat on a chair, my head resting on the desk.
Ahh, I could remember this well.
The phone rang.
And I opened my eyes.
So that was the starting point.
Everything seemed to have started moving from that twilight.
"So, it was then that I was born." (Elaine)
"Yes. A year has yet to pass since you awoke."
"S-So… my past didn't exist in the first place." (Elaine)
"Something like the Past is unnecessary for a perfect being such as yourself."
Me? A perfect being?
I nearly let out a sardonic chuckle, but managed to contain myself at the last second.
I wanted to avoid showing emotion in front of this man.
Therefore, I simply continued sitting motionless while the man continued talking.
"You're the only one who can connect to the doors of the Future. When the time is ripe, you shall give birth to a new SYSTEM, and lead it as its Mother."
"W-Wait. A new SYSTEM? But what about the existing one?" (Elaine)
"That one is a failure. It possesses no right to exist. And since I have cleaved away its future conceptually, I have already played the part of its executioner. Now it is only inevitable that Creation will rot and die given time. We don't need to stain our hands with its physical destruction. To wither away is its only fate now. Please do not concern yourself with something so utterly mundane. Instead, please try to focus on your role to become the new Goddess of Mankind."
"N-No!" (Elaine)
"You don't need to worry, however. I haven't killed your Adam. Maybe he will be able to prove himself worthy. Else…"
"E-Else?" (Elaine)
"He, too, will perish. But isn't that merely the natural order of things? Survival of the fittest, and all that. Well, I'd say the odds of that happening are nearly 99.99%~ You'd do well to forget him, I'd suggest."
"NOOO!" (Elaine)
"In the first place, Kamijou Touma is the very incarnation of the despair plaguing the old SYSTEM. He is the embodiment of those unable to move on. Together with God, I'd say that he, too, is a monster unfit to inhabit the new SYSTEM. The only reason I entertained him is because of your choice. Your favor truly ties my hands."
"Y-You b*stard!" (Elaine)
He was cruel.
He was beyond cruel.
Everyone was trying their best to survive, and yet…!
He had severed their future, mercilessly unleashing Magical Calamity upon them as a result.
To rot and decay is their fate, he says…!
How dare he!
I… I…
"Then I shall take my leave…"
He disappeared after saying that.
I gazed at his back absentmindedly. Even after he vanished from my sight, I continued to stare at the spot where he once was.
I wanted to, but I couldn't bring myself to cry.
I couldn't tell if the revelation was something I should shed tears over.
I felt like I would lose my identity with each tear I shed.
"Who… am I?" (Elaine)
It appeared my name had now become "Eve."
No one blessed my birth.
There was no family looking for me.
Just the other day, I was—
As my thoughts slowly reached that point, I felt sick. I wrapped my arms around myself, and unable to contain my sobs, started to cry.
"W-Waaaaah! No! N-No! Nonsense! I am Elaine! I am Elaine Le Fay! How can I not be myself?! It makes no sense! No…!" (Elaine)
I trembled at the thought of myself turning into someone else.
I shed tears at becoming Eve.
I lamented my hollow self.
"Touma… Toumaaaa! Touma! Toumaaaaa! I'm scared…! I'm so scared! Please, help me! Please! Please don't leave me alone!"
I howled like a little child. Howled for Touma to save me.
And, eventually, I cried myself hollow.
I took the truth in.
I was made just a little while ago. I was some garbage-thing that didn't even have a past.
The past I was so desperately looking for didn't exist.
There was not a thing that I ever learned out of my own volition.
Both my body and soul had been designed.
Someone of godly powers arranged me so.
My world shattered to pieces and returned to dust.
…And, with a heavy creak, so too did my heart.
Author Notes and Guest Reviews:
Mr. X: Thanks a lot for your review. It was motivating to see someone enjoy the story.
That being said, time to respond to it appropriately, right?
1) Yup. I like the name "Silver Star." Maybe, I shall itadakimasu that (if you don't mind xD). It sounds like a really cool title imo ^^
2) Um. All lovers got to have some secrets, right?! Anna and Nika may have a general idea about their secret meetings, but I'm sure even they wouldn't expect the couple to be so forward about it. So, it's a little Elaine x Touma secret ;))
That's it for the review response for now. I hope you liked the chapter, and once again thanks a ton for dropping a review. The kind gesture is very much appreciated! ^^
Moving on.
The story will take serious tones from here on forth. Aleister sure popped up with a vengeance. The main antagonist cannot be relegated to the sidelines forever, no?
In this chapter, I wanted to explore another facet of the Magic Calamity.
Actually, Aleister played a massive role in Book 1, too. But it was never revealed. I made Nika realize it at the end of its Ending 1, but you know how she was at that point. She literally couldn't give a f**k about anything anymore lol.
His involvement is "Future" related. And so is his obsession with "Elaine."
And, of course, since canon Touma doesn't exist here yet, his plans are different, too.
Well, it is kinda similar, yet quite different at the same time. The main reason for this discrepancy is the knowledge that "temples" can give concrete access across the multiverse— something that is not possible in canon.
And, tbh, the mystery is not quite solved yet.
Much like how Coronzon wanted to shunt Archetypes into lower cosmologies to introduce a pan-systemic collapse, Aleister caused the "Great Filter" part of the Magic Calamity.
He merely severed the "Future" away from the System, leaving the rest of Creation to decay and rot.
In effect, it is like how an elastic band can be applied circumferentially to restrict blood flow to a limb, causing it to amputate due to tissue necrosis.
Except, in this case, it is Past and Present that is stagnating due to the chronic lack of Future.
At this point, if you say that the System has no future, then you'd be true both metaphorically and literally :))
Yet that's not the extent of it, for the entire Calamity is anything but a single-faceted problem. A lot of factors are at play in tandem here. Both Aleister and Coronzon have parts to play which, quite coincidentally, happen to be mutually exclusive jaja.
That being said, I plan to reveal two major catalysts of the Calamity in this Book.
Since one is already revealed, there is one more left.
Oh, and the elusive ghost-ish girl, Leah, has made an appearance, too, and she's somehow a very high-ranking Kihara.
Kihara is not a family (okay, well, it is a family) but a thought. So, you can say she's to Kiharism what Martin Luther is to Reformation.
The backstory of how she ended up there, the part she played in ACs and Kiharas' creation, the nature of her mutually-symbiotic relationship with Aleister, her hidden goals and agendas will be touched on in Book 3.
But don't worry, she's a Kihara thorough and thorough. You'll get that in the future chapters. She's already done some f**kd up sh*t in AC in this story.
In this story, she fanned Gensei's obsession of Level 6 espers to the levels of megalomania and is one of the main proponents behind Parameter List (and the reason for this is NOT mere efficiency jaja)
Speaking of Kiharas, Kihara Reiketsu's name itself means "cold-blood." Pity, he died in "reiketsu," too. He was Kihara Noukan's twice removed cousin— a pureblood Kihara. So, he was supposed to be a rare-breed. Well, he's still got a brother. Maybe I'll name him Nekketsu, or Genjitsu ^^
That's it for today's chappie~
Hope you all liked and enjoyed it.
Tbh, I am surprised I could write this much. With only 2-3 hours of free-time per day, I sure exceeded my expectations jaja.
Well, if you could lemme know if you spot any typos or grammar mistakes, then it'd be a swell! ^^
See you next time, then~
~VG outto~