Chapter 120

Arc 14 - Absolute Wish - Part 4

Wednesday, 30th of June - Bradley Isle - Earth:

“- What’s your status? -”

“Sir,” Alek, the tall and muscular man spoke to the person who was on the holographic screen. “It ended in success.”

“- Your tone suggests otherwise, -” the man sounded displeased.

“It’s just… He is not here,” at first he tried to make up an excuse but then decided to be blunt. “Nazar is not here, sir.”

“- ... -”

The man kept quiet for a few moments before letting out a heavy sigh.

“- That was to be expected. -”

“Hm?”

“- What about the people on the list I gave you? Are they secure? -”

Alek hesitated to speak.

“It’s, uh, they… They are not on this island.”

“- WHAT?! -”

Alek’s shoulders jerked once he heard the other man bang his hands on the table.

“We have not found them. We have been looking for them since dawn, which was over eight hours ago.”

“- ...Sigh. Give me a minute. -”

Alek waited for a few minutes before the man spoke.

“- Ah, they should still be in the room. The camera-- Oh. Damn it! How? Is it-- Of course. -”

Alek did not have to ask, he knew what was going on.

It seemed the cameras were still showing a real-life image of them, but nobody was in the room when security checked the rooms.

The only person that came to their mind was Nazar. He is, after all, the powerful person on this planet.

“Then what do you want me to do?”

Alek glanced around him and saw that every student and teacher here was sitting on their knees, and held at the gunpoint.

“- Just… I did not expect that. Give me a while to think about it-- Actually, let’s go with your original idea. It was you, right? Or was it someone else? -”

“To record and broadcast it around the world?”

“- Mm-hmm. -”

Alek smiled proudly, “Yes, that was me. But I remember it was--”

“- Yeah, yeah, I don’t care. Just do it! -”

Alek’s cheek twitched indignantly at how uncaring his boss was, “... Yes sir.”

He has been in this business since childhood, so every employer of his in the past respected him greatly. He has been developed into a man who expects everyone to respect him, no matter who it is.

So, this was the first time someone reacted to him like this.

He was not sure how to take this, but even then, he pushed down his anger and frustration and took a deep breath for the sake of completing his job and getting the money he is owed.

“I will get it done.”

He waved his hand, causing the screen to flicker out and vanish.

Alek looked around, clicked his tongue.

“Bunch of rich brats who have not earned a single Rouble in their damned life,” he spat out. “It’s pathetic.”

Alek inhaled and then exhaled heavily.

“Let’s do this.”

လလလ

Nazar hesitantly knocked on the door of his mother’s room, on the first floor.

He thought about it a lot since yesterday. Not knowing how to face her about what happened between his other half and his mother, he tried to keep his distance.

But he did not sleep last night, so he had a lot of time to think about it and some other matters.

“Alright,” he took a deep breath as he knocked again.

However, the door didn’t open, so he smiled wryly.

I guess she can’t be blamed, that idiot got rather angry at her and said terrible things, he thought angrily. Time does move differently for us, after all.

“What are you doing?” Emma asked as she came out of the door, half asleep and said.

Nazar turned to his left and faced Emma, awkwardly.

“Where is...”

He was not sure how to complete his sentence.

Many scenarios run through his mind.

Is it not easier to just teleport to another planet, or perhaps another universe? Give it some time and everything will be healed.

No.

“I was wondering if I could talk to mom. But I guess she doesn’t--”

“What you on about, idiot? She is downstairs.”

“...Oh.”

“Don’t you have crap ton of powers?”

“I don’t like using them at home anymore,” Nazar took a small pause. “Well, most of them. Especially my senses, except for when it comes to energy.”

“Hm, odd. But whatever.”

Nazar marched downstairs and Emma went back into her room.

She glanced back before entering with a complicated look on her face, but then shook her head and closed the door behind her.

Nazar went downstairs.

He checked the living door but she was not there. Then immediately checked the dining room, but she was not there either. So, he knew that she would be in the small library in their house.

Opening the door, he looked around the small room, every wall was stacked with shelves, which contained hundreds of books. At the back of the room, there was a table with a chair. Next to it was an armchair where Aya was sitting.

Seeing Aya reading a book, a warm smile to blossom on his face. He was very worried about her, but she seemed fine now, so he couldn't help but smile in relief.

But then immediately after, he was struck by the situation he was in. His other self had hurt his mother, so his smile vanished immediately.

“H-hi,” he cleared his throat. “Hi, mom.”

She glanced at him and smiled.

“That’s rare,” she closed the book.

“Rare?” he tilted his head in a confused manner.

Then he remembered what might be the case.

Instead of joking about it, he spoke in a serious manner.

“Rare that I come to this room or that I didn’t run away today.”

“Both.”

“Ah,” a gloomy expression spread across his face. “Sor-- I--”

He closed the door behind him and entered the room.

Sitting on the table near Aya, he looked down at his hands and started playing with his fingers.

“I am… Thanks for yesterday.”

Yesterday’s conversation flashed through her mind.

“For years, I couldn’t move away from those five years, they were stuck with me… I couldn’t run away from it, no matter how fast and far I ran. But at the same time, I couldn’t get rid of him. He was… important.”

“Can you explain what ‘he’ really was? I am still not sure about the details.”

He looked at her and noticed the curious look in her eyes. The right corner of his lips curled into a smile.

“Multiple personalities?”

She nodded.

“I have read it in theory, but I do not understand yesterday’s situation.”

“Ah,” Nazar thought about it for a moment. “You see, throughout my life, a lot of stuff happened. The significant events in my life, I acted differently. The main personality - the one you are looking at right now - used those events to ‘evolve’. You are still following me.”

“Yes,” she replied with great interest.

For a split second, it reminded him of the old world. She had the same look in her eyes back then.

This… No, this is different. Much different.

Throwing away his worries, he continued to speak in confidence with a smile on his face.

“My existence from… Before I evolve… Before I...”

Nazar looked around as he thought very hard about how best to explain it.

“Okay, so if every event causes me to evolve, right?”

Aya nodded.

“Before this evolution, that version of me becomes a backup personality.”

Aya watched him in amusingly as Nazar explained. Never having seen Nazar like this, she found it surprisingly cute.

“The main one, me, evolves, but the backup ones are always stuck there. Does that make sense?”

“Mm-hmm,” she nodded, almost excited about all the things she has learned. “Keep going.”

“Anyway, I can swap between the personalities for convenience sake. However, there are some problems which come with these personalities. They cannot project their emotions or ideals by themselves, so they have to do it through me.”

“I see,” she understood the other Nazar’s words perfectly now, so she looked down. “Thanks.”

Aya was not wrong to react strongly to the other Nazar’s words about James, her late husband and Nazar’s late father, but even then, she couldn’t help but feel a little guilty.

“Yes, so on behalf of him, I wanted to apologise. He did...” Nazar smiled wryly. “He did say some terrible things. But!”

His stern voice caused her to look up at her.

“I want you to know that I do not mean that. I would never say anything like that. It is the last thing I would ever say in this world. Not even if my life depends on it.”

“I know,” she replied immediately.

“And I just wanted to say, I love you. And that I no longer have any doubt or fear. I don’t have to be constantly reminded of what happened a long time ago when I look at you.”

Nazar stood up and let out a huge sigh of relief.

“Thanks again,” he started to walk away with a wide joyous smile on his face. “I will be going now, enjoy your book.”

“No wait,” she called out to him, so he returned. “Sit down, let’s talk. We don’t get many opportunities.”

“True,” he waved his hand and an armchair similar to the one Aya was sitting on appeared opposite her. He sat down on it.

Amazed, Aya asked, “How did you do that?”

“This?” he strolled his fingers across the arm of the furniture. “I reformed the molecules in the air and made this from it. Every atom in the air has a chemical composition, so changing that around, I can manipulate it and transform it into something else.”

“Ah, that’s quite interesting. What happens if you don’t have access to… to these atoms?”

“That would mean I am in the Void. A Void is a place which has nothing. Light, matter, energy or anything like that. So, I would need to use an ability called 「Nothingness Manipulation」. It allows me to freely manipulate the Void to the way I want it.”

“But how?”

He was expecting that question.

However, he only had one, yet unsatisfactory answer to it.

“Since there is no mathematics there, I have to use my mind. So… It just happens. But most of the time, I introduce matter and mathematics to it, so it becomes a normal space.”

“I see,” she was not sure how to feel about that answer. She seemed quite disappointed. “But why do you need maths for it?”

“Ah,” Nazar leaned forward in his armchair. “Our universe was created to rely heavily on mathematics. So, if you want to use your powers effectively, you need to be able to have exceptional calculative abilities. It makes it easier to use powers. Without it, the power will run wild in every direction, making it harder to control.”

Between them, two energy constructs appeared. The constructs were that of a small house.

One was very well built while the other construct was unstable. It would wobble, grow or become smaller, or glitch.

“Which one do you think is the one that uses mathematics?”

“The one on the right, the more stable one,” she continued to look at the constructs in a curious manner.

“Bingo!”

Aya moved her hand and touched the energy, causing her to smile a very complex smile. She was curious, excited, but also kind of scared.

“It feels… weird. When I move my hand through it, it tingles.”

“Yeah, it takes a while to get used to it.”

“Haha, I can imagine. How long did it take you to get used to these powers?”

Nazar thought back to the original timeline.

“It took me a long time to train in the basics. Then one day, boom! I realised what my power really was. My power is「Absolute Wish」. I could get any power I wanted, so if I could do that, I could use it perfectly well just by wishing for it.”

But then Nazar thought back to the time when he did not have powers. He studied all forms of fictional abilities and then the science around it so he could use it perfectly well.

He used to think his power is「Reality Warping」, so manipulating his surroundings, he could give himself new abilities.

But of course, that was wrong.

“Hm,” Aya was still touching the energy construct. “Anyway, let’s leave the talk of powers...”

Nazar knew why she stopped that.

It seems Aya didn’t want Nazar to think that she is similar to her other self from the old world.

He thought it was ridiculous, but he wanted to leave it aside for now.

And since they don't get many opportunities to talk, Aya wanted to ask a very important question, so she changed the subject hurriedly.

“She is a lovely girl. She is beautiful, smart and she is very friendly. It’s very easy to get along with her.”

Nazar was not sure where she was going with that.

“So, how did you find her?”

“I told you that a while ago, did I not?”

Aya shook her head.

“I meant in the old world. I was,” she looked down and stopped touching the energy construct.

Nazar finished her sentence.

“Hesitating to mention the old world, so you don’t open old wounds?”

She nodded and in return, Nazar chuckled.

“I appreciate that a lot. Thanks. But you don’t have to hold back on me.”

Aya looked up and smiled with a smile on her face.

“Let’s not waste time on the complicated stuff, so answer my question.”

Nazar leaned back in the armchair.

“Want the long version or short?”

“Longer please.”

Nazar chuckled once more.

“It started roughly,” Aya felt the guilt in his voice, so she asked.

“How?”

Nazar lowered his head and took a deep breath.

“I did not have emotions in that world for a long time. I was planning on going full-blown villain -- (which I hope I can forget one day) -- after the incident with you and when my identity was revealed to the whole world.”

Aya looked down in guilt, so Nazar cursed himself in his heart for bringing it up.

“Anyway, aliens had come to Earth and wanted to take over it or something, so they made superhumans. Aria was one of them. And Laura was working for that organisation, pure luck if you will. So, that’s how I met her. She was scared at first.”

In the old world, the whole world has seen Nazar murder thousands of people.

After that, an organisation came into existence which was to battle against Nazar, so they tried creating superhumans. Of course, they failed.

One day, when the barrier around the world weakened, someone from the Duluria Empire made it into Earth. They used their advanced technology to create superhumans.

Most of the employees were the family of people who were apparently killed by Nazar.

However, they did not know the real truth. Those people were already killed by the demon and turned into 「Undead」.

“After I got rid of the alien organisation, I took over it and basically became her employer. A period of time I don’t really want to remember... There are a lot of things I wish I could just remove from existence.”

Nazar laughed bitterly.

“My emotions returned to me and with the appearance of the Nameless One, those emotions were immediately manipulated. So, that’s how I fell in love with her. I didn’t want to accept it, so our work relationship ended very soon. However, my creator had other goals in mind...”

“What do you mean?”

“Essentially, he pushed her into my life after manipulating her emotions too.”

“What a terrible person,” Aya sighed heavily.

In return, he just nodded.

“The Nameless One stole her younger brother and depowered me and destroyed Solace. To make matters worse, the distance between me and Laura could not increase more than a mile, she would die. Oh, and then he threw us into the past.”

Her eyes widened.

“We went to a few universes to try and find her brother but it failed. I also used that opportunity to learn more about our creator… Anyway, after I learned about the energy inside her, I made a mistake and kind of angered her.”

Aya did not want to question what Nazar did, but when he remembered it, he laughed. So, she became curious.

“Please don’t tell me you tried to punch a hole in her chest.”

“What?!” Nazar leaned forward and shook his head. “I ripped her clothes apart and phased my hand through her chest... An-anyway.”

He realised how embarrassing it was when he did something so inappropriate, so he covered his red face with his right hand.

“I found the Nameless One-- No, it was he who found me and stole me away. After many deaths, I managed to gather enough power to create an avatar on Earth and coincidently, it was Laura’s house.”

“Oh my, you were that attracted to her?” she teased him.

“No,” he denied it immediately with strong feelings. “It was because I was stolen from her house.”

Aya couldn’t help but laugh at how serious he was.

“When the avatar met her, well...”

Nazar averted his gaze with a happy smile, so Aya knew that something happened between them.

“She kissed me,” he spoke slowly.

Aya found smiled amusingly when she saw embarrassed Nazar.

“And when I returned back to Earth, we got together a few times. It had a few rough parts here and there, but in the end, it kind of worked out.”

She squinted her right eye in a confused manner as she thought about certain someone.

“So, what happened to her brother?”

“Oh, he was returned awhile later... but he was decades older. He had a child and a wife, but the relationship between him and Laura was never the same.”

“That’s quite unfortunate.”

Nazar always blamed himself for how their family turned out in the old world, and rightfully so.

“And she accepted you with all that power and what you did?”

“Yes.”

He could still not believe that he had such a great woman in his life. She is someone whom he will cherish forever.

“She is great. She is beautiful, smart, friendly and loves you. So...”

Nazar sensed that she was going to say something very big and important about a certain subject matter, so he tried to stop her, but it was too late.

“Get married to her.”

Nazar stared at her blankly for a moment.

“Why do people get married? I don’t think I still understand it.”

Aya leaned back to relax and crossed her legs, “This is going to be long.”

Nazar listened with great interest.

“When you love someone, you want them to be yours. You want them to spend their life with you for as long as possible.”

“But why?”

“Because marriage can help deepen relationships. You can always count on your partner to be there at your lowest and help one another, no matter what. You can do that with the relationship you have with her, but without marriage, it seems quite temporary, does it not?”

“Hm,” he still did not understand.

“But if you do get married, that can become more permanent. You can go through ups and downs, but in the end, I think it’s all worth it. Because it gives you a family who will love you greatly.”

Nazar wanted to say something, but Aya knew what he was going to say, so she interrupted.

“Yes, everyone has their own circumstances, so it’s different but I am talking from my own experience.”

“Oh,” he got his answer.

“Anyway,” she cleared her throat. “It gives you someone to be with them permanently, love and cherish them. You can set goals together you can achieve, children for example. It is a pain. It is a pain to raise them but it doesn’t mean it’s bad.”

She had heard of Nazar’s anti-children ideology, so she wanted to explain the good points of children to him too.

“You get a loving family who loves you. If I hadn’t given birth to you or your siblings,” she looked down, “I would have never gotten over your father’s death. The pain was terrible, but if none of you was around, it would have been impossible to recover from. That's the good thing about marriage and children. So...”

She smiled widely.

“Marry her.”

Nazar smiled wryly.

“She accepted you there and does here too. So put a ring on it and become one. If you don't, one day she will walk away, with both feeling some sort of pain. But if you do now, the chances will lower. Both of you can be happy. I mean, it worked for me and your father. Because some love can never be forgotten."

Aya looked Nazar sternly in the eyes and continued.

“So, get married and have a child. I need to see a grandchild of mine before I die. Understand?"

“M-maybe,” he replied stiffly.

"Not maybe. Yes," she spoke in a stern tone. "I need to see my grandchild before this year ends."

Considering how they were halfway into the year and it takes nine months for a child to be conceived, Nazar said, "That's impossible."

"Can't you make it work with your powers?"

He could. It was as easy as making popcorn. However, there is no way he would confirm it, so he shook his head.

"What a bummer… Then next year, I need to see my grandchild."

Nazar smiled wryly as he thought of a way to change the topic.

“Leaving that, do you think there is such a thing as unconditional love?”

Aya wondered why he would ask such a question. It seemed like a question love-struck children would ask when they are still young.

But then she remembered the world he lives in, so powerful and high above everyone else. Things are different for them.

“Aarin has mentioned it a few times, but is it possible for unconditional love to exist?”

“Depends,” she neither denied it nor confirmed it. “Between a family such as a parent and a child, yes, it is. But between lovers, I do not think there is such a thing as unconditional love.”

He was not sure how to react to her answer.

Nazar wondered why he asked such a question after realising how stupid it sounded.

“There must always be a few conditions that keep them together. It’s kind of hard to say what exactly though. It depends on each couple. It can range from looks to interests. Or...”

Aya trailed off as she thought about other conditions why people would fall in love.

She still found the question to be extremely odd.

“So, what about you and dad?”

Leaving aside her other thoughts, she took a deep breath as she thought back to the events of a few decades ago.

“As you know, we met at university and then worked in the same place. We got well together. Had similar interests and spent a long time together. So, the condition is probably of the same interests and convenience, perhaps?”

“That makes sense, I guess.”

“Yeah, it has its complications, it’s life after all.”

Nazar let out a sigh.

“Wish it wasn’t.”

“Mm-hmm.”

She stood up and smiled widely.

“But I am glad you and your siblings came out of the complicated thing that is known as life. I am glad to have married your father and gave birth to all of you.”

Aya placed her hands on Nazar’s cheek.

“And in your creation, there were more people involved. However, I want you to think they don’t exist. I want you to think that the only people involved in your creation are your father and I. And I want you to… to pretend you aren’t actually older than me, haha.”

She kissed him on the forehead.

“Sometimes ignoring the reality isn’t so bad.”

Is… Is that so?

He wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

Nazar knows that she doesn’t have any bad intentions, but is it really the right thing to forget the people who have wronged him?

But it has been far too long and they have repaid--

Almost everyone who did him wrong in his childhood has paid for their crimes against him. And with the number of lives Nazar has lived, he has taken his revenge on everyone involved.

“I am not saying you should forget about it, but just ignore that one aspect of it.”

“I see,” he looked down. “I… I think I can do that.”

A warm smile blossomed on her face.

“Thanks. But...”

Aya pinched his cheeks.

“I am disappointed it took you this long for us to have a long chat like this.”

“Ow, ow.”

“It hurts you?” she removed her fingers from his face frantically and with a heavy heart. “S-sorry.”

“No, no,” he sensed that the memories of the old world flashed in her mind, so he waved his hand in a dismissing manner. “I just do that because… Well, I feel like reacting like that when you or Emma are involved. I don't know why tho.”

“Oh,” Aya let out a sigh of relief. “Weird but cute.”

Nazar chuckled.

She gave him a big kiss on the cheek and said, “You are so cute sometimes.”