Chapter 140

Arc 14 - Absolute Wish - Part 21

The Nameless One placed certain energies within Laura to manipulate her and Nazar. Since then, she has been close with Nazar and some of his energies slipped into her. Those energies have mutated into something very unique and interesting.

Unharmful, until today too.

Laura woke up from her sleep as usual and took a shower since it was hot. Everything was usual.

But when she came down and saw a blonde woman, she felt intense pain in her mind.

She saw images, images of suffering.

She lost her brother to a God of Destruction. She lost every family she had to that God.

She died. Her brother died. Her parents died. The one she loved died. Killed by a woman in a mask. Killed by a God.

She died again. And again. And again.

Her emotions were messed with by a God. Once. twice. Thrice. And so on.

She fell in love only for it to turn into never-ending pain and suffering. Again, but a God. Once. Twice. Thrice. And so on.

She watched everything die before her. The culprit was a God again.

She felt pain and suffering of lives she had not lived or known. She felt pain for those whom she does not know. Who are they?

Her head hurt like it will blow up. Her heart pained like it would burst out.

But it did not end there.

The pain slowly slithered out of her mind and into her body. Laura’s body pained, almost as if it would blow up.

She could not see, but her body was actually blowing up.

The explosive energies burned through her skin as it left her, attacking the world around her.

“Eeeyyaaaaarrrrrrghhhh!?!?!?!” she screamed in pain and agony.

Nazar’s eyes widened as he held his hand at her.

Confusion, surprise, fear and other emotions danced on his face.

“Heal!

Green energy shot out of him, healing Laura but it did not work.

Emily covered Emma with a barrier, keeping her safe.

“Heal!”

His ability to stop her pain did not work.

So, he looked at Emily, who nodded in return.

“Freeze!”

Time froze throughout the Ultraverse

Everything was frozen, from the air molecules to energies, from thoughts to physical movement, from humans to Gods, everything was frozen, except these two.

“Em-Emily?” he squirmed with an anxious tone. He was worried and scared for her. He thought the worst thing. He thought she was being killed by the Queen again.

“Is… Is she going to--”

His mouth opened and closed like a goldfish.

“Yes, yes, don’t worry. She’ll be okay. I…” Emily lowered her head. “I might be the cause of the problem.”

“Huh?”

Although she said that and was expecting the worst, she did not feel any hostility from him.

Emily was surprised.

"When two Gods of Destruction meet for the first time, their energies collide and the weaker one feels pain. Terrible pain. It's mental pain but they think it's physical. Happened to me too when I first met the Nameless One in this world."

"You met him?" He seemed worried about her.

"A story for another time," she said slowly while she dismissed it with a wave of her hand. Taking in a deep breath, she continued in her normal voice. *Anyway, we can save her. I can save her. I just need to set those energies compatible with mine and get rid of the hostility."

"Wait, wait, wait."

Just now, he realised it.

"Two Gods of Destructions? What do you mean?*

"Well, it seems she has Destruction energy within her. Similar to me and you."

"Ah…"

He decided to tell her what happened with Laura.

Emily already knew it but it was good to reconfirm everything.

"The reason she didn't react to you is that you are also a Creator and your energies are just… very different.*

That made sense to him.

The reason I didn't sense the monster or Phantom Star here yesterday is that Laura's energy was dwarfing theirs. To me, it seemed as if nothing was wrong… Damn it.

She sucked in a breath before narrowing his eyes.

"Let's go and save her."

"Can you… She doesn't want it but can you get rid of it for her?"

Emily was going to ask why can't he do it himself, but then chuckled once she figured it out.

He would not manipulate them in any way without them asking for it. At least not anymore.

But it was also wrong of him to ask Emily to forcefully change Laura's energies.

So, Emily shook her head.

"It's not harmful to her at all. So, be at ease. I could stay away and she should be fine forever but if--"

She raised a hand to cover her mouth so she would stop herself from talking about a certain person.

Nazar ignored it.

"In any case, let's just say I will heal the energies within her," she spoke with confidence.

Unlike him, she was not worried.

"We are returning--"

"No, don't," Nazar was about to unfreeze time, but she stopped him. "I will fix it here. Better than her feeling any more pain."

"Oh… GREAT! Thanks."

Emily went closer to (frozen) Laura and touched her head.

“As the 「God of Destruction」, I can modify her energy and mine so it can sync well in each other’s presence.”

“Uh, alright. Need my help?”

“No… Actually, yes.”

She denied it at first, but an idea came to her mind, so she asked him to come closer by gesturing with his hand.

“Insert your energies within her. It should cause a greater mutation and should never react to anything ever that will harm her.”

“Hmm.”

“Your power can remove any form of harm.”

He did not want to pester her further by asking further questions.

“I see.”

That idea never came to him before. He never thought his energy can be used like that.

An all healing energy that will save her or perhaps anyone if he wants to.

Sometimes he forgets he is the Supreme God of everything.

“Alright.”

He arched his palm and in it, he created a white orb of energy.

The orb flew out of his hand and entered Laura through her chest.

Emily wanted to make a joke about why he did not insert it within her through other means, but she refrained from doing so considering she is the cause of this problem at hand.

“Annnnnnnd done.”

“Thank you.”

She nodded back to him, but guiltily.

“Unfreeze!”

Time resumed across the Ultraverse.

Laura was sitting on the ground.

Looking down at herself, she spoke slowly, “Huh?"

She looked up in a confused manner and saw Nazar crouching before her with a relieved smile.

Laura had known something bad happened, but there was no trace of any pain. Neither physical nor mental, only confusion. It was as if it never happened.

“Are you okay?”

He touched her face and applied all forms of healing just to be safe.

“...”

Laura’s eyes changed and her face twisted in anger.

“What was that?”

“It--”

Emily touched his shoulder, signalling him to stop.

“Sorry, that was my fault,” Emily began explaining apologetically. “I am the God of Destruction and so w--”

She forgot that Nazar does not know about the Nameless One’s death, so she swallowed her words, stopping herself from spilling the beans.

“So is the Nameless One. You have energies of his, well originating from him, but then mutated… Anyway, when two people with these kinds of supreme energies come together, the weaker one… Sad to say, but they feel terrible pain. Sorry.”

“No,” Laura shook her head with a fierce gaze fixated on Nazar, “What was that?”

“That?” he cocked his head quizzically.

“Have… Have you told her?”

Nazar looked at Emily, even more confused.

“Her energies cross the barriers of creation, unaffected - although slightly - by time destruction.”

Nazar knew that already.

“So, she remembers everything,” Emily spoke with a very serious look on her face.

“Ah...”

Nazar, too, finally understood.

“No, I mentioned it a little, but never went into details.”

“So, that was me…? And not someone else’s life I was…? Or dreams?”

With a lot of guilt on her face, Emily nodded.

It was her body which was used to destroy the timeline for the first time and in a way, she set this endless cycle in motion.

“That was you. All of us,” she looked at Nazar, then Laura and then finally to Emma, “lived many lives and at the end, died horribly.”

She looked back to Nazar.

“You shouldn’t keep that a secret from them.”

“...”

Nazar pursed his lips as he nodded.

“Yeah, I know...”

Emily shook her head in disappointment.

“Maybe it’s time to explain everything properly? In all details, leaving nothing?”

He looked at Laura and then Emma with a serious look on his face.

“Do you want to know why we lived thousands of times? Why we died every single time? Why this never-ending cycle of death begins to even exist? Do you want to know about your old lives that were nothing but suffering?”

“I didn’t, but now I am curious,” Emma said.

Laura nodded.

Nazar let out a sigh as he stood up.

He held out his hand to Laura, to help her stand up. She stood up with his help and smiled, thanking him.

“This timeline… This isn’t the second, nor the third, nor the fourth.”

“??”

“??”

Emma and Laura cocked their heads quizzically.

“All of us have lived thousands of lives, but every time, we died because the Queen killed us,” Nazar added. “She wants my power, so she wants to have it no matter what. Her plan is to find a way to steal it from and take it by killing me every time she fails. To kill me and restart her plan, she kills you and the world. And time...”

“It resets back to the year 2000. Most of the time, right after he is born,” Emily explained, especially to Laura. “Those things you just saw… Those were the many times you died and those close to you did.”

Laura nodded with a gloomy look on her face.

“Don’t worry, it won’t happen again,” Nazar narrowed his eyes. “I have made sure of it partially. And I will make sure she dies this time forever.”

He looked at Emma, remembering the promise they had. He wanted to tell her he will kill her no matter, even if Emma asks otherwise - which she won’t.

Nazar, however, did hide the fact that he killed trillions of worlds and people from her.

He does not want to tell her because he does not think she can handle it. He doesn’t want his relationship with her to waver.

Uncomfortably, Emma looked up then down, to the right, then left.

She was thinking about something, trying to come up with something to say.

“Ah.”

It was not an idea, but she wanted to be brutally honest with him.

She hates the position they are in because of him. The world hates and fears them.

And now she learned that she had been killed that many times.

She was angry.

“I understand,” Emma nodded with a faint smile. “But if you do fail in any way, I...”

Emma’s darted at the other two - who were looking at her with anticipation - before her eyes fixated on Nazar.

“Never show your face to me again,” her eyes were colder than the icy lands of Antarctica. “Even if I don’t remember it. Understand?”

An ultimatum.

“This is not a promise which you can break, you hear me? If you fail, don’t ever face me again. Or mom, or Aeron, or anyone here.”

The last thing Nazar needs is losing his sister.

In all of his lives, she was the closest to him. So, as much as he hated to admit it, she was special, more special than every other family member of his.

So, he doesn’t want to lose her no matter what.

“...”

Nazar smiled thinly as his red eyes flared brighter than the sun.

“Yes, I will do it. I will kill her and save you and myself and her,” he spoke in confidence. He did not let his voice or smile waver. "This time, I am sure, I will end it."

“No faulty promises again, alright?”

He nodded at Emma.

“No more silly promises. I will get it done this time.”

“Great,” she smiled widely.

With the back of her hand, she tapped his chest as she walked away and left the room.

Emily followed her immediately, feeling somewhat worried about her.

Laura glanced at Nazar and asked, “Another empty promise?”

“No,” he shook his head, “if worse comes to worst, I will just absorb Arosus. According to him, he is more powerful than those two.”

“What if he objects?”

“...”

Nazar was at loss for words, or so Laura thought.

He knew what the answer was, but he dared not say it.

“Forget that, I will tell you one thing, nothing bad will happen to you again. That energy within you is not going to hurt you. She won’t hurt you. You won't die.”

He smiled bitterly.

“I will make sure of it.”

Laura chuckled.

“If something does happen, I will make sure to give you a price you can never payback. Understand?”

“Yep, got it.”

လလလ

Behind the house, Emily and Emma sat at the table near the pool.

“Are you sure you are alright?” Emily asked again.

“Of course,” Emma nodded, confused about her question and worry. “Why?”

“I mean… In all those words, I have never seen you act like that. Especially in front of him. That was...” Emily chuckled. “That was a little extreme, even for me.”

“Oh, that...”

Emma lowered her head.

“He needs one final push.”

“Hm?”

“Sure, he will win, but at what cost?”

“Oh...” Emily's mouth opened slightly in realisation. “”If you fail in any way”, I get what you mean now.”

“Mm-hmm."

"But what if he can't?"

Emma did not answer.

She avoided the topic.

"Anyway, let’s leave that idiot to his crap, but tell me, you seem awfully friendly with him today. What's up with that?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I thought he might kill you or something once you said you were the cause of Laura’s problem right now. I remember in the old timeline, he was very hostile towards you.”

“Ahh, he was quite hostile here at first too. He strangled me when we first met.”

“Wow, that’s rude. He should protect girls not hurt them.”

A complex expression overtook Emily’s face which said; “I don’t need his protection”, but she did not say it out loud.

“So, what happened now?”

Emily leaned back in the chair and smiled softly.

“Quite a lot of stuff, actually.”

“Oh?” with an interested smile, she placed her elbow on the table and rested her face on the back of her palm. “Now you must tell me.”

“Long story short, he apologised for everything and… Well, we kind of just started our friendship over, I guess? Will have to wait and see how long before we are at each other’s throat.”

“Hah. I hope not. This is certainly better.”

“You think so?”

“Mm-hmm, I don’t see why you need to hate each other.”

“...True.”

“In any case,” Emily leaned forward. “Let’s go out tonight. To the pub or something. We didn’t get to catch up properly last time. We can talk freely without trying to keep secrets or being angry at certain someone.”

Emma’s expression turned a little bitter.

“I know about your situation, but I am quite powerful,” Emily shrugged. “No one will notice you.”

“Is that so?”

Emily nodded with a smile.

“We can take Laura and anyone else you know, girls only. Just have a little heart to heart between us girls. Would be fun. I want to make more friends from the old world.”

Emma laughed a little.

“Sure, I will ask Laura and Angela if they are free.”

“Angela?” Emily cocked her confused head to the right.

“Right, my sister-in-law.”

Her expression became even more confused, yet curious.

“I have an older brother, older than Nazar - well if we don’t take into account the few centuries.”

“Ah, you did mention “brothers” when we first met and got that ice cream. I was kind of confused.”

“Oh,” Emma chuckled. "I should have specified."

Emily back then had told her that she kept an eye on her, so she thought Emily would already know about her brother. But it seems she didn’t pay any attention to anyone else.

“She is always holed up in that lab with my brother,” Emma pointed at something behind Emily’s shoulder, so Emily followed that trail and turned around to look at it. “And my mom is always there too.”

“Mom...”

Emily thought back to the old world as she stared at the laboratory with a complex look on her face.

While thinking about the gloomy world, she remembered a bittersweet memory.

“It’s funny how we started calling our mothers ‘mom’ instead of ‘mum’ after we met him,” Emily laughed a little.

“Oh yeah, how did that even start?”

“Well,” Emily turned to face Emma again, “he-- He and I used to read a lot of American comics and novels, they naturally used the American spelling. Oh, and the same for translated Japanese mangas and novels which we used to read. So, that’s how we picked it up and changed it up.”

“What a bunch of weirdos we are, haha.”

Emily nodded in agreement.

“Speaking of, how is Mikasa, your mom? ‘Mom’, again, haha.”

“Hard habit to die, no?”

“Indeed.”

Emily sucked in a long breath.

“As for my mom, she is good. She is great. A little too pestering at times, but great.”

“Pestering? About what?”

“Oh, you know,” Emily groaned. “Telling me to get a job or not “slut around” or stuff like that.”

Emma couldn’t help but break into laughter.

“Thank God, my mom leaves me alone.”

“Must be nice,” Emily sounded jealous.

“It is. She just leaves us be, even when we were children. They were quite busy a lot of the time.”

“Ah-h, I see,” Emily did not sound so jealous anymore. She loved spending a lot of time with her parents, so she was not feeling as jealous anymore. “In any case, where should we go today?”

Emma thought about it for a second.

“There is a pub we can go to. It has really good food too.”

“Alrighty then. I will come by later today.”

“Where are you going?”

“Back to the beach. Need to get rid of that guy before he figures out where I am. Oh, and I need a change of clothes,” she looked down at her beach clothes. “Feeling tad bit too weird in this outside of the beach.”

“True. Would never wear something like that myself.”

“Really?” Emily smiled confusingly. “You would look good in it.”

“...Maybe. But you know, it’s just not my thing. It’s embarrassing to show a lot of my skin, you know?”

Emily nodded, she understood.

“I see. Something to avoid then, huh?”

“Hm?” Emma tilted her head a little.

“I mean, if we wanted to hang out again, we should avoid the beach.”

“Right. No, but you don’t have to. It’s not like I have beachphobia - if that’s even a thing. It’s just...” Before Emily could speak, Emma added. “It’s just I don’t like showing my body to anyone. Never.”

“What about your boyfriend?” she teased.

“...He hasn’t seen it,” Emma averted her gaze.

Emily’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Say what?”

“I, uh...” Emma’s eyes darted left and right with a complex look on her face.

Worried, Emily asked, “Something wrong?”

Emma exhaled sharply. “Can I tell you a secret?”

“Yeah, sure,” Emily replied without hesitation.

“I don’t think I am straight,” Emma spoke slowly, so Emily had to lean forward a little to hear her properly.

“Ohh,” Emily smiled understandingly. “I see. Did not know your family would object to you being not straight.”

“It’s not that, it’s just I never wanted anyone else to know.”

“Ah, alright. So…?”

“So what?”

“What are you? Lesbian? Bi?”

Emma shook her head, denying it.

“Neither.”

“Hm?” Emily tilted her head in a confused manner.

“Ever since I hit puberty, I became curious, but when I… Well, let’s say I searched up some stuff or… Or...” she looked left and right, trying to find the right word. “ For the lack of a better term, “experimented”. I just hated it. Male genitals or females… I just found it disgusting,” Emma made a disgusted expression as she covered her mouth with the back of her right hand as if she was about to vomit any moment.

“I see, I see.”

“Yeah, just the thought of it makes me want to vomit. It's weird because I find guys attractive but that's it… Nothing else.”

“So…. What about your boyfriend? Does he know?”

Emma looked down.

“We got together around April and at the start of May, we tried to do it, but I just vomited as soon as we kissed. Instead of telling him, I told him I was ill. Then we tried to do it again after a few days and I wore some skimpy clothes… But I got abducted by aliens.”

Emma burst into laughter.

But Emily did not laugh. She did not find it funny.

What's so funny about being abducted and possibly dying?

“Interesting...”

“Yeah,” Emma pursed her lips as she nodded. “I was gonna tell him, but this whole thing with Nazar broke out and then…” Emma did not want to think about that again, so she changed the topic slightly. “You know what’s funny? I actually like that guy. I have all these feelings but...”

To Emma’s bitter laugh, Emily just nodded, thinking.

She realised what Emma really meant by ‘funny’.

“I think that's perfectly fine. Nothing wrong with it. Sexual desires are not related to the feelings a person has.”

“Huh, really?” she looked at Emily.

Emily nodded.

“So, yeah, don’t worry too much about it. Or trying to please anyone else. Just be yourself. And if that guy doesn’t want you...” Emily tried to find a better word for what she wanted to say, but she could not come up with anything, so she chuckled and continued. “Then that’s also understandable.”

“Of course. I had no expectations… But thanks. I was a little confused about it at first… But yeah, this clears it up. So, thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” Emily smiled softly in return. “Whatever you want to talk about, I am here. You are like my own sister.”

“Yeah, I know, I feel the same. It's nice to talk to someone where you don't hide anything.”

"Mm-hmm."

Emma let out a long sigh of relief as she stretched her arms.

“Oh yeah, lunch is going to be ready soon, Nazar made it. Wanna join us?”

Emily scoffed.

“No, no, I am good. I have to go back. He probably thinks I am still in the toilet.”

“He… Who's he?”

“My boyfriend. He is new.”

Emily smiled thinly.

“Actually one of the many.”

“Oh?” Emma raised her eyebrows.

“I will tell you about it later. It’s a long story.”

Emma smiled, “Alright.”

Emily stood up.

“See you then.”

“Later, Emily.”

Waving her hand, Emily vanished into thin air, leaving Emma alone.

She let out another long sigh of relief as she stood up.

After talking to her, she felt much better. She felt like a lot of weight had been removed from her shoulders.

“I guess it’s lunchtime then. Let’s see what he has cooked up. Hope it doesn’t end up sucking.”