Chapter 4 - Muddy Waters
I sat tentatively by the riverside with cheeks warm and flush as Eve washed the retch off my forearm. Her hand gently scrubbed off the gunk in slow, careful motions, while the other dipped below the surface of the river, the water flowing around her fingers before rinsing my arm clean.
After waking up and accidentally calling her 'Mom'—an embarrassing slip of the tongue brought on by her comforting presence, one I had to roll with due to her enthusiasm—she insisted that I should take a bath.
Which was understandable, I had woken up covered in the remnants of my own gunk and was also caked in sand, so a bath was very much needed.
What wasn't understandable was how she whisked me away out of her lap and into a river, where she insisted on getting the grime off my body, leaving no room for me to argue.
If her closed eyes and wide grin didn't clue me in, then the subtle grip on my wrist certainly did.
"Alright, next arm please." She said it all too chirpily, holding out her hand expectantly, waiting for me to put mine in hers.
And who was I to argue? Certainly not the guy who's going to live with her for the foreseeable future. So, with a gulp, I lend her my hand and let her do what she wishes.
Unfortunately for me, this isn't the end of my woes. Oh boy, how I wish that were the case.
No, the worst part was the fact that her chest was mere inches away from my face. They were practically hanging over the side of my face, and if I were to lean ever so slightly forward, then my face would be buried into them.
My gaze, however, remained fixed on the water below, refusing to look up.
It's already bad enough that our current position was more than a little compromising, with her sitting in front of me and all, but the fact that her clothes were clinging tightly against her body and emphasizing her figure was more than enough to make me a bit... tense.
So, here I am, rigidly sitting with my legs crossed, trying desperately to keep myself calm by staring intently at the water below, focusing only on the reflective surface and nothing else.
Which, in turn, made me come face to face with a face that's not entirely mine.
I blinked, and my reflection blinked back, his features mirroring my every move.
Long, scruffy blonde hair greeted me, with pale blue eyes staring right back. His lips were soft and pouty, the kind you'd expect to quiver at the first sign of trouble yet would bring the brightest of smiles when they lit up with joy. Even his cheeks were smooth and fair, with a little bit of baby fat on them, giving him a more roundish and squishy appearance.
Overall, his features were a bit on the softer side, especially his facial structure, and he could easily be mistaken for a girl.
Though, to be fair, he is only eight years old.
But seeing a face staring back at me, one that's not entirely my own, was a bit disorienting. I mean, sure, I knew that I'm possessing a different body, but actually seeing it was... jarring, to say the least. I can't help but trace my hand along his cheek, feeling the skin under my fingertips, just to confirm that the person in front of me was indeed me.
"Hey, is something the matter?" Eve's soft voice brought me out of my thoughts, her head tilting to the side with a worried expression on her face. "You've been staring into the river for quite a while now." She paused, her hands coming to a halt. "Are you okay? Does your face hurt? Do I need to wash it too?" She reached out to cup my cheeks, but I quickly moved out of her grasp, and her face shifted into a frown.
"N-no, I-it's fine!" I tried to wave her off, my voice cracking under her concerned gaze. "I'm fine, I-it's just" I stumbled over my words, trying to find the right words for my problem as her worried gaze deepened.
How was I supposed to explain to her what's actually going on? What would she even say if I told her the truth? It would break her heart, and I don't think my mental health could take it if she started crying because of me.
So, with a breath, I decided to settle with something less concrete and more… vague.
"I'm just... a bit distracted, that's all." The words that flew out of my mouth were a nothing statement, really—offering no real answer to her questions—but it's the best I can do.
"I see..." She mumbled to herself, a look of contemplation etched onto her face, and I couldn't help but feel guilty at my own lack of an answer.
It's not that I didn't want to, but it's just not an option. It would just open a can of worms that would be better left unopened.
So, I'm stuck here, trying to avoid eye contact and fidgeting awkwardly. All the while, Eve's gaze was piercing right through me.
you shouldn't have said anything…
...Yeah, I probably shouldn't have, I should've just stayed quiet and pretended like everything was fine.
But what's done is done, and there's no taking back what's already been said. All I can do now is wait for her response and deal with the consequences.
So, I wait and brace myself for the worst. Waiting for incoming barrage of questions and—
"Have I ever told you how Adam and I were banished from Eden?" Her soft voice cuts through the silence and halts my thoughts in its tracks.
"Huh?" That... wasn't what I was expecting her to ask, I thought she'd ask about my well-being, not the events leading up to their Fall. My eyes darted upwards questionably, meeting her own. "It's a bit of a story, but I think you'll find it quite interesting."
I mean, I've read about it before in my studies before, but it's been years since then, and the Fate series tends to change its details and interpretation. So, while I've heard about it, I might as well be flying blind here.
"N-No, you haven't." My reply comes out a lot more subdued than I'd like, before quickly adding on, "But I've heard about it before."
"I see," she nods in acknowledgment as she exits the water and sits beside me, her gaze drifting upward and staring wistfully into the sky. "I guess this is as good a time as any to share the tale."
She takes a deep breath, and begins her tale, "Back then, we lived in a beautiful garden. A garden where no hardship or burdens would ever plague us, for everything we needed was already provided there to begin with. Where the days would go by without a care in the world, wonder and excitement would fill our every step before a feast of fruits and honey would satiate our hunger at the end of the day."
... Damn, that really does sound like heaven. A place where I can relax all day and eat all the food I want, without a single worry in the world. Just spending the rest of my life without a care. That right there is paradise, alright.
Closing her eyes, she lets out a sigh as if reminiscing her days in Eden. "It was perfect, a true paradise on earth. Where the food was delicious, the water was clear, and the land was bountiful."
Yeah, I'd like to see that. I can imagine myself lazily swinging in a hammock, eating grapes straight from the vine as I stare at the sky without a care in the world.
"But then, Father took us and showed us the Tree of Knowledge, and the fruit that hung off its branches. It was the only fruit that we weren't allowed to touch it, let alone eat it, for we wouldn't like the outcome if we did." She looks down at her hands, her gaze distant and somber. "As you can see, I didn't heed his words."
I mean, yeah, that's what happens when you disregard a blatant warning like that. You mess around, you find out the hard way. Or in this case, you find yourself getting kicked out of literal paradise and sentenced to a life of hardship.
"But that doesn't mean the present would stay the same. Just like your feeling of me would change over time into a proper familial one." I nodded along to her words before my mind screeched to a halt.
Did she just─
The gears within my brain began to turn as the implications behind her words slowly seeped in. "W-wait, you knew?!"
My outburst causes her to snicker, a playful grin forming on her lips. "What? Did you think I wouldn't notice?" Well, I had hoped I was discreet enough that you wouldn't have noticed, but clearly, that was not the case.
"The way you would stiffen whenever I got close, the way your eyes would avoid mine, it's all too familiar for me," she said, her tone deceptively light with an edge of displeasure.
"After all, Adam was the same after we ate the Forbidden Fruit." A dangerous glint flashes through her eyes, and I can't help but shiver as her gaze locks onto mine. "Now, tell me, why in Father's name would your body react just as Adam did when our eyes were opened to lust? Or do I need to clean more than just your arm, dear?" She smiled, and a chill ran down my spine.
I'm fucked, aren't I?