PHASE 20 - A CALM TALK WITH THE MAN WHO BUTCHERED MY FRIENDS

When I opened my eyes, I couldn't see anything but ice.

I'm back in the Realm of the Frozen Soul. The crystal floor, the white-blue skies, and the giant crystal in front of me are the same. The only thing that's different in this place is the aura I'm sensing in the Frozen Soul.

As far as I can remember, the Frozen Soul has been melted, and Tiara has been freed. The ice crystal should be empty, but it isn't. There is a faint silhouette of a beautiful woman singing the without a halt. What makes it weirder is that it emits a corrupted force within it.

It's the Corrupted Frozen Soul.

"Welcome, Aeternos, to the Realm of the Frozen Soul." A familiar voice came from my back.

I spin and saw the man I hated the most as of this moment. Black jacket, red scarf, and a menacing cold look from his crimson Cursed Guardian eyes. His silver hair waved hi at me as if he's trying to act all friendly.

"Yohan f*cking Romanov," I muttered.

"Did you like what you saw from your ?" The Fake Outsider made an innocent smile.

"That's not a . That's just a bad dream. A plain bad dream."

"Ohoho." The Outsider made a smug on his face which makes me feel like I should punch him and rip his flesh. "Still in denial, are we?"

I tried desperately to change the topic because I don't want to talk about Aeternos. "Seeing you and the Corrupted Frozen Soul in this realm makes me sure that you're from this timeline. So, why do you know me and my future?"

"I think my future self has already told you who I am. I am the past and the future. I know everything and all happening that exists and will exist." The Fake Outsider held his chest and withdrew a gray ball of light. The supreme power and authority of the Outer God Core he presented to me has no limits. "And also, I have this."

"Yog-Sothoth, the Outer God of Time and Space," I muttered. Realizing that he is holding out an omnipotent Outer God, I thought of a solution to my problem. But before I could talk, he interrupted me.

"I know what you're thinking. You wanted me to deliver you back to the future where you came from. But that will not happen."

"Fine, I'll force you to cooperate." I materialized my crimson katana Weapon Gem and swung it to the right, ready for battle.

"Whoa there, Alaric Eisenhower. Relax." Yohan forced a smile as he raised his hands, telling me that he's surrendering. "As much as I wanted to help you, I can't. I'm sure that you already heard from the original Outsider that we otherworlders can only intervene in this universe for a short amount of time. That applies to me too, god or not. If I intervene, I might get banished."

I noticed that the Fake Outsider's body is a little bit see-through, his life force flickering. It's like he's going to fade away, but he's desperately trying hard to will his own existence.

"I have intervened in your universe for too long. I never thought that kidnapping Diadem Solstice would take much time." Yohan laughed.

I gripped my sword tight, suppressing my anger towards this man. As much as I wanted to rescue Diadem, I can't. I just realized it now. If I intervened too much in the past, then the space-time continuum would collapse.

"How about using the power of Yog-Sothoth after you recharge your existence?" I asked.

"I'll get deleted." Yohan made a carefree smile. "Too much intervention, such as controlling time-lapses will be detected by the universe's systems. I'll disappear immediately, and so will you. I wanted to fast forward the events just like you, but sadly, all we can do is wait."

"So you're just trapped here, like me," I muttered.

"Pretty much." The Fake Outsider said calmly. "All we can do is to wait."

Yohan started to walk slowly until he finally reached the Corrupted Frozen Soul. He gently touched the ice that has sealed his loved one for all eternity, and then he muttered "Ah!" with an orgasmic face as if he just got a boner.

I sat on the crystal floor as I started to insult that crazy weirdo. "You're a pervert that needs to be confined to a mental hospital, you know that? Sacrificing the existence of everything just for your loved one to be freed… You know Erylle wouldn't like that."

"Says by the man who killed lots of people," Yohan smirked. " You commanded your lover's twin brother to kill your friends. You killed your childhood friend and lover on a freezing Christmas. And you also pushed your younger self back to the past to do the dirty work."

"I'm not Aeternos!!!" I exploded. I didn't think that my insults would backfire. This bastard always gets on my nerves!

"Deny it or not, everything is still the same," Yohan said. "Tiara Hikari will be freed from the Frozen Soul. That's your main goal, is it not? You gathered the Fragment and the Curse and substituted her soul with the ."

"You're missing the point. I'm trapped here, in this time." I said.

"The one who is standing beside your lover in the future is Alaric Eisenhower. Whether she's with Aeternos or not, it doesn't change the fact that Alaric Eisenhower wins. So just accept your fate and move on. Do what your destiny tells you, Aeternos."

I clenched my fists and gritted my teeth. Yohan wins all the logical arguments here. That dream I saw before entering this realm must really be a , but I'm just desperately denying the fact.

I could never accept that I'll become Aeternos. He killed countless Gate Guardians, corrupted innocent persons, and betrayed his friends who trusted him most.

I will never command Diadem to kill Chrisprel, Ranley, and Daughty. I will never let Amy sacrifice herself to sing the . I will never kill Tiara just to get a part of the Curse. I will never accept this predestined fate!

"I am the owner of my fate, and fate will never own me," I muttered senseless words just to convince myself.

The will to go back to the present sparked my brain, waking me up to focus on my objective. That's right. I have to do something so that I can go back to the time where I belong.

"Yohan, tell me…" I raised my eyes and stared at his crimson irises. "Do you know the whereabouts of the God Core of Chronos?"

The Fake Outsider's eyes opened wide as if he saw the brightest light of all. He made a long smile as he praised me like a god.

"Amazing, Alaric Eisenhower. My future self may have been telling you this, but you really make me amazed."

"Enough of your crap."

Yohan cleared his voice as he finally gave out a definite answer. "The God Core of Chronos is possessed by Leon Frembell, the leader of the Dark Legion; a group of notorious Cursed Guardians as of this time."

"Dark Legion?" I tilted my head. "What a boring way to name an organization of Cursed Guardians."

"Blame the author for that." Yohan chuckled. "The Dark Legion's HQ is in the Nuclear Test Site of Leng City. They have an Underground Facility that creates artificial babies and Fake God Cores."

I'm not surprised when he said the words "Leng City", "Nuclear Test Site", "Underground Facility" and "Artificial babies." I have read in the papers about that one back when I was a lackey of the Aether Crusade's blonde runt.

I touched something on my chest. It's the necklace-like pocket watch that Key gave me before my expedition to the Underworld.

If I'm going to that Underground Facility again, then I'll get to meet Key again. Her wits might help me go back to the present, but I just remembered that I can't intervene much. Besides, she might still be a two-year-old baby as of this moment.

"I'll be helping you out." Yohan smiled. "I'm interested in those Fake God Cores they are possessing. Let's have a deal. Let's help each other to get the God Cores we want."

"Good. Then let's get going then." I said as I stood up.

...

I was troubled a lot when I noticed that Yohan just keep staring and smiling at me. It creeps me out.

"Hey, why the smug?" I irritatingly asked.

"Nothing. I just found it funny that you're charging straight to a pothole that might convert you to the person you don't want to be."

Suddenly, my head ached.

Static.

Static.

The image of a wide deserted plain was revealed inside my brain. Piles of corpses, bloodied barren fields, and buildings being assaulted by multiple explosions. It's the first part of the dream I had before entering this realm.

Suddenly, the Fake Outsider spoke again with his chilling voice.

"You saw it on your , right? The Phoenix Incident. That is a crucial event that leads to the debut of Aeternos."